Multiple alarms — 04:15, 04:20, and 04:30 — were set for an early rise, and those were just mine. There was no way we were missing this flight. It was dark, wet, and cold outside. The M1 and M25 route to Heathrow was straightforward, and we made great time, arriving right on schedule at 06:00 to drop the car off. We dropped the bags, cleared security, and in no time at all were ambling along the secret tunnels to the T5B lounge. Once lounged in the lounge, sausages were clear

We started the day at a coffee shop chain that came highly recommended for its simple and cheap breakfasts. We opted for coffee, a boiled egg, and bread with jam. Komeda’s Coffee — there are loads of them. 600 yen, less than £3 each. Who said Japan was expensive? We took a train to a remote biscuit factory that makes chocolate-filled biscuits — they were everywhere in Sapporo. We were able to use our Suica cards for the first time. They’re virtual cards that you top up with a

One of the things I found most surprising about Japan was that every hotel provides pyjamas. The PJs are usually laid out neatly on top of the bed, rather than tucked away in a wardrobe like robes and slippers often are in Western hotels. According to Google, this is done for a mix of cultural, practical and hospitality reasons. You can look that up for yourselves. We found that pyjamas were provided in both traditional Japanese hotels and Western-style chains. In every case,

A day spent mostly travelling. The day started with breakfast on the plane — 05:30 Tokyo time, or 20:30 London time. Neither is an acceptable time for breakfast. Not far to go now — two hours to landing. I can’t work out where my AirPods are, though they seem close… and charged. We had hot soba noodles for breakfast — a bargain price of £8 — before settling in for an hour’s wait for our next flight up to Sapporo, which promises to be snowy. This will be a surprising change fr