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as we were flying in to japan we saw mt fuji towering above the surrounding mountains and as we were descending into narita we saw all these neat tidy fields and cute looking cars, it looked like toytown! we had no sleep on the plane and didn`t get any sleep the night before either as kam was trying to load up our mp3 players .........anyway after landing we managed to get on a tokyo bound train and quickly figured out the metro system towards our hostel in minimi senju, we found the hostel fine and had a quick one hour nap before heading out to explore the local nearby area of asakusa, there were lots of stalls and a big temple, we walked round in a bit of a daze as the tiredness was really kicking in now - managed to stay awake until 9pm before we gave in!

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SORRY COMPUTER WILLONLYDO CAPITAL LETTERS when it wants to! we headed towards the HARAJUKU DISTRICT NEAR SHIBUYA, THIS IS QUITE A TRENDY PART OF JAPAN - WE WENT DOWN - DONT LAUGH TAKEs***A STREET WHERE THERE WERE LOADS OF LITTLE COOL SHOPS AND EATERIES A BIT LIKE THE LANES IN BRIGHTON - WE HAD A NICE PORK NOODLE SOUP AND SOME MEAT GYOZAS WHICH WERE YUMMY BEFORE WONDERING TOWARDS A MASSIVE SHRINE IN SOME WOODS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY, IT WAS POURING WITH RAIN BUT STILL REALLY INTERESTING, WE THEN WALKED TOWARDS SHIBUYA WHERE IT WAS REALLY REALLY BUSY IT HAD A PEDESTRIAN CROSSING THAT YOU USUALLY SEE ON FILMS ABOUT TOKYO [think lost in translation film} ahhhh annoying keyboard!!!! there was a shopping complex called shibuya 109 which was really noisy but about 9 floors of trendy cool japanese fashion - outside it was really bright and loud - trucks were driving around advertising the latest j pop bands with pictures of the artists on the side - there were loads of neon signs and noises everywhere! it was brilliant! we wondered around for ages taking it all in before heading back to our hostel

DAY 3

WE STARTED OFF THE DAY AT THE GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS WHERE YOU COULD GO UP TO THE FREE OBSERVATORY TOWER AND VIEW THE MASSIVENESS THAT IS TOKYO - IT WAS QUITE HAZY SO YOU COULDNT SEE MT FUJI IN THE DISTANCE WHICH WAS A BIT DISSAPOINTING BUT WE COULD SEE THE GRAND HYATT HOTEL WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE LOST IN TRANSLATION FILM WAS FILMED! we then headed down to the roppongi area where it was quite crazy - we went to roppongi hills where there was some sort of bizzare political protest going on which involved trucks and megaphones blaring out agressive shouting! after a tasty bowl of beef and rice we headed south towards the area near the rainbow bridge which looks like the golden gate in san fran, there was a big shopping mall there where we had coffee and lovely pancakes mmmm, it was getting dark so we headed towards the TOKYO TOWER WHICH LOOKS JUST LIKE THE EIFFEL TOWER BUT IS RED AND WHITE WHERE WE HAD MAGNIFICENT VIEWS OVER TOKYO IN EVERY DIRECTION. WE INDULDGED IN THE HIGER VIEW POINT TOO AND IT HAD THE SAME VIEW JUST HIGHER UP, HOWEVER THE VIEWS WERE AMAZING AND THERE WERE BRIGHT LIGHTS AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE. IT MAKES LONDON LOOK LIKE A SLEEPY VILLAGE!!!!!

Day4 -

thought we would activate our 14 day JR RAIL PASS SO WE GOT THE BULLET TRAIN TO HAKKONE AND THOUGHT WE WOULD TRY AND GET A GOOD VIEW OF MT FUJI - THE WEATHER FORECAST WAS GOOD SO AFTER THE RAIL JOURNEY TO HAKKONE WE GOT AN HOURS BUS RIDE TO LAKE ASHI WHERE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET AN AMAZING VIEW OF MT FUJI OVER THE LAKE - UNFORTUNATELY FOR US IT STARTED TO SNOW AND GOT HEAVIER AND HEAVIER!! where mt fuji should have been was a big grey snow cloud, we were frozen so the only choice was to head back to tokyo and get some dinner and call it a night!

day 5

we were supposed to go to nikko but after yesterdays farce we decided to just stay in tokyo -we headed to the ueno area where we went to the national museum, walked around a pleasant park and then went to the tokyo main station area which was amazing as it was really posh and had some classy hotels. we tried to find the imperial palace and we did and it was pitch black so we went back to tokyo station where we saw loads of japanese training for the tokyo marathon. we went back to the harajuku area and grabbed a coffee and found a cheap shop like Wilkos and hen went back to our hostel on the metro which like all transport so far is clean, safe and efficent

we really enjoyed tokyo - it was so so so big though - its one of the biggest cities in the world and makes london look like a little town, it was strange though, it was hectic in the sense that people are everywhere but they are calm and organised unlike home, and it felt so safe, walking around in the dark we felt so safe, the people are so polite - its so refreshing compared to home!! we enjoyed the toilets too - they have heated seats and if you need a dump you can summon the bum squirter to wash your crack but we had to clench our cheeks as it felt as it would go right up the U bend, kamran get off ---- if you need a dump you can press a button to make a noise of flushing and then press the button for powerful deoderiser!! amazing!

that was tokyo in a nutshell - written on a dodgy keyboard and four pints! amen...................