The day started early for me, it shouldn’t have but it did. It might be something to do with the fact of a certain someone placing his phone down on the bedside cabinet with a bang, BOOM, I am now wide awake. So that’s me done for the day and I casually lay there scrolling through my phone looking at pointless videos on Instagram, right I said to myself lets get freshened up and face the day!

To be honest, I was hungry this morning and it’s not surprising after the roach saga, it still gives me shivers. The hotel was providing complimentary breakfast, and it piqued my interest to know what was on offer I must say. So I left Chris and off I trotted to see the goods.

Well, there was certainly a selection of food on offer, from beef curry and rice (yes 09:00am) scrambled egg, tiny hot dogs and even fish. I grabbed a few bits, ate it then made my way to Starbucks and waited for Chris to arrive. When Chris arrived I quickly finished my brew and we started the day, we caught the train on the Tamagawa line. Just WOW, the train was spotless, you could eat your food off the floor (not that I would but you get it). Despite the incident yesterday, the Japanese people are extremely concerned about presentation and this is clear from everything you see, from the food on offer in the stores to the cleanliness on the streets to the trains you sit on.

The trains look like they are brand new, I did watch a video clip to be honest before I arrived and it said that the trains were cleaned in detail every 15 days. UK take note as I travel often on the trains and they are filthy!!!! We arrived at the station and it was a short ten-minute walk from the station to the Starbucks Roastery. The Starbucks was already busy and it was only midday, there was what I can only describe as a kind of security guard pointing at a board with a QR code, we scanned it and had to register, this then gave us a code and when it was our turn we would get a message to turn up and show the code to enter.

We waited just over an hour to get the message and when we did we made our way back in, this Starbucks is in a league of its own I tell you, with 4 floors dedicated to the world of coffee with all types of delicious treats and snacks for any palette. I took a video of my walk around and nobody batted an eyelid at me, I did think I was going to have a member of staff ask me to stop but it appeared there were a few people with the same idea. To be honest, you have to expect it when you have such a grand store, it was like Willy Wonka of coffee. On the top floor, Chris and I sat outside on the balcony and I set up my GoPro on my chest harness, started the recording and made my way back down to the bottom floor to order my brew.

The queue was pretty long but they got through it with haste, I managed to resist the tempting pastries and sandwiches etc as I didn’t want to ruin my appetite, I paid and then was given a pager to return when it started buzzing they said approx 15 mins, so I went into the corner of the store to watch them making the bread from scratch and then the sandwiches with the fresh bread they had just made (soooooo yummy).

With the coffee on the small wooden tray and milk, I made my way up to the top floor again, I apologised to Chris but said as it’s a flagship store you can’t rush these things and it was best to take in the ambience as well at the same time, well rude not too.

When I finished Chris and I did the rounds again and then left the store to check out the local Don Quijote. This place is a supermarket but on steroids and I mean STEROIDS, it has everything you will want in food and more. Chris bought a few things and I got an apple Fanta, enough said really. So heading back to the station we happened upon a little food place that was quite busy but we managed to get a spot, I treated Chris to a lovely portion of chips as I’m nice like that, and I had a small bowl of pork rice and omelette. I have to say that bowl of goodness was delicious, so much so that I had another bowl, and best of all zero cockroaches to be seen (phew), after leaving there we headed towards the station but stopped for a cheeky Starbucks of course.

The station was bustling but still quiet, really strange. This time we headed to Ningyocho station to see if we could find the cherry blossom, I had noticed that someone had posted on Instagram earlier in the day that it was in full bloom and right outside the Starbucks, double result. When we left the station the wind had really picked up and it was freezing, coat on for me then, and Chris even found it cold, yes I said that!

The trees on the route were bare and not a blossom in site, we both had our doubts and Chris kept saying it must be an old post, I said it was posted today but he wasn’t convinced. Well what can I say, we turned a corner and for some reason, this street had cherry blossom in full bloom, I was well chuffed and it topped the day off nicely. We stopped at the Starbucks and I had a Sakura drink which was delicious, it’s difficult to explain the taste really but it does have hints of cherry flavour which I love, after supping this we up and left heading back to the hotel.

On the whole, it’s been another lovely day in the land of the rising sun, tomorrow is an early start as we both have a planned trip to Mount Fuji and the return on the bullet train, buzzing for that bad boy…..

The pattern is the same: I am awake before Chris, but I don’t need as much sleep as he does, and he is a grumpy bear when tired.

So up and ready for another fun-packed day, and today was going to be a good one as we were going to see Mount Fuji, I have to say it’s defo something I have been wanting to see. We had to catch the bus early doors for 08:30 so we left the hotel about 6:30am as we needed to get the train there and we weren’t sure where it was in the first place.

Due to the time my favourite drinking hole wasn’t yet open so I had to travel rather parched, not a good start to the day I tell you, once we were off that train we headed to where we thought it might be, on our way out I happened to spot a Starbucks and yes my feet turned to that direction double time. I used Google Translate to tell the lady what I wanted and this has served me well up until today, I wanted an extra shot of coffee which made it 5 in total. This was clear to me but apparently, they thought I wanted the 4 you get with the drink and an extra 5, errrrm no ta just the 1 will do.

After clearing up that little misunderstanding and with Chris’s help as well I managed to get the brew I wanted, and we were off again. The direction led us out of the station down the road over a massive flyover, so we stopped for a minute or two for some quick pics then continued. We made good time and arrived around 40 minutes early so we just stood about waiting for our bus and tour operator.

With the bus fully loaded we set off on our day trip, the first stop was around 2 hours away and I have to say I was feeling a little sick, Chris had a carrier bag from the 7/11 so I grabbed that from him in case it didn’t go well, no worries I was good and it passed. At the beginning the tour guides introduced themselves, Amy and Ma Mi, she did say that she wasn’t our mummy so we were all okay. I was relieved at that as my mother is no longer on this mortal coil and was born in the UK.

Our first stop on the trip both Chris and myself got off the bus no coats just t-shirts, well we are from England and the weather was worthy of the ice cream man to be driving about flogging his wares back home. We got some stares I tell you as everyone was done up to the nines in jumpers and coats with gloves and scarves, in fact, Chris nipped to the toilet and some random guy just walked up and stood next to me and his friend was taking pictures, don’t mind me, fella. His friend kept saying cool cool, I said yeah cool in a patronizing kind of way, a few moments later Chris came out and that was the icing on the cake as they then wanted pics of us both and then with him, ooooh it’s tough being such a celebrity in Japan, it’s a cross we have to wear but we carried it well.

After taking in the first sights and picture taking of Mount Fuji, oh, and of course our photo shoot we continued on our way to the next stop. Our next stop this time was at Oshino, this was way better with full views of the mountain itself and it was impressive, we took time here appropriately 50 minutes, Chris and I paid 300 Yen to go through to the garden where you could stand on an elevated platform without any obstructions, it made for some great pics along with a mini waterfall and some stunning Koi.

Time passed quickly and we burned through those 50 minutes, so we headed back to the bus as instructed by the tour guides. Now it was time for dinner and this was included in the cost of the ticket, I was pleased about this as I was ready for some food, and we were only 10 minutes away, bring it on I am starving. Sadly this didn’t go to plan as I hoped as one of the passengers was missing and we couldn’t leave without them despite being warned that if you were late you would be left behind, needless to say, they found her and we were underway, I was a little disappointed as the evil in me wanted to wave at her as we were driving away, hey don’t judge me, we were all told!

Pulling up to the place we were going to be dining I couldn’t help but notice that there was homage paid to the ninja and where I looked there were reminders of the fact. We entered the hall after twisting and turning through the corridors that were dimly lit and filled with hazards, I barely missed this bench that was about a foot high. If I had kicked that Chris would have been finished from laughing so hard.

We sat down to a bowl of Japanese chicken stew/soup and a selection of items on the buffet, to be fair it wasn’t bad except the scrambled egg was cold, when I say cold I mean just above freezing, I had already served myself some when Chris pointed this out, I tried it and yes, very very cold, that’s a hard pass from me thanks. After enjoying the food we took a walk outside to grab some more shots of the surroundings and also grab a stamp for our notebooks, apparently, places are supposed to have these all over but we haven’t seen them and this was our first.

Outside was warmish, I had my hoodie on and that was enough to keep the chills out, I walked around took some more pics, and then made our way back to the coach for the next leg of the tour, onboard the bus I was sat down and coughed and the man in front of me had a go saying I shouldn’t cough on him, I was fuming, firstly not sure who he thought he was speaking too, and secondly I had my mouth covered. I of course told him so in a polite way and in the manner of how he spoke to me, it took everything in me not to let him have it but I didn’t want to spoil people’s days and also wind myself up because he was rude and thought himself better, yeah nope.

This leg of the journey found us heading for Hakone where we would be travelling on a cable car ride to the sulphur pits, this place is made famous for the selling of black eggs, it’s not the eggs that are so talked about it’s how they are cooked. The eggs are cooked in the sulphur waters where there are natural hot springs, this causes the egg to go black, it doesn’t change the taste apparently but by the time we got there all the shops and stalls had sold out.

Some awesome pics were taken here as well and after a short time, we had to go back to the bus to catch the last part of the tour. This last part was really good, we got to sail on this ship which looked like it was from the 16th century, very grand. We sailed across the other side of the lake which took about twenty minutes and at this point in the day the sun was starting to set and the temperature was dipping, also being on the open water and the wind catching this, the air felt even colder. Chris was in his element, he loves boats and the open water so I let him try to enjoy his time on there without me annoying him, I am good at that, the annoying him that is.

Once on the other side we boarded the coach and made our way to Odawara station, here we were going to catch the Bullet Train, Chris and I were actually buzzing about this and had spoken often of going on this, but now it’s finally time. We made our way onto the platform after saying our goodbyes to the tour guides and thanking them for a lovely day. On the platform Chris said he wanted to catch a video of the bullet train speeding through the station, I was up for that so we darted to the opposite side of the platform. We didn’t have to wait long and Chris got a great shot of the train passing through which took all of 8 seconds for 16 carriages, mental. Our train was for 18:15 but we both decided to catch the next one and with this, I also managed to bag a recording and see a few more come through.

Time had arrived for us to board and we did, we had to sit in either carriages 1-6 or 14-16, the others were reserved or first class, there were no free seats so we walked through the carriages until we reached 14, found two seats, and parked our rears on them. We were both like little kids saying that we couldn’t believe this was happening, I use the trains a lot at home travelling for work and Chris does as well so we both could appreciate what we were both sitting in.

This train delivered the goods as it boasts, we hit speeds of 320KMH and it was smooth as silk, no bumps nothing, in fact, you couldn’t even tell the train was moving until you saw the world going by at a rate out of the windows. Chris has an app on his watch and the GPS kept its eye on our progress with the speed and distance we were doing, crazy and exciting all in one. I’m sad to say that the journey took all of 40 minutes and yet it was the best part of 3 hours on a coach, that’s how you should travel.

This day was cracking and I am so happy I got to experience the day, the whole thing will stay with me now and I will look back fondly on knowing that this was a gift!

Today was a late rise and shine, we were flying to Osaka tomorrow and had to spend the night in the airport due to the lack of transport options available to us, hence the late rise.

We started the morning with Chris complaining of the temperature of the room being way too hot and me saying it’s freezing, what can I say, I’m old I need warmth.

We both got ready and headed out, today was a day for chilling and relaxing. We had no plans other than to return to Nihombashi where it seems that this was the only place that had the cherry blossom blooming early.

We got our books stamped and then boarded the train at Katama and found ourselves soon enough at Nihonbashi. It was around midday by this time and I was hungry and found this shop when we were walking serving food, a few of the locals were outside so I thought I would give this a go.

The way to mostly order food in Japan is to use a vending machine which is normally outside, you select the food you want, pay and it gives you a ticket with the order. You then go in and give the ticket to a staff member or wait for the number on the ticket to be called and collect your food.

I selected the beef bowl with spring onions, it was divine, I also ordered an egg but I didn’t realise that it already came with one on top so two in the dish now, oh well I will take that. The bowl was YUMMY, and the yoke was rich and creamy, I broke the yoke and mixed this into the rice and I have to say I have never enjoyed rice as I have at that point. I also got a bowl of soup that came with it but it was fish and I don’t do fish, nope.

