Currency:
Japanese Yen

Highlights:
Bright lights, an urban jungle, sushi and heated toilet seats

Our Adventure:

We arrived in Tokyo after our 10 hour flight and were greeted with lots of Japanese writing and much cooler temperatures than what we had become accustomed to Down Under. The temperature had dropped from way above 30 degrees Celsius to around 5 degrees Celsius following our journey from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere but the excitement for the beginning of our Asia leg of the tour outweighed the weather and we were ready to start our adventure in Tokyo.

Welcome to the ultimate urban jungle!

With 34 million people living in Greater Tokyo, this is the biggest city in the world. It's the equivalent of the population of California squeezed into an area a little smaller than Hawaii. In 50 years, Tokyo has transformed from a bomb-shattered capital of a fallen empire to the beating heart of the world's second biggest economy. Though the glory days of the bubble era are a distant memory now, the city has not lost its appetite for reinvention. New developments are constantly reshaping the urban landscape, but all the while, the remnants of old Japan live on between the cracks.

We were in Tokyo for 3 days and we were in for a time we would never forget and here are just a few of the crazy things that Tokyo has to offer:

Bright lights, big city, sensory overload, sushi, gadgets, anime, manga, Pachinko, heated toilet seats and Hello Kitty - Tokyo truly does have it all.

After picking up our bags and heading through customs our first mission was to become accustomed to the vast and expansive Japanese Metro system and find our hotel in Ueno, the Oak Hotel. Fortunately the Japanese Metro system uses both Japanese and English on the maps and announcements on the train so within no time we had the system down and found our hotel, dropped off our bags and headed out to explore all that Tokyo had to offer. (However we later discovered that the subway wasn't completely a breeze as there are a few different companies operating different lines with different maps which causes some mass confusion for all!).

Hint # 1:
Pick yourself up a free copy of the quarterly Tokyo and Yokohama guide from Metropolis (http://metropolis.co.jp)

By using a cross reference of the Japan book that Jo had kindly given us and the Metropolis guide mentioned above we had a great idea of the different districts of Tokyo and what each of them had to offer us. After sitting down and mapping out all that we wanted to see in Tokyo we knew that we were in for a busy few days. Our Tokyo trip would start with 2 days and then we would head off to Beijing for a few days and then fly back to Tokyo for one more day before heading off to Hong Kong. Instead of giving a blow by blow account, I will introduce the districts and then mention what we managed to check out in each of them on part 1 and part 2 of the Tokyo tour:

Tokyo Tour - Part 1 of 2
15, 16 and 17 December 2009

Stop 1: Ginza

On Tokyo's Fifth Avenue, department stores vie for shoppers' yen along the main streets and it is lined with exclusive international boutiques. There are fine Japanese restaurants and cheap Italian cafes, sake and scotch bars, art galleries, second hand camera stores and product showrooms.

• Sony Building
○ We tested Sony's latest and greatest products
• Kabuki-za
○ Japanese theatre where we only managed to take a photo and did not manage to see a show
• Tsukiji Wholesale Market
○ The world's biggest fish market where you can witness auctions and have a sushi breakfast

Stop 2: Roppongi

Roppongi is hell to some, heaven to others. The home of embassies, foreign companies and Japan's largest urban redevelopment centres, Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown, "High-Touch Town" is known for business by day, nonstop entertainment by night. Here you can eat some of Tokyo's finest Indian, Thai, fusion and other world restaurants - or grab a kebab off the street. After that there are more decisions - pints of Guinness or shots of tequila? Salsa or techno dancing? Hostess club or …?

• Tokyo Tower
○ Japan's answer to the Eiffel Tower offers views of the city and beyond from two observatories
• Tokyo Midtown
○ Upscale shopping and dining complex and boasts Tokyo's tallest skyscraper
○ We checked out some of the shopping and had a great lunch here
• Gaien Higashi Dori
○ The areas main drag which is lined with a bar, restaurant or nightclub to suit any and every interest or taste

Stop 3: Shinjuku

Shinjuku is the busy hub at the centre of the city, with over 2 million people passing through its main train station every day. Shinjuku never sleeps as the streets remain filled with people, hustlers and neon until dawn.

