Back to the future

After turning off four blaring alarms, Christian got up and left at 5:00 a.m. to get the car. But the rest of the family also got out of bed faster than usual. That was because we were going to our favorite country, Japan.

Despite the early hour, there was already a lot going on in Waikiki. Before we could return the car, we had to refuel. However, since we had only driven about 200 km in the three days, we thought we wouldn't need to refuel so much. Although the tank was almost empty, we thought it was probably due to the small tank capacity. But when almost 40 liters poured into the tank, Christian slowly started to open his mouth in amazement. This average consumption is quite impressive!

Afterwards, we drove with the convertible on the highway and to the airport for the last time. There, we returned the car and first looked for our check-in counter. As much as there was still going on in Waikiki at this early hour, there was very little activity at the airport. We had to ask two employees where our check-in counter was. After walking through about 100 meters long, still dark check-in halls, we found our four small check-in counters in a small, also quite dark corner. There was a small line of fellow travelers. So we obediently lined up and waited until it was our turn. At check-in, we had a new employee who had to be trained. What might otherwise be annoying turned out to be lucky for us. Because during the inspection of the children's vaccination certificates, this employee, the first of many who had already checked the vaccination passports, noticed that the children's birth dates were entered incorrectly. We actually expected this to be a problem since it was not correct. But the employee just said, "Oh, it's just one day." So we checked in without any problems and also got nice seats at the rear of the plane, where it was relatively empty compared to the front part. The boarding process was surprisingly uncomplicated as well. Whereas American airlines have 25-30 different booking classes with different boarding priorities, this airline didn't have anything like that. First, parents with small children were allowed to board, then everyone else. Everything went as it should for the Japanese, remarkably disciplined, calmly coordinated, and smoothly.

The airplane was very modern. Although there were no televisions or other gadgets (you could rent pillows or blankets for a bargain price of 15 €), the flight attendants seemed to run a marathon during the eight and a half hour flight. Every 5 minutes, the flight attendant came by and smiled at us. If you stared at her for too long, she asked if you wanted something. When she wasn't passing by, she was cleaning the toilets. That was after about every second passenger. In addition to the cleanliness of the toilets, we also admired the elegant design of the toilet rooms. Going to the toilet was fun there.

The flight was only about 70% booked. There was an empty row behind us. When Heike had made herself comfortable and lazily lay down, she fell asleep relatively quickly. But she hadn't counted on the flight attendant. She woke Heike up and told her that she couldn't sit in other seats. So Heike went back to her seat pouting but obediently. Apparently, she hadn't smiled as nicely as Christian. Because he lay down in another empty row. The flight attendant did see him, but let him sleep in peace.

We arrived in Tokyo on time. We had taken off on April 2nd at 9:30 a.m. After an eight and a half hour flight, we arrived in Tokyo on April 3rd at 1:30 p.m. (That also explains the title).

As soon as we entered the arrival hall, we were greeted by a group of diligent helpful Japanese people. They escorted us so closely to the next points that you could guide an ant colony through here without losing a single ant.

The immigration process was smooth and very pleasant. There were friendly helpers everywhere who looked like little elves in their uniforms. They first pointed you to a comfortable chair and patiently waited for you to try to navigate through the registration website yourself. After we clicked incorrectly for the fifth time and a sudden nervous twitch went through the elf, she kindly asked if she could help us. Her help consisted of taking our phone and simply doing the registration herself. After that, we had to go through the Corona registration. For that, we were directed to a small area where dozens of helpers were waiting for us. You just hold out your phone and they press all the buttons for you. You only had to enter your name. Everything else seemed to be standardized. When this procedure was also over, we could take our train. As old hands, we knew immediately where we needed to go.

Japan has a fascinating effect on us once again. The people are so polite that you feel the urge to be extremely polite as well. The Japanese people also look like they stepped out of a fashion magazine. We immediately felt out of place with our sloppy look. Everything is also very peaceful and orderly. No one rushes to the trains, there is no overtaking, and there is left-hand traffic like when driving, which everyone also adheres to. Some might call it pedantic, but it actually reduces a lot of stress.

We were also picked up on time by our landlord and were able to take over our motorhome.

The motorhome is great! Although there is a lack of a small shelf here and there, the biggest advantage is that we have a diesel heater that works even without electricity. Unfortunately, that was not the case last time.

Surprisingly, Heike started cleaning the motorhome. (Who would have thought?!?) She found the motorhome not clinically clean. Heike's belief in Japanese cleanliness was severely shaken. Since then, every place we visited was put to the test to see if it was really Japanese clean.

After the introduction to the motorhome, we drove to our favorite supermarket, which we also went to first last time. They have the most delicious sushi there. So we bought plenty of groceries and sat down in the dining area of the supermarket. Because there is hot water and a microwave there for the food you bought at the supermarket. We sat there, ate, and waited for our favorite friend in the supermarket: the man who hands out discount coupons. After we had eaten, our dear friend had already done his work to our satisfaction. He had neatly discounted all the sushi that was freshly prepared that morning and would only be sold that day. So we bought sushi for the next few days and left the supermarket in a good mood.

After that, we drove to our rest area, where we were also last time. Really tired because without the time difference it would already have been 1:00 a.m., we fell into our beds.