A short trip to Japan - Hokkaido

Thanks. I recall reading that at some stage. Iā€™d say the place has lessened some of the frills like snacks etc but still a great place. A non Japanese speaker will always have a lesser experience, I think.
 
A bonus for this trip was the opportunity to attend the annual Asian lounge crawl this year in Hong Kong. Kick off was about 1 pm in the Wing First lounge, where @JessicaTam made a surprise appearance. Apparently a lounge crawl was more appealing than getting repeatedly bogged to the axels on the Canning Stock route. Takes all types, I suppose. šŸ§
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Soon the whole mottley crew assembled and after a touch at the Cathay J lounge (loved the 'infinity bar'), we hit up the Qantas lounge and assembled for an AFF board meeting where a number of resolutions were passed. After a bit of negotiation with the staff ( who didnā€™t seem to understand the concept of lounge crawl šŸ˜³), Champagne was produced courtesy of our two WP1s. We were told after a glad each, we had cleaned out the lounges champagne supplies. Hmmmm... šŸ™„šŸ¤£

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And some prawn thingies consumed

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Next stop was the Pier business lounge (CX). Except for the lack of Ć  la carte dining, it would be a first class lounge anywhere else.

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But again it was just touch and go there because the main event, the Pier first class lounge awaited us. By this time we were about five hours into the crawl but no one was looking as though they were feeling the pace and dinner awaited.

First class menus
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most of us chose the tasting menu

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RooFlyer said:
Next stop was the Pier business lounge (CX). Except for the lack of Ć  la carte dining, it would be a first class lounge anywhere else.

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But again it was just touch and go there because the main event, the Pier first class lounge awaited us. By this time we were about five hours into the crawl but no one was looking as though they were feeling the pace and dinner awaited.

First class menus
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most of us chose the tasting menu

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Excellent photo journalism!
 
I always want to get to the gate before boarding commences, plus I wanted to check out the 'Sky Deck' on my way to the gate, so I said my farewells to most (several will be on my Qantas flight) and took the escalators to the Sky Deck. Its a bridge from the main terminal to the satellite terminal under which planes can taxi. You can see it in the background in this pic

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SO I looked back at the Pier First Lounge, which is where the nose of the Emirates A380 is.

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I was on QF128 HKG-SYD, in 4A. It was a very good flight. The cabin manager served my side of the plane and was engaging and chatty. He was a bit puzzeled when I explained what a lounge crawl was - "Is that a status run?" he asked, so reasonably on the ball!!

Everyone I think will know what a QF A330 looks like, so no pics, but this was the menu for dinner

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Due to the lounging, I only had the soup and dessert, both of which were good (although I think I got the 'weed based dining', as it lacked the creame fraiche). Th specific bowl of weeds went untouched. Amazingly, they had a good Clare Valley resiling (Skillogalee) .

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Dawn over Sydney on approch

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Immigration, as I noted in the other thread was dreadful - worst I have ever experienced. I think an A380 landed just before us, but still ... Queues for the ticket machines were about 15 deep and same for the kiosks. They directed me straight through to the 'AUS & NZ families' lane, without a ticket, which was new to me.

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Got to the lounge and on asking, was given a 'fly ahead' to the Qantas direct flight to Hobart in about 90 mins Vs the flight 5 hours later I had booked. That flight was uneventful, and I landed to a cool but gloriously sunny Hobart lunchtime.

So a very good Qantas experience to finish :)
 
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So, to sum up:

* I got to Himeji Castle at last, and was impressed as I anticipated; also Nara which was fascinating

* Very much enjoyed Hokkaido, in spite of it being a bit of a rush. Very lush with vivid green forests and lovely volcanic landscapes.

* Seafood along the NE coast in particular was sensational. Next time I think I'll go less with the packaged hotel dinners and go out some more. The feed in Abashiri was very good.

* The 'whale watching' (orcas) cruise out of Rasau was very good. Nothing much lost in not understanding what was being said.

