I woke about 6.15. Kaoru was already up and about. After a light breakfast, final watering of the garden, and double-checking our lists, we booked an Uber and went to the airport.

Check in was smooth. We had a look through the duty free shops, and then headed to the Qantas lounge where we met Michael and Leila. I had given them guest passes which were due to expire, so it allowed us all to get together before the holiday began. We had a glass of champagne together. Then I had a shower and got changed into shorts, ready for our arrival.

We boarded the plane on time, a bit after 10. I watched a couple of movies and ate lots of food on the plane. The service was the worst I’d experienced. There wasn’t somebody walking around the cabin with drinks (even water / juice), and even asking for one resulted in long waits.

We landed on time at Haneda, about 8.00 Japan time. Immigration was really easy. Not sure if it’s because Haneda isn’t as busy as Narita, or if they’ve improved the processes. But we then had to wait about 15 minutes for our bags to arrive. Mine was quite quick, but Michael and Leila’s took a while longer.

We caught a train to Shinagawa, and checked in to the hotel. We stayed at the Toyoko Inn hotel this time – we’ve never stayed there before but it’s cheaper than Shinagawa Prince. We both had Double King rooms, so heaps of room to spread out. Our portable wifi was waiting for us, so we now had Internet everywhere. The room was stinking hot though, so we had to turn the air conditioner on straight away and do something about that! While we were waiting, we went out for a beer and some food. The pub wasn’t air conditioned (or even fan) so very hot inside.

On the way home, we did our customary shop at 7-11, and also went to the ATM in Shinagawa Prince to get some cash out. We went to bed about midnight, quite exhausted from a long day.