ninja – lifeshouldbeonebigholiday.

Wednesday. 9th December 2015

My journey to Japan was an emotional roller coaster. First, it seemed to take them ages to let me through security at Lhasa airport. A lady took my passport and was asking questions then she left to find someone else then they took my passport elsewhere to someone else for more questions and finally after what felt like an hour, although most likely only 5 minutes, I was allowed through.

Secondly, I was robbed in Lhasa airport of my last of Chinese money and paid £12 for a bowl of noodles and a tea. Fortunately I figured I wouldn’t need money on the plane and could probably get by. Not the end of the world but my list of issues goes on…

Thirdly, given that my ears hadn’t popped for a couple of days in Tibet, the flight from Lhasa to Chengdu was a painful one and on landing in Chengdu, it resulted in a teary phone call to mum and a visit to a very lovely first aid lady who said I should go to hospital. As I was not going to do that, especially not in Chengdu, I took her hydro-chloride nasal drops and boarded my plane to Beijing. Rebel (a poorly one).

The next flight was painful but less so and only hurt on descent (although the pain was still horrific). I had originally planned to sleep on Beijing airport tonight given that this website made it look easy enough yet after take night at EBC, I booked the crown plaza hotel instead, even if I would only be there for 6 hours.

I was so glad I did. The room was incredible and even had separate conditioner which seems unheard of in China hotels (at least the ones I was in and I was running out). It was pure luxury and worth every penny.

My flight to Beijing was slightly more comfortable after a good nights sleep and I eventually made it to Japan.

I had bought a Japanese sim so I could use the interest so I headed off on this mission to find the airport post office. After wandering round for absolutely forever, I was told I was in fact in the wrong terminal one – I should be in domestic. EUGH. So I found the shuttle bus and headed off.

I easily picked up the sim and decided to send some bits home, mainly my sleeping bag and the DPRK books. An hour and a half later, and 6.5 kg lighter, I had filled up my box of goodies and sent it home. I can only hope it gets there in time for Christmas!

I was warned on the confusion of the Japanese subway in Tokyo but I was not prepared for the destination of a train not being its last stop so there were many occasions I got off the train, only to find I needed to get back on it to continue to a new line. It was mental.

I did however finally make it to Nui hostel, our home for the next 5 days. Gavin was arriving later so time for a nap and a shower. It then transpired that me phone wasn’t unlocked and I couldn’t use my new sim. However I had made it safely to Japan so life could be worse.
Getting to Tokyo’s other airport was even more of a mare and took a lifetime. Panic not though, I made it in time to meet my new travel buddy.

Back to the hostel we went (obviously this journey took even longer as we managed to get the slow train and not the rapid express train!). Dinner and bed ready for a fun packed day tomorrow!

Thursday.

As it was a sunny day we headed off to the Tokyo skytree for some views over Tokyo. We went to the top deck which was 450m and browsed the Star Wars exhibition that was there. We also managed to catch some glimpses of Mount Fuji which was really enjoyable!

For lunch we headed to the Dog Heart cafe that I had read about online. This was a place where dogs roamed round the cafe. On arrival we were greeted with around 15 puppies which were the most adorbale things in the world. It turns out it wasn`t a cafe but our hunger was quelled by the super cute faces of what was in front of us. For 900¥ (£4.50) we could sit and play with them for a whole half hour and they were great.

After lunch we strolled down to Shibuya to see the famous crossing. When the lights turn red, the traffic stops in all directions and there is a mass movement to cross the road. It was so crazy busy.

After walking across the crossing a gazillion times we finally left to wander the area and find some dinner. Which resulted in being a Maccies by the hostel as Gavin was starting to feel the jetlag. I wasn’t going to complain about an early night!

Friday.

I had hoped to see the tuna auction at Tsujiki market whilst I was here but unfortunately it had closed to tourists early December for the Christmas period (gives me an excuse to come back here). Instead we headed over to browse the stalls.

