So - we're off to Glastonbury. What to go and see? Using the Rhys Williams's scale, I've come up with the following...
1: "DEFO"
2: "Wanna see"
3: "Would be cool to see"
A: Pyramid Stage
B: Other Stage
C: John Peel 'Stage'
F: The Park Stage

FRIDAY
Kings of Leon (3)(A)
The Fratellis (2)(A)
The Editors (2)(A)
The Gossip (3)(A)
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (3)(A)
Panic at the Disco (2)(B)
The Enemy (2)(B)
We are Scientists (2)(B)
Foals (3)(B)
The Hoosiers (2)(B)
Joe Lean and the Jong Jang Jong (3)(B)
Reverend and the Makers (3)(C)
MGMT (3)(C)
The Kills (3)(C)
The Ting Tings(3)(C)
Pete Doherty (2)(F)
Operator Please (1)(F)

SATURDAY
The Raconteurs (1)(A)
Massive Attack (2)(B)
Elbow (3)(B)
The Wombats (3)(B)
Black Kids (3)(B)
Los Campesinos! (1)(B)
Biffy Clyro (1)(C)
The Futureheads (2)(C)
Holy Fuck (2)(C)
Battles (1)(F)

SUNDAY
Brian Jonestown Massacre (3)(A)
Groove Amarda (3)(B)
The Zutons (3)(B)
Pigeon Detectives (2)(B)
Mark Ronson (1)(B)
Scouting for Girls (3)(B)
The Long Blondes (3)(C)
Suzanne Vega (2)

So - what would YOU see? Leave a comment...

The BBC finally acknowledged that not everyone out there uses PCs, and has launched a version of their iPlayer for the rest of us - well, actually, for everyone, as it's based around Flash in a Browser. This is the new shiny version of Flash, that can encode content with H264 compression - coincidentally, the same compression used for YouTube on my shiny new iPod Touch. So - does this mean that at some point in the future I'll be able to stream BBC content to the iPod? Hmmm - watch this space on that one.

The actual iPlayer itself isn't bad, though there are still some issues with it dropping the programme - I suspect that this is something to do with the Network connection stalling at the BBC's end, 'cause it happened when it got later and local contention would have been less. It's very handy to be able to catch up with Programmes after they've aired, at a time of my choosing. I need to keep an eye on this - as I may need to get a lead to hook up my MacBook to my TV. Or I could buy a Mac Mini for it... (Actually, I'm tempted by a PS3, as this will give me Blu-Ray - a friend of mine, Edd, has left his round here, and I have to admit to a fondness for the quality...).

The other change to the BBC's website has been a change to their Home Page. They've now got a Beta version available - which has lots of different possible feeds, all held together with some wizzo AJAX code. Why, though, is this in the slightest bit interesting to me?

I attended a presentation at BT about a month ago by Dr Nicola Millard - she's a BT Futurologist, particularly in the Contact Centre space, and particularly looking at HCI. This is a subject that I'd previously expressed some scepticism about - but was convinced over the course of a couple of hours at BT Labs. Essentially, HCI's about helping software help people get their job done - so they can work with the software, rather than despite it.

We're looking to replace most of the systems people use at work over the course of the next three years. The likely architecture is going to be an Enterprise ERP system - but with specialist systems required as well. In a traditional model (as we have at present) each of these disparate software packages would have it's own Window(s) and it would be necessary to ALT TAB between them. Changes to the values in browser windows would require a complete refresh, and might be missed as the window was not the modal application. Imagine, instead, a customisable screen like the new BBC Home Page, where users could add "feeds" from any of the applications they need (these feeds would be interactive, rather than just a RSS push). All of their information would be in one place in front of them, and there would be a consistent look and feel. With the use of AJAX code, data updates would happen in real time, and without a requirement to refresh the whole browser - and all of the feeds would be into a browser (a "thin client"). This would allow the clients to be device independent and accessible in either the UK or the US.

