Third Day In Tokyo

 As much as I enjoyed this day, it was the hardest day there!

The heat was relentless. The heat in Tokyo felt different to the heat here. I looked at the forecasted temperatures for the day; the high was to be 35℃. It gets that hot and hotter here; it isn't easy, but I can manage to be outside for about half an hour without feeling sick. In Tokyo, however, the heat felt different. I felt that the heat wasn't just coming from the sun, but from the buildings and the pavement. When we were in crowds, I felt the heat coming off people, but that might have been my imagination!

The third day we wanted to visit Jinbucho, the booktown of Tokyo. There are about 150 bookstores, from stores selling new books to second-hand stores and even some with antique books. A book lover's paradise. Of course, most of the books were Japanese, but some stores had a good choice of English books.

We decided to walk to McDonald's for breakfast. 

The walk there was really nice, on a quiet side street. Maybe it was the time of day or just the fact that it was so different to the crowds from the day before, but I enjoyed that little walk.

The McDonald's was at the bottom of a large building, maybe an office block. The area around it was so nice, a lot of green!

A temple that we passed by

It was hard to believe that this was Tokyo until we came to a bridge that crossed over the train tracks!

Lots of green even with the massive buildings

Three different train tracks, two where the red trains are passing and one on the top right.

By the time we got to McDonald's, it was already hot! It was nice to step inside and cool down for a bit.

Breakfast.

After that, we made our way to Jinbucho.

We had to get on a bus and then walk a little bit. Even though it was still early, the heat was very intense by that time. I knew that I was going to struggle with the heat, but I didn't realise how much it was going to affect me! 

The first bookstore we stopped into was a new bookstore with lots of English books. I spent time looking but decided not to buy anything. The store had a cafe, so we sat in there for a while with cool drinks. That helped a lot. I think I was more worried about getting really sick and ending up in the hospital!

Walking along the street of Jinbucho was amazing, so many bookshops, so many places to explore!

Just a few of the stores we stopped in.

I could have spent a lot longer there, but the heat was really getting to me. Also, I was feeling very self-conscious about how much I was sweating from my face. Plus, I didn't want to handle the older books as my hands were sweaty and I don't think that's good for the books!

I found one book that I bought, Mrs Beatons Cookbook. I read somewhere that this cookbook made English cuisine bad because it says to boil all vegetables. The first book was published in the mid 1800s, as a guide to running a household, not just a cookbook. The copy I got was published in the early 1950s. I thought that it was just a rumour about boiling the vegetables, but it's true; the vegetable section says that boiling vegetables in water with salt is how they should be cooked!

Hannah managed to get a few books for her studies. She got one that costs 7,000yen new, but she got it for 4,000yen, not bad! She picked up a few other books as well. Like me, she could have bought a lot more!

By the time we had walked the length of the street, we were both rather too hot to continue. There were a few other places we could have visited, but we were both very tired and needed to be inside for a while.

Hannah had noticed a poster for a museum that wasn't too far away, so we decided to go there.

The poster that Hannah saw.

We had to get a train to get there.

I'll have to write about the museum tomorrow!

The Cat Cafe

 After watching the musical and going to the British Shop, we had a few hours before going back to the hotel. 

The first idea was to visit a museum, but the ones that looked interesting were a bit too far to get to, we wouldn't have enough time to enjoy the exhibits. I really don't like rushing round museums.

Hannah had a look on the map and saw that nearer to the hotel was a cat cafe.

We jumped on the subway and got off at the station near the cat cafe. As always, Hannah said it was just a short walk to the cafe; it's always just a short walk or just down the road with Hannah!

The walk was through a lovely old shopping street!

I have no idea what Spider-Man has to do with the Kobe Beef!

We found the cat cafe very easily.

This was my first time to visit a cat cafe, I was surprised at how careful the owner and staff were concerning the cats. 

As we entered we were given hot towels to wipes our hands, our bags were placed on a rack near the door and we had to change from our shoes to slippers.

There was a long list of rules, most I didn't catch, but the one I did understandwas not to pick up the cats. I know from my cats that being picked up can cause stress in a cat and I guess being picked up constantly by strangers must be very stressful. 

The cafe was small, maybe space for 10 customers, we sat on some bean bags. The cats were napping around the place. 

