It's Saturday morning here in Tokyo and we're bound for Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train) today. But before we set off I thought I'd do a little round up of the events of yesterday which seemed to embrace high and low culture in equal measure!

The day started with a trip to Ueno Park which is full of museums and a zoo. We went into the Tokyo National Museum and saw a whole range of sculptures, paintings, laquer work, samurai armour and kimonos. There was also this little workshop where you could decorate your own kimono postcard with rubber stamps so Don and I joined in with all the kids!

After monging out by the zoo for an hour we decided to set off for Akhibara and embark upon another ill-fated attempt to find somewhere for lunch that had been recommended in the guidebook. This time it was us who enlisted the help of strangers instead of waiting for offers. Kanda Yabu Soba was a traditional restaurant that had a beautiful garden outside and even matted areas inside - we stayed true to our wimpy Westerner roots and sat at a table! The soba noodles with tempura were delicious; I'm loving the food here in Japan and have the expanding waistline to prove it!

After lunch we explored Akiba (Electric Town), the infamous district full of arcades, electronics and manga. The area is awash with neon and some seriously dedicated gamers in the arcades! I stuck to what I knew best though (those slot machines that have shifting platforms, pushing 100 yen pieces into the tray - in theory, that is, I lost 1,000 yen on that badboy!).

A wander around a seven-storey sex shop caused much hilarity, sizing up the naughty cheerleader outfits, watching film demonstrations of a plastic fisting machine (sorry mum!) and, my particular favourite, laughing at the businessman who spent approximately 5 minutes solemnly inspecting a penis enlarger.

At night time we went out to Shibuya for tea. This was the Tokyo that I had imagined before I came here - huge buildings covered in neon signs and thousands of people. There's one particular part where five roads intersect so there was just this awesome sea of people crossing the road.

So we're leaving Tokyo for now but will be back at the end of our stay in Japan. Not sure quite what to expect from Kyoto but I hear it's beautiful.

Hope everyone's happy and healthy back in blighty (hello Milly and Chris!). I love and miss you all, x x x