tokyo, the proper version...

hello! it's thursday night here - only two days to go till we head home..There's yet another typhoon on at the moment, but it shouldn't delay our flights...... As I said, monday and tuesday nights o the week were spent in the big big city of tokyo.. it was a bit full on, and i didn't find it particularly exciting, so i probably won't write very much (please see ross' blog for a very extensive description). Basically, we caught the shinkansen(bullet train) up (after realising it was half and hour earlier than we thought it was) adn got caught in a typhoon, meaning we had to wait for a while, which was pretty nice, as they're really comfy trains...after ditching our luggage at the hotel, which Kosho's sister had so kindly booked or us (what an AMAZING family) we went and had some lunch in shibuya, one of the apparently endless busy shopping areas, and completed our search for the elusive international ATM. I was geeky and decided to have a nose bleed directly after eating the hottest bowl of noodles on the planet. not cool in any country. we went up a high building and then had dinner in a horrible american bar/restaurant, which confused Kosho's sense of identity even further - DO NOT LISTEN TO LONELY PLANET. ever. Then we got lost near the red light district in the middle of the return of the typhoon...interesting - a nice man rescued us and led us through the lightning to a train station...big bows for him... After deciding not to continue our planned night of frivolity and club going, we went to bed...

and then got up!we headed first to the contemporary art museum for the morning, and were bemused by the fact that an anime artist's show (which was basically a whole load o quite good watercolours) was taking up two floors of the biggest contemporary art museum in japan...and it was PACKED. People were going round in a queue...very bizarre. We then headed to Ginza, another of those shopping places (perhaps the whole of tokyo is like this) in search of smaller galleries, but couldn't find any - again, lonely planet..after that we went up tokyo tower in the dark (another tall building, more good views) then went back to kand for dinner in a sake shop, where we experienced as close to reality as it gets in tokyo. It looked lovely from the outisde but in reality it was an amzingly grotty, greasy, dirty pub. So we started with a glass of sake (strong stuff) then had some 'food' which was all microwaved for us in front of our eyes...even the freezer was acorss the room in the bar area, next to the tv showing the japanese version of the price is right...weird, again. we then set off in search of a manga cafe, and aftfer an hour or so of fruiless walking, found one just up the road from the hotel. Even weirder than the pub - not acfe at all, but a big space full of private booths hih you rent for an hourly rate, each with a recliner a tv and a computer in them. you can read manga from their library or watch dvds, but most people use them as a cheap alternative to a hotel if they miss the last train home. that's about all their good for I think...

after another good night's sleep, we were up bright and early to see some architecture and the science museum down at the port, as well as the toyota museum, which ross loved....Then we headed back into town, and enjoyed a bit of time stiing, and each had a look round this huge bookshop. unfortunately, ross chose to do this about 25 mins before our train, on his own, while me and kosho waited outside, and he got a bit carried away and lost track of time. I had also forgotten that all of my stuff was in a locker in the staion, so wasn't that worried about time. Luckily, I realised this with 15 mins to go, and left kosho to wait for ross, and set off into the station. As soon as i went through the door, I remembered that I didn't have a clue where my locker was....and of course, I'd gone in from a different entrance than we had left from, confusing the matter even more. Luckily, i remembered how to ask where something was in japanese, and started waving my key frantically at various station staff, who were very helpful. However, tokyo station is huge,and I had to get right acorss it. I was running now, very fast, as I had realised that i didn't have any idea where ross and kosho were, having said to kosho 'I'll wait for you at the locker', very confidently... Without a phone, lost in tokyo station, in rush hour...not great, but finally I found the locker, chucked all my stuff in my bag and was just about to run off to the platform, unsure of whther ross and kosho had been to the locker already and were on the train, when I saw two very red young men sprinting towards me! we joined forces, and finally managed to locate the platform, and dived on with about a minute to spare...I'm not too sure how all the business men felt about having three very sweaty, red people pumped up on adrenaline sitting across from them, but it was a very good feeling to be there....
so that was tokyo...I'm still not sure how i feel about it...It's a pretty confusing place, and I don't think i like it, but not for the reasons that thought i wouldn't. anyway, we're back in kyoto, which is lovely, and I was going to go surfing for the last 2 days, but the typhoon's still working it's way down the coast...hope all is well in scotland - I'm really looking forward to being home...we're going to have a japanese barbeque, and evryone's invited...
sorry this writing's so rubbish - i'm a bit tired i think...
much love. x