Konichiwa from Japan! We arrived at Tokyo Airport after a long day travelling missing the China gang. Somehow we figured out how to get the train to our hotel in Akasukabashi and were asleep not long after. Our first impression of Japan is what a friendly, polite place it is; from the airport we had 2 people come up to us and offer help. We also noticed that on the train, people are incredibly considerate when talking on their phone - they speak so quietly you can't hear them. Before bed, we walked up the road for some snacks and put into practice a few things we'd heard about. Firstly, you hand money across with two hands or place coins into a small tray. Secondly, you bow whilst saying arigatou (thank you). On the way back, Max went to cross the road on a red man and much to his surprise, an electronic Japanese voice shouted at him to get back!

To begin our first full day in Tokyo we got the subway to Shinjuku and got all of our train tickets for Japan - exciting stuff. We walked from the station to the Tokyo Government Building where there is a free observation deck 202m high. The views of the city were really cool with the parks standing out amongst the skyscrapers. Sadly it was just a tad too cloudy to see Mount Fuji.

Our next stop was Yoyogi Park and the Meiji-jingu shrine. The park was made up of beautifully kept tall trees and Japanese lanterns. At the shrine we made a prayer by bowing and clapping your hands together.

With achey legs we decided to sit and have an ice coffee outside the park. Out of no-where, the decking beneath us and our chairs all starting violently shaking. It lasted for about 10 seconds and even the staff were in shock to confirm it was an earthquake. Later we found out it was a magnitude 5.3 - not too minor.

After our pit stop we walked to Takes***a-dori in Harajuka. This is a really cool street with a Camden feel that highlights Tokyo's cosplay culture and the styles worn by Japanese youth. It was lined with shops selling outrageous puffy clothes and wigs etc.

We strolled for a while and found ourselves in the heart of Tokyo at Shibuya Crossing. What a crazy place! Even at night, it's lit up by huge screens. There are crossings over the road linking the blocks. When the red man is up, pedestrians wait and cars fill the space. Suddenly, all the red men change to green at once and the crossing is filled with hundreds of people walking in every direction, but no-one walks into each other. It's organised chaos! Just for fun (and of course, a few selfies) we crossed it a few times.

Just down the road from Shibuya crossing we found a robot restaurant called Uobei that Max had read about. Each seat faces 3 levels of track and has its own touchscreen. You order your sushi on the touchscreen and before you know it, it comes whizzing along one of the three tracks and stops dead in front of you. You take the dishes, get munching and send the tray back by pressing a button. Apart from being such a cool way to order and be served your food, the sushi was delicious - the best we've ever had. Max was amazed to get mini-cheeseburgers on rice as sushi. The food was cheap, each sushi dish costing about ¥100 (50p). We finished our day with a drink at Good Beer Faucets, an awesome little bar in Shibuya.

It was another beautiful day when we woke up the next morning - blue skies, 30 degrees. Once again, we jumped on the subway to Shinjuku and found the bus station. We were hoping to get a bus to see Mount Fuji but alas, the tickets were sold out until the afternoon. We stood outside pondering what to do for the day when a Japanese lady ran out and told us there had been a cancellation and did we want to get on the bus leaving in 2 minutes. Perfect!

Unfortunately the bus usually takes 1 hour 45 minutes but due to roadworks, it took 3 hours. Before we knew it, we arrived at one of the lakes near Mount Fuji. It was a beautiful area surrounded by mountains and peacefulness. Annoyingly, we got to the north side of the lake and the tip of Mount Fuji was just in the clouds. It still looked menacing, covered in snow and so prominent in the sky. On the return bus journey, we saw Mount Fuji fully revealed.

The bus got us back to Tokyo at about 8pm. Max's trusty map led us to another amazing restaurant in Shibuya called Ichiran. Pretty much all it serves is ramen (a noodle soup with slices of pork) and salted boiled eggs. It was another strange dining experience. You queue for a machine on which you press the button for the dish you would like and insert your money. It then spurts out meal tokens for you. Once sat in your individual booth, they take your meal ticket and give you a form to fill in on how you like your ramen: spiciness, richness, noodle texture etc. It was such a tasty meal and only cost ¥790 (about £4) each. One thing to note about Japanese restaurants is that they don't expect you to buy any drinks (it actually seems quite uncommon to) and all tables have a tap or jug for water. All the restaurants we've picked so far have been full of locals so it's great to get such a true dining experience.

After dinner we visited the Shibuya Crossing once again just for good measure and found an arcade nearby (they're pretty much everywhere). The arcades are filled with neon lights and are as loud as nightclubs with electronic Japanese voices shouting over the music. We had a go on a pachinko machine which is effectively a ball version of a slot machine. Not knowing what the hell was going on we quickly lost a fiver and decided to vacate the arcade.

For our third day we began in Asakusa. We visited the glorious Senso-ji temple - Tokyo's most famous temple - and the 5 story pagoda. There were lots of Japanese couples walking around in the traditional robes which was cool to see. At the temple we had our fortune read; you shake a box and a wooden stick comes out with a number on. That number indicates which sheet of paper you are and thus, your fortune.

Next stop on the subway was the Akihabara electronics centre. It's basically a crazy district full of arcades, electronic shops and anime shops. It was interesting to look around and cool to see the girls dressed as maids and anime cartoons handing out leaflets for the anime cafes.

Trying to make the most of the day, we headed to the Imperial Palace. You can't go in any of the buildings so we just walked around the east gardens, probably one of the most beautifully kept gardens we've ever seen.

Time for food once again! Eventually we stumbled upon Harajuku Gyozalo, a small local place that only really serves fried or steamed dumplings and a couple of sides. We had cucumber with miso sauce, fried bean sprouts with a tasty meat sauce on, one lot of original pan fried dumplings and one lot of pork, leek and chive dumplings. And it all tasted so good that we ordered the same again!

In an aim to walk off dinner, we had a pit stop in the Oriental Bazaar before walking down Cat Street. Cat Street is lined with designer shops so it was definitely a place just for window shopping.

For our last night in Tokyo we didn't have anywhere booked so we jumped back on the subway for 40 minutes to our hotel to pick up our bags. We made our way back to Love Hotel Hill in Shibuya in a search for somewhere to stay. Love Hotels are a massive thing in Japan, mostly in the big cities. As a lot of young people live with their parents even once married due to housing costs, Love Hotels started popping up a while back. You can rent a room for a few hours in the day or stay for the night after 9pm. Although they're quite subtle and hidden, they say 'Rest' and 'Stay' outside with a price for each. You head inside the hotel through winding corridors (it's all very secretive) to large touch screens that show you which rooms are available with pictures. You select the room you want, and head to the little reception where all you can see is the receptionist's hands, pay your money and get given a key. No questions asked, no faces seen. Many of the hotels have crazy themed rooms but we settled for a jazzy room in Hotel Luara. They really had thought of everything, from an outdoor heart shaped jacuzzi in front of a 50 inch TV with movies to an electronic winding canopy to a warm, pulsating toilet seat. It was a really fun experience and we enjoyed watching Transformers 4 in the hot tub.

Sadly, we had to leave the Love Hotel bright and early this morning to catch the Shinkansen (fastest bullet train) to Kyoto.

Steph and Max x