Caught the Sun?

It supposed to be the start of the rainy season here -- hot moist winds from the south meeting cool air (or something like that)! Well apart from the first couple of days I've been really lucky and it hasn't rained at all.

Today was a glorious day in Tokyo. Not too warm but sunny and lots of blue sky. In fact I think that because it wasn't too warm it was a bit deceiving, as the sun should be pretty strong (it is the end of May after all). I expect tomorrow I will definitely show signs of having 'caught the sun'!

I spent most of the afternoon in Odaiba, a part of Tokyo I've not been to before. It's an island in Tokyo Bay and there were some interesting buildings (architecturally), a couple of big shopping malls, a glorified Toyota showroom and a beach! I'm sure there's probably more to it than that, but that was my experience!

Beer & Football

I'd decided to have an early night so rather than venturing out I bought a few beers from the convenience store by the entrance to my hotel. I was watching a baseball game on the tv (Saitama Lions v. Yomiuri Giants) when I realised that the England v. Japan game might be one. One of the channels always seemed to have football on so I figured, correctly, that this would probably have the game on.

The Japanese commentators are quite amusing - their favourite player judging by how excited they sound when he has the ball is definitely Wayne Rooney.

There are lots of Japanese adverts around the pitch which probably reflects that the tv audience in Japan will be bigger than in the UK -- kick off was at 9.15pm Japan time.

Today's Food

The breakfast at my hotel in Tokyo is nothing special -- it's a buffet with a mixture of Japanese and Western items. I mostly had the Japanese items, but I did have a couple of slices of toast instead of rice!

For lunch I went to Mai-Sen a Tonkatsu (deep fried breaded pork loin) place which I went to last year. This is the first time that I order something and when it turned up it wasn't quite what I expected! I wanted just a regular piece of pork with rice, shredded cabbage and miso soup. What I got was a piece of pork on top of a big bowl of rice with a load of unwanted fried up egg. I did get soup but it wasn't regular miso soup. Don't get me wrong it was still delicious and there was barely a grain of rice left when I'd finished.

For dinner I got a boxed meal from the Takashimaya food hall. I'd visited the place earlier in the day and had a few samples from some of the places. When I went back to get my dinner there was lot of discounting going on as the various places were looking to get rid of that days food. Unfortunately what I wanted stayed at its regular price.

I'm not actually sure how you'd described what I got. There were a lot of vegetables and it tasted really good!

Dumb Yank

I was on the tram in Hiroshima the other day, on my way to Hiroshima Station. This American gets on and says "who you doing?" to me. I sort of grunted in reply.

The guy stood at the front of the tram by the exit.

On Hiroshima trams it really is quite simple -- it's a flat rate fare of 150 Yen for travel in the city, and you pay with exact change when you get off the tram (there are change machines on the tram). There are instructions in English explaining this. Well unfortunately the American chap was a bit clueless.

We went one stop and then he decides that he wants to get off. He asks the driver in English how much it is -- he was lucky the driver understood him. He was also lucky that driver had a good enough grasp of English to explain how the whole tram payment thing worked. Our man from the US then produced a 1,000 Yen note and gave it to the driver. This just increased our delay as the driver needed to sort out change.

After the the American eventually got off and we were back underway I felt a bit paranoid as if people were looking at me and expecting that I would be equally as clueless!

Shinjuku Station

To get to my hotel invariably I need to pass through Shinjuku Station (the second busiest in the world). It's pretty big with I don't know how many platforms, but it just seems to be perpetually busy (and so far on this trip I've only seen it on a weekend).

The picture is taken at about 6.30pm on a Sunday evening.

Red Light District

My hotel in Tokyo is slap bang in the middle of the red-light district. Lots of bars, restaurants and also strip joints and massage parlours. It was pretty lively last night when I was walking about -- I got propositioned a few times!

Bizarrely it's not really that seedy. The biggest irritant are the dodgy Africans (from who knows where) trying to talk to you and get you to go to certain bars/sell you drugs/sell you women.

Trainspotting

I was truly sad this morning. Today is the last day that my Japan Rail pass is valid, so therefore the last day of unlimited travel on JR trains and also the last day that I get access to the Shinkansen platforms.