* I was glad to have done the preparation of asking lots of questions here. It did make things go smoother and gave me more confidence. Only glitch was that of the 3 petrol stations I used, one had an attendant, but for the life of me I couldn't find an English option on the self serve pumps. Someone helped me out both those times, though.

* Toyota rental car worked well. Hybrid car was great, even though I didn't realise I had booked one! 3 litres/100km, over 1,2oo km

* Dormy Inns are OK, but a bit too basic for my needs. The La Vistas on the other hand .... :)

* The speed limits are just bizarre. 30km/h when you can easily and safely do 60; 70-80 on expressways when 100-110 wouldn't be an issue. As I was forewarned (fortunately), just doing what the locals were doing worked. But odd also that the commercial vehicles were also 'speeding' by about 20-40km/h over the limit. If a commercial vehicle here was caught speeding, the driver would probably lose their job

* Onsens are great. I experienced 3 distinct types of water. 'Plain water' (colourless and odorless) in most of them, the tannin stained one at Kangetsuen and at Furukawa (the last one), the water was a bit slippery, which would indicate it was alkaline.

* China Airlines a good find for later flying in the region. Avoid JAL business domestically!

* Highlights - trip up Mt Asahi-dake, seafood on the NE coast; orcas and the onsen at Furukawa.

I think @drron and @mrs.dr.ron are going further north up the NE coast of Hokkaido soon. Will look forward to hearing about that. I haven't yet digested @rbjhan 's Japan Alps TR, but I can already see some things to follow there. Sorry, @Seat0B , there will be no skiing in my future!!

I think another, longer Japan trip preceding or following next year's lounge crawl will be on the cards, if its held in June.
 
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RooFlyer said:
China Airlines a good find for later flying in the region.
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Ha you found the secret!
I love CI, apart from the slightly disappointing lounges in TPE, they are excellent. Especially for going to Japan.

Plus, Taipei stopover would be fun too. šŸ˜Ž
 
Thanks for the trip! So the thing with the speed limits is in Japan is I believe by law speed cameras on the motorways can not take photos of your car if you are going up to 40 ks over. So for example if the speed limit says 60 you could go 99 and speed cameras would not pick it up, however if you see patrol cars then you might be in trouble. That's why most people go faster on the highways
 
trendwhore said:
Thanks for the trip! So the thing with the speed limits is in Japan is I believe by law speed cameras on the motorways can not take photos of your car if you are going up to 40 ks over. So for example if the speed limit says 60 you could go 99 and speed cameras would not pick it up, however if you see patrol cars then you might be in trouble. That's why most people go faster on the highways
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Thanks; that fits. I was obviously looking out for police cars (ignoring the possibility of unmarked cars ...) and funnily enough saw none until the last day - than I saw about 4, each with lights flashing. I made sure I was always going a bit less than those around me.

I saw various things I thought might be speed cameras, but again, judging by the 'locals' - who hopefully know about these things - not slowing, I'm hoping none of them were!

Still don't know why they have such slow limits though.
 
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Guys, I am staying in Shinjuku shortly. Do you have any hotel tips? I'm looking for something in the mid-to-upper range.

Also, I will depart from JP and head to HKG. Are there any interesting itineraries? I can go direct but can have time to get there via an interesting route.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks
 
Thanks for a great report RooF. We loved driving around Hokkaido. Such a beautiful place and so easy to get around.

See you up here in October.
 
I'm very late to the party but had limited internet while tripping away above the Artic Circle. Plus doing my own trip report. I am so glad you had a good time overall. One day the lounge crawl will fit in with my schedule. Or I will make it fit! Some of your stops (Hokkaido) were where I was late last year, so it was great to compare the seasons. I just loved Himeji Castle when I did it on the first trip to Japan in March/April. It looks even better at cherry blossom time! Thanks for your excellent trip report.
 

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