The weird and wonderful

Arrived at Tokyo Airport via Taiwan again.  There was no queue at immigration so i got straight through.  It was then the fun started! Alot of the signs were in Japanese and i had no clue what the heck they said!  I gave Kirsteen a call and arranged to meet her atv Tokyo central. I managed to get myself a ticket for the express train and eventually get to the right platform.  At central a really nice guy helped me find the right exit to meet Kirsteen ;o)  When i met her we got the JR train to her apartment. Her friends Kevin and Jess were over from Edinburgh staying for a 2 wks. Was good to hear some more friendly accents ;o)

Day 1

Cherry Blossoms

Kirsteen,Kevin,Jess and I headed out to the Asakusa area.  We saw the temples and shrines here. Very colourful.  Then we took a river boat down to Hinode peir. Took a few snaps of the Rainbow bridge and then got onto the monrail which took us to the Ginza area. Its the park lane of Tokyo. Very posh shops. The main road was shut off so we could wander up the street.  Lots of high rises and funky looking buildings.  We went into the Sony shop which was massive.  Next we went to Ueno Park.It was lovely. All the cherry blossoms were out and the lanterns were all lit up- verï½™ picturesque.　Alot of the locals had brought out tarpaulins and had put them underneath the cherry blossoms trees. They are called hanami parties, they bring along food and drink and party the night away.  We met Ben down there and he took us all to a Tempura restuarant. We all sat along the bar and slurped away at the noodles and tasty tempura.  We walked through electric city .  It was like NYC, all the bright neon lights!  There are not many bars in Japan but we managed to find a bar and have a few beers, it was saturday night and we were the onyl ones there!

Day 2

Today we went to Yoyogi park. Here we saw "the weird and the wonderful"  Its here that all the local teenagers hang out.  They are decked out in goth gear, wigs,thick makeup etc Its a sight to be seen. They are a tourist attraction in themselves.  Then we went to see the Rockabillys dancing.  They are a bunch of 50yr old guys dressed in 50s style black leather with Evis style quiffs! They are mad but wicked dancers. I really enjoyed their dancing.  Ive taken a few tips to bring back to Scotland ha ha!  As we wandered around the rest of the park we saw more and more performances.  Young bands playing, people salsa dancing to the Samba beat, boys playing hakkisack(amazing agility), breakdancers etc It was something else.

We went for dinner to a shushi style restaurant which was fabby.

Had great time in Tokyo with kirsteen and the guys ;o)