For the past two weeks I have been thinking about what to write about Japan. There is simply too much! Perhaps I should start at the end and say that it was the most amazing trip I've ever had. It was hectic and exhausting and at times overwhelming but it was all part of the fun. At least, I can say that now, retrospectively. There were some points, standing in the baking heat with the sun pounding down after having walked solidly for four hours and insisting that we have to stop for lunch right now or I would die, that were hard work but every minute was amazing.

I arrived in Tokyo after an uneventful twelve-hour flight. My careful beforehand seat schemings were hopelessly in vain as I boarded the plane and saw in the seats next to mine the heart-sinking combination of, God help me, a wide-awake fidgety whiney three-year-old and his inattentive mother who already had her nose so far into a magazine that I couldn't see her face. I almost cried. Fortunately there were two empty seats in the row in front and as soon as the seatbelt signs had been turned off after takeoff I leaped into one, reasoning that although I now had a kid behind me at least he wasn't in my personal space and I didn't have to look at him.

Adam was waiting for me as I came out into Arrivals. It was so wonderful to see him after so long that I wanted to run and throw myself into his arms but of course I had a trolley with two suitcases, a coat, a handbag, and a bag of duty-free, not to mention there were five thousand other people with trolleys between the two of us so instead I inched my way forward until finally I reached him and we were reunited. It was heaven.

Tokyo station was incredible and terrifying. It was chaos with signs that pointed to different areas of the chaos. It was spread over several levels, each looking identical, and with hundreds upon hundreds of people rushing through. You could only go into certain parts of the station with the right ticket and if you had the wrong one you might not be able to get out. Fortunately by now Adam knew the station well enough to find our way around with relative ease and whilst he was buying and charging my electronic travel card I stood and gawped at the scene around me. I was in Japan. Japan!

The next two and a half weeks were to be the most exciting and awe-inspiring I have ever been lucky enough to spend in the company of a devilishly handsome and wonderful man and I'm not just saying that because he paid for everything and carried my suitcase around the entire time.

Next week on Paradise Deutsch: where we went, what we saw, what we ate, who got bitten (any guesses?), who got headbutted, who got burnt, and how many rows we had. With pictures!