Home Again…but not for long!

I arrived back in Tokyo yesterday after a long flight. Public transportation is generally a great way to get around but once in awhile it causes some problems. On Saturday Luke, Ally and Maddie dropped me off at Paddington Station so I could catch the Heathrow Express for the 15 minute ride to the airport. I already had a ticket and got on the next train. After awhile an announcement was made that all trains had been suspended due to an “incident” at Southall. They had no idea when the trains would be running again and because the underground line to the airport was suspended and they were using a bus service it was suggested that we hop in a taxi. Now, that actually sounds easy enough but a taxi to Heathrow airport costs 60 British pounds or about $120. I knew that by the time I got Ally and Luke and they turned around to come back for me I would probably be late for my flight. So I hurried out to find a taxi that would take a credit card. The third taxi in the queue was able to take my card and I was on my way. Traffic was a bit heavy but we made it and    it only cost 53.40 pounds or about $107. Outrageous!!   nov-2007-070.jpg

Today it has been raining. I decided to go to Arisugawa Park to look at the leaves anyway. I almost missed them this year, there are so many on the ground.  You can see in the picture how beautiful they are.

4 Comments

  1. James

    Wow, expensive trip to the airport! Good thing you found a taxi. The same thing happened to me when I was flying home from Amsterdam the last time, except no taxi. I got off the train and had to take a bus to the airport, and it was definitely a good thing that I had left early or I would not have made my flight. We can’t wait to see you.

  2. Ruth

    the girls and i LOVE the video. they wanted to watch it over and over and said that they could make the shapes

  3. dee

    Loved the video and sent it on to Tiana and Jason. He loves “stupid” things!

  4. Hilde

    Hi Vanalee,
    Long time, no see/speak! Remember me, your Dutch colleague from Outpost London? I am cuurently looking for a job, so I was thinking about my time at Outpost London and how much I liked working there! I thought about you and looked you up on the internet, to my surprise you live in Japan nowadays. Really nice website about your life in Japan! Good to know you are doing fine! In the meantime our son was born last December, his name is Melvin, he is really a cute little boy! I was a fulltime mom till now, I would like to work again. We still live in Holland in the house we bought when living in London, we love it, did a lot of renovating the house (build in 1930). Love to hear from you, all te best, Hilde

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