Day 1

I know today may technically be "Day 2" but travelling all day through different time zones is confusing! So, as this is the first time since that I've had the chance to sit down and blog, we'll call it "Day 1".

The flights over here were fine, on the flight to Vienna I managed to get extra legroom with my seat (win). And then on our second leg I watched four different films and slept quite a bit, skipping most of the plane food. As I didn't have a window seat I missed out on my favourite past time, watching clouds. Maybe on the way back...

Once we arrived in Tokyo and were through customs, we queued to get our luggage, everyone and anyone grabbing blue bags. Mine was off quite quickly but I waited for Gemma.

We then queued again (so British) to catch our transfer coach to the hotel. Walking out of the airport, the heat hit me. Even though it was spitting slightly, the humidity is a bugger and I could feel myself sweating. Cool kids that we are, we grabbed the back seats of the coach with other East Midlanders. I soon fell asleep and before I knew it, we had arrived at the Shingawa Prince Hotel.

We then checked in and dumped our bags in a humungous luggage room saved just for us. There are so many IST here I feel sorry for the other guests! Once we'd changed into something more comfortable, we headed out with Darren, Phil, Mike and another guy I didn't quite catch the name of.

Navigating the tube system was interesting to say the least, even though we'd been told it was easy we still managed to go several stops in the complete wrong direction! We finally made the route to the earthquake centre. I hadn't signed up for this, and neither had Gemma, but we tagged along for the fun. We found a nice cafe to eat in and I ordered toast with cheese.

Once we'd paid, me and Gemma headed to the centre with Darren to see if they had any spare spaces available. They didn't so we made our way back to the hotel to collect our room key and freshen up. Our meal at the Sumo Restaurant was scheduled for 7pm so we had a little break before we had to rush off. We weren't too sure what time we were all meeting, but met Dylan in the elevators so followed him down to the crowd.

What a palava, having pretty much just completed the opposite journey with Gemma, I thought we knew where to go. How wrong we were!! We got to the right platform in the end and ended at the right station.

Finding the Sumo Restaurant was a different story, all we had to go on was a small picture and that it was "around the corner from the station".  Luckily, a local took pity on us and lead us around several streets.. turns out we came out the wrong end of the station!

Inside, we sat in tables of six around a ring in the middle. We shared a table with four Scouts from Cumbria who were all very nice. We had a laugh guessing what all the ingredients in our dinner were - we had to cook it ourselves you see.

The MC had moved from America to train with the Sumo Wrestlers there. He told us we had to eat every last grain of rice so as not to upset the Gods and the farmers. I tried my best but by now I was full and so so tired.

We had one last treat in store though, as two professional Sumo Wrestlers demonstrated a few of their moves. It was very impressive, but I was warm and couldn't concentrate so kept drifting in and out of sleep. Gemma was laughing because I had to keep checking if I was dreaming things. 

When volunteers were asked for I perked right up, this would be good... first was a larger fellow who got his wrestler out by lifting his belt (the big nappy thong). Classic.
Next was a weedy bloke, we all thought he didn't stand a chance. To everyone's great surprise, he managed to push his wrestler out.
Scouting 2 Sumos 0 :D

Leaving the restaurant we all made our way back to the hotel. Thankfully, we managed it first time round! The oldies (myself included) somehow got split from the youngsters.. but I'm sure they managed just as admirably.

It's now 22.31 and I am finally ready to sleep in a proper bed ready for another jam - packed day tomorrow.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stop 1: Bangkok

I have decided to group my blogs per place, so we'll start with my first port of call.. Bangkok . My flight from Heathrow to Suvarnabhumi wasn't too bad. I was sat in 27C next to a lovely young couple going on holiday. Apparently they were incredibly lovely as not long into the journey they were bumped up to First Class!! This meant a whole row to myself.. until one of the Cabin Crew moved another couple (with a broken seat) to join me. Ah well. It was good while it lasted. The plane touched down slightly later than expected, but we had been delayed departing, so the Captain made good time. Once I was through security and had fetched my bag it was about 10am local time. Now came the fun part of meeting my transfer "in front of Entrance 3". This was a longer walk than expected, I had arrived in front of Entrance 9. I found my name in the end and handed the lady my voucher. I was to wait for another two people. Derek appeared about 10mins later and we chatted in our
Read more

Loka: Stop 7: Magnetic Island

My alarm went off so early, I felt like I'd barely closed my eyes. We were to meet at 4.30am outside of the hostel. I lugged my belongings down the stairs and met my new Loka group at the bus stop. Niki was to be our guide until Cairns. Waiting with her was Mario, Aquiles and Gabriele. I was amazed to see the latter two accompanying us, they were at least in their sixties. Two English girls, Pippa and Rosie, were next to join us and we were all ready to go. The same shuttle bus from before arrived, with the same driver. He welcomed us on board and informed us that our train was running very late. Either way, we had to get to the station. Once there, we checked in our luggage so that we wouldn't have to carry it any longer. I felt cheated, I'd woken up before the sun to catch a train that was going to be two hours late. Oh well. The nice shuttle man took us around the corner to the bakery. There was so much choice I didn't know what to have, add the fact that it was b
Read more

GKR World Cup 8

Image
My First World Cup As I mentioned in my first blog post, this weekend was the 8th GKR World Cup held at the Echo Arena, Liverpool. Having qualified last year, I was to be competing on the Saturday afternoon, however we decided to make a weekend of it and support as many of R33 as possible. Friday... I travelled up on the Friday with my two marvellous supporters, my mum and friend Tracy. We had a good run, with a stop at my favourite services (Keele), arriving at the Hampton by Hilton John Lennon Airport Hotel at 13.30.  After settling into the room, which was very nice, we headed back out to catch a bus into the city. A very lovely man helped us find the best bus route and we were soon on board the 86A en route to the Echo Arena. Apparently it was a busy journey, abundant with school kids and loud gossiping. Being asleep, I missed all of this!! Peeling ourselves from the seats, we got off of the bus and made our way over to the famous Albert Dock. I was itching to watch my f
Read more

A Week in Exmouth

I arrived in Exmouth at lunchtime after a very long night with little sleep. The bus stopped at the visitors centre, and from there it was a short walk to the hostel. I checked in and discovered that I had a room to myself? What luxury! I was shocked, but made the most of it, choosing the best bed and spreading my things. I decided to walk back to the visitor centre to find something to do with the rest of the day. It was a sweaty walk and I was glad to find air con when I arrived. After looking through one hundred and one different leaflets and brochures, I gave up and sought help from the desk. A very lovely lady told me everything I needed to know, where to go and what to do. I booked on to a sunset whale tour for that very evening and had a browse through what she had recommended. I then realised the time, I'd have to rush back if I was to make my pick up! I hot footed it to the hostel and grabbed my camera. I just made it to reception in time, the bus was just parking u
Read more