Day Three
Day Three - Tuesday 9th March
Sampled cold green tea fresh from the vending machine. Not for the faint hearted and definitely reminiscent of an unmentionable substance! More sausages and bacon for breakfast at the hotel so set off very happy. Wandered through the streets of Tokyo past the World Trade Center and towards the Sumida river. Stunning views across the Sumida river to the Rainbow Bridge with the planes taking off in the distance. Beautiful cityscapes. Walked some distance around the Hama-rikyu Gardens - an official hunting ground for the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 17th century. Gardens were lovely with a few of the the trees just coming into blossom.
Took river boat trip on the Sumida - forty minutes under 12 different bridges. Fascinating buildings including weird golden flame designed by French designer Philip Starck.
Got off the boat at Asakusa and found another dept store where we managed to order some food - shrimp egg fried rice in a cafe using the tried and tested method of pointing at the plastic food in the display cabinet outside! Robin continues to be captivated by the tuneful doors on the tube trains on the blue line and is threatening to record the sound using one of his techno whizzy cameras tomorrow!
Second night at the Budokan was just as surreal as the first. Walking through the gates of what looks like a Japanese palace did not have the same feel as the NEC in Birmingham or getting off the Jubilee Line at Wembley Arena. Tonight was unbelievable. The man and his band really rocked opening with 'Rebel Rebel' followed by 'Hang Onto Yourself'. Bowie offered to come back to Japan to play the whole of 'Low'. We met JunJun again who said she cried in 'Quicksand' last night. We also met some more Bowienetters from England - easy to spot because at least a foot taller than anyone else in the crowd. When we left we were starving so we had the Japanese equivalent of hot dogs : noodles cooked with cabbage, onions and soy sauce from one of many street vendors. Catching the tube proved challenging as we failed dismally to purchase tickets for the right line and had to resort to arm waving and pointing. However we eventually managed to get back to the hotel with no major disasters.
Full Tokyo Setlist
01 Rebel Rebel
02 Hang On To Yourself
03 New Killer Star
04 Fashion
05 Cactus
06 All The Young Dudes
07 China Girl
08 Reality
09 5:15 The Angels Have Gone
10 The Man Who Sold The World
11 Hallo Spaceboy
12 Sunday
13 Heathen (The Rays)
14 Under Pressure
15 Slip Away
16 Looking For Water
17 Quicksand
18 The Loneliest Guy
19 Afraid
20 Be My Wife
21 A New Career In A New Town
22 Ashes To Ashes
23 I'm Afraid of Americans
24 "Heroes"
(Encore)
25 Bring Me The Disco King
26 Five Years
27 Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
28 Suffragette City
29 Ziggy Stardust
Sampled cold green tea fresh from the vending machine. Not for the faint hearted and definitely reminiscent of an unmentionable substance! More sausages and bacon for breakfast at the hotel so set off very happy. Wandered through the streets of Tokyo past the World Trade Center and towards the Sumida river. Stunning views across the Sumida river to the Rainbow Bridge with the planes taking off in the distance. Beautiful cityscapes. Walked some distance around the Hama-rikyu Gardens - an official hunting ground for the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 17th century. Gardens were lovely with a few of the the trees just coming into blossom.
Took river boat trip on the Sumida - forty minutes under 12 different bridges. Fascinating buildings including weird golden flame designed by French designer Philip Starck.
Got off the boat at Asakusa and found another dept store where we managed to order some food - shrimp egg fried rice in a cafe using the tried and tested method of pointing at the plastic food in the display cabinet outside! Robin continues to be captivated by the tuneful doors on the tube trains on the blue line and is threatening to record the sound using one of his techno whizzy cameras tomorrow!
Second night at the Budokan was just as surreal as the first. Walking through the gates of what looks like a Japanese palace did not have the same feel as the NEC in Birmingham or getting off the Jubilee Line at Wembley Arena. Tonight was unbelievable. The man and his band really rocked opening with 'Rebel Rebel' followed by 'Hang Onto Yourself'. Bowie offered to come back to Japan to play the whole of 'Low'. We met JunJun again who said she cried in 'Quicksand' last night. We also met some more Bowienetters from England - easy to spot because at least a foot taller than anyone else in the crowd. When we left we were starving so we had the Japanese equivalent of hot dogs : noodles cooked with cabbage, onions and soy sauce from one of many street vendors. Catching the tube proved challenging as we failed dismally to purchase tickets for the right line and had to resort to arm waving and pointing. However we eventually managed to get back to the hotel with no major disasters.
Full Tokyo Setlist
01 Rebel Rebel
02 Hang On To Yourself
03 New Killer Star
04 Fashion
05 Cactus
06 All The Young Dudes
07 China Girl
08 Reality
09 5:15 The Angels Have Gone
10 The Man Who Sold The World
11 Hallo Spaceboy
12 Sunday
13 Heathen (The Rays)
14 Under Pressure
15 Slip Away
16 Looking For Water
17 Quicksand
18 The Loneliest Guy
19 Afraid
20 Be My Wife
21 A New Career In A New Town
22 Ashes To Ashes
23 I'm Afraid of Americans
24 "Heroes"
(Encore)
25 Bring Me The Disco King
26 Five Years
27 Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
28 Suffragette City
29 Ziggy Stardust