Watching the paint dry.

Well there are just four more days left until we get on the plane and fly out to Haneda. After the year Takayama and I have had we are both yearning for our first onsen (volcanic hot water bath). We will be in our favourite Riokan by the 15th December and no doubt I will report to you regarding the stresses and strains of having to soak for days in steaming water whilst looking out over the verandah at the most amazing mountain views.

What is also exciting my "pen" is the idea that we are flying with British Airways. Now you can call me a cynic if you like but I just know that we are going to have a hell of a time with surly staff and shortage of supplies. Still, they would have to go some to beat the disaster which Virgin Atlantic have become. Our last flight with them, and I do mean my last flight, we were informed one hour into a twelve hour flight that they had run out of tins of beer. The explanation for this shocking failure of customer service was that the flight out from London had drunk all of the beer for the return journey and as they don't stock up in Tokyo that was that.

Thankfully we will arrive in the land of customer service where the comfort and security of the paying client is the first and foremost concern. I will be assuming the position of the eager, hungry and thirsty customer keen on being served and kept satisfied. All the time I will watch and learn and then communicate to you the small humble insights into this culture on the edge of the world. In the meantime, I am sitting here watching the paint dry.

And finally, why am I so excited to be flying into Haneda? Well from our balcony we can see the planes climb into the sky and when the get about 20 seconds above the ground after take off they have to bank a severe right turn and spin around to face out to sea. I can't wait for that on our return. Other than that, as the map below shows, we are about 25 minutes by taxi from the airport and that is just brilliant.