So - all I have to do now is ensure that the idea works, and then figure out how I can influence the new shiny CTO department at work that I might actually be capable of independent thought... Hmm - I suspect that the former will be easier than the latter...

Tags: Work, Technology

The Tsunami warnings turned out to be somewhat overdone... The peak wave was something of the magnitude of 40cm - it's rumoured that several sandcastles bought it! But that's getting ahead of myself - what else have we been up to?

We got the 10am Shinkansen (Bullet Train) for Hiroshima to Tokyo. Despite the fact that the Shinkansen are quite quick, it's still nearly 900km from one to t'other, so it took us over four hours to get back to Tokyo. Once there, we had to go back onto the Tokyo Metro, and then cross back to Akasuka to pick up the train to Nikko. That took a couple of hours to get to Nikko, and we had to change an' all. Which was fun, as the English that was petering out around Hiroshima petered out in several places on the way to Nikko - leaving only Kanji script. Which, it has to be admitted, we're not too good at reading...

So, by the time we got to Nikko it was dark. And the tourist office was shut with any English maps there might be. Nikko's a bit like the Lake District, and the station's near one edge of town. We walked out of the station and found a map with some English on - mounted on a sign post. So - slight bit of improvisation, we took a picture with a 'phone, and at least had a map. We set off, and managed to find our way to a sign-post, about 1/2km down the road, that pointed to the wood carving center (sic) - and our accommodation was next to that. The only issue with this was that the sign was pointing to a footpath - a footpath through a wood... Nevertheless, being the good Scouts that we are, both Edd and I had brought head torches with us, so we started our night hike towards, hopefully, our hostel. All this with our rucksacks on, which a. cause havoc everywhere we go, and b. are really kinda heavy - about 23kg / 50lb... And it was really rather cold in Nikko, too - unlike Hiroshima.

As I suspect you may be able to imagine, we were somewhat happy to find our accommodation about 10-15 minutes later. We were staying at a place called Nikko Park Lodge - which, it turns out, was set up earlier this year by a Japanese guy returning from the US. We got there to be greeted in perfect English - by a Danish girl. Who was kind of managing the place for a few weeks as she travelled around Japan. Which was welcome (the English in particular!). We filled in the requisite forms, had our passports photocopied (par for the course - I'm leaving a trail of a dodgy photo across the country!), and then were given the room key. We tramped upstairs - to find another double bed... So, Edd went back downstairs to point out that we're just good friends, etc., and came back with a different key - to another double room... However, this one was bigger, and had a rudimentary sofa bed, so we gave up at that. Given that I'd had the sofa back at Heathrow (gosh - that feels AGES ago!), Edd volunteered this time - though, given that we were staying for two nights, it was a tad unfair. Hey ho, I'm older anyhow (as various people have pointed out as we've travelled around the place - see previous entries!).

Once we'd dumped the bags, we headed back downstairs, grabbed some food, and then some French guys and a Danish couple tipped up - so we ended up spending the evening with them and watching Inside Man on a slightly dodgy DVD - it had subtitles - which was good for some of the French guys as they were struggling with some of the English - but from time to time they just stopped. And when they were working, they didn't always reflect the dialogue on the screen - which was a bit disconcerting...

The following morning dawned crisp and clear (and cold!). So - a good day of alliteration ahead of us, then! We discovered that "French Toast" is, essentially, the eggy bread of Scout Camp fame - but was strangely pleasant with maple syrup! And then it was out and on to the mean streets of Nikko! Actually, the very quiet streets of Nikko, though there were monkeys wandering around as we headed back into town!

Nikko National Park seems quite a lot like the Lake District, but Nikko itself occupies a place in Japanese psyche equivalent to somewhere like Canterbury or Winchester - there's a lot of history there. And, of course, with history comes Temples... However, as we are officially Templed Out^TM, we were more judicious in what we went to see - viz a Famous Bridge where a Famous Buddhist Monk walked across and the original Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil monkeys (though I may have got the order wrong). Have a look here if you want to know more! Once we'd done our limited cultural bit, we went for a bit of a womble - actually, quite a lot of a womble. We went to have a look at some Buddhist statues that are, apparently, uncountable. There were 84 of them... We also went and had a look at the Urami Waterfall - in all, we probably walked about 25km...

