Day 14 - Last Day in Tokyo

We find ourselves nearing the end of our journey. Two weeks have flown by. We've flown over 12,600 miles from the US to Japan, and back.  Inside Japan, we've traveled more than 1,130 miles, 518 miles by plane, more than 600 miles by long-distance train.  According to my Google Timeline, we've logged almost 170 subway/tram/bus miles while in Japan.  Later on, we'll figure out what we've spent on the trip, but I'm less interested in the money spent, versus the experiences we've shared.

For starters, I've learned it was an absolute delight traveling with Kylee.  She was always keen to try something new or different.  Mona and I remembered much from our previous trip, and Kylee was keen to ask great questions and offer helpful suggestions.

We started our morning early, repacking our bags, one last time.  Kylee and Mona each grabbed coffee or snacks from the 7-Eleven or the grocery across the street.  As we completed our checkout, we now had an hour or two to kill, before we needed to get Kylee to her 4PM JST departure at Haneda Airport (Mona and I wouldn't leave until 5:45PM JST).  While the hotel did offer a shuttle to Toyosu Station (a local bus station that offers a direct shuttle bus to Haneda Airport), it only ran at four intervals in the morning.  So, our plan became doing a little exploring, then finding a way to get ourselves to the airport.  In a pinch, we could always take a taxi for about 8000 yen....

We dropped our bags at the front desk, planning to pick them up later and head to the station.  A nearby mall, Urban Dock, was the perfect way to eat some time.  The bus stop was directly in front of the hotel, making it easy to catch the bus.  Hopping on, we found we only had to go three stops to get there.  In just a few minutes, we reached the mall, then split up to do our thing.

I wandered by myself to a coffee shop called Komeda.  You could get a booth or a semi-private counter space, complete with power outlets.  I ordered a large coffee and tiramisu!

The shop was busy, with customers coming and going, but it was never, ever loud.  Like much of Japan, it felt more like being in a library than being at Starbucks.  I used the time to charge my phone and battery, and try to figure out our last challenge: catching the Haneda-Airport Limousine Bus.  

It wasn't hard to find the website, but all of the links seemed to indicate you needed to reserve seating a day in advance.  This made me sweat, because a taxi would run 8000 yen, but the bus was only 800 yen per person, plus a little more for each extra bag...

Meeting back up with Mona, we headed back to the front of the mall, to meet Kylee and head back.  With the extra time, I walked over to Toyosu Station and found the bus stand for the airport.  Aha! To my relief, the sign had more information, indicating not only could board the bus without reserving tickets, the tickets could be purchased with Suica, the travel pass.  The buses were large motor coaches, with ample space for luggage underneath.  This was a nice change from the many city busses we'd squeezed onto.

Armed with new information, we made a plan to go back toward the hotel, charge our Suica cards with enough fare for the bus, continue to the hotel and get our bags, then return in time for the 1:15PM JST bus.  The listed arrival time for that bus was 1:50PM JST, good timing for Kylee's flight.

The walk was less than ten minutes, and we had no trouble getting our cards charged.  Grabbing our bags and heading back, Kylee got off to a great start, and saw first-hand how youthful vigor got her to the bus well ahead of us.

After a brief wait, the bus soon arrived.  The driver opened the luggage compartments, and began boarding all the passengers with reserved seats.  Even though there was a long line of reserved passengers, they filled less than half the bus.  We were at the head of the non-reserved line, and easily got seats!

In 30 minutes flat, the driver unloaded our bags at the appropriate terminal.  At the gate, we helped Kylee find her luggage drop off and said our goodbyes at the security line.  She made her flight was back home in just a few hours!

Mona and I used the last of our time in Japan to roam the exquisite shopping in the airport; not kiosks or little carts, but full-fledged stores, with shelves of Japanese goodness!

The security line was long and serpentine, stretching the length of Terminal 3.  Yet, we cleared security in 25 minutes or so - not too shabby!  Our return aircraft was a Boeing 787-10, much newer and cleaner than the 777-100 (an early model 777, much louder and narrower than the 787) we flew from Dulles to Tokyo.  Our flight was largely uneventful, passing the time with our tradition of watching a movie together (Empire of Light) and napping when possible.

After half a day on a plane, we landed in O'Hare, waded through customs and found our luggage.  Driving back to Kalamazoo, however, was a real chore.  Construction and accidents dotted the highways, stretching our drive home to over 3.5 hours.  Still, we were fortunate to have our own bed to sleep in once again.  I just miss having a bidet in the bathroom (and Mona misses the high water pressure in the showers!).

Thanks for following along on our adventure!