Alvinology goes to Japan – Day 14 of 14

This is my last blog entry on my two weeks trip to Japan. It was a great holiday and on the last day, all of dreaded going back to Singapore to return to work again.

Nonetheless, Japan is a very expensive place to stay in and we were also running low on cash already. Rachel was also beginning to miss her family. While Mark and I generally enjoyed the cold weather, Rachel and Meiyen were having a harder time getting used to it and cannot wait to busk in the sun again in tropical Singapore.

We woke up early on the last day to grab some breakfast at the hotel before setting off for the airport. The plan was for Mark, the driver for the day, to drop the three of us off together with the luggage at the airport before he proceed alone to return the car at the rental centre which was a distance away. Mark would then take a train ride back to the airport to meet us. This would save the cost of three extra train tickets and having to lug the heavy luggage through the train station.

It was Valentine’s Day that day. There was a video crew going around in the airport filming Japanese couples and children, giving away free chocolate to those who were interviewed.

We did quite a fair bit of last minute shopping at the airport to clear some of our remaining loose Japanese currency. We also had our final serving of Japanese soft-serve ice cream in Japan.

While waiting for our plane, a lady approached us to conduct a survey on tourists’ impression of Japan. Meiyen and Mark had fun answering the questions and were rewarded with some small gifts.

We were falsely alarmed when the security staff at the airport called out for me over the announcement system. Apparently, the thorough Japanese airport staff had found a contraband item in my suitcase – a pocket lighter which I bought as a gift for a friend! I was made to open up my suitcase and remove the offending item in full view of all the other passengers. It was rather embarrassing, but it helped that the security staff was very polite and professional. He told me to keep the lighter in my jeans’ pocket instead of putting it in the suitcase.

On board the SIA plane, Rachel had a can of Asahi beer, growing used to it while in Japan. Both of us watched a Japanese movie on the in-flight entertainment system. Rachel watched a movie about a cat while I watched one about a homeless boy who lived in a playground.

We dozed off midway.

Before we knew it, we were already back in Singapore. That concluded our Japan adventure. 🙂

Links to all my previous blog entries on my Japan  trip:

Day 1 – Kansai Airport, Hokkaido

Day 2 – Skiing, Otaru

Day 3 – Asahikawa, Asahiyama Zoo

Day 4 – Sledding, Shiroi Koibito, Crab Buffet

Day 5 – The 60th Sapporo Snow Festival

Day 6 – Staying with the Asai, Shōnan

Day 7 – Ueno, Tokyo

Day 8 – Shibuya and Akihabara, Tokyo

Day 9 – Ikeda, Osaka

Day 10 – Kobe

Day 11 – Kyoto

Day 12 – Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and Dotonbori

Day 13 – Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and Mt. Rokko

Day 14 – Return to Singapore

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