Japan 2026 - Day 16 / Narita Airport & Flight Home

Yippeeeee!!  Going home!!!

Our flight was at 5:30PM, but we didn't wait.  We had breakfast, packed and hit the road.

The weather was great so we decided to walk to the train station and soak in some last glimpses of the city. This meant we didn't have to load our public transportation cards or bother with metro tickets.  We did really well. We loaded a total of 190 000¥ for the entire trip and left behind a measly 88¥. Perfect!

Getting to the airport was simple with the Narita Express 

These posters all over the platforms made me chuckle. How many poor mixed up tourists made the wrong move here? 

We got to the airport around 10AM and wanted to check our bags in....  but the drop of only opened at 2:40PM! OMG!  I feel so stupid now, but in my defense I am so used to carry-on only that I just don't consider these logistics!!

So, we killed some time with coffee and small snack, but I didn't want to eat too much because I was saving the stomach space for the lounge experience.

There was an observatory at the airport so we hung out there for a while watching planes take off. A lot of aficionados up there will professional cameras.

Next we came across these massage pods which gave me the opportunity to get rid of more unwanted coins

FINAAAAALLYYYYYYY time came to drop off the bags, and then off we went to explore the lounge.

I shoveled it all in, and it was all good except the pasta was very mushy.

The lounge was HUGE and there were 2 food / buffet stations that included a soft serve vanilla ice cream station that Frank fully enjoyed!

By about 330 we made our way to the gate. I was still giddy over our free upgrade to business class and the fact that I was in seat 1A! Will I ever be lucky like this again?

The food was good enough. Let's face it it's still airplane food, but tablecloths and plates and real cutlery with cloth napkins really do make a difference! 

For breakfast, I asked for an omelet and they brought me a chicken something whatever. They don't even rhyme, is my accent that bad? I decided to try it anyway, why not...  sadly I didn't like it. Win some lose some I suppose.

Another benefit of seat 1A is that you are very first off the plane.  From the time we landed, going through customs, waiting for luggage and finally sitting in the cab all took less than 30 minutes

Will I ever be able to fly economy again?  Stay tuned to find out 😉

Japan 2026 - Day 15 / Tokyo

Steps today: 17 956  / 11.82km

Back to Tokyo today, our last full vacation day (and honestly: Thank God. We're so fed up!)

No matter where we travel, I have this thing about waking up in my departure city. The idea of having to take a 2-3 hour train ride to get to another city and the airport on flyday is stressful to me.

We took the bullet train of course, and I was excited for another chance at getting pictures of Mount Fuji. I did see it quite clearly from a distance but then when the optimum shots would have been possible, clouds rolled in. Ah well.

We arrived at our hotel in Tokyo sometime around 1130 but of course the room was not ready.

There was not much left on my list, and we didn't even care anymore by now. We just wanted to go home.

We started with a visit to Tokyo Tower, which does NOT look as high as it is!! 300m! We didn't go up, couldn't be bothered. Instead we focused on where to have lunch. We opted for Indian and Frank loved it. I was happy for him that he could have a meal he'd enjoy. We had butter chicken and cheesy naan bread... I feel I'm still full from that meal!

Next was the "Care Garden" which is a memorial to unborn children. Fascinating and tragic.

The weather was getting too hot for me. We wandered around for a while, but I was turning into a puddle. The sun was strong and there was no rescue-shade for me anywhere.

The only thing I wanted to do was to go back and see Shibuya Crossing at night, so that meant we had about 4 hours to kill.

We went to the Tokyo Palace again for a drink and maybe a snack. I decided (and by that I mean pounced) on their Strawberry Trio Parfait. They were not giving it away, but I thought why not go out with a bang!

It was composed of 3 different kinds of strawberries, each more delicious than the last!

By about 5ish, we checked back into the hotel, our home for one last night in Japan.

And then around 6 we headed out to Shibuya. I'm so glad we did! It was totally worth it!

The perfect end to the vacation! It was lively and busy and fun and CROWDED!!!

We enjoyed our trip to Japan, it was a very nice vacation... but the truth is that it just wasn't for us. No regrets whatsoever, but I won't ever be back. It's too far and I simply prefer Europe!

Japan 2026 - Day 14 / Kobe & Osaka

Steps today: 22 753 / 15km

Along with Hiroshima, I had been anticipating this day since the beginning of my trip planning: Having a Kobe Beef steak in Kobe!

We arrived around 8:30AM and started with a visit to the port area to take in the panoramic views from the tower. Nowhere near as impressive as the previous observatories, but still very enjoyable

After leaving the port area, we walked around a bit, but in all honesty our hearts were not really in it. We were both generally fed up of Japan and our minds were already turning towards going back home. The goal here in Kobe today was lunch, not sightseeing, however it was still too early to eat so we had to wander around a bit.

We walked up and down the arcaded shopping street which is over a kilometer long!

At around 11AM we got serious about eating. We were impatient, plus wanted to get in before the lunch crowds in case reservations were needed.

We picked this place because we just liked the vibe and it had the authenticating medal to certify they provided the real stuff!

I took a picture of the menu for posterity. We went for the Fillet but I did hesitate between that and the Chateaubriand - I choked over the aprox 40$ difference which in hindsight is a little dumb, but whatever. 

Frank was so excited about the meal that he said he wanted to order the 330g portion. I reminded him he was forgetting to move the decimal over correctly and that would be about 800$!!  We laughed at that for a long time; imagine the sticker shock when getting the credit card statement. LOL

We opted for the 110g portion each.

Frank had beer, and I ordered a half bottle of Japanese red wine. It was SO good I resolved to check to see if they had any a the airport duty free to bring home.

Almost all the places that serve Kobe Beef Steak are Teppanyaki Style which I frankly don't enjoy. Bad memories of flaming volcano onions and flying food at Benihana made me extremely leery, but I had nothing to worry about.  It was all very dignified.

And so freaking delicious! OMG I so so so so get what the fuss is about. What a shame that the price is so prohibitive, I can't image ever paying this much for a meal ever for the rest of my life. This was really truly a once in a lifetime experience. Zero regrets.

We were done by noon and hit the road back to Osaka.

We didn't really have any solid plans for the afternoon. The only thing left on my list was to see the night lights in a particular part of town closer to Namba, so we just wandered around Umeda for a while...

... and then a drink at the bar in the Time Out Market

We made it to Ebisuhigashi by about 4PM and explored a bit...

.... but like I said before, I wanted to see it lit up so we had to go have supper somewhere to kill time since the sun only goes down around 6PM.

Well, I have no memory or pictures of what we did...  but I remember that we were fed up after we ate and never made it back. 

I know we were back at the hotel before 6:30PM because I took a picture of the subway exit of our home stop for posterity.

Osaka was my favourite home base and I really enjoyed our time in this city. Overall, I was getting fed up and I was glad we were moving on to our last stop of the trip early the next morning.