April 29, first day in Seattle

After breakfast at - you've guessed it - Starbucks (well, there is one right next to our hotel!), we took a taxi down to Pike Street Market. It's a lovely old area and there you can find the original Starbucks, which was opened in 1912 and apparently remains virtually the same as it always was, as cultural heritage rules in this area prevent any significant changes.

We didn't actually go in on this occasion because it was a Sunday morning and the place was heaving, but we're planning to return tomorrow morning when it should be quieter. In fact, apart from the crowds in the Pike Street area, the whole city seemed quiet today.

After wandering around for a while, we drifted up to Pioneer Square, where we discovered that you can join an "Underground Seattle" tour. In  1889 (I think) large swathes of Seattle were wiped out by a fire. Not long after rebuilding commenced it was decided to raise the level of the streets in the waterfront area by one or two storeys to overcome the problem of high tides periodically flooding the area and drenching it in sewage. This meant that the first one or two storeys of the buildings here were buried, but they are still there below the current street level and can be toured. Once again, however, we arrived to find the ticket office crammed full, so decided to postpone for 24 hours.

However, outside the ticket office was a young chap advertising walking tours, and as he only had one customer at that point, we decided to join him. It turned out to be a very interesting hour or so. Here are a couple of the highlights...

This is the Smith Tower, which was the tallest building in America when first completed. The pyramid on the top is a three-storey penthouse owned by a local socialite, whose name I forget. More interesting is the building bottom left. This is a multi-storey car park known to the locals as "the sinking ship" for obvious reasons. This stands on the site of a famous old hotel, and when the hotel was demolished to make way for this monstrosity there was such an uproar from the public that a movement was started to preserve all the other old buildings. That's why so many of them have survived and why this part of Seattle is so charming today.

This road (that's the base of the Smith Tower on the left) is on an incline coming down towards the camera and in the very old days loggers used to slide tree trunks down the muddy slope to the timber mills at the bottom. It therefore became known as "Skid Row". Because of all the lumberjacks and other men working in the area, brothels, gambling halls and saloons sprung up all around, which is why "Skid Row" became synonymous with seediness and, eventually, destitution.

According to our guide, these dockside cranes were the inspiration for the giant walking robots (I forget their name) in Star Wars.

After the walking tour, we walked up the hill to the Space Needle. It's celebrating its 50th birthday this year, having been built for the 1962 Worlds Fair, so we paid our $19 (each!) and travelled to the top. The views are great, and what we noticed is that, apart from the downtown section with all the usual high rise buildings, most of Seattle is low rise, and there are plenty of ground level car parks. They clearly haven't tried to exploit every square inch of the real estate, which gives the whole place a feeling of spaciousness.

The Space Needle under a cloudy sky.

The central business district, seen from the Space Needle. Frasier's apartment is in there somewhere!

From near the base of the Space Needle, you can join the "Duck" tour, which runs you around town and the local Union Lake, in a World War II amphibious vehicle. The tour was quite interesting, especially the bit on the lake, but the whooping and hollering of the passengers, drummed up by a real performer of a driver and exacerbated by the fact that more than half the people on board had purchased duck squawkers from the ticket office, took the edge off a bit.

Floating homes moored around the edge of Union Lake.

At 6.20, on  the recommendation of the walking tour guide, we took the ferry across Puget Sound to a place called Bainbridge. It's cheap - only $7.50 return each - there are plenty of restaurants in Bainbridge, and on the return journey (the ferries run every half hour until about 1am) you get a great night time view of the Seattle skyline. Only one problem - the guide forgot to mention that nearly everything in Bainbridge closes on a Sunday! We therefore had to wait for a return ferry (they only run every hour) and made our way up to the Hard Rock Cafe on Pike Street for a welcome supper.

Jen's bit: Ok, I admit it, I have reached my spiritual home, the birthplace of Starbucks. The truth is I prefer Cafe Nero in London but, having seen some of this blog over the weeks, it does seem as though Starbucks and I are connected at the hip. Jx

PS If I crane my neck whilst lying in bed can see the Space Needle - we are definitely in Seattle

April 28 2012, the Longest Day!

Today was the day we made the journey from Kyoto to Seattle. Because the trip involved crossing the international date line I am now sitting in our hotel in Seattle 35 minutes away from midnight on April 28 - that's 40 hours after midnight on April 27 in Japan!

We started with a couple of hours on the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo, then about 50 minutes on the Narita Express out to the airport, where we arrived at about 2pm. Our flight to Vancouver left Narita at 6pm and lasted for 9 hours, but when we arrived in Vancouver it was 11am on the same day. Mmmm...feeling a bit tired now!

What made things a little less comfortable than they could have been was the fact that the business class section in Japan Airlines is nowhere near as good as it was on Qantas earlier in the trip. There wasn't a huge amount of leg room and the seats didn't fold flat, so it was difficult to get any kip. Anyway, it was a very smooth flight and the staff were good.

On arrival at Vancouver, Kim was waiting for us, together with her husband Steve, who we hadn't met before. We took a taxi out to Ruaidri and Nina's apartment (Ruaidri is one of Kim and Steve's sons) where we were able to kick back and relax before taking a walk down to a local restaurant for lunch. I fully intended to take a group photo, but I think the jet-lag was starting to kick in and I completely forgot - sorry!

After lunch we went back to the apartment for a while and then Ruaidri kindly drove us to the railway station for our Amtrak service to Seattle. It's not really that far, but the train took about four-and-a-half hours, because it just trundles along at what seems around 30 miles an hour. Still, it was comfortable and the staff were friendly and helpful. There was a stop at the US border for the formalities (even though we had gone through passport control at Vancouver Central Station) and we rolled into Seattle just after 10pm.

The Pan Pacific Hotel here is very comfortable, so we are (we hope) going to get some decent sleep.

Jenny's bit: The longest day of my life. Jx

April 27 2012, Last full day in Kyoto

Today we experienced uninterrupted sunshine and clear blue skies all day - the first time this has happened since Vietnam. We started the day by exploring the railway station that our hotel is part of. Doesn't sound very exciting, I know, but it's an amazing place. From the central councourse there are banks of escalators on each side that go up and up and up until you reach roof gardens and walkways at the top - 16 floors up.



See the escalators just to the right of centre? They go all the way up to the sunlight at top centre...

...where you find this roof garden.

There are shops and cafes all the way up on both sides - quite a place!

After one of our customary coffee stops we headed of on a train to find the "Philosopher's Walk" on the eastern edge of Kyoto. This is a lovely tree-lined walk, maybe a mile long, and would have been even better two or three weeks ago, but we still managed to find some blossom and some beautiful Japanese maples.

We were determined to eat a proper Japanese meal on our last evening here, so we took the advice of the concierge and ended up back in Pontocho Alley. The restaurant was called Yoshina, but we knew that we wouldn't find that written in our alphabet, so we went armed with the name in Japanese characters and looked until we found it. You would never know that it was a restaurant from the outside. There were just three pieces of cloth hanging across the entrance to an alleyway. The central cloth carried the name of the restaurant, so we walked through until we came to a wooden sliding door.No sign of life, but we entered anyway and were given a warm welcome. We removed our shoes and were shown to an upstairs dining room. The table was very low, but there was a kind of pit underneath it so that you could sit at the table without having to kneel on the floor. The food was lovely, served by a waitress who did have to kneel in order to serve us, and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Tomorrow morning we are on the 10.00am bullet train to Tokyo (2 hours 10 mins approx), then about 50 mins on the airport express to Narita Airport, then an 8 hour flight to Vancouver. Crossing the international date line will mean that we arrive in Vancouver at 10.30am tomrrow (same day!). We then have to last the day until the 5.25pm Amtrak Train down to Seattle, where we can collapse into bed. The good news is that we are meeting Kim and her husband at Vancouver Airport, so we can dump our bags in their son's car, go and have lunch with them, and then cadge a lift to the railway station, which will make the day a lot easier.

Goodbye Asia!

