Getting To The Airport

 As promised, this is the last post about Hannah and my trip to Tokyo.

When we were going to Skytree, I noticed a sign saying that there was a direct line to Haneda Airport. We went back to that station to find out where to get the train to Haneda Airport without lots of changes. We were both tired and hot, and didn't have the energy for messing around!

The area we were in was Asakusa; from the bit I saw, I think it might be a nice place to stay if I ever go to Tokyo again.

Notice board about the area

Koban, small police station

One of the entrances to the station

There was also this.

I've been wondering about this, so I asked AI.

It's on top of Asahi Beer Hall; it's the Asahi Flame or Golden Flame, it susposed to be a stylised flame; locals have dubbed it the Golden Poop! The golden building next to it is the Asahi Super Dry Hall. Hannah and I kept calling it the Golden Poop!

This was on the gate of the subway.

One of the warning signs says to stay off the tracks. Isn't that obvious?

We didn't have to wait long, and we managed to get a seat. It took about 40 minutes to get to the airport, not too bad.

Of course, we had to encounter some stupid foreigners.

At one station, the doors on the train were closing when this foreign lady put her arm in, forcing them open again so that she and her partner could get on. The train driver admonished them in Japanese, but I don't think they understood, and of course one old guy sat muttering about bakka gaigin, stupid foreigners. There was then an announcement played in Japanese and English saying that trying to stop the doors from closing can be very dangerous; I thought it was a bit too late for that announcement.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, so had a look round for a bit. We found a bookstore, and I found a very interesting book on Japanese history. I like history and have been studying Japanese history on and off for years. But sometimes it can be a bit confusing with all the names and different clans that influenced the Emperor. I guess that is the same for people studying European history: different dynasties, kings and queens.

This is the book I got.

Even though it says manga, it isn't all manga; there are a lot of charts that help a lot.

Difficult to see, but very interesting charts and information

Hannah got a book on the history of education in Japan.

We bought some souvenirs, and Hannah found the cat toy that she is collecting; there are different ones for each prefecture. She now has five; she is wondering if she can go to each prefecture and get each cat!

Cute

We got some tacos to eat. They were very nice, not something we can get easily here.

There were three tacos, just enough to share.

The flight back was nice and felt a lot faster than the trip there!

Hannah got a window seat!

She took a lot of photos as well!

Final approach to Saga Airport.

The flight landed with just a few minutes to spare to get the bus back to the bus station.

Hannah and I were exhausted, happy but exhausted.

I had a lovely trip. I surprised myself by being able to go out in the heat and by walking a lot every day. According to the app I have on my phone, I did over 10,000 steps each day we were away. That is a lot of steps.

But I really didn't learn my lesson from our trip to Mojiko. I determined to be healthier for the trip to Tokyo, but I haven't been sticking to any kind of diet; my exercise has been hit and miss. I would love to travel more, but ending each day in pain because I'm too heavy to walk a lot is not nice. So I have to decide: do I want to be able to enjoy more trips, or is stuffing my face more important?

I would love to go to Tokyo again, not in the summer though. Also, I would like to have a bigger budget, so that I don't have to always take the cheapest options. I either have to win the lottery or sell a lot of T-shirts on Etsy!

And finally, a shout-out to friends and people who have helped me out over the past half a year or so. Thank you for your kindness. Even though Hannah paid for almost everything, I did try to pay for a few things, I saved as much as possible. The help I got meant that I could do that!

Next adventure, I don't know yet.  For now, however, I'm going to concentrate on building my Etsy shop and think about what else I can do to make some money!!!

A lot is happening here, with the house and land to write up, the cats of course and thinking about new businesses. 

Since the earthquake on Tuesday, we've had a few small aftershocks, nothing big but still worrying! How I'm coping and how I'm doing now compared to 2016 is another post for another day!