I thought I'd go to Tokyo station to get a few pictures of the trains arriving and departing. I haven't really been able to do this before as I've normally been weighed down with luggage or in a bit of 'travel panic' making sure that I'm on the the right platform at the right time.

I don't think this will be the start of a long term hobby!

Ramen Street

I had ramen noodles for dinner tonight. I went to 'Ramen Street' which is in the bowels of Tokyo station (it took me a while to find it). Basically there are 5 or 6 renowned ramen restaurants which have opened a branches on the so called 'Ramen Street'.

The restaurants are so popular that it's not uncommon to wait up to an hour to get seated -- and this is basically what amounts to fast food!

When I turned up at 8pm there were queues outside all of the restaurants. I picked the shortest one and joined it.

I didn't have to wait long before I was inside, seated and slurping away at a bowl of noodles and eating some gyoza!

Back in Tokyo

I'm now in Tokyo again.

The Shinkansen did it's job and 5 hours after leaving Hiroshima I arrived at Tokyo station (with a change of trains in Osaka). After my uncomfortable/crowded experience on the train to Hiroshima I got a reserved seat this time. This was easy enough to do and involved me using a few new Japanese words. I actually had a spare seat next to me all the way to Tokyo which was a real bonus.

I bought an ebiken (lunch box meal) before leaving Hiroshima and gobbled that down on the first part of my journey.

After arriving at Tokyo station I had to get to Shinjuku where my hotel is. Both Tokyo and Shinjuku were crazily busy -- it really made Kyoto and Hiroshima seem fairly quiet by comparison. Exiting Shinjuku station was just mental; people everywhere and me trying to pull along my luggage.

Busy Breakfast

I had the international breakfast option this morning (so far I'm alternating with the Japanese one). I timed it badly as it was really busy and I had to actually wait for a table to come free before I could be seated.

I think the main reason for this was two large tour groups – one seemed to be French, the other German. They all finished up and the restaurant was almost empty. I was still eating when, a little while later, I saw one of the groups all troop off together to, presumably, the Peace Park (it's only 5 minutes away on foot).

Unlike the international breakfast in Kyoto there was quite a few Japanese breakfast items available. I had a random mish-mash of things, as did a lot of the Japanese. It was amusing seeing them eat bacon, sausages and omelettes with their chopsticks!

Top Kill

In my hotel in Hiroshima I think the only English language channel is CNN (I had the BBC in Kyoto). CNN seem obsessed with the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and wheel in all manner of experts to share their wisdom.

One of the presenters, Kristie Lou Stout, has a really irritating American accent (it sounds like her noise is badly bunged up – maybe she does have a cold though), but she seems to take great relish in saying “top kill” as often as possible!

The Carp

merchandise. I'd seen a fair bit of stuff around town – mainly snacks, cakes and 'cheering' equipment(!) – but figured there would be a much bigger selection at the store at the Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium.

Unfortunately by the time I got back from my trip to Miyajima and walked to the stadium it was just after 4.00pm and the store had literally just closed. This was a bit of a bummer. I could hope to find some stuff in one of the department stores in downtown Hiroshima, or I re-arrange my travel plans so that I can get to the store when it opens at 10am (I had planned to be on my way to Tokyo by then).

My trawl through the department stores almost was successful, but I kept thinking that there would be a much bigger range at the proper Carp store. So in the end I didn't buy anything and instead decided to get a later train to Tokyo.

I was right the Carp store was big and had all kinds of random merchandise. I ummed and ahhed and in the end bought a Carp baseball shirt. It cost 8,000 Yen (about £62) and I'm now wondering when I'll ever actually wear it!

One More Temple!

I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms so I found a place I could get a good 'fix'!

Before I satisfied my cravings I went over to the Peace Park to see if I could get any pictures which didn't have loads of school kids in them. It was about 8.30am and there were school groups around, but not that many. I got the pictures I wanted and then decided that I'd make a detour via the museum. I'm glad I did as it had lots of interesting stuff to see and gave a reasonably balanced history of the lead up to the bomb being dropped.

I left the museum and the sun was really shining brightly and starting to warm the day up – it's supposed to be the start of the rainy season but the weather in Hiroshima has been fantastic.

I walked to Hiroshima station and got the train out to Miyajima-guchi. From here I took the short ferry trip over to the island of Miyajima.

