tuesday 27th.

we have arrived in japan. got to tokyo international airport at 9am and now we have the task of finding our hostel. we got the subway (which is surprisingly easy to use) to Asakusa (old tokyo) and arrived at our hostel at about 11.30am. we were told that we couldnt check in till 3pm but could leave our bags, this didnt really go down to well as we had now been awake for 24 hours, as neither of us slept on the plane. we sleep walked round Asakusa and came across the main feature of the area. Kamirinomon the entrance to the sensoji temple. the walkway down was lined with traditional colourful stalls selling anything from food to buddhas. tried some local food at one of the stalls, was relieved to find it tasted good. Hayley was particularly happy to see ladies in kimonos. headed back to our hostel at 3pm for a well earned rest. hostel was small but ok downstairs with free internet etc. but when we went upstairs to our room, we barely had enough room to move down the side of the bed (going sideways!!!!!!!). we slept from 4pm till 11pm, the joys of jet lag setting in already. then we found ourselves wandering the neon-lit streets of Tokyo and ended up eating at McDonalds (yes that is bad, and we felt guilty for not embracing the culture, at least while we were ordering anyway. walked back by the sumida river and settled down for the remainder of the night.

Wednesday 28th.

we got up at 7am and got ready to check out, the shower was funny as you had to keep pressing the button or it would cut out! Anywho, we should probably explain that we arrived in Tokyo at the start of a huge festival called 'cherry blossom season'. This meant that although it was lovely to see it was a pain in the bum to find accommodation. This meant at least an hour with no luck on the internet, culminating in wandering the streets with a list of hostels to find one that would take us waifs and strays in. Luckily, we found a hostel by 10.am - get in! It was called Sakura and was a big pink building - yet major improvement on last place. Couldn't check in til 1pm so wandered streets again and went back to the temple to get some pics. Tried some more food at the stalls, tasted a bit like dumplings on a stick. Ed liked his but mine was wrapped in seaweed and tasted a bit funny. Then went to have breakfast, found an interesting japanese place that you ordered at a machine, took the ticket to a counter and food was served immediately. We had cold noodles (apparently commom here) and curried rice. EATEN WITH CHOPSTICKS. It was actually really good. We noticed that in all japanese restaurants water is self service which was always good on the old budget! Went to sumida park to check out, (as ed says) the brossom, and saw people having blossom parties - picnics under the trees basically! Crossed over the sumida river and went to the other park, we played our travel games in the sunshine and ed taught me how to play chess! Checked in to Sakura, then took the subway down to Ueno a really busy part of Tokyo. Ed didnt like this much but it was interesting to see - there was a constant stream of people walking towards you all the time! Went to see the busy markets under the train tracks, then checked out the blossom at Ueno park, found some cool sculptures of animals dotted around the park. Later we arrived back at the hostel and planned our day trip to Hakone a beautiful part of Japan outside Tokyo, here we would get views of Mt.Fuji. Jet lag still messing us around so slept from 4pm til 8pm. Tonight we ate at Yoshinoya (this became a favourite of mine and eds, because it was cheap and tasty). We figured that it must be the japanese version of McDonalds - was a good culinary experience).