Japan... Again!
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Meggsy
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Really enjoying this TR and congratulations NoobFlyer.Indeed she wasn'tthis trip was special in more ways than one
NoobFlyer
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Ok, so as I’m sure you can all imagine it has been a little hectic since getting back with lots of visits to family and friends eager to know all about every detail from how did it happen, to how big is the rock, to what we will call our first born...
Anyway I will endeavour to get this TR done over the weekend as I sought through and catalogue the 34 GB of photos. The plan is to end the TR with a series of my favourite photos from the trip that I couldn’t fit into the flow of the day to day reports, for example lots more from places like Ueno Zoo, Kokoen gardens near Himeji Castle, Osaka Aquarium, Hakuba and Disneyland.
So without further delay, we dive back into the home stretch after returning to Tokyo from Hakuba
Tokyo – Part 3 – Day 1
As mentioned earlier, we had arrived a little earlier than expected and did (more than) a little shopping around various districts of Tokyo. First up was Take****edori, right outside Harajuku Station, leading into Omotesando and the souvenir mecca that is Oriental Bazaar.
From there it was a few subway stops to the ski gear shopping district around Ogawamachi Station, which is also where I got to try the culinary delight that is the McChoco Potato (see previous page for picture).
By this stage we needed a little break so we made our way out to yet another AirBNB apartment, this time near Hatchobori Station. A location that was very convenient for the next few days considering its direct access to Ueno and Tsukiji via subway and Tokyo Station and Disneyland via the JR line. It was a very nicely furnished and tidy apartment, but not a lot of space, as is typical around Tokyo.
After grabbing a quick convenience store dinner, we headed back out with the goal being to find some illuminations and find some we did.
Tokyo Station
Maranouchi
Caretta Centre Shiodome
And a nice piece of art in Shiodome Station.
Anyway I will endeavour to get this TR done over the weekend as I sought through and catalogue the 34 GB of photos. The plan is to end the TR with a series of my favourite photos from the trip that I couldn’t fit into the flow of the day to day reports, for example lots more from places like Ueno Zoo, Kokoen gardens near Himeji Castle, Osaka Aquarium, Hakuba and Disneyland.
So without further delay, we dive back into the home stretch after returning to Tokyo from Hakuba
Tokyo – Part 3 – Day 1
As mentioned earlier, we had arrived a little earlier than expected and did (more than) a little shopping around various districts of Tokyo. First up was Take****edori, right outside Harajuku Station, leading into Omotesando and the souvenir mecca that is Oriental Bazaar.
From there it was a few subway stops to the ski gear shopping district around Ogawamachi Station, which is also where I got to try the culinary delight that is the McChoco Potato (see previous page for picture).
By this stage we needed a little break so we made our way out to yet another AirBNB apartment, this time near Hatchobori Station. A location that was very convenient for the next few days considering its direct access to Ueno and Tsukiji via subway and Tokyo Station and Disneyland via the JR line. It was a very nicely furnished and tidy apartment, but not a lot of space, as is typical around Tokyo.
After grabbing a quick convenience store dinner, we headed back out with the goal being to find some illuminations and find some we did.
Tokyo Station
Maranouchi
Caretta Centre Shiodome
And a nice piece of art in Shiodome Station.
NoobFlyer
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Tokyo – Part 3 – Day 2
Disneyland
I have already given my review of Disneyland earlier and there are plenty of guides around the internet on how to make the most of a day at Disneyland so I’ll just post a selection of pictures from the day here, mostly from the Electric Lights Parade and the Once Upon A Time light show. Happy to answer any specific questions you may have about how we went about the day of course.
Light Parade
Once Upon a Time Light Show
We have many many more from throughout the day but these were the most visually appealing.
Disneyland
I have already given my review of Disneyland earlier and there are plenty of guides around the internet on how to make the most of a day at Disneyland so I’ll just post a selection of pictures from the day here, mostly from the Electric Lights Parade and the Once Upon A Time light show. Happy to answer any specific questions you may have about how we went about the day of course.
Light Parade
Once Upon a Time Light Show
We have many many more from throughout the day but these were the most visually appealing.
NoobFlyer
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Many thanks for the congratulations everyone. Indeed the flight home was a lot of fun
We got so lucky at DisneySea on the 8th. Beautiful fine day, not very cold but the place was empty. I've only had 1 other day there like that, we managed 3 rides on the toy story mania and 2 on basically everything else.
