Totally Tokyo

We got to Japan OK, a really smooth flight the food on the flight was great - I had salmon for starter and then Japanese vegetable curry followed by a great blackberry sponge! I got a few hours sleep on the plane but not as much as I'd have liked. Jase just watched lots of films. I don't know why but I can never concentrate on films when on a plane.

We got to Tokyo at 8:45 am JST and as usual got the coach to our hotel. We have a lovely room at the hotel, very spacious with a separate dressing area with a dressing table which is a real luxury for me as our bedroom is so small at home we don't have room for a dressing table!

Jase's ritual when arriving in Japan is to go to Ginza Lion at Aoyama Ichome to have a katsu kare. I tried out my very basic Japanese asking for a table for two in a no smoking area. It all went rather well! Those familiar with Japan will know that outside many restaurants there are displayed very life like plastic replicas of the food sold. So below is a picture of the display outside Ginza Lion.

After having lunch we took the metro to Shibuya and went shopping. We went to HMV and I got a Ayaka CD which cost an absolute fortune. CDs sure aren't cheap over here! I had forgotten just how crazy Tokyo's main shopping areas are. There are people everywhere weaving about as music is being blasted from street speakers and shops that meshes into a cacophony of consumerism! We went to Tokyo Hands, which is a store that sells loads of stuff but particularly craft and DIY stuff. On the ground floor it has a section devoted to Hallowe'en costumes. My favourite involved a hot pink velvet pumpkin head and hat. It looked totally weird and cool at the same time!

After shopping we went to back to the hotel to get something to drink, I had my usual soya latte whilst Jase had a "Mango Tango Swirkle" Yep we didn't know what he would get either! It turned out to be a fruit crush made up of fresh mango and ice. Very refreshing. We drank it in the hotel gardens looking up the steps pictured below.
A hotel cat joined us for a while. he is quite feral and so wouldn't come close to us for a fuss. Instead he stalked around us, miaowing at us and flashing his half of a tail. I wondered aloud to Jase what the cat's name was and that it should be something Japanese. Jase suggested "Dave the Japanese cat." Very silly name indeed and not at all Japanese but below is a picture of "Dave" I know my Dad likes to see my pictures of cats from around the world!

Right now Jase is snoring next to me although he claims he is not going to sleep because it will make his jet lag worse! I'll wake him up in a minute.