yoshi-yoshi snow blog

Arrive in Niseko finally after 2 days in Tokyo. We initially planned to head straight onto Sapporo but Finnair wanted to charge us £1000 each for excess baggage! Absolutely Criminal. We managed to get away with it though because the plane was late into helsinki and our bags didn't make it onto the connecting flight, hence our stay in Toyko. Not a bad place to be stranded without your bags though.

First Impressions of Japan is how friendly the folk out here are. I mean really friendly and helpful. Such a contrast from what we're used to in the UK. We stepped off the plane to be greeted by a smiley woman with a sign with our names on it, where we were taken through the lost baggage procedure and even given overnight kit bags with T-shirt, socks and the essentials to keep you going. in the UK you'd be met with a miserable hurrumph and not so much as a second glance. Not in Japan.

So after making our way through the centre of Tokyo we find a hotel within 5 minutes, dump our bags and head into craziness that is Tokyo. We've chosen to stay in the Shibuyu district which is apparently quite a hip and trendy area, and judging by the get up people are sporting it's pretty spot on. First stop on the tour is the huge cross road you see in the films where people can cross from all directions. It's a little tricky to negotiate at first as you thread your way through the masses, but pretty soon you become nimble on your feet and you're waling as the locals do. After sniffing out some grade A sushi and sinking our first well earned beer, we wonder around looking for a bar to hole up in. My first bit of advice to anyone going to Tokyo is remember to look up or you'll miss out on a lot. So much goes on above ground level. Seemingly bland looking office building house restaurants, secret bars and all manner of weirdness. Just find yourself a random staircase, go on up and explore and you never know what you'll find.