10 June

Ah, my last day in Japan.
I woke at what was now my usual time, about 6, and wondered about getting up, considering there was no breakfast supplied. I went over to the window and was met by a blast of heat through it, once I opened the blinds. I decided to wait a little longer, got up at 7, checked emails, etc. and then prepared and left the room about 8:30. I chose not to go out any earlier because I didn’t want to hit the commuter rush. I enquired, and was able to leave my luggage at the hotel as long as I picked it up before the end of the business day. I headed out with my jacket (as all my cash in different currencies, passports, other ID and all important documents live in there), but once on the street I thought I need an alternative for later this year, as the weather will generally be warm to hot. A photographer/angling vest may fulfil my need, but I will have to look for it when I am home, rather than away, especially as my luggage is getting heavier.
I decided, on a whim, to go back the observatory in the Tokyo Government buildings, to see from the other tower. In the subway I was there before the tower opened to public viewing and spent a moment in the Tourist Centre – and found I could go on a guided tour of the buildings. I asked what time they left and suddenly found myself on a personal tour with just the guide and me (I think she was practicing, as this was her first time). I got to see other floors in the building, the municipal chamber, artworks, the cafeteria and then the observatories again, but this time with commentary. I was left there, and met up with a couple from Sunbury before I left. I told them about the helpful tourist bureau and they headed off there and I headed off to a museum. The guide said it was a minute from the station, but I couldn’t see it. I did find somewhere to have a late breakfast/early lunch and as I left, I saw the museum immediately adjacent to the station – with its signs up in the air, not at street level.
I went in to find the museum was on the fifth floor of an office building, and was amazed to find it was the property of the family who owned the building, donated to public ownership and now declared cultural icons. As I looked over them, tea chests and associated paraphernalia, screens and hangings, I heard the others discussing them in hushed tones, with older people viewing them almost reverently.
When I left there, I thought it wasn’t long after noon, but it was well after 1. I went to look at the shopping area near the hotel where I was staying, but was disappointed with quantity and quality of the shops there, and this was compounded by the humid and warm conditions. I walked back to the hotel to pass by two interesting sights: one, in a little shop, where basketball stars were filming endorsements of a drink. There were two girls keeping the background clear, but they lost when a group of schoolgirls recognised the stars and rushed over with cameras. The second was a donut shop, where there was a line longer than the shop and tripled over, enforced by two security guards.
I went up in the hotel, with about an hour to go, so read the local world paper I had been given that morning. Then, at about 3:45, I collected my luggage and went down the twenty floors to the lobby. I was to meet the guide there at 4, and she arrived on time. After that, it became a Maxwell Smart farce for a short time. I was supposed to take a taxi to meet a bus to the airport; as it turned out I was taken about one hundred metres down the road by taxi to meet the Airport Limousine Bus which had just left the hotel about ten minutes before! The taxi driver was as bemused as I was, but that’s the way it was organised. My guide bought my ticket for me, and then my luggage and I were on the bus.
We left a few minutes later. It takes up to an hour and a half to get to Narita airport from Tokyo, and I thought I could relax. However, despite signs saying not to use mobile phones, the Japanese version of “Claude the too loud commuter” was in the seat behind me and used hers incessantly for the entire trip. It was a relief when she left the bus at a different terminal from me.
I repacked my luggage (pins in suitcase) and checked in. The suitcase came at 20.3 kilograms and the backpack at 7.8 kilogram – just within limits. I said goodbye to my suitcase and got my boarding pass for the flight from Tokyo and for the transfer from Sydney to Melbourne. Security screening and immigration were completed in a few moments and I was off to the boarding lounge.
Here I was surprised to find refreshments at the same price as Tokyo streets (and, later, half the price of those in Sydney Airport). I got something to drink and then chatted to an Hawaiian girl returning from a surfing friend’s wedding in Bali. She caught her flight and then I met up with a couple from Lorne, retuning home after a long holiday. We compared notes and chatted until we boarded the aircraft. It was only just over half full, so after we left the ground (after over ten minutes taxiing) I moved to a pair of empty seats.
Despite all the prior preparation, there was no diabetic meal for me, but the standard meal was the first which I could almost completely eat. After that, I sat back, put the iPod on and dozed.