The business class upgrade on the flight meant better food, real cutlery and a seat that magically transformed into a bed. But even after taking some sleeping pills we only managed to grab a couple of hours sleep on the plane. The entire flight was in sunlight and we landed at 9am local time so Friday and Saturday were merged into one really long day.
Anthony and Kimiko met us at the airport which is about an hour's travel outside Tokyo on the train. Buying tickets gave us our first go at dealing with the money here so Anthony taught us a simple rule for converting between yen and pounds: knock off the last two zeroes and then divide in half. So the train tickets that cost about 1500 yen worked out at roughly £7.50.
We saw a nice idea on the train - all seats on the train are forward facing but if you're in a group of four you can just push a pedal and swing a pair round so you can all sit together.
Their flat was on the otherside of Tokyo but luckily subway travel is cheap (100 yen / 50p) and not very busy at this time. There are so many people crushed together during the rush hour that were even signs on the platform for women only trains. Vending machines are everywhere in the station and on the streets selling cheaps drinks (100 yen / 50p) and cigarettes (300 yen / £1.50).
We were so jetlagged that we didn't want to do anything too adventurous today so we spent the afternoon looking around the Imperial Garden's before heading into the Ginza district. Shops stay open all night and we had a look at all the new tech toys in the Sony building.
We ate in a Japanese restuarant run by an Australian guy which was completely packed. We ordered a huge amount of food - Sashimi, Ginzo nuts, buttered scallops, Tempura, fried chicken and a tomato salads plus 2 huge beers and the girl's got a mix of rice-vodka and lemonade. I thought we'd spend a small fortune but when the bill came it worked out at just £12.50 a head which must be the best value meal I've ever eaten. Plus they don't even tip here!
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