January 13 - Time to go home!

I’m ready!  I’m looking forward to my own bed and pillows.  I’m looking forward to being able to read signs and speak to everyone.  That’s not xenophobic but rather frustration that I can’t speak Japanese or read its characters.

I have to talk about something very ironic about the last couple of days.  I had toyed with the idea of staying on the Encore until the end of the next leg in Hong Kong, but I decided to end here so I could see Tokyo.  As it turned out because of a major storm off the southern coast of Japan, the Encore didn’t leave Saturday afternoon as it was scheduled to do.  Instead it stayed here for two nights and only left Monday morning.  If I had stayed on I could have seen the city, probably with a tour or tours, and likely have gotten more out of it than I have on my own.  That’s the way it goes sometimes.

Last night I went to the very traditional Japanese restaurant Wadakura here in the hotel.  The only thing I didn’t have to do was sit on the floor.  I sat at a table and I had an authentic Japanese meal.  It’s called a Kaiseki dinner which is a multi-course meal that includes small dishes of seasonal foods presented very artistically.  I asked if they had an English list of the things I was given and they didn’t.  I’m not sure what all the things were that I ate, but I tried them all.  I know I had both cold and hot sake (I don’t really like either).  I had sashimi which is thinly sliced raw fish and which was delicious.  I had some tempura which included shrimp, asparagus, zucchini and what I think was a lotus slice. I had a sukiyaki course which was thinly sliced wagyu beef simmered with some mushrooms and other vegetables in a broth of soy, mirin and sugar in a little iron pot.  After the food cooked in the broth I was instructed to dip it into a bowl with a raw beaten egg. It was tasty!  Then there was some sushi with raw salmon and eel and a small cup of miso soup.  Last came a dessert which was some kind of custard.  That was the only thing I didn’t take a photo of.  Everything was pretty tasty and I’m very proud of the fact that I ate everything with chopsticks! I was given a fork and western spoon but I didn't use them.  I did the use the Japanese spoon presented with the soup and broth.  I was stuffed when I was finished.  While the portions are small there are so many of them.  I’ve decided I really do enjoy sushi and sashimi, especially when it’s prepared so well and so fresh.  It was a nice evening in a beautiful venue.  Next to me was a stone wall with water running down into a little watercourse along the edge of the restaurant.  The sound of the water gently falling made it a very relaxing place.

Hard to see but the wall has lots of little waterfalls running down and tinkling into the pebbly watercourse below

That's cold sake in a very flat bowl

I'm sitting in the Sakura Lounge in Narita airport.  This is the JAL lounge which evidently Qatar uses as well.  I have to say that I hope I never have to pass through here again.  I left the hotel at the time I was advised to by the hotel staff.  It was a long taxi ride (a little over an hour) and anyone who knows me knows that I like to talk to the driver along the way.  No joy here!  He spoke no English at all so we rode in silence.  It took a long time to get out of Tokyo.  Once past the very modern downtown and close environs we drove through what seemed to be miles of unattractive apartment buildings.

When we got to the airport the driver put my suitcases on a trolley and pointed to the Terminal 2 door.  That was all the information I got from him.  Inside was chaos.  I found an information desk which could only tell me I needed  check-in desks Q or R (I was near F) and that the Qatar check-in wouldn't open until  6:55. There were throngs of people, lines everywhere, and no sign of any seating.  That was about 3 hours later and when I asked if there was a place to sit, she told me something about a lower level for which I never found the elevator.  I lucked out and found a seat, one of five, near the sign that said Q. Around me were lines going to both my left and right and a line of people next to me waiting to get into a "Repacking area."  That stayed constantly busy as I watched people open massive suitcases and transfer things from one bag to the other.  None of the lines ever seemed to get shorter and I just sat and watched.  I asked the people next to me if they spoke English. No such luck.  As 6:30 came I used sign language to ask the lady next to me to guard my seat and my luggage trolley with my massive suitcases, while I set out trying to find where at Q or R I needed to be.  Success!  A Qatar Airways sign lit up and I saw a queue forming.  I retrieved my trolley, thanked my watcher with one of my few Japanese words and got into the queue.  At precisely 6:55 the many airline people who had been standing behind the counters turned the lights on and began check-in.  The young lady at my counter wore JAL clothing and spoke very limited English.  I'm no longer ashamed to ask for wheelchair assistance in these huge airports and that took forever for me to accomplish.  First she brought me a regular chair to sit in, which I told her I didn't need.  Then she finally understood I would like a wheelchair to the lounge and gate.  After a pretty long time which I'm sure annoyed the other people in line behind me, I got checked in, passed through security and was dropped off here.  I feel like I've been traveling for days and I haven't left Japan yet.  It's going to be a very long day!