Well, it's about 3pm in the afternoon and although it's only about 24 hours since we left Canberra, it feels like it's been three days! The plane flight to Tokyo was fairly uneventful except for having to dodge the cyclone that was menacingly close when we flew over Papua New Guinea. Grant apparently slept like a log all night though how he could sleep through the turbulence during the night, while I was praying we wouldn't have to use the life jackets we were told were somewhere beneath our seats, I have no idea!
Upon arrival at Narita, we were quickly through immigration and then ushered through customs even faster. I was wondering how I'd fare with a suitcase full of homemade gluten free muesli bars and anzac biscuits, but I guess being part of a huge group has it's advantages.
The weather in Tokyo was warm and very humid and once we arrived in Akihabara, everyone was excited but tired. We were quite a sight, all dressed in our Coerver black and white tracksuits and I heard many comments from people guessing as to who we all were and heard a couple of kids ask their Mums. The same thing happened at the airport in Sydney when we were all wandering around getting last minute shopping done. 
The Mecca for techno geeks in Akihabara is Yodobashi Camera, a multistory department store dedicated to electronics and toys still wasn't open by the time we arrived (9.15am) so Grant and I went for a walk around the station looking for a particular store and of course it had to be around the last corner we walked. By the time we walked back to Yodobashi Camera, we were really starting to flag. I bought the necessary adaptors to recharge the numerous electronic devices that seem to multiply each time we travel. I also had orders from Spike to go check out a couple of DSLR cameras, so did the dutiful wife thing and picked them up, pushed the button and then put them down again.
A Denny's restaurant was our saviour and we sat down out of the noise and hustle and bustle of Akihabara and had a very quiet and relaxed lunch before we headed back to the bus. While walking back to the bus, we could see a crowd of black and white tracksuits all huddled together on the side of the footpath and as we got closer we could see them having an impromptu heading/juggling competition. The bemused looks on the faces of the Japanese business men and women walking by was 'priceless'.
A few people fell asleep on the bus on the way to the hotels and the rest of us were quietly chatting and getting to know each other. After heading to our rooms and showering we had little time before we had to rush down to meet before walking to an Italian restaurant. We had dinner and went quickly back to the hotels as the boys had to have lights out by 9.30pm.
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