Hong Kong: July 9-14

The trip to Hong Kong started well, as on the Emirates flight, I got a free Manhattan. And had some decent duck curry. Got to Hong Kong, bought a tourist Octopus card, took MTR to my station (no problems), checked in to rather crappy hostel in good area. Wang Fat hostel in Causeway Bay.

Had McD’s for dinner again because I couldn’t find a cheap decent place to eat. It's disgusting how many times I've eaten at McDonalds on this trip because of unfamiliarity with my surroundings. I'm really going to try to stop doing that. Causeway Bay is a major shopping area of Hong Kong – so lots of shops but I couldn’t find the restaurants. Back to the hostel, met Dave from Canada – he invited me to come out with them later to watch the World Cup final (at 3 in the morning) but I declined (as I would have to head to the bank first thing in the morning).

July 10, headed to the Visa office first. I was going to get it done at the hostel, but they wanted to charge HK$850 (for express service – only option), when the visa office cost was HK$390 (two day service). Walked from Wan Chai MTR station, got a bit lost looking for it, eventually found it. Waited for a while (take a number). Then handed over my application and passport, was told to pick it up Wednesday (the 11th). So easy. Anyone getting their visa through the hostel is getting scammed bigtime. Then to the bank. Found the correct HSBC branch, made my deposit for the Mandarin program. Back to the hostel, where the desk guy tells me he won’t make a copy (even though their description on the hostel booking site says, "Free Photocopies and Faxes"). Then says he will for $2 HK. Then the copy is crappy, so it's useless. He tells me to go to the shopping center around the corner. I do. There’s no copy place there. Obviously, the desk guy was both an idiot and an ass. I walk around and find the Hong Kong main library. There, I find a copy machine, a fax machine, free internet, and AC. Spend a couple hours there getting things sorted out. It’s a really great library – New York should take notes.

Back to the hostel, then out again. To Tsim Sui Sha, one of the other shopping areas. Walked around for quite a while, eventually bought a DS Lite + one of those flash card readers filled with games. Back to the hostel. Sleep.

July 11. Dropped off laundry (thanks to Troy from Australia, who told me about the place, which was 1/3 the cost of the hostel laundry service). A quick trip to the China Travel service, where I bought my tickets for the train to Shanghai on Friday. Then I ascended the Peak. Took the MTR to Central Hong Kong, walked around, then all the way up Victoria Peak. I was COVERED in sweat by the time I made it up (it had rained in the morning and was incredibly humid). I mean really, I could actually wring torrents of sweat out of my shirt. It’s very odd, but there’s a huge mall at the top of the peak. The AC was very welcome, as was the Frappucino and free internet access at Pacific Coffee Company. Took the tram back down to central, then headed over to Mong Kok looking for trainers. Couldn’t find any in my size. They have small feet here. But I did buy an iPod nano. Heh. WASTING MONEY!!!! Crap. I am horrible at this budget travel thing. But I did need to replace my old iPod, which was stolen in Indonesia... Had a great lunch of Congee and Chinese Broccoli. Then back to the hostel again.

July 12. Me and my nano go to the Art Museum. Walked to the Convention Center, then took the ferry across to the museum. Which is free on Wednesday. They had a great exhibition on the Etruscans – apparently 2006 is the “Year of Italy in China”, which is a bit odd. Nice museum, but the building was very ugly. Walked around the Avenue of the Stars, took pictures of Chow Yun Fat’s handprint and the Bruce Lee Statue.


Found a bag for my DS and my nano. Then back to the hostel, then out again to look for trainers one last time. Success! A comfortable pair of Merrell trail runners. Once back at the hostel, I ate dinner (I had been eating food from the grocery store for a couple days at this point to save money) of ramen with dumplings. Then after waiting a while for purposes of digestion, I went for a short run to test the trainers, which fit well. That’s it for the 12th.

The 13th. Walked all the way to Wan Chai ferry pier to Pacific Coffee. Then back to the hostel where I switched rooms (surfing the internet in the meantime). Then out for another walk, went to Times Square (a big mall), bought a shirt for too much money, had more Pacific coffee, played some DS, then back to the hostel again. Spent the afternoon relaxing - it's just too easy to spend money in HK, and I didn't really feel like sightseeing any more right then.

A few thoughts on Hong Kong. Interesting place. But almost as expensive as Tokyo. I could live here for a while if I had a job… But not as a tourist. It’s a city that really revolves around shopping. The bright lights are all over here, but they are far less technological than Tokyo’s. There are tons of big, lit up signs that look like they’ve been around since the 40’s. There are giant buildings everywhere, and most of them are filthy, at least on the outside. Most places I’ve been inside of are actually nice.

Five Nights in Bangkok: July 4-9

Arrival in Bangkok (on the 4th of July). Got to airport, found ATM, all good. Found the correct bus immediately. Then got to the Hostel (Suk 11, Soi 11 Sukhumvit). Nice place! I had a double room for myself, with AC. The place is full of dark wood, and the hallways are designed like alleys over streams… hard to describe. But the TV room had HBO. Heh. And the place had WiFi. Beautiful. That evening, I used the Wifi to research Mandarin courses in China. Not sure why, but I did. And I ended up finding that several of them started in July and they were the last ones I’d have a chance to take! Ahhhh! So I emailed the University of International Relations in Beijing, asking if I could still apply for their program. Then ate some food from a street stall, walked around a bit, found a used bookstore (which I would revisit several days later), walked around a bit more, headed back to the hotel.

Next day (July 5). I got a response from UIR, saying I could apply, just had to pay a late fee. So now I’ve got to get to China, get a visa, get all my necessary documents for the program, have a place to stay, etc, etc. And the program starts July 20! Heh. So I start working on things. I book a flight for July 9 to Hong Kong, which will get me in on a Sunday, since I have to go to the bank on Monday to make a payment into UIR’s account (at a certain bank branch). I book a hostel (end up booking too many days, more on that later). I call home and get my mother to help me out with academic records (eventually I just get a digital confirmation of my UM graduation, and they accept that). I fill out the application form and fax it to Beijing. Whew! Then I head out to see some of Bangkok. I take a river taxi up from the bottom to the top of the muddy, muddy river. It’s a horribly rainy day, but Bangkok is a sight. Walk to Khao San (the backpacker ghetto of Bangkok), hate it instantly. What a horrible cesspool of backpacker scum. Ugh. But I did find a used copy of the Lonely Planet China there (although it ended up having two pages on Beijing ripped out – bastard previous owners). Then I started walking back, and it started pouring. I mean, I really experienced the monsoon. The rain was torrential (see picture on Flickr). I was completely soaked, finally grabbed a cab to Siam square. From there, tried to go find the Settlers Café ( a new gaming café in Bangkok), but was unsuccessful (mostly because I hadn’t paid attention to the directions the last time I read them). Went back to the hostel, watched some TV, checked some email re: the program, more street food (green curry), fruit from street vendor (so many fruit vendors – it’s wonderful!).

July 6. Ok. Started with grand plans to sightsee. Instead, walked to Siam, got a latte, watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Not as good as the first, but still fun. Trying a little too hard to be Empire Strikes Back. The theatre was gorgeous. And again, all the kids and teens were actually quite for the movie. Oh, and the trailer for Spiderman 3 rocked my socks. After the movie, went to find Settlers Café again. This time I found it. Woo! Was welcomed by the staff, and soon found myself teaching all the employees how to play Power Grid. Fun! After that, we were going to play Princes of Florence, but never got to because the place got so busy. I spent a lot of time hanging with Daryl (the manager) and Ni (one of the employees). Taught a group of customers how to play Puerto Rico. Then played several games of Blokus with Daryl and two of his friends from his Thai language class (he was Singaporean – that’s where the first Settlers Cafes are). I won each time. Heh. Daryl invited me to eat dinner with him and the employees. Yum. Closed out the place, then headed home.

July 7. Out to do sightseeing. Saw Wat Po, beautiful temple with the huge reclining Buddha. I mean, really huge. And shiny. Also got a massage there. Walked around a bit, got some Pad Thai, went back to the used bookstore, sold some books, bought some books, then headed back to Settlers… Taught them Princes of Florence ( and lost), ended up teaching another group to play Puerto Rico. Closed the place out again.

July 8. Last day in Bangkok (for now). Didn’t do much. Went to the weekend market – they have everything there. The place is crazy huge. I’m planning on doing all my Christmas shopping there right before I leave in November. There I bought a pair of khaki jeans and a small backpack. Then back to Settlers because I had forgotten to pay my tab the night before. They wouldn’t let me pay, and I ended up playing a few games of Lost Cities with Ni, and then Villa Paletti and Settlers with some Thai girls who hardly spoke any English. Finally, headed out of Settlers Café for the last time (this trip), and back to the hostel. Went to Cabbages and Condoms (weird name, good restaurant - found it in the Lonely Planet) for dinner – had some great green curry.

July 9. Had the Suk 11 free breakfast (which I’d been having for the last few days – pineapple, watermelon, papaya, croissants, muffins), then got a latte at Serendipity down the street while reading the paper. Bangkok is a great place, nice and cheap and fun. But wet and full of traffic as well. A few days earlier when I took that cab it took about an hour to go a couple km. I have no idea how people commute there! Anyway, took a cab to the airport (not much traffic on Sunday), had lots of time to spare so I got a manicure/pedicure there. How metrosexual of me, I know. Never had one before, definitely will again. Then had to get more money out of the ATM because I had forgotten that there was a departure tax to leave Bangkok. 500 Baht! Well over 10 bucks! Why they can’t add that onto tickets is beyond me. Gah.

Oh, and when on the subway, always remember:

Singapore Once More: July 3-4

July 3. While waiting in Tokyo airport, some ass destroyed my Mac power adapter. At least he gave me cash to get a new one (although if I had known how much an adapter cost I would have gotten more money from him). Arrived at Singapore Airport at 2 am. Slept on airport chairs until 6 am. Then took the MRT to my hostel (The Hive), waited a couple hours, and thankfully when they let me in they actually gave me a bed immediately! Woo! But I ended up not sleeping then. Ate some toast, had some instant coffee, then headed out to walk to Orchard road. Saw a couple cool temples along the way – the temples in Singapore are SO colorful. Almost overly so.

Eventually made it to Orchard Road. Decided to go see Superman Returns on the huge digital screen there. It was a pretty good movie – Brandon Routh didn’t seem like he’d live up to the role in the beginning, but he grows on you. Spacey was fantastic as Luthor. Kate Bosworth sucked as Lois Lane. The crowd was great too – no talking, even though there were a bunch of teens and kids there!

After the movie, headed to the Mac store to get a new adapter. Ended up buying the international adapter kit, because that was about $60 (which is how much the guy gave me). A full new adapter would have cost $100!! Crazy.

Walked back, stopping along the way at the Newton Food Center – a hawker center which had just been redone – nice tile roof, well-designed, full of food. I had some Chilli Crab that attacked me. Seriously, it jumped up about a foot off the plate and spewed sauce and crabmeat everywhere, including all over me. Luckily it didn’t hit the woman sitting near me! Actually, the woman had too much fruit at the end of her meal, so she gave me some papaya. Mmm… papaya. The crab, incidentally, was delicious. Difficult to eat, as crabs so often are, but delicious. Spicy and sweet.

Continued back to the hostel, checked email, ate again ( I think – that afternoon is a bit of a blur – oh, actually, I remember trying to find my fruit guy, but he was closed. Damn fruit guy), then sleep. Next morning, more toast, plus leftover papaya, then MRT to the airport. Then Singapore airlines to Bangkok. Nice, short flight with a good meal and wine.