Which has been a bit of a feature of these past couple of weeks - I reckon we've walked an average of at least 10km a day - whether that's hiking around the countryside near Hiroshima or in Nikko National Park, or just walking around Kyoto or Tokyo. Which means that we've walked over 120km in the past couple of weeks... Which is a fair amount!

Back to Nikko. Actually, back to the Hostel in Nikko, where we actually had some proper Japanese Food! Not Sushi, but Tofu, amongst other things. Two things about Tofu - one, it manages to taste unpleasant whilst not tasting of anything at all, and two, it's absolutely impossible to eat with chopsticks! In terms of the other things - they did have names, and we were told them, but have managed to forget them in the excitement of eating them. Suffice to say it was all a little unorthodox, though I'm glad that we have now experimented with Japanese food whilst we're out here.

And then back to Tokyo. Which is where I currently am. It's an okay hostel, though the previous one in Tokyo was better, IMHO. We went up to Roppongi Hills, which is the place to be seen in Tokyo these days. We were seen there, and then left. It was okay - but primarily as shopping centre. And whilst we are planning to go shopping tomorrow, those that are expecting large amounts of expensive French perfume may need to develop a Plan B - we're off to Asakusa, and don't have much room left in the bags!

A quick note - there's a Tsunami on the way to Japan - rest assured, we're in the hills near Nikko, so we're going to be fine...

However, all the TV channels are broadcasting Tsunami warnings, which is a little weird...

It's now about 11am, and we're on the Bullet Train bound for Tokyo, a journey that's going to take about five hours... (We're one hour in). I have almost three hours of battery left on my laptop, so more than enough time to bore everyone rigid by waffling on for ages inform people about what we've been up to!

First off, Kyoto. The last time I mentioned the hostel, I said that we weren't that impressed with it. It has to be put in context, I suppose - it cost us less than £11 each per night there. We hadn't actually planned on spending so little money - there was a bit of a mix up with the booking, and Kyoto was very full. It would have been alright, apart from one guy from Taiwan, who, it is fair to say, snored. A Lot! Edd slept alright, I didn't... We did chat to him in the hostel, and he was a nice guy. Just incredibly nasally challenged!

Despite that, Kyoto's a place definitely worth visiting. It is completely overrun with Temples and Shrines - there are about 1,600 of them. We didn't see them all, it just felt that way! We walked about 18-20km on Saturday, down much of the Eastern side of Kyoto. Lots of increadible places, though we are now, officially, Templed out. We also went to Downtown Kyoto on Saturday night, which was quite a cool place, with lots and lots of bright lights! I was knackered, though, so we didn't manage to grab a meal there.

Kyoto also became infamous with us 'cause of its traffic lights - they play a really annoying tune whenever it's pedestrians' turn to walk - there's a video of it somewhere, though I am having difficulties getting the picture and video pages uploaded - I'll try again in Nikko if possible (where we're off to today - we change at Tokyo). It's also worth mentioning that at some of the major junctions, all the roads are stopped at the same time - and then pedestrians and cyclists go for it - they're quite happy in Japan to give you a bit of a shove if you're in the way!

After Kyoto, it was back on the Bullet Train and off to Hiroshima. There's a separate entry for the visit to the A-Bomb Dome, so I won't dwell on that. Actually, it would be unfair to, as there's a lot more to Hiroshima than that. It's quite a vibrant place, and seems fairly prosperous - there was a Louis Vuitton, a Hermes, a Cartier amongst other shops. It's the HQ of Mazda, and more.

