Now that the trip to Japan is over, there will obviously be no more posts, unless Nik wants to add things here and there. It was a great deal of fun, and I want to thank Nik and Ali for being genuinely great travel companions - we had alot of laughs together, and no tears, so that's a plus.
I think I can speak with Ali and maybe Nik when I say this isn't the last time we as individuals will visit the great island nation of Nippon - it's quirkiness and beauty charmed us such that the thought of never going there again is implausible to me at least.
-Dan
Our final day was fairly uneventful, we packed our bags at the hotel, as rain fell on Tokyo for the first time during our visit. After checking out, and leaving our bags at the hotel, we went back to Daikanyama to spend our yens - Ali and I both found some suitably great purchases, including Ali's 90% off mohair jumper. After Daikanyama, we wandered Shibuya for a bit, visiting the Krispy Kreme we had walked by the prevous day (when there was a line of about 50 people coming out of the door). Once in the queue, we were each given a freshly baked dougnut from the shop as a free sample - it was amazingly delcious - soft, warm and fresh from the oven(?).
We eventually returned to the hotel and waited in the lobby for a bit, before heading off to catch the Narita Express we had booked the previous night. After an hour and a half on the train, we reached the gargantuan line at the Qantas check in area. Here we observed as numerous Qantas customers (jerks) tried to have their ridiculously overweight baggage checked in at no cost, or get upgraded to buisness class because they were "sick", whilst delaying the already long line. Eventually we got to the front of the line, and managed to get seats at the front of a section - meaning extra leg room. We ate some dinner (ramen of course), and wandered the airport until our flight was ready.
The third person on the middle three seats was a snowboarder from Sydney, who we shared stories about Japan with - unfortunately, we never found out his name. It was however, a nice change from the usually obnoxious Australians visiting Japan. After 10 hours of on and off sleep, we touched down in Perth, and thus our journey had come to an end.
-Dan
