Tokyo - May 9

Yep, this is the cleanest place I've ever been! And after the sanitation, or lack thereof, in Nepal, this is a very pleasant surprise. The Japanese have taken visiting the toilet to a level of comfort and cleanliness unparalleled in any other country I've been to. Some of the features include heated seats, toilet seat sanitizer, choice of bidet options and you can even listen to music while you do your business. I'm wondering where I can get one of these things for my home!!!

We took a cab to the Imperial Palace and wandered around the grounds for a bit. We struck up a conversation with Amanda and Adam, two travellers from the US and they invited us to go with them to check out the Kabukiza theatre. We bought a standing ticket and watched for a bit. We didn't understand anything, of course, but I'm glad I saw it. After we finished at the theatre, Amanda and Adam left us to go check into their hotel at Tokyo Disney. We took a cab back to Shinjuku, the area in which we are staying, and had coffee at a nearby Starbucks.

We wandered around the area some more because it's a happenin' place, did some people watching and then made our way to the "Tappen Baby" restaurant. This restaurant was highly rated on Trip Advisor but very difficult to find. The Japanese don't really cater to English tourists so most of the signs are in Japanese. We eventually found the place tucked away in a basement and settled ourselves on chairs in front of the cooking surface. (See the pictures below.) It was probably the best meal we have eaten on this trip and it was so much fun to watch them prepare everything in front of us. Each dish they prepare was a work of art.

After supper we wandered back to our hotel. Jon seemed to be sleeping well but I am a bit messed up and couldn't get to sleep for a long time.Read more