We said goodbye to Hagi, picked up Miles' glass, and drove south. The day's journey was mostly about driving to Fukuoka, dropping off the car, and then resting at the airport hotel. To break up the day, I decided to have us stop at the Akiyoshido Cave. We were only the second car in the main parking lot. We grabbed our umbrellas because the weather looked unsure, and within seconds it began to rain.
There was a main walkway up to the cave, lined with shops. The town seemed to be barely functional, with 2/3 of the shops closed down. There were a handful of people on the way to the cave. As we were entering, a large tour group was departing, so we had the place mostly to ourselves, with only a few other couples around. It was a one kilometer walk, with tons of limestone formations. At the end, Miles declared it to be his favorite part of the trip so far.
Originally, I had planned to have us go to a mini pig cafe in Fukuoka. Unfortunately, the car rental return did not go as smoothly as I had planned. I booked through Hertz, but they gave it to the Toyota Rent a Car. The Hertz website showed a return address, which is where I navigated to. It was a very tight space with tons of people returning cars. We gave the keys away, had the car inspected, and removed our luggage. We were sent to the desk, where I encountered a very difficult language barrier exchange. The person who accepted the car, came inside and explained to me that I was supposed to return it to the international rental return, and this spot was the domestic. The international return was on the other side of the airport, about twelve minutes away. We loaded up the car again and set out.
The international return spot was completely empty, with a staff that understood English. The plan was to reach our airport hotel directly from the subway connected to the airport. In order to get there, however, we had to take a shuttle from the rental to the bus stop of the international departure side of the airport, and then take another bus to the domestic side, which was where the subway was. Two stops later and we were at the correct station. We had to ask directions at an information booth on how to actually get out of the station, because it was a multiple basement level mall slash station. Our hotel was right outside.
By this point we were tired, and it was raining, so Miles wanted to stay in. I left to get dinner. While navigating to a ramen place featuring thinner noodles that represent the region, I encountered a small cafe with a cat operating the cash register.
The next day we flew to Tokyo and settled into our hotel. Miles had forgotten his headphones on the airplane and was pretty upset. I searched google maps for potential spots that might have his headphones. I walked to the Sony Headquarters in Ginza, which had a wide assortment of products, but did not have the ones I was interested in, in stock. He directed me to the nearby Bic Camera. The bic Camera had the exact same model headphones that he had had. I had noticed that my earpiece's wire was exposed, so it was time for a replacement for me. With the Japanese exchange rate combined with being a tax free purchase, a replacement set for me would be slightly cheaper than usual. After bringing the tag to the cash register, to exchange for the actual item, they informed me that they were out of stock.
The next day was Miles' last full day of the trip. Our main mission was to get cotton candy for him, at the Totti Candy Factory. I don't recall having visited this area before, but it was a mob scene, filled with tons and tons of tourists. We got him the UFO shaped cotton candy. I decided to get what I later found out was a crepe cone, with mostly whipped cream and not ice cream. It was a crepe wrapping the whipped cream and served like an ice cream cone.
There was the same chain of the mini pig cafe here, which was a two minute walk away. When we arrived, it said that it was by reservation only, and they were all reserved for the day. I had never encountered a reservation system before, so I had not thought to check the site for this. There was a Bic Camera store nearby, in Shibuya. We could have walked or taken the train. Miles chose the train.
We went to the audio section but couldn't find the model that I had wanted, so I asked the staff. They said that they had it just next store in their extension store, 2 buildings down. I was finally able to purchase it.
Miles departed the next day without issue. It was a smooth and easy process.
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