some people are on the pitch....

What have I done on this day、8th May 2007?? I have done all my final pieces of sightseeing。First of all, I went up to Ikebukuro, a suburb as far as its possible to be from where I am currently on one line. Its a bizarre little place, with loads of alleyways, brimming with little shops and dubious looking restaurants. After a look round here, it was back down to Shibuya to see what was going on now that the main holidays were over. Ｉｎ actual fact, it was as busy as it had been over the weekend. The streets were packed, and the pace seemed more hectic, presumably because life was as normal and the business world sleeps for no-one!
After lunch here and a cold drink from Starbucks (my word has it been hot here today??), I went back down to Akehabara to have one final look round the madness and true gaudiness that this district brings.
Despite doing all this, and the resultant rushing round on trains and subways, I needed to be back at the hotel by 4.30 to take a call from the tour operators regarding my airport transfer in the morning. After all the importance that was placed on it, I was told to meet the rep at 6.45 tomorrow morning to get my ticket. Now depending on what ticket they give me, I may be making my own way to the airport. With my flight being at 10.50, and it taking 2 hours to get to the airport by bus, it doesnt leave much time for error. If I do get a bus ticket, Ill chance my arm with the train. I know its fast and reliable, and they do a express service from the station across the road. I cant be done with taking the slim pickings of seat choice given to last minute check ins. Dammit I want an exit row seat!! Hehe.
Anyway, Ive been for my last supper, and some sake, and Im off now to finish packing. I cant believe its over. Ive seen so much, learnt much more, and Ive got some amazing memories and stories to tell you that Ive not put on here.
Thank you for your contributions, comments, and just for reading my tales. I know sometimes theyve been a bit boring, but Ive been as true to my experience as is humanly possible.
Despite how much Ive enjoyed it, Im looking forward to my own bed. There is nothing as good in the world!!
See you all soon
Matt

king of the mountain

Im shattered. Again. Went to Mount Fuji and Hakone today. Ive had a really great time all told. The guide that we had was brilliant. His English was really good, and he was even cracking mother in law jokes! Funny guy. Although the rain has mainly held off, obviously going up mountains does have the drawback of cloud. Lots of it. So much so that despite going 3/4 of the way up Mount Fuji, we couldnt see the summit. Oh well!!
After lunch (rice, chicken, beef etc) it was off to Hakone. This is one of the largest lakes in the country and has some beautiful scenery. A swift cable car ride up the mountain later and I was treated to a stunning view...of more cloud. What I could see was very nice though.
Im sorry if this blog appears slightly ho-hum tonight but for the majority of the day I have been sat next to a French woman. And a French couple. And in front of 2 Spaniards. In fact you could describe our tour today as being a veritable smorgasbord of nationalities (although ironically no scandinavians). I ended up eating lunch with said Gallic cousins, and had a nice listen to their conversation. They then had the gall to ask if I spoke English. In English. If I didnt they would have been royally shafted wouldnt they??!!
Anyway, we ended up coming back on the Shinkansen, or bullet train. Wow, theyre a bit nippy to say the least! 250kph we were told, and when one comes through a station you know about it. Nearly knocks you off your feet!
So Ive not said a lot, but actually Ive been quite busy!!
Tomorrow is my last day away. Got things planned, so Im gonna sign off. By the way, I have had a major revelation. Its a four year plan, but I wont bore you with all the details. Suffice to say, things are gonna change!

Matt

Go on. Have a guess...

