Migratory Musings: August 2018

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Asian Adventure: All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

Asian Adventure: Roof of the World Tour Overview
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Asian Adventure: Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Asian Adventure: Regent Beijing Hotel
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Dongcheng District
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Great Wall
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Run-ze Jade Garden
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Legend of Kung Fu
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Tiananmen Square
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Forbidden City
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Asian Adventure: Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Asian Adventure: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Potala Palace
Asian Adventure: Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Asian Adventure: Viking Emerald
Asian Adventure: Shibaozhai Temple
Asian Adventure: Cruising the Three Gorges
Asian Adventure: Three Gorges Dam
Asian Adventure: Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Asian Adventure: Wuhan - Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Shanghai Museum
Asian Adventure: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Asian Adventure: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Asian Adventure: Tokyo - City Tour
Asian Adventure: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
Asian Adventure: ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
Asian Adventure: All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

Date: October 24, 2017
Flight: NH 174 NRT-IAH
Seat: 2A (ANA Suites)
Aircraft: B777-300
Depart: 11:15 AM
Duration: 12h 15m

I left the ANA Suites Lounge, went down the escalator to the main floor and my gate was a very short walk from there. I left the lounge around 10:30 AM since I wasn't sure how far I had to go and I wanted a little time in the gate area to get my bearings before the scheduled boarding time of 10:45 AM. Our pretty B777 was parked at the gate with its nose not far at all from the window in the gate area but my camera burped and the photo I tried to take did not come out.

At about 10:40 AM an announcement was made by one of the gate agents (who all looked like they were 15 to me!) that boarding would begin soon and she explained the various lanes where we should line up based on the cabin we were flying or our Star Alliance status. I liked that in addition to having a number of gate agents in the area, there were overhead monitors making people aware that they'd need not only their boarding passes but their passports opened to the photo page.

Pre-boarding of one wheelchair and one family with small children didn't take long at all and exactly at 10:45 AM (this IS Japan, after all!) those of us in the First Class cabin were allowed to board. In an "only in Japan" moment, after I'd been checked by the gate agent there was still a little bit of a walk around a corner to reach the jet bridge. Standing there were a number of the other gate agents and even some maintenance workers, and they all bowed as I passed. I sure won't be seeing that at a US airport anytime soon! As I walked down the jet bridge to the plane, it split into two paths with the one on the right heading toward the middle of the plane for Business and Economy passengers and the one on the left for First Class.

When I reached the plane I was greeted by Mami (mah-mee, but not "mommy"), who would be my flight attendant for this trip. I was in 2A, the window seat, and she said that since only 3 of the 8 First Class seats were booked for this trip, she'd make my bed across the aisle in 2D. Cool, two entire suites just for me! Not only that, but the other two people in First were on the other aisle so I had the whole left (port) side of the plane to myself for the 12+ hour flight!

ANA First Class Suite

Asian Adventure: ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita

Asian Adventure: Roof of the World Tour Overview
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Asian Adventure: Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Asian Adventure: Regent Beijing Hotel
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Dongcheng District
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Great Wall
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Run-ze Jade Garden
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Legend of Kung Fu
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Tiananmen Square
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Forbidden City
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Asian Adventure: Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Asian Adventure: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Potala Palace
Asian Adventure: Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Asian Adventure: Viking Emerald
Asian Adventure: Shibaozhai Temple
Asian Adventure: Cruising the Three Gorges
Asian Adventure: Three Gorges Dam
Asian Adventure: Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Asian Adventure: Wuhan - Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Shanghai Museum
Asian Adventure: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Asian Adventure: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Asian Adventure: Tokyo - City Tour
Asian Adventure: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
Asian Adventure: ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
Asian Adventure: All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

I'd left Memphis on a Wednesday evening over 2 weeks ago. It was now Friday, time to return home, and I was quite ready for it. I said goodbye to M and C who were both flying back to Chicago later in the day. M would be spending a few days decompressing there before returning to Memphis.

Even though my flight was not scheduled to leave until 11:15 AM, Viking was taking no chances with the traffic to Narita airport - which was about an hour from our hotel - so they arranged for a shuttle to pick me up at 6:30 AM. Fortunately there were no traffic issues and we made good time getting there. Another couple from our tour rode in the van with me but they were returning to England on KLM and I was flying on ANA (All Nippon Airways). So there were two Viking representatives at the airport to meet us and one took the couple to the south check-in point while mine loaded my bags on a cart and we went to the north check-in point.

