Send-Off

Morning came and there was a light shower surrounding Tokyo. It was as if the heavens were empathising. It is that time of our journey again when goodbyes must be said.

Mom and Dad have completed their packing last night. It was just a few more things to be stored away, so it was a smooth sailing morning.

We had our final breakfast together for this trip. We had some of the left overs of the bread and eggs we accumulated over the past few days. We talked about the trip and Dad was very grateful for the opportunity to have his cardio rehab in Osaka and Tokyo. We all had a laugh.

When we were ready, we booked our Uber ride. My sister and I assisted Mom and Dad with their luggage. Our ride arrived just as we exited the lobby. Our driver greeted us and gave us a smile before assisting with the luggage.

It was a quick trip to Ueno station where we will catch the train to the airport.

There was a queue in the ticketing counters. We bought tickets from the machine booths instead, but found out that we still had to line up in the manned counter to obtain seating reservation. Later on, my sister and I found out that we could have requested a Tokyo day trip pass that you can avail once you purchased a Keisei Skyliner fare. Something to remember for the future.

The train was comfortable, with blue upholstery. The view outside transitioned from the densely populated central Tokyo, full of multi-story buildings and large billboards, to the suburbs, where modern and traditional houses line the train tracks, to the countryside, where there were rice farms and tree groves with some autumn trees.

On our way up to the terminal we saw these luggage carts, and near the escalators there was a huge sign that said "Cart OK!" We were skeptical at first, but then looking at the cart design we understood that it did look like it was going to be alright. We put Mom and Dad's luggage in the cart and instead of taking the elevators, with a queue of passengers, we headed to the escalators with a sense of adventure. As they said, taking the cart along WAS ok.

After finding out what counter Philippine Airline flights were checking people in, we made our way there. There was a long queue and we noticed they were checking in two different flights, one for Manila, the other bound for Cebu. My sister and I then sat down in one corner, waiting for Mom and Dad to call us so we can help them hoist their luggage up into the weighing scale /conveyor belt.

After checking-in, we went to the next floor to select a quick bite for a light lunch. We saw a food stall serving packed sushi. We purchased a packet, and then looking around, we couldn't find anywhere to sit and enjoy it. We decided to go back near their check-in counters again as it was quiet there.

As we shared our final meal together in this trip, we noticed it was no longer raining outside, but still cloudy. Finally, when the last morsel was had and we had our sips of fluid, we stood up and said our goodbyes. We parted full of hope for our next adventure and took comfort from the wonderful new memories we have just made.Read more