Welcome to Japan! Japan is SUGOI! I arrived in Tokyo last Sunday and I`ve had a great time since then. I don`t want to leave in 3 days!

Last Sunday, I flew from Hong Kong to Tokyo. The flight went smoothly and I arrived even earlier than planned. It was cold when I got off the plane, but because the Japanese do have heaters (contrary to the Chinese), it was bearable. I took a train from Tokyo Narita airport to Yokohama. The train ride took about 2 hours. Ryo, my Japanese host, had booked a hotel room for me at a hotel in Yokohama. After a few sleepless nights in China due to the cold and the uncomfortable bus ride from Yangshuo to Shenzhen, I was really looking forward to a warm bed. Well, I got a lot more than that! My hotel room wasn`t an ordinary room, but a real suite on the 27th floor. Wow! The view was stunning and so was the bathroom! I had two showers all to myself AND a bath tub. I think I spent the first 10 minutes just walking from the windows to the bathroom, trying to get a grasp of where I was. This was heaven! No need to tell you that I slept like a baby that night... Doomo arigatoo gozaimasu, Ryo-san!

On Monday, I explored Yokohama. It was a beautiful sunny autumn day, so I decided to walk instead of taking the subway. Yokohama is a port city, so I went to the pier and I also went up the Yokohama tower to enjoy the view from an even higher altitude than my hotel room. Around 7.30 pm I took the subway to Tokyo station to meet Ryo and his girlfriend Chiaki. I`d never seen them before and they had never seen me, but it didn`t feel weird at all. We took a taxi to Ryo`s apartment near Akebonobashi station and after having given me a few instructions about the washing machine (yes!), the heater (yes!), the shower (my own shower for a week!) and the ultra modern toilet (the contrast with the toilets in China couldn`t be bigger!), he gave me the key. `It`s your house now`, he said. My own apartment in Tokyo for a week - is this for real??? Wow wow WOW!

I was extremely tired after my harsh time in China, so I slept in on Tuesday. By the time I left `my` apartment, it was nearly 2 pm... I spent the afternoon looking for the Tokyo Tourist Information Center (TIC), meanwhile people watching (what a difference with the rude Chinese! The Japanese are so polite and well-mannered) and brushing up my Japanese - or what`s left of it... Tuesday night, I went out for dinner with Ryo. We went to a teriyaki restaurant, where we had chicken on skewers. Well, I had chicken meat and Ryo also had the rest of the chicken. The Japanese don`t eat everything like the Chinese do, but they do eat more than the average Dutch Jan, Piet or Klaas....

Yesterday, I explored two areas of Tokyo, namely Shibuya and Shinjuku. I had a great time just walking around, practicing my Japanese every time I got lost or had taken a wrong turn or exit. It was very sunny yesterday, so I felt like a happy tourist on holiday. My mood got even better when Ryo took Chiaki and me to a sushi restaurant. Whoah, oshikatta desu yo! That was really delicious! I must admit that I didn`t try everything the cook put in front of me. I was okay with fish and fishy thing on top of my sticky rice, but when Chiaki said:`Look, it`s moving!` I sort of lost my appetite... Ryo immediately volunteered to eat my piece, haha! The downside of this mouth-watering experience is, however, that I don`t want any supermarket sushi anymore. This was sooooo good!

This morning, I had to get up early, so I could sit in on Chiaki`s tea ceremony class. It was really interesting. Ryo and I were Chiaki`s customers and we watched while Chiaki performed all the rituals. The tea ceremony master monitored Chiaki and corrected her movements, if necessary. Ryo and I were allowed to ask questions and I was allowed to take pictures as well. It was really zen - although it was a little bit painful to sit on my knees for more than an hour...

This afternoon, I treated myself to a massage and a haircut. Both were expensive - especially compared to China -, but I really enjoyed both treats! The massage was necessary, though. The masseuse was shocked when she touched my stiff muscles. She didn`t speak much English, but she did understand my `ouch!`. And my hair - well, it`s a bit shorter now, but I think it looks much better than before. It wouldn`t have been a good thing if it hadn`t after spending 90 minutes at the hair salon. My hair was washed twice, I received a head massage and there were two Japanese guys drying and styling my hair, so it was definitely worth the money!

I`d better go now, because it`s dinner time on this side of the planet. Have a great day!