My “bonus” day. I wanted to make the most of the extra time, so after breakfast and some work I caught the shuttle bus in to Narita. I had a walk around, including a stop at the 7-ll for a cold drink, and then to the local temple. I stopped and saw “unigi” (eel) being prepared (a place Kaoru and I had eaten at several years ago when we were here) on the way. The temple was having some work done – it was the 1080th anniversary so they were putting a totem pole-type-thing up in the middle of the courtyard outside the main temple. I walked around and had a good look at the temple, taking my time.
I walked around the town a bit more and made my way back to the station, to catch a shuttle back to the hotel. I did some work back in my room and then went to lunch. Another buffet of food, but it’s not as enjoyable without Kaoru around. I feel like an unknowledgable tourist rather than a local. So this is what it’s like for normal people. I got the soft boiled egg and the sauce to go with it, but didn’t know how to crack the egg and mix it – little things like that which I take for granted usually when I’m here.
After a quick shower I finished packing my bags and left the room about 2.00. I checked out and decided not to catch the 2.20 bus, but rather the 3.05. I would rather wait in the hotel lounge (comfortable chairs) than the airport (sitting on the floor). So I passed the time, and got to the airport about 3.15 to join the check-in line. It opened at 3.45. My flight still wasn’t showing up on the Qantas app, but it was showing a points deduction for an upgrade, which was interesting. Hopefully a good sign. Sure enough, yep, I was upgraded to business!
Customs and immigration was smooth and quick (even with all the duty free receipts they had to take out of my passport), and after a quick walk through the airport I went in to the lounge to get some work done. We boarded about 10 minutes late, but we were looking good for me to get home in comfort, and earlier than normal (so hopefully less traffic for the drive home).
Once I arrived at Melbourne, things were pretty quick and smooth. Although I had to wait 15 minutes before bags started to come. Immigration was easy as Kaoru had written down everything that was in my suitcase so I just handed them the piece of paper. They looked at it and waved me through.