Last Tango in Tokyo: June 29-July 2

June 29 - started at Kohikan Coffee – these people are crazy serious about their coffee! Bunsen burners and pyrex beakers and individual percolators. That type of insanity produces quite tasty coffee, though. Then I walked all the way from Asakusa to Shibuya (clear across central Tokyo). First I went to Akihabara again, thinking maybe I could find something to buy for people back home. Then I realized I’ll just get stuff months from now in a cheaper country. Then on to the imperial gardens, very nice, but somewhat unimpressive for Imperial Gardens. unimpressive. This was followed by a trip to the Meiji shrine – quite beautiful, although the walk there was almost better than the shrine itself. Spent a little time just walking around here, trying to avoid the crowds. Finally, a walk to Shibuya, and a coffee at the Starbucks overlooking Hachiko square,

the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. Met a teacher named Will there, we talked for a while. He’s in Japan with a class full of high-schoolers – seems that he got started teaching (in the U.S.) by teaching English in Japan years back.

June 30th. Got up and reprehensibly got some McD’s breakfast. Then back to the hostel for a few hours of relaxing and pic uploading. Once I finally left, I walked to Ueno, through Ueno park, then all the way to Ikebukuro (stopping along the way at the Thunder Dolphin rollercoaster at the Tokyo Dome – great coaster right in the middle of Tokyo!). Had some crappy revolving sushi in Ikebukuro. Walked around, Ikebukuro is pretty much like the rest of the shopping districts here. Grabbed the Yamanote back again, then a shower at the hostel. For dinner, went back to the good Kaitensushi place to make up for the crappy one in Ikebukuro.

July 1. Last day in Tokyo. Woke up, went walking around the hostel area. Passed by the Edo Tokyo museum and the Sumo stadium (Ryogoku). Unfortunately, I missed the most recent Sumo tournament! Had a couple pastries for breakfast in Ryogoku. Then it started raining. Hid from the rain in the food area in one of the big department stores and got a couple sticks of yakitori (one chicken and broccoli, one chicken with some sweet sauce), and a toro maki. Ate the yakitori right away, saved the maki till I got back to the hostel. Waited out the rain in the hostel, and later went out for dinner with some guys from the hostel – Kokoichiban Curry for my last dinner in Japan.

Hiroshima: June 26-28

The train ride took about 4 ½ hours, often punctuated by intestinal problems (sorry, it's the truth). Then I arrived at Hiroshima, found a map, and used it to locate a cheap (by Japan standards) hotel (wasn’t ready to go back to a hostel yet). Took the streetcar, dropped my bags at the hotel, stayed in for the evening.

The 27th – walked around Hiroshima. Saw the Peace Memorial Museum, which is an excellent museum on the bombing, and Hiroshima both before and after it. Also many other memorials, the A-bomb dome, then a trip back to Hiroshima station for my reservations for Tokyo, walked around that area a little – saw a few temples. Was feeling ill, so I took the streetcar back to the hotel. Though about going out later but didn’t, as my digestive system really didn’t want me to.

The 28th – Hiroshima Castle, which has an excellent Samurai Museum within it, then more walking around Hiroshima. Had breakfast at the hotel (as the day before – complimentary breakfast including rolls, boiled eggs, cereal, yogurt, etc, etc). Then back to the station, and back to Tokyo.

Back to Tokyo: June 25-26

And now I'm almost a month behind the times! Ok, here's an update from the Japan days:

June 25: a train ride to Shinjuku followed by a long walk underground towards the Park Hyatt. The surprise was perfect. As we walked by, I said “ooh, the Park Hyatt! this place is amazing. Let’s go look inside!” So Marina agreed, and we headed up to the entrance. Then the porters tried to take our bags, and Marina said “no, no, we’re not staying here!”, and I said “yes, we are.” She was flabbergasted, and remained so for a while. An attendant took us up to the 41st floor, where we were seated at a desk, and a very friendly person took our info while chatting amiably with us. Then he took our bags and led us up to our room on the 47th floor. The room was spacious by Tokyo standards, with a huge king-size bed, a 30 inch plasma tv, and a gigantic bathroom with separate shower stall and soaking tub. We both showered off the travel funk, then headed out to go to Harajuku and Roppongi. Harajuku is the teen shopping area, tons of goth and punk stores that Marina loved. Then subway to Roppongi, which was pretty sleazy. Although we did get some good pork chops there.

