All in all, a very pleasant evening, with good food, wide-ranging conversation, and a steady stream of good draught beer that kept the inner beast satisfied. It was shortly after nine-thirty when we decanted ourselves out of the eatery, and in what seemed to be par for the course arrived at the bus stand to find the shuttle ready and waiting, seemingly slightly ahead of schedule.
And after several beers through the evening there was no need to attack a vending machine. Not that any such device was to be found in an august establishment like the Okura.
I was, however, determined to get a photograph of the Christmas lights display at the front of the building, and once the bus deposited us we headed down through the mizzle to fulfil that modest ambition, passing our friendly baggage handler on the way.
As a trainee, she'd obviously drawn the short straw as far as pavement guest greeting duties were concerned, and our brief exposure down there and back in the cold, with the wind blowing the muzzle into places it wouldn't normally reach, suggested a need for warmer clothing for the designated guest greeters.
On the way back, I remarked that she deserved a medal as big as a frying pan for sticking to the task, a comment that produced a laugh.
Maybe, on some future visit when the trainee has moved up into senior management we might find ourselves recognized and upgraded to the penthouse.
Not, I hasten to add, that there was anything wrong with the room we ended up with, but one can always aspire to greater things, without any real expectations and, in any case, people who are sent to stand out in the cold need cheering up, n'est ce pas?