I left there after feeling full and found Chris again who was only 200 yards up the road, he never ate with me as it’s not his thing really. We turned a few corners and soon came upon the cherry blossom, it’s stunning it really is and I can understand why the Japanese people are so proud of it. We took a ton of pictures and then I had a cheeky brew, the first of the day as well, which is astounding for me. After this, we popped across the road where there was a small shrine/temple and took some pics. It’s really nice to see how respectful people of all ages are and how important it is to them.

We headed back to the station to go back to the hotel, today was going to be a long one as we were catching an early flight to Osaka and had to spend the night in the airport due to the lack of public transport at the time we needed to be checking in. We could have got a local taxi to take us but at £200 we were definitely giving that a miss, so the last train to the airport and a night spent there for the two of us it was.

Out of the Kamata station, I crossed the road and picked up a premium custard pastry in the shape of a fish, OMG the custard was amazing and up there with the best I have tasted, highly recommended, careful though as that custard is piping HOT, you have been warned.

Back at the hotel, we started to arrange our stuff to pack in a checked bag and the carry-on rucksacks we both had, we paid to have a 15KG checked bag but the carry-on ones could not exceed 7KG or else that was going to be extra. Chris mentioned there were some scales at reception so we both took our bags to weigh them, mine was on the button of 7, and Chris weighed his at 8. I kind of hoped they would let that pass but didn’t know until check-in time.

Chris got his head down for an hour or two and I sat up surfing and talking to my daughter who had messaged me, I woke Chris at 20:30 and he was really happy I did, okay he wasn’t as he had set a timer, now I’m a mind reader.

After the grumpy bear had showered etc we grabbed our bags and headed for the station, we had time for a bucks so that’s what we did, or I did anyway. We left there after Chris had uploaded his 1000-plus pics and I drank my brew and caught the train for a few minutes after 22:00 to Nappori, which was the first leg of the journey.

At Nappori we made our way to the platform for the Skyliner to Narita Airport, we found the ticket machine and bought a ticket at a cost of around £5, not bad when you think the journey was over an hour in time to the airport. We had ten minutes to spare so we grabbed another stamp for our book, it’s starting to look good now!

We made our way to Terminal 3 and weighed our bags again for good measure, I was on the money but Chris was a kilo over the allowed 7 kg.

After a quick reshuffle of the hand luggage and a swap to the check, he is all good. Now all we have to do is wait for our plane.

So after a long ass day yesterday and still no sleep, and still at the airport, I’m going strong, the check-in was smooth enough and we made our way to the gate.

We barely sat down and Some random guy started talking to Chris, now anybody who knows him knows he isn’t great at talking to random strangers. After a little idle chit-chat, I got up and made my excuses about needing the loo and left Chris with him. Cruel, yes, funny, hell yes. I kept getting random messages from Chris, I won’t repeat them, they are not a PG rating. Eventually, Chris made his excuses and found me with a bottle of water for me, smooth excuse Chris, I will take that though.

We boarded the plane for our short flight to Osaka, the turbulence was pretty bad on the way even though the captain laughingly said we would be hitting light turbulence. When we landed in Osaka it was lashing it down so once off the plane we collected our luggage and made our way out of the airport heading for the train station, on route I spotted both a Starbucks and a McDonald’s so I stopped for a brew and treated Chris to a cheeky breakfast. We both made our orders and I suggested an extra hash brown, why not we are on holiday, they were lush, way better than the ones back home and a third cheaper as well, an all round bargain.

We caught the train and headed for Tengachaya, we had to change trains here for the last stop of our journey at Tamadenaka. The rain still hadn’t stopped and we were fortunate enough once we had found the crazy exit we needed that the Bande Hotel Osaka was barely 100 yards away from the exit.

On entering there was a distinct smell that reminded me of a hotel I stayed at in Hong Kong, it was very pleasant and it did make me smile thinking of that place, one day I might return, I hope so.  The receptionist informed us that we were unable to check in until 15:00pm, that’s a pain as we were both exhausted and really could do with a little shut-eye. I asked the question and it was a stern no, so no it was.

We left our luggage safely at the hotel and went out for a quick look at our surroundings.  Directly outside was a small marketplace with a few shops open, I said to Chris maybe this comes alive a little in the evening but I soon found later on our return this wasn’t the case.

After a few more minutes of rambling, we headed back to the hotel and sat and waited until our room was available, we tried on our return and it was still no, Chris tried again about half an hour before the 15:00pm check-in only to be told still no. However, about ten minutes later they came and got us and we checked in and dropped our stuff in the room and left again.

We headed for the station across the road from our hotel heading to Osaka Central. We stepped out of the station and this place was buzzing, we made our way by going in the direction of the flow of people and to be fair it did pay off. It’s hard to describe but like a wide street and on each side wall to wall with shops selling various things from food to clothing and other bits and pieces.

By the time we reached the end of the first section, Chris had had enough and said he was just going to sit down near the station. He was exhausted and the density of people was a little overwhelming for him I think.

I continued on deeper in and found myself in Dotunbori Street as it was named, this was AWESOME, Chris would love this for the neon lights and fancy signs above the shops. I walked to the end of it and went around the other way to avoid the people to head back to Chris.

When I reached the station and found Chris, he said do you want a bucks, mmmmm oh go on then it would be rude not to. We found a small Starbucks a couple of minutes away, to be honest, Osaka is not short on them, come to think of it Tokyo in general isn’t either. Chris found us both a place to sit, I ordered my drink and sat while I drank that.

We then left and started to make our way back to the hotel as it was getting late and we were both exhausted by this time. We reached the hotel and I took a well-needed shower and got my head down for a deep well-deserved sleep.

An early start this morning for Universal Studios, I was quietly excited but wanted to play it down as I didn’t want to get Chris too excited either (NO CHANCE).

We headed out of the hotel around 7 and to the station across the road, we got the train into Namba, and once there I stopped to get a quick brew as we were well in time. I went down the escalators and saw this guy holding this person by the throat and pushing him several times against a pillar, this guy was in his thirties and the other was in his early maybe mid-fifties. I went straight over and got between the two of them and said to the thirty-year-old “Oih leave it out, enough, stop it”. With that, the guy looked at me and then said sorry twice and I said “leave now”, and he went. The elder man was very happy and was bowing and saying thank you, I wouldn’t recommend this to people but I felt pretty confident that he wouldn’t attack me but it’s not something you should do.

After this event I went about getting my brew and heading back to the station to catch the train with Chris, we both caught the train to Nishikujo, and from there we had to change into the JR Yumesaki line to Universal City, this took under 20 mins from Namba to Universal, not bad at all if you ask me.

Beware when travelling to this place, expect crowds and I mean crowds by the thousands, and no I am not exaggerating at all, the trains were densely packed, everyone was crammed together and it wasn’t nice at all. So if you are remotely claustrophobic then think twice as this might not be for you.

The park was rammed, we got there at 08:10 and there were crowds of people trying to get in, the park opens at 08:30 officially but they open the gates earlier than this I think it is mainly due to crowd control, be mindful that most of the shops and the places to eat open at 10:00,. We entered the park with no fuss at all and decided to set up the GoPros and DJI’s, well part of the reason we bought them to be fair.

Once set up we walked about the park until we got to Minion World where both Chris and I decided to go on the Minion Mayhem, it was very good and Chris enjoyed it as well. We came out of that and kept walking.

The park was really getting busy now and it wasn’t even 10:00am yet, I said to Chris we can just look around and see what’s on offer and take in the sites.

We entered the Jurassic Park area and here they had a ride called the Flying Dinosaur, we both had express tickets and this was on the list of rides we could go on. On entry, there was a mock-up of one of the seats and we were both asked to sit on it and see if we fitted bloody cheek, how dare they ha ha ha. I did as I was told and checked all was good, Chris sat and then there was lots of to and fro with the person checking and his colleague.

He spoke into his translator and showed me the screen, it basically said that when we got to the ride to tell them we had express tickets, I said to Chris, if we didn’t have them we would have been refused and agreed as well.

Anyhow, we walked through the maze of lines to reach the end for baggage to be placed in the locker, this is where things started to go wrong quickly. There were signs that you cannot have any loose items and clothing etc including glasses, okay I get that considering the style of ride. Our tickets were again checked for express and we were let through to store the items, this was crazy, it was a free-for-all to get a locker and we both went our own ways to secure one, we both had managed this and met back up to go and queue up but an employee refused to let us go further until we removed our cameras that were strapped to our chests, yeah securely strapped. That was it and Chris was done, he said “Nope I’m not doing this I’m done I’m not going on this ride” so we both left to get our stuff but the lockers wanted a seven-minute time lapse before we could empty the locker.

Chris was getting even more wound up by this time and he found someone to help us open the locker, I tried to open mine but I had the same issue but I did get the stuff back out. I turned round to find Chris saying he needed to get back into the locker as he had left his glasses but when he checked they weren’t there. I looked around and I saw them on the floor and picked them up. I handed the glasses to Chris and he said I would be done if they were broken, I didn’t tell him at the time but there was a chip out of one of the lenses near the arm.

We swiftly left the ride and he wasn’t in a good mood and he was saying how it was stupid etc, I didn’t say anything and just nodded, he needed to vent so I let him vent. After this episode, we continued to walk the park taking in things and just going with the flow. I saw a sign for Super Nintendo World and was keen to see if we could enter early, our timed slot was for 11:30, no dice I am afraid as our ticket was checked and rejected.

A little sad we left and by this time we were both ready for a snack, there were some nice choices on hand but it seemed the whole park was queuing at the food stands and restaurants. Don’t get me wrong they had plenty of people working the stalls but the sheer volume of people was hardly making an impact, I would say it took us a good 20 minutes to get served. Our food of choice was an extra long pie crust pig in a blanket (AKA Sausage Roll), I had a hot chocolate with mine and Chris had a fizzy apple of some sort, they were quite yummy to be fair but they were really making some money at that stall alone.

Belly-filled and a little poorer, we walked a little more and came across a few more different worlds, Hello Kitty, Snoopy, and Sesame Street as well. We did pop into a few of the gift shops and took a few pics to send to people back in the UK which did cheer them up, well one of them did anyway. Checking the clock and it was nearly time now to see my old mate, Mario. We both headed to Super Nintendo World and I’m pretty sure Chris was just as excited as I was. We took a couple of pics of the signs outside and made our way to the checkpoint, tickets checked and we were given access, in my head I had the tune going of Super Mario, what can I say I am a big kid.

Rounding the corner, and there it was in all its glory, it was like we had been transported into the game (WOO HOO), to be fair Chris and I couldn’t stop smiling it really was such a treat to be able to see this in the flesh and take pics of us there, we both said to each other can you believe this, that we are doing this and we are in Japan it’s mental. We literally did a whirlwind walk around then headed for Mario Kart Koopa’s Challenge, we had express ticket entrance for this ride and I’m glad we did as the queue time was 180 minutes, yeahhhh not a chance. With the golden ticket in hand, in the form of an express pass, we made our way past the poor people (JOKING) standing in the queue and were literally at the front of the ride in a few minutes. At the entrance we were both given red helmets to wear with the infamous M on them, I couldn’t wait, on it went. We got to the doors and there was a short video playing of how to play the game and the doors opened. We both piled in and made our way onto the karts, sitting down and the bars lowered we then had to put on some 3D glasses for us to see the magic. The ride started and it was like being in the game, there were characters from the game all over the place and I was firing turtle shells at bowser etc, and then just like that we were at the finish line and we won of course that’s the aim of it. Not fair I wanted that to run a little longer, say half an hour or so.

Leaving the ride we had to give the helmet back, gutted I really wanted to keep that I tell you, but I wasn’t going to risk getting kicked out for a plastic helmet, but it wasn’t an ordinary helmet it was Mario’s helmet (sob sob). The gift shop was on the way out and there were many things to purchase from here and all of them were at a steep cost, Chris and I never purchased anything, tried on a few hats, took pics and that was that. We left there and again we had a slotted time for Yoshi’s Adventure so we headed to that, this time we had a seat we had to sit in to check “dimensions” but Chris was refused as it didn’t clear the lines or something like that so I rode it by myself. I felt bad for him but he was insistent on me going on this so I did and I recorded the whole thing for him so he could see what happened on it.