We bought some treats to give to the cats, that woke them up and got them to come over to us. One rule was that you have to give the treats with your left hand and stroke the cats with your right hand. There's oil on the treats and they didn't want to transfere the oil to the cats. 

The cats were very well taken care of. The owner would call their name and the cats would respond, my cats ignore me when I call them.

Lots of lovely cats.

We spent an hour in the cat cafe. It was a nice way to relax, I know that most of the day was relaxing but dealing with the trains, crowds and heat was a bit stressful. I'm glad that we were only visiting Tokyo, I honestly couldn't imagine living there!

We stopped at a supermarket to get dinner, we got some nice sushi.

Sushi for dinner.

We went to bed early, we were both exhausted.

The next day was a trip to Jinbucho, the booktown.

That's tomorrows post!

Second Day In Tokyo

 Day two started early; we got up just after 7am, had breakfast in our room, then got ready to go out.

We had to get to Shibuya, where the theatre is, to see Sunset Boulevard.

Google Maps makes it look so easy!

Walk 10 minutes to the station, get on a train and arrive at Shibuya, 33 minutes later.

What Google Maps doesn't mention is that there are four entrances to the station. Two for each direction; if you get in the wrong entrance, you have to go out again. Because Shibuya is a major destination, the entrance of the station did state whether the trains were going to Shibuya or not. The first two we checked were going in the wrong direction; the third one was the right one and, of course, had no elevator, just stairs to go down! I can manage stairs, but it takes time, so anyone who was in a rush had to go around me!

We got on the train and even got a seat! Even though it was early, just after 9am, it was already hot! I found that the little hand-held fan I had bought didn't really work outside, but in the train or air-conditioned places it really helped.

We thought about going to some places in Shibuya, but it was so hot and busy that neither Hannah nor I could be bothered.

We found the building with the theatre in it and went upstairs to see exactly where the theatre was.

In the lobby of the building

The theatre was on the 11th floor, I think! Fantastic views of the area; there was a lot of construction going on at the station and surrounding areas!

A reminder to take your trash home!

There was a department store, so we had a wander around that. I got some ideas for my T-shirt designs! It was nice to look, but everything was very expensive! I saw a lovely, small bag, but it was 30,000 yen, about £130. 

We decided to get an early lunch; the musical started at 1 o'clock, so having something beforehand was the best idea.

We found a nice pasta restaurant.

I had Wagyu beef sauce with macarooni; Hannah had lasagna. Wagyu beef is one of the best brands of beef in Japan! It can cost up to 30,000yen per kilo, about £130. The same price as the bag!

The servings were very large; we were both stuffed after! Again, just over 2,000 yen for two of us.

The timing was perfect; we finished lunch just in time to get to our seats!

In the theatre lobby

The musical was incredible. The music, the singing, the dancing and acting were all superb. I know that Sarah Brightman had an incredible voice, but I wondered if she still had it; she does! I was amazed at her skill and energy; she's two years older than me but has so much energy! The other cast were also top-notch. 

I've heard of Sunset Boulevard but had no idea of the story. I enjoyed not knowing what would happen and the plot twists!

We were allowed to take photos and videos during the curtain call.

We had to wait to get out of the theatre; it was so packed that there was a long queue for the escalator! On the way down we came across a display of artwork.

There was one other place that I really wanted to go to, and that was The British Shop, just a few minutes' walk from the theatre building.

I didn't buy that much, but I did get some cereal and teabags. There was so much that I wanted to buy, but just trying to figure out how to get it back home was a hassle, especially the cheese they had. They have an online shop, so I'll order some stuff from them. I bought a small ice cream for Hannah and me to share, but by the time I had finished paying for the goods I had, Hannah had finished the ice cream!

Our ice cream

This is what I bought!

We wanted to go somewhere else before going back to the hotel. Hannah found a cat cafe, so we went there.

But that will be its own post tomorrow!

I'm Back

 This time I went somewhere.

I've been away from home for a week! Feels longer.

I spent a couple of days at Hannah's apartment, then on Saturday, July 18th, we flew to Tokyo for our trip. It was great, exhausting, fantastic and hot- VERY HOT!!

