Tokyo Drift

George woke up this morning with excitement levels like a young child on Christmas morning as he was doing a full hour of one of his favourite activities - go-karting.

The only issue that I had was that this was on the main roads throughout the busy streets of Tokyo, so I declined his invitation to join him!

We missed another stop on the train today trying to find the place (sorry uncle Frank), but after doing a Usain Bolt at the train station we made it back to the venue just on time. 

George was shown through to a room full of crazy costumes to wear whilst out on the kart, eventually choosing the Superman outfit.

There was a group of four Americans there as well, but they'd booked a two hour slot, so they went off as a separate group and George went out on his own with a French instructor called Vincent. 

The sun was shining as they set off and George had his GoPro camera attached to him to take some videos.

I listened to the safety advice that they were giving before they left. The instructor said that you could take selfies at the traffic lights, and that Japanese people are shy so they might look at you, but if you wave they'll wave back.

George said that they were doing 50mph in some parts of the city and he was struggling to keep up!

The course went around the Skytree, past the Asahi brewery and all over Asakusa, so he had a great time driving around and waving at all the pedestrians taking videos and pictures as he passed. 

The groups usually stop for a break, but he told Vincent he was happy to just drive for the full hour so they got to see a lot more of the landmarks.

I went to look around a nearby supermarket and was very relieved to see his smiling face reappear when the hour was up. Naturally, he was absolutely buzzing from the experience.

Once George was changed out of the Superman outfit and back into his Clark Kent clothes, we headed in the direction of Nakamise Street near Sensoji Temple for street food.

We hadn't had breakfast yet so were looking for something savoury, but even though there were hundreds of stalls they mainly sold sweet items and were quite over priced.

Both of us have been keen to try taiyaki, which is crispy pancake batter with a sweet filling, normally in the shape of a fish. I opted for the Oreo filling which was absolutely delicious, George went for the traditional chestnut and red bean filling which was also very nice.

We also managed to tick off something fish-shaped but far less sweet - the deadly "fugu" or pufferfish. Thankfully we didn't have to eat any, instead we just took a photo of one outside a restaurant.

One of the websites that George looked up had said how great the tinned food is in Japan and that there was a shop called Roji Nihonbashi which was worth visiting to try this. We got the right train for a change and made the small walk to the shop, only to find it was sadly closed.

Not to worry though, as we had more food adventures planned in the form of the annual Nabe Festival held in the beautiful Hibiya Park. 

In Japanese "nabe" means pot, but it's used as a generic term for stews cooked in an iron or clay pot. It is a three-day event and vendors travel from all over Japan to proudly serve up their local dishes made with the best ingredients.

We started off the amazing culinary experience by sampling a pork belly bun which we both really liked.

The big decision was which stew to go for, but both of us fancied beef and there was a stall that sold beef sukiyaki with egg and tofu. I'm so glad that we went for this stall as the flavours were incredible and we may have even drank all the liquid from the bowl at the end.

They also sold really nice craft beer called Dai Dai Ale from Hitachino Nest Beer which was nice, although beer can be quite expensive here compared to wine and cocktails. 

To round off a very pleasant time at the festival, we shared a Kobe beef skewer with a barbecue glaze which just melted in the mouth and made us want to stay for more. 

We did leave in the end, and I suggested we head to Shibuya again for some Genki Sushi. George is becoming such an expert he managed to guide us there without using Google Maps.

When we arrived, I was gutted to see a sign on the door saying they were closed for refurbishment until tomorrow - my face matched the one in their logo.

Instead, we went to Don Quijote which is my new Sainsbury's - I struggle to walk by without going in - and bought some more Taiyaki, this time filled with double cream and custard. These were nice, but maybe not as good as the ones at the market. 

Looking at the time on our watches it was 8pm but our legs had given up for the day, so we returned to the hotel, and George had a hot bath.

Tomorrow we've planned a day trip to Yokohama, Japan's second-largest city.

Lucinda