105,000 Amex points transferred to Air Canada + US$69 co-pay
Boarding and Takeoff
As I mentioned before, I was headed to Sydney from New York and found a great deal on a flight that connected through Tokyo. Normally I wouldn't want to voluntarily add 6 hours of flying time to a trip, even for a good price, but this flight was on ANA's legendarily-good "The Room" Business Class suite.
short line for all of the check-in counters at T7
Leaving during the day from a terminal that specializes in overnights to Europe means zero lines...
...but it also means that a lot of the terminal is closed
our plane
the crew having a meeting before they board
ANA uses the BA lounge. it has all the usual amenities but it's a depressing, poorly-lit place.
they tried adding this "fresh food" thing in the lounge and it just made it feel worse
a very organized boarding
The main Business Class cabin (I was in the mini-cabin in front of the galley)
The seat (note: odd-numbered seats face backward)
Insanely wide! It was like a couch! (the leather flap covers the shoulder belt)
Avo-chan always wants to watch sumo re-runs
Look at these cool doors!
Super cool window shades!
There's a full walkthrough of all the cabins in this beautiful ANA video
The night-mode lighting on the seat was perfect
Yuzu-scented amenities!
Pair your phone's ANA app with the IFE screen!
Yay for every seat having it's own (gasper) air vent!
Sadly they've cut the vintage Hibiki whisky from the Business Class menu, but there's still lots of tasty things to choose from. I got a kabosu juice, which is next-to-impossible to find in the USA at any price. We then had a choice of a Western or Japanese meal, and I chose the Japanese one. After having the Ippudo ramen as a snack after a long nap, I didn't really want the breakfast, since I was hoping to have a real sit-down restaurant meal in the airport during my 4.5 hour layover. Little did I know...
Amuse-bouche (and Kabosu juice!)
Appetizer
Main (with amazing pickles!)
Perfect fruit for dessert
😴😴😴
If you want to eat between the two meals, there's a "Light Dishes Anytime" menu. I got the Ippudo ramen as my breakfast since I was hoping to eat a sit-down meal at Haneda
the flight attendant gave avo-chan his own deck of cards
One we landed, everyone connecting was asked to stay seated while those disembarking to Japan left the plane first. It took about 20 minutes to do that, and the FA gave me a sneak peek at the First Class cabin and all I can say is, "holy screen real estate Batman!"
The FA gave me a sneak peek of the First Class cabin – look at that screen!!
Immigration was quick and I was excited to eat some more "real" Japanese food, given that these 4 hours would be my only time in Japan for god knows how much longer. Sadly all of those dreams were dashed. The large transfer terminal is in full Covid lockdown mode: one restaurant for the entire place, and one Hudson News-style shop, and a couple of currency exchange windows are all that was open at 5pm. The restaurant had over 100 people waiting to order take-away food. They set up a hot water dispenser so people could buy cup noodles from the newsstand and eat them. Luckily the Business Class lounges were open.
Hot water dispenser
Everything is shut
...Except the JAL and ANA lounges. So yaki-onigiri, kara age, and a robot-poured beer for me
Ahh how I miss Japanese public toilets...
Took a shower while I waited for my flight to Sydney
Beautiful shower suite
Headed off to Sydney...
As I suspected, this flight had their older Business Class seat. Ate my last sleepytime gummy and I don't remember this overnight flight at all :)
From Pokemon to Neko Atsume to shuinchou temple books , Japanese people love collecting things. If you've ever taken a ride on the glorious shinkansen bullet trains or ridden one of their extremely clean and punctual urban lines, then you know there's also a national obsession with great trains. The Eki stamp ("station stamp") is where those two obsessions meet . Most Japan Railways stations (including urban metro ones like the Yamanote line) have a unique stamp reflecting that station's history. Kids and train nerds (called "Tetchan") buy cute little books to collect the stamps of all the stations they've been to. The USA has a similar program with the national parks . One of my favorite stamps… All train-nerdiness aside, an Eki stamp book makes a great souvenir : it's flat, small, cheap, and light... and shouldn't take but a few moments to do when you're out and about. Special Eki stamp books are usually available at booksto
(updated Mar 2023) As I've said many times before , I'm not a big hotel person – I'd rather be out seeing the sights and meeting up with people than ensconced in the stylishly-bland, comfortable nowhere of a posh urban hotel. There are exceptions, though. Visiting a traditional Japanese ryokan inn immediately comes to mind. While they're often located in beautiful settings, the hotel itself is the primary destination. Beautiful seasonal food, soaking tubs and onsen baths, and lots of quiet time for just chilling out for a couple of days. For experiences like these, I'm very much a hotel snob. Wood-fired hot tub bliss Our first-ever trip to Vermont back in 2010 was specifically to visit Frog Meadow Farm in Newfane. A friend in San Francisco was describing it to us and it sounded a lot like an American ryokan for gay men: seasonal breakfasts, a wood-fired soaking tub, a massage studio, miles of private hiking and cross-country skiing trails, orchards and honey
( updated Apr 2024 ) I love Washlet bidet toilets. I've had one in my house since my first visit to Japan 20 years ago and I love it when my hotel room or my plane has one. And it's not just me, the NYTimes wrote about them , and several competing brands have appeared in the US in recent years. If you want a Washlet in the sky, you don't have much of a choice – only ANA and JAL have them, and only in the premium cabins. (I think they have an exclusive arrangement with Toto, as we've not seen the Washlet appear even in the super luxurious middle eastern airlines that have butlers and onboard showers). ウォシュレット! But what about hotels? As the spokesmodel in this commercial says, "I can't go on vacation anymore". A few of us were discussing this the other day and I said that yes, in fact, the presence of a Washlet would be a slam dunk for me when choosing a hotel. So I went poking around to find places outside of Japan that have them and started
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