Miyajima is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is most famous for the Itsukushima-jinja temple. In particular the orange torii (shrine gate) is apparently one of the most photographed sites in Japan. The torii is surrounded by water at high tide and does look pretty cool. A couple of other things of note are the deer that roam about (they're supposedly wild but you wouldn't know it as they walk amongst the tourists), and the world largest rice paddle (scoop) is here!

After my temple fix I grabbed some lunch – local conger eel – and then got the ferry and then train back to Hiroshima.

Today's Food

Breakfast -- From the Japanese restaurant in the hotel.


Lunch -- Conger Eel (and egg) from a restaurant on the island of Miyajima.


Dinner -- Sushi, Local Sardines Tempura and something a bit like kim-chi (called Chinjya I think).


Dessert -- Green Tea and Cookies Haagen Dazs.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

I've just got back from my most enjoyable evening of this trip to Japan -- I went to see a baseball game between the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and the Chiba Lotte Marines.

It was great right from the really helpful woman who told me all about the different ticket types.

Other amusing/great things which added to the experience:

-- They almost encourage you to bring your own beer in to the stadium. There are dedicated stations where you pour the cans of beer you bought on the way to the ground in to paper cups before you take your seat.

-- The food options inside are fantastic. Yes you could have a hotdog, but I was more interested in the ramen, yakitori and Japanese curry stalls.

--Sake at a baseball game!

--The unabashed enthusiasm of the supporters -- no need for the PA to get the crowd going.

-- Singing/cheering/general noise from the away team fans.

-- The 7th innings stretch was just so funny and, I hesitate to use this word, cute! It involved everyone getting ready by blowing up big long pink balloons (to represent carp). They then sing a song and at the end let go of their balloons. A really cool sight.

-- The fact that you could leave your bag at your seat when you went off to get more beer or food.

-- The guy I sat next to spoke really good English and we had a decent chat. He told me that the Carp aren't a great team at the moment -- but they won tonight!

A-Bomb

I got to Hiroshima really easily -- a Shinkansen Kodama train to Osaka and then a change to the Shinkansen Hikari RailStar to Hiroshima. The train to Hiroshima was totally rammed, so I had had a bit of uncomfortable journey with my big bag taking up most of my leg space.

At Hiroshima I caught the streetcar (tram) to my hotel. I dumped my stuff and headed straight out to the A-Bomb sights -- the Peace Park and the A-Bomb Dome.

It was all interesting stuff, but the impact was somewhat diluted by the hordes of school kids -- it's obviously high on the list of school trip destinations, for obvious reasons.

I think the Children's Peace Monument was the one which gave me a bit of a lump in the throat. It was inspired by a girl who got leukaemia as a result of the bomb. She decided to fold 1,000 paper cranes -- the crane being a symbol of happiness and longevity in Japan. The girl was sure that if she managed to complete her task she would recover. Unfortunately she died before she could finish. However, her classmates folded the remaining cranes and this inspired a paper crane folding craze. The practice continues today and I saw two groups of young school kids form up in front of the monument, sing a song or say a prayer and then leave a memorial of a collection of paper cranes. Quite touching.

Okonomiyaki

I had a pretty substantial breakfast this morning so I had a fairly late lunch when I got to Hiroshima. I had okonomiyaki which is a mutant pancake -- this one has noodles, squid, kim-chi, green onion, and a whole heap of other stuff. It tasted really good and was just the job!

Food Halls

I spent a bit of time wandering around the food halls of the Isetan and Daimuru department stores -- so much good food to buy!

I bought this from Daimaru. It was like a waffle filled with sweet red bean paste and it did just the job as an afternoon snack.

Geisha Hunting

After my food tonight (some discounted sushi from the Daimaru food hall) I went 'Geisha Hunting' in the Gion area of the city.

I got lucky and saw at least one full Geisha and three Maiko (apprentice Geishas). Unfortunately I only managed to get a picture of a Maiko.

Eel

This is what I had for lunch -- an Unagi (eel) set meal. The eel was really tasty. It's cooked over hot coals and is smothered in a rich shoyu and sake sauce (according to the guidebook!). Also with my meal was some soup, rice, carp sashimi and an omelette type thing (which I couldn't see the point of).

The outside of the restaurant was a bit intimidating, however once inside I was given an English menu.

