On the 28th we left Hong Kong on a high - we were able to check our bags in at the train station for our flight - now that is efficient ? We arrived in Tokyo at 8pm but passport control took us a while!!!? We managed to get to our hotel at 11.30pm!!!!? Both tired we headed for bed - by the way its?a small double bed!!!

On the 29th we headed off to have a look around our area - Ikebukuro. We went to one of the only red brick university's in Tokyo which is called Rikkyo it was a very pretty building reminded me of birmingham university on s amller scale. We had a nice lunch from Tobu which is a huge department store with a fab food hall. We ate it at the Metropolitan art space - which has one of the biggest escalators I have ever seen - in the heart of Ikebukuro. We also managed to book our seats on the trains across Japan with the help of a very nice lady ? That evening we headed off to Shinjuku and had a lovely meal in a fab tempura restaurant - mmmmmm.? We had a wander around - lots of neon signs and shops galore.

On the 30th we headed off back to Shinjuku to get a picnic lunch - again we went to a department store called iSetan.  If you think we have department stores in the UK you are wrong!!  These are huge and everywhere.  We went off to Shinjuku Gyoen Park - a very nice park in the centre of Tokyo - there were lots of people there as there is a major holiday going on whilst we are here called Golden Week.  Then we headed off to the Meiji Jungu and the Shinto Shrine - all wooden and very different from the temples in Thailand.  Next we wandered down one of the main area's for shopping where the Chanel, Prada, Gucci andthe likes can be found.  We went to see the Prada building which is a very modern glass building - Jacqui couldn't persuade Neen to buy her a handbag!!!!  The we headed off to Roppongi.  Roppongi is a very modern and new district - lots of modern glass buildings, a nice little japenese park and modern art.  We headed to a restaurant that did grilled food and noodles and it was very nice.  The budget in Japan is not holding out too good due to the 30 squid for the train a day!!!!  But we thought what the hey