TOKYO NIGHTS

Tokyo deserves more than a 3 day stopover, but if you're only passing through, you can still pack alot in to 72 hours. Easy to navigate, safe, and oh-so-civilised, I find it's not so much lost in translation as found. Its elegant aesthetic, sophisticated design, incredible shopping, to-die-for food and lively arts scene are a compelling mix. First stop, a Book Fair for photography types in Ometsando Hills.

On to dinner at Mugen Shibuyaten, in where else, Shibuya. Pull up a stool, order a beer and watch your food being cooked on a hot grill.

Japanese fare, prepared simply, allowing the produce to shine, standouts include melt-in-the-mouth sashimi, giant scallops, and grilled aparagus.  

Be one of the last to leave. 

Walk it off. 

Find an absinthe bar in Ebisu.

Order the green fairy. 

Let someone else drink it. 

Stumble past an old-style bar, as they were during the 1940s.

And do a spot of window shopping in Ginza on your way home.

Tomorrow, it's all about hanami (flower viewing) as the cherry blossoms start to bloom. Until then...