Sorry for the silence on the Japan front. Acting as a full-time tour guide has eaten all my time (along with actually seeing the sights and eating all the food). I promise to remedy this soon but, in the meantime, here are some of the things I will miss about Japan.
- Toilets – there are so many interesting buttons to push and, best of all, heated seats!
- Being a normal-sized person
- 100¥ stores – best shopping ever
- 100¥ grocery stores
- Food – I’ve loved everything I’ve eaten from Kobe beef to sea urchin
- Grape Fanta
- Trains, particularly bullet trains
- Orderly queues, especially for getting on trains
- The Winnie-the-Pooh that I didn’t buy at Tokyo Disneyland (he was so huggable)
- Being able to take my shoes off in restaurants
- People randomly giving me tea (kind of like Morocco)
- Hot towels in restaurants
- Stumbling across beautiful temples and shrines
- Finding ways to communicate that don’t involve a shared language
- Service with a smile (and lots of bowing)
It’s been a great trip if a little too action-packed. I’ve visited Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Tokyo but feel that there is so much more I need to see. Time to start planning a return trip, I suppose.
So good to hear from you since your silence had me slightly worried! Japan sounds amazing albeit from the things that you will miss about the country! I wish you a safe and pleasant trip home and all the best for the planning of a return visit. Lots of love, Liz x