My moms cousin suggested that I should visit Nikko while I was in Tokyo. I asked Chika and Dave to join me on the two hour train ride north east. We had a great time, mostly laughing, eating and enjoying the amazing surroundings of Nikko. The camera seemed to love these adorable two and I ended up with 200 pictures. Mainly of them!

Tomorrow I’ll be leaving for Narita and spend the last night there. I’ll be heading home on Thursday morning. My time in Tokyo and Okinawa has been memorable and filled with fun and joy. Thanks to all of you who contributed to that.

Roppongi is known as Tokyos entertainment area with many foreigners. The amount of embassies and foreign corporate businesses in the area are said to be a contribution to this. Whether you like it or not Roppongi has it’s sides. Like the Mori tower with Tokyo City View and brand new just finished Sky deck, a helicopter platform in the roof from which you can stand outside to enjoy a complete 360 degr. view of the entire Tokyo area. On sunny days you can see Mount Fuji. We didn’t, but it was still a great view. A nice way to end an even nicer weekend with my favorite girls.

After an all nighter in Shibuya here’s what was left. What seems to be TONS of energy! At 6.30 am. How?!

Harajuku is a very special place. A part of Tokyo that lacks tall buildings but has plenty of narrow little shopping streets with everything from Gothic Lolita stores to teriyaki crepes. It also has a nice park with all kinds of…creatures. And I say creatures because I’m not only referring to human beings. But all kinds of beings. It was a nice lazy Sunday in Harajuku.

I’m a very lucky girl. Not only do I have great friends, they even come visit while I’M visiting Tokyo. Our Taipei representatives Charlotte and Tove flew in from Taiwan the other day and we’ve been busy busy busy. Outings, nightings, partying, karaoke, dining, shopping, and exploring has been on our schedule for this intense weekend. Tomorrow monologuers dear friends will fly back. Here’s a small pick of things we’ve been up to.

I slept until noon. Went shopping in Shibuya during the day. Came back to Asakusa, took a shower and went to Shibuya again to meet my friend Jonas, previously seen on the blog on various nights out in Göteborg. He moved to Tokyo and yesterday we met for dinner and play. The subways don’t really have night trains so you either have to catch the last train or the first morning train. It became the latter for us.

So last night we did a karaoke session from 3 am to 5 am. Before that at a bar enjoying a (five) cuba libre with some live painting. And before that an izakaya dinner with salty beans and ice cold draft beer.

In an hour my two dear friends Charlotte and Tove are coming to spend the weekend. I flew them in from Taipei. There will be outings, more karaoke (these girls are PROS), nice food, drinks, sights and tons of photos. Be sure not to miss out. Keep an eye on monologuer.

A five star first day. All thanks to my moms cousin that took me out for sights. After a tall americano at Starbucks we headed for Asakusa temple which was completely crowded. Regretfully I missed the cherry blossoms this year, but I found some late bloomers here and there along the way.

After Asakusa we took a boat ride to Odaiba, the artificial island created for sole business and pleasure. Sun was out, 21 C and a light breeze. We stopped for cake with a skyline view at Odaiba before heading back downtown to the royal palace park.

I was told that all the greens (see below) were completely white and pink a couple weeks ago (yeah, just rub it in already) from cherry flowers. But I caught a few late bloomers (different kind of cherry tree) here as well. And there are worse places to be a homeless cat than the palace park.

Ended the day on the 36th floor in Marunouchi having the best sashimi ever. I really appreciate the Japanese attitude towards food. Small but many and various dishes to slowly make you full. Especially if it’s an 8 course dinner it’s kinda impossible to scoop food into your mouth. This place made dinner look like art. And taste like heaven.

You know that song by U2? They’re singing about Tokyo. If you ever were in doubt. Locating a hotel on a map with only chinese characters and feeling disoriented from the darkness of the metro doesn’t relly help. Sure, being on my own in Tokyo is exiting, no doubt. The feeling of being completely lost vanishes after a nap in my hotel room in Asakusa. The nameless streets of Tokyo waits for me. Time to explore!

Välkommen till Cat hair i Japan, just nu i Tokyo på 17:e våningen på Ariake Washington Hotel precis vid mässan. Jag är för fyra timmar sedan ankommen. Resan har gått nästan misstänksamt smidigt, mobilen fungerar här, det fanns snabbt internet i rummet gratis, flygbussen kom 10 minuter efter att jag hämtat min väska från bandet och badrummet är mer high-tec än alla mina samlade elektroniska prylar tillsammans. Skylinen utanför är inte dum den heller. Dessutom hade jag trevligt sällskap på flyget av två herrar på var sin sida, en från Nyköping och en från Osnabrück, Tyskland. Vi sov som grisar hela vägen i och för sig, men när vi väl konverserade var det ytterst angenämt.

Nu är det visst dags för middag, första måltiden på japansk mark. Klockan är 18.39 lokal tid, detta är Line för Cat hair, signing out.

Jumbon som tog oss tryggt och säkert från Frankfurt till Tokyo.

Arbetsskadad som man är…Narita flygplats.

På vägen från flygplatsen hade jag verkligen as…

A hotel room with a view.