Most of my internet access has been in the brief, fleeting moments while waiting for the group to gather for the day's activities so it's somewhat nice to be able to have some time to actually write something that doesn't end with the equivalent "okaygottagobye!".
My feet were doing (slightly) better today thanks to some loosening of shoes and no longer having any skin to lose from them although my left foot has shown some signs of trying to copy my right - not best pleased. Nikko today was awesome and showed me something that I hadn't seen before in a temple; it was sprawling, ornate and yet quiet and reserved at the same time. I also started getting fancier with my camera, having found out yesterday that I had somehow fixed the camera on aperture priority somewhere in transit which was slightly embarrassing but I've been storing up some shots for panoramas and also tried a long exposure today of the bridge for some floaty water effect.
Leaving Tokyo is definitely a good thing as having been here for the past three to four days has let me become a bit jaded to it which is not what I had expected. I've been using a lot more of the language than I did last time (much to the amazement of one of the hotel clerks when I said good morning to him, to his credit, it was 4am so maybe that's how he always looks) so I've crested the hill that is ordering food and not looking like a complete twit. I'm torn between whether I'm getting used to the language or just using what is most likely to be said next and going from there. Thankfully a lot of the Japanese people I've met seem happy to ask me questions in English and for me to answer in Japanese, at least then everyone knows what is being said.
Tokyo itself is impossible to encapsulate in a single sentence or paragraph, there is no easy way of saying "City of the Future" or "Bustling metropolis" and capturing the spirit of it, even if both are true and I've only been in the city just over 150 hours total. You can be wandering down the street and hear a melody you recognise with words you don't while nearly being hit by the plethora of bicycle riders and being barraged with neon advertising high above you. Eclectic doesn't even begin to sum it up. It is a city I love though, there is no congestion to speak of, the transport is first rate and there truly is everything you can think of to do or to buy (both probably available from the local convenience store). I'll be glad to come back to Tokyo, but just as London isn't England, Tokyo isn't Japan and there are hot springs and all sorts of other goodies awaiting.
The big temptation for this time of year I would imagine is just snapping roll after roll (meabytes of megabytes?) of cherry blossom pictures. It's not that they're ugly, but there is the risk of beginning slightly pink-blind by it all. So for now, I'm trying to snap photos that contain more than just pink. Apart from that one of the branches, that's just purty.
I made a monumentally bad choice when it came to shoes this time around as I either didn't break these shoes in correctly or they are in fact shoes crafted by the devil himself because my left leg has some traumatic blisters on it. One on either side of the heel that means one blister plaster isn't large enough to cover both. By now most of the skin that would have protected them has gone and they are red and angry which has spread to the rest of my leg which is slightly disturbing. I've taken to paddig my shoe with a bit of grey foam cribbed from my camera bag to protect them but I get the feeling that at some point in the holiday I may have to plump for new shoes or end up crippled. It's odd how things like that can prey on your mind, especially as my jet lag still hasn't fully dissipated yet (dammit) and fevered dreams of my leg dropping off from these blisters are not uncommon.
Bit of a revisit of some locations yesterday. Senso-ji has moved its construction from the outer gate to the main building which is now ensconced in scaffolding. The good weather and cherry blossoms makes it an almost entirely different place to visit than my first time when it was raining and I had just stepped off the flight. Hama-rikyu we managed to visit the tea house which was a brilliant experience and good cake. The Sumida river taxi was packed which meant we had to go into the underbelly and a miss a lot of the view unfortunately. I came back to the hotel at Meiji-jingu now being in some pain from the evil shoes and napped for a spell. I'd also managed to catch the sun on my head a bit which is odd for April!
Hit Akihabara yesterday but got there early (before 9am) which meant that everything was closed but it meant I could explored the strip without the crowd. Went into a coffee shop for a spell before going to a couple of arcades once they were open. Also couldn't help going into shops like AsoBitCity and Sofmap as it seemed a waste not to...
After that went to Harajuku for food then wandering the back streets where I got thoroughly trapped in a people jam. Headed back to the hotel with blisters playing up then went to Hie-jinja for a bed of sedate cherry blossom watching, a big difference from the crowds of Ueno.
Met up with the rest of the group in the evening and had some excellent food and drinks. Evidently still had jet lag as I was up at half two in the morning! Cest la vie. First day of the full tour now. Tsukiji was earlier (much earlier) for some awesome sushi.
And these keyboards are very strange to type on, I accidentally hit the Japanese key a short while ago an the level of panic I felt when I couldn't change it back was great. I also keep missing the shift key but that's likely because of my lack of coordination at the moment.
Won't write a huge epic rundown of what happened so in short: journey was fine, planes delayed slightly but not by much. Manchester terminal one security is like one of the circles of hell described by Dante, an utterly dehumanising experience. SAS flights are just like every other really but I managed to sleep somewhat. Landed and met up with the tour leader and a couple of others from the group, got straight into my room so had a shower and felt slightly more human. Went over to Ginza and had a wander around (read: got lost) and then headed to Ueno park for some Hanami. The park was packed but everyone was having such a good time it was hard not to get swept up in it all. Managed to get some tea and met up with the two from before again and went to Ueno again for some night shots, shame it was raining a bit. Got to sleep at nine, slept pretty much straight through till six, no sign of my aeroplane throat this morning.
