The day after our last post we got up at 05:15 to head towards Narita Airport. We made sure our suitcases were stuffed as much as possible (with still taking our messenger bags into account, they would have to fit in our hand-luggage suitcases)
At the airport we double checked that our check-in luggage was below the maximum weight. (While weighing, the couple next to us were desperately shifting stuff around between their suitcases since the woman had way too much in hers.)
At the hand-luggage check-in the staff asked Marcel if he still had stuff like a tablet in his case. Marcel knew he had a tablet somewhere in there but didn’t really feel like taking his case apart to look for it. Strangely the scanning of the case went fine and I could continue. What was even weirder that right after this I opened my case and also saw I still had two bottles of water in the front pocket…
After checking in we ran into several last-minute souvenir-shops which were loaded with all different kind of Kitkats. Since are hand-luggage was already approved we filled the gaps we left for our messenger bags with Saké, Hokaido Melon, Red bean paste and green tea Kitkats.
The flight itself wasn’t that special, the food was reasonable this time, although one of our deserts consisted of 5 different colors of jelly blocks, which were all equally tasteless.
Luckily we both got some decent rest on the plane, so when we arrived back in the Netherlands we were only a little bit tired. Marcel’s parents picked us up from Schiphol and we went back to their house for dinner and some rest.
So luckily not much of a jetlag from the trip. Marcel still has some trouble sleeping because of his back pains though. He went to the local doctor in Leeuwarden and was told he damaged several muscles in his back that are hardly used (but he apparently over-tightened them when preparing for the fall), so the recovery will take some time unfortunately.
In the end we both agreed it was an amazing trip. Although we had “lost” half a day due to Marcels inability to walk down steps and we had to visit a doctor, it was still a fun first to visit a doctor in Japan. The other days were all equally awesome. Sightseeing, especially by bike, was great. Eating regular/semi-regular/Why-are-we-eating-this/We-don’t-even-want-to-know-what-we’re-eating meals was also an amazing experience.
We also brought along enough souvenirs to put around the house to keep reminding us of our awesome vacation, but there’s always room for more…