Emma in London & now in Melbourne: Tokyo time

I was first captivated by Japan in 1994 when I had the privilege of going on a school homestay for 3 weeks when I was 16. I went for a second time in February 2006 for a week to stay with my school friend Kayoko on my way to London. And now I've returned from another incredible week in Tokyo care of the best perk ever: a conference in Tokyo. I'm not sure how, but I'd forgotten how amazing the city is.

I travelled with the Managing Director of TMW, Chris, to Tokyo. Business class - yay! The work part of the trip was for the first three days. On day 1 we had a tempura lunch in the hotel after arriving and quickly needed an afternoon nap. That evening we didn't waste any more time and hit Shinjuku for skewer after skewer of yakitori from an alley of little stalls tucked away behind the station, and then went upmarket to the New York bar at the Park Hyatt (of Lost in Translation fame) for a cocktail.

Day 2 and 3 flew by despite our jet lag but fuelled by caffeine. The client conference was over and done with by 6pm and with no organised entertainment we were left to our own devices. This time we hunted out a restaurant in action-packed Shibuya. It was from the Kyushu region and we ate noodles, gyoza, sea snails, lotus root with mustard and crab sticks. The gyoza, beer and sake went down well but I think I can skip Kyushu-style food in future!

Mmm, gyoza

For our last day of 'work', we started with a visit to the peaceful inner-city Meiji Jingu temple in Harajuku. There are many contrasts throughout Tokyo and this area is no different - the temple on one side of the station, and on the other, the craziness of the Harajuku streets, which after a 15 minute stroll turn into the lovely boulevards of Omotesando. We stopped here for lunch at Cafe Bulgari for an excellent bowl of pasta! Re-energised, we moved on to Ginza to explore the 8 floors of the Sony showroom which is filled with their latest gadgets and technology. Afterwards we checked out a few department stores which are remarkably like Selfridges. That evening was a real treat. My friend Dunja's father took Chris and I out for excellent sushi and a few beers and sake at a great place in Ginza. A brilliant end to the working week.

Sake barrel offering from the brewers

Meiji Jingu temple

A formal wedding at the temple

Delish bowl of pasta at Cafe Bulgari

Afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental hotel was the first stop for Kayo and I on Saturday. We spent hours drinking tea, catching up on years of gossip and admiring the most amazing view from a bathroom I've ever seen. Afterwards we wandered down to Ginza for a bit of shopping and then headed to Kamakura where Kayo and her fiancé, Atsushi live.

My kind of reunion!

The best view from a bathroom ever. Tokyo Sky Tree from the Mandarin Oriental.

Ginza by day. Streets closed for pedestrian shopping.

Sunday saw us spend some quality time together on a road trip to Hakone. It's supposed to be an hour out of town but as it was a long weekend, everyone else decided to go too and it took us 5 hours! It was well worth the journey though - on arrival I ate a black, sulphur-boiled egg which has added seven years to my life. We checked out Ashino lake stopping for green tea ice cream, and saw Mt Fuji from the car window which was pretty special. We sped along to the most popular restaurant in town to join the queue for the very tasty house specialty - tofu katsudon.

That's sulphur coming from the mountains (and a cloud in the sky)

Adding 7 years to my life

Helping me on my mission to eat as much amazing Japanese food as possible, Kayo and Atsushi took me to the Tsujiki fish market for lunch on Monday. It doesn't get much fresher than that. I had all my favourites again - tuna, salmon, eel, crab, and tried flounder, and had more tempura. Delish!

Then it was up to Asakusa shrine, one of the oldest in Tokyo. I tried my luck with the omikiji (fortunes) and managed to choose the best one possible - number 13 - this Spring a lot of good things are coming my way apparently! We ate more green tea ice cream here and I tried takoyaki (octopus in dough balls - which I probably don't need to try again).

As if this wasn't already the best Monday I'd had in a very long time, we then stumbled across the infamous 'bunny cafe'. For surely one of the most unique and quirky experiences of my life to date, we paid £30 to spend 30 minutes playing with a bunny rabbit. This was the basic option - we decided not to upgrade to feed the bunny ice cream, or dress it up. It was cute and creepy all at once.

The day did not end there. Afterwards we headed to Yokohama - a cross between canary wharf and southbank - to the biggest china town I've ever seen. Hidden away here is Kayo's favourite yakisoba restaurant. Fast running out of meals left on my visit, we ordered yakisoba, gyoza and karaage. All sooo good, but the three of us could not finish it all.

Atsushi having bbq pork skewers after lunch

Asakusa temple

The bunny cafe

Kayo and Atsushi and the Tokyo Sky Tree

Feasting

My last full day in Tokyo was just as jam packed as all the rest. Kayo and I head to the beach. Bills - the famous Bill Granger Sydney cafe known for it's excellent breakfasts - to my delight has an outpost in Shichirigahama. We sat on the balcony in the sun overlooking the Pacific ocean and I felt so homesick for Australia! Especially when my flat white and corn fritters turned up. It was excellent. We walked off breakfast wandering all the way up the Kaigan coastline to Kamakura. I relished being outside on a hot, sunny day knowing I was going back to the UK the next day.

We had a fantastic afternoon enjoying Kamakura. We stopped for a green tea iced latte, visited the big buddha, Diabutsu, strolled around all the shopping streets including Komachi Dori (there are some very cool independent stores in Kamakura), visited a beautiful shrine called Tsurugaoka, tried more Japanese delights - honey ice cream and Yuzu ginger ale, finishing the day with my last meal of sushi at another local favourite of Kayo's.

It all came to an end so quickly and before I knew it I was filling my suitcase with packets of biscuits and presents and bound for London. I had the most amazing week exploring the city and catching up with Kayoko and meeting Atsushi who showed me the best time. I will go back soon. I need another fix of green tea ice cream and fatty tuna sushi.