Heading Out to Haneda

Up at 3:15 a.m. and out of the house by 3:40. Gram kindly drove us to the airport and she, along with Jiji, will look after Walter, Escher and Soft-Paws. Kyrie was hungry so we stopped in at 7Eleven for breakfast. Early flight from MYR
to Atlanta then late afternoon flight to Haneda. Airport pretty empty at 4 a.m. got Kyrie plugged in so she could work on her drawings on the iPad.

We are all very excited and a little nervous about this trip. It will be 5 years since Greg and Kyrie have been there (4 for me, thanks mom!) and since the pandemic Japan kept some of the strictest border closures in the world. They only officially opened up to international travelers late last November. It will be interesting to see what has changed in that time. Regardless, this is going to be a great trip.

We have reservations to the Pokemon Cafe for Kyrie, the TeamLAB planets exhibit for Greg and a Yukata (kimono) styling appointment for me and Kyrie. Also our hotel is a stone throw from Akihabara which everyone was happy about. When I told them there was a built in FamilyMart, all concerns evaporated.

The Atlanta airport international terminal is spacious and quiet. We saw ‘vintage’ lunchboxes (many of which Greg and I had used at school), a plane made of corn and randomDa Vinci-esque models hanging from the ceiling.

We were able to snag one of the seats behind the bulkhead so Greg can stretch his legs. Hopefully the flight will go well and the next update will from Tokyo!Read more