Tuesday 31st October - Happy Halloween (and Happy Birthday Dad for Sunday!)

So, was in Tokyo this weekend for 'Hariween' and boy, did we have fun! It all started on the 16.48 shinky where Belinda and I got comfy with our starbucks (spiced pumpkin latte - finally!) and picked up Kat on the way down.
















99minutes later we got into Tokyo station and a few metro stops later we were walking down the street in Jimbocho looking for our hotel. Kyla was already there and the evening was spent getting dressed up and sipping on chu hais until the rest of the gang arrived - Julia, Bec, Laura and Nicole (from Gifu-ken and Aomori-ken).















Ok, well first we tied the Yukata ropes around our heads...

Once we were all ready, we headed out in search of some food and then Club Ever that had us on their VIP list! We ended up eating in a Jazz restaurant - Jazz Bird - that had the following message on their menus:

"Although nobody has heard his voice, the Jazz Bird is a fairly good singer and is swinging instead of flying"

Kat, Kyla, me, Bec, Belinda, Nicole, Laura and Julia in the Jazz Bird waiting for our food and cocktails!

We got to Club Ever after trying to explain to about 6 different taxi drivers where we wanted to go and walked into some more jazz in a tiny room. The music was different but later into the night it got better and we were dancing for hours! Nobody wanted to call it a night but we had to be up and dressed in costumes by 9.30am...

Saturday morning arrived way too quickly but once we started with make-up and hair, the costumes fell into place and we were all ready to go. Belinda and Nicole were team captains and we intended to split into two teams but somehow, once we saw the RING BINDER full of rules and instructions we pooled together and straight away decided not to take it too seriously. We had previously decided on taking two whiteboards around with us the whole day to write funny things on, and these ended up being the source of great amusement...

Ocassionally we got the odd random to hold a sign. This is my favourite - she looks like she's right out of the Kill Bill movies doesn't she??!!





Superheros!



And some random things in Tokyo...









This is a picture of tights that claim to burn 416kcals per hour. There was actually a whole stand of different kinds, all burning different amounts of calories!!!



Kat's face is a picture... (white sunglasses)



Streets of Shinjuku (above)



The largest intersection in the world (allegedly) at Shibuya (above)



Sentimental 'Engrish'

When our feet started to hurt, Kat, Kyla and I made our way back to the hotel for a ceista and a shower before going back into town for dinner and awards for the hunt at 6pm. We got a little lost finding our venue The Pink Cow but when we did we enjoyed a nice dinner of salads, fish and pasta washed down with some cocktails...









We then went on to an Irish bar in the very stylish Roppongi Hills called Paddy Foleys (who thinks of these names?!!) which still had a very high presence of Japanese, as well as Americans and of course Irish! Kat and I went on to Grace to meet up with some fellow hunters and had a good old dance to some cheesy music. The whole club was filled with people in fancy dress and made for some very interesting people watching. There were actually men in white suits with feather boas and women walking about in their underwear and big fur coats! Tokyo-ites love the shock tactics! The night ended with, believe it or not... a very yummy kebab!

Before leaving the hotel the next morning there was time for a quick group photo... (including Tommy Lee Jones on the vending machine)




Then, our final stop in Tokyo was Harajuku for a another look around the shops and a Pizza Express! Our trip back to Nagano was not quite as glamorous as our journey to Tokyo as we had decided to save a few pennies and get the bus. 3 1/2 hours later we were back in Nagano!

After feeling the nice autumn temperatures in Tokyo (low 20s), I have really started to notice the drop in temperature here in Iiyama. My school principal has decided that although it is about 10 degrees inside the school building during the day, we can wait until it gets colder before they put the heating on in the classrooms! I don't have a heater in my appartment yet but have finally got a cable for my kotatsu (heated table) so have been toasting my toes in the evening and wrapping up in blankets.

That's all for now folks, thanks for reading!