My tips for picking a good day are just having good luck, but maybe the Thursday or Friday before coming of age day because it is a time for families to be together and I assume people travel over the prior days.
I love those parks, so much fun, especially showing them to new people. Actually, I love all of Tokyo!
Congratulations again.
My tips for picking a good day are just having good luck, but maybe the Thursday or Friday before coming of age day because it is a time for families to be together and I assume people travel over the prior days.
I love those parks, so much fun, especially showing them to new people. Actually, I love all of Tokyo!
Congratulations again.
NoobFlyer
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Tokyo – Part 3 – Day 3
Tsukiji Fish Market
Our last day (well my last day anyway, my fiancée decided getting up at 4 am wasn’t the best way to finish her holiday) started with an early morning trip to Tsukiji Fish Market to view a small sample of the Tuna Auction. A fairly short 15 min walk away from the apartment and a few minutes to find the correct gatehouse to register for the viewing.
FYI it’s where the marker is on the below map along Harumi Dori.
Weaving among the traffic and sheds on our way to the auction viewing location was quite fun in itself as the place is really not designed for groups of ~60 tourists to be walking along next to the various types of traffic whizzing around the place. How we didn’t witness a crash in the time we were there is surprising though there were plenty of near misses! It would be interesting to see if the new location for the market will have a better way of keeping the tourists out of the way of the business activities. Onto the main show and it started rather slowly as we arrived between auctions while the buyers looked through the next lot of produce on the floor, inspecting each tuna like a jeweller would examine a precious stone. Once an auction kicked off with the ringing of those bells didn’t the excitement pick up, the auctioneers were certainly trying to get things moving with no shortage of jumping, fist pumping and hand gestures, quite entertaining. Once our 25 min viewing slot was up at about 6:15, we were escorted back to a different gate to hand back our coloured vests. You can't re-enter the inner market area until after 9 am so the usual thing to do is wander the outer market where are various market stalls with fresh seafood abound but I decided rest was a better option and I wandered back home for a bit more kip before we finished up our amazing Japan adventure.
Neko Maru Cat Cafe
Once we were both ready to hit the ground running (read: meandering slowly) we ventured back up to Ueno to visit another of the must-do items in Tokyo, visit a Cat Cafe. My partner had actually already visited one back in Osaka but it was a first for me and they certainly provide an accurate experience of what owning a cat is like, most of them don't want anything to do with you! Can't really fault the cafe as at the end of the day they are cats haha, they do provide a lot of toys, etc to help get the cats interested and there were quite a few who were just happy to lie there and let you pat them. Of course they were all so very cute!
A bit more of a wander around Tokyo including one last visit to a bakery and off to Narita...
Tsukiji Fish Market
Our last day (well my last day anyway, my fiancée decided getting up at 4 am wasn’t the best way to finish her holiday
) started with an early morning trip to Tsukiji Fish Market to view a small sample of the Tuna Auction. A fairly short 15 min walk away from the apartment and a few minutes to find the correct gatehouse to register for the viewing. FYI it’s where the marker is on the below map along Harumi Dori.
Weaving among the traffic and sheds on our way to the auction viewing location was quite fun in itself as the place is really not designed for groups of ~60 tourists to be walking along next to the various types of traffic whizzing around the place. How we didn’t witness a crash in the time we were there is surprising though there were plenty of near misses! It would be interesting to see if the new location for the market will have a better way of keeping the tourists out of the way of the business activities. Onto the main show and it started rather slowly as we arrived between auctions while the buyers looked through the next lot of produce on the floor, inspecting each tuna like a jeweller would examine a precious stone. Once an auction kicked off with the ringing of those bells didn’t the excitement pick up, the auctioneers were certainly trying to get things moving with no shortage of jumping, fist pumping and hand gestures, quite entertaining. Once our 25 min viewing slot was up at about 6:15, we were escorted back to a different gate to hand back our coloured vests. You can't re-enter the inner market area until after 9 am so the usual thing to do is wander the outer market where are various market stalls with fresh seafood abound but I decided rest was a better option and I wandered back home for a bit more kip before we finished up our amazing Japan adventure.
Neko Maru Cat Cafe
Once we were both ready to hit the ground running (read: meandering slowly) we ventured back up to Ueno to visit another of the must-do items in Tokyo, visit a Cat Cafe. My partner had actually already visited one back in Osaka but it was a first for me and they certainly provide an accurate experience of what owning a cat is like, most of them don't want anything to do with you! Can't really fault the cafe as at the end of the day they are cats haha, they do provide a lot of toys, etc to help get the cats interested and there were quite a few who were just happy to lie there and let you pat them. Of course they were all so very cute!
