Arriving in Tokyo, Japan

I left Heathrow on 1st October 2010, headed for Tokyo! The 11 hour flight wasn`t great... I hate cattle class!! But when I got to Japan, it was only 9am, but it was already hot outside. I hadn`t quite appreciated this fact before now.

First thing`s first: I`d heard stories about them, but needed to experience them for myself. I am, of course, talking about the JAPANESE TOILET!

 

You can choose to:

• sit on a heated seat (which I wouldn`t recommend - it feels like someone`s just been sat on it for a loooong time, and I`m not too sure how safe it is to have electrics that close to water!)
• If you think that you might make some `noises`, you can choose to play the noise of a flush to disguise them.
• When you`re done, you can choose to have a bidet spray rinse or a bottom spray rinse, with water heated to your choosing. Too hot though, and you could find yourself jumping up, filling the room with water as you do so!

The irony of it all? The cubical next to this fancy toilet was a simple squat toilet.

I got made my way through customs, pleading `nothing to declare` and all that, and got the many trains to the hostel. This took some time, as I was pretty overwhelmed by it all (not to mention the fact that I didn`t have any train maps...). It was only later that I realised that I`d unknowingly brought a punnet of cherry tomatoes and a pack of pitted dates with me into Japan - whoops!!! I wonder what would have happened to me if they`d have found them, with me pleading nothing to declare. I think I was very lucky there - I could have faced a big fine!

I finally got to the hostel, took a shower and headed out for a wander around the area of Tokyo which was to be my home for the next few nights.