Our time in Tokyo was brief. Time to head to Fukuoka, Kyushu island’s largest city, in southern Japan. We decided to fly and work our way back to Tokyo by train. Two hour flight from the other Tokyo’s international airport, Haneda. We got the opportunity to see how their domestic airport works. Sad to say that they are miles ahead of Canadian airports in term of efficiency. At the self-served check-in counter, we just need to insert the credit card…
To deal with jet lag, we decided to have a short afternoon nap after our Asakusa outings. Good intention but we fell asleep until 10:30 pm. Now hungry and looking for food in an unfamiliar place after 11:00 pm. We thought of the train station since train service runs until or shortly after midnight. Wrong! Cafes and restaurants there close between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm. There are some that close later but not where we were. What to do? what to do?…
For convenience, we decided to stay in Japanese apartment hotel near the UENO station because there is a direct train (Skyliner Express) from Narita Airport to the station. Belly full from meals pre-flight and in-flight, we settle in for the night. Next day, we went to Denny’s, our go-to-place if we didn’t have time to look around. Our safety net. The menu here is geared towards Japanese taste, although the usual Western fare is available. And food in Japan is…
It is good to be back in Japan. Back to things we miss and look forward to: self-flushing washlet (high tech toilet) with seat warming, anal hygiene, bidet washing, and deodorizations; Shinkansen (high speed train); depachika (departmental basement food hall); Japanese hotel breakfast buffet; efficient and clean public transportation; Suica card; cherry blossoms; Mt. Fuji; Japanese gardens. And we hope to discover new ones… SUICA is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card (electronic money) used as a fare card for most transportation…
We didn’t expect much because we were using Air Canada for our all Transpacific flights for this trip. No Asian airlines this time. There is often some trepidation using AC because they aren’t consistent when it comes to their food and services. In addition, we were too tired to be excited, having less than three-hour sleep before our early morning departure to Vancouver. Are we mentally or physically ready for this trip? Can we do it? Getting good food put…
Some components of the trip may be modified as we go. Stay tuned!