36 hours to go

On Saturday afternoon I will be departing for Japan, for what I'm hoping will be one of the best holidays I've ever been on. It is a club trip and originally we were going to do 16 parks in 12 days. They've managed to squeeze another 2 parks in and there's another a short walk from one of our hotels that wasn't on the itinerary. That's a lot of coasters in a short amount of time.

My one concern is that the itinerary is so tight that I won't get to see the sights that I want, but the parks close at 5 in most cases and if I don't get the coach back to the hotel I can go off and spend a few hours each day in the different districts. We will definitely hit a major club, and I'm considering not going back to the hotel that night but staying in one of those capsule places which are in the area.

I've done all the research that I can, and have printed off a ton of maps that I've been compiling in Google Earth. I've never done so much research before but then I've never been as excited as I have with this trip.

The majority of the first week will be spent in Tokyo then we head north into the mountains to Nasu. From there we catch a bullet train to Osaka, then we make our way down to the south coast, up to Mt Fuji, which will be stunning, before heading back into Tokyo and home.

Tomorrow I pack, then I'll sit down and watch "Lost in Translation" to help get me in the mood. I won't be posting anything on here til I get back but the club is going to have something on their homepage www.coasterclub.org if you want the updates.

All being well I shall return in a few weeks, assuming the Fugu is cooked correctly that is :D