Last Day in Japan

We did something today we probably should have done at least a week ago – we slept in, and boy did it feel good. Tomorrow we hope to sleep in even later since we won’t have to worry about waking up in time for the breakfast buffet or in time to check out of the hotel without incurring any fees.

The breakfast buffet was an odd assortment of American and Japanese food. It included potato salad, but nothing like waffles or pancakes. Of course there was miso soup and an assortment of pickled Japanese foods, and hot dogs and ham. I’m really looking forward to having chicken again. I didn’t realize how hard that would be to find.

Checking out is the usual mad dash to squeezed everything into suitcases.  Since we didn’t buy many souvenirs and we brought gifts for our friends, this was easier than on other trips, and uneventful.

Since we checked out on a weekend, we finally had WiFi in our room.

By this point we had 3 ½ hours before the airport shuttle bus came. We spent the time wandering around the area near the train station. A particular highlight was the 100 YEN store (think Dollar Store). We bought some tiny souvenirs, and some Japanese gadgets. Ashley and I picked up some chopsticks that came with a carrying case so we can bring them with us when do a picnic in the park with Tiger Noodle food. Don finally mastered the skill of using chopsticks, but still prefers using a fork.

Yesterday was the day the big sales started. If it is anything like Europe,

there are 2 week-long huge sales twice a year – in the summer and winter. It was probably a good thing we spent one of those days at Mount Fuji since the dollar dropped from 100 just before our trip to 88 on our last couple of days.

We said our final sad good-byes to Masumi. We added a wish to a wish tree that she wins the green card lottery (which is her wish) so she can live in the United States. We’d be lucky to have her living in our country.

The shuttle bus drive was 2 hours long. I took more pictures of Tokyo. The bus took us past Tokyo Disney, but the not close enough to take any last pictures of it. Speaking of pictures, I know we took a lot of pictures (especially with the new camera), but a final count will have to wait until we get home as I packed the power cord to conned the camera to the tablet in the checked luggage. I brought a card reader, but it doesn’t fit in this computer.

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Good thing since the Air Canada computers were down since it was midnight in Canada. C’est la vie!

So far the flight is uneventful. Annoyed that the person in front of me (who has the exit aisle with about 6 feet of leg room to our few inches) decided to lean back into my space the second he had a chance. I lost my space to do crossword puzzles. He slept the entire time, too, which really annoyed me. Fortunately Ashley slept for a good part of the 12-13 hour flight. Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.

More pictures of Tokyo