There are characters everywhere, ever sign has one every business has one for their logo, ive even seen a funeral parlour use a smiley coffin with arms and legs. here are a few we have been quick enough to take a shot of

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Today we along with 79100 other people went to the Tokyo Motor Show, I have never seen so many people walking around a place, but that was nothing compared to yesterday when 101,000 people attended. Some of the stands were so busy it was hard to tell if people were flocking to them for the amazing cars or the beautiful girls who just lit up when there was a camera pointing at them.

The complex was enormous, there were two huge halls, the weird thing they were connected by a 300 metre bridge, so much walking, we clocked up 25.2 km for the day and feet are very sore.

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Yokohama has a huge China Town that is meant to be the world’s biggest, it goes for blocks much bigger than Geelong CBD and a lot more alive. It is so vibrant, restaurants, bars, gift shops and an over affection to pandas, they are everywhere.

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We went for a train ride down to the port area and took a look at the Hika Wamara a 1930’s cruise and cargo ship that once sailed between Yokohama and Seattle. Not quiet the comfort level we are used to- and really wouldn’t like sailing too far on it at all, no buffet, no whirl pools and no nightclub.

Cosmos World is a bit like luna park only new. It boasts what was the worlds tallest ferris wheel before the London Eye.

The highlight was all the funny stuffed toys in the claw and skill machines- so many weird and wonderful characters

We visited the Cup Noodles Museum, yes a museum dedicated to the 2 minute cup noodles. We were expecting a bit of a small crappy half arsed room with a few noodle in it, but were we in for a surprise. The centre was massive, and I mean massive, five floors and a monstrous footprint all dedicated to noodles and Momofucu Ando, he was mortified like a god, the man of the people who brought long lasting noodles to Japan.
The exhibition started with a display tracing the first cup noodles back in 1958 to the present day, then there was a 15 minute film where we celebrated the ‘god of cup noodles’ -what a great man he was. Then there were some interesting displays showing how they are made, and everything about them. The next floor had a huge kitchen area and people could even make their own cup noodles. Colour in the cup, fry up the noodles, add the ingredients, shrink wrap the container and take them home to eat. There was a huge kitchen where you could make the noodle itself and best of all an international noodle court where you could taste cup noodles from all around the world. There was a kids noodle play area and of course a great giftshop. What a great day!

We were up bright and sparky very unusual after the flight and a bit of mischief last night. But best of all the wet and grey skies have gone and there are beautiful blue skies and a nice temperature of around 20. We start the day with a walk around the huge new developments in front of the hotel. There is a maritime museum and huge shopping malls plus a exhibition centre and a few hotels.

What a treat, for dinner if memory serves me correct we visit Iron Chef Chinese- Chen Kininchi’s restaurant and tried some of his amazing Szechuan cooking.  We had some sort of beef and tofu stew, it was so spicy and hot but amazing.  Will burn for days but lwe loved every minute of it

The hotel is very luxurious, couch, bar and a toilet that you are too scared to sit on, with more buttons than something with a lots of buttons.  The view is spectacular looking out over Yokohama ‘s modern waterfront.  Hopefully we will get some blue sky later in the week and it will look even better.

The hotel we are staying in is part of a huge shopping complex, so we check out the supermarket for interesting things. Lots of weird and wonderful things – The easiest way to understand the prices is think they are cents, plus a little.  You get about 800 for $10. Most things are not expensive unless you want a cantelope rock mellon- $30

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The first week we are doing things on the southern side of Tokyo so we are basing our selves in Yokohama, around half an hour out of the guts of Tokyo.  We catch the train from Narita airport, amazing trains work like clock work and they are so clean and comfortable.

The plane was delayed leaving Tullamarine, it got in late from Bali and we needed to spend another two hours in the airport. It finally took off around 2:20 am. The jet is one of the new 787 Dreamliners, pretty flash inside although the business class is nothing on the premium airlines Business & First class we have been enjoying over the past few trips.  But who’s complaining, we could be out the back squashed in like sardines.

The flight takes 9 hours 30 and we arrive in Narita around 9:30 AM to a wet and cool Tokyo.