I woke up in time to say goodbye and thank you to Yoichi, before he went off to work.  Mio took Arisa to school.  Once we were all ready, Kaoru, Mio and I went to the shopping centre.  It didn’t open until 10, but Mio wanted the good parking spot so we had to get there early.  We went inside and straight downstairs to the food area.  Each stand had a staff member standing next to it, and as we walked past they all bowed and welcomed us.  I guess during the day they are always busy, but this was “the calm before the storm” so they had to greet us all.

We then went upstairs to buy some coffee capsules for Okasan and Ottosan – Kaoru had drank a bit when we were there.  We also made a few other purchases of some food to bring back.  Hope our baggage isn’t over weight!  We showed Kaoru the wine tasting as that was still going from yesterday (but we didn’t sample anything) and then we went in to the “VIP Lounge” which Mio has access to.  We had a tea there, and then Kaoru and I went off for lunch while Mio relaxed before picking up Arisa.

For lunch we went to the sushi train that we had missed yesterday.  Even at 11.15 we had to wait 5 minutes to get a table!  Now this was a different style of sushi train.  The conveyerbelt was going round, but only the ads for what you can get were on it.  You had to place your order through an iPad.

Not sure if I like it this way.  You can view how much you’ve had which is useful, and a running total, but sometimes you want to see the food go past and pick one of them.  With this interface you have to navigate menus to find the food, as there isn’t even a large, laminated picture of their selection.  But we enjoyed some sushi and sake for our last lunch in Japan.

We went to the bus stop to see if we could pre-purchase our ticket to the airport.  It was too late to book it by phone, and you have to sign up to do it online, so we thought this would be easier.  But unfortunately we couldn’t – we just need to be there early enough.  We also found a Lego City display.  Must be a school holiday activity.  So I had a bit of a look at that, and then Kaoru and I caught the train 2 stops, and walked back to Mio’s.

We finished our packing and weighed our suitcases – 60kg, give or take.  Fingers crossed we won’t have any problems at check in.  Kaoru tried to book a taxi to take us to the bus stop but there weren’t going to be any available – and this was for in 1 hours time!  Mio, Yoichi and Arisa were going out to see Yukari and Minami’s dance concert, but Mio thought she would have time to run us down there – it just would have been easier if she didn’t have to.  So we waited around the house for a little longer, until Yoichi came home (I passed the time with a last taste of the Ichiro!), as he rushed off from work as soon as he could to say goodbye before we left.  But basically as he walked in the door, we said Hello, and then put our bags in the car and left.

The traffic was quite bad.  We have plenty of time, but hopefully Mio gets back in time to get ready for their plans tonight.  We waited for the bus and had no problem getting on.  Traffic was slow getting to the airport but we were in no rush so we had a bit of a sleep and passed the time.  Once at the airport we went to the Business Class check in counter, which had no queue.  Unfortunately the plane is fully booked so I don’t have an upgrade for either of us.  However the girl there still checked us in, which was great, and as we were talking I didn’t see her look at the weight of the suitcases combined, so we took it as a win.  It’s possible we get an upgrade at the gate (if somebody doesn’t show) but not likely.

We were a bit hungry, and I found a great place, called “Beer and Takoyaki”.  By coincidence, I wanted a beer, and we hadn’t had takoyaki yet on this trip, so perfect!  We enjoyed some food and a sit down, and then decided to go through customs and do our last bit of shopping –  we still had a few gifts to get for people.  Once that was done we walked to our gate, stopping at a lounge area for a hot chocolate.

We walked to the gate after a last toilet stop, and heard them make a last call.  We never heard a first call!  The plane was already over half full and it was only just after the scheduled boarding time!  We got on (weren’t the last people) and did the flight to Brisbane for Nanna’s 90th.

A few final photos from the trip:

Kaoru had to leave this morning to get her hair cut.  Arisa was at school so Mio and I had the morning together.  We had to leave the house around 9.30 as the cleaner was around and she wanted to stay out of the way, so we decided to start the day off with a relaxing massage.  We went to the shopping centre and found a place, and got changed into the “trendy” outfits we had to wear.

Our next destination was wine tasting.  The same place that Mio had purchased the whisky from the other day was doing a wine show at the moment.  Mio couldn’t taste any as she was driving, so it was up to me.  Most of the wines were french and Italian, but they also had some “New world” ones, which included New Zealand, South Africa and a number of other countries.  Some were good, some not so.  We also tasted some cheeses.  So it was a nice way to kill another hour or so.