We didn't do much the first evening - other than slept. I slept for about 16 hours, so caught up on quite a lot of sleep! We'd gone in the afternoon to the A-Bomb Dome, so weren't really in the mood for much partying, really... However, the following day we caught the tram from Hiroshima station to the ferry - a journey of over 60 minutes. We were taking the ferry across Hiroshima Bay to Miyajima Island - one of the "Three Most Beautiful Places in Japan" - I would imagine they formed a committee to decide them - that would seem to be the Japanese Way!

It has to be said, it was a pleasant place to spend a day. It had the requisite Temples, too, though, unaccountably we always seemed to miss the turnings for these... There were also a couple of cable cars up the mountain which we took, with an appropriately grand view from the top (Gwen - this would have been just the holiday for you - 'plane to Japan, ferry to the island, cable cars to the top!). We walked down - or rather, we went Edd-first down the mountain! (Sorry - couldn't resist that one...). There were very tame deer on the island, and not-quite-so-tame monkeys, too. We went to an Aquarium, and saw lots of fish. However, as most of the descriptions were in Japanese, I'll have to restrict my knowledgeable insights to saying that some were very pretty - and some really weren't! They did have some electric eels, though, which were very funky.

Actually, that's one of the things that has become more noticeable as we've gone further South - the amount of English on signs has reduced markedly. Taking the tram to the ferry terminal, for example, the station names were only in Japanese after the A-Bomb Dome (properly kanji). We kept count of the stops, and were fine. Besides, we weren't getting off until the end of the line, so that helped!

We did manage to go out for a meal last night, and found quite a cool little restaurant by the river, which was a pleasant place to be. It was also outside - we gives an indication of how pleasant the weather was. How is it in the UK - we're still in t-shirts over here!

And the falling on my sword? A very nice Japanese women gave us some sweets on the train down to Hiroshima. They were coffee... In the interests of Anglo-Japanese relations, I smiled sweetly and ate the thing!

At its peak, 130,000 people worked on the Manhatten Project. They each managed to kill just over one person in Hiroshima when the first atomic weapon in history was used. This has to be put in context - there were a lot of people dying across the globe, and the Japanese were at least as bad as many others when it came to war crimes. However, we spent a sobering afternoon at the Atomic Bomb memorial.

The world's first atomic weapon was nicknamed "Little Boy", and was delivered by the Enola Gay, one of three B29 bombers that had been picked up by Japanese radar. However, as such a small group of bombers couldn't be a bombing formation, it was assumed that they were on an observation mission, and, as Japan was running critically low of fuel at this time, it had been decided not to send fighters to intercept reconnisence aircraft. It was 06 August, 1945. Hiroshima was the second choice - the first was Kyoto, but one of the American Generals had spent his honeymoon there. There was another advantage to Hiroshima too - the prescene of surrounding hills would concentrate the effects of the bomb, rather than let them disappate.

At 8:15am, the bomb was dropped. It fell earthwards until it reached 580m above the ground. It then exploded with a power equivilent to 15,000 tonnes of TNT. About half of this was a blast force, the rest was x-rays and raditation. 80,000 people were very fortunate - they died immediately. Others were a lot less fortunate, and it was some of their testimonies that we read about - people who lasted a few weeks in terrible pain with limited or no medical facilities - as I said, it was a sobering experience.

The peace memorial consists of several elements. There is the "A-Bomb Dome", which is the old Indistrial Hall that survived the bomb, despite being only 160 metres from the "Hypocentre" of the blast (though it was severally damamged and everyone in it died instantly). There is also a Peace Museum, that contains a frank explanation of the context of the bomb (including the rise of Japanese Nationalism). It also contained a 360 degree panaoramic view taken from the Hypocentre of the blast a couple of months after the explosion, made up of 140,000 tiles - one for every person that died. I didn't take any pictures - I'm not sure that I was allowed to, and it certainly wouldn't have been appropriate.

Hello - a VERY quick update. We're in Hiroshima, and have been for a couple of days now. Quite a cool city, actually, though there is a certain event that looms over it. More to follow on that (suffice to say, the title for that will be the Epicentre of Hell...). However, there are a lot of other things about Hiroshima that make it worth visiting, that, strangely, are much more positive.