Jen's bit: Kyoto has been one of my favourite places so far, on one level everything seems so easy - transport, sightseeing, shopping, eating, but on another I feel I don't have a clue what is happening, there's a whole social life going on and I can't get the hang of it at all. Very interesting. Will endeavour to  find out more when we get home ... Jx

April 26, Second Day in Kyoto

Acting on a whim, we took a ride this morning on an electric train which took us up to the lower slopes of Mount Kurama, just north of Kyoto. There are any number of shrines on the heavily-wooded mountainside, and clear paths and steps are provided so that you can slowly wend your way up. We went about half-way up (a bit of training for Yosemite National Park next week) and it was a lovely cool alternative to the city. A little bit of the rain that had been promised turned up around mid-day, but not enough to cause us a problem. In folklore, the mountain was inhabited by gods, demons and superheroes, the most prominent of which is Tengu, a red creature with a huge nose. They protect Kyoto from evil forces which apparently emanate from the north. Tengu himself was waiting to meet us at the train terminal car park....

The first flight of steps at the foot of the mountain. This was the easy bit.

A traditional Japanese bridge about a third of the way up the mountain.

Before catching the train back to Kyoto, we stopped at a cafe in the little village at the foot of the mountain and had Japanese tea, ice cream and "mountain cake" which is a kind of jelly with a big blob of brown powder. I couldn't really describe the taste, but we both enjoyed it. On the train ride back into the city, Jen sat next to a couple of ladies in kimonos, and I took a sneak photo, firing from my lap. Unfortunately, just as I released the shutter, Jen leaned forward to study the train map, but the two ladies turned out well!

It still surprises me to see so many people, especially women, wearing traditional dress as they go about their daily business, but it's quite charming.

By evening, the rain had set in, so I'm afraid we were lazy and ate in the hotel.

Jenny's bit: Nice to see a picture of lovely little Japanese ladies and me looking rather like Tengu! Jx

April 25 First Full Day in Kyoto

As our first port of call for Kyoto sightseeing, we chose the area known as Gion. This is where you will find the highest concentration of private inns and teahouses where Japanese men come to enjoy the company (and whatever else) provided by geisha (usually known locally as geiko). Although there are some tawdry areas in Gion, it is largely a really lovely "old quarter" and a fascinating place to walk around.

One of the lovely streets in the Gion area. Although we missed the best of the blossom, Gion managed to save some for us!

What became clear to us "Japanese Novices" after a short while was that we really should have waited until later before visiting Gion, as it obviously gets much livelier later in the day and into the evening. Nevertheless, it was so pleasant strolling around that we decided to stay around for a while. We thought we had been rewarded when we spotted two lovely maiko (apprentice geiko) tip-tapping their way down the street, and when they spotted me raising my camera, they even stopped to pose for me.

However, acting on Kelvyn's advice, we later visited Google looking for places where tourists can go and have a complete maiko or geiko makeover - all the clothing, the full make-up etc - and discovered that it is possible to include a half-hour stroll round the local area once you've been prepared, so it may well be that these were just two ordinary Japanese girls having fun. We'll never know!

We carried on, walking round the area, which is full of traditional wooden Japanese houses, like these. If you look carefully, you can see a heron on the far right, waiting for a hand-out from the kitchen window of a local restaurant.

We were walking down this same street later in the evening when movement in an upstairs window caught our eye. Although flimsy blinds had been lowered, the interior of the room was brightly lit and we were treated to a tantalising glimpse of geiko at work. The men were wearing traditional costumes, and one geiko in particular was dancing for them. There was a lot of laughter and shouting, so I guess they were having fun....

Getting back to our morning stroll, we crossed the Kamo river to explore Pontocho Alley. This street, first constructed when a sandbar was developed in 1670, runs parallel to the Kamo and is the best preserved section of authentic wooden ochaya - the traditional teahouses where the geiko meet their clients. Again, we were aware that it would be more interesting after dark, but it was interesting to see it in daylight when the area was nice and quiet.

Pontocho Alley in daylight.

A mural entices customers to a bar just off Pontocho Alley.

In due course, we walked all the way back to our hotel (about 2 miles) to rest up and have our baths before venturing back to Gion for a drink and supper. On arrival at the railway station (our hotel is above the station - will post pictures of this amazing place in a day or so) we saw this...