Once she had me “liquored up”, Mio told me my next mission for the day – I had to pick Arisa up from Juku.  Which meant introducing myself as her Uncle (in Japanese).  Surprisingly, it worked!  The 3 of us then went upstairs to the bookshop, where I found a server-down issue back home which I had to take care of.  Not long after, Kaoru arrived from the hair dressers.

I realised I had not yet had a sushi-train this trip, so we went to the one at the shopping centre.  There was quite a long wait for it, so we sat down.  While we were waiting, Arisa started playing up, and eventually we had to leave as punishment.  So we drove her back home and left her there, and Mio, Kaoru and I went to a sushi store for some more delicious food.

We went back to the house and Kaoru and I did our packing (well, mostly Kaoru – I was there for moral support).  I confirmed that our baggage allowance was 30 kg – otherwise we were going to be in trouble!  We then had a drink downstairs, and decided we should go for dinner.  Yoichi wouldn’t be home until late so we weren’t waiting for him.  As it was starting to drizzle Mio wanted to drive instead of walk.  We went to a Texas Steak House, where I had a mixed grill.  Another fantastic meal!

Back at the house, I had a glass of Ichiro, and then Mio decided she wanted one of the other “almost empty” bottles to be completed.  I had had a good crack at it on Saturday night.  So I did my job and finished that off while Mio and Yoicho enjoyed the Ichiro; I then joined them in a couple more before calling it a night.

A couple of photos:

These prices were for tastings. This bottle can be bought for $450 in Australia.

Mio had received *another* delivery today.

I woke early this morning – we had a travel day ahead of us so no time for resting :).  After a shower we walked for about 20 minutes to a place Kaoru wanted to go to for breakfast, which was a bakery so had a collection of pastries, and also dining in.  We grabbed a few and enjoyed our breakfast, but it was only “ordinary” – not as good as Kaoru was expecting.

On the walk back we passed a place, the name of which pretty much describes its purpose…

Back at the room we did our teeth, and packed our bags.  We checked out around 10.30, and made our way to the train station.  From there we got a “super rapid express” service to Shin Osaka.  We decided against the gamble of getting unreserved seats, so booked reserved seats for the Shinkansen back to Tokyo (Shinagawa).  It was free for me anyway with my JR pass, so we just had to buy Kaoru’s.

It was early, but we needed to get some lunch.  Our aim was to get Osaka-style Okonomiyaki in Osaka.  But we still wanted to get back to Tokyo before peak hour.  So we found a restaurant and placed our order.  Because it was lunch time, we didn’t get to cook it ourselves at the table like most places.  But it meant it didn’t get messed up when I attempted to flip it, so there was a good side!  I managed to see the chef’s cooking it.  Amazing seeing how many they were managing at once.

After lunch we browsed around the Shin-Osaka, having a look outside to say we had at least *been* to Osaka (it doesn’t count if you don’t leave the airport / train station).  Then we caught the Shinkansen back to “the big smoke”.   It was about a 2.5 hour ride, so a good chance to catch up on things.

We got off the train at Shinigawa and changed to Shibuya, and then to Sukara Shinmachi. Mio had to pick Arisa up from Juku and it was timed well for her to take us home as well, which saved us having to walk.  Once back at the house we sat down and had a drink and a chat, while we waited for Yoichi to come home.  Mio presented me with a new beer taste.  I never thought I’d find something to equal the Premium Malts, but there it was!

Mio had also done some shopping for us.  There is a whisky brewery called Ichiro’s Malt, which has a very limited number of releases each year.  Kaoru has looked for it in the past and been unable to find it.  Mio found it at her local department store – they only had 12 that they could sell, and only one to each person at a time.  So she went back a few times to get a few.  She also got carried away and bought some other whisky’s, including a bottle of Hibiki.  We had already purchased our duty free allowance (less one bottle), so basically we now have stock for our next couple of trips!

Once Yoichi came home we went out to dinner.  Now when we got to the door and I realised that’s where we were going, I must admit I was a little reluctant at first.  But I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food.  I had the salmon and Kaoru had hamburg steak.  Both were delicious.  They also had “make your own taco rice” at the all you can eat salad bar!  Dessert consisted of profiteroles, jelly and ice cream.  And for once I managed to get in first and pay!

We walked home and decided we needed to sample the Ichiro’s Malt, so cracked one of the bottles open.  Yoichi normally drinks brandy (Henessey) but he actually really enjoyed this and came back for more!  However I was quite tired and struggling to stay awake – still on the tail end of this cold so not the best nights sleep, plus the travelling for the day – so I excused myself and had an early night.  I later found that Mio and Yoichi enjoyed a couple more glasses!

A few more photos from the day: