Yeah I lost my camera, didn't I, ya f...

Yep. Sure did. Went out in Roppongi last night, spent way too much money, and when I got home I realised that my new shiny sexy digital camera was no longer in my jacket. I think it must have been nicked by someone at the nightclub because they had my jacket in the cloakroom, and silly naive me trusts that nightclubs won't steal your cameras when you pay for them to store your jacket for you!!

So that was really upsetting, mainly because many of the photos on the camera were going to make me a world famous photographer when I got home. Honest.

Tokyo has been OK, but there's still a few more things that I want to see, so I'll reserve judgment until I leave for Hiroshima. Yesterday I headed into ANZ's Tokyo branch and met some of the managers there. They have a staff of 56 in Tokyo and 8 in Osaka, and although their products are limited for a Bank in Japan, the professionalism and presentation of the branch was exemplary. I actually got to sit down with the CEO of ANZ Japan, which was a bit of a shock because I've not had the opportunity to meet Australia's CEO to date. He was great and so were some of the other senior executives there - all with excellent English and happy to talk about business and pleasure, so I was really grateful for the opportunity.

I've already amassed a collection of almost 10 business cards, as people here trade them like they're going out of fashion. It's a way to learn a person's name, status and it's like a handshake of goodwill. If you lived here you would have to carry around your own or else you may be perceived as unprofessional.

Oh yeah, and I have a cough and cold too, which is so annoying to travel with, as I can't seem to shake it. I could choose to stay in bed all day until I get better, but then I might as well be at home in Australia if I'm going to rest, so unfortunately seeing the sights comes first and I'll just have to tough it out.

Apart from that I've really enjoyed my time so far. Kyoto was sensational and I wish I could go back and see a few more things that I didn't get time for. Next stop is Hiroshima, which is back down on the south of Honshu. Apparently Hiroshima is another amazing place - 'must see' items include the Atomic Bomb Museum, 'the A-Dome', and Miyajima Island, so I'm really looking forward to that.

Actually the other night I was having dinner in the cafe here at the hotel, and a Japanese woman approached me and asked if she could sit down for a chat. She was telling me about the A-Dome in Hiroshima and I could see she was upset to talk about it. It really touched me that a stranger could open up that way, and it really hit home the impact of such destructive weapons on real people. I used to think of WWII as the war where 'we beat the Nazis and Japanese', but when you meet and connect with someone from the other side, it changes everything.

Following on from that, definitely the highlights of the trip so far have not been the sights, but when one connects with someone despite cultural and linguistical barriers. In Kyoto, I was walking down a random street on my way to a temple, and I saw a tiny little old japanese lady pushing one of those support trolleys and she inched her way along the path. She was the most adorable thing I think I've ever seen, like a female, human version of Yoda from Star Wars. Without thinking about it, I cracked a massive smile, almost a laugh at how cute she was, and her face just lit up, and I think it made each others' days. Uwwwww!!!!

I'm not sure why, but a hell of a lot of the foreigners here seem to be Australian. I actually thought that Aussies would prefer not to visit Japan in what is Winter at the moment, but for some reason almost half of the Whities seem to be Aussies, which is good. Or maybe I just notice them more when I hear the accent.

Apparently it's supposed to snow tomorrow here in Tokyo, so we will see just how bloody cold it gets!