The photo was taken hurredly with my E71 so you can't see much. The aluminium trim on corner of the wall in front fell off when the guy boarding in front of me brushed against it with his oversized carryon (he deserved the clonk on his noggin). You can't see, but there's a maintenance guy on his knees trying to put it back on before the rest of the passengers load up.

The soft plastic seal on some of the luggage bins is loose too. I hope these aren't signs of a rushed "Friday afternoon" build!

Should you want to type up a report without using your laptop, the controller has a titchy keyboard (here pictured upside down). theoretically you could open the word processor application, stuff your USB into the appropriate slot and tap away, saving your handywork back to your storage. Hmm - interesting!

Turn over the teeny tiny keyboard and there's a well made and robust controller for the audio and video. It appears that programs can be paused, fast forwarded and reversed. Pretty cool. So, I think I'll peruse the listings and select a movie or two.

Here's a better shot of the connectivity. The in flight entertainment has on demand video (movies and TV programs), audio (you can create a playlist or listen to mindless jabber between songs) and games. It also runs a version on Open Office (wordprocessor, spreadsheet etc..), suggesting that the whole malarky is run on Linux.

The seats are like the new 777 in the fleet. The distance between seats (the pitch) is acceptable for economy as is the width. The monitor is large (15" ?) and there are connectors for USB, LAN and composite video. There are also 2 120V power points between the 3 seats. Not at all shabby - though I doubt much work could be done if the person in the seat in front reclines.

The ceiling along the aisles is a bit higher than other planes and the overhead luggage bins are huge. Even though I'm travelling in economy (company policy) my seat (34k) is in the first of 3 economy cabins on what's called the "main deck", the lower one. The subdivision of the plane gives a feeling of a smaller affair. This is a brand new (version E) of the plane according the very pretty (and rather vivacious) Japanese lady at check-in. There's that "new car" type smell which is another indicator.

On Thursday night when I did the online check in for the flight back to Singapore for Saturday, I noticed that the plane layout was odd. To be honest, I was expecting a 777, but seeing that the overlaid image on the cabin layout had 4 engines (2 per wing - I always count ... just in case), assumed it was going to be an old 747 jumbo (which I do not like because the seat pitch is awful). Closer inspection indicated a stairwell at the rear - it was one of the new Airbuses. I was intrigued because I'm a "380 virgin" and I wasn't aware that SIA were running the superjumbos between Changi and Narita.

The picture is a view of the plane from the jetway as I was boarding yesterday (Saturday) morning.

I don't have a clue why Nelson would figure so prominently in a bar under the railway lines in the centre of Tokyo, but there you go. It's very tempting to head back next week and find out what goes on - if only I didn't have to work!

I'd completely forgotten about these places. This is a shot under the arches and you can see that a couple of vendors are opening for business. You used to be able to get the best yakitori (chicken on a stick) and a few glasses of beer as well as meet some very interesting characters.

If you keep walking through the arches and march on for 10 mins, you'll end up in the Hibiya area and will see the moat surrounding the Imperial palace. Tokyo flooded a few years ago and the koi carp escaped out of the moat. Police were collecting them from gutters and even the subway tunnels (presumably the fish were trying to escape disguised as tourists)

Don't let the view put you off. This was taken at around 4:15 on a Sunday afternoon. It all looks a bit seedy right now, but midweek between 5 and midnight this place is hopping. Each of the doors leads to a tiny bar that after office hours are full of people eating, drinking and making merry.

And I discovered a fruit vendor that just happens to be selling smelly old durian. This isn't the first time I've seen them the last spotting was well outside fashionable Ginza.

These look a bit long in the tooth and don't smell at all. The lady vendor told me they were from Thailand.

At 5,000 yen a pop (around S$70) I'd expect them to be a bit more fresh

Okay, I hang a right at the cinema and follow the railway lines; but take a small diversion through a large shopping mall that also has a movie theatre. What attracted my attention was the line of people waiting for something.

It turned out to be a group waiting to get in to watch a film. And the film they're all so eager to see? "Sex in the City".

Just up from the leafy glade is a cinema. This has sentimental associations. Back in 1987 when I was really missing S.O and the tiny brood I was poking around on a Sunday trying to kill time. Walking past this movie theatre I noticed posters for "Back to the Future"; emboldened I hesitantly asked the lady in the kiosk if it was in English. She said that it was and I paid my entry fee and walked in just on the opening credits.

For 2 hours I was entertained and completely forgot about my woes.

I left the cinema with a skip in my step and felt a whole lot better. It's not a "worthy" film, some might say it's not a great film, but it has a special place in my heart, as does the location.

At around 4pm I decided to head back to Hachioji. In a fit of "get fit fever" it seemed like a good idea to walk back to Tokyo station through Ginza. As I headed up the road towards the railway viaduct (always a good thing to use as a reference point when looking for the train I think), I came across this little garden, set in the middle of the melee. Pity about the statue though. It looks like a giant metal hydra - yuk!

This is the street/road/avenue that used to be closed off to traffic on a Sunday. I wonder why they changed teh arrangement

"Gin" (hard "g") is the Japanese word for silver. Ginza was formerly the old Japanese mint (see how educational this phlog is?). Nowadays it's a high class shopping area like Singapore's Orchard Road or London's Bond Street.

This is a photo taken at the major intersection in the area. The road where I'm standing used to be cordoned off to traffic on a Sunday and the area turned into a boulevard. It was all very nice; sadly the needs of the infernal combustion engine have taken precedence and there is a throng of traffic

I wasn't accosted by anyone today, but I was impressed by the range of English books. My miserly streak kicked in when I calculated the price of the paperbacks so eschewed the books. However I did find myself in the pens section, it's not as good as it used to be, but still pretty fair (and I bought a new mechanical pencil).

A quick right turn out of Maruzen, clutching the goods to my chest, I decided to march into Ginza.

Maruzen is a mega bookstore and stationers that I discovered way back on my first visit. It has a pretty good English book section and I used to wile away the hours browsing. Back in the old days, I was accosted on several occasions by locals that wanted to strike up conversation in order to practise their English skills and I learned to have a collection of easy to explain topics.

Another thing Maruzen was brilliant for was phenomenally interesting writing implements. Things like fountain pens with retracting nibs; combo colour pens in a single body; mechanical pencils with touch precision. I gave into temptation and decided to have a poke around.

Nice - easy to use, multilingual ATMs, each stuffed with luvverly money. In the words of Col John "Hannibal" Smith; "Oh I LOVE it when a plan comes together"

You have to get a rhythm going for this:

"Oh yes, oh yes, ohyesohyesohyes!"

Vasco De Gama; Megellan; Marco Polo; Sir Walter Raleigh and Fatangmoh - one thing in common - phenomenal navigators!

Now to figure out how to get in