Travelling and Reflections

Well, it's the end of the holiday.  Today has consisted of a lot of travelling.  Up at 04:30 to make sure I get to the airport early, having to check in at the airport (longest leg of the trip was codeshare so no online check in), a long flight and a lot of waiting.

At Narita Airport, quite out of character for me, I actually felt like breakfast.  So here is the last thing I ate in Japan

Ramen and Green Tea

Just the thing I needed to set me up for the day.

The flight itself went ok.  This particular flight was operated by All Nippon Airways and this was the first time I've flown with them.

Experience was good and I'd say the food was better than Lufthansa.  When boarding, after the staff scanned my boarding pass, they called me "Mr Snowden" - Definitely formal and courteous.  The cabin was set out in an rather strange way.  I'm used to a 3-4-3 seat configuration.  This one was 2-4-3.  Getting the window seat on the side with 2 seats certainly made things seem quite spacious.

Definitely one I'll consider next time.

Time passed quite well thanks to plenty of music and a copy of Big Finish "Project Destiny".  I seem to be getting used to long flights and flying alone.

I'm currently in Germany, kicking the crap out of the Wi-Fi hotspot and writing this update.

On reflection, this has been a nice holiday.  The weather was hotter than I anticipated, Hitomi and Kyle definitely weren't exaggerating!  The heat and humidity did make things a little uncomfortable, I think next time, if I visit in August I might book a hotel.  Reasons being 1)  space 2) hotels in Japan seem to have very good AC.

Even though it's been nearly 2 weeks I think I did about as much as I did last trip (8 days).  I think this worked out well as last time I was very rushed.  This time things were much more leisurely.  It's been nice seeing the neighborhood that Kyle lives in and seeing what things are like outside the city.  Staying in Shibuya was nice but it was always bustling.

Going to Hiroshima had to be one of the highlights of the trip.  Getting to see more of the country, getting attacked by deer and getting to visit Seto.

Overall, I've really enjoyed the time I spend in Saitama, Tokyo and Kansai.

Now, to wait for my flight.  Once I get home I'm probably going to sleep for a solid day!  My return flight is quite well timed as I arrive home when I'd be going to sleep anyway, this probably helped with jetlag last time.

Adieu!