We had an okay time in Kyoto, though the weather wasn't brilliant... We saw some Temples, though, with 1,600 in the city, not all of them!

Next stop Tokyo (again!), and then Nikko...

(PS - I have updated the pictures, though!)

We arrived at Kyoto, ONCE we'd managed to buy a ticket for the Bullet Train, and ONCE we'd managed to find the right platform, and ONCE we'd managed to figure out what stop was what...  Once we got here, we then had to go and find the hostel.  Edd said it was one way, I said it was the other.  We went my way... and Edd was right.  Oops.

The hostel's very different from the previous place.  We're in a shared dorm., and there are a whole bunch of rules - check in by this time, check out by that, out the hostel by this time in the morning, curfew at 11pm.  Hmmm.  Not convinced it's the best place in the world, to be honest, but we're here for three nights and that's it.

As I suspected, the Bullet Train was exceedingly cool - it was quiet, quick, and smooth.  We managed to grab a couple of shots of Mt. Fuji on the way past, though we were going very quickly by then!  Kyoto itself seems fairly good - there seems to be some more modern architecture here than we found in Tokyo - though I'll admit that there's a lot of Tokyo we've not yet seen.

As mentioned in the last update, I can't get the laptop on line here, so will update this version until I can. Now updated! Do add comments / email us, though!

So - we leave Tokyo. What other impressions have I got of the place? Everything's incredibly ordered - we were up (comparatively) early today, and headed over to McDonald's for breakfast (see later for more about food). In Akasuka where we were staying, there are loads of stalls - and everyone was cleaning the pavement, dusting their stuff for sale, generally tidying up. And, given they had done all that before they closed the stalls the previous night, things really didn't look that grubby.

But that's been the case throughout most of the Tokyo that we've been to. When we went to the museum yesterday there was a set of stairs that were closed leading from the Metro station upwards - and the reason? So they could be cleaned. Most places (there have been a few exceptions, but only a very few) were pretty much spotless.

There's some graffiti around - but not much, and most of it seems to be a few English words. Much more common are slightly random murals, often depicting some cartoon characters, and often with some, or all, of their commentary in English. Certainly the ones near the hostel in Akasuka seemed fairly freshly painted.

One of the things I joked about before I came out here was that I was looking forward to being tall. And I am. Kinda. Even more than at home, there is a pronounced generational difference in height in Japan. When were at the museum, where, you won't be amazed to hear, hip young things were conspicuous primarily be their absence (with the exception of us, obviously!), Edd and I tended to tower over people. However, over in Shibuya, where all the hip young things hang out when they're not avoiding museums, everyone seemed far more akin to at home, height wise.

And the hip young things do tend to be fairly hip. Sartorially, the Jonny Depp style is very much de rigour, and combats and t-shirt seem somewhat under-whelming in comparison. Plus, of course, there's always the baby doll look, or the punk look (though we haven't seen many of those).

There weren't many bikes over at Shibuya. Nor Ginza, or any of the other really central places. However, at Akasuka, where the hostel is, there were loads of them - in the side streets, far more than cars. And they tended to be exceedingly unhip frumpy things that looked as if they were built in the 50s... And yet everyone was riding them, often on the pavements. And when they meet pedestrians, they just squeeze past. Pedestrians accept that. And if car drivers are stuck behind pedestrians in the side streets? They just wait for a bit - they just accept that. And if people are in a hurry for the Metro, and kind of barge through - that's accepted too. A pretty pragmatic bunch, really.

There also seemed to be school kids everywhere in Tokyo, at all times. Not sure whether they have different break times, or what, but there was usually a few of them around the place. Uniform is either English style, or a rather natty number that does all the way up to the top. Think Buttons in panto. look...

So - why McDonald's for breakfast? Two reasons, really. One is that we are struggling with restaurant menus, which are often written only in Japanese. Which is slightly problematic. And the second is that Japanese portion sizes tend to be on the small size. So, McDonald's for breakfast is was.

