Kyoto and last night in Tokyo

Ric says I write too much in my blogs so I'll try to be succinct from now on, especially since the photos that cause most excitement on Facebook are those of toilets, weird signs and other such idiotic idiosyncrasies.

I've started getting in to my reading and am half way through the twisting, scatological and yet riveting One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez on the train. I'll save War and Peace for China.

After another long journey up from Hiroshima we arrived at Kyoto's splendid 1997 station and then spent a whole day cycling around Kyoto on a pair of rickety hire bikes. It's a bit like a smaller Tokyo except with loads more temples and castles. The sun shone brightly and it was my turn to get burnt.

The main roads are wide, straight and long in Japan but all the side streets are riddled with black cables (telephone lines perhaps) which makes them look very different from London. It is also rare to see a house except out in the country but even there people seem to live in tall blocks of compact flats. All the towns and cities we've visited have broad rivers running through them which make for good views.

So we visited The Imperial Palace where the cherry blossom is still in bloom, the touristy Geisha district where the restaurants double as their work apartments(!), the magnificent Golden Pavilion, Ni-Jo Castle (with the Nightingale floorboards which squeak loudly when you walk on them - intended to warn the household of intruders), Higashihongangi Temple, The Botanical Gardens where I froze and my fingers went multi coloured (as they're prone to do) and some must dos. It's funny how there still aren't that many tourists there and how we all look at each other as if to say 'what are you doing here, tourist, I got here first'. Ric and I play at guessing their nationalities. You don't see any Benidorm types though which is a relief. Thailand will probably be quite different in that respect.

We also ate green tea ice-cream in the park before the heavens opened. It rained all night and most of today on our return to Tokyo where we went to look for the punks and dressed up teenage girls in Shinjuku but ended up spending a good hour in a stationary shop choosing funny stickers to pimp our phones with back home...or that's the plan. Everyone including the men decorates their phones with such tacky childish kitsch!

Hey check out the tube and Japan Rail map - no wonder we've be confused at times!

Ric and I are a bit bored with the food in Japan to be honest and having to supplement it with numerous visits to the Family Marts. Give me my Fujiyama miso noodles in Brixton!

I've been offended by an onslaught of abuse about my Crocs and hair. Maybe they weren't the most fashionable purchase but they're wonderfully comfortable. As for my hair, it will grow...too slowly.

Since we still can't upload our pics to Picasa, here are some of Ric's photos of the trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109552&l=1ce3d&id=519390601
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109553&l=11d0b&id=519390601
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110078&l=cce7d&id=519390601

11.30am flight to Singapore tomorrow where our South East Asia adventures begin.