7/6/10 - Nihon

Well I'm in Japan now and somewhat excited as this is where I most wanted to visit.

Upon arriving and getting my Rail Pass- as well as being stopped by every police officer I passed for random security checks (I clearly look like an assassin to the Japanese)- I was confronted with the map of the Tokyo rail network.

Bare in mind this is just for the centre of Tokyo and you may understand the brief moment of horror I experienced. Thankfully the network is well marked out.

Unlike the streets...

Apparently they use some sort of grid system here. Everything that isn't a main street doesn't appear to have a name leading me to wander for about an hour before I found my hostel. I was a fool not to realise I was looking for Asakusa the area, not Asakusa the street. I'm glad I passed a map which made this obvious. That could have taken quite a while to figure out...

Ah the maps. I have a minor quibble with these. Everyone of them I came across in the streets was orientated a different way. You'd think they'd run out of cardinal compass directions at some point... Each of maps I came across each had the river at a different side. Much rotating of my own map occurred.

When I finally found K's House it turned out to be a very nice place. But now on to the most important part. The toilets.

Any country which makes you feel like you are commanding the Enterprise while on the bog is ok with me.

There are a lot of buttons on that control panel. I have no idea what practical use the "flush sound" button has, though, as all it does is make the noise... Strange.

After leaving my bags in my room I went for a wander around the local area. Completely unintentionally I've managed to book a hostel right next to one of the main tourist attractions in Tokyo, Sensoji Temple. It was city, city, city, ancient temple, city, city, city... Some very impressive buildings here.

And for a comparison of the number of people around at night.

I then had a late lunch. I spent ten miniutes outside that restaurant, reading the menu in hiragana and katakana, figuring out what I'd need to say to get what I wanted. Well prepared I walked in and strode up to the counter at which point the guy working there took one look at me and whipped out an English menu. I don't know why I bother sometimes.

In the evening I went back to the temple as recommended to see it lit up. The area was now nearly devoid of people and it was a startling transformation.