We then went back to the hostel - where a party of about 20 British kids had arrived - Sixth Formers, I guess. I presume that they're studying Japanese. Would be interesting bringing Explorers here, though I'm not sure that they'd be fully engaged by the museums, etc.

And that was Tokyo. We're back at the tail end of next week for a few more days. However, this morning we packed our stuff (think quarts and pint pots, particularly fun with a bust thumb!), checked out of the hostel, and headed to Tokyo station on the Metro, bumping into a couple of Aussies we kind of knew on the way - we're officially part of the Akasuka backpacking fraternity! Once we got to Tokyo station we had to buy the tickets. Which was fun. Not.

There's loads of English in Japan everywhere. Except places where it would be really useful, like restaurants, and, say, Japan Railway ticket offices... However, the guy behind the counter spoke a modicum of English which helped, though I still got somewhat confused. My credit card was swiped about half a dozen times, tickets were spat out, stamped, and then filed, and then my credit card wouldn't play any more, so I'm really not sure what happened. I guess I'll find out when I get the statement - though this is the second time a card's been refused (the first was my debit card in HMV). Not an issue with money (honest!), but, like mobile 'phones, Japan's done it's own thing with credit cards, and is only now beginning to get international standards. Cash machines, for example, tend not to accept VISA still, unless you go the Post Office or find a Citibank. Anyhow, I managed to pay for one ticket on my credit card before it went and sulked, and paid cash for the other, and then we went to figure out the platform we needed for the train - the Bullet Train, bound for Kyoto.

Bullet Trains are long. And very, very fast - I'm writing this on it now, and the outskirts of Tokyo are speeding by. There's loads of legroom, the seats recline, they're quiet, smooth - everything a rail system should be. Needless to say, it left exactly on time.

Once away from the centre, Tokyo's surprisingly low rise. I guess I was expecting more Blade Runner architecture - architecturally, there hasn't been that much of note - not compared to London, anyhow. However, this is only in terms of modern architecture - most of the buildings do tend to look as you'd think a Japanese building to look - lots of roof, often stepped. The traditional style I guess. And usually rammed together - there really isn't much spare space in Tokyo. And it's big - we've been travelling at pretty high speed for about 3/4 hour now, and we're still in the outskirts. Though, as we head towards the mountains, it is beginning to thin out.

And That Mountain? Yup - we've passed it. It's a fantastic, imperial, mountain is Mt. Fuji - it sits there, towering over it's neighbours, with its symmetry and the beginnings of its winter snow. However, it's a bugger to photograph from a Bullet Train at over 100mph!

(PS - George Bush and his cronies lost the US mid-terms! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)

An update to earlier. After sitting around for a bit in the hostel, and all attempting to be good and not drink beer, we were influenced by peer pressure in the Hostel, and ended up going out to get some drugs!

Well, kind of. Actually, we decided to go and try the Oxygen that we'd looked at the other day. So - what does one get for 600 Yen? An incredible high? A feeling of euphoria? Erm - mostly 600 Yen less in the wallet...

The other thing I forget to mention was that last night someone asked me if Edd was my son. I've shaved off my beard in protest... (Well, it's back as a goatee, anyhow!).

Hmm. I discovered that Japanese beer, if you drink quite a lot of it, gives you a hangover. QED. Oops. That's what happens when you sit around all night discussing the state of the world...

So, we went out about 11am, and headed over to Ueno. Home of several museums - we went in a couple of them, which was actually quite interesting. Saw the history of Japan, and the rise of Buddhism. Also saw some Samuri stuff, which was cool.

Before that we'd gone to Akasuka, and had a better look at the temples. There's a Buddhist one and a Shinto one, co-existing side by side. Some Nuns were looking around the Buddhist temple when we there. All is lesson in tolerance and co-existance that some other parts of the world could usefully benefit from...

Dinner tonight was a curry. So, still no Sushi! We're working up to it.