More Temples

I got my temple fix in early today!

The first one was particularly impressive because of the 1,001 statues of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy) all with 1,000 arms (well actually they have 40 but each arm is equivalent to 25 in Buddhist mathematics because each save 25 worlds!). Unfortunately you couldn't take any pictures.

The next temple was mobbed with school groups. The funniest thing was the 'love shrine' at Jishu-Jinga. Basically there are two rocks 18m apart and if you can walk from one to the other with you eyes closed then you will be 'successful in love'! There were lots of giddy school girls trying it out. Most of them were being guided by friends which I'm not sure is in the true spirit of things!

After my day's temple fix I wandered through some streets with restored machiya -- old town houses.

It's not Cornflakes!

Well I actually got out of bed when I planned to this morning, although it was a bit of a struggle.

The first order of the day was breakfast. This morning it was the Japanese option. Unfortunately the picture I took doesn't fully show some of the dishes. All in all it was OK. There was some fish, rice, pickled vegetables, soup and fruit.

There was one dish which caught me out -- it had the consistency of runny yoghurt and was sprinkled with green powder. It didn't really taste of anything I can pinpoint but it was savoury. It was the texture which was initially off putting.

I think I might be having the 'international buffet' tomorrow morning.

Kyoto Dinner

I had a Japanese set meal from a restaurant in the Kyoto Station building. I would've taken a picture, but my camera batteries decided to die. Instead you'll have to make do with the sign outside the restaurant!

The food was good and at only JPY 2,000 a veritable bargain!

Matcha aka Green Tea

After my large breakfast I sort of skipped lunch. I did have a few things to keep me going during the day.

When I was out at the Tenryu-Ji temple I had Green Tea ice cream (pictured after I'd taken a lick). I also had a Matcha (Green Tea) Frappucino from Starbucks (a total calorie bomb).

This evening when I was getting some beer from 7-11 I saw some Green Tea Kit-Kats!

Temple Overload

My alarm went of at 6.30am. I woke up turned it off and the next thing I know it's 8.30am! Oh well there goes my 'early start'.

I went down for breakfast (included in my room rate). This morning I went for the 'International Buffet' option. I think tomorrow I'll try the Japanese one and then on my third morning I'll go to the best one out of the two.

Unsurprisingly I ate far too much -- looks like I'll be having a very light lunch! The killer this morning was the incredible pastries, so good.

After my mammoth breakfast I walked to Kyoto Station, a good 40 minutes trek from my hotel.

On the way I stopped in to my first temple of the the day.

At the station I got a train to Saga-Arashiyama. Here I notched up my second temple (which also happened to be a World Heritage site). I also walked through a really impressive bamboo groove (think: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

The whole area around the temple is set up for tourists -- lots of souvenir shops (although not too much tat) and places to get food.

I got the train back to Kyoto and then got another train to Inari. It was time for Temple number 3. This one was particularly impressive because of the hundreds of orange Torii (shrine gates) which formed almost tunnel like structures. I also learnt about the role of the fox in Japanese culture -- a mysterious creature which is thought to be able to possess humans (usually by entering under the fingernails)!

Time for another train ride back to Kyoto (yes I am fully utilising my Japan rail pass).

At Kyoto station I went to BIC camera, a big electronics store. The camera floor was really impressive, as were the prices. Even with the rubbish exchange rate the cost of cameras was definitely lower than you can get in the UK. One problem of buying electronics in Japan -- Japanese user manual!

I walked back to my hotel and got ready for dinner.

Stamps

Who would've thought that buying stamps could be so satisfying?

I walked in to the main post office in Kyoto and was confounded by the Japanese signs above all of the counters, but which one should I queue at? In the end I saw one which also had some very tiny English words -- "International Mail". I figured this would be a good one to try.

I got to the front of the queue and in my best Japanese asked for 12 stamps for postcards. I didn't use a single word of English, and the man serving me knew exactly what I wanted!

I walked away very pleased with myself and with twelve JPY 70 stamps.

Kyoto

It has finally stopped raining.

This meant I could do some exploring on foot. I didn't stray too far from my hotel, but managed to check out Nijo Castle and it's gardens and the Imperial Palace Park. I could actually get access to the Imperial Palace itself if I get permission from the Imperial Household Agency -- basically this just means you have to fill out a form I think. I think there might be more interesting things to do.

