*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 r...

We finally had a grasp if the metro and could work out the cheapest routes, it only took us four days and Ellie's help but we got there! So today we visited some of the areas we didn't manage to cover with E&M and went back to Shibuya, Shinjuku and as mentioned in the previous blog Metropolitan towers. We went to the Emperor's palace first then the fashionable district of Ginza where we avoided all the posh shops and went straight into the toy store! Jam...

We had a lot of ground to cover today and what better place to start then the most famous crossing in the world, Shibuya. Ellie taught is the story of Hachiko the dog and the famous meeting points in this bustling area. We took in the hug crossing from a viewing point in Starbucks-this must be the best located Starbucks in the world! A short walk brought us to the National Stadium and a market stall selling all sorts of handicrafts. Ellie tried on a few fetch...

We were meeting up with Ellie (our tour guide) today for some sightseeing and a long overdue catch up. I haven't seen Ellie for at least five years so it was brilliant to be meeting up in her home town. A few points that the Loughborough girls will understand; 1) Ellie is actually tall in Japan-definitely middle blocker material! 2) Turns out she can speak Japanese and wasn't just making up a language when phoning work. Although after two hours wit...

Nagano is the hub of the Japanese Alps but the reason we stayed for a day here was not for the slopes but for the little red faced monkeys. The walk to the hot springs sounded a lot worse than it was. It was an enjoyable stroll through a forest on a well-trodden, albeit a slightly slippery path. Seeing the animals for the first time was not disappointing. We could've watched these hilarious little creatures for hours. They were fighting, pushing and shoving ...