The first dilemma was getting to the airport. The bus from the station that goes directly to the airport and the bus from near Hannah's apartment didn't match up in times. We would either get to the bus station far too early and have to wait over an hour, or get there with just a few minutes to find the bus stop and get to it. The airport bus doesn't run very often; if we missed the mid-morning one, we would miss our flight. In the end, we decided on getting a taxi to the bus station.

We still got to the station a bit early, so we decided to get a drink. 

At a cafe near the station
 
The drive to the airport was nice; once you get out of the city, it's just countryside!                                                                                                                                                                               

On the way to the airport!

At the airport.

Saga Airport is very small! Also, on this day not very busy at all.

The main lobby.

The pictures are from the manga Kingdom series. I didn't get any information, but I thought this looked really nice!

Our flight was delayed, so we grabbed a bite to eat. 

A quick sandwich while we waited for our flight.

It was very strange to look out over the runway and gates and not see any planes.

Finally our flight arrived, about 40 minutes late!

The flight was fine, but the plane was very small. I had to ask for a seatbelt extender, the seatbelt was just 1cm too short!

Also, the toilet was awful, no room at all! 

We got to Haneda Airport alright, but the walk from the gate to the exit was very far! Over a kilometre! Even with the moving walkways, it felt long!

Also, so many people, too many people! It was amazing and overwhelming at the same time! I'm so use to living in the countryside, that more than 10 people feels like a lot!

It took a while to figure out which way to get out and get on the monorail to take us to the train station to get to the airport. 

A little video I took from the monorail.

We had to change 3 times to get to the station near our hotel. With each change the stations semded to get busier and busier! Hannah did very well with figuring out which train or subway to take, where to get the tickets and getting on the train that was going in the right direction.

One thing that helped was that we didn't have our suitcase with us, we sent it on to the hotel a couple of days before we left. So much easier to get around crowded stations without a suitcase!

We finally got to the area where the hotel was. One problem with Google Maps is that they don't show the elevation of the streets. The hotel wasn't that far from the station but it was uphill! A long hill at that!

I thought I was going to die, I guess I should of gotten a lot more fitter! Still we made it. Hannah got us checked in and we went to our room.

Neither of us took photos of the room. It was small but for the few days we stayed there it was okay, the air conditioning was great! It was the first thing we turned on!

We rested for a bit, then went to find some dinner.

We found a nice resturant near the hotel that wasn't too expensive.

First evenings dinner, good price for Tokyo

After dinner we went back to the hotel to rest. We were both exhausted. For me getting from Saga to Tokyo was easy, from Haneda Airport to the hotel was awful!

Still we made it!

I'll write more tomorrow! I'm still recovering from the trip, I slept most of the day but still tired!

It's Hot And Humid

 I know that's stating the obvious, but I never realised just how it feels to walk outside in this weather.

My default setting during the summer is as close to the air conditioner and fan as possible. I refuse to move, to go outside, unless I know that my destination is within a few seconds of leaving the air conditioner. Watching news reports of how hot certain cities are, I marvel at people walking around, going to work or just going out. I've been very lucky in that, until last year, I worked from home. Going out when it's hot was an option for me, not something that I had to do. Even now, I only have to go out twice a week, then it's in a car, not being jammed into a train or bus! 

Yesterday and today, however, I've been out. Yesterday, Hannah and I got the bus to go shopping, so we weren't outside that much, but it was still hard on me. Today we had appointments to have our hair done. Hannah said that the hairdresser was close, just a short walk down the road. I believed her until the walk got longer and longer. It wasn't really that far, maybe 10 minutes walk for me! 

I'm glad that I walked to the hairdresser's and back. I thought about getting the bus, but it was quicker to walk! According to the app I have on my phone, I did 3,776 steps. I don't know how accurate that is, but it's a good number of steps!

The hairdresser was very nice. He really took time to understand what we wanted done. When he was cutting the front of our hair, he would stop and ask if we wanted more taken off. Hannah had a colour put through the bottom of her hair. He explained each step that he was taking. 

Hannah took a selfie after we had finished.

I've given up trying to look good in photos.

Tomorrow, Hannah and I are going to Tokyo! 

I'm really looking forward to that! I'll be posting about our trip when we get back!

Just found a new use for a phone stand!