Highlights:
- Subway to airport
- Breakfast at airport
- Layover in Shanghai
- Back to America!
Waking up at 4:00am was not easy, but it had to be done to catch our flight. When I woke up, I felt horrible. My nose was runny, I was super tired, and my throat was really dry. I didn’t know what happened because the night before, I was completely fine. I guess the travelling got the best of me and my body knew it was time to go home.
Anyway, the subways opened at 4:30am so we tried to head out to take the first train. However, there was 2 subway stations right next to each other and google maps was freaking out to to take us to where we needed to be so we walked around in a couple circles until we finally spot a sign with the subway to take. We hopped on and luckily, we didn’t have to switch so we were able to relax before getting to our stop which was the international terminal of the airport. We got off and didn’t have to go far before we found out where we had to check in. Turns out, we were too early and ended up waiting in line for them to open at 6:15am. Oh well, better than being super late and rushing.
When we checked in and got through security, we had a little bit of time left so we knew we got to make the most of it aka last meal in Japan. There was a little food court so we scoped and realized we were running out of time so we decided to share a bowl of ramen and an omakase set. The ramen place already had a long line at 6 in the morning so we knew it was going to be good. Usually airport food is overpriced and tastes okay, but when we got our food, we were thoroughly impressed by the quality and quantity of it. The ramen was al dente and the soup was really flavorful, but not oily at all. The omakase set was actually super fresh and really well prepared. We were amazed this came from an airport!
We quickly finished our food before boarding our flight. Bittersweet, we hopped on the plane again to Shanghai for our layover. This time, it was only a 3 hour layover and we spent most of that time going through security. I don’t know what it was with these lines, but they took forever, even though many of the security gates were opened. So we took out everything and waited for our turn. When we got through, I immediately went to the store to get a tea because my throat was so dry! By the time we were done, it was time to board our second plane back to Los Angeles. I let my travel buddy have the window seat since I knew I was going to knock out the whole time anyway. That I did until there was meals, but I wasn’t feeling well enough to eat everything.
Finally, our 13 hour flight was over and we were able to get out and stretch our legs… at customs. I didn’t have anything to declare so they just stamped my papers and let me go, but not before waiting in another line. At least it was easy. We then walked about half a mile out of LAX to get picked up and I was lucky enough to be dropped off instead of having to wait for an uber.
When we got back to my place, we split up all of our souvenirs and I knocked out for practically 3 days straight. No joke, I would not wake up for long periods of time. Lesson learned? Even though we have a packed schedule, we need to learn to take breaks and relax because it’s not worth being on the go the whole time. I was extremely sad we had to come back to start real life again, but happy that I finally get to sleep in my own bed.
Want to read more about this trip? Click below!
Japan Day 1 [Shanghai / Tokyo]
Japan Day 2 [Tokyo]
Japan Day 3 [Tokyo]
Japan Day 4 [Hakone]
Japan Day 5 [Kyoto]
Japan Day 6 [Kyoto/Nara]
Japan Day 7 [Yamazaki / Osaka]
Japan Day 8 [Tokyo]
Japan Day 9 [Tokyo / Shanghai]