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices
○ We headed for the observation deck on the 45th floor of the main building for awesome views over Tokyo
• Kabukicho
○ After dark this red light district is buzzing with pachinko and personality
○ It also served as inspiration for the movie Blade
• Shinjuku Station
○ This is truly the worlds busiest train station; a pass through at rush hour proved it
• Studio Alta TV Screen
○ A favourite meeting place in Shinjuku
• Golden Gai
○ A small but reputable area of Shinjuku which is composed of tiny shanty-style bars and clubs known for the artistic quality of its patrons
○ Musicians, artists, actors and directors are known to gather here, and the ramshackle walls of the bars are liberally plastered with movie, film and concert posters

Stop 4: Shibuya

Every teen in Japan knows Shibuya, the centre of youth culture. Tanned street hustlers and the distraction of five giant screens playing commercials and J-pop videos are the only obstacles slowing the constant gush of sailor-suited school kids pouring out of trains and into Japan's busiest pedestrian crossing.

• Shibuya Crossing
○ Every three minutes complete anarchy ensues at the world's busiest intersection
○ We chose not to observe this from the second story Starbucks but instead we joined the troops and experienced this first hand
• Tower Records
○ The biggest record store in the world and yes we made some purchases
• Bic Computer
○ This shop contains all the latest consumer electronics at the cheapest prices
• Hachinko
○ A statue of a loyal (some might say stupid) dog who waited for his owner for years after he died - and this also serves as Shibuya's favourite meeting place
• Dogenzaka
○ Night clubs, sex clubs and love hotels: the place to find it, buy it and get it on
○ We just walked around and observed it

The above wrapped up an absolutely mind-blowing 3 days that left us wanting more and more. You can see our photos here:

2009-12-15 [Japan, Tokyo] Arriving in Tokyo:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=361978&id=713415257&l=3b42806b1c

2009-12-16 [Japan, Tokyo] Here, There and Everywhere in Tokyo - Part 1:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=361979&id=713415257&l=b2fe608754

2009-12-16 [Japan, Tokyo] Here, There and Everywhere in Tokyo - Part 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=361983&id=713415257&l=f3ad2f6a65

2009-12-17 [Japan, Tokyo] Tokyo Cruise and Huanying ni lai Zhongua (Welcome to China):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=362482&id=713415257&l=ef6eff4d0f

Tokyo Tour: Part 2 of 2
20 December 2009

After spending an unbelievable few days in Beijing, China (Lara will cover this in a separate post) we jumped on a flight back to Tokyo to finish off the last bits of Tokyo that we wanted to see: Akihabara and Ueno.

Upon arrival at the airport I sailed through customs and immigration only to see my wife in the booth next to me get stopped by the Japanese immigration. Oh no.

The problem was that Lara only had a single entry visa and due to the fact that we had changed our flights so that we could head to Beijing and then come back to Tokyo to catch our flight to Hong Kong (very confusing I know) we would now be entering Japan twice. Doh.

Fortunately after about half an hour and lots of explaining the above story to multiple different people Lara managed to get a different visa and she was allowed back in the country. Shoowee. The ironic thing is that she got a transit visa for free in the end - after she had spent months missioning in London and South Africa to get the first visa that she didn't actually need as we were there for such a short time that a transit visa could have been used both times!

Walking through the airport we felt like we lived in Tokyo as we knew where everything was and jumped straight on the Skyliner (the train from the airport to Ueno) like seasoned veterans, checked back into the Oak Hotel, dropped off our bags and hit the streets of Tokyo once more to hit the districts of Akihabara and Ueno.

Akihabara and Ueno

If you come to Tokyo looking for the latest gadgets and gizmos, there's only one place to go. Officially nicknamed "Electric Town", Akihabara boasts an overwhelming array of electronic stores stuffed to the rafters with everything from cameras and mobile phones to video games and DVD players. Akihabara has also become the centre of Japan's otaku (geek) subculture of manga and anime lovers. Ueno is just around the corner and this was our base as well as home to the city's largest temple, Senso-ji.

• Electric Town
○ Floor after floor of duty free gadget fun
• Sumida River
○ Where we took a boat ride and discovered Tokyo from the water
• Senso-ji
○ One of the most famous temples in Japan

We finished off our time in Tokyo at the most awesome sushi restaurant in Ueno where we devoured some sushi and drank sake (Japanese rice wine). What a great way to end an unbelievable time in Japan - a place we loved and will definitely return to.

You can view our photos here:

2009-12-20 [Japan, Tokyo] Zai Jian (Goodbye) China, Konnichiha (Hello) Japan - Again:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=362485&id=713415257&l=450b7cccf4

Next stop: Hong Kong

Cheers,
Leise + Lara