Tokyo Travels - Day 9

[hornetgirl]

Day nine

It hardly seemed possible that it had come around so quickly, but today was the day we had to say our farewells to Tokyo. Two alarms ensured that we were up and ready in good time for our 8:50am flight home. We had arrived at the hotel in darkness last night, so were astounded this morning to find that once again we had a view of Mount Fuji, although it was so hazy it doesn't actually show in the photo I took through the triple glazed windows. There sadly wasn't much time to admire it though. We trundled down the corridor to find that Reception was deserted and we were checked out in seconds.

The hotel exit took us directly back onto the concourse of Haneda’s international terminal, where we made our way to the BA check in desk. After the luxury of our first class flight out, we were “only” travelling home club class, so were still able to use the priority check in lane. Again this took no time at all and we were politely advised that we were welcome to use the JAL lounge until our flight was called.

Once through passport control and security we had to go to a little desk to have the piece of paper confirming that yesterday’s Pandora purchase was tax free removed from Sean’s passport. It seemed a bit pointless but presumably somewhere, someone's books will balance as a result.

The lounge was arranged over two floors. The lower level was for food and because it was so early we had it almost entirely to ourselves. It looked a bit like an Ikea showroom.

I had a splitting headache so didn’t have much, just some yogurt, fruit, cornflakes and juice.

Once we’d eaten we moved to the upper floor. There was a reasonable selection of international newspapers so we whiled away the time catching up with the antics of Mr Trump,

interspersed with a bit of plane spotting until our flight was ready to board.

I had deliberately picked seats in row 13 after a thread I had read on the Dibb about them being unlucky, and I’m pleased to report that they transported us, along with all our fellow passengers, home safely. We had the middle pair of seats, which are like having a little tiny room to yourselves. Although the first class cabin was an amazing experience, I actually prefer these pairs of seats in club class. In first, Sean seemed to be miles away because the seats are so big, but this was perfect.

The first meal served was lunch. My head was pounding by now, so I skipped the food and tried to sleep in an effort to shake it off. Sean had beef fillet with miso cream sauce, Japanese vegetables, steamed rice and bamboo shoots. I slept reasonably well while Sean watched movies. A light meal was served before landing. We both had baby mozzarella with balsamic jelly, followed by braised pork with ginger sauce for me and wild mushroom risotto for Sean. Sorry, no photos, must have forgotten to take them, but it was all good. We may also have smuggled a (mini) bar of two of chocolate from the Club Kitchen.

The flight made good time and before we knew it we were back at Heathrow T5. The time difference meant we had left Tokyo just before 9am and were back just before noon, but with a long flight, two meals and a decent sleep in between. Weird. Luggage and car were soon collected and we made the short journey round the M25 via the cattery, and that was it, we were home from what was simply the most amazing trip.

[smedley]

It all sounded fab Lucy

[hornetgirl]

Originally Posted by smedley

It all sounded fab Lucy

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It really was, just too short. Oh well, we'll just have to go again

[DisneyDaffodil]

Really enjoyed your report. Just binge-read the whole thing. Looks a beautiful place to visit. Pleased you had such a good time 😊