Day 8 – Trains, Planes, and Shuttles.

The last day in Japan starts with the same thing the first one did; a far-too-early morning for me. This time, it was justified by a series of trains we needed to catch that had already been reserved to line up with the flight to Bangkok. We went down for breakfast, but instead of the buffet we went to previously, the Ryokan had a traditional Japanese breakfast with small private rooms. We were served a platter of over 10 different dishes ranging from tofu and fish to salad and eggs. The delicious meal was concluded with a dessert consisting of some fruit and a coffee.

After one last stroll through the peaceful town of Matsushima, we end up at the station waiting to catch the Tohoku line back to Sendai. At this point, we were getting a little more familiar with the stations we regularly visited, so it wasn’t hard to navigate over to where we needed to wait for the shinkansen. A vending machine coffee and a 20-minute wait later, and we were onboard the bullet train bound for Tokyo station. I know I just mentioned that the stations we had visited multiple times were getting easier to navigate, but Tokyo station is another beast altogether. We picked up our tickets for the express train to Narita airport before asking 3 different station staff for directions to the correct track.

We boarded the final train ride of our trip, bound to what definitely would not be our final flight. After a little while, we pulled into Narita airport and made our way through security. Thankfully, leaving from Narita proved to be a much faster experience than when we arrived here. With plenty of time to spare before our flight, we grabbed some Gyoza dumplings for lunch, and I picked up some of the unique KitKat flavours Japan offers to snack on.

We board the plane, and while waiting for take-off, I had a good opportunity to reflect on the entire Japan portion of the trip now that we were leaving. A lot of things throughout the trip in Japan had started to grow on me. From getting to be fully immersed in the language I’m learning and a culture that intrigues me to an abundance of vending machines and rice-based desserts, the flight out of the land of the rising sun was definitely bittersweet.

While on the plane, I continued doing some Kanji review and listened to music while my dad got through 2 and a half Hobbit movies before we touched down in Bangkok. My first impression of the country would remain my impression at the time of posting this the next day; this country is hot. Averaging around 32-34 degrees celsius this time of the year, my resistance to the cold would provide no help. The airport was pretty empty and very fast to go through, catching a shuttle to our hotel we would be staying the night at before our flight to Koh Samui the next morning.

The staff at the hotel were very nice and the building interior itself was quite luxurious looking. While checking in, we were given a small snack consisting of some crackers and a sweet juice with a unique taste that I still have no idea as to what it was. Our room was also pretty nice, though its amenities were admittedly wasted on us, as we were leaving first thing in the morning. After dropping off our bags in the room, we went down to the hotel restaurant for a quick hite before we slept. I ordered a blueberry smoothie, which was much larger than I had imagined, while my dad ordered a beer. We also got some chicken wings and cheese sticks, which were also good, though not as noteable as the smoothie. Finally, we go to sleep, after another day full of too much transportation.