The missing entries in the past 3 days were due to our moving between continents and lack of PC to write on. I had to return my work laptop to IT in Japan and will pick up a new one soon here in Australia.
We have arrived today, quite tired after an 9h overnight flight, though not the longest we have been on this year. We will be staying for 30 nights in a serviced apartment with all the amenities such as fully equipped kitchen, laundry room and even access to gym, pool and sauna, which is a great perk. At $200 AUD per night I think that is a reasonable expectation to offer that to guests :-)
Our goodbye to Japan was quite emotional, after all we have lived there for 5 years so we had plenty of time to get attached to people, places and culture.
We gave a bottle of wine to our landlord of 5 years (we never moved within Japan) as a thank-you parting gift and in return received 3 handmade kimono wallets/purses that were made by his wife's mother (so they must be quite old since him and his wife look like they are in their 80s).
We had an Izakaya party with my colleagues from work which was great fun.
We both cried a bit when we were leaving our house in Setagaya-ku, our home of 5 years, with a beautiful little garden with 3 plum trees and many other interesting plants.
I surely hope I'll be back in Japan someday and will have a chance to see this beautiful country again.