After my double lunch I'm taking it easy food wise tonight. I bought a few bit and bobs from 7-11 and I think that'll do me!

Lunch part 2

So after my noodles I was walking around and noticed a Tako Yaki (octopus balls) place. I was having a look at what they had on offer and before I knew it I had an English menu shoved in my hand. Well it would be rude not to order something now!

I ordered 8 octopus balls with 'regular' sauce.

Lunch part 1

I arrived in Kyoto at 1.15pm -- on time of course, this is Japan afterall!

I was a bit hungry so before going to my hotel I thought I'd get some lunch from somewhere in the Kyoto Station area. I saw that there was a 'Ramen Street', i.e. an area with restaurants selling ramen noodles.

So lunch part 1 was a tasty bowl of noodles!

Shinkansen

It's hard to say whether I had a good nights sleep or not. All I can say is that I did get some sleep, but did wake up earlier than I wanted to.

Once awake I did a bit of Lonely Planet research before going out to get some caffeine and something to eat. I stopped at the Starbucks right by the hotel and picked up a latte (which I drank in the fairly plush store). I then walked to Roppongi. On the way I popped in to an AM/PM convenience store and bought a couple of onigiri (a rice triangle with a tasty filling all wrapped in dried seaweed). It was still raining, but not particularly heavily.

I was back at the hotel by 9am and collected my stuff and checked out.

The next adventure was to negotiate the Tokyo subway system with all my stuff. I wanted to get to Tokyo JR Train Station where I planned to get my Japan rail pass and then take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. It turned out that it was all pretty straightforward and not much of an adventure! I caught the tail end of rush hour so the subway trains weren't to crowded, the process of collecting the rail pass was simple, as was sorting out which train to get and the platform it was leaving from.

At the moment I'm sat on a Hikari Shinkansen. We've just made a stop at Yokohama and now we're speeding smoothly on the way to Kyoto!

I think the one problem with the Shinkansen seems to be a lack of space to store any bulky/big luggage. My big bag is occupying the seat next to me – fortunately the train doesn't seem too busy.

Time to sit back and watch the Japanese countryside (or urban sprawl) whizz by. Apparently if you sit on the right hand said of the train you can see Mount Fuji somewhere en route. I'm not sure that's likely today since the clouds are very low and it's pretty misty.

Tokyo Curry Lab

My first meal on this visit to Japan was a Japanese curry (yes such a cuisine type does exist) at the Tokyo Curry Lab.

The place was empty when I got there so no problem getting a seat! There aren't any tables so everybody sits at a sort of elliptical counter. Each place setting has a small tv screen in front of it -- they were alternatively showing Michael Jackson in concert and some Japanese kids cartoon.

There was an English menu and I ordered the four curry sampler meal. The curries were mild and seemed to consist of meat in a spicy gravy. It was strange having curry with sticky short grain rice.

Tokyo (briefly)

Well I'm now safely ensconced in my rather flash hotel in Tokyo. I'm only here for one night before I head west to Kyoto.

The flight landed on time but then we had to wait for about 15 minutes for our gate to be vacated by another plane. Immigration was pretty busy -- I think as well as our flight ones from Frankfurt, Seoul and somewhere in China had arrived at similar times. It was the passengers from China which were slowing things down for everybody else with their inability to fill out the landing card and customs form correctly. Lots of exasperated immigration officials!

Once I was through immigrations and customs I went straight to the Friendly Limosine Bus ticket counter. After a slight false start I bought a ticket and hurried to the bus stop as my bus was departing in about 5 minutes.

The journey to my hotel was dull and took about an hour and a quarter. I would've really liked to have a nice snooze, but just as I was on the verge of dozing off I would force myself awake as I didn't want to miss the stop at my hotel!

I beat the crowd of other people getting of my bus to reception and was checked-in (and 'upgraded' to an 'executive' room) very quickly.

It was chucking it down with rain when I landed at Narita airport and this had turned in to a persistent heavy drizzle by the time I got to the hotel. I'd defintely be needing my umbrella when I went out for dinner.

And finally to Japan

So after a brief detour via Stockholm I'm now on my way to Japan!

