21 March 2023
Left home this morning after sorting dogs, bins and the house to stay empty for the next 2.5 months. Taxi to Swansea station, and a simple 2 hour train ride to London Paddington. Home-school done for the day on the train, to reserve the afternoon for more fun activities. Took the tube to Heathrow and checked into the Radisson. Leisurely afternoon in the pool/sauna with the kids and dinner in the hotel restaurant. Back to the room to read and play cards as promised a late(r) night for the girls to kick off the adventure! Maxine is convinced the best part of the night in London is the bunk beds in the room - and that it was her turn to sleep on top.
22 March 2023
Breakfast buffet at the hotel and a hop over to Heathrow Terminal 3 to catch our 11:15 flight to Hong Kong. Man, that is a long 12 and a bit hour flight! As it started as a daylight flight, you got it - home-school done with a captive audience… a lot of reading from all 4 of us and a few zzzz’s, but not many. Landed Hong Kong around midnight UK time, but 7am Hong Kong time… jet lag sucks :-( few hours layover and then a short 4 hour flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo.
23 March 2023
Arrived no hassles, but spent the longest time in queue after queue after queue for COVID vaccination check, Health Condition check, Immigration and finally Customs. All made more complex by needing a separate online form and a QR code for each step in the process. All in all, it took over 2.5 hours to see daylight outside the airport building! We thought it would then be easy picking up JR passes and heading to accommodation - WRONG, another 1 hour queue for that, and finally a bit of time for an interesting 7/11 train station dinner, while waiting for our train, and on to the hotel. Saw our first glimpse of Cherry Blossoms along the river.
Dinner consisted of a beer for Mish (in celebration of arrival!) Iced coffee for Robyn (a necessity as has had none since leaving UK) and the girls chose a weird green Fanta - tasted somewhere between a pearapple and candy floss. Giant sushi burgers, and chicken teriyaki skewers with rice cakes.
Accommodation is not so much a hotel and a small set of apartments, very minimalist but has everything we could need for a few days. Hot shower for the girls and off to bed. Parents not far behind….
Comments
Post a Comment