Land of the rising sun, electronic toilets and KARAOKE

Well just about to leave Tokyo... What a place... Managed to fit all the touristy things in 1 day - was crazy hectic. Visited the Tokyo Stock Exchange which was the first mix up. We were looking for an observation deck for the city and the guide book said there was one there... however it turned out to be an observation deck of the trading floor! Slightly disappointed, but it was still pretty cool. Then more issues with the subway. We could cope with it not too bad when the signs were in English/Japanese - however it got slightly confusing when the English signs disappeared. We were wandering around like little lost souls! After going round in circles and crashing a posh hotel for a view of the city we managed to find the train station we were looking for. Got the sky train to Fuji TV centre for a proper observation deck and watched the sun setting over Tokyo. Absolutely magic. Also saw some filming on a Japanese quiz show, which would of been exciting if we could understand it.

So how about the rest of the time? Well it was mainly spent singing. Those of you who have had the unfortunate experience of being at a karaoke night with me might be strangely surprised at this. However its all the rage here. Every bar has karaoke in it and everyone does it. It doesn't matter that your tone deaf. So we have been singing everything from the Proclaimers to the Spice Girls. The highlights without a doubt have been our new scouser mates singing Ferry Across the Mersey and everyone in the hostel taking over the living room at 2am singing "Can't touch this" hammer time, and dancing like MC hammer. The video clips are hilarious!!!

Check out was tough today. My clothes seem to have grown - my backpack can hardly shut! Oh the issues of a traveller are nothing like the ones I used to face in work!

Had a fab time anyway, but glad to be heading off tonight. Shame there is the little problem of a 10 hour flight ahead. Just beautiful!

Edi leaving night = CARNAGE!

One final night in the weege....

2 days to go....

Hey peeps,

Thought I'd try and get all technical and create one of these funky websites to keep track and help me remember all the random crazy times and funny stories.

Can't believe how hard it has been saying goodbye to everyone. I'm totally leaving behind the best group of mates EVER - just wish I could take you all with me!!! Looking forward to catching up with some of you on my travels and adding pics of you and our adventures to this website.

Thought I'd start by uploading some pics of the leaving parties - what fab nights out!!!

Marlene
xx