After 2 failed trips, we have booked Japan again! The first time, Maddi and Bec were booked to go in 2011 however the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster (following an earthquake and tsunami) put an end to our mother and daughter plans.
So, Tim and I tried again, with a departure booked for 2 April 2020 (and to celebrate my 50th birthday), and of course a global pandemic and subsequent border closure only a couple of weeks before our trip, foiled our Japan plans yet again!
So, we have booked for a 3rd time. After an early wake up, we were at the airport by 5.45am on a rainy Good Friday morning. We were told it was to be a quick 40 minute flight to Sydney but halfway through the flight were given the slow down by Sydney air traffic control which added another 40 minutes. Anyway, we had plenty of time and were well and truly ensconced into our seats at the Qantas Business Lounge by 9am - plenty of time before our 12.10 departure.
Obviously a busy day for travel, the airport was crazy busy and the lounge was full also - thankfully we scored some window seats with power points for our few hours here and ran into Bec’s cousin Georgie near our gate (they were heading to Vanuatu). We then boarded our full flight after a 30 minute delay and at 9.5 hours, it was long enough! Joan and Bernie were flying ANA (we were on Qantas) and their flight was also delayed.
On arrival at Haneda airport, we were very keen to get through formalities as quickly as we could. We had planned to catch the Limousine Bus - a fantastic option as it only stops at a few hotels - and ours is one of them. But, it only departs every hour at night. It was very busy at immigration, and I really did think we would miss the 9.30pm bus.
The crowds were enormous, but we moved relatively quickly.
And, as luck would have it, we managed to get through immigration and baggage collection (my bag had blown apart - thanks baggage handlers - I don’t think I’ve lost any belongings thank god), buying bus tickets and finding the bus departure area by 9.27pm with 3 minutes to spare. We would have had to wait another hour otherwise. Unfortunately Bernie and Joan were not as fortunate and had to wait until 10.30 to catch their bus.
The bus pulled up at the entrance to our hotel (this airport option was very easy if staying at this hotel) and we checked into our hotel, and headed straight for our very compact Japanese room. It did however have more room than our Oslo hotel room which remains the smallest we have even seen. After our 4am start, we were quite exhausted and went to bed. As we were on the 23rd floor our room had beautiful views over the lights of Tokyo, and we were looking forward to exploring the next day.
Maddi
2024-03-30
Your poor suitcase!