Konnichiwa!

So I am now residing in Japan! My 11 hour flight from Auckland went quite well, apart from sitting next to a lovey dovey couple who felt the need to kiss each other every time one of them got up for the toilet. Great.

I landed at Narita airport and soon learnt that you're not meant to fill out your landing card in pink pen. However it worked in my favour as I ended up jumping the massive queue by doing the 'I'm foreign and didn't understand' look. Always a winner.

By the time I had got through customs and immigration I had already missed the train I was meant to get, and I still had to get to a different terminal, sort out my train pass and find the platform. I managed to do all this and get on the right train (was quietly pleased with myself) and headed to Shinjuku station which was nearest to where Helen and I were staying.

Now Shinjuku station must be one of the largest in the world, it was ridiculous, I've never seen somewhere so busy and with a shopping mall. I'm glad I said I'd meet Helen at the hotel as there was no chance of us finding each other here. I got out into the heat with my two backpacks and followed my map to the hotel. It turns out the map was terrible and I had to go into a different hotel and have a woman who spoke no English draw me a map. Just when I was getting to the point where I couldn't carry my bags any longer I saw Helen… Hurrah!!

By the time I had got there I had about 10 mins before we had to leave again for a dinner reservation so had the quickest shower ever and headed out. We had reservations at an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant. It was mental! The waitresses were all dressed up as Alice and the restaurant and food were all themed to the book. I already knew this city was going to blow my mind.

After dinner we went for a walk (still really hot…makes a change from NZ!) and got some beers from a convenience store, they serve booze 24/7 and you can walk around with it, and had a few street beers while exploring the area. We happened to be staying in what I would guess is the red light district, although it was more full of clubs with male escorts that women paid to have conversation with for the evening. That and very large Thai woman…. Like I said. Crazy town!

The next day we got up and headed out for breakfast and ended up at a waffle house. It's funny as nearly all the eateries in Tokyo are western and there is very few traditional places, it's very much Starbucks and KFC everywhere.

We walked to a shrine which seemed very odd in the middle of the hustle and bustle, but the shade of the trees was very welcome as it is so hot at humid. The noise of insects in the trees was like nothing else though, was almost deafening! After the shrine we walked to an area which I would like to Camden, lots of cool shops and girls in their crazy outfits about. I learnt that it was school holiday's so all the girls in school uniform were doing it for attention. Again very bizarre!

We walked to the Shibuya crossing which has to be one of the most famous crossings in the world, there are so many different options and the green lights are all at the same time. Basically just a mass of people walking in every direction! Also there is the statue of Hachiko, a dog that used to wait there all day for his master to return from work. He even did this for the 11 years after his master died; the Japanese loved his loyalty and so built a statue of him. After a look around the shops we braved the subway system and headed back to the hotel. The hotel had a booze vending machine so we had a few beers getting ready in the room and headed out into town. I have to say after being in dorms for so long; staying in a hotel was luxury!!

We decided on another theme restaurant for dinner, this one was called the lockup and was a cross between a jail/haunted house/mental asylum. The hostesses were all dressed as prison guards, and I was handcuffed and led to our prison cell. We were sat looking over the menu when all the lights went out and a siren sounded. Helen informed me they were saying over the tanoy that all the prisoners had escaped, and low and behold a crazy man dressed as a rabbit came into our cell. This was followed by a man in a scream mask who literally got on top of me in the booth. Where the hell were we!!!!

After all that we definitely needed a drink and decided on the all you can drink cocktail offer. The drinks were truly crazy, some had candyfloss and popping candy, others had syringes with mixers in. We were sorting out the bill when low and behold the lights went off and the sirens started again, so we had to sit through the whole show a second time!!

We were happy to be outside in normality and headed to an amusement arcade, these aren't like anything in the UK, and they have about 8 floors! We went to the floor with the photo booths and took some pictures that you get to decorate after and turn into stickers. Armed with these we headed to a British pub which was surprisingly actually quite British, they even had pimms in there! You can smoke in bars and pubs here which is strange to get used to and was a bit overwhelming, can't imagine people being able to do this in the UK anymore!

The next day was all about travelling to Helen's, this involved a variety of subways, trains and the bullet train. When we got to Wakayama it was raining so hard, it was here that I realised I haven't seen my raincoat in a while… guess that's in NZ somewhere! Safe to say we got soaked. Helen's apartment is very cute and uses space so wisely, I love it. We got dried and headed out for some dinner, this time I actually had some Japanese food! I'm so glad to have Helen here as I'm not sure how I would get by... although I'm going to have to when I go off on my own next week….

On the way back there was a stray cat outside 7/11 that we named dribbley mao. We felt sorry for him so got him some cat food... the shop workers weren't too impressed I don't think, but we wanted to adopt him. Helen and Helen saving the world one cat at a time…

Back at Helen's we got in our pjs, made a floor bed and watched trashy tv on Helen's laptop. Really felt at home!

Helen had to go and teach at a school out of town for a couple of days so I was left to fend for myself. I went and visited Wakayama castle, which had great views of the city from the roof and was really nice to walk around. I then took a walk to the supermarket to buy some food for dinner. This was a whole new experience!! Without being able to read anything it was a bit of a gamble, but luckily I ended up with something I liked although I still couldn't tell you what was in it.

Miss everyone at home; hope Reading & Leeds are going well for all my work guys! Feels very strange to not be there xx