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Time to go home but not before trying out the automatic beer pourer in the lounge.  The plane was delayed so there was the chance to try it several times and sample some of their tasty treats.

There must have been a problem with the plane but they seemed to find an old 747 which looked like it was pulled from the grave yard.  We were squashed on a bus, no separation of business and economy (Now I’m sounding like a snob) just free for all and driven way out into the darkness of the tarmac to board the old girl. The flight service was pretty ordinary (and that’s talking it up, nothing like the way over which was fantastic and very professional) The service was not up to the standard you would expect in Qantas business class or economy for that matter.  The staff were pretty grumpy, no team work and a bit  barking at each other.  They only bothered to give out the travel pack and P.J’s to the first two rows then had a bit of a bitch between each other and that was it. The menu was some photocopied email I couldn’t read it as it was too small a font and pretty grey, I asked the hosty to read out a few things, she said “Shit  (yes shit) I can’t read it either”  and the food choices were not Qantas menu, very Japanese and it was basically chucked in front of you before the plane leveled out.  So we very nicely ask for a few beers from Mrs Grumpy Pants and receive them with grunt before they quickly turn the lights out and closed up shop for the night.  Think we have been told it’s time to have some kip.  Hate to see how the people out the back are doing…

Its been a great 3 weeks and we have seen so much in Shangahi and Japan. We finish of the trip with a walk through Ginza on the way back to the hotel to collect our bags, with a quick stop at the pub to spend our left over coins on a few pints.

The Apple watch says 414 km walked and I cant even begin to imagine how many flights of stairs- time for a rest.

No better way to enjoy our last night in Tokyo than in an old restaurant sitting on beer bottle boxes chomping down things on sticks washed down with ice cold beer. These places are starting to become rare, they are pulling a lot of the character out of the city by replacing them with new restaurants a lot of it is going on in readiness for the Olympics. It’s a real shame as they add so much character and vibrancy to the city, the new places with their new windows and furniture just don’t cut it.

After the disappointment of only seeing the fat lazy pandas rear end we go for a stroll around Ueno including a cool temple we found in the park and the Ameyakokocho market

We thought a great way to end our China and Japan adventure was see a real live panda, so off to the zoo. After standing in the queue we are confronted by his by his black bum and man bits, nothing else can be seen from the lazy lump asleep on top of a platform, not worth taking a photo, so we come back an hour or so later and the fat black and white sloth has moved a bit at least we are not looking at his fat arse, but the view isn’t much better… But we got to see some other cool animals including a beautiful ice bear, brown bear and few gopher looking critters.

Today we take a train trip to the ‘historic’ tourist town of Kawagoe that is about 40 minutes from Tokyo. The streets are lined with historic style shops and houses. We found a great burger joint for lunch and had what was one of the best burgers we have ever had and washed it down with some of the local craft beers.

Harajuku is a shopping area tailored towards teenage girls and is full of some cute and whaky clothing and assesories.

You are not able to visit the castle as it is home to the emperor but you can walk around its beautiful outside grounds.

Shibya’s scramble crossing is madness with thousands crossing the huge intersection at once, while blaring video walls flash crazy ads.

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A cruise up the river to Asakusa is a novel way to see Tokyo. You get a great view of the fish market and plenty of other interesting sights.

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Having a meal with a cute animal is very popular for a small fee you can dine with cats, hedgehogs, rabbits, snakes and even owls. We even saw a dog cafe where you bring your own pooch all dressed up in a baby pram.

The Japanese seem to have a solution for everything. Ever sat in a cafe all alone dining all lonely with no one to talk too..well it does’t need to be that way. This cafe brings a big hippopotamus soft toy like creature around to people dining single so they have a little bit of company. he might not offer the best conversation but much better than sitting all alone.