Day one then….

Early start, probably earlier than was strictly necessary. Always better to get there early I say. “Not this f@£&sing early!”said Tracey when we were at Heathrow over 6 hours before our flight! Ah well, such is life. Killed a bit of time in Costa then a LOT more time in the Three Bells pub.

Despite it costing a second mortgage for a glass of wine, it did have very very comfortable sofas, and we got chatting to a lovely Australian couple who I think had been….well everywhere as far as we could make out. We even did small talk, which, if you have ever met me and Tracey, you'll know is not our strong suit.

Eventually got through security and looked for the Wetherspoons we had been told was airside. And looked. And looked again. Is there a Wetherspoons in Terminal 3? No. No there bloody well isn't. There are plenty of shops like Bulgari and Tiffany but a) you can't eat what they sell and b) I'm fairly sure if we had gone in there they would have called security. Gave up and nommed some Yo!Sushi sushi. Curious psychology/sociology note...even if people sitting nearby know full well that the charging station isn't working they will still watch other people go through all the rigmarole of trying to use every combination of chargers and sockets but will never at any point let them know it's never going to work. This includes me. Why is that? Are we just mean buggers who enjoy watching other people fail? Answers on a postcard to the usual address….

Anyhow,after an hour or so of this entertainment and we got called to the gate and then watched all the holders of first class, business class, diamond card, crystal card, emerald card, ruby card, chintz card, Blockbuster card and every other card holder board first. Slightly depressing. Still the plane was fantastic, the JAL staff could not have been friendlier and there was actual leg room. Tracey was very brave and not at all bricking it on takeoff but free drinks sort many issues. (Note to self: work on Japanese pronunciation as otherwise Nihonshu gets interpreted as "orange juice". Soon cleared that one up though, not having any of that healthy fruit nonsense!)

Slight panic attack when I woke up in the middle of the flight to find that someone's idea of a comfortable cabin temperature would be seen as “a tad excessive” by the current incumbent of Hades. Resorted to getting a cup of ice cubes and using them as a face mask! Cabin crew did turn it down to “would only just melt tungsten” after I nearly passed out in their galley though. Rest of the flight rather lovely and the food was top notch: can't fault a single thing about it. JAL economy class – two thumbs way way up.

Haneda airport very efficient and got through passport control remarkably quickly given the amount of people. Picked up the Shinkansen tickets and the pocket WiFi then bought tickets for the Limousine Bus to get us to Asakusa (And yes I did check I'd got the destination right after an embarrassing fail in a Japanese lesson…sorry Yuka)

Played peekaboo with the cutest baby ever on the coach then got dropped off at Asakusa View Hotel, just a short walk from our hotel. Travelling to Japan can't be this easy can it? Apparently it can. Probably famous last words but actually a really painless journey (apart from a small melt on the plane).