It`s official: sake hangovers are not good. And it only takes 1.5 glasses!

So, sake-sozzled evening with hosts = very slow Lex the next morning.

Finally getting my act together, Yumi took me to the local Post Office, and then to a tiny weeny teahouse, where we had a very proper tea with sweet (rather disgusting sweets though I might add...). My first encounter wtih a proper tatami mat, taking my shoes off as I entered a room in the teahouse where there was beautiful calligraphy being `painted`. Tatmi mats (a little like straw yoga mats, which cover a room) make me feel very quiet and well-behaved. Mum: take note!

By the time Yumi had deposited me at the underground station, it was well gone 2.30 and my tummy was complaining that it was time for lunch. So, for the first time, I braved on of the terribly exclusive looking little sushi restaurants, poking my head through the obligatory curtains covering the doors. I feel so much like Alice in Wonderland in this place - too large and over-sized, with tiny dolly sized teacups, drinking and eating weird weird things...fewer Queens and cheshire cats mind. I watched how the locals did it, and picked up a couple of sushi dishes off of the conveyor belt. It is remarkably hard to eat in a seemly fashion, as the nigiri is MUCH bigger than those in the UK. I didn`t need to eat very much before I was full, and caused consternation as I offered the young Japanese couple next to me the rest of my unagi nigiri (barbequed eel).

Next stop, given the pouring rain, I decided to hit the teenage shopping mecca of Shibuya, where all the kids go to buy their weird and wonderful rags. will get together a collection of photos of their crazy fashion for your viewing amusement, as it has to be seen to be believed - my line is...wait for it...`sumi masen, igirise-no zashi-ni nose ru tameni anatano shashen-o tora sete kuda sai?` which, translated means, excuse me, please can I take your photo for an English magazine? I figure lying like this makes it seem less rude that I am gawping at their outlandish attire. It is nothing to see girls dressed like dollies, goths, barbie doll types...

After wandering in awe around Shibuya 109 (fashion) I then went to Loft, much more my sort of place, as a a kind of John Lewis one-stop shop. Seriously, you need look nowhere else: animated toe dividers?, strap on material face-masks? boxes/bags/envelopes/containers/organisers for any single little space in your home - this is teh place to come. The Japanese have something for everything. My question, given the UK`s current concern with disposable shopping, is where all of this stuff goes to die...if the Japanese are constantly buying, and they have such incredibly tiny living spaces therefore must by definition get rid of some things, where does it go? When I asked Yumi that evening she said `2nd hand and recycled` doesn`t really exist.

I went to Starbucks for a reality check.

Food Fiend:

*smoked mackerel for breakfast and some soggy, squishy, grainy looking fish roe - a `delicacy` which Yosuke brought back from a region on his travels

*red bean paste sweet (a tiny bite, I didn`t enjoy it one bit!)

* soy bean flour and green tea bean cake (as weird as it sounds..same as above though more pleasant)

* smoked eel, tuna and mackerel nigiri - at the sushi conveyor belt I opted for the least slimy choices available...there were several distinctly looking `deep-sea` choices

*Suki Yaki for dinner: raw egg broken into a bowl, with various meat, noodles, vegetables, funghi dipped into it from the stew in the middle of the table

I think tJapan is forcing he Food Fiend in me into submission...and may be given a temporary retirement for a couple of days...I`ve been feeling a little queasy since my sushi restaurant experience...stay tuned though.