To be honest, this is really aimed at the smaller children but you just go with the flow, I was happy to see the characters and of course, I had the ticket, so I am doing this yeahhhh. After leaving this you of course go through the gift shop again, every ride does it let’s be fair so I had a look and spotted a couple of bits that I might get later on. Now time to find Chris and let him know how it went and the pics and video that I shot.

We both had a little walk around again and headed back to Yoshi’s gift shop where I bought a couple of gifts and Chris bought a Mario glass, at this point we both decided to head back to the park entrance to see if we could leave the park and return. At the entrance we got our hands stamped and then popped into 7-Eleven for some food, we both bought sandwiches and other snacks and found a quiet place to eat them. A brew was in order now and so I grabbed one, sat and drank that and at that point, Chris decided he was going to go back to the hotel as he had his fill of theme parks for the day, he done well considering he hates them.

I said goodbye to Chris and I returned to the park to check out more, I re-entered the park the same we came in so I am not sure why I had to get my hand stamped as I had to show them my tickets again. I walked through and now things were really starting as the park’s characters were coming out in force, the first was the minions, I love them and I can only imagine how stupid I looked as I was beaming like a 5-year-old, and to add of course I got a picture, I had too. The next to see was Woody Woodpecker and his girlfriend Winnie, I got a few pics with Woody and he was very extra but it was cool and I got some great pics, I also bagged a few pics with Winnie, I could tell she had the hots for me of course (shush don’t tell Woody).

I left there and walked on some more and rounded the corner to see some Sesame Street characters coming out as well, Cookie Monster, Elmo, and the Count. Now I have to say one of my favs was defo the count, one ha ha ha ha, two ah ha ha. Again I had some pics with him and then walked the park some more, on my express pass I had the choice of the Jaws ride or the Hollywood Dream-The Ride, I didn’t fancy the Jaws ride so I opted for the Hollywood Dream ride. I wasn’t sure what this was to be fair so didn’t know what I was getting myself into at this point, I soon found out this was a coaster ride and to be fair it was a pretty cool one as well. Nearing the entrance I had to empty out everything from my pockets and the GoPro had to come off including the harness, don’t ask me why I just took it off. I placed my bag in the locker and on the ride I got, this was pretty cool to be fair and had plenty of twists and turns that should keep the thrill seeker happy, I really like the fact it didn’t try to rip my head off and this was only because the seats were a good design to be fair. On the whole, I give this ride an 8 out of 10 for the length of the ride and the seat design, along with the actual ride itself.

At this point I still had no clue where Harry Potter World was and thought it best I find it as I had express passes to get on some of the rides and didn’t want to miss it. I headed back towards Super Nintendo World again and noticed a few tall stone pillars standing which I had seen but brushed this off as there were also some lying horizontally and had a few people sitting on them. Only this time there were crowds of people to the left coming from a passageway so I ventured through, the alleyway on the left and right was built up of a mass of trees and so dense you couldn’t see through them. After a short walk, I turned the bend and it opened up to Harry Potter World, ah I had found it at last.

This place was also busy with a lot of people having Harry Potter robes on and people walking around with wands, they came in useful as there were several window shops etc you could stand at and perform wand movements to make something happen. Yes, I had my GoPro on as I wanted to make sure Chris also got to see it even if it’s not his thing you have to appreciate the skill and talent that goes into creating and building this stuff. Hogwarts was amazing simply that, I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this and would have been gutted to have missed this. I checked out as much as I could with all that was on offer, a lot of thought and care was taken to enhance the experience of any Potter head that should visit here, I particularly liked the touch of Moaning Myrtle in the toilets, defo on point and a genius move.

I located the two theme rides Flight of the HippoGriff, of which I gave a pass as it was a slow coaster ride and I had already done one and this was really aimed at maybe the younger ones, although it was for adults as well, the second one was the Forbidden Journey. I really was in awe of Hogwarts Castle, they had put so much effort into this and it really had paid off, the nice touch was a man-made lake to the side of it to give the actual effect of the one in the film. I got some great pictures of Hogwarts and knew if nothing Chris would appreciate the structure and artistic talent to construct such an impressive building.

Time was ticking on and it was time to enter the Forbidden Journey ride, again everything had to be stowed away in lockers, with no exceptions and least of all no cameras of any type, they are very strict about this all over the park except the slow rides like the Yoshi one. I entered the cart and I was off, this ride is NOT for anyone who suffers from motion sickness WARNING, you will be sick if you are. Spoiler alert incoming, this ride takes you on a journey through a lot of the scenes of the film on a broomstick and I have to say they really thought it out, in one part we got involved in a Quidditch match and the golden snitch was in your face, the Dementors arrived and was chasing us. About a third of the way through I now started to feel sick myself and whilst I thought that the ride was awesome and really worth going on I wanted it to stop quickly, finally, it stopped and I departed quickly to get my bag and catch some air. On the way out there was a chap bent over a railing breathing deeply, I looked at him and laughed and said I feel your pain.

I have glossed over this ride’s details as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone reading this and wanting to go on the ride, I think you will definitely be surprised with it and also how long the ride really was, a very worthwhile ride to go on, this is defo a 9 out of 10 for me. It was time to say goodbye to the Harry Potter world and also the park now, time was ticking on and I needed to meet back up with Chris as agreed. I made my way out of the park and had to take some pics of the Universal Spinning Globe, well I just had to, I have all the other times why stop now.

A quick message to Chris and I headed for the train to meet up with him at Shin-Imamiya station, he had said to meet him at the south exit but when I arrived I couldn’t locate the south exit so I found a guard to ask. The guard said there was no south exit even though I knew there was as I had been on it going into the park that very morning. After trying for several minutes I decided to message Chris and let him know and he came to the East exit where I was, this wasn’t wasted as it was in the direction we wanted to go anyway.

The whole reason for being here was for the tower and lights, and let me tell you this place was alive!

The shops and eateries were donned with the amazing structure above them all enticing you and drawing you into eating. The tower was lit up like a beacon and looked awesome with all the neon lights and spotlights coming off it. Chris and I were taking pics of this and there were a group of Korean people I think I wasn’t sure and they approached us and asked Chris to take a picture of course I stood next to Chris while he was doing this and we took a self for them, well rude not to, right. A couple of shots in I ran over to the group to get in on the action, they loved it and were putting their arms around me cheering etc. That really made my day and made the world a little bit smaller for me.

Chris was laughing away and when finished chose a few choice words for me like oh you’re a bleep bleep ha ha ha, the best bit was a few moments later the group had been checking out the pics only to see the picture of us smiling back at them, they were roaring and pointing at us, that really made Chris and myself laugh, loved it. So at this point of the evening, it was late but we were both hungry so we stopped for some quick food at the Golden Arches, and chose the double teriyaki chicken burger meal with a Sprite and a double egg burger on its own, I did say I was hungry (don’t judge).

At this point we had both had enough and done all we had wanted for the day and decided to head back to the hotel for some much-needed rest, it had been an awesome day and I had really enjoyed myself as well, good memories made and a full belly, who could ask for more right.

Kyoto tomorrow and I know that will be another long day like every day so far, but that’s what I came here to do, explore, and explore I will do.

Today we were heading to Kyoto, by all accounts it was approx 49 minutes away although I wasn’t convinced at all.

We caught the train to Osaka and changed lines to get the train to Kyoto, on the way in I could see the Kyoto Tower and this was going to be one of the places we would be going to.

On arrival, we left the train and it was manic, the station was rammed with people and the only saving grace was it being a large station. The scale of this station is one I hadn’t seen before it had 4/5 floors and every floor was packed with people and shops of all types. I did stop and get myself a first coffee of the day and Chris stopped for his fix of drinks and snacks.

Out of the station we headed off to the Kyoto Tower, it was 900 yen to enter which on the scale of things I thought was pretty cheap. We went up to the 11th floor and from this point we could see a fair distance, it was helped by the clear sunny weather as well.

We both spent about 40 minutes here taking various pics and looking at the temple we planned on going to, that’s where we headed next.

The temple never failed to impress me, the structure was huge and the craftsmanship was second to none, the wooden beams themselves must have weighed several tons each. The temple also boasts that it is one of the largest wooden temple structures in the world.

I took a good amount of time to soak up the atmosphere here and take as many pics as I could of the various buildings. As a matter of respect, you have to remove your shoes before entering the temple but they do provide plastic bags for you to carry your shoes around. Sadly there was no video or photography allowed inside the temples so I never managed to get a picture.

Inside was laden with dragons and human figures, the ceiling and wooden carvings were in gold and the complete hall was a mixture of vibrant colours to see. The floors were solid wooden beams with bamboo matting on them, they were ice cold and I really didn’t like that as I always have slippers or some sort of footwear on, I just don’t do bare feet.

After that we then headed to the Gion district, we needed a bus to reach there so we headed back to the train station as the bus station was just outside. The queues for this bus are MENTAL, at least 50-60 people deep. When the bus arrived it quickly filled up so we needed to catch the next one but as we were about 10 people from the front I could cope with that as we were going to be guaranteed a seat which is good on a 40-minute jam-packed bus.

On route we made several stops and continued to pick up more passengers, this bus was way over capacity of what it should take but people kept pushing and shoving to get on. By the time we reached our stop, we were among the last few to get off which was great as there was no shoving to get out, 230 Yen for the total trip, what a bargain.

Off the bus, I said to Chris I’m hungry so we stopped at this little place right outside the bus stop, I bought a toasted egg sandwich and some fries for Chris, really tasty but they over-salted the fries which did kind of spoil them. The sandwich on the other hand was amazing, creamy and had lots of filling.

The lady at the counter showed us this QR code and said if we left feedback we would get a free drink or mango ice cream, I opted for a hot chocolate and winner, as Chris wanted neither but still completed it and gave me the mango ice cream ahhhh he’s a good one.

I am happy to say the sandwich was delicious and so was the mango ice cream, the hot chocolate was okay. We left gave our thanks and headed across the road to visit the Yasaka Shrine, this can only be explained as being spread over a huge expanse of land with various smaller shrines and stalls selling food.

It continued on as levels with each one opening up to something different to see, then various pathways entwined with small footbridges crossing small stretches of water filled with some beautiful koi carp. They were clearly used to human presence as soon as you stepped to the edge they would all swim to you. I really liked that and carp are my favourite freshwater fish.

We spent quite a bit of time here taking in the surroundings and tranquility of it all. It was peaceful and despite the people, everyone seemed to be quiet. In a city the size of Japan it is very quiet when it comes to people and hearing them talking.

After a while we continued up further taking in more views and sculptures, we turned a corner and started to walk up more steps and got to the top, unfortunately at this point, we couldn’t go any further, it was 17:52 and a guard was saying they were closing so we had to leave that part of the area. I was a little disappointed but I was still extremely happy with what we had both seen, now we started our descent back to the exit taking in the sights again.

At the bottom, the food stalls were still going strong and Chris had noticed the 10 Yen cake, which is like a very light sweet batter in the shape of a coin about 5/6 inches in diameter with a cheese or chocolate filling.

I had bought the cheese one a few days earlier and it was delicious, Chris opted for the chocolate filling. I pre-warned Chris that these were hot and to be careful, he didn’t listen and then quickly started blowing in the air to say it was hot, errrr yeah I did say. Chris enjoyed this and was happy with his choice of filling.

I was due a brew so we found the nearest one across the road about a hundred yards on the left-hand side. We went in and Chris grabbed a seat and I ordered, I sat with Chris and he started to upload his pics. I sat and enjoyed my brew and relaxing, this was soon spoilt by a family sitting next to us and smacking their lips so loudly whilst they ate the dead could hear them. Neither Chris nor myself cope with this easily so we decided to leave and head back to the hotel, it had been another long day.

On route, I said to Chris you fancy another 10 Yen coin and he said oh why not so we headed back to the stall and queued up for one, this time round the vendor had sold out of chocolate so we left feeling a little sad and went to catch the 206 bus.

We both were aware of how packed that bus gets so again we left the first bus that came so we could bag a seat on the second of which we did exactly that. This time though on route that bus was jammed and we made a stop and the queue to get on was going around the corner. Nope sorry people no more room and we only let a few on and left them standing to wait for another bus.

