December 21st: Homeward bound

Thursday morning saw me up at 6:00 ith my final preparations for the trip home. Got to Shinjuku nice and early only to discover that the 8:03 Narita Express had been cancelled due to a points failure, and so I had to head to Nippori and then take the Keisei line. Still managed to arrive in plenty of time for check in, however.

Flew wih Virgin Atlantic, and it was a smooth and comfortable flight, despite being sat in front of two guys who went on and on about their Japan (and other travel) experiences for practically the entire flight.

The fog was really thick at Heathrow -- real pea-souper stuff -- so thick in fact that we lost sight of the wing outside. We were informed by the pilot that we would be landing using the automatic landing system, which was a new experience, but it went very smoothly.

Was through baggage claim and immigration in no time, thought I had to remove my glasses at passport control, as I now look nothing like the picture in my passport!

Then it was through to the arrival hall where my father was waiting. After having been away for almost ten years, it was an odd feeling at first, because time had obviously passed, but at the same time it was like picking up again from last time. For me, it was difficult trying to choose what to say, as there is so much catching up to do that I didn't know where to start.

Had a coffee and a chat and then had a leisurely drive down to Folkestone.