A bit more of a wander around Tokyo including one last visit to a bakery
and off to Narita...
NoobFlyer
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The Journey Home - Part 1
Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge
Arriving at Narita and after completing the formalities of retrieving forwarded luggage and dropping of the portable wifi we had a short 10 min wait in the priority check in queue before we were on our way. I had done a little research on the train out to Narita regarding the best Oneworld lounge now that my fiancée also had a J ticket so we didn’t have to rely on QF’s generous guest privileges for Business Class pax. We settled on the Japan Airlines Lounge in the Main Building, found directly behind the North immigration gates. The reviews I had read indicated this was the best lounge in NRT and I figured the QF lounge might be a little busy with two departures coming up in fairly close proximity (QF26 & QF62). Of course no OWE or equivalent status for me so we could only access the Business Class side on your right as you approach the desk and not the First Class section found to the left. The lounge angel had no queries about QF pax using the lounge but did kindly inform us that there would be no boarding announcements for our flight within the lounge. At this stage I was a little worried the lounge might be quite busy due to all the JL flights (obviously) so was prepared to move onto the QF lounge closer to boarding anyway.
I needn’t have worried as this lounge was huge! Spread over two levels with the shower and massage rooms, a small self serve bar and LOTS of seating on the first floor, then the buffet food options and a more extensive bar up on the second floor. We were very impressed with the styling of this lounge with a very classy look throughout. Our first priority was the showers and we were promptly admitted without any waiting along with the offer of toothbrushes or razors if required.
I’m sure this might seem a little obvious and to many of you quite routine, but wow were these showers impressive. Once we got past the initial amazement that we could even have a shower and feel so fresh a few moments before we stepped on a plane, these were the nicest showers I has ever experienced (you might be able to tell we don’t stay in nice hotels or fly business class much... or until this point, ever). With both rainforest and handheld shower heads, along with 3 side jets, I was having a whale of a time already and we hadn’t even come within cooee of the plane yet
Feeling a million dollars after our showers we moved upstairs to see what food offering they had. I was a little surprised at the lack of Japanese options and actually their lack of options in general but what was available was certainly quite nice, I guess I just wasn’t sure what to expect. The bar area was well stocked in addition to the Sapporo automatic beer machine though they only had a Spanish (??) sparkling in lieu of Champagne. Dessert options were quite limited with only a couple of bakery type items available. We then moved back downstairs as there was far less people with I think maybe half a dozen spread out across the vast space. At this point it was only around 30 min to boarding so we didn’t see the need to test the QF lounge and decided to just wait it out with a few glasses of 18yo single malt.
Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge
Arriving at Narita and after completing the formalities of retrieving forwarded luggage and dropping of the portable wifi we had a short 10 min wait in the priority check in queue before we were on our way. I had done a little research on the train out to Narita regarding the best Oneworld lounge now that my fiancée also had a J ticket so we didn’t have to rely on QF’s generous guest privileges for Business Class pax. We settled on the Japan Airlines Lounge in the Main Building, found directly behind the North immigration gates. The reviews I had read indicated this was the best lounge in NRT and I figured the QF lounge might be a little busy with two departures coming up in fairly close proximity (QF26 & QF62). Of course no OWE or equivalent status for me so we could only access the Business Class side on your right as you approach the desk and not the First Class section found to the left. The lounge angel had no queries about QF pax using the lounge but did kindly inform us that there would be no boarding announcements for our flight within the lounge. At this stage I was a little worried the lounge might be quite busy due to all the JL flights (obviously) so was prepared to move onto the QF lounge closer to boarding anyway.
I needn’t have worried as this lounge was huge! Spread over two levels with the shower and massage rooms, a small self serve bar and LOTS of seating on the first floor, then the buffet food options and a more extensive bar up on the second floor. We were very impressed with the styling of this lounge with a very classy look throughout. Our first priority was the showers and we were promptly admitted without any waiting along with the offer of toothbrushes or razors if required.
I’m sure this might seem a little obvious and to many of you quite routine, but wow were these showers impressive. Once we got past the initial amazement that we could even have a shower and feel so fresh a few moments before we stepped on a plane, these