We left the bus and made our way to the platform to catch the train from Kyoto to Osaka Central, from there we caught the loop line and headed for Shin-Imamiya Station, we needed to change at this station and caught the train for Tamadenaka station. Chris was hungry by the time we got off and headed to the 7-Eleven next to our hotel where he picked up the FAMOUS EGG SANDWICHES and a few other bits and pieces, I got myself a couple of drinks and we headed back to the room.

All in all another cracking day in the land of the rising sun!

Today was the day we were going to see some deer, it was a late start and we left the hotel around 10:00am, and straight into the 7-Eleven to pick up a couple of supplies.

We headed for the train once loaded up and caught the train to shin-Imamyia and from there swapped trains to head straight for Nara. The journey took around 45 mins and I was in Nara around 11:00am.

The weather was great, 15C sunny and warm, you couldn’t wish for better, to be honest. Once out of the station we entered the tourist information, here Chris picked up his magnet, he does this for every place he goes to. I on the other hand bought myself a brew, the first one of the day, nice.

Whilst there Chris confirmed the walking route for Nara Park, we could have caught the bus but where is the fun in that. The route was across the road and we just stayed on it, leading us directly to Nara Park.

The walk-up was very pleasant stopping now and then to take the odd pic of course and pop into a random shop or two. Walking up we came to a fork in the road and on the left was a huge 5-storey shine under repair, Chris and I stopped briefly to spend a penny there and have a very quick nosey about. We both decided that we should continue to the park but return here on the way back.

Approaching the park I stopped put on my camera harness and got ready to take various videos of the park, I still wasn’t sure what to expect if I’m honest. All set up we crossed the road and made our way into the park, I spotted a couple of deers to the left of the path and a couple of people feeding one of them. Chris and I both started taking pics and our video cameras were rolling.

We could see they were feeding them crackers but weren’t sure where to buy these from, we both walked about for a little longer and finally, I approached this person and asked him where I could get some crackers and he pointed us to a vendor across the road from where we were standing. We couldn’t actually see him but the guy said head to the umbrella sticking up so we did.

We both took bets on what the cost would be, Chris said 3 for 500 Yen and I said knowing our luck you are probably right there fella. I have to say we were both surprised when we got there that for 200 Yen we got about 8-10 crackers, I bought 3 packs, I wasn’t messing about I was feeding these deers, that’s what I came here for and I was going to do it.

So three packs in hand, and the madness started from there, they honed in on me like I had a target on my head. I had 3-4 of them following me and I was trying to take off the wrapper so I could give them one but they were getting impatient, I managed to break off a couple of pieces but that wasn’t good enough and one of them started to get aggressive and was trying to bite me. Then it did bite me on the stomach, all the while people around me were laughing and recording me, including yes, bloody Chris laughing his head off at me grrrrr, banked fella.

I managed to put two packs in my bag in a rushed manner whilst moving about and got to the point where I crushed the pack that I had opened and threw it to the ground and hurried away. Chris then decided to open a pack yeahhhhh my turn to laugh now, they were on him like a shot and Chris was getting flustered but that didn’t stop me from laughing away at him, feel my pain fella. One of the deers just kept following him and Chris kept giving him the odd cracker but he kept coming at him. Chris kept saying to the deer, go away, yeah Chris doesn’t speak deer and he didn’t go till he got the rest he had in his hand, oh, did I forget to mention that same deer bit Chris on his rear ha ha ha, all on camera sucker!!!!!

After this encounter we crossed back over into the park and decided to watch other people feed the deer and see if they got harassed, don’t worry they did, don’t let the little cute faces fool you, they were running a tight ship and knew very well how to get the goods from you. If you refrain they get rough with you, you have been warned.

It was an amazing place to be honest, so quiet and tranquil, a safe haven for the deers to live and in harmony with humans. I said to Chris it’s a perfect example of humans and animals existing with each other and how the respect of the animals has shown the deers not to fear us but to grow with us. We take their habitat and bulldoze over it to build and use as we see fit without a second thought of what might live there. Well, the Japanese have nailed this and have a deep respect for the animal.

At the top of the park, we both stopped for a rest and Chris bought a couple of cans of Sprite, we sat and enjoyed those and watched people feeding the deer, I forgot to mention, before you give the cracker, bow to the deer and it will bow back at you. It’s such a sight to see and I felt very humbled for the deer to bow. Of course, its reward was a tasty cracker but I would have given the deer the whole pack for one bow.

We stayed at the top for a while longer and decided to start making our way back down, I would say about halfway down we saw a lot of deer crossing the pathway so I decided to capture this on video, all of a sudden they started to bolt over to the other side of the park. Curious, we both decided to head in the same direction and it led us into another park that was separate from the park we had been in which sounds weird but it was, it opened up to a small woodland and a pathway. On the other side, it dropped off to a green and then a sheer drop with a lake etc at the bottom of it. There was an abundance of deer here and again all getting fed and carrying on their day like this was a normal thing, it was clear to me that the Japanese people held the deer in high esteem, to be honest, I think they do over every living thing.

Again we took our leave and headed down the pathway, I decided to capture a Timelapse on the GoPro and I am happy to say it came out really well. We got to the exit/entrance of the park took one last look and made our back toward the station. On the way we stopped off at the shrine that we had briefly come across on the way up and this time did take time to look properly. The 5-storey pagoda shrine was under some kind of restoration so we were unable to get close to this, a few pics were taken but slightly spoilt by a crane, what can you do it has to be done. We never went into the other building there and took in the views with some pics of course and took our leave.

We did stop at the Starbucks on the way back and sat outside, this was for a rest, a brew (important), and to use their Wi-Fi to do some uploads of the many pics we had taken to our shared folder. I had been a bit lazy and hadn’t done mine for a few days and I needed to upload around 1000 pictures. I did manage to upload a hundred or so but then it started freezing etc and I decided to abandon the idea and do this at a later date. Chris on the other hand had been doing this regularly so it didn’t take him long to upload what was outstanding. After a few points we both sat laughing laughing away at the video of me getting mobbed by the mafia deer and a heavy taking a bite at me, yes I find it really funny too, we left shortly after this a little fresher after the rest.

Again we stopped at several shops to pick up a couple of little bits like magnets and such and also a bean paste mochi sweet, I wasn’t keen if I am honest but I wanted to say I at least tried it. We got to the station and it was the usual densely populated place to be in any part of Japan, we boarded the train and headed for Osaka to grab some food. We arrived at Osaka and Chris wanted to take a video of the unusual escalator, it goes up then levels out goes up again all in one smooth motion. Chris was fascinated by this and was a little too excited in my mind, hey, whatever does it for you right. On exiting the station we started to search for somewhere to eat, Chris did fancy some pork and rice but all I could find was noodles and he wasn’t up for that, we both agreed that we would go to Namba. I had some amazing Gyoza’s there and I was happy to munch on a few more, we boarded the train again and headed for Namba.

On leaving Namba Chris had a change of heart and decided he was going to have a Wendy’s, yes they have that here, luckily it was a couple of shops away from the place I was going to eat at. We parted ways and both headed for our eateries, I selected the beef bowl oh my this is delicious, it’s soft rice topped with beef and a soft-boiled egg with a runny yoke and some spring onions, it’s amazing. I also ordered a separate boiled egg and 10 gyoza, the total for all this food was £5.70, what a bargain. I lovingly ate this food and in an instant, all was right in the world, once finished I washed it down with a cold glass of water and I left to meet back up with Chris.

I entered Wendy’s store and couldn’t see Chris at first so I climbed the stairs and he still wasn’t there, so on the next floor and again he wasn’t there. I left Wendy’s and looked briefly to see if I could find him sitting anywhere but couldn’t so I messaged him and he replied where he was so I went to meet him. I quickly found out that Chris didn’t get any food as it was busy and there were two people in front of him necking each other, his words, not mine so he left it. We went on to Bic which is a massive store of electrical items and other goods you can think of, if they don’t have it here forget it you can’t buy it anywhere. I tried to get a case for my GoPro to replace the one I had lost and also get a protective cage like Chris has on his DJI but they were sold out grrrrr.

At this point, Chris needed some food and I said a few choices but he just wanted the good old faithful egg sandwich from 7 Eleven so that’s what he did. We headed back to the station and the first one had none left the guy in the shop checked but they had sold out. Luckily there was another 7-Eleven on the platform we were leaving from and there were 2 left, Chris quickly grabbed those and gathered up a selection of sweet treats, that was close, I didn’t want to travel back empty I tell you. On the train heading back, I sat thinking about the day and how amazing it had been, I really felt blessed to be able to see the park and the deer living there.

Japan truly is a wonderful country to visit!

Today was the day we were leaving Osaka to return to Tokyo, we both had decided to get a late checkout which was 11:00 am, it was only an extra hour but they charged us a thousand Yen for the privilege of it. Chris needed some rest and a night of good sleep, we have been going full-on since we got to Japan and there was to be no let up either. I can go on a few hours sleep but Chris does like his slumber.

I woke at 06:30am after turning off the light at 01:30am, 5 hours is more than enough for me. Chris was still sleeping so I left him to it, I got up showered etc and started completing my previous day’s blog that I hadn’t done. Chris woke about 10:00am and had a banging headache and felt sick, a quick shower seemed to help with that and no doubt a trip to 7-Eleven as well.

The bags were packed already as we both had done this early hours, we didn’t want to be messing about getting our stuff together last thing. All ready to leave we left our luggage with the hotel reception and made our way to Osaka Castle. The train journey was a couple of changes from Tamade Station we went to Hommachi Station and from there to Tanimachiyonchrome Station. Out of the station, neither Chris nor myself had a clue where to go, our maps indicated that we were into a 19-minute walk from the station 1.3 km to Osaka Castle.

I suggested to Chris that it would be a good idea to just follow the crowds of people as it seemed logical that this was probably the place most of them were heading to, so that’s what we both did. I would say about 200 yards down the road we could see the top of the castle, it looked pretty grand from just the view I could see. I have to say it was probably a good 10 mins to get to the outer rim of the grounds and a solid 20 mins to the palace in total. From the word go this place was HEAVING, it didn’t help that we went on a Saturday but to be fair all the other days we were doing something and I didn’t want to leave without seeing the castle.

I was originally going to go into the castle but when I got to it the queue was 45 minutes deep and I could only imagine how badly packed it was going to be inside. We both decided that it was best to avoid this and admire the castle from the outside where we had some room to move freely. A performer was doing some balancing tricks and juggling at the same time, I paused for a moment to take it in, not the entertainment but someone who was standing watching the performance holding a lead with a cat on the other end of it. I really didn’t think this was the greatest of ideas considering how many people were about and the high chance of it getting trodden on, but this wasn’t my pet and the owner clearly thought this was okay.

After a few more pics we both decided to make a start to leave, Chris needed a comfort break and I was feeling dehydrated at this point. We made our way out and on the way came across someone else with a pet on a lead only this time it was a rabbit, I have no words. This person seemed to be enjoying the attention he was getting but I am not sure it was good for the rabbit as it was really hot and sunny and the rabbit was laid out flat on the ground. We kept on moving and headed down the way we came only to turn slightly left heading into a courtyard of sorts, here there was another entertainer with a monkey and he was having him do tricks, I don’t really care for animals like this to be kept as pets as these are not domestic pets they are wild animals and should stay that way. The monkey appeared to be well-kept and in good health so that made me feel a little better, Chris was also of the same opinion when I expressed my thoughts.

Unfortunately, there were no restrooms here nor drinks to be had so we quickly made our way out to the toilets at the entrance and Lawsons. At this point now Chris and I both agreed to go to Starbucks for a drink, Internet to upload our pics and a bite to eat. The nearest Bucks was a short walk from where we were, On the way we stopped at Lawson’s and Chris grabbed a few treats, at bucks, I picked up two brownies expecting them to be similar to the ones in the UK but they weren’t and to be fair not very nice at all. After we finished we headed back to the station to get back to the hotel as time was getting on and we wanted to be near there to get the bag and go to the airport with little fuss.

