Yay! I found a way to do it!

So far I've been taking it easy, Sid - shopping, eating in cafes and visiting my favourite Shinto shrine. This is a high street near the shrine.

And this is the view from the hotel restaurant:

Looks great Peter, love the wide and many zebra crossings.......Shopping and eating in cafes sounds like my kind of holiday........enjoy and take more pics............xxxx

Thanks for the pics Peter! Japan fascinates me, would love to go one day. A friend of mine taught schoolchildren out there on a gap year and had a fantastic time.

Have a fab time PeterCat. It seems brilliant from your descriptions and it looks great from the pictures! Enjoy every minute 

It looks and sounds brilliant PC. Are you there with your BF, or is that a question too far?

Take care PC! x

I've just read that there's been an earthquake of 6.4 at Fukushima. It shook buildings in Tokyo, although no reports of damage as yet. Hope you're alright Peter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14354844

I'm fine thanks, Katerina. Just got shaken awake at 4am - it was like someone shaking the bed for 30 seconds.

I've managed to get a good night's sleep at last, which I'm sure will help with the jetlag. Today we're planning a little adventure to suburbia, just to visit a company which makes handmade watches. Should be interesting!

I'd have been scared stiff, PC.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday - with no more earthquakes, I hope.

Thanks, Yogi. It can't be as bad as the year before last. We had earthquakes 2 nights running, combined with torrential rain and flooding. It all got very biblical!

And still you went back.

Mr Yogi is determined that once he has retired, we will go on a trip to Japan.

I showed your pics to him - he's well jealous.

Honestly, Yogi, it's an amazing place. It's the nearest you can get to visiting an alien planet, but with home comforts. You'll have to save up though - it can be bloody expensive!

It sounds fantastic - I'll tell him to start saving NOW!

Well today I'm going to have my hair cut for the first time in over 20 years. I'm a bit nervous about it

Still sounds great  

Side parting  

WOW! How long is your hair? Good luck 

It was waist length, Soozy. Now it's shoulder-blade length. Feels a lot lighter, expecially in this heat

 That was brave! Bet it looks good  as well as being cooler.

My wee brother got his chopped a few years ago, from waist length to a crew cut in a oner , he felt weird for days , couldn't figure why he felt dizzy then realised it was cause the weight of it was gone He swears he was an inch taller post haircut! 

it's like you never left  thanks for the updates. i went to tokyo in 2001 as an exchange student. it is like an alien world.

Let us know how it goes. 

 Hope you've had no more *shakes* Peter, and have another good day. 

Isn't it? That's what I love - getting used to the customs and rhythms of a completely foreign culture. Though I'm still less keen on the food

I love my new look, and it feels better too.

No more quakes so far. This has been a great day. I am now stuffed with Japanese desserts, which is the one course they do better than anyone else.

Brilliant, sounds divine mmm.

I'm just taking the family out to My Shanghai, where they can eat as much ice-cream as they want,(then feel sick no doubt) 

How do you get on with the language Peter?  

Well I've only just finished my first year of my Japanese course, so it's not easy. However, I do know how to say "I'm sorry, I only know a little Japanese", which gets me through a lot of situations Plus knowing how to say "sory", "please" and "thank you" can get you quite far.

Ordering things in cafes is quite easy, since coffee is "kohi", toast is "toasto", ham sadwich is "ham sando" and so on.

I spoke too soon - we've just had another earthquake! This one felt much more scary. Apprently the epicentre was just southwest of Tokyo.

All calmed down again now. Here are a few more photos:

This is the view from Takadanobaba station:

It's quite a typical street at night (though residential streets are very different, obviously).

This is one of the many subways leading away from Shinjuku station:

There are shops all along one side of these subways. The Japanese rarely miss a chance to sell something! Shinjuku station is the biggest in the world, and very easy to get lost in.

Lastly, here's my dessert from earlier tonight:

The thing on the right may look like fish, but it's actually some kind of cheesecake-type thing.

Tomorrow we might be going to Kitchen Town:

It's a whole street which sells everything you might want in a kitchen, from yours at home to running your own restaurant. There are even a couple of shops selling plastic replica food. Restaurants display this at the entrance, so if you don't understand the menu you can just point at what you want:

Love this picture.....great building on the right with the teacup floors..........

Spacecraft overhead looking for landing strip.....

Isn't it just amazing? I love Tokyo!

It's brilliant! ! Love these pics! 

Hope the earth behaves - had heard about yesterday's quake, ( that's what the " take care" post was about , not the haircut! ) 

 ! Just noticed Chefzilla opposite the teacups! How did I miss him?  

Loving the pics Peter, the food looks delicious!

I hope the 'quakes stop, Peter - love the pics.

The pictures are fab. I hope the shakes stop Peter.

That food looks delicious!  How well made. I must get my man to create something like that for me again. Its making me want some now i have seen this ^ 

I think that I'd really and truly love a street devoted to kitchen stuff (how sad is that?).......................others would die for shoes and handbags 

We did go there today. Will post pics later. I must lie down - my feet are killing me!