Wish You Wok Here

Team Labs was a highlight of our trip before we'd even set foot in the place. If you've read the rest of the day's blog, please read on to see how the day went... When we eventually met up with our travellers, we were almost ready to line up, they'd made it with 4 minutes to spare! That 75 minutes we'd given ourselves really did pay off! I lined up for our Team Labs experience, not really knowing what to expect as I don't have Tiktok. All I knew was that I'd have to take my socks and shoes off and there was mirrors on the floor so I should wear appropriate bottoms. Estelle didn't get that memo so we had to seek out some rental pants before we got moving.  As we entered we could hear the sound of running water, however before us stood a loooooooong dark corridor with a hint of blue lighting dotted intermittently along the footwell. Something took over me, my mind raced at the idea of being able to run in the darkness, nobody seeing my reddened face. Witho...

Today marks the penultimate day of our travels. We woke up bright and early to get our last set of insta pictures before we leave The Land of the Rising Sun. Paul started his day how I ended mine - in the one-man steam room - we would both recommend this if you find yourself in our capsule hotel.  Weather forcast: hot and sunny Planned activities: Team Labs , batting cage, Shibuya Sky Completed activities: ALL OF THEM! Today's theme: Just nearly.... Surprise! Our journey starts, as you may have guessed, on a train! Our quant little capsule hotel is situated on the outskirts of the outskirts of outer Tokyo; a bit like getting an Air BnB in Alnwick and being told you're in Newcastle, so we had quite a journey into the city to be close enough for Team Labs (the win-all-insta-competitions art exhibition visited by the likes of Kim Kardashian). We had bought these tickets on our second day in Japan so needless to say, we were pretty excited! Who knows what celebrity we may rub shoul...

This morning the group were up bright and breezy to secure a couple of lockers in the main train station in Hiroshima, so we could visit a few places without needing to carrying 15kg extra around with us. A short ride back into the city we had grabbed some prime real estate and set our sights on a local island that had a shrine and a few other shops to visit. A train back to where we came from and a ferry saw us touch down on the island of itsukushima in the bay of Hiroshima. Our timings were perfect as we waded out into the shallows to grab some photos. I tried to wave someone down to get a group shot and everytime he clocked me he tried to get further away. We finished just in time for the tide to start to come back in and stop anyone else getting photos under the shrines arches. We spent a little time wandering around the local stores and bought quite a few souvenirs. We got a photo under a temple. When asking someone to take a photo of us the couldn't understand why we where un...

Well tonight marks our thirty seventh day in Tokyo (I think) if it's not, something has gone awry, we've been here forever! Weather forcast: wet and overcast, turning into intermittent sun and mugginess Planned activities: Achiabara, Imperial Palace, Collect Wifi Completed activities: Achiabara, Collect Wifi (wahoooooo) Today's theme: Trains As the sun rose early, the same couldn't be said for the heavy clouds over the city. We packed our belongings and headed out to start our day, we arrived at a new train station, after a lengthy walk and made our way to Shinjuku to leave our bags for our trip around the city. Achiaraba our first stop, after a 20 minute train journey.  Achiabara is known by many as "Geek City", a place where anime and porn become one, and they do so right on the main streets! The street gave off Scarborough on a Saturday afternoon vibes: claw machines, arcades, trinket shops and dildos. Well... that last bit might be slightly different to Sc...

Today's first blog post actually starts last night, when we ventured into Shinjuku to visit the famed Golden Gai, an area with pubs that seat up to 10 people. This meant there wasn't much room in any of them but there were hundreds of them! We trailed the alleys in the rainy streets to find a suitable place to spend our cash and stumbled upon a whiskey joint. It could accomodate all of us so we went in, 700¥ the entry charge, after all, we are all frequent whiskey drinkers (right?). We settled in quickly and the drinks flowed just as fast. Zak practiced his Japanese with the owner, he was confident and tried hard but there's only so many times you can tell him that your sister isn't six years old... Colin quickly met a new family and spent the evening with Ben and Francesca from Washington DC and, later, Scott from the Scottish Highlands. When he returned to his root family, we were three drinks and a Sake in, loud, well on our merry way and in very high spirits. We wav...