The flight from Sweden arrived a bit ahead of schedule and I whizzed through immigration – as I suspected I needed to go to the ANA check-in desks to pick up my boarding pass for the flight to Tokyo.

Going back airside was quick as I was able to use the 'fast track' security lane, and then I headed straight for the SAS lounge (which is the one ANA use).

I made myself comfortable and passed the time surfing the internet. A little while after I arrived Roy Keane and his family turned up. I think I counted five kids. I've no idea where they were off to -- my guess was Mauritius or maybe Thailand. The Keane clan were pretty low key and didn't conform to the stereotype 'footballer' image.

Business Class on this flight seems to be 100% full. The seat is fairly comfortable and the service is good, but a little slow (maybe because it's so busy). After our amuse bouche (!) I went for the Japanese set meal. Ordering was a bit confusing as I had to share the English menu with the guy sat next to me. The food was good – very different to anything I've had on a plane before and it actually seemed pretty healthy. I've no idea what it actually was as the menu was taken away by the flight attendant – roughly it consisted of three cold appetisers, a hot fish dish with rice, soup and then super cold ice cream to finish.

All that's left is to try and get some sleep in the next 8 hours......

ARN to LHR

So this is a bit more like it!

I'm in Business Class on SAS and if truth be told I'm feeling rather mellow after a couple of beers (in addition to the beer I had in the lounge in Stockholm). The seats are, as predicted, the same as those in Economy. However, the legroom is a bit better and the middle seat is 'Reserved for Comfort' i.e. not occupied. In fact I've got the whole row I'm sat in all to myself.

When I boarded somebody was already sat in my seat – it turned out he got his row number mixed up and should've been in 3A instead of 4A. Rather than get him to move I said I'd sit in 3A.

I notched up another beer first. I asked for a Carlsberg, but all they had was Faxe, another Danish beer. I think the Flight Attendant said something about a strike a Carlsberg affecting their supplies. I know there was a strike at Carlsberg in Denmark, but I assumed it had finished. Anyway, like the flight to Sweden, the beer was not very well chilled so didn't exactly provide me with 'maximum refreshment'!

The meal was a lump of chicken breast with mushroom risotto. The presentation was as elegant as my description, but it tasted alright. The warm bread and cheese were the highlights.

We're due to land at LHR in a little over an hour 'air traffic control permitting'. The weather outside looks glorious with barely a cloud in the sky.

Lounging

I'm just killing time before my flight back to LHR. I'm all checked in and my bags are tagged all the way to Tokyo. Unfortunately I need to pick up my barding pass for the actual flight to Tokyo when I get to Heathrow. I don't know if this means I have to clear immigration and go to the check-in desks or whether there is transit desk I can get this sorted it (I suspect the former).

It took a bit of time before I actually found the SAS lounges -- there is a Business Lounge and a Scandinavian Lounge. The Scandinavian Lounge is supposedly the better one, and that is where I'm sat at the moment. I was surprised at how busy it was, but I think that's because it is also used bt Thai Airways which has a 747 departing for Bangkok very soon. There is a quiet part, but it's not obvious from the main lounge area.

I've had a bite to eat and I'm currently working through the 3 beers that are available -- Tuborg Gold (5.3%), Tuborg (4.2%) and Pripps BLA (2.2%)!

Rest & Fly

My flight from the UK arrived at Stockholm Arlanda airport at 12.30am. Seeing as I would be flying back to London in a little over 12 hours time it didn't make sense to get a hotel in central Stockholm. There were a few options at the airport ranging from the expensive Radisson to the cheap Rest & Fly. I went for the Rest & Fly option!

Basically Rest & Fly allows you to book a room by 10 hour blocks -- so I booked from 1am to 11am. The rooms are little more than a bed or bunk bed and you pay extra for it to be made/unmade! Also all the toilets and showers are shared. It really is basic -- but it is clean, not expensive and very convenient (it's in the airport terminal building).

Unfortunately for some reason I didn't have a great nights sleep -- I'll put it down to the excitement/stress of travelling!

LHR to ARN

So on my convoluted (yet cost effective) routing to Japan I'm experiencing SAS Scandinavian Airlines for the first time!

As I write this I'm squeezed into a fairly cramped Economy Class seat and I'm pleased that the the flight is only two and a half hours long. There are quite a few people on board who sound a bit like the Swedish chef – and there's a guy sat near to me who sounds so similar to Sven Goran Ericksson when he speaks English that it's uncanny.