...a large school party being addressed by the chap on the right with a blue folder in his hand. So what? I hear you asking. Well, what struck us was that every single child (and we watched them for a few minutes) was sitting still, facing the speaker, perfectly quiet, and paying full attention. Admirable. In fact we've seen many groups of schoolchildren walking around in Kyoto (they all seem to wear uniforms) and they are immaculately behaved, even when no teacher is present!

In the evening, we returned to Gion. We decided that it was unlikely that the small bars and restaurants in the area would take plastic, so we found an ATM. It had a button on it which said "English", which was a good start, but then displayed a message, in English, saying "This machine only accepts cards issued by Japanese banks". If you're planning to visit Japan, be aware of this problem. It took us nearly an hour, and some help from a lady on a shopping mall information desk, to find at ATM which worked for us. Top Tip: the ATMs in 7-11 stores work well!

Finally wedged up, we found a nice, if expensive, bar in Pontocho Alley. The Japanese girl who served us spoke good English because her family now lives near Los Angeles, although she has returned to Japan to finish university. She was interested to hear about our trip and we spent a pleasant 45 minutes or so. We then had problems finding a restaurant which offered an English menu, but eventually found one which served Italian-type food but with a Japanese twist. It wasn't bad, even though it was not really what we were hoping for. After walking round for a bit more after dinner, we decided that we were lost, so jumped in a cab to get back to base. Japanese taxis seem to be very good, and reasonably priced, unlike their Chinese counterparts!

Tomorrow promises rain, so not sure of the agenda yet.

Jenny's bit:  Having been practically flattened against bridge railings in Boston some years go by a group of six-year olds out for a jaunt with their teachers, I'm all in favour of the 'shut-up, sit down and listen' method of dealing with students. Jx

April 24, Tokyo to Kyoto

This morning we caught the 10.00am bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo to Kyoto. Quite an experience! Not so much because of the speed (the tracks are so smooth that you hardly realise you are exceeding 200mph) but because of the way the Japanese staff run the show. While we were waiting for the train to arrive (we were about 15 minutes early) we noticed the cleaning staff lining up. There are 16 coaches on the train, and the platforms are clearly marked to show where the doors will be when the train stops. A lady in a pink uniform was ready by each marker about five minutes before the train arrived, and they bowed to their supervisor before starting work. Passengers waiting to board didn't rush forward as soon as the train doors opened. It is clearly understood that you first let the passengers off, then you wait for the cleaning ladies to do their work and then you board when the train staff signal that all is ready. SO civilised!

Once the train starts, the ticket inspector walks through your carriage until he reaches the electric sliding door at the end. He steps through the door, which closes behind him. You can still see him through the glass panel, and he then removes his cap, comes back through the door and bows to the carriage before checking tickets. Once he's finished with your carriage, he bows again before moving on! The same goes for the other staff, including the girls who wheel the refreshment trolley through the carriage. A lovely smile and a bow - you can't beat it!

Our bullet train noses into Tokyo station.

The cleaning ladies get ready.

The ticket collector for our carriage.

Our hotel in Kyoto is incorporated into the astonishing, futuristic main railway station, so we didn't have far to go. Thankfully, this is a proper hotel, unlike the stylish but oh so tiny Remm hotel in Tokyo, and we have enough room to unpack and move about. After settling in for an hour or so, we chose the Shogunate Nijo Castle for our first bit of sightseeing. It's not really a castle as we understand the term, but a complex of buildings erected in the sixteenth century by the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. They are mostly built of wood and have "nightingale" floors, which are wooden floors constructed in such a way as to squeak when anyone walks on them, thus warning of intruders. The buildings are lovely, as are the gardens which surround them, with the whole complex set within a moated and walled perimeter.

Part of the Shogunate complex at Nijo.

Part of the beautiful gardens at Nijo.

A bridge across the moat at Nijo Castle.

We got back to the hotel in plenty of time to rest up before visiting the "Sky Lounge" on the 15th floor of our hotel for a pre-dinner drink. Dinner was in one of the hotel's three Japanese restaurants, and was really lovely, served by friendly, smiley, helpful staff.

Oh, I nearly forgot. Unlike Tokyo, Kyoto is clearly a place where people, especially but not exclusively ladies, still wear traditional clothes. We spotted these ladies having a natter in the station beneath our hotel...