We're off tomorrow to Kyoto. I'm not sure if I'll be able to update this site there or in Hiroshima. If there are no updates here, try looking at my MySpace Blog at http://blog.myspace.com/baynesa.

We were up at the crack of, erm, 11:00 this morning. Least I was - Edd was already up and playing with... his PSP! We hooked up with the Aussie guy again - who now has a name, Sam., and headed over to Electronic City. This is like Tottenham Court Road on steroids - loads and loads of electrical stores selling all kinds of stuff. I escaped with a new pair of headphones for my iPod - the old ones being a bit worn out. Edd also bought a new pair of headphones for his iPod - and an iPod, as he didn't have one! Sam. bought nothing - yet...

After Electronic City we headed over to Shinjuku. This is one of the central, busier districts of Tokyo, with loads of shops. Sam. gave in to temptation and bought a new camera. We then headed over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government HQ, via about a km of underground walkway. And the reason for going? Were we interested in the machinery of local government, Tokyo stylee?

Unsurprisingly, no. The reason for going is that, in it's wisdom, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government built itself a huge HQ - and there's a public viewing gallery. So, get in the lift, and there are three buttons - 1, 2, and 45. Yup - we went up to the 45th floor to see Tokyo. First impressions - it's huge city. Second impressions?

I really regret not bringing my SLR now. The view was awesome - particularly as we watched the sun set behind Mt. Fuji. It's an incredible mountain - it's a volcano, so looks almost perfectly symmetrical - it suits Japan well, as they're a neat nation. I tried to take a few pictures, but they won't do justice to it.

After that, we headed over to Shibuya. This is the epicentre of the night scene in Tokyo - the equivalent of London's West End. Lots and lots of very bright lights, and hip kids hanging out (which is why we were there, obviously!). We stopped for a meal in an Italian restaurant, so we're beginning to branch out a bit in cuisine. I found a HMV, and managed to restrain myself to four CDs, which wasn't too bad.

There's a crazy junction in Shibuya - where there are three roads meeting. However, it's not that notable for that - it's more notable for the voulme of pedestrians. By the time the pedestrian lights go to blue (for go!), there are literally hundreds of people each side. As soon as the lights change, each side rushes at the other, and then kinds of manages to avoid each other somehow. We participated, and then took a few photos.

On the subject of buying stuff, Tokyo's not too expensive if you're British. The Americans were complaining, but at an exchange rate of around 250 Yen to the £, a day travel pass to the Metro costs around £4 - which seems very good value. The meal and a beer came to 1,500 Yen each - around £6. So, hopefully won't be too broke when I return home!

(PS - the photo page should now work, though I've lost the comments...)

First full day in Tokyo. First an update on last night - we hooked up with a couple of guys from LA and a guy from Australia, and went and found a 7-11. Spurning the opportunity to spend ~400 Yen on Oxygen we decided to spend the money on beer instead, and get our oxygen for free using the lungs that we were all, usefully, born with...

So, we then spent a few hours chatting and drinking in the hostel, with the West Ham - Arsenal match on. I eventually went to bed around midnight, which has seemed to sort the jet lag fairly well.

So, up this morning at around 9am, and then out of the hostel to central Tokyo. We emerged from the Metro station at the exit of my choosing - to find ourselves right outside the Apple Store Tokyo! Which was a co-incidence, honest! We (obviously) went in, but I was unable to ask for a replacement foot for my iBook in Japanese, so it remains a tad wonky...

From the Apple Store we wandered for a bit - and found ourselves at the Sony Building! Sony is to Edd as Apple is to Andy, so we had to go in. There were plenty of PS3s to play with, so Edd did. I went and looked at all the Blu-Ray stuff, which did seem to be pretty good quality. After that, we went to get some food, and ended up in a McDonald's. We will be more adventurous, honest - but we have only been here a day!

