Leaving Tokyo

(Writings from Sunday 20 August 2006 that I originally sent out in email from but has since been edited with new stuff added. I:ll try to post about arriving in Tokyo tomorrow.)

We will be leaving Tokyo today (Monday, 21st) and heading for the
mountain town of Nikko about 100 miles north of Tokyo. It has been
really hot here, but we met a really nice British guy yesterday and
went out to a bar with him near our hotel last night in Roppongi. It was a Cuban bar, and they didn:t have any sake, but it was fun anyway. The night before, Justine and I hunted around for a sake bar in Tokyo and it was surprisingly hard to find one in Roppongi. I think this is because the area where we:re staying (called Akasaka) is the international neighborhood (where all the embassys are) and Roppongi is where all the Japanese kids hang out. So all the bars serve western-style drinks for a bunch of money... think Sunset Strip (8 bucks for a small G&T!?!)

Yesterday, we went over to the ritzy shoping district of Ginza in the
day and the major downtown of Tokyo called Shinjuku, which has Tokyo:s
Time Square, at night. The day before that, we went to the Imperial
Palace, which was sort of dissappointing (pics to follow whenever I can find an internet cafe with computers newer than 1999!).

We:ve been walking many many miles a day, and I:m sure I:ve already
lost a few pounds... it:s hard to get calories in Japan! Finally, I
have no idea where the apostorphe key is on this computer, so I:m
sorry they look like colons.

-Mike