As at many large airports there were various check-in aisles, each with a letter. Since ANA is one of Japan's national airlines they have a huge presence here and there's a special check-in section, area Z, behind closed doors that's only available to ANA and other Star Alliance first class passengers. As we were so early for the flight I was the only passenger in the area and there were four ANA staff members available to check me in for my flight. It was a little awkward, in a #firstworldproblems kind of way, but we all just laughed and they took care of me quite quickly.

As this was the first class check-in area it just wouldn't do to have to go back out with the "common folks" to go through security, now would it? And so it was that this check-in area Z actually exits into a private security screening area just for first class passengers. As I was the only person around they only turned the x-ray belt on once I'd placed my carry-on on it and once my bag had gone through the machine they turned the belt off.

Ah but then it was back to reality as I took the escalator down to Immigration where, naturally, I selected the line that looked short but didn't move for awhile. Since at this point it was probably still only about 8 AM and my flight didn't leave for another 3+ hours I wasn't concerned. Finally the one person holding up the line made it through and then the line moved with typical Japanese efficiency.

Once through security I turned left toward the concourse and passed a number of shops and one gate before reaching the escalator that took me up to the Star Alliance airline lounges.

Star Alliance Lounges Entrance

The sliding doors above open to the lobby and the desk you can see in the background. This is where I checked in and based on my boarding pass I stepped to the right through the doors you can see on the wall in the back and into the ANA Suites Lounge. I'm not positive but I believe this lounge is only for ANA First Class passengers while First and Business Class passengers on other Star Alliance partners (like United and Lufthansa) would be sent left to the business class lounge.

Just after entering the lounge I was greeted and led to a seating area where I was able to relax for the next few hours. I wasn't the first person in the lounge but I think I may have been the second or third. It was quite empty at this hour though it would no doubt fill up later on. I was tucked away in a corner of the lounge and had a grouping of four seats to myself. Each seat had an electrical outlet so I was able to charge up my electronics before boarding.

If you're an aviation geek this lounge has great tarmac views. I was hoping to see a lot of planes from other parts of the world but not surprisingly most of the planes in this area were all ANA. I did see Thai Airways and Singapore (both Star Alliance partners of ANA) parked across the way.

Tarmac view of Thai Airways (left), Singapore Airlines (Center) and ANA planes

I'd gotten up early enough to use my breakfast buffet coupon at the New Otani so I wasn't hungry when I arrived at the lounge. That's just as well since the breakfast that was set out was a traditional Japanese breakfast. I do enjoy Japanese food for lunch or dinner but for breakfast I like the old familiar Western-style foods. As mid-morning approached I did want a little something to eat but knew we'd be served lunch on the plane so I just had a small salad.

ANA Suites Lounge Breakfast Buffet

Oh come on, you know you have this for breakfast every morning!

Beverage Cooler

Self-serve bar

Hot beverage station

Soft drink station

The lounge itself is quite large and there are a number of different types of seating. The nice thing was that each seat had at least one and sometimes two electrical outlets. I'm not sure it's possible to have too many of those when folks are trying to "juice up" before a long flight. Some of the seat groupings also had coat trees, complete with hangers, which would be nice if you were on a business trip and had to dress up for your flight.

ANA Suites Lounge Seating Area

Down a small hallway there was a quiet room with three individual cubicles, two of which had massage chairs.

Quiet room recliner

Quiet room massage chair

The business center was down the same hall and would be a great place if you needed to work on a presentation as it had a very large screen on one side of each of the cubes so you could test out your slides.

Business center work space

Large monitor on one side of the cube

The bathroom was pristine and each time I visited it looked like I was the first visitor of the day.

I appreciated that boarding announcements were made to notify us of when it was time to leave the lounge as not all lounges do this.

This was an excellent lounge to spend a few hours in and I'd love to try it out again, especially if it meant I was flying ANA First Class again!

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Asian Adventure: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen

What lurks underneath those dish covers?

Some pretty good food, as it turns out!

The restaurant had a nice view of Mt. Fuji, which looked so nice with its new snow!

View of Mt. Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi-ko

Asian Adventure: Tokyo - City Tour

Sensō-ji

An ancient Buddhist temple, Sensō-ji, was our first stop of the day and it was not far from the hotel. There are actually a number of buildings on the temple grounds and the Nakamise shopping street leads up to the temple grounds. Here's where the lack of a proper tour hurt us: we didn't really have any idea why this area was important or exactly which buildings we should be paying attention to. So the info below all comes from online research.

A sacred statue was pulled from the river in this area in in 645 AD the first temple was built. This is the oldest temple in Tokyo.

Migratory Musings