I’m back in Japan after two weeks in the UK, which is why the blog hasn’t been updated for a while.
If you see adverts claiming that Heathrow Terminal 5 is working, treat them with scepticism. It is true that they didn’t lose my baggage, and I checked in quickly, but the toilets were being flushed by cleaners with buckets of water due to a water supply problem. They failed to get it fixed in the four hours I was there to wait for my plane. On the other hand, the two hour delay in our departure was due to one of the other passengers falling ill just before take-off, which can’t really be blamed on them. Unless it was food poisoning from inadequately-washed food, I suppose.