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So, we're in Japan.
We're staying in a hostel (though the Japanese have a much nicer interpretation of hostels than we do in the West!) in the Shinbashi area of Tokyo. That's near the imperial palace.
Aside from the horrendous jet lag (why did I think watching 4 films on the plane instead of sleeping was a good idea on a red eye flight??), we're armed with our pasmo subway cards and our phrase book and are feeling pretty good!
On our first morning, I bit the bullet and decided it was time to overlook the ick factor of eating raw fish and try some real sushi. It turns out smoked salmon is basically raw salmon, which makes the whole thing a lot easier to stomach. Unfortunately, sushi seems to always include this wasabi mustardy-tasting stuff, so I think I'll just stick to the egg ones.
Since Japan is 9 hours ahead of GMT, we've been consistently waking up around 5am. Peet's trying to get me into running and being keen to improve my fitness, I've been letting him. So, morning runs to watch the sun rise are a new part of our routine. And when I say "morning runs", I actually mean morning run, waaaaaalk, run run, waaaaaaaaaalk runs.
Roppongi Hills and its art triangle is apparently a cool place to visit, so we stopped by. After spending some time on the viewing deck, and snapping what I hope are some promising shots of the Tokyo skyline, we ventured into the art gallery to see an exhibition of a Korean artist we'd never heard of - Lee Bul.
After starting off with weird tentacle sculptures which caused us to question why we'd decided to go in the first place, our perseverence was rewarded by a collection of eccentric android warrior meets ancient greek statue style sculptures. They completely captured the eccentric technologically advanced persona of Japan which I was hoping to see while I was here.
She had also created mechical-looking sculptures using machine parts, which through the use of false mirrors gave the impression of infite movement. It was the most amazing thing to look at! I think it made both of us realise we need more creativity in our lives.
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Julie Who needs a travel programme when we've got your blog! I've loved each installment and lived it with you and would love to see some photos. Glad you haven't reached Thailand yet bearing in mind yesterday's news!