First of all. I wasn`t drunk the other night when I updated you. Despite Japan having the reputation of being technologically advanced, they cannot provide internet access in hotel rooms. This has meant that I have to use the free sevice the hotel provides (for the price of a drink). As Japanese keyboards are slightly diefferent to ours, there are buttons on it that I dont understand. If I touch one of these that happens to be next to the space bar it highlights the previous lines typing and copys and pastes it into where I am at that point. Its not me its this damn computer (also hence the lack of punctuation).
Right, now we have that cleared up, to let you know what Ive been doing. Yesterday I went to Harejuku, which is a massive piece of woodland in the city.It has a really pretty shrine in the middle of it, and I even got to see a Shinto wedding. They dress mighty funny!! It was all so peaceful there, and really gave me chance to reflect and think (not a lot of that been going on recently).
The afternoon was spent in Shibuya. This place is the image that people readily associate with Tokyo. It looks a bit like Piccadilly Circus, but more people which in itself is a real achievement. My god this place was insane, making my feet and head hurt at the same time. Not a good feeling. With all this rushing about I was getting hungry, and ended up in this place that I had overheard someone talk about. It serves Japanese food (well duh), but when you go in, you go to a vending machine and put your money in selecting (by picture) the food you want. It then prints a ticket and you wait for a seat to become available. Then you sit down they take your ticket and cook your food. How great is that?? It was nice food as well. Like a beef curry with a pork patty on top and sticky rice. They gave me a spoon and fork, but Im in Japan damnit, and I would not be beaten. Hand me my chopsticks!!
After a quick trip to Shinjuku, which is the real skyscraper district, it was back to the hotel for a couple of hours. A nap and a shower later I was ready for dinner, and a couple of drinks. I went back to the same place that I had met Nigel and Frog, but they weren`t in, so I ordered dinner, a beer and washed it all down with sake. As the nightlife here is all about whats on in the hotel, I didnt really fancy watching Tango Dream （a celebration of the Tango）, so I bought a couple of beers from the hotel shop, and settled in front of my laptop to watch Grease! What a thrilling Saturday night I had eh??
This morning I woke to a sound I am sick of hearing. Rain pitter-pattering against my window. After a good breakfast, I went off to catch the train. It was still raining. And it still is. As much of what there is to see in this city is outside, it has stunted my explorations somewhat, but I still managed to go to Hie Jinja shrine, which is quite a bizarre place. In the middle of office buildings, and high rise hotels is this little pathway covered in red Torii (like gateways) which lead to a shrine. Again, its a beautiful thing to have such a contrast from the hustle and bustle less than 100 yards away. After that it was back on the train to Ebisu to visit the beer museum. It was okay, but nothing special. As I said, this weather really limits what you can do, so I was back at the hotel by 3pm, and as I was shattered, went for a nap, dressed in my robe and slippers as is the tradition to wear when you get into your hotel room. I was quite unprepared for the rude awakening from the cleaning staff to make sure I had enough towels, as was she seeing a big fat English man sprawled across his bed wearing traditional dress and most likely disrespecting their proud nation.
Thats been the last two days. Im sitting here now with my eyes pointing firmly in the direction of Leicester.
Off to Mount Fuji tomorrow, so its an early start. After I get the result its bed and sleep.
Night all
Matt

What did you do in the war daddy?

I have had a really amazing first day in Tokyo.

It all started after breakfast this morning (see my earlier post). I got picked up, and after meeting everyone else we went to the bus station to change buses. Ostensibly this was so we could check in, and get our tickets, although I think that its just to give people a job. Anyway, once that unpleasantness was done it was off on our Tokyo Morning tour.It all began with a trip to Tokyo Tower, built in the same style as the Eiffel Tower, but slightly taller. Guess what? Its a public holiday this weekend, so the masses were out in force. Luckily we had tickets, but ａｓ　ｗｅ　ｌｅｆｔ　ｗｅ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｔｏｌｄ　ｔｈａｔ people were going to be queueing over 2 hours to get a ticket, and then another hour to go up in the lift. Personally I would have left it as there were still more arriving when we went.

After that was a drive towards the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was only a brief stop, but the obligatory French couple got lost and we had to wait 15 minutes for them to show up. On a side note, I noticed today that whilst we and the Japanese laugh in no particular way, the French most definitely laugh with an accent, although the guy was the most French looking person I have ever seen, excepting a string of onions I have ever seen, excepting a string of onions and a beret.

Following all that musing we trekked across the city to Asakusa to visit a Ｂｕｄｄｈｉｓｔ　ｔｅｍｐｌｅ．　Now that was really cool. We had a bit of time to walk around, and again, it being a holiday there were little craft stalls, and loads, and loads of food stalls, all cooking up different dishes (and not all with rice or noodles).

After all that excitement it was back to the coach for another mission, this time to a Pearl shop, where we would all learn about the cultured pearl which is, well...cultured here in Japan. It was mildly interesting, but not earth shattering.

That concluded the tour, and it only being 1pm, I had all afternoon to do my own thing, so decided to go to Akehabara, which is the electronics district, and a great place to people watch. Ⅰhad a lovely afternoon out in the sun walking up and down the highways and byways, and brilliantly all the roads were closed so you could just walk down the middle of a dual carriageway to save being cramped on the pavement. This is also the only place that you can legitimately ask for a discount on what you buy, as everywhere else is fixed price.

Say what you like about Japan, but you cannot knock the public transport system. Efficient, fast, clean and reliable. About the same as everything else here then!

Tonight threatened to be a wash out. . I didn`t book a table a wash out. I didn`t book a table in any of the 15 restaurants in the hotel (yes that's right), so was forced to look further afield for something to eat. I found little place just round the corner, and sat next to 2 just round the corner, and sat next to 2 Welshmen, now living in Spain, who are over here for a series of concerts (Nigels a violinist, and Frogs a trombonist). We ended up chatting about my travels and their life in Bilbao and Valencia respectively. The evening ended with Nigel, Frog and myself drinking copious amounts of Sake together, before calling it a night. I'm now very tired, and I can hear bed calling.

Lets see where tomorrow takes me!

