Day 6 - Harajuku, Maronouchi, Akihabara

As an antidote to the noise, crowd and sleaze of Shibuya, I took Krusty to Meiji Jingu for a quiet stroll through the gardens and a peak at a traditional wedding ceremony before he left for Brisbane. At least being in a 'real' hotel we could leave our bags behind.

I love the Meiji shrine. It is such a calm spot, right in the middle of town. And it's also where the crazy Harajuku girls hang out, dressed as manga characters and gothic fantasies. They weren't out for us unfortunately. It was too early. There were two of them, though, one of which was actually a Westerner. Looks like Gwen Stefani has launched a cross contamination of cultures! We moved on from there to find some delicious ramen instead and I am glad I could show Krusty what I meant about the broth being so important and why HK ramen is just dishwater...

As Krusty had to take an earlier flight to Brisbane, we then had to rush to the Narita Express, only to get completely lost and confused, mainly due to the complete lack of signage. Not very tourist friendly really. We went up to a man wearing the Narita Express uniform, hurriedly asking "Narita Express wa doko desuka?" (where the hell is that g*d**mn train g*d**mmit) but he just looked at us perplexed and led us to his boss, who after checking the station map and saying "Ahhhhhh" and "Ehhhhh" for two minutes, told us that we were in fact already standing on the platform. Didn't they know where they were?!!

Once I left Krusty, unsure of whether he would make it on time, I tried to find an internet cafe to find a Capsule Hotel, one of those chicken coop style rows of pods on pods where you climb in and lie very still if you don't want to bump your head on the ceiling. I have never been completely alone in Tokyo (in fact I can't remember the last time that I was completely alone at all), and thought this was my only opportunity to experience this crazy accommodation. It was now or never.

Turns out not all Capsule Hotels allow access to women because when they do they have to have women only floors (which is probably a good thing), so I settled on Akihabara, even though just two weeks beforehand some psycho had gone on a killing spree there. Lightning doesn't strike twice right?

Unfortunately, Capsule Hotels only open at 5pm, so as I was waiting for it open, I dove down into the first cafe I could see, only to find myself surrounded by girls in maid outfits. I had actually found one of the legendary Maid Cafes! They have been spreading like wildfire in Tokyo - basically all of the waitresses are dressed like maids, and all of them act subserviently and speak in squeaky voices. I should have known by the name of the cafe (Vierge) but they didn't throw me out, despite me not being a socially awkward manboy with a PSP console.

Instead they smiled sweetly, calling me master and showing me to my table. The guys around me weren't talking to each other but all looking down at the consoles on their laps, perhaps playing in network... I took a photo of the girls, got a disapproving frown, then my phone rang and I was told not to answer. Spoiling the fantasy I suppose. I thought it best to leave them to it.

Outside I was thrown deep into the world and freaks and geeks of "Akiba". Men in slippers, men in gimp jewellery, men reading porn and manga, men in Pokemon outfits, men in maid outfits, rows of men alone eating their tonkatsu (breaded pork), men watching cartoons on their mobile, men with eyelids tired of life, men with eyes wide open expecting to see their fantasy at any moment, nervous men trying to hard, and me, in my Batgirl T-shirt trying not to stand out, trying to feel as much as possible like a nerd, eating my own tonkatsu in the company of Haruki Murakami. I sat there for a while reading his account of a myth of three brothers with three boulders who have to push them up a hill to claim their home. The higher they go, the more of the world they'll see. It's the same in Tokyo - if you want to see it all, you have to make a real effort.

As I got to the Capsule Hotel, so began the craziness, and the loneliness. I'm claustrophobic, so I quickly realised that this was probably not a very good idea. Tokyo is such a huge city, with so many connections needed for just one journey home that it's quite easy to miss the last train, so I knew that business men came here when they had been out drinking. But I still don't know exactly what type of women stay in these places... I only crossed paths with a weary smoker with bad make up and an old lady talking to herself and rummaging through plastic bags. I felt a little like I was in a female detention centre. All wearing the same 'uniform', surrounded by simple, functional, confining plastic furniture, hard buckwheat pillow... My own private detention centre though. Very quiet too, no male snoring, thank goodness.

Only thing is that I was so excited about the whole experience that I went in much too early, so after a few failed photos of myself (there was nowhere near enough space to get the right angle), I just lay there alone with my thoughts. Strangely, unlike in the prison I felt I was in, I wished I could lock the door to my capsule, which is actually closed only by a thin curtain through which I could hear everything and everyone else.

But it beat a hostel any day and it was the cheapest night's sleep I've ever had.

I woke up (sort of) refreshed and ready to face the struggle to the airport. Thankfully Krusty's journey had helped me understand what to do, and so I got back smoothly to Hong Kong, finding it extremely difficult to acclimatise to the noise, smells and rain again...