We bought some eel skewers and saw sea slugs which looked revolting. We also saw some very strange creature which we learnt a few days later wasn’t as unpleasant in taste as it looked!

Lunch was at a kaiten sushi restaurant which is the equivalent of Yo! Sushi in Japan but substantially cheaper – although no salmon and avacado hand rolls in this one! Gavin tried numerous different plates and did not shy away but it was fair to say, sushi was not his cave meal!

After lunch we continued walking around and came across a small shrine where there was a small ceremony taking place.

We then went to find the Nakagin Capsule Tower:

Each of these pods is a self contained unit and can be removed and replaced. I would not enjoy living in that!

We then headed over to the Kabuki theatre to see some tradition Japanese arts. It was very bizarre and I’m not sure I would recommend it to anyone. Both Gavin and I fell asleep. That may sound bad but sohad the majority of the back row. We read that the particular act of the play we were seeing was one of the top dance acts so were excited but a few stamps of feet and a couple of arm movements did not qualify for dancing in my eyes.

After our nap at the theatre we headed to the National Museum in Ueno Park. The park was very pretty at night as there was lots lit up and the museum was interesting with some original samurai armour.

Dinner for the evening was at the Robot Restaurant which was voted the number one attraction in Tokyo for foreign visitors.

Our table was booked at 9pm. We had just picked up our tickets at 9pm when I received my text from the ICAEW with my results. Gavin said don’t look at it until after dinner but I couldn’t leave it until then.

I opened the message as we crossed the street and I HAD PASSED. I squealed in delight – much to the astonishment of the public around me. I couldn’t believe it. No more exams ever! Absolutely buzzing.

I made the necessary phone calls to the family back home and I bought a bottle of champagne to drink at the show. Such a relief!
The robot show was the most bizarre and ridiculous thing I have ever seen. It was pretty funny though.

No storyline to the show but it was good all the same.

We had some post dinner drinks in a bar in the golden gai area and sat at a bar which can’t have been bigger than a goldfish bowl. Tiniest bar I’ve ever been in but we sat chatting to locals until the early morn.

Saturday.

I woke with a headache so decided I would treat myself to a lie in. We visited Meiji-Jingu, a large Shinto shrine in the middle of a huge park in Tokyo. It was very peaceful walking through the park and we even managed to watch some traditional Shinto weddings.

There are also large bright colourful empty barrels of sake piled up in the park which are a decorative display to the gods. It also made for a good seflie opportunity.

We walked from here to Harajuku where I wanted to see more quirky Japanese fashion. The long street did not disappoint. There were so many people it was insane – locals and tourists alike.

We browsed the various shops along route until we hit the designer shops and other than taking some snaps of their designer buildings, we walked straight on.

We reached the subway station and hopped on the metro to Akihabara; the anime and manga centre. On exiting the subway at Akihabara we were met with many many bright lights and strange characters adorning the walls of buildings on big billboards.

Girls dressed in cosplay outfits were everywhere trying to entice people into their overpriced maid cafes. The area known as Electric Town had many shops selling various gadgets and many brightly coloured arcades – half of them selling capsule toys – cheap toys in plastic balls; who would want those, I have no idea.

After wandering round for a couple of hours we were knackered and dinner wasn’t until 10pm (it was the only time this restaurant could get us in!) so we went back to the hostel for yet another nap.

Dinner was well worth the wait. We went to the ninja restaurant in Akasaka and it was just incredible. The food was great, the entertainment and atmosphere was great and it was a really fun evening. Definitely a good way to celebrate results!

Sunday.

This morning we tried to go see some sumo but although the Internet said it was on until 10am, when we arrived at 9:20, it was already finished so we could only see the wrestlers standing about chatting which was a shame.

After this disappointment we went to another shrine near our hostel called Senso-ji which was very busy but good to see all the same as it is Tokyos oldest temple. There was a large cauldron of incense which people wafted the smoke over themselves as it is said to bestow health.