We popped into the 7-Eleven next to the hotel before and I picked up a drink and pork dumpling and Chris picked up a sausage and a few treats. We popped into the canteen/break area they had in the hotel and sat there for a while and ate and drank what we had just bought. It was now time for us to make tracks to the airport and say goodbye to Osaka, it’s been an amazing trip to this city and one I will fondly remember. The train journey was uneventful and we made good time, Chris and I were both looking for some food and drinks but wanted to check the bag and get sorted first, I grabbed a drink and supped this and we then got the back checked in. That went well and we only then needed to get the hand luggage tagged, but first, the bag was weighed errrrghhhhh. I said to Chris, you wait here and I will go and get mine done, come back, and you can get yours done after. My bag checked in at 7.4KG which was okay and I got my bag tagged, Chris errrrm lightened him and I waited with the errrrr bits, weighed it, tagged it and oh put the items back in his bag.

Going through security was different from back home, you strip off read your rights and providing they don’t find a hair out of place you’re okay to go. However here they do things smart, they have detectors that work as intended and you CAN take liquids through as well no issues. My laptop and chargers etc were in the backup all zipped up and not emptied out either. As my stuff came through he took one of the two trays looked at my drink and said yes no problem and that was that, a quick body search and all clear. On the other side, we picked up a couple of sandwiches and sat and ate those at the gate

No sooner had we finished the sandwiches than they called for boarding, Chris and I started queueing up and it grew quickly, all of a sudden a few people decided to make another queue parallel to us, I said to Chris that isn’t on if they let them on before us. A few minutes had passed and we hadn’t, over but a lady then called to the passengers standing in the other queue that this was okay and that they needed to get in ours, ha ha ha see you suckers. We quickly boarded and they continued to load the rest of the passengers, unfortunately, we were late leaving by about 10-15 minutes and Chris started to get a little concerned that we might not be able to catch the train or bus from Tokyo due to how late it was going to be.

On landing, we had to catch a bus from the plane to the terminal and this really started to stress Chris out as we also needed to collect the luggage as well. When we got into the terminal we were lucky enough to have the baggage claim in the same place and our bag was there around 5 minutes later. We made a sharp exit from the arrivals and went to get a bus ticket, we secured 2 tickets for the 22:45 and went to bay 3 outside. There was already a bus there loading when we got there but we were informed that we couldn’t take that as it was the 22:30 one, now Chris was hacked as he specifically asked for the next bus going. When you think about it technically it would be the next bus going as that had already arrived, I wasn’t going to say that as well, you know it didn’t need me to help the mood anymore.

The travel from the airport to Tokyo station was nice, with clear roads and smooth, although the air wasn’t turned on and I was a little concerned I might feel unwell on the way but I was good. From the station, we walked a fair distance to catch the train we needed to take us to Kamata station. At this point Chris and I were both tired as it was 01:00 am, we got into the room and I showered and then updated the previous day’s blog and uploaded the remaining pics that I hadn’t done during the day.

On the whole, Osaka was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone, tomorrow is going to be a chilled-out day for us both before we fly again to Hiroshima.

I woke at about 08:00 this morning, to be fair I was still awake at 03:00 writing up stuff and uploading pics, Chris was still fast asleep and I just laid there for a while chilling on the phone. My neck was in pain a little bit and I needed to get up and start moving about a bit to loosen it up.

I got myself sorted and Chris woke up as well, he grabbed the washing and took this down to put it on so it would be done. I had sorted out a bag of pants and socks and he was going to do them at the same time, cheers fella. He returned and I said to him I was going for some breakfast, I just wanted some toast and they did that at the hotel, also it was free so why not.

Chris wasn’t up for it at first but then changed his mind and joined me, I had been there for breakfast and had toast before so I knew the ropes, stand aside Chris I got your toast! We had breakfast and returned to the room, Chris didn’t want to do anything today and wanted to stay in the room, I needed a case to replace the one I had lost at Universal for my GoPro so I made my way out to the station to visit the Bic Camera store in Kawasaki.

I caught the train to Kawasaki station from Kamata, the train was really busy and for a Sunday I thought it would be a lot quieter. On the train, we passed several buildings which melted away and then a few fields came into view. I noticed a number of them having playgrounds on them and being full of people and their children, so I guess the Japanese really treat Sunday as a day of rest and family time.

Arriving at Kawasaki I departed and made my way to the exit, clearing the exit I came out to a walkway which led me onwards to a shopping centre, in front of me was Bic Camera and I made my way in. I knew the case I wanted but this store did not have it in stock or the cage for it either. I took some time to look and asked the lady at the store but they had none, This resulted in getting a different case which worked out quite well anyway, I paid and left the store.

As I was here I thought it rude not to have a look about but also having not had a brew yet I was going for that as well. Coming out of the store I saw a store called Loft, I seemed to remember that this was a good store and one I had seen on my many clips from Instagram, so in I went. I managed to pick up a couple of gifts and left the store and headed for Starbucks.

This Starbucks was rammed and all the seating had been taken so I guessed I wouldn’t be stopping, to my good luck as I queued up someone was leaving so I placed my bag and jacket as a holder, I ordered my drink and went back to the table once I had it. I like to people-watch watch so I sat for a while doing this and noting how happy people seemed to be and chilled, not stressed or complaining, I just wish it could be like that back home. I checked on Chris to make sure he was okay and he had decided to get out for a bit and sit on the train and chill out so at least that was good that he was getting some air.

Once I had finished my brew I took my leave and passed a few shops but wasn’t really interested so I headed back to the station to catch a train back to Kamata. On arrival, I decided to take a different exit for some strange reason I don’t know I just did. I came out onto a square where there were several outlets like McD’s and KFC etc. I walked about for a good while taking in the surroundings and noting if and what things might be useful to tell Chris. I decided to go back now as my head was starting to hurt and I needed to sit for a bit myself, on the way I came across a shrine and took some pics of it, and also to show Chris if he wanted to see and that he might want to go.

I returned back to the hotel and Chris was already there, I asked him what he had got up to and he said that he had caught the loop line and then sat on the platform for a while, I asked what I had been up to and he had tracked me at one point and see that had been at the shrine and asked about it. I rested for a bit and we both went out for dinner a little while after this, the place we went to only took cash and we had to go back to the hotel to grab some cash and return. I ordered a beef bowl and an egg it was lush and just what I needed to be honest, after a bit of to and fro with the lady Chris managed to get a plain pork and boiled rice dish. He’s a fussy git and you’re doing well to get something that doesn’t upset him, fingers crossed he will be alright.

Belly full we returned to the hotel, I packed a case for the travel tomorrow and it was an early rise in the morning so I had a shower and got into bed and called it a day.

Early rise this morning, we got ready and headed down to grab some toast on the quick before we had to leave, I wasn’t sure when I would be eating again so I took this chance to have something. We finished up the toast and left. The hotel transfer was already waiting for us we quickly loaded our bags and were on our way to the airport, thankfully it was only a 20-minute drive to the airport, just as well as the shuttle was full and there were no air vents to get some fresh air.

By the time we reached terminal two, I was feeling a little queasy so I jumped out to catch a few breaths of fresh air which helped no end, I jumped back in and we headed to terminal one which was only a few minutes away. With our luggage in hand, we made our way to check the bags but for some reason, the self-check-in area had barriers around them and we were told that we had to join this queue which was already backed up. We never argued but waited in line until I saw another lady get let in to check the bag, I left the line and Chris followed suit and I showed the lady the boarding pass, this time she pointed us to check in 6, nice.

I tried to check my bag but it returned an error and then Chris tried a different console and he had the same error, we spoke to a guy who was on a terminal marked Info, he tried both of our boarding cards and he got the same result. The guy wasn’t sure what the issue was and asked if we were on a transfer and going on to another destination and we said no so he then said you will need to go back to the long queue we were both originally standing in. Yeah no that wasn’t going to cut it for Chris and they he about it, Chris was adamant and said no we are not going to queue there we need help here, the guy was a bit hesitant but manually checked our bags from his console and printed the tickets for our bags, I am not sure why he couldn’t do this in the first place instead of trying to turn us away and queue up.

This was us now on route to security check and was that was done we could wait at the gate for our flight, the baggage checking had set Chris right off and at this point, it was best to let him be and calm down. Security went off without a hitch thank goodness for that and we went on to the gate. Chris was on one and charged off, I let him and I trailed behind, by the time I got to the gate Chris was sat nearest the windows looking out at the planes and runway, that’s his happy place. I took the chance to let him have his space and sit somewhere else, I kept an eye on the board and we hadn’t been called so I just checked Facebook out etc until it was time to board.

The boarding was called and before I knew what was what Chris was thru and I hadn’t even got up, I passed through and soon boarded the plane and sat with Chris. Chris was recording the take-off etc so I stuck my headphones in and watched some Justice League that I had downloaded on Netflix for the flights especially. About 30 minutes before we landed I got up to use the toilet and when I came out Chris needed to go, he said you just missed the drinks, so I sat back down and asked the next flight attendant for a drink, I got Chris an apple juice and myself one and a coffee.

The lady returned shortly after and Chris as well, the lady said to me would you like to sit in the next row to my right, I said sure why now have a full row of seats to myself. I sat down drank my drinks and watched the rest of my shows until we landed. Getting off was smooth enough and claiming baggage was quick as well, I spoke with the lady at the information desk and she informed me of the bus to catch, we made our way to stop 5 and the bus arrived a few moments later, 1450 Yen, we both couldn’t believe how much it was but then we never had a choice to be fair. We pulled into Hiroshima Station and from there we caught a tram, we were on it for about 10 minutes before we got off then had a 10-15 minute walk to the hotel.

The walk wasn’t too bad, it was a pleasant day and it was good to stretch my legs properly after so much sitting, when we reached the hotel it was only 10:20am so we were way too early to check-in. We left our bags with the reception and made our way to the exec lounge. Chris sat down and I grabbed us both a drink, we made a few plans of what we were going to do next but Chris wanted to leave it half an hour or so as he was just charging his phone up, he was low from all the video he has been taking on the plane. I went and grabbed us both another drink but on my return Chris wasn’t happy, I asked what was up and he had managed to knock his charger with his leg and break it.

He was wound up and I said don’t to worry let me look at it, in about 5 mins I had fixed it but Chris wasn’t happy as he said it probably wouldn’t work, I tried to reassure him but I knew he wouldn’t be happy until he had tried it. A few minutes later we were both out of the hotel and walking up to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the walk was a good 20-30 minutes and was a quiet one about our surroundings, I mean compared to Tokyo that is.

We neared the memorial after crossing a bridge and there were a lot more people around this area, and a lot of them were school children. My best guess was that they were probably learning about their country’s history and how Hiroshima has become the symbol of peace and to show the world to not repeat such a tragic event again. I took many pictures of the many structures and monuments that had been assembled at the site, and none of them struck a chord more than the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. This building stood in ruins but was preserved as a reminder of what was, and what could be again if we do not learn from it.

Of course, another city and another magnet were needed so Chris and I went to the souvenir shop, walking about I needed the toilet so I popped along and once finished I pressed the but to flush, although this wasn’t the flush button but the bloody emergency call button. I frantically started pushing the button hoping to cancel this but nope, looking at the panel I could see no cancel button and knew that it wasn’t going to be long before a staff member would come bursting in. To head this off I stepped outside and saw a security guard on route, I tried to explain that it was my mistake and that I had pressed this by mistake. He did kind of get what I was saying and then cancelled the alert by pressing the button outside of the toilet so yes, I never stood a chance really did.

At the moment this madness was happening Chris had messaged me and said he was waiting outside, I went outside and Chris found it highly amusing the pain I had just had, yeah yeah Chris lap it up my time will come fella. We both started to head back to the hotel and along the way, we had a pit stop for my first Starbucks of the day, and I treated Chris to a large cup of iced water, I am too good to him.

We left after the drink and short rest and made our way back to the hotel, by the time we reached the hotel we were okay to check in and about time as Chris was now suffering from a headache due to being tired and hot, luckily we had been upgraded to an executive suite. We entered the room and it was perfect and had an amazing view from the large window in the room. I turned on the air con and Chris had an hour’s sleep, I started to write about the day so far and when Chris woke we both went to the VIP lounge to see what was on offer.