Jen's bit: I'm getting very used to smiling and bowing slightly at everyone in shops and restaurants, and even just people passing in the street. Wonder how that will go down in Seattle? Jx

April 23, last full day in Tokyo

We did a lot of walking today, although things were slightly marred by a continuous drizzly rain. We started by visiting the Tsukiji fish market. Some Brits we bumped into in Shanghai said that it is an amazing place to go, but nowadays tourists are only allowed to watch proceedings from a designated area. Most of the auctioning had finished by the time we got there, but the products are on view in countless stalls and shops in the local streets and alleyways. This is reputedly one of the best places in the world to eat really fresh sushi and sashimi, but it was a bit early for us! Nevertheless, crowds had already gathered around the stalls and small restaurants that border the market, as you can see...

Upon leaving the market, we spotted a police box. You see these all over the place, and the interesting bit for us was the collection of "Wanted" or "Missing" posters on the noticeboard.

We then walked around the corner to Hama Palace Garden. We wanted to catch a boat for a cruise along the Sumida River, but before reaching the jetty we saw two sets of couples in formal attire having photographs taken. We didn't have a guide with us to explain, but we know from similar experiences in Vietnam that couples who plan to get married often have photographs taken two or three weeks ahead of the wedding day, and we believe that this is what we were seeing here. The brides were dressed in brilliantly coloured outfits, whereas on their wedding day they wear plain white (see the blog post for April 21). The grooms that we saw today were wearing the same kit as on their wedding day.

The river cruise was a relaxing 45 minutes, although with rainwater pouring down the windows there was no opportunity to take photos. At the end of the cruise we disembarked at a place called Asakusa and we managed to establish that this weird building on the opposite bank of the river is the Asahi Brewery...

We crossed the road adjacent to the jetty and spotted an interesting-looking alleyway. Unable to resist, we wandered down it and soon found ourselves faccing the Kaminarimon Gate (Thunder Gate) which leads to an interesting street of shop houses, at the far end of which is the shrine of Senso-Ji.

One end of the double row of shop houses beyond the Thunder Gate.

We enjoyed wandering around in Asakusa - quite a few of the narrow streets are covered, which was a great help! After a rest back at the hotel, we returned to Asakusa in the evening and enjoyed supper in a traditional Japanese restaurant. It was in a wooden building, and we were the only non-Japanese people in there. The locals were mostly squatting down on tatami mats, but we were shown to a small table. Good choice!

Tomorrow morning we are on the 10am bullet train to Kyoto, armed with advice from Kelvyn, and so begins our last four days in Asia before heading to the States.

Jenny's bit: A dull and rainy old day in Tokyo and I have a cold.  The bad news is that its rude to blow your nose in public.  The good news is that its ok to sniff. Jx

April 22 2012, second full day in Tokyo

We had a relatively quiet day today, starting with a two-stop metro ride up to Ueno and a stroll through the park. Sadly, even though we started this trip two weeks earlier than originally planned in order to try to catch the blossom in Japan, we seem to have just missed it. However, we found some examples of it hanging on for us in Ueno Park.

On the north-west side of Ueno Park is an area called Yanaka, where you can still catch a glimpse of what Tokyo used to look like before the 1923 earthquake and (later) American bombers almost flattened the place. The problem for Tokyo was that a very large proportion of the houses here were wooden, so once the bombs fell, fires spread quickly and ruined what the bombs had missed. However, Yanaka was largely spared, and you can still find examples of wooden houses here.

Examples of original wooden houses in Yanaka.

On the north-western edge of Yanaka is a cemetery, and we noticed that many of the graves had stainless steel racks built into them where people place wooden planks about six feet long and three or four inches wide, carrying Japanese script. Not quite sure why, but presumably they are messages directed either at the departed person or the Gods.



Examples of the wooden planks in Yanaka Cemetery.

Near the cemetery we found a charming little coffee shop, and I mean little. I had to crouch to get in and we were invited to sit on tiny chairs around a low table. The coffee was presented beautifully, however!

