UK to Japan

Posted on 2006/04/02 14:51:19 (April 2006).

[Saturday 1st April]
Today I flew back from the UK to Japan. It was all pretty run-of-the-mill really. I checked out of my hotel in London around 8:30, and headed over to Paddington, which proved to be quite handy for buying last minute omiyage (souvenirs). In Japan edible souvenirs are very much de rigeur, and so the little Sainsbury's in Paddington served my requirements perfectly. I was also particularly pleased that I finally managed to spend the WH Smiths voucher I'd been given as a leaving present from my previous company, over a year ago. Better still I wasn't subjected to the usual slap in the face of being given more vouchers as change, instead I got hard cash with which I duly bought a cheese, tomato and basil pasty from the West Cornwall Pasty Co.

Once the souvenir shopping had all been done, I got on the overpriced but very handy Heathrow Express to the airport. The airport was very busy, and despite getting there almost three hours before my flight, I still seemed to spend the majority of that time in queues. I was also bitterly disappointed to find Terminal 3 doesn't have any KLM/Northwest/Skyteam business class lounge, so I couldn't flash my gold card anywhere, and had to endure the humiliation of waiting with all the rest of the cattle flying economy.

The flight was OK, I spoke to the Japanese guy sitting next to me quite a bit, as he'd been in England on a language course, and was keen to get in some practice it seemed! Also watched a total of three films - that Narnia film, Memoirs of a Geisha, and a slightly unusual film called The Big White. None of them were fabulous, but all were watchable and helped to pass the time.

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