Friday 17th July – Saturday 18th July 2009 - Travel to Tokyo

Leaving Kev at Newcastle airport was harder than I could have thought. Thankfully I didn’t have too long to wait until we boarded and apart from a disabled lady and the parties with children, I was first on board. I thought it was an uneventful flight but it must have been quite choppy as they didn’t serve hot drinks and when we got off I heard a few people complaining about how rought it had been. It took more han half an hour to get the baggage but then an uneventful ride on the Heathrow Express to Terminal 3. Maybe I’ve been spoilt with Terminal 5, but Terminal 3 is HORRIBLE; old, worn out, noisy and it feels like I’m in a foreign country.

I’ve given up any thoughts of trying to beat jet lag by “eating at certain times”, “sleeping in Japan time” etc. It’s all too hard to work out. Quarter to 5 here and that is quarter to 1 in the morning there. I should be asleep!

Not a bad flight over. I slept for the first couple of hours which meant I didn’t get as irritated as the other passengers when the first meal was served late. Watched a film, Monsters ve Aliens, read, slept some more ate again then arrived in Japan. Met most of the rest of the group at the airport. 4 were meeting us at the hotel. A really mixed bag. 2 older couples, one from Berkley, California (Cherie and David), Jeff and Sheila from England, 2 younger couples, Iris and Gary, and Chris and Pete; 2 single men, Eric and Keith and 4 single women, Ann, Mary, Suzanne, Nicky – then me.

The hotel is basic but very clean and suits me fine. Saturday night we went to a local bar / restaurant for some traditional Japanese food. It looked lovely but there was actually nothing veggie. I ended up with a bowl of tofu (which I left) a salad and some rocket leaves and crispy “stuff” then at the end of the meal I had an omelette which I ate half of.

The hotel is in Asakusa district and we walked passed Senso-ji Temple. The whole place is amazing. Early night 9:30pm but I didn’t sleep particularly well so was shattered when I got up.