Day 20, cont.
*This will be the last regular post of this report! I can't believe it's taken me this long (even if the trip was the longest I've ever taken!) and at the same time I can't believe it's coming to an end! I'm a little sad to be finishing it up, but at the same time I have many Disney adventures coming up. There will be at least two more posts after this with various final thoughts, plus souvenir photos that I took after we got home.*
Security wasn't too eventful. I've found that in most international airports I've visited that almost everything you want to do in the airport (restaurants, stores, etc.) is before security and there is almost nothing post-security. Hence why we ate and shopped before going through security closer to our actual flight time.
Real, working payphones in 2019.
On the way to the gate there were machines where you could exchange leftover yen for gift cards in your home currency. M had learned that our bank would accept yen and convert them to dollars for direct deposit in our account, but they only accept bills, so we needed to get rid of our coins. We put all our coins in and got an Uber gift card for about $15. Better than having a bunch of small coins lying around!
One we got to the gate area it was already pretty crowded, but miraculously we found this row of seats WITH charging outlets was free!
But...the outlets didn't work! So THAT'S why no one was there.
We moved to a different row of seats, where this sign was posted by the outlet.
No shavers!
JAL ROYAL CATERING!
We boarded a took off a little bit late. This time we were in a row of three in the center column of seats, but we didn't mind as the guy in our row was quiet and slept most of the time.
Shortly after takeoff a FA came by to confirm our veggie meals and put these green stickers on our trays so the FA who served meals would know where we were:
We were served the same soy sauce crackers as on the first flight and we both took advantage of the complimentary drinks.
Our meals were served before everyone else's and we were offered another drink...so we had more!
The meal was rice, veggies, and a soy-based faux meat. It was very good and we liked it better than the first flight meal.
I guess I listened to Abba on the way! It wasn't enough to just watch a documentary on the first flight, I had to actually listen to their music this time!
I slept a little bit on and off. We passed the time by watching various shows/movies on our screens and I also played some games on my phone.
FLY PRISON (I'm imagining incarcerated insects)
SEND GRAIN
Later we were served a second meal.
This was a lasagna with a cream-based sauce, I believe.
And in case anyone was wondering how my smashed finger was doing: (I don't think it's super gross but I'm using the spoiler tag just in case)
We landed at JFK close to our scheduled time and made our way to customs and immigration. The lines were outrageous, especially for non-US citizens. I felt really bad for them because the staff were holding back the non-US line and letting US citizens go ahead. Some people were complaining they were missing their connecting flights. WHY is this part of the return such a nightmare every time I fly back to the US, but it's always so quick and easy when I arrive in other countries??
Eventually we got through customs, which was helped by the Mobile Passport app. I highly recommend this app for anyone traveling internationally and entering the US. We got to go through a separate, much shorter line and it saved us a lot of time.
We found the rideshare area and took an Uber alllllll the way home to NJ. I'm sure the driver hated us but I did leave a very good tip.
We arrived home around 9pm local time, showered, and crashed. The next morning (a Sunday) I got up bright and early to go back to my church job, and on Monday we returned to our respective schools to get back to work.
Day 20 Stats
Distance: 2.5 miles
Steps: 5946
Flights: 1
Up next: Some final thoughts and photos!
I will have pics of all the souvenirs we got for ourselves and others in a later post.
