Gail and Neil : Tokyo Part 2

23 September

Ginza

The main shopping area with upmarket malls and restaurants.

We found the Kit Kat Store! There are apparently more that 300 different flavours worldwide now; a trend that started in Japan. Kit Kat roughly means good luck in Japanese and Nestlé has really jumped onto that marketing bandwagon successfully.

The Japanese love spoiling their pets and dressing up their dogs. These boys in Ginza captured a lot of attention.

Akihabara

For everything to do with gaming and Animé...and weird taste in entertainment....

There are lots of themed bars and cafes...we went to a Shooting Bar which had a gun menu and a drinks menu..the sensible mix of alcohol and guns!! There are hundreds of Maids Bars where girls are dressed in French Maid outfits..also Butler Bars with male staff, Anime bars, Ninja bars and various animal bars.. Cat Bars, Dog Bars, Rabbit Bars or how about Owl bars or even a Hedgehog bar and a snake bar!!! Enjoy your tea or beer while petting your favourite animal!

Karaoke Bars and Clubs where DJs only play Anime music!!! And Retro Gaming bars...and Gachapon vending shops ( collectable toys in vended in plastic balls )

...and dressing up shops...we ended our evening with a burger from Carl's Jr...about as boring a Western choice as is possible in Akihabara but there are only so many " Okay now I've seen it all" moments you can handle in one day.

24 September

The Kyobashi Metro basement has an excellent food court. We had Japanese curry. It's a very popular lunch; rice, sauce and a choice of topping - often a breaded and fried pork steak and a fried egg.

Japanese toilets are hi - tech and always spotless. Even in stations, like this picture and at the stadiums. Buttons for seat warming, privacy music and air freshener alongside all the waterspouts and flush options.

Asakusa

This is another area of Tokyo with more traditional buildings and the amazing temple complex, Senso- ji.

It's too touristy these days but we enjoyed it nevertheless. Many tourists, especially the Chinese, dress up in traditional kimonos which can be hired by the hour.

The shops are interesting and the Japanese love beautiful

packaging and stationery.

We spent a great day here and ran out of time to visit Kappabashi - a street full of restaurant supply stores. Even if you're not a cook or a foodie don't miss this.

Shibuya

This is a very busy commercial and business area of Tokyo with a huge and confusing underground transport hub. Above ground is the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. A great sensory overloaded evening out.

25 September

Ueno

We spent the morning in Ueno, a less touristy residential and commercial area of Tokyo. We enjoyed the street markets.

Muji is a homewares chain; a Japanese IKEA. Simple designs for compact living spaces and not a Hello Kitty in sight. Their Ueno store is massive compared to their stores in the West.

We had Yakatori in a local worker's bar for lunch.

We had coffee and an extra light crumpet with marron cream at Hoshino Coffee.

We visited the Shinoba Zu temple.

Harijuku

Later we headed to Harijuku, the area famed for Japanese pop and youth culture and modern, independent fashion and lifestyle.

We also went to the Togo Shrine.

For dinner we tried ramen at Afuri, supposedly one of the best ramen restaurants in Tokyo. Ordering and payment is done at the vending machine before you sit down.

26 September

Japan has many Michelin starred restaurants and in Tokyo there are lots of top-end French Restaurants and a lot of French style cafes. There's a shared culinary history between the two countries but of course the French won't easily admit that it was the Japanese influence that informed Nouvelle Cuisine. We had an amazing lunch at Chez Olivier; as close to a faultless meal as you could ever experience.

Shinjuku

Then it was on to Shinjuku, Tokyo's party central.

We found a good pub, Sector 7G for watching rugby. We spent a few loud and crazy hours at the famous Robot Restaurant. Go for the noisy, neon-flashing spectacle but not for the lousy food!

We met Rob for Yakiniku, delicious Japanese BBQ cooked on a small coal,-fired grill at your table.

We all ended up in a pub called "The Flapper" in Golden Gai, a rabbit warren of narrow lanes crammed with little restaurants and drinking holes, rather too full of rowdy RWC tourists. Beer flows but you can get generous pours of good Japanese Whisky cheaper than at posh hotel bars.

Then pour yourself into a late night taxi to get home!