Alexia`s Adventures in Mangaland continue, as my days continue to get more and more surreal and topsy turvy.Today so many mini-adventures happened (everything, incidentally, by definition, is an adventure, as EVERYTHING is an occasion/achievement - if I manage to get myself anywhere without getting lost at least twice it would be an unheard of miracle.) - most of these adventures were sadly not of the swashbuckling type, more admin I`m afraid.If I didn`t laugh, I`d cry!For simplicity, I shall bullet point the day`s many and varied events:

lOnce again to Ginza I go, in an attempt to change the cursed flight tickets.You would have thought, given I had got lost and found Cathay Pacific`s offices once before, that their location would be branded in my mind, but ooooh no, it took me no less than 45 minutes between exiting the tube and locating the office.An improvement on the last occasion`s hour, I feel.

lDesperate to escape the city high rise for at least a bit, I then headed towards the ImperialPalaceGardens where I saw GREEN!Green I tell you.V beautiful, rather cute trees which I took lots of (incredibly interesting) photos of.I would love to say my photo skills were improving but I fear they are only getting worse.

lOver-adventurous eating whilst sitting crunched up at on-the-floor seating (not to mention floor based internet usage) have given me chronic tummy ache, so next task was to find a Pharmacy.Let the mayhem commence.Using intuition and knowledge of cartoon drawings, I somehow managed to locate what looked like indigestion tablets.At the counter the kind pharmacy lady obviously wanted to double check that this gaijin wasn`t about to poison herself, and produced an English-Japanese A2 sheet of phrases/expressions.After pointing, gesticulating, and muttering in our respective languages, plus the input from a kind English-speaking passerby, we managed to determine what medicine I needed.Crisis averted.Well, presuming it`s the right medicine of course.Should I write no further blogs you`ll know why….

lTask 3: this one was a corker, and nearly had me in a sobbing wreck on the floor of the very industrious business district - withdrawing money from a Visa ATM using my swanky new Visa Travellers Cheque type card.I always suspected technology was over-rated.The card appears to be a bit of a dud.4 ATM machines in, and a wild goose chase around 3 different malls and 4 different floors, I was despairing.Then yet another kind English-speaking passerby took pity on me, told me that the last resort for a machine which would likely accept foreign cards would be the 7-11 down the road (by this time we are over an hour into my anguish-ridden expedition).I tried, `Card invalid`.I tried a different card, `Card invalid`.I exited the scene for fear that I might say/do something unseemly at the ATM machine and standing next to all the Japanese men shopping for Manga Porn in the cornershop on their lunchbreak.I went outside for a private moment of pain.With a `third time lucky` burst of positivity, I went back in, typed in a different combination of beepy buttons, and LO!I was rewarded, Bruce Forsyth game-show-stylee (seriously, flashing lights, a box of rewards and a song later) with my HARD-EARNED CASH!

lFlushed with my ultimate success, I decided to vacate Ginza and head instead to Shunjuku, the business district, complete with skyscrapers and suits.The purpose: the elusive Manga Kissa café, an internet/manga point.Once again completely and utterly lost, this time it took me no less than one whole hour to locate my destination from the tube.Not after I had had the chance to stumble upon the delights of Kabukicho - the Leicester Square/Soho/Red Light District equivalent.Only 10 times worse…it was like being stuck in some horrible, neon, flashing light nightmare.

lRefuge was attained, however, once I got to the somewhat surreal experience of the Manga internet café.Japanese pay for the pleasure of extremely comfortable little booths, and I reveled in my deliciously cozy plush leather armchair, as I wrote this blog.And was then rewarded with an accidental deletion.Oh this was my day alright.So should this blog read a little stale, that is my excuse!I`ve been here before!The experience made up for this minor irritation though - Japanese appear to come to the cafes/booths to use the internet, read Manga cartoons, watch Manga cartoon films, and, judging by the soft, wheezy snores coming from the occupant of the booth next to me, catch up on their z`s!

lA flash of inspiration then struck me with regards to my flight change issue - and I then raced all the way back across the city (only taking the wrong tube once!) to catch the Cathay Pacific lady, my saviour, before her day ended. Mercifully, she was able to work miracles and change my flights, so I now have a new plan. Watch this space!

lWhistling and jaunty once again, I emerged into the streets of Ginza, where I have unfortunately spent more of my time than I would have liked, and headed home. At least, that`s what I was trying to do, but I managed to catch the train to Asakasa, rather than Asakusa. Spot the difference? No, me neither, except they are completely the opposite ends from each other on my desired underground line….whoopee!

lHaving not eaten all day due to stomach ache, around 7pm and after walking what must be the equivalent of the length and breadth of the entirety of London in one day, I ducked once again into a peculiar little restaurant, I found myself confronted with Japanese who looked blankly at me, and pointed at a menu full of Japanese writing. I tried to convey that I didn`t speak this language quite fluently yet by looking confused, which meant I was taken outside the shop to the plastic food options (mm, very appetizing, honest). I took three shlurps of a soup which was covered with that really hideous viscous white stuff (egg whites with something revolting I think) and admitted defeat. My poor tum just can`t deal with the oddities any more. 5 days in and I`m craving some fruit and veg, and something, anything slightly sweet, rather than fishy or salty. I never in a million years thought I would hear myself say that, but I am finding the realities of Japanese cuisine very far removed from what you get in a London sushi shop. A bit more `real` if you know what I mean!

lOnly 5 days in and I honestly feel like I have been here for weeks. The city is fascinating/amazing/frustrating/appalling all at once, and it has been an extremely interesting experience. As a Western woman, I feel completely invisible. I don`t merit a second glance from anyone, men or women, and it is very hard not to feel completely alienated very quickly indeed. The people are very kind and polite and 99% of the time if you ask them, they will try their very best to help you even if a) they speak not a peep of English or b) they haven`t a clue what you`re talking about. But they will never make the first move, in comparison to other places I have visited. Even other westerners I find, when you come across them, aren`t particularly friendly either. There ain`t a whole lot of smiling and laughing going on this end I can tell you! Some hair letting down time is well nigh.

lOver and out for now. I will shortly be posting my general Tokyo observations…eyes peeled!