The VIP lounge was busy when we arrived and Chris and I helped ourselves to some snacks on offer and a couple of drinks, Chris was happier as his headache had gone and he had got some food. Our plan was to pop and have food at the Indian restaurant around the corner from the hotel so we took our leave and went to see what delights they had. The restaurant was lovely and clean, with only a handful of customers at the time, Chris ordered a boiled rice and a plain nan and I ordered a mutton biryani. The food swiftly arrived and my dish was okay, nothing special just okay, the meat was very sparing and the rice was dry, usually this dish would be accompanied by a vegetable curry but not on this occasion.

The food was inexpensive and reasonable for what money it was, after we finished we popped into the 7-Eleven and bought some drinks and returned to the hotel, today has been another long day, to be fair every day since we got here has been a long day. Tomorrow is another day and one I look forward to.

Tokyo/Hiroshima day 12

Today was tough getting out of bed, it was way past midnight until I started to even feel remotely tired, and then a restless sleep never helped either. I did wake at 07:00 and thought nope and went back to sleep, when I woke again Chris was getting up and going for a shower, Laid there and dozed off again. I woke when Chris came out of the shower saying MORNING!

By this time it was gone 8:00 and we needed to leave in about 15-20 minutes, I quickly got ready and we left the hotel in a rush. We walked to the tram stop and on the way stopped at a usual 7-Eleven to grab some supplies. The tram was nicely packed and standing room only, we didn’t have far to go as we were catching the train to the ferry port.

At the station, the train was rammed again and it seemed like everybody else wanted to go in the same direction and the same place as us, not great I have to say. Once off the train it was a short walk from the station to the ferry port and I have to say we managed to somehow dodge this massive queue and pretty much walk on the ferry, the ferry was a reasonable 300 Yen and if I’m honest they could charge more and get away with it as there isn’t any other way to get there. The crossing was smooth and lasted less than 10 minutes, enough time to grab a few pics of the island ahead of us and the one behind us.

Once on the other side we left the boat and left the station, as we left Chris was asked to complete a survey, I waited for him whilst he completed this and he even got a Japanese pencil rubber which he proudly showed me later in the day, it’s the small things right. From there we started our way to the Otorii gate and were just following the masses of people, along the way we saw dear roaming about, these ones were a little more calmer than the ones in Narra, I think it might be that these ones don’t get crackers stuffed in there faces every twist and turn. There were notices up saying to NOT feed the deer and not touch them as they are wildlife, still, people can’t help it when they see a lovable creature like a deer and associate it with Bambi, not going to lie I was gagging for someone to get nipped ha ha ha.

The tide was going out when we got there and we managed to get some lovely shots of the gate which was my main reason for going in the first place. Once the picture taking was done we continued on our way to the ropeway, not really to travel on it but to see what there was really. Chris spotted a Starbucks so we ventured in and I had my first of the day here, this Starbucks was two-storey and had a lovely view out to the sea, we sat for a while and chilled, I had my drink and Chris started on the snacks he had bought from 7 Eleven earlier.

We left there after about 45 minutes and carried on our way to the ropeway, in case you’re not aware what this is, it’s a cable car ride. We came across a small bridge and I went down to take some pics of the water underneath and the fall that was a little further up. This had now started us both on to something neither of us thought would happen. We both started to follow the river upstream and I have to say at some points it was looking like either one of us was going to get wet. Chris was doing really well until we got to some stepping stones, he was fine going one way but then decided he wanted to take some more pics but just didn’t feel confident enough to jump down onto the first stone so he ended back over the other side and back again on the stones to take the pics he wanted.

Onward we continued to walk and jump around like we were 12-year-olds and it really made the day for me, climb up the massive boulders etc, there was a few points Chris nope but for the most of it he was game and went with the flow, although he did manage to scrape his leg on climbing up, I was armed with some savlon so a little of that and he was right as rain, get in there fella. It wasn’t until I got to this one point that Chris said yeah nope I’m not doing that, made me chuckle. Eventually, we had got to the point where it was getting a bit out of hand and we had both pushed our luck as far as it should have been, we decided to join the footpath again and climbed the bank through some trees and a short walk and was back on it.

Surprisingly enough we were only a few hundred yards from the ropeway, just another hundred steps to climb, at this point, we both turned round as we were not going to travel on this and made our way back slowly down. We were walking down and I was a few steps ahead of Chris and then I wasn’t as Chris came rolling past me, I mean WTF. Chris had fallen over on what I do not know and if you asked him he would tell you the same, his ankle twisted and it was over from there. Chris had managed to scrape another part of his leg, and out came the salon yet again, no sticker for being a brave boy Chris, but good boy for not crying though. I made sure he was okay to walk and he was so we continued on although a little slower this time. I did say to Chris, next time you should do a tuck and roll it would make it look really impressive then, I was told to go and do one, I think he meant yes he would try.

We were now at the bottom and it didn’t take that long, to be honest, I was going to get another coffee but decided against it and walked through the marketplace of shops selling souvenirs and oysters (yuck). I did stop to see some things being made and also bought Chris and myself a custard-filled pastry, damned if I can remember the name of it. Chris enjoyed it but I’m keen for him to try the one back in Kamata, It’s way better, and the custard is amazing.

It was around 14:00pm and I was hungry so we popped into Lawsons and bought an egg sandwich each, these were easily consumed within a couple of minutes and we headed across the road to board the next ferry available. The queue was massive and there were two of them so we joined one of them and waited, 5 minutes passed and the other queue seemed to have disappeared, I said to Chris I am going to check and see if they are still boarding, on nearing the entrance I could see they were still boarding so I waived to Chris and we boarded the ferry.

On board we both were outside again, Chris wanted to take a video of the short crossing so stood and did this, I was bloody freezing so sat with my hood up to try and keep warm, I couldn’t help it I really felt the cold these days. On the other side, we caught the tram back this time, we missed the first one but the next was due in 2 minutes and we got a seat so it was a win for us. The journey was extremely bumpy so avoid it if pregnant as it will start you off, it lasted around an hour and I got off at the Atomic Bomb Dome and made our way back to the hotel via Starbucks for the second one of the day. We passed several shops but one caught my eye, it was all the Apple products so we popped in for a cheeky look, I noticed some air tags in the glass case and I quickly checked the prices. When I converted the Yen it was just under £20 each which is a bargain as they are £35 each back in the UK. I have been on about getting one for some time so I said I would take two of them, one had no box and was slightly cheaper, Chris mentioned 10% tax-free shopping as well. In total both tags came to £34, less than what I would have paid for one, nice.

Out of the shop we made our way to the corner and picked up the coffee, we decided not to stop as we wanted to get back to the hotel and sample some of the food and drinks in the VIP lounge. When we reached the hotel we directly to the VIP lounge and stayed for a good hour and had food and a few apple juices, I left there feeling pretty stuffed. Chris had returned about 10 minutes earlier to sort some bits and pieces out.

As it was our last night here Chris and I wanted to visit the streets below that were lit up like fireworks with neon lights. We both left the hotel and made our way across the roads waiting 2 hours at each to get across them, you see, you cannot walk until it turns green this is practically law here, and one that I have found to be very time-consuming I tell you. Well what can I say, we went to the street and started taking some pics and neared the end and turned around, this place was full of men and women in business attire. Chris remarked on how seedy it felt and I agreed it did have a certain air of it. We both wanted drinks so we went to a couple of 7-Elevens to get the kind I wanted and it wasn’t until we stopped at the last one available which was across the road from our hotel that they had the ones I wanted.

Today was a really good day, albeit a tiring one. It made me feel young for a short while and reminded me of the times we used to play as a boy. A long time ago, where has that time gone?

Today was our last day in Hiroshima and I would highly recommend this place, it’s a lovely city rich with history and culture.

I had another late night with not being able to sleep, it was gone 1 and Chris had woken and said to sleep but I couldn’t as usual.

Anyhow I laid down and tried to get some sleep, I woke several times in the night and finally woke around 07:00, I laid there for a while and then Chris got up to go to the toilet and I sat up when he came out. Brushed my teeth and had a drink.

I did the usual looking on the phone and watching short videos with my AirPods so as not to disturb Chris. I ended up getting dressed and heading for breakfast on the 6th floor.

At the breakfast lounge, it was heaving, I was asked as a diamond member if I would like some drinks from a card he showed me, I chose the mango, I love mango drinks. At the table they placed a well-folded paper bird, this was to indicate that I was a diamond member (funny as). At this point I wanted to hold it up shouting peasants I am a diamond member (only joking, or am I).

I got myself two pieces of toast some scrambled eggs and a few pieces of bacon, although it’s not the bacon we have back home but smoked and tasty still. I sat at the table and looked outside, the weather was awful and lashing down with rain erghhh. I checked the forecast and it said it should stop by 11 so I had my fingers crossed that would be the case. I returned to the room and Chris was awake and just getting ready, I waited and we both decided to take our luggage and head for the VIP lounge as we could have drinks and some snacks for Chris free of charge, did I mention I was a DIAMOND member?

We both got to the lounge and settled in with some drinks and Chris had various bowls of goodies around him, not to pass up on a freebie her certainly rinsed it, he even half-filled a zip lock back with sweets, you can’t take him anywhere these days ha ha ha. We hadn’t got any plans for the day and it made it worse that as it was tipping it down walking about really wasn’t an option for either of us so I checked with the lady at the desk if we could sit until 15:00pm and she said it wasn’t a problem at all. I returned to tell Chris and we sat back to enjoy a few more hours of consuming free drinks and snacks and watching the world go by. Unfortunately, this was soon put paid to with an email from the airlines to inform us due to high winds in Tokyo they had cancelled the flight oh great, not great at all. Chris was downright fuming, I wasn’t best pleased but Chris does routines and if that turns to shit he stresses a lot. I spoke with the lady at the desk and she was only too happy to call the airline for us and we sat on the phone waiting for someone to pick up the line, 20 mins on hold music we still hadn’t got through and we both decided that it would be best all round to catch the bullet train back to Tokyo. The lady whose name was Tomoka, called a taxi for us to get to the train station, she also said to make sure you get the south exit as this would be cheaper, she was amazing and a credit to the hotel.

The taxi quickly arrived and we headed to the station, by the time we got there the fare was just under 1000 Yen, with the weather like it was I wasn’t about to complain at this and sucked it up and handed over the cash. Heading into the station we both topped up our passmo cards with 1000 Yen and whilst we were there an English couple was having a few issues with the ticket machine. Chris was quick to help a couple of fellow Brits out and showed them how to top up the cards, the lady asked me a couple of questions and I answered these, and we then all went about our day. We both needed tickets for the Shinkansen so headed to the ticket barriers in the hope that we could grab them. There was a guard at the barriers and he informed us to go to the ticket office around the corner, so that’s what we did, around the corner there were a large number of ticket machines in the wall where you could buy tickets so we started queueing for them, but this wasn’t a ticket office and both felt it wasn’t the right place. A guard came out of the door to the left of us so Chris asked him who pointed us in the direction of the office. Off we both went, on entering the queue was deep and we noticed the couple we had been speaking to earlier, we had another chat about travel etc and then the line moved and we parted ways.

About 5 minutes later the man approached us both and said there was another queue for foreign visitors we needed to go there so we both followed him, nice as we were now third in the queue, cheers fella. We then started up another conversation with the couple and were interrupted by a gentleman asking “As he was in front of us in the other queue can he go ahead of us”, I looked at him and said “Errr no fella that’s not how it works”, he replied, “oh I figured”. I mean the brass neck of it, moments later he shot off somewhere out of the office and that was the last I saw of him.

An English-speaking lady then spoke to us and asked us where we wanted to go, we told her and she completed a slip for us and we handed this to the person serving behind the counter. We asked for window seats but they had all been sold and so chose aisle seats, my ticket was £104, I mean that’s a cost I hadn’t foreseen, oh well at least we get to Tokyo today and a little earlier as well. When Chris went to get his ticket the person then informed him that he would have to have a middle seat now as they had all sold out, he wasn’t impressed at all, so I took my leave and waited outside for him to come out.

When he came out he wasn’t best pleased and muttered a few choice words, anyone who knows Chris, knows he always has a few choice words. As I was going to be shortly sat on a train for 3.5 hours I decided to grab a brew from my favourite establishment, brew in hand we headed for the train.

