2nd August - Tokyo!
I woke up just in time to have some breakfast on the plane before we landed. I was still slightly hazy but I do remember the taxi from the runway being soooo long! We had a swift journey through to baggage collection and collected our massive mail sacks before heading through customs to the other side where we were met by Rhys and Kevin who had arrived a few days early to make sure things were organised for us. They also had a large truck into which we piled all of our luggage before it was whisked off to the hotel. We on the other hand were given public transport maps, a train pass and instructions on how to get to the hotel (Ace Inn) before being paired up with another team and sent on our way.
Once we got the hang of the Tokyo metro it was a pretty easy journey and we were the second team back, with a few others getting rather lost along the way. We helped to unload the bags from the van whilst waiting for leaders to show up (some issues with cars and sat navs?). Then when Leddy showed up he started dishing out room keys, Vicky, Helena and I were in a room with some others, however Rhiannon was in a different room. We headed up in the lift to our rooms, very slowly as there was no alternative to fitting max 3 people in a lift at a time. The three of us were on the top floor and Rhiannon was a few below in a pod room. However all floors had WiFi which was super handy, so I let my parents know I had arrived safe.
We headed back downstairs to collect our budget for dinner and then used our train pass to head out to Shenjuku. When we were there team 8 joined up with team 14 and Leo (one of the leader team) to find ourselves some dinner. We eventually found a restaurant with a menu in English (sort of) and were led upstairs and crammed around a tiny table. Ordering was a bit difficult as it was our first attempt contending with a non English speaking waitress but we got it sorted in the end. Helena wasn't too fond of her very strange green tea, we all eventually received some food which was mainly microwave rice and meat on a stick (we avoided the intestine and womb), whereas Vicky had tofu . The food was tasty and we settled up the bill and headed back downstairs.
Team 14 and Leo decided to head back to Ace Inn and Team 8 continued on drinking in the sights. Now that it had gone dark the lights were truly spectacular, Tokyo is a thriving and bustling city. We explored the maze of streets and visited a few arcades, just trying to adjust to the completely different culture. In one arcade we stopped to have a game of Mario Kart (once we finished figuring out how to start the game) which drew a few spectators and I won (to anyone who has seen me play before, that will be a shock). We wandered back to the station where we visited the huge underground mall and some of the girls bought souvenirs before we headed back to the Ace Inn in time for curfew. We hung out in the common room for a bit before heading to bed, completely knackered!