Sipping my first (of many) vodka tonics on the flight from Tokyo to Sydney I start to wonder how much I will take away with me from the last two months. So here it is, a compiled mish mash; what I'll miss, what I won't, what I'll hopefully remember. Things I'll miss: 'Japlish' (Japanese English), e.g. Public signs like 'Please use a toilet finely' (in a toilet in Kyoto) and 'BABY s***TER. I take care of your children. Please call up me'. Open-plan eateries -...

Sitting comfortably on a rush-hour subway train I became suddenly aware of the lack of sweaty odour and grey suits around. In fact, the atmosphere was oddly serene for 6pm on a Wednesday. There wasn't a single man in sight and when I looked around at the adverts lining the carriage they were mostly pink, beaming enthusiastically about wedding dresses and facial routines. This was a 'Women Only' carriage; another example of the many phenomenon particular to J...

Sumo. I know what you're gonna say… Fat men in nappies. Well I think I might be coming around to the idea. Japan is the mothership of oddity as far as my Western mind is concerned. A baffling example can be found on most street corners in Japan - the Pachinko parlour. Masses of seemingly sane men (many Saga healthcare worthy) spending endless hours in these frantic, garish, neon institutions where you basically sit at a vertical pinball machine and try t...

No sleep on the plane and it appears to be morning here in Japan! Most forward thinking of them as usual. Though I was greeted by a stoic looking Mount Fuji above the clouds this morning so all is forgiven.