On the platform we only had to wait a few moments before the train arrived, we boarded and sat down and settled in for the journey ahead. We had a few stops on the journey at various places, on the first stop a guy got on and sat next to Chris, he also had a full-size suitcase which he had stood in the aisle with him, something you are not supposed to be doing but it appears it didn’t apply to him. The first time it rolled into me is okay but if it kept on I would soon be saying something to him.

The rest of the journey was pretty smooth and I managed to connect to the onboard Wi-Fi, I launched Netflix and sat and watched some of that for most of the journey apart from stopping for a drink and a loo break, oh, and to get some fab pics from the train out of the window of Mount Fuji. We pulled into the station at 18:32 so a total journey time of 3:49 minutes and made our way out of the station to catch the JK line to Kamata station and then on to our hotel.

We came out of the station and crossed the road, here I picked up another two of the custard pastries and Chris agreed these ones were better than the one he tried in Hiroshima, I couldn’t agree more. Also, the wind was really bad, I can see now why our flight was cancelled. We hurriedly walked to the hotel to drop our bags and then back out for a quick bite to eat. We never ventured far, we went to the same place again we did the other night, I had a beef bowl again with egg and a little extra beef, and it was a little I tell you, and Chris had two bowls of boiled rice with soy sauce.

The meal didn’t take long and we turned back to the hotel straight after, all together today wasn’t great but it turned out alright in the end, we never did a lot but we did get to ride the bullet train again which was cool.

Hiroshima was a lovely city and I feel honoured to have visited it, it’s another part of the Far East that ticked off for me. This city is certainly the slowest-paced one of the places I have visited in Japan and I am not complaining, oh I do have one gripe, the bloody pedestrian crossings I seemed to spend most of my time waiting for the green man to appear grrrrrr.

I had a good amount of sleep to be fair even though I woke several times in the night, Chris had just woken up so I sorted myself out, as I was getting ready Chris had just got in the shower when all of a sudden there was a loud siren noise. I looked and for a moment I couldn’t work out where the sound was coming from then realised it was my phone. When I looked it was an early warning alert that there was going to be an earthquake, a moment later the building started to shake and the bottle of water that was on the side was shaking, to be honest, it was much but an earthquake all the same. At the same time, there was a bang where Chris was, I later found out it was his phone falling on the floor from the alert vibrating his phone, after this excitement there was nothing else to do but to go for some toast.

By the time I had finished my toast, I returned to the room and Chris was ready, we left the room and headed to the train station as Chris wanted to pick up some glasses from a store in Kawasaki, so that’s what we did. I already knew where the store was as I had told Chris about it when I went to Kawasaki a few days before. We arrived at the store and Chris was looking at the frames on offer and picked out a few and decided on the ones he wanted. He took the frames to the front where a lady started to serve him. The cool thing about this store is you can order a pair of glasses complete with lenses and ready in 60 minutes for about £30, how mental is that.

I went and sat down and waited for Chris to complete and pay for them, Chris turned and said “Ready”, I got up and followed only to be informed that he couldn’t get the glasses as he had bifocals, and his lenses would take 2 weeks to be made. This is the sole reason that I couldn’t get some myself, and yes I would have ordered mine if I had known where the shop was I would have done this first off, oh well you win some and you lose some. We went for a walk around the shopping centre for about half an hour and decided to go back to Kamata and headed back to the station to catch the next train.

At Kamata station, we took the south exit this time so Chris could see what was on the other side of the station as up and till now he hadn’t gone to this side where I had the time I had gone to Kawasaki. Chris said that there was a lot more on this side of the station and we had a walk about for a short while taking in some of the shops etc. We headed back to the station as Chris said he was getting cold and made our way to Starbucks for him to warm up and my brew of course.

After a while, we returned to the hotel and I grabbed my Mac and ventured back out to Starbucks to sit and enjoy a brew and spend some time doing a few bits on the Mac. Chris came by about 2 hours later, Chris wanted another of the custard pastries so I joined him, well rude not to.

After buying one we walked back to the hotel munching on them, we planned on getting a couple of hours rest before heading out to Shinjuku to see all the neons. Chris got his head down and I wrote a little of my blog and watched a few bits on Facebook and Instagram.

We left the hotel at about 18:00 and made our way to Neon Nirvana, we caught the train at Kamata and had to change at Shinagawa and from there on to Shinjuku. We have both been on trains that have been packed whilst travelling here but this was another level, every seat and available floor space was consumed by people. It seemed like the whole world decided to head in the same direction we were going, it was a means to an end and sucked it up.

We reached the station and were kind of pushed and pulled along by the dense crowds getting off the train. We weren’t sure of the best exit to use so picked one and left. On exit, we were greeted with almost daylight, not from the sun but from the neons that were coming from every direction.

Everywhere you looked were lights and people, it was so crowded and reminded me of Universal Studios in regards of how many people there were. We wandered around taking in the sights and spotted a Bic Camera store, we went in as I was still after a case for my GoPro and all the stores were sold out, and so was this one. The sales assistant did a store check and said they had stock in another store about 100 yards up the street so we popped in there. True to his words they had it in stock along with an extension stick and a smaller rugged case. It all totalled about £39 after my 10% tax discount which was a bargain to be fair.

After leaving the store we walked some more and made our way to the cat display that plays every 15 mins. We both took some videos and by the time we had finished we were both freezing, Chris said let’s go into Starbucks and warm up, I agreed and we went.

The warmth of the store was welcoming and well lit, Chris went to find us some seats and I grabbed a brew. I joined Chris and sat down to enjoy my brew and warm up. After about 30 minutes we decided to go to the alley of lanterns.

This would be our last stop for the evening and would return to the hotel after this, we quickly came across the alley and it was decorated in imitation cherry blossom and paper lanterns which wound down the alleyway. On both sides, eateries were offering all kinds of culinary delights, tables and chairs were outside and people sat chatting and laughing with each other enjoying food and drink.

This place was pretty and very different to what was literally around the corner, yes it was still busy but not on the scale of what I had just walked through. It was calmer, not so light, dimmer with softer lights and not neon lights.

I took quite a few pictures and wanted to remember this in time to come, I liked this slice of calmness in a city of constant movement and noise. We took our leave and headed back to the station to head for the hotel, and again it was mentally packed. A guy got on and I’m sure he had one too many drinks and just kept staring at Chris, this started to wind Chris up and he eventually managed to turn his back on him, I wasn’t as fortunate but then I didn’t care and stared back, he stopped staring.

Kamata station was a welcome sight and we departed the train and briskly walked back to the hotel to find warmth, by the time we reached the hotel I was frozen and it took a while to warm up. A shower helped and I stayed in this for a good 20 minutes, that was lovely.

The day has been another good one taking in more of what Tokyo had to offer.

We left the hotel around 10:20 this morning and made our way to Kokobunji station, Chris was going to meet up with a friend he had made when he was on his travels in Egypt, he invited me along so decided to take him up on the offer.

Thankfully the train ride was nothing like the one we had yesterday and we both got seats and enjoyed the journey which took a little over an hour.

Coming out of the train we made our way out to the north exit and found the place we were going to meet her, she was running late and just as well as there were no tables free at the time. We opted for the Starbucks above to the right of the original meeting place and Cris updated his friend and we waited there until she arrived.

When she arrived she introduced herself as did I, she then went to the counter to buy a drink and came back with a piece of cake for Chris and me, I already liked this woman ha ha ha.

The conversation flowed easily and we all got on, we discussed my tattoos and how I love Studio Ghibli as did she. I made a conscious effort to make sure I didn’t take over the get-together with Chris and his friend, I used the loo and made my excuses when I came back. I did quickly message Chris to let him know what I was going to do when I went to the loo so he didn’t think I was being funny and I wanted Chris to spend time with his friend, it’s not like he would get to see her anytime soon now that she is living in Japan.

I ventured onto the platform and headed for Mitaka station to go to the Studio Ghibli museum, it was only a few stops and on exit from the station there was a sign directing the way to go. I had Google Maps pointing in the right direction and it was about a 20-minute walk. I was thirsty so I stopped at the 7-Eleven on the way picked up a few drinks and back on my way again.

On the way I walked through Inokashira Park, it was so nice and quiet even though there were many people there enjoying the good weather and surroundings. There was also a space where many cherry trees had broken out in blossom and people were taking shots of the trees and blossom.

About 100 yards from that spot was the Ghibli Museum and I was really buzzing to see this, I went to the entrance and they asked for a ticket, I said I didn’t have one and asked where I could buy one. I was told they were online only and all of March tickets had already been sold so no chance of getting in.

I have to say I was pretty gutted but I wasn’t the only one who had thought the same as myself and was turned away. Such a shame I couldn’t get to see inside there, maybe next time I visit this amazing country I will get the chance to go.

Nothing for it I turned round and headed for the station and took a slow walk back to enjoy my time there, I entered the station and thought why not have another brew as there was a Starbucks there it was rude not to. Chris was still with his friend so there was no rush for anything. I entered the store and ordered my brew, collected it and sat down next to this elderly lady, we struck up a conversation and I had to use Google translate to converse with her properly. She had been to the UK 3 times and asked me if I liked Japan, I explained how I did and how clean it was. We spoke back and forth for about 30 minutes until her daughter called her and she left to meet her, I said goodbye and she said goodbye and that I was very handsome. She really made my day, there was no need to say it but she did and that meant a lot to me.

Chris messaged me shortly after as he had finished with his friend so travelled to meet me at the station I was in, we sat for a little longer and then made tracks to go back to Kamata station and find some food for the day. Chris has really been pining for a kebab so that was his choice of food and mine was for the usual dumplings if I could get them, we arrived at Kamata station and left there using the usual exit, We crossed the street via the pedestrian crossing and taking a left down the side street about 200 yards away for the kebab, Chris bought a large chicken kebab meat only in a pitta bread. We headed back to the hotel so he could eat that and I could drop off the bag and then go out and get some food myself. Chris joined me and I went to a restaurant around the corner from the hotel I had noticed the day before when I was going back to the hotel and thought I needed to give that a try.

We arrived and a few people were waiting outside and one person waiting outside said we needed to put our name on the list just inside the door, I did this and we were called in a little over ten minutes. We browsed the menu and I knew what I wanted straight away, I ordered a roast pork ramen, a pork fried rice and some gyozas, Chris ordered Sweet and sour pork no vegetables and a large boiled rice. When I say this food came out fast that is an understatement, I have waited longer for a coffee no jokes. The food was piping hot and delicious to the last bite, Chris enjoyed it so much that he ordered a second sweet and sour pork no vegetables of course.

I would defo eat here again and it’s a shame we tried it on the last evening of being in Tokyo. We fly out tomorrow heading to Hong Kong for a fifteen-hour layover then on to Beijing for 4 days and then home. Oh well, it has been great while it lasted that’s all I can say.

Today is the day we leave Tokyo, it’s sad to be leaving as I know the holiday will soon be coming to an end we both woke around the same time and didn’t do anything until around 08:45 when we started to get things in order and get ready. We both did our last bit of packing and neither of us was hopeful how heavy our bags were and if they would get through the check-in without being tagged as too heavy, not to mention the cost implications. With the bags all packed, we both did our final checks in the room to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind and made our way to reception.

At the reception, they had some scales and my main luggage weighed in at 20 kilos, my carry-on was 7.5 kilos so it’s a scrape on the carry-on but I figured I would be okay. Chris weighed and his main was just over 21 kilos and his carry-on was just over 8 kilos, he reckons it will be fine so I am going with that. A bit cheeky but it was 10:00am and they stopped breakfast I noticed the guy had just started clearing away the food so I nipped in for some toast to set me up for the day and Chris came in shortly after me for the same. We both ate this said our thanks and left, we checked the bags to hold them in the hotel until 14:00pm to allow us to move about freely until it was time to go to the airport.

We left the hotel and headed for the train station, my plan was to just chill for a while at Starbucks and do a little on my blog etc, it was still early and to be fair the station was reasonably quiet compared to the mania that usually presents itself. Chris sat for a short while and then decided to go and sit on the trains and ride around, he likes to do that, as long as he gets a seat that is.

