At long last I got to go to Japan! More specifically, four days each in Tokyo and Kyoto with my parents. Overall it was awesome, but now I'll go into (great) detail so bear with me.

First was Tokyo. The early morning flight didn't get in the way too much, it was very pleasant with overly friendly stewardesses and nice food. I managed to sleep (eventually, with the aid of part of a sleeping pill), so I was rested enough by the time we landed. Even better was that we landed at night time, I think it was at about 8pm. Then we got a "limousine bus" (it was just a bus really) to the hotel. It took a while but there was some stuff to see on the way, most memorably a lit-up ferris wheel. The hotel was nice, the room having a semi-futuristic toilet (I take my toilets very seriously ). It might not have talked, but I don't need my toilet telling me to hurry up and flush already. The next morning was a tour to Tokyo Tower (which we were a bit late for but no harm done), with little patches of glass floor so brave tourists could stand on them and see what it would be like moments before skydiving without actually doing it (maybe?). Then it was off to the Imperial Palace (surrounded by a moat with smart-ass carp that liked to just stare at you and open and close their ugly little mouths), then to a temple (of which we saw many during the whole trip). The next day was up to Mt. Fuji, you know, that place that comes to mind when most people think of Japan. We didn't go all the way up, about 2/3 of the way I think, but that was cold enough. Not to mention upon entering a gift shop we were smacked on the shoulders and ass by a sadistic old man with a stick with bells on it. I only assume it was to knock any evil spirits I was carrying in my pockets out. We got a bell for our trouble, yeah that's right. We rode the Shinkansen bullet train home that evening for the first time. I think of it as a plane on the ground, especially with the plane-nose-shaped front. The next day was good, a free day where we went to the "electric city", Akihabara. So many stores, so many young girls in maid outfits handing out pamphlets in the streets. Don't look at me like that. I even found a CD shop with a Hyde "best of" CD, since I had about half of what was on there I passed it up. It was just cool to see it there at all. That day we found out that the Japanese rail system is a pretty good one, once we understood how it worked. Luckily we got good tips from our Mt. Fuji tour guide Harry (I bet his name was really Hari though). I'm really dragging this out now... On the last day in Tokyo we went to the Ginza shopping district and later I met up with a friend I knew from past Saturday Japanese classes who had gone there to teach English. We walked about a bit then went to a Sushi Train style restaurant. It was the first time I'd done that too, 'twas yummy.

As for Kyoto, we went on a tour to Nara, a place of deer, deer and more deer. Deer who wanted crackers, deer who nuzzled their nose into your pocket, and deer who just stood there. There were also Japanese school children (easily spotted by their yellow hats) who had been brainwashed to come up to us, introduce themselves in English and have us sign their little handy dandy notebooks. Next day it was off to another couple of temples and shrines in rainy weather, day after that was spent in Hiroshima, site of the first atomic bomb use. That was one gloomy place which really put it in perspective (especially after a 30 minute film with footage that nearly made me sick). The final full day was free wander and get soaked by constant rain despite cheap umbrellas, though normally I like rain. Got a couple of Gackt CDs, wahoo! Also played a poor game of bowling... Then the morning of our departure I found another store and got a VAMPS and another Gackt CD, another wahoo! Speaking of which, one of the best experiences was hitting a karaoke bar the final night and using a small private room with almost any song you could want, so naturally I picked a bunch of my favourite J-rock numbers. I'd been dying to do it the whole trip but didn't know it would be so good, one and a half hours wasn't enough!

So... by now most things I wrote above about my mood and what I was eating and drinking are out of date. Overall Tokyo beat Kyoto, but I missed my soft drink here at home (there were drink vending machines everywhere with a variety including funny shaped bottles of Coke Zero and Pepsi NEX (can't beat MAX though, anyone who knows me knows about my love affair with Pepsi MAX). Very few bins though...

Now, why am I writing ALL this on deviantART? Well, one of the last nights in Kyoto in my room I started a new sketch which should be done soon. I wanted to finish it tonight but that may not happen (how long have I spent writing this?). So I'm glad I was a little bit productive in between flicking through funny TV channels complete with beer ads, cartoons dubbed in Japanese, English dubbed news channels and other kooky stuff. I should post it soon, I'm fairly happy with it. Thank God it's a long weekend before I go back to uni...

Thank you very much for reading this far, you must be mighty patient or mighty bored. Hope you enjoyed reading the longest journal entry in history. Go rest your weary eyes now