Sun 17/6
Today was nothing but a travel day! Once we checked out of our hotel we headed straight for the airport. Shanghai airport wasn't very interesting. Our flight to Tokyo was at 5:05pm and only 2.5 hrs which was nice and short for a change! There was an hr time difference between Tokyo and Shanghai and by the time we got through the airport and found our way to the accommodation it was nearly midnight. We were glad to sit and relax with a cold drink before we headed to bed! Even though it was a short flight it had still been a long day! Our beds for the night were wooden cabin beds which was cool. Far more privacy than bunk-beds!

Mon 18/6
First day in Tokyo! Everything here seems to be the same price! We bought ready made sandwiches and bananas and cheese for our breakfast (1000¥) went to McDonalds for lunch (1000¥) bought bread and ham and cheese, fruit and crisps to make our dinner (1000¥) Looks like it doesn't matter what you do to try and save money it all costs the same!lol. We were staying in the Asakusa area so spent the day exploring, saw a few of the famous landmarks, went to the Senso-ji temple which you reach by passing through a gate and walking up a small market like street selling all sorts of food and souvenirs, within the park area there is also the 5-storeyed pagoda and other small shrines! In the evening we went out far a walk around the city (Cam mainly for car spotting!)

Tue 19/6
It started out a beautiful day today so the plan was to head for Ueno and check out a manga kissa and the Ueno Onshi Park. By the time we got to the tube station it had started to rain! We bought a brolly hoping that by the time we got there it would have stopped! No such luck! We headed to find the manga kissa (24 hr internet cafe/manga library) first thinking that we cud spend extra time there if the weather didna improve! We were lucky to find it coz it had moved premises. We paid for an hr online to check the facilities out for an overnight stay, fine for me but Cams a bit on the tall side. We might give it a try when we get back to Tokyo if it works out cheaper than a hostel! Headed to the park next but only managed to walk round the pond because it turned out to be a bit miserable in the rain! We decided to head back to our hostel. We got soaked walking from the tube to the hostel so think we made the right decision as it only got worse as time passed because a tropical typhoon was passing by! Unfortunately we had to head out again at 9pm to go meet the dude for our first couchsurfing experience. The walk fae the tube to his house felt like we had hit the typhoon at its worst! We were totally soaked bags and everything by the time we got there! It was an interesting experience staying with a complete stranger! Unfortunately he wasn't very talkative and spent most of the night watching japanese tv and drinking beer with his flatmates. (and didn't even offer us a beer!lol) Normally you would head off to bed in these situations but we were sleeping on the couch so had to wait for them all to go to bed! :(

Wed 20/6
So we got woke up at 7:45am by our host and told that he was leaving for work at 8am so we had to be ready to leave. Not even time for a shower! :( He left us to find our own way back to the tube as his wrk was in a different direction. We took a seat in the park next to his house to have some snacks and waken up properly. Felt like proper couple of bums. We noticed another couple with backpacks who looked like they had slept in the park so didn't feel so bad after that!lol. Got another coucsurfing lined up for Kyoto so lets hope its a better experience! Managed to get a locker for our bags for the day and headed to Roppongi for the Mori art museum. Stopped at a pub on the way for some lunch. It was an interesting combination of rice omelette, beef and onion gravy, breaded fish, tarter sauce, salad and spaghetti! Sounds awful but tasted amazing! Bit like having two meals on one plate!lol. Neither of us are really interested in art museums (and this one was exceptionally bad) but it was well worth it for the 360 views over the city from the 218m high observation room, which is why we went! Unfortunately the sky deck was shut due to high winds still from the typhoon. Next we headed to Shibuya to see Shibuya crossing which is one of the busiest intersections with 100000 people crossing it every hour! We sat in Starbucks watching the crowds for a while, it was quite amazing! The starbucks only sold tall sizes to stop people staying too long and yet they are the highest grossing starbucks in the world. Who would have thought a street crossing could be such an attraction!lol. Since we had been thrown out on the street we had no where to kill time so headed straight for the bus station. It worked out quite well as it felt more like a tiny airport with its check-in area, small shop and departures area. Nicest bus station (if you can call it that) I have ever been in. The bus was cool as! Nice big comfy seats with hoods to give you privacy to sleep! Not bad for the budget option! Wud love to see the luxury busses!