Mum, Fi and us three went to Heathrow in Mum's car, mid-morning, with me driving. It was rather stressful on the hideous roundabout near Fiona's but I coped better with a queue on the M4 and finding the car park at the airport. We checked in and had some food and coffee with Fi and Mum, then went through to airside. I had been feeling OK about leaving and, I suppose, preoccupied with the thought of the long flight, but as always others' emotion brought tears to my eyes. Still, it certainly did not feel that long since we left last time, and yet that was 14 months ago. Hopefully next time we are in Blighty will be for good, or at least for a few years anyway, as I admit to still entertaining some wanderlust; however that might be satisfied by a few decent foreign holidays (funds allowing) when Emily is a little older.
We had to endure more than 90 minutes on the plane before we even took off, thanks to a technical fault. Emily was a bit tetchy having to stay in her seat all that time but managed to stay tear-free. After we were airborne, we watched some TV then had a meal. Somehow the first five hours passed quite quickly and then Emily fell asleep. She looked very uncomfortable in the upright child seat, with her head frequently lolling forward; after a couple of hours she woke and got upset. I took a chance and released her from the seat so that she could sleep on my lap, thinking after her 40-minute nap on the way over that she would not stay asleep for long. However, she ended up staying asleep until shortly before we landed, and that was difficult for me as my lower back and legs were aching a lot being pinned in all that time. I was convinced that the seatbelt sign would be lit every time we hit a patch of turbulence, which would entail waking her and unleashing untold hysterics.
As soon as we got off the plane it was obvious how hot it was in Japan. The terminal was not suffiently cooled to keep me from feeling uncomfortable after so long in UK temperatures. I felt a bit pleased with myself as we passed the queues of tourists to go straight through the 're-entry' channel of immigration, but one piece of baggage took so long to come out onto the carousel that our advantage was probably wiped out. We decided to send the three heaviest bags back to our place via courier - at about ten pounds per piece I considered it money well spent.
We rode back to town in a near-empty Narita Express and hopped into a taxi home from Shinagawa. It did feel very odd to walk through the doors of our apartment building, but satisfying on one level to be back in our own home, however small and bland I find it compared to home.
Nick and I were really tired by then but having made it to 1pm, were determined to go through to the evening before having a sleep. We all went out briefly to do a short re-stock in the local supermarket, which was awful in about 35C with no breeze. Half an hour of complaints from me probably reminded Nick why it had been better to endure a month of separation! Back at home it was obvious that Emily was flagging so I made a meal as fast as I could. We all sat down to eat together, but she barely managed a few bits of veg before she dropped off in her chair with a mouthful of rice unchewed. I whisked her off to bed and we finished eating, but I was also struggling by then and ready to sleep asap. We were both in bed by 8pm.
Emily woke me up several times until 1am, each time needing longer to settle her. The last time I was so tired I snapped and Nick had to rouse himself to come in and calm things down.
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