Hello folks,

Here is my first entry from travelling. I have now been in Tokyo for almost 3 days and I am already a samurai master.

I left on Thursday 10th July and got off to a bad start. I was supposed to be flying Edinburgh to London then London to Tokyo with British Airways but due to the Edinburgh to London leg being delayed by 1.5 hours I missed the London to Tokyo flight. I therefore got a flight from London to Frankfurt then flew with Japan Airlines from there to Tokyo. In all from Edinburgh to my hostel in Tokyo it was about 26 hours of fun.

Tokyo is brilliant - my initial impressions were that everything is so clean and efficient (unlike British Airways). The only major problem was the language barrier as it's so hard to understand where to go etc but I am getting used to it now.

I have tried to see as much of Tokyo as I could in the last few days:

Friday 11th July - Arrived 7pm and checked in. Was booked into 8 man dorm in hostel but due to their administrative error I managed to get a single room for the night. Was so tired so had a wee walk round the block then read Japan Loneley Planet for an hour or so before I went to bed.

Saturday 12th July - Woke at 6am. Think my system was not used to time difference etc. Pottered about on internet and got breakfast in hostel (costs about £1.60 - get toast and tea etc). Left hostel and went to a place called Shinjuku where they have loads of electrical shops and Skyscrapers. Left Shinjuku early afternoon and went to a place called Akihabara which is Tokyo's discount electrical and electronics mecca. I needed an ac adaptor form my laptop so after a few frustrating hours trying to find one I managed to get one for £1.50. Left Akihabara and went back to hostel for a couple of hours kip, got some dinner from Supermarket (some rice with some kind of meat and ate with chopsticks (Booyakasha). Chatted with people in hostel for a few hours the off to bed.

Sunday 13th July - Woke at 6am again - Not sure what's going on. Got breakfast in hostel again and checked e-mails etc. Went to a place called Meiji-Jingu with a couple of Dutch guys I met in hostel. Meiji-Jingu is a shrine with massive gardens where on Sundays, Japanese bands and entertainers perform. There was lots of weird goth like teenagers all dressed up for tourists to take photos, about 15 bands just set up with amps on the pavements, A japanese guy dressed as Indiana Jones with a big whip and BMX freestyling.

After we left we went to another shrine called Yasukuni Jinja - dedicated to the 2.4m Japanese war dead since 1853. They had their annual riyual which was absolutely mobbed (just loads of strange rituals etc performed. Then went fo a Japanese meal which was absolutely rank. Back to hostel then off to bed.

Monday 14th July - Up at 5.15am on purpose so we (me, 1 Dutch guy, a Canadian and a mexican) can get to the Tsukiji fish market (largest fish market in Japan). This is where all the fish you get in Tokyo's restaurants ets comes from. This was incredible. We went early so we could see all the trading before it finishes early morning. I saw fish that were bigger than Billy Bob Big Fish.

After the fish market we went to Ginza to see the Sony Building then onto Marunouchi where they have a street full of designer shops like Prada, Louis Vitton, Dolce & Gabanna, Burberry, Lacoste, etc. If I had a few million in the bank I still wouldn't have spent any money there as it all looked pish.


Anyway - Next blog will come soonish.