*WARNING TO GAIL-the contents of this blog may contain some distressing news. Please ensure you are in a positive frame of mind before continuing and possibly prepare yourself a strong G&T!

We took the long train back into the suburbs so I could catch up on the blog…whilst James got a reminder of his 30th birthday permanently inked onto his shoulder! The result is amazing, such intricate detail and an awesome tattoo. James was over the moon with the result and so was Coyja the tattoo artist. It is an original piece and he is going to use it in his books, art collection and on his website. It was a job well done and Coyja earned every penny.

The afternoon entertainment was 'fat men pushing each other over' or as the Japanese call it- Sumo! For some reason we had some trouble finding ticket office in the morning but all that effort paid off when we entered the beautiful arena. The whole sumo ritual is thorough and steep in tradition and history. Even E&M couldn't explain what all the pre-game stuff means. All we know is a sumo bout lasts for an average of 1 second, the fat guy doesn't always win, I have a rare and strange talent of guessing the winner and it is very very funny-especially when they fall over and out of the ring! When we were looking at the different seats and prices we noticed you have to sign a disclaimer for the ringside seats. If you are unable to move out of the way quickly you cannot sit ringside and in the event of getting injured or crushed the sumo organisation will not be held liable! We thought this must be a rare occasion for ringsiders to get sat on but it happened a few times whilst we were there. Ellie had told us about one up and comer who was pretty small but won his fight easily. It was also interesting to see a couple of white guys (who were rubbish) and a lot of other foreign men (who were pretty good) competing.

We left the gorgeous arena Cambridge United style (running) as we had a date with E&M. We went for Shabu-Shabu and guess what…it was all you can drink! Ellie was disappointed with the food but J&I couldn't get enough it was delicious and like usual we got our monies worth. In fact, it proved how much alcohol we consumed when James agreed to karaoke. My dream was coming true; Karaoke in the heart of Tokyo with locals, and a random Swedish girl we met at the entrance and in our drunken excitement invited her to join us! It was magical; we had maracas a tambourine and a lifetime supply of cheesy songs. We originally paid for one hour and Ellie sorted us out with a discount by becoming a member (we knew secretly, she wanted to do this all along!) Of course we had to extend the session as we were having so much fun. James, who had been delaying the karaoke inevitable this whole time could not get enough-I would even go as far to say, he hogged the mic!

It was a drunken farewell to the Swedish girl, Maya and Ellie. But they can't get rid of us that easily when we have enough money we will definitely come back to awesome Japan! They gave us such special experiences and an insight to an alien country to us and we will never forget (ah missed song opportunity!) our time spent with them-you did Japan proud ladies, but perhaps not the best advert for google maps!

Zigazig ahhh…