Backpacking

me! They were the largest portions of Ramen we had experienced so far, and we were all defeated to varying degrees.

We met up with Tak again outside of Shinjuku station in front of a huge video screen, and whiled the evening away in another Izakaya, amazingly squeezing even more food into our bellies, causing a couple of dodgy stomachs in the morning!

Day 28: 27th February Gothwatch

Tokyo, Japan

We were up early and away to the station. We had to wait ages for a train - Sunday service I guess. It seemed as if dozens went by without stopping, sometimes slowing down temptingly, or the driver flicking v's out the window at us whilst drinking Calpis, or pulling wheelies.

We headed to Shinjuku first and the Metropolitan Government Offices, for it was a glorious day and we hoped to view the Tokyo cityscape to supplement the night view we had experienced from the Skytower a week ago. It didn't disappoint - the city was sprawled impressively in front of us like a toy town. I enjoyed watching a little red Mini Cooper burn around a couple of blocks before disappearing

out of sight round the corner. We could see the mountains bordering Tokyo, and the base of Mt. Fuji, but the snow cap was (as usual) enveloped in cloud.

Sunday was the day for gathering in Yoyogi Park in Harajuku. Tak said previously there used to be live bands playing, but the authorities had since put a stop to amplified music. It nevertheless resembled a wound-down Glastonbury, with drummers, acoustic performers with people dancing along and street stalls. We approached the bridge near Harajuku station to experience a bizarre tourist attraction: Japanese goths congregate on the bridge to have their photos taken with tourists, and really lap up the attention. We resisted posing with pallid Japanese girls in little-bo peep costumes and just admired the slightly voyeuristic spectacle from afar.

Emma then was released on the shops of Harajuku, chomping at the bit, whilst Dan, Tak and I went for coffee. She returned bouncing with some clothes and a present for her mum. In the meantime I had managed to successfully delay my flight by 1 day and also move my flight to Bangkok 3 weeks into the future to allow for a previously unscheduled jaunt into deepest darkest China. It was a bit of a reality check that I would soon be leaving the Valhalla of Japan and left to my own devices.