We then took another metro ride, this time to the downtown shopping district of Ginza, where the major department stores are located. You would be tempted to compare this area with Knightsbridge, until you see the prices, then you would realise that Knightsbridge is nothing but a cheap street market compared to this! I spotted a shirt in the Wako store (a sort of up-market Harrods) and quite liked it. It was linen, white with pale grey stripes, quite nice....£232! You could buy three Ralph Lauren shirts for that and have enough money left over for a modest supper for two! Needless to say, we made our excuses and left!

In the evening we had intended to go back to the observatory where Joe had taken us yesterday. He said that to see Tokyo at night from up there is quite something. The trouble was that by the time we were ready to go out, it had started raining and the mist had closed in, so we abandoned the idea and had a very pleasant supper (a mixture of Japanese and Korean cuisine) in a restaurant near the hotel.

Jenny's bit: I noticed that when we walked into the Wako store nobody approached us, I have heard that locals dress up to go there so, obviously, we didn't pass muster! Jx

April 21 2012, first full day in Tokyo

Today was really good. We walked around in our local area this morning and accidentally found a very busy and interesting street market, which we later discovered was highly recommended by our guidebook! We returned to our hotel at noon to meet up with Joe, who is the son of one of Jenny's cousins and teaches English at university here. He is lovely and taught us quite a lot of useful stuff in a short space of time. We had a sushi lunch first (one of those conveyor belt jobs) and then took the train out to see a Shinto shrine set in a park. It must have been our lucky day, because there were no fewer than three weddings taking place while we were there. They really are a sight to see - formal, but colourful and cheerful at the same time. Here is a selection of photos...

I almost missed this first one, but the bride and groom just turned towards me as they passed.

As you can see, the bride, groom and principal attendants always wear exactly the same formal attire.

Some of the guests.

Check out the shoes on the priest!

Some of the oldies are still managing to walk!

After the parade, the formal portraits.

These chaps are novice priests about to be ordained (if that's the right word!)

 After leaving the shrine, Joe took us to a government tower block downtown, which has an observation deck. Unbelievably, it's free! Also, because the air is so clean here, you can actually see something. Here's an example.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Joe. For all you family members back home, can anybody see the family member resemblance that I saw?

Jen and I cheated and had supper in an American Bar & Grill in the evening, but we'll do better tomorrow!

Jenny's bit: Three weddings and an ordination! And lovely Joe as well, a really good day in Tokyo. Jx

April 20, Goodbye China, Hello Japan

I have to admit a slight sense of relief at having left China. It was certainly an interesting place, and we are both glad that we saw it, but there were many drawbacks. The air pollution, which I've mentioned a few times, was increasingly difficult to cope with and by the end my chest felt a little sore. What a difference here in the middle of Tokyo, where the air feels cool, fresh and clear! Secondly, we found prices in China to be verging on the ridiculous. Even in a scuzzy little cafe down by Hou Hai Lake in Beijing, where we walked around on our last day, they were charging £5 for a bottle of local beer. Our guide in Beijing, Jack, told us that the national sport in China is Ping Pong. He was wrong. I think the national sport is ripping off tourists. At the very end, when we reached Beijing Capital Airport, I went to the Travelex desk because I had about £45 left in yuan. The lady behind the counter announced that there would be a commission of 55 yuan. That's about £5.50 - more than 12% - and I don 't even want to think about what the exchange rate was! She wouldn't even give me a receipt showing the calulations. I don't know why she didn't just point a gun at me and take the bloody lot.

Thirdly, the standard of service that we experienced, even in the top hotels where we were staying, was uniformly poor. As an example, on the last morning in the breakfast room at the Peninsula in Beijing I only wanted two or three fruit danish with my coffee. There was a selection of these pastries on the buffet, each variety in a separate tray and the trays laid out in a line. I collected my plate at the beginning of the line and took a danish from the first tray. A young lady on the staff was standing in front of the second tray, where she was busying herself by using a fork to put the pastries in straight lines in the tray. She knew I was standing in line with my plate, but persisted in what she was doing, rather than standing back to let me at the pastries. When she had finished straightening the pastries in that tray, she calmy moved on to the next one. I had no choice but to say "Excuse me", at which she muttered something in Chinese and simply carried on with what she was doing! I had to go round her to trays further down the line, and then come back to the one she was blocking later on! I did consider complaining to the restaurant manager, but I thought it would be difficult to make myself understood, and in any case where dreadful service is concerned this is only one example of many. I didn't fancy my chances of changing Chinese service culture single-handed!

