Toyko - Getting There & the Pizza Buffet

We got up, packed and checked out.We were getting a Shinkansen train to Tokyo. I had gotten this type of train from Tokyo to Himeji and to and from Hiroshima.

They are amazing. Incredibly fast and a point on Japanese rail in general, 98% of  trains are punctual to the minute. The ones that leave their stops late are mostly due to suicides, people jumping on the tracks. This is amazing considering how big the rail service is in Japan.

On the train on the way to Tokyo, we passed by Mount Fuji, Japan's biggest mountain. It was very impressive, especially when I'm used to the hills we call mountains in Ireland. It was a long train ride and Tokyo being so big, when we were in the city, it was still a while to go before we reached our stop. We passed through Yokohama too and the stadium used for the 2002 World Cup final.

Our host in Tokyo was a friend of Philip's; Kozue. My first impression of Tokyo was at Shinjuku station, the world's busiest passenger station in the world, was the fact it was so crowded. It was nearly over whelming how busy it was. We made our way by subway and local trains to Kozue's area. On one of the Subways we saw 2 people dressed up as Power Rangers with a sign about something, I thought this was slightly weird and the guys informed me that in Tokyo, nothing is too weird. We met her outside the station and walked to her apartment.

After dropping the bags off, we decided that even though it was late enough and we were wrecked, we would go back into the city for dinner. We got to Shibuya station and right outisde is the famous crossroads. We went up a few floors in a public building to get a great view of the crossing and the mass of people that cross it at once. It was amazing yet I was told it's not very busy due to New Years coming up. Of course we crossed it ourselves.

We were going to eat in an all you can eat pizza place. It was 15,000yen for all you can eat and 5,000yen for all you can drink. This was an absolute steal and I, more than anyone else, got my money's worth. I couldn't stop eating. After a while, they started producing pizzas with strange and unusual toppings. Grapes and melon which I suppose isn't too weird since I like pineapple on pizza but the weirdest was strawberries, Oreos and marshmallows. I wussed out on this one and didn't try it, a slight regret now. After a visit to a bar where we played a few fun drinking games we went back and got the good night sleep we all needed.

Using a photo on Eric's iPhone of Philip's mustache.