The woman sat next to me his hacking me off a bit as she seems to think that the armrest between us is for her exclusive use.

Service is probably a slight notch up from the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet, but it is distinctly low cost/no-frills. There are no complimentary drinks or snacks, so I actually stumped up SEK50 for a warm can of Carlsberg and a packet of peanuts. Not that great really.

I'll be flying with SAS tomorrow lunchtime back to Heathrow, but this time I'll be in the 'luxury' of Business Class. Which I think just means the first row of seats (which are the same as Economy Class) in the aircraft with the middle seat out of 3 blocked off.

SIN to LHR via DXB

Well this is proving to an eventful final leg back home.

All was going to plan and according to the moving map we were scheduled to get to Heathrow on time. Then it unravelled a bit. First came the PA asking if there were any doctors or medically trained people on board. About 20 minutes later the same request was made. Then the moving map betrayed that something serious was up.

Just as we crossed the border from India to Pakistan we made a reasonably sharp left hand turn (the map doesn't show how out of the way we went). Also our destination was now down as being Dubai and Arabic was one of the languages shown on the map. I knew from things I'd read that Dubai was used by Singapore Airlines for medical diversions. Twenty minutes had passed since we'd changed course and there was still no announcement from the flight deck – I'll be charitable and assume that we'd changed course as a precaution and that things hadn't been finalised.

Eventually the captain came on the PA to explain that we'd be stopping in Dubai so that the sick passenger could be transferred to a hospital for treatment. He said we'd probably be on the ground for an hour whilst this was sorted out and we re-fuelled.

In the end he proved to be spot in in how long we were on the ground at DXB. Unfortunately the combined affect of the diversion etc. was that we were no expected to land at LHR just after 10pm (three hours behind schedule). Obviously not ideal. The one positive I can think of is that as we took off from Dubai I saw the Burj Khalifa (aka the Burj Dubai) the tallest building in the world.

I now really looking forward to being tucked up in my bed and getting some sleep!

The Journey Home -- MEL to SIN

The last time I flew this route the upgrade Gods smiled down on me. Unfortunately I had no such luck this time. In fact when I asked shortly after boarding whether the flight was full I was told it was.

I had a shower and then a couple of glasses of red wine in the lounge before boarding. Once on board I tried to get as comfortable as possible and get some sleep – I didn't have any of the meals and just had water and OJ to drink. I must've dozed off and on for a few hours and the seven and a half hours of the flight passed by fairly quickly.

I'm now at Changi – I've showered and had some breakfast (tasty nasi lemak from the T2 SATS lounge). Just waiting for the flight back to Heathrow.

My body clock is in a state of confusion. I feel quite alert and not nearly has tired as I expected (it's 2AM UK time).

Fitzroy & Little Creatures

I thought it would take longer than it did to walk to Fitzroy and in no time I was walking along the main strip – Brunswick Street. Lots of inviting restaurants, cafes and bars with most looking fairly busy this Sunday afternoon.

It has to be said there were also a fair few weird sights, a lot of them were complete 'fashion victim' people.

My main motive for coming to Fitzroy was to have dinner at the Little Creatures Dining Hall. Little Creatures is a small scale brewery based in Freemantle, WA. When I was in that part of the world a few years back I dropped in and had a couple of refreshing pints on a warm and sunny 'Freo' day.

Well Little Creatures has now set up an outpost in Melbourne and also taken over a local brewery called White Rabbit. It was still a bit too early so after a walk up and down Brunswick Street and then plonked myself down on a bench and watched the world go by for half an hour.

It was now getting closer to 5pm – time for some beer (and food). I sat at the and ordered a pint of Bright Ale. Very refreshing. Once I'd finished that of I got persuaded into trying a Wheat beer from White Rabbit. Again this went down well so I ordered another one. I also ordered some food – a chorizo, feta and sweetcorn pizza. The combination of the chorizo and sweetcorn worked really well and it was washed down with my fourth pint, a Bright Ale.

Suitably fed and watered I walked back to my hotel, picked up my bags and then walked the short distance to the bus station to get the SkyBus to the airport. My whistle stop visit to Melbourne was over!