I was left alone and did my blog and a small summary of the time in Japan of which I will follow up with more and also include Beijing at a later date. It wasn’t uncommon to see people sitting in Starbucks chilling and asleep, in fact at the time of typing this I had two people to my left sleeping and one was even snoring, so funny and nobody even gave a second glance at them, I wasn’t sure what time Chris was going to return but he came back about 13:00pm and in time as I was busting for the loo ha ha ha.

By the time we left the station to pick up the luggage from the hotel, it had become the usual densely populated place I had become used to seeing. The weather wasn’t great either and was raining, I did mention to Chris that Japan was crying because we were both leaving, and his reply was “More like crying with happiness that we were leaving”. Always the pessimist is our Chris, but humorous though.

Our bags were collected from the hotel and our gratitude and goodbyes were given, we left and made our way back to the station to start our journey to the airport. The first train we caught was almost empty but the second wasn’t, we managed to bag a seat each but within five minutes the train was packed and barely any standing room either. The journey was just over an hour to the airport but when you needed the loo it seemed a lot longer I can tell you. As soon as the train pulled into the station I was out and looking for the toilet, I was busting and it was such a welcome relief once I had been. Now Chris and I had used the little boy’s room we made our way to check the bag. Hong Kong Airlines wasn’t due to open for another 25 minutes so we went and found a Lawson for a sandwich and a drink, unfortunately, they never had any egg sandwiches but they did have a tuna mayo and egg sandwich (half and half) and I found a sandwich and a peach tea, we both sat outside and ate the food and drinks that we had just bought.

We made our way back to get our bags checked as enough time had passed and Chris was nervous that his bags were too heavy. We found a quiet place and I sat with the bags while Chris went and checked his main bag, he was gone ages and he then messaged me to say he was having a hassle with them checking to see if we were eligible to enter China on transit without a visa even though he had shown them all the documents he had. He finally returned flustered and had no bag so that was something, he was saying how they weren’t listening to what he was saying etc. He said “Just tell them your friend has just checked in and you should be fine”, I grabbed my bag and made my way to check my bag.

When I got to the desk there was already a good queue that had formed so waiting was going to be a while, when I finally got to the desk I handed over my passport and explained that I was heading for Beijing but had a 15-hour layover on Hong Kong, No problem with that, she checked the weight and it was showing 21.2KG despite me weighing the bloody thing around the corner on the scales they provide in the airport. Anyhow the lady remarked on the weight but said it was okay to go through so I was happy about that, I also noticed whilst I was queueing that she was also attaching tags to the hand luggage but I had left mine with Chris as he had said I didn’t need to take them. Chris was slightly miffed when I messaged him about the hand luggage tags and asked me to get him some so I asked her for two labels for my hand luggage which she gave me, I then asked for two for Chris but she said that he would need to come and fetch these himself if he wanted some.

I quickly messaged Chris to tell him and a few choice words were given as a reply, I got my bag checked finally and boarding cards and made my way back to Chris. He had unpacked a load of stuff out of his bags as he was way over the weight limit and didn’t want to get caught paying extra for it. He then went to get his tags for his bags and returned within 5 minutes with the tags, no hassle or drama, phew.

Panic over we made our way through Security where I had to dump my water and finish my cold brew, clear through that we passed through immigration and into the shopping area. We then took a visit to the 7-Eleven for a few chocs and a drink, they had my brews, yippeeeeee, they also had a Starbucks as well so I popped in to grab a venti decaf, rude not to. Our gate was number 14 and we made our way there to sit and chill with what little time we had left, we sat and started to charge our phones and I finished my brew. A tannoy was called out and at gate 12 they had to cancel the flight as the pilot’s windscreen had a crack in it so it wasn’t safe to fly, yeah I totally agree with that decision I can tell you. They asked everyone to wait as they were going to sort out a hotel for people to stay until the next day for a rescheduled flight. I said to Chris oooh that would be nice if they did that for us as we wouldn’t have such a long layover, yeahhhh not happening for us.

We got called and our seats were the very back ones and it was snug, to say the least, a few rows up I noticed a complete row was empty and I asked the flight attendant if I could move there, it would give the two of us room, she said sure no problem, nice, and move I did. The flight wasn’t too bad, with very minimal turbulence, I settled down and watched Netflix that I had downloaded for the flights and it soon passed quickly. As soon as that plane touched down Chris and I both stood as soon as it was safe to grab our baggage and get off the plane, we walked about 10 miles to exit the terminal or at least it seemed that long anyway we then had to catch a bus to immigration, I commented to Chris I think we are going back to Tokyo.

After the bus trip, we got off and saw signs for immigration and Macau, we wanted Macau but it wasn’t clear at all, fortunately, I saw an English-looking person who was working and asked him, he told us we needed a bus and where to catch this, he said we could pay by card but when we got on to the bus this wasn’t the case and they only accepted cash. Chris and I had very little patience for anything to go wrong at this stage as we were both knackered, we went back inside and used a cash machine where we both withdrew £30 in Hong Kong dollars and made our way back to the stop, the bus arrived and it was the same driver, we went to pay and she couldn’t accept it as it was $100 Hong Kong Dollars and she said no change, we both let out a gasp of frustration and she decided to wave us on so we were lucky there, I was about to tell Chris I was done sod it.

The journey was around 10 minutes and we arrived at the bridge port building, here we had to buy another ticket for a shuttle bus to get us across the bridge, but we had to go through immigration, they took the landing card that we had got on the plane and said we would need to complete another on our return from Macau, this is for Hong Kong and the bus we were taking was going to Macau he said. To be honest I thought he was being a little funny but no just happy doing his job. The next bus for Macau was at 03:45am and we boarded this and travelled the 5-minute journey

We had officially arrived in Macau now and had to cross the border again and make our way to the bus stop, we both needed a sim and a few vending machines were along the way that had these but when we tried to get one it wouldn’t accept our cards so we had to go without and that meant no map access. We caught the bus into Macau central and we felt lucky as they accepted HK Dollars so that was a result and gave them $20 for the privilege. The driver was a NUTTER, it was like let’s see how close we can get to crashing the bus without crashing it and at breakneck speeds, no need for it and I wasn’t best impressed, although it did wake me up!

Getting off the bus and looking around I immediately could see how run down the buildings were, They were old-looking and blackened with rusty ironwork on the windows, the streets were dimly lit with old-style lights and even though it was early hours there still was quite a bit of traffic on the road and people milling about. Chris needed some cash and a drink so we headed towards a petrol station not too far up the road from where we had got off the bus. Inside the station, they had a cash machine so Chris got some cash which pleased him as it was more for his already vast collection he has at home and we both got a drink.

We crossed the road and up a street and followed this, we didn’t really have any clues where we were going so just kept walking and came across a church which was really nice and to the left there was a kind of square where several elderly people were doing stretches and light exercises, I sat on the bench and rested for a while and watched them, we had both been awake nearly 24 hours and it was now making it hard to not lie down on the bench and sleep so we both got up and started walking again.

The streets are cobbled style streets with various streets and shops having various Portuguese names and you could tell this was a former Portuguese colony. As we walked uphill we noticed some old church ruins and made our way in this direction, various barriers had been erected and security personnel sat about, I used a gesture to one of them to ask if it was okay to continue and he nodded and we continued up towards the church. There was going to be some festival event on the day and was due to start at midday, we would have been well on our way out of Macau by that time which was a shame as I bet it would have been good to see. Chris and I again took a moment to rest on the bench once we had taken pictures of our surroundings. It was really warm and I was enjoying this even though it was around 95% humidity, Chris on the other hand did not like it one little bit.

At this point Chris and I just wanted to be on the flight heading to Beijing, we decided to head back towards the bus stop where we had got off, Chris wanted another drink and by this time I was due another as well. We got to the bus stop and we needed the 101x bus and to our luck, this bus was on its way, Chris held his hand out to signal the driver we wanted the bus it slowed slightly pulled in and drove back off immediately, how rude. It wasn’t long to wait for another one and this time it did stop, and we got on. The route back was a slightly different route and we passed the casinos of Macau, these places were huge and I can only imagine the kind of things they sell and offer to keep you there gambling.

Once at the port I had a few quid left and wanted to get some drinks for Chris and myself but no matter what I did the vending machine wouldn’t accept the cash, well it took it in and then spat it out, Chris tried and got the same results as myself, sod it I had enough and left it and thought I will just have to wait. On our way back we did manage to find a 7-Eleven and I loaded up on drinks and so did Chris along with a snack as well.

After getting on more buses etc and crossing more borders we finally made it back into the airport, we both went straight through security and then headed for food and drinks again. We found a McDonalds and I suggested to Chris we have this and got no arguments from him. We both ordered and sat at a table looking out at the runway and watching planes coming in and getting loaded up with baggage amongst other things. Chris was happy, he was fed and watered and watching planes.

I needed the loo so left him to watch planes, I knew he would be happy to do that and when I returned we both left for the gate, again our gate all throughout this holiday seemed to be the furthest possible one away, on the way to the gate Chris stopped for some more drinks and chocolate and really wasn’t happy with the price as he came out muttering they were thieves.

At the gates we didn’t have to wait long and were soon boarding, this time round the flight was full and a little cramped but manageable. During the flight they dished out pork buns and small bottles of water, the couple sat next to me got handed theirs and was asking for two extra each. The flight attendant replied in Chinese and returned about an hour later with another two, cheek, I could have eaten another but never asked. The flight time was about 3.5 hours long and went pretty quickly to be honest although there was some turbulence which is never great. Once the plane landed we got off and headed to go through all the various border controls and checks, fingerprints, picture taking and x-rays. There was some confusion with immigration in trying to explain to them that we were entering the country on a 144-hour visa, finally after checking every document and booking we had including what we were doing whilst here, of which we had two prove as well he got it and let us through. We then had to go through immigration, picture taking say cheese, no don’t do anything just stand there and do nothing. Bingo we were now given permission to cross the border into Beijing, about bloody time I tell you.

Now all that was left for the two of us was to go collect our bags and get out, bags collected and scanned yet again, I mean it had just come off the plane and had all the checks getting it on the plane, really not needed but who are we to argue. No out and into the arrival lounge a man was holding a sign up with one word “Chris”, I said I take it that’s our ride then Chris ha ha ha. The driver wasn’t overly friendly and was getting a little agitated with Chris as he was trying to get a SIM card out of the vending machine but had no such luck and soon abandoned that idea.

I was a little concerned as I wasn’t sure if all our luggage and ourselves would fit in the taxi but he had a Passat so it went in, just, but it went in. Now the journey to the hotel was nearly an hour and a half away and it was 21:00 on a Sunday evening the roads were heavy with traffic and slow to move. We were both exhausted and really needed a shower and sleep, we pulled up at the end of this alleyway and a guy was standing there waiting for us, now let me paint a picture for you, the streets were dimly lit with cars parked in every available space they could possibly find. The place looked dodgy and coming from me that says something I tell you.

We left the safety of the car and the guy waiting for us was the person Chris had been in an email conversation with, we made a short couple of minutes walk to the hotel, turned down another more narrow alleyway and towards the end of the this, and he opened up the door and went through, Chris turned to me and said I told you it was Murder Hotel, yeahhhhhh not good.

We made our way to the room and it was very dated compared to the other rooms we had recently been staying, and neither of us was impressed with the arrangement of the toilet and shower but hey ho it was what it was.  Chris and I hadn’t really eaten so we made our way out to find the nearest 7-Eleven, on our way every corner had surveillance cameras mounted to posts and buildings, Night mode and PTZs, there was no hiding from the government, they had you covered.  I have to say Chris in his normal cheery manner mentioned that it would be a miracle if we weren’t murdered or stabbed, well something along them lines anyway, and I bet they wouldn’t have it on camera either ha ha ha.

Chris was following the map on his phone and when we got to the point where it said there was a 7-Eleven we couldn’t see it, after a few moments we happened to spot the sign inside this high-rise building which reminded me of Kuala Lumpur which had something similar. We grabbed some bits and Chris tried to pay with his card but he didn’t have any cash on him luckily I had so that was a save.

We headed back to the hotel and by this time we had been awake for a total of 38 hours, I had a shower, drank the drink that I had bought and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit that pillow.  By far that layover is to much for anyone I would say and I wouldn’t do that again that’s for sure, but, I put it all down to chalking up a memorable trip and making a good talking point.  We also had an early rise as we were off to the Great Wall Of China and our first full day in Beijing.