24 hours in Tokyo

It would have been far too simple to go straight home from Kuala Lumpur so instead we went via Tokyo. We flew overnight and after getting rid of our luggage were exploring the city mid-morning. Now obviously you need more that 24 hours in a city to do it any kind of justice, and that's probably even more true for Tokyo where you could happily spend a week, but a day was all we had and as a taster it was terrific. It is fair to say we managed to do quite a lot in the time available - a nice wander around Meiji Shrine, the ordered chaos of the Shibuya crossing, the dim alleys around Yurakucho, a look at the Seimon stone bridge at the Imperial Palace, a stroll around the Sensoji Shrine and the surrounding shopping streets, a quick swim at the hotel with Mt. Fuji in the distance as the sun set, then a sensational traditional Japanese meal involving a dozen miniature courses that were works of art, and finally concluding with drinks on the 52nd floor with a live jazz band and the twinkling lights of the city spread out around us.

So what follows is a mini photo-essay as we dashed rather manically around the city. At 7am the following morning we were at Haneda and on our way home. Exhausting but exhilarating, and it's a country that I will no doubt go back to. There is just something about far-east Asia, and Japan is uniquely different and incredibly interesting. Tokyo was but an introduction and we're already wondering how we can get back there.