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To make for an easy getaway tomorrow we are staying in Narita for the last night, around 80 minutes from Tokyo. Narita has a wonderful old district with winding roads selling mainly rice crackers and some gifts. There is a huge temple complex set in a huge park with dozens of monuments and impressive temple buildings. 
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This shot was taken from the 17th floor of a hotel in Ginza and shows a great view of the Tokyo Tower 
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Shibuya is one of the most popular places in Tokyo and home to the crazy scramble crossing that appears in a lot of movies and tv shows. The place is incredible at night, neon, giant video walls and a blaze of colour from every direction. We grab a feed and then find a bar that holds 4 people (and very tightly) and enjoy a few beers to finish of a long day. 
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Harajuku is a popular place to buy and show off your bizzare fashion sense. Sunday is the best day for people watching but it was too wet this week so we skipped it. It didn’t matter as there were still a few interesting people to see today, The best was the guy in the weird rabbit costume just strolling along the street wanting to be noticed. The strip is filled with fashion stores and crepe cafes making it the perfect place for the young to enjoy and be seen. 
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The day started with a walk around Shinjunku one of the major centres in Tokyo. Just coming out of the massive station you see more people than you would see in a month in Australia. There are some pretty impressive skyscrapers and the multiple stations hold huge department stores. Note the roadworks Hello Kitty barriers, this is common, we have seen cats, bears and monkeys. 
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We popped our head out of Akasuka station and visited the temple. Thousands enjoying the spectacle and the many gift stalls in the temple grounds. 
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The Tokyo Skytree is a new addition to the Tokyo skyline and is currently the second tallest building in the world after the Burj in Dubai (that is about 200 metres taller). The structure is pretty spectacular standing at 624 metres. Melbourne’s tallest building is the Eureka and it is 297 metres, so its over twice as tall. The view was spectacular, but it was a real struggle getting there and we were a bit over it when we finally reached the lookout. The queue was ridiculous, it sprawled for miles, by the time we finally made it to the top we were tired, thirsty and sick of crowds. The worst was the lift to come down was also a huge wait but when we finally reached the bottom, straight to the Beer Museum to sample some of their collection. 
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Looking through the tourist booklet we came across a town Yanaka where cats are king. Most of the shops were cat themed, there were statues and best of all cats roaming the streets. We were lucky enough to see two of the mangy felines. 
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Tokyo isn’t a stunning city like Paris, New York or Melbourne during the day its a weird mix chaos but when the lights come on it is stunning. Lanterns, trains crossing overhead, little bars and diners squashed in everywhere and thousands of people darting in all directions. There is very little traffic, the majority of the cars on the road are taxis or small delivery vans. 
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We visited a the gyoza stadium a floor in a shopping complex that sold several types of gyoza or Japanese dumplings, they made a great lunch. But the whole area was cat themed, we were greeted by a cat and there were cat everything- we were waiting for the crazy cat woman. 
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The pet department was great, you could spend $10 and go into a room and play with 20 cats or buy shrimps, hampsters or a hedgehog. The hedgehog was pretty cute but a bit pricey at $250 and probably a bit prickly. 
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We headed back towards our hotel and took one of the other exits to find a huge nightlight area spanning from the station- perfect place for a few refreshing ales and a feed- we really have problems with the vending machine curry diners- the curry is just so tasty and cheap at around $5-$6 
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