Days 10, 11 & 12, in which we prepare diligently, get far too drunk and celebrate my birthday

During our brief period in London to regroup, plan and prepare, we spent a lot of time sleeping and even more time trying to work out where precisely we wish to visit in Japan. It is a very big country, it seems, and not all of it particularly well served by the shinkansen. Nagasaki in particular looks like a pretty major city and yet is about as hard to get to as flying to the Moon. The Japanese travel route finder effectively gave up and suggested walking there from Fukuoka (where the bullet train grinds to a halt), although we've since found some hidden train lines which might - we hope - be operational during daylight hours.

We also went shopping. Somehow we succeeded in buying lots of things which were not on our shopping list (a sleek and super-lightweight Samsonite suitcase, a new red rucksack, around three and two third bottles of chenin blanc, etc.) and nothing that was on the list (beach shorts, sun block, sufficient yen to keep us alive three weeks, etc.). The three and two third bottles of chenin blanc - taken in situ at the New Players bar under Charing Cross - also set back our productivity significantly.

We awoke on Day 12 at midday with thumping hangovers, and after a hurried breakfast of coffee and ibuprofen (and opening my birthday presents) rushed back down to Charing Cross to meet with some London friends to say adieu, farewell and nice knowing you, and to celebrate my birthday a couple of days too early. It was lovely to see some familiar faces - and quite a few completely unfamiliar ones - and to absorb another bottle of chenin blanc.