A valiant effort

The day started with promise. Ok, so in reality it started with the mellifluous tones of Nick coughing. However, on the bright side the day was a sunny, cloudless sky. Don’t push it Gabs, even if you’re itching to go off exploring, let’s see what Nick can cope with. But first to get ourselves checked in online and to book our car to the airport. The latter was a breeze and Nick nearly had another fit of coughing as I skipped through the process on an App. Something he knows I loathe. The former however took both of our attention, using a variety of browsers, turning off our various security systems, standing on one leg and generally doing the Hokey Cokey. No, it didn’t matter what we did or didn’t do, I wasn’t getting a boarding pass. I mused on this issue that perhaps I would have to remain in Tokyo. We gave up battling with the system and headed out. At least Nick was checked in and had a boarding pass.

Nick decided that an hour’s walk to the Imperial Palace was doable, so off we set. Or, he suggested, we could go part of the way by train. Great idea, let’s pretend we’re locals. The system wasn’t too baffling especially when we saw the button saying “English”. That helped a huge amount. First attempt was a fail as we’d apparently dithered too much and the machine spat out our money. Second attempt was a winner though. We worked out where we needed to go and approached the ticket barriers which were all open, so naturally I breezed through. I was nearly caught in a rugby tackle by said barrier gates which suddenly decided to shut at speed. There was much hilarity from us and also some Japanese who could see what was going to happen to me. So with much sign language and the universal Japanese exclamation of “Ahhhhhhhh” we got ourselves through the barriers. However I wasn’t trusting them at all and dashed through, much to the hilarity of said helpful Japanese. Many “arigatos” and off we trotted.

While we waited the two minutes for the train, I noticed a tweeting bird sound and thought it odd, looked in the direction of the tweeting and turned full on to a camera. The cynic in me thought that’s one way to ensure you’re clocked everywhere you go. Hey ho, I’ve got nothing to hide, so maybe I’ll be grateful I’m being spotted every few hundred yards.

By this time Nick was making murmuring noises about needing some coffee. My view was that I hadn’t come all this way just to patronise a Starbucks, so went in search of a local cafe. The trouble is, the Japanese seem to do tea houses or the coffee chains like Starbucks or Tullys. We eventually found one that was neither and proceeded to order our two decaf mochas with soy extra hot. This proved tricky and we were watching more and more items being clocked up on the till. We think our server believed we wanted 2 hot and 2 cold mochas. In the end, we started the process again and settled with 2 decaf black coffees, which were lovely. More thank yous from the staff as we left.

We ambled through Hibiya Park, another non smoking environment which was beautifully tranquil. Lots of count down signs pointing us in the direction of the Imperial Palace, plus the grounds were very visible. Being a Saturday, it was pretty busy. We wandered through an obvious entrance gate and walked to another entrance gate. Ok, that didn’t lead anywhere, so we came back on ourselves. This process happened a number of times, which was starting to become a little frustrating, until eventually I saw a queue. Always a good sign.

But then there was another queue. Nick was starting to flag a bit by now, so the plan was to put him in the big queue while I trotted off to investigate which queue we should be in. And then a large sign greeted me. All Palace tours full today, next available tour on Tuesday. Fail. A swift conversation with a guide confirmed the sign was correct, but there was the East garden to the palace open FOC. We went with the equally disappointed crowds to the gardens. The day was sunny and actually warming up and we started to shed some layers. The gardens were neat if fairly plain. It then became evident Nick was deteriorating so we made the decision to head back to our hotel for some R&R.

We decided to test out the underground as we recognised we couldn’t get back to our hotel on the underground alone and that it would be a change onto the overground. This time I was ready for those pesky ticket barriers. No rugby tackles this time. We’re true professionals now.

It was genuinely with a heavy heart that we went to the hotel lounge for the last time. It was the complete opposite from the previous evening and we were pretty much the only ones in there. We were served by the delightful Sally and the gorgeous Nepalese chap with the amazing eyes whose name I never did learn because I kept gazing at his eyes. He was utterly charming and I was trying desperately to persuade Nick to agree that he was an essential addition to our (my) life. I failed. We spent the evening totally transfixed on the constant movement of the Tokyo landscape. From our position of the twentieth floor, it was like watching a Scalextric set from up on high.

Yet another bright morning greeted us. As we haven’t been able to return with Emirates, Silversea have provided us with the same service and a car arrived early to take us to the airport. I’m clearly not used to fancy travel and I was a bit saddened that our trip wasn’t longer. Reclining armchair seats meant we could easily have fallen asleep. The driver’s rear view mirror was non-existent, so as to give us privacy. The rear view mirror was basically a rear view camera so that the driver could see behind. Oh and then Nick muttered that we had bullet proof glass. We seemed to have a variety of layers of glass, all blacked out, obvs. Blimey, celebs or what!?

The ANA lounge was a bit sparse, but seemed to offer every variety of food and drink that you might want, depending on your internal clock. It was the piano playing that suddenly made me turn around. By now really I should be accustomed to sounds having a different meaning. Yes, a robot trolley wafted past us carrying all the detritus into the kitchen.

Have you ever flown backwards? Ok, good for you if you have, but we haven’t, and I’m here to tell you it’s the most weird experience. We had deliberately chosen our seats so that I didn’t have to repeat myself. After way too many years together, we’ve finally worked out that I need to be on Nick’s right side to make myself heard. Otherwise I’m happily chattering away and he’s oblivious…or maybe that’s just as a result of being together forever. So having carefully chosen our seats we then found ourselves facing the wrong way and therefore me having to repeat myself throughout the trip.

We happily watched the inflight map of our route and, call me simple, but I found great delight in the map showing Cambridge, Stoke on Trent and Scafell Pike. To me, these are iconic places in my life. We had a variety of sumptuous meals and alcoholic beverages on the flight served to us by delightful staff.

My summation of our short time in Japan is that the people are so utterly humble. Why? I have absolutely no clue why. They are deferential, almost subservient and yet, to my mind, they rule the world. They are eons ahead of most countries technically, especially the Japanese toilet, which basically trumps everything else in the world.

I tried the whole sleeping malarkey, but it just didn’t happen, other than me tying myself in a knot with my duvet and lap belt, so I eventually gave up for good. But oh, the power of being able to lift the privacy screen between us so that I didn’t have to suffer the snoring one. That’s another gadget that’s needed for our home.

And finally, an update on the spluttery one. A visit to a UK doctor this time who has prescribed more antibiotics for a week and we’ll see if that blats the bronchitis once and for all.