I miss...

...tuck-you-bin (takyubin - for those Japan-philes). Now before you wonder if my boys are having trouble tucking their shirts in, let me tell you about this wonderful Japanese service. Takyubin is like the postal service, except you can get them to send just about anything anywhere inside Japan. Such as luggage to your destination. It is incredibly convenient and the prices are reasonable. Just about any little corner store can organise takyubin for you. It is particularly useful for young families with not enough hands to manage the luggage and the kids. A medium sized suitcase under 25kg from Tokyo to Hokkaido (and equivalent to Brisbane to Sydney) would cost around 2200 yen ($AU 27). Not bad. We could really use it on Friday here in Australia. We're travelling to Sydney for our mission's national conference and are arriving early to take in a little bit of the harbour and other sight seeing opportunities down there. Unfortunately, we'll be hauling luggage for the whole family for the five days we're away. We've found a place to store it, but it is not exactly convenient and will take away from the time we can spend seeing the sights while we dispose of it and later, collect it. Aussies, imagine if I turned up at Australia Post with my suitcase and asked them to send it to an address in Sydney. They'd first have a fit and then charge me a massive amount and then I'd need medical treatment! Actually hold that thought, I just checked it on Australia Post's website. It would cost me $AU 37 to post a 20 kg suitcase 80cm x 40cm x 30cm. But they only guarantee two business days. To match takyubin's next day (not just business day) delivery, I'd be paying in excess of $125 and even then it has to be posted on a business day! Oh, I wish we could import takyubin to Australia.