Jenny has already mentioned the spitting. It really is disgusting and very widespread. I challenge anyone to walk down any street in Beijing without having to listen to a constant chorus of hawking up and gobbing. You really do have to be careful where you step. It's a wonder that the entire Chinese population hasn't been wiped out by TB!

My final gripe, unsurprisingly, is about the Chinese authorities and the internet. I realised on the first evening in Xi'an that blogging was not allowed, and soon discovered that access to the web is very limited. Even on the BBC website, which I could usually get, there were some stories which could not be accessed. If you clicked on a headline about the Bo Xilai scandal, for example, all you got was "Unable to display the requested page". As an adult, I deeply resent being told what I can or cannot read, and I did suggest to one Chinese person that perhaps another revolution was called for. The reply was that this might be popular, but was considered impossible because the government had full control of the military! Of course, I was aware before travelling to China that there were restrictions on the internet, but as a Chinese person who shall remain anonymous explained to me, you can use proxy software to overcome the blogging restrictions if you know what you're doing, and I could just as easily have e-mailed my daily blog to someone in the UK who had the password for my website, and they could have posted the comments from there. Preposterous!

But what a contrast here in Japan! It's like being back in Vietnam in the sense that whoever serves you does so with a broad smile and good grace, and in Japan you have the added benefit of a bow! We didn't get to our hotel until after 10pm, so haven't had much time to explore yet. As expected, the hotel is stylish, but the rooms are really very small, so we are literally living out of our suitcases (no wardrobe). We are located in the Remm Hotel next to Akihabara station, and that means that we are in the heart of "Electric Town" where the streets are ablaze with neon and almost every shop sells electronic stuff of every description, plus DVDs and games. I think I'll go and look around.....

Jenny's bit: Well, I loved China, probably going to live there (only joking). Jx

April 19, last full day in Beijing

A free day for our last full day in Beijing, so we decided to try out the metro system. Actually, we got on very well with it once we got going, and made our way up to the Olympic area to see the “Bird’s Nest” stadium which was the centrepiece of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It’s now called the national stadium, although I seem to remember reading before we left the UK that it’s a bit of a white elephant now. If Seb Coe and his henchmen don’t sort out what’s going to happen to the stadium in Stratford pretty soon, that’s going to go the same way, I should think.

Anyway, it’s a fascinating building and we bought tickets for the “VIP Tour”. We had about 45 minutes to wait before the next tour started, so we wandered into the stadium to have a look around. I noticed that you could hire segways and ride round the running track on them, so I couldn’t resist (Jen could). £15 for 20 minutes, and as I had never previously ridden a segway I thought it was good value. It was really good fun and my session finished about ten minutes before our tour was due to start, so we followed the signs to “Tour Assembly Area”. When we got there, there was no-one around, and we never did get our tour. This, I’m afraid, is typical of the really poor standards of service that we have experienced throughout China. When you have a native guide with you, it’s not too bad, but when you are on your own and don’t speak the language, it seems that nobody gives a toss.

Surprised that I didn't attract a bigger crowd!

We made our way back to the subway station and, after three changes of line, we reached the area of Huo Hai lake, to the north-west of the Forbidden City, which is famous for its hutongs (a maze of alleyways where ordinary people live and work). On the shores of the lake itself there are bars, restaurants and endless men offering rickshaw rides, and we spent three or four hours in the area. We even found a proper Chinese Starbucks (see picture)!

Before leaving the hutong area we visited the Mansion of Prince Dong. It’s a vast house and garden complex which is no doubt historically interesting and certainly very attractive, but we had no guide and the signage is all in Chinese, so at the end of the visit, apart from what we’d read in the guide book, we were none the wiser!

A rickshaw taking tourists through the hutongs near Hou Hai Lake.

Eventually, feeling lazy and tired, we returned to our hotel (using the subway again) and enjoyed a couple of drinks before supper and an early night. Walking around in the fresh air all day tires you out!

Jenny’s bit: Chinese men spit.  The pre-spitting routine is very loud.  There are so many Chinese men, and so much spit. Jx