Tokyo is a pretty young city - there aren't really old sights to see, the main attraction is just the general madness of Japanese culture. Soak it up!

It's super easy to get around!

Taxis are everywhere and pretty cheap/reliable for short distances. They speak zero English, you just have to say where you're going followed by "ikimasu (i-kee-mas)" and hope they know what you're talking about. Get a card from the hotel to show them your address.

You'll need a Pasmo or Suica to get the metro. The machines are cash only - they should have an english button and then you can just get a 2000 yen card each. That might last you 4 days depending on how adventurous you are!

Download the Tokyo Subway app to work out how to get where you're going!

Home of the beautiful people. Probably all of this is must see. Sunday would be a good day to go.

Meiji shrine is the quintessential shinto shrine, dedicated to Emperor Meiji who restored Japan to greatness during the late 19th century. You'll spend an hour or so looking around, and if you've got time you can also have a bit of a wander in Yoyogi park where you'll see whatever is in fashion this month (we saw a 20-strong denim-clad rockabilly dance troupe doing a performance recently).

Harajuku is the cosplay capital of Japan - on Sunday you'll see the kids dressed up in all manner of outfits. It's also got lots of little quirky fashion shops on and around Takeshita-dori.

Omote-sando is a long tree-lined boulevard heading south from Harajuku. All the brands, all the gadgets, endless lines of beautiful people queueing for the latest food trends.

And then Shibuya. The biggest crossing in the world (?), the dog on the tuckerbox, and a must-visit restaurant Genki Sushi.

Older part of Tokyo (although nothing in Tokyo is particularly old). There's a big temple, there's Asahi's head office ("the golden poo"), and it's reasonably close to Kappabashi (kitchen town). If you want to get knives, you have to go to Kama Asa. You can also buy literally anything you would ever need to run a restaurant here. Tokyo Skytree is nearby. It's the world's tallest tower and has an observatory at 450m.

Good shopping here. If you come on the weekend they close down the main street and you can wander around at will. Home to the LARGEST UNIQLO IN THE WORLD! There's a really great tonkatsu restaurant across the road from Ginza Lion that we discovered by accident and highly recommend.

Must see - geek culture manga/electronics district. A salaryman's dream.

Cool bohemian district slightly outside the central area. Good for vintage clothing, kimonos, hippies etc.

Government district! Go to the top of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Tower #1 for a great view of the city. Free! Shinjuku is also the home of New York Bar at the Park Hyatt - go before 7 or they charge you a massive cover charge.

We weren't super impressed with Ueno - had a wander around the park which was nice, and went for a paddle on the swan boats in the lake. Not a must-see.

This is a really cool little area with squillions of random bars, including

• Queensland Bar - good for karaoke
• [Yakusyu] - crazy jars full of all kinds of things infused in shochu. Very hard to find but it's just around the corner from Queensland Bar

This is a pretty terrible expat / red light district full of Nigerians trying to sell you drugs, women or both.

• Geronimos - small shot bar with a drum. When you hit the drum, you have to buy everyone in the bar a shot. Rich bankers go there around midnight and hit the drum to prove how rich they are. Free shots!
• Motown - transvestite bar. Pretty good atmosphere, much nicer than anywhere else in Roppongi.

to be continued...