From Ginza we took the Metro to central Tokyo, and went to look around the outside of the Imperial Palace, which we couldn't see... The reason for that is that it's got huge gardens, a (very) large wall, and a moat. Which probably means they don't want tourists wandering around inside! The Palace, btw, dates back to 1968 - the previous one having been destroyed by fire bombing during the second world war. We did manage to see some Koi, and took some pictures for Steve. Not being a fish expert, I can't comment too much on them, other than to say that they were quite big.

After the Imperial Palace's outer wall, we went to have a look at the Japanese Parliament (the Diet, so the building is the Diet Building, which Edd thought was pretty amusing!). We also went to see the Japanese Prime Minister's house, which, like the Imperial Palace, seemed to be primarily wall. We did, however, see his office next door, which was a cool building.

And from there we went to Tokyo harbour. Which involved getting in a fairly packed Metro train, and travelling for ages. Once we got there it wasn't that spectacular to be honest, though it has meant that we've been to the sea side, so it's a proper holiday!

We then travelled back at Asakusa on an even more packed train. We got back, and then tackled food. Back to 7-11 where they had lots of different meals, all with a certain noodle theme. If you don't like noodles, then possibly Japan is not the place for you! All the instructions were in Japanese, too, so cooking was a bit of a guess. Both meals turned out vaguely edible, though, so we're not starving yet. It was also more adventurous than last night's Domino's pizza (we were tired, okay - and we have to admit that we passed on the potato and mayo pizza!).

A bit more about the hostel. It's in Asakusa by an amusement arcade, which makes it easy to find - look for the tall rides and it's just down from there. We're also just down from a famous temple. However, it's not the richest part of Tokyo (hence it's where we are!), and, at night, there are loads of bikes around the side streets. There's also a porn cinema, which has various posters of assorted topless Japanese ladies on, and a slot machine arcade - that had a massive queue outside at 10 o'clock this morning, all of middle-aged people. Who then dashed in, presumably to hit the machines. All very ordered, though - like most of Japan.

That's actually one of my over-whelming impressions at the moment, the order of Japan. Everyone waits for the signal to cross the road and then crosses, on the Metro you stand where indicated, there's no rubbish anywhere (actually, on the subject of rubbish, all rubbish, even in the street, has to be sorted for recycling, which is cool). And everyone's very polite - even when, as I did, someone commits a huge social faux-pas... One of the girls in the Sony store (all dressed in very short skirts, which seems to be a Japanese thing - not that bad though! ) told me something in her best English - which wasn't that good, but a damn sight better than my best Japanese (now up to three words!). To signal that I understood, I gave her a thumbs up - which is exceedingly rude in Japan... She looked a but shocked and then giggled at the foreigner, so I don't think Anglo-Japanese relations are permanently damaged... Phew!

(BTW - not sure what's happening with the comments - do leave some though!)

Well, okay, more Flight of the Virgin Airbus! After some amusement at the hotel at Heathrow - Mr. & Mrs. Baynes had a double room (I slept on the sofa!), the flight was okay as far as long haul goes. The 'plane was less than two years old, so had a Sky Plus type thing for films, which was very useful for occupying the 12 1/2 hours of the flight! As was surprising the hell out of Ashley Brown, who used to be in Ventures and is now Virgin cabin crew! We hope to meet up with him tomorrow...

Once we landed, we then had to get from Narita airport to the hostel. Which was slightly challenging, as we'd not slept in ages. And most of the signs on the railway are only in Japanese. However, once we made it to the Tokyo Metro, most of the signs were bilingual. We even managed to guess the cost of a ticket correctly!

And then we had to find the hostel itself. Asakusa (the part of Tokyo we're staying in) is busy, so two blokes wandering through it with possibly the largest rucksacks you've ever seen was, erm, interesting. We were okay as long as we didn't try and turn around. If we did...

We eventually found the hostel at 13:00 local time. First check-in was 13:00 local time. So we look ultra-efficient, anyhow. It's very modern, concrete walls and pink outside. The room's compact with a bunk bed in and - that's all! Anyhow, it's all very clean, and there's a useful common room type thing. Which is where we are now, and we're about to sort some food!