December 15-16: Vancouver to Tokyo breakfast
Our flight time was 3:05 PM, so we had a lot of time to kill. A leisurely breakfast was followed by a long sojourn at the pool. So long that Miwa actually asked to go back to the hotel room, the first time in living memory that I didn’t have to drag her kicking and screaming away from a pool.
Girls in pool
Check out time was noon, very convenient for our departure time, so we made our way through check in and to the gate with no sense of urgency.
Zomies The flight was good, we flew just west of Campbell River, so Jill and the girls were able to look out and see home. I was trapped in the middle of the plane, so didn’t get to see. The girls were asleep from about 2 hours into the flight, until about an hour and a half before landing, while Jill and I didn’t sleep at all. map
home
sleeping Miwa was not a happy camper with the interrupted sleep, but she made it through
The only snag on the way out was when we got to immigration and didn’t have Nancy’s address and phone number on the immigration forms, and the internet WiFi chose that moment to cease functioning. Luckily, we have an international plan and could get onto cell service and got a hold of Nancy. We eventually got it sorted and made it through to meet Nancy, Mitzi and Tak before boarding the train back to Nancy’s. train Unfortunately, we ended up going through downtown Tokyo close to the peak of rush hour and had to push our way on with baggage in tow, and then be pushed further and further in at each station until it was time to turn the tide and push for the doors when we got off at our station. I was very glad to be taller than almost everyone, or it would have a very claustrophobic experience. The poor girls took it quite well, all considered. nonos This is the first time we flew into Haneda instead of Narita, and it made a huge difference! It was less than an hour by train from the Haneda airport where it would have been at least 2 from Narita. 