Next day (the 26th) it was raining. We relaxed. Marina felt very ill, unfortunately. I got some breakfast at Excelsior Caffe downstairs. Then we walked (mostly underground) to Shinjuku station. Picked up a donut from Doughnut Plant (the one from the L.E.S.!), then took the train to Tokyo station, where I sent Marina off to the airport. A few minutes later, I boarded my Shinkansen to Hiroshima.

I swear I'm trying here.

Really. I'm in Beijing, and I thought I'd have my internet situation sorted days ago. Theoretically, by the end of this week I should have reliable internet access at home, so I can start making real posts again. For now, I'll let you know that Mandarin is really difficult, China is quite interesting, and I'm pleased to be taking a break from travelling to a new city every 3-5 days. Knowing that I'll be coming back to the same room for the next week is a welcome break - I'm able to unpack my bag and not pack it up again for a month and a half!

Test post: Behind the Firewall

Just a quick test to make sure my posts still come up from mainland China. Apparently China blocks access to the "blogspot" domain, but not the Blogger service itself... Anyway, I can still access my content via other means, I just wanted to make sure I can post.

Upcoming on Gaz Errant...

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be catching up on journals and pictures (Kiso Valley entry below is an example). I'll also be living in China! That's right, for the next 7 weeks I'll be living in China, and from the 20th on, I'll be studying Mandarin. Hey, I figure that it's the most useful language one can know nowadays. Anyway, as I'll be in one place for a while (starting July 19), I shouldn't have any problem keeping all of you readers up to date. Assuming my internet connection works. Fingers crossed, people, fingers crossed.

Kiso Valley: June 24-25

June 24. We headed out early to catch the train to Nakatsugawa, then subsequently to Nagiso. The train to Nakatsugawa was a limited express, and the Nagiso one was a local train. Lots of stops, we were the only Caucasians on the train. Actually, we were the only Caucasians we saw until we got back to Tokyo the next day. The Kiso valley, where the villages of Tsumago and Magome are, contains a well-preserved remnant of the old Edo-period Nakasendo highway. Both villages are very much preserved in the Edo style. Beautiful old buildings, and a winding path through a mountain pass connecting the two villages. We arrived at Nagiso, looked around a bit before realizing that the bus sitting in front of the station was the bus to Tsumago. So we took the bus, arriving in Tsumago 15 minutes later. We headed up into the village and realized that we had no idea where to go. We looked around for a while, then Marina asked for directions at an ice-cream shop. With a little work, they were able to find it on the map, and we headed that way (stopping at the tourist center where I found an English map which had out minshuku on it!).

Arriving at the minshuku (Shimosagaya), we found a small girl who spoke no English. Hah! She directed us to come upstairs, and pointed us to a room. We dropped our bags, had some welcoming green tea, and headed out. We started along the trail to Magome, not realizing that we had already passed our last chance to get water. Or food. For 7 kilometers. Uh-oh. The trail passed through a couple small (4-5 house) residential areas, along with completely wooded paths (and two waterfalls!). We ended up drinking some water from a couple spigots on the way (which may have come back to bite us in the ass – literally- a day later…), then got some dried currants from a shop and drinks from a vending machine at the highest point of the trail, the Magome pass. Then we descended into Magome, which was as nice as Tsumago, but we didn’t have much time to see it – we had missed the last bus back and a taxi would cost $30! So we decided to double-time it back. We jogged most of the way! 7 and a half km, up and down mountain paths. We were quite tired when we got back, but we made it in time for dinner. After a quick change, dinner in the dining room. It was amazing. Some salted fish, some thinly sliced ultra-rare beef, rice, pickles, tempura, and other things. Along with some plum wine. Then we each took a relaxing bath, then walked around Tsumago. We saw fireflies – in fact, it was time for their firefly festival – the streets all lit up with candles, and everyone around going up to a specific place where there were tons of fireflies. Pretty cool.

