The Trip: Day Six, Tokyo->Narita->BKK

I woke up before the clock again... I guess I am getting used to the routine and then it's already time to go home... I had done all of my packing last night, and since I did not buy much (mostly small trinkets) I have rooms to spare although I think my mom forget my offers to store some stuff in my luggage.

Breakfast... If I remember correctly it's the same as the day before, we stay in the same hotel for a change afterall. This morning it is slight hectic, since it is our last day in Japan so we have to pack everything and load them into the coach bus.

Our first stop today is Narita-san temple, one of the oldest temple in Tokyo area. We arrive quite early that when I went into the main temple, there still performing the morning praying rituals. They put up floor to ceiling glass walls presumably to seperate the praying area from the front area which held the donation box and the shop.

When we walk out, me and my mom notice a group of people (who turns out to be a family of Thais, presumably from another tour group) hurdling over a shop. I went to see what they were browsing it turns out to be a charm shop manned by an elderly man. The charm is a golden color miniture hammer, like the one the god of fortune use for blessing with money. It the hammer part was hollowed and inside contain tiny golden charms in the shape of turtle, frog, gold nuggets, money, your chinese zodiac and dice. The price tag is 1,000 yens per piece, however since there were 4 people hurdling over the shop plus me and my mom, he cut the price to 800 yens and handed out the tiny frog for everone. Then my mom haggle a bit more to 700 yens and we all got that price :P I was the last one to get my hammer (as he will open the hammer to show each people what's inside as well as we have to choose them according to our chinese zodiac) I gestures him to put my frog in my hammer as well but he gestures back that the frog was meant to be put in wallet. So I take my wallet out to show him the despire state of my wallet. He gestured for me put the frog in the coin pocket and then I open it to show him that it's already ripped apart. He got a hearty laugh out of it (as was I XD)

Then we off to Umihotaru (Sea Firefly: comes from the planktons in the area which will emit fainted glow when the water surface is disturbed), an undersea tunnel connection Kawasaki to Kisarasu. Our guide told us that it took about 10 years to built this as a relieve measure to reduce the traffic in the inner area of Tokyo. However, since it took 10 years to built, during that period other measures has to be use, as a results the tunnel has became more of a sightseeing spot (it has a rest area before the tunnel went under). On one floor there were a bunch of gajapong stands and I tried a few of them :) One of the mother in the group seems to take a liking to it as well as she tried quite a few machine :)

Afterthat we stop for lunch at a Shabu Shabu place. It was... not very tasty but then it is our last meal in Japan. I guess their pork is not as tasty but their meats are. The restuarant is on the second floor while the first floor was a supermarket. When we finish our meal we have a bit of time to check it out. And we found a young woman holding her baby who turns out to be Thais. The women in our group got to talk to her a bit and learned that she got married to a Japanese man at the age of 19 and move here where her husband open an Italian restuarant closed by.

Then we off to Aeon shopping mall, our last stop in Japan, our guide said this mall is like Central Ladpraw in BKK where there is a section that runs by the mall itself and the larger section that rented out to various shops. My mom stays in the supermarket section while I check out the mall a bit, before ran into information booth asking where can I find the gajapong machines :P The lady at information said they are in the toy department and boy there must be like 30 machines altogether. I think I got about five of them, while the mother was enjoying herself over this machines and has her son exchange more bank notes into coins for her :).

Much too soon it is our time to leave to make it in time for the Narita airport. Our guide bid us goodbye and compliment us for behaving like a seasonsed tourists in abide by the morning protocol to place the luggage in front of our room so they can be loaded into the bus. For being very friendly to each other that it helps when checking who's missing as well as taking each others for shopping without relying the guides too much. Also how we, at Disney Sea, just went off on our ways into the park without asking them to lead them to each rides, and they mention how one group decided to go together as a group of 40 tourists going from one rides to another and have them running around fetching people when they are missing from the group.

And regarding to that our guide also mention how lucky our group were on several accounts. First the baht was quite strong against the yens 33-31 baht against 100 yens, how the sky clear out the morning we were going up Mt. Fuji, how there were a lot less people going to both themeparks which enable us to pretty much play on most, if not all, the rides, and also how nice our driver is.

Our guide compliment our driver of how friendly, kind, good natures, and good attitude he is, who wasn't complained about the lateness or the long hours, saying that he understand how things goes when they are a trip.

The airport is quite crowded as several group of Thais tourists also leave on the same day. We when along quite smoothly and since my mom still need to buy a few more items as well as the fact that we will not be able to exchange our coins at the bank so I got stuck guarding our luggage at the gate while they went off checking ou the duty free shops. Of which they has not return until the time they open the gate :ppp

The flight back went quite smoothly and considerbly more comfortable than the flight to Japan. When we arrive at BKK airport it took us a while to get our luggage as they airport see fits to load the luggages from three flights onto one conveyer belt.

We then proceed through custom without a hitch, although I was concern over the obvious strawberry box we carried but we were not stop. Then we went in lines get the taxi and then we were back home.

The End of my Japan trip :)