Matt

There is a house in New Orleans

Hello, and welcome
Ive arrived safe and sound in Tokyo for the last leg of my tour. The flight over was great. Not only did I bag the exit row seat, I bagged the whole row!! How great is that?!
Ive not really got much to say as I didnt arrive at the hotel until 10.30 last night, and I was that tired I went tstraight to bed. Don`t pass go, don`t collect 200 pounds.
Just had brekkie, and saying a quick hello, then its off for a tour of the city. Got to get a wriggle on. Need to be at the coach in 10 mins!
I hope to update once Ive got sonething more interesting to say.
Sayonara for now
Matt

My wonderful day...

I think Ive had a really good day.
I did my laundry today. Yay!! No wearing pants inside out and back to front! Have you seen those industrial tumble dryers? Wowee...super efficient. They dried everything I own (well nearly) in 20 minutes. Guess what i want for my birthday?? (only kidding). After encountering the wonders of modern technology, I went for coffee with someone who until 24 hours ago I didn't know existed, and until 8 hours ago I wouldn't have called a friend. I happened to post on a website that I was feeling a bit lonely in Melbourne, and would you believe that someone offered to meet me? I met Jac at her offices and had a lovely hour chatting about life in Melbourne and how its much nicer here than back home, and definitely nicer here than in Sydney! She only emigrated out here with her other half in October so it was nice to see that perspective of life down under.

It was a quick lunch, then off to join my afternoon tour. Top marks go to Sue Corke for guessing correctly that I went on the Official Neighbours tour. It was really cool. We went to see the school where they film, the backlot of the studios where the garage is, as well as obviously the street itself. They have security guards outside the homes to make sure the residents don't get too disturbed by the antics of (predominantly British) tourists. We even got to meet Dr Karl Kennedy. How cool is that??!!! He comes across as a really nice guy, who loves to meet the fans, although he really was a flirt with the laayyyyydies!! We were also supposed to meet someone else hmmmm...I think it was Carmella, but I can't be sure, but she was busy doing interviews. We even got to find out some little secrets about whats coming up in the show. For those of you that watch it, I'm not gonna spoil anything, but I will say that there are a lot of people leaving. There are marriages, deaths and some "interesting" storylines coming up. Look...me with Dr K!!

Anyway, now I've shocked you all with how sad I really am, I'll bid you farewell. Farewell for now, and farewell from Australia. Its been....real. Ive got some great memories from this country to add to those from New Zealand, and the US. Just one place left...Tokyo. I'm as nervous about going here as I have been doing anything on this trip. I don't speak the lingo, the culture is so different, and I'm about a foot taller than the average person, so I should blend in beautifully!

Catch ya later

Up, up and awaaaayaaaay....

Hi all.
Well Ive had a stinking couple of days, but I don't want to talk about it. Lets focus on the positives. I got up in my hot air balloon today. Up at 4.30am waiting for a call either way, then sitting in my hotel reception waiting for my pick up for an hour. Eventually they turned up, and I was on my way to the Royal Park for setup, and preparation!
It was still dark as the balloons were inflated, and I was told as everyone else was in groups I would ride with the pilot in his little section at the side. With the gas bottles. And all the electrical equipment. And no way to get in or out. You see, round the rest of the basket were hand and foot holes to aid entry. On the pilots section there is nothing, so I was handed a little step ladder, which was fine until I stepped on the edge of the basket, it moved and I crotched myself on the rim of a wicker basket. It hurt lots. I shall say no more, but I think Ive got a big ass bruise on my right buttock.
As you can see from the piccies (yes you get pics today), its the best way to see a sunrise, and the city of Melbourne. I'm sorry about the quality of the picture looking down, but I was a bit shaky. That was taken at 4000 feet (honestly, I was looking at the GPS), so I'm sure you understand why I didn't want to lean over too much! When we landed, it was even better being with the pilot. I'm not sure if you are aware how you land a hot air balloon, but if you're not here goes. You use the ground to stop it. You don't slow down, decelerate or use a guide rope. You hit the ground. Hard. Now, in a normal compartment you are told to lean against the back of your alloted compartment, as when you do hit the ground, the basket tips over. I asked as we were coming down what I was supposed to do. I got the reply "Just hold on to something". I thought to myself "This is how I am going to die". Glad I was wearing clean underpants ("was" being the appropriate word), but I survived to tell the tale. It was genuinely the scariest thing Ive done this trip, despite it looking so serene. Glad I did it though.
Ive spent the rest of my day trying to sort out my case. Whats dirty, whats clean, whats dirty but could pass as clean??? I popped to the launderette ($15 for the hotel to do it!! You must be joking), but they were closed, so I'm doing that in the morning. Tomorrow afternoon? Why, I'm doing what every person in their right mind should do when visiting Melbourne. Im going on a little tour. I'm not saying where, but if you think hard enough I'm sure you will guess!!
Ill tell you all about it tomorrow
Matt