The next morning, another amazing meal (rice, pickles, egg, various other tidbits), then a bus to Nagiso, local train to Nakatsugawa, limited express to Nagoya, and finally a Shinkansen back to Tokyo. I wish we could have stayed more than just one day in the Kiso Valley, and I'd definitely like to come back to visit again in the future.

So far behind!

Yes, yes, I've fallen behind on updating and need to get on that. I've been very busy planning the next phase of my trip, which involves heading to China and learning some Mandarin. I'll try to catch up as soon as I can!

Hiroshima Castle

Hiroshima Castle
Originally uploaded by Gaz Errant.

Just thought I'd throw one of the better shots from flickr on here for those of you who haven't clicked over there recently. Hiroshima Castle had a bit of a "haunted castle" feel to me. It's an extremely faithful recreation of the original castle, and the Samurai museum inside is excellent.

Kyoto: June 22-24

The morning of the 22nd we headed out to Kyoto. Nice Shinkansen Hikari train ride – those bullet trains sure are quick. Beautiful scenery often interrupted by tunnels. I watched an episode of Deadwood (thank you, high-speed internet connections in hostels). When we arrived in Kyoto, it was pouring rain. We trudged through the rain (stupid me, I forgot to use my rain cover for my pack), got soaked, and eventually arrived at our hostel (K’s House Kyoto). Checked in, then showered, then tried to go to the costume museum, which was closed for the month. Instead ended up seeing a temple in the center of Kyoto, the Nishi-Honganji temple. Then headed back to Kyoto station to get food. In the Isetan department store there, they have an extensive prepared food area in the basement. We got pork chop on a stick dipped in miso sauce and supermarket sushi. Both were delicious. Back at the hostel, we met a bunch of fellow travelers and ended up going out for several hours of Karaoke. Fun and excitement.

Next day (the 23rd), walking around Kyoto. A beautiful day, thankfully. First, we walked to the Kiyo-mizudera temple, up on the mountain to the east of Kyoto Station. Beautiful, sprawling temple complex, unfortunately filled with hordes of tourists. Probably the most beautiful place I’ve been to so far. On the way up the hill Marina found a perfect Super Lucky Cat to bring home. Afterwards, checked out the Kyoto Craft Center, then a kindly old Japanese man directed us to the correct bus so that we could cross Kyoto to get to the Golden Pavilion. We got there just in time (about 20 minutes before they closed).

Tokyo: June 17-21

2:30 AM on June 17. I had been up already, really, since about 2, so I shut off the alarm on my phone and alarm clock. Then got all my stuff downstairs, and headed out to grab a cab. Got to the airport, and had to wait for them to open check-in – the woman who checked me in asked why I was there that early! Argh! The woman I had spoken to on the phone earlier TOLD me to be there that early! Anyway, spent several hours hanging out in the airport, got on the plane, watched The Hustler (which I had never seen before), watched some of A Bug’s Life, then arrived in Tokyo.

Despite rumors to the contrary, everything in Narita airport is in English (in tiny letters under the kanji). I waited in an interminably long immigration line, then got the Keisei line train to the city. 1000 yen for a 75 minute train. On the train I saw a bunch of Chinese girls with maps, so I asked one if she got the map at the airport. She said yes – apparently in my haste to find the train I missed the free Tokyo maps. Stupid. She gave me a map, which was of limited use to me, since it was in Chinese! Got to Asakusa (after 1 transfer), walked a little while, found the hostel, checked in. The hostel was filled with loud, annoying college-age kids talking about how drunk they had been the night before, and how drunk they were going to get that night. Ugh. The showers required you to walk across the common area in order to get to them. Weird.

Walked around Asakusa a bit, saw the big temple (Senso-Ji), found the tourist info center to get a map. Found a laundry and washed off some more of the dirt from Taman Negara (I had done laundry in Malacca but it didn’t seem to remove much dirt…). Then out to find some noodles – ended up going to a place known for their tempura soba. Entering a restaurant in Tokyo, you are greeted by pretty much every staff member. When you leave pretty much every staff member says thank you and goodbye 100 times. The food was good, but not cheap – 15 bucks for a bowl of noodles with a little shrimp tempura.

Next morning (the 18th), went out looking for breakfast, ended up at McD’s again (it pains me to type this admission, but I've gotta be honest) because I was intimidated by not being able to understand any signs in Japanese… Took the subway to Ueno (was going to take it to Akihabara but I didn’t realize that they were two different lines (one Toei and one Metro) and in order to transfer between those you have to have a special ticket. So I walked from Ueno to Akihabara, the electronics and anime capitol of Tokyo. Such cool stuff here, that I really want to buy. From all categories. Heh. There are girls dressed in maid outfits advertising for the maid cafes (where you get tea and snacks served to you by one of those girls). Stores have girls in cosplay outfits advertising for them. Japan is a strange place. Got some rice and beef from a place called Pepper Lunch – a chain place that was quite tasty.

Walked back along a different route to see a little of untouristed Tokyo. Relaxed a while, bought a phone card, then headed out to Shinjuku - Shinjuku is one of the “bright lights, big city” parts of Tokyo. It’s one of the places they always show when they show Tokyo on tv. The huge tv screens, neon everywhere, etc.

Next morning, headed out late, got noodles (the cheaper places here have little ticket machines where you put your money, then give the ticket to the person serving the food at the counter). Then walked to Akihabara to get an adapter so I could charge my camera battery. Walked around a little again, then up to Ueno – saw Ueno Park and its giant pond full of lilypads, got a little lost, but just headed in the direction that I thought I needed to and eventually made it back to Asakusa. Was quite tired by this point. Relaxed a couple hours, then headed out to get some conveyor belt sushi – tasty, but not cheap. 13 bucks for a small meal – had 9 pieces of sushi, and none of them were large. I later discovered that this place was voted the #1 kaiten-zushi place in Tokyo.

On the 20th Marina arrived. That morning, I headed over to Shinjuku to drop off my luggage at the Sunlite Shinjuku hotel, then headed over to Keisei Ueno station to get the train to Narita. At Narita I waited a bit, found a working ATM to get some cash, and then Marina arrived. She exchanged some cash, and we headed to the JR Office to exchange our receipts for JR passes. Then we got on the Narita Express to Shinjuku station. A pleasant 1 hour trip, wherein we caught up a bit and talked. All the while she had no idea we were going to a hotel instead of the hostel. Luckily, she had forgotten that the hostel was in Asakusa, and we were headed to Shinjuku. Once we arrived, we walked for a while, then stopped at Starbucks to get Marina some coffee, which she claimed to sorely need.

Then to the hotel. Masha was surprised, and happy about our own real room with a real bathroom. We unpacked our things and showered, and then walked around Shinjuku a bit. Had dinner at a noodle shop – I had a pork chop with curry and Masha had some noodles with a tofu tempura. We wandered Shinjuku, including Kabukicho, the red-light district, and then made it a relatively early night – she had just been traveling for a long time.

Next day - the 21st – around Tokyo. After a breakfast at the same noodle shop, we headed to Ginza for some Kabuki theatre. We saw a play/dance about a general who won a decisive battle thanks to information from a fisherman who he then killed. Years later, the general was confronted by the fisherman’s mother. If I remember the name, I’ll fill it in here later.

Afterwards, we walked around Ginza, and went to the Sony center, where I decided I must have a Blu-Ray player and an HDTV. MUST! Then we got our ticket reservations for the train to Kyoto, and tried (unsuccessfully) to visit the Imperial Gardens (they were closed). Stymied in our sightseeing efforts, we headed to a great sake bar in Tokyo Station. A bunch of temporary tables on a concrete floor, 70 different sakes. Deelicious.