So, future plans are: get a job, get accomodation. I need somewhere to leave soon, otherwise I’ll literally be out on the streets. Or a capsule hotel.

That gaijin house I was looking for apparently has phased from existence. I couldn’t find any sign of it whatsoever. Alas. So, the train back to Tokyo: into Ueno station, where I planned to walk down to Akihabara, Nerd District.

And, blimey. Chuo-dori makes Oxford Street look like a tiny market town:

Mere photos cannot do it justice. The massive buildings. The lights. The sound (pachinko halls are the noisiest places on Earth.). I was looking up so much, I kept walking into people.

Decided I’d go camera shopping: some of the shops do duty free with your passport. Found the A570 IS for about £100: mm, okay, but not the bargain price I was expecting.

Tried to play pachinko, didn’t know where to put the money in. Left embarrassed.

Akibahara has shops for everything: PCs, cameras, TVs, games, even -gulp- hentai.

I eventually got down to Akihabara station and was about to leave for the hotel when I saw another little shop. I went in, not expecting much… but here were the rock-bottom prices. A Canon S3IS for £123. A Powershot A710 for £100. A trip back may be in order.

I had intended to go back to the hotel and maybe go to Shinjuku, but… I couldn’t find my way back. After deliberation, I got the Soba (confusingly the same as the Chuo line) line to Suidobashi, the place I went last night,  and then got lost. Really lost. Found a metro station and went to Jimbocho, then turned the wrong way and got lost again. Found my way back to the station and it was one of those moments where you realise you were barely two minutes walk from your destination, but you went the wrong way.

The hotel lobby had these two, slightly drunk Canadian (you could tell by the way they said “ey” a lot: no, really) guys and two British backpackers who I later discovered were from Birmingham and London, travelling through to Australia. ‘Twas nice to have a conversation with someone.

Anyway, tomorrow’s plans are to go interview for these jobs, and then find a gaijin house to stay in. Who knew living in Tokyo would be so much work? I’ll set Sunday aside for just sight-seeing.