Friday 5th April / Saturday 6th April 2024

Friday 5^th April / Saturday 6^th April

SHE SAID:

Today’s Blog entry is a weird double entry, as Friday & Saturday have melded into one 24-hour period with us flying from Japan to England.

We were at Julian & Kiyoka’s till 3ish & were given a big send off from the whole family before going to catch the bus to Haneda Airport. We had a 4 hour wait at the airport before we could check in. The flight left at 12.05am on Saturday morning.

The first leg to Dubai was 11 hours long. We had a quick change of planes & gates at Dubai for our second leg to London Gatwick. This flight was a further 7 hours. Both were long & tedious & the bits of sleep we managed were poor, as they always are on long haul flights.

We landed into Gatwick in the typical grey gloom of an English day. The taxi back to Horsham was good, no stuffing around with trains.

It was a light tea of soup & toast before an early night.

Kiyoka playing the Sanshin, a traditional southern island instrument
(the more common Shamisen is played on the main islands)
Mum trying her luck

At the airport

Dubai

The patchwork of fields we flew over
coming into Gatwick

HE SAID:

Friday and Saturday were a tiring, dull time, but it was good to finally get to Jan's in Horsham after 30 or so hours since leaving Julian and Kiyoka's house. There were no major events or incidents for the whole journey, though Jan managed a few glasses of sleeping draught before boarding at Tokyo Airport. Dubai Airport was huge, different, and quiet. They aim for the quiet, with no PA announcements, and minimal other sounds. We couldn't see much of the place from our plane window as we were over a wing, but the air was very hazy, whether it is heat haze, dust, or smog I don't know.