Dream a little dream... in Tokyo, Japan

When I eventually managed to open my eyes the day after my 32nd birthday, it took me a while to realise where I was. As I focused on the tall buildings outside the room we were sharing with Priya and Amit, friends who had come just in time for the celebration, it all came back to me…

Japan: probably the only place in the world where public transport is precise to a fault and public toilets are a pleasure - you would be forgiven for thinking you were no longer in Asia.

Our heads still cloudy from the night before, we strolled around the capital -admiring the über cool fashionistas strutting around the streets of Tokyo, where life is a constant catwalk - stopping only to take in the busiest intersection in the world: Shibuya Crossing. As we watched 10,000 people seamlessly sweep past one another to the beat of the blinking traffic lights, faces glowing in the blaze of the neon lights that encompass the square, we were reminded we were in Asia, the only continent that can make the chaos of overpopulation into something of an art form.

In this somewhat schizophrenic city, a more traditional Tokyo can be found beneath the vibrant veil of Shibuya and Harajuku in the nearby Meiji Shrine. Here you can find a small 'piece of quiet' situated in serene, leafy grounds that would be an ode to silence, were it not for the daily downpour; the sound of the constant rain clapping against the tarmac like Spanish castanets.

Lots of cities claim to be “the city that never sleeps”, but Tokyo, like its citizens - too polite to lie - is actually true to its word. You can order food in a restaurant at 3am, get your groceries from pretty much any supermarket round the clock and, of course, go for a drink when you should probably go to bed. But when you’re part of the beautifully bizzare atmosphere, where guys with haircuts as sharp as their dress-sense saunter the streets alongside long-lashed girls, be it goths, lolitas, punks or chicks who look like they've kicked their way out of a Manga comic, a city so colourfully kitsch that even roadwork barriers look like bunny rabbits, life becomes a surreal dream without the need for sleep.

Guess what I found out in Tokyo?

1. Hachiko Square's Shibuya Crossing, made famous by the film: Lost in Translation sees around a million people getting from one side to another every day. 2. Tokyo has the highest marriage rate in Japan - and it seems that many of the couples manage to stay together - the capital has only the 8th highest divorce rate in the country. 3. There are over 23,622 Family Mart 24 hour convenience stores dotted around Japan. I am quite sure we visited every single one in Tokyo.