Day 14: Leaving Japan

An early morning (5am) wake-up to be ready for the shuttle bus back to Narita airport; wifi on the shuttle so we can keep track of where we are. For an early Saturday morning there's a lot of traffic on the road but fortunately most of it is heading in the opposite direction towards the centre of Tokyo.

The Green Tomato Shuttle

Sayonara, Tokyo

As was the case with our first journey here two weeks ago, our minibus driver takes pride in approaching barriers at high speed (which rise just in time).

We already checked in over wifi last night (the excellent hotel printed our boarding cards and even delivered them under the door in the middle of the night) so it's just a brief queue to check in baggage then explore shops. Alan finds a motherlode of KitKats (Hot Chilli, Red Bean and Strawberry Shortcake) and a big Totoro while Rachel is pleased with a bag that you fold out of a rectangle of cloth. Eat our breakfast, then through security to the gate; we find an ice cream vending machine at the gate to get rid of loose change and keep kids amused.

Onto the plane - Alan decides not to try and sleep but instead to cram in as may films as he can - Wolf of Wall Street, Like Father Like Son, The Past and 12 Years a Slave. Haven't movie binged like that since university.

On arrival back at Heathrow T5, pick up the car and short drive back to Premier Inn where, after supper we crash out for the night, before the drive back to Derbyshire in the morning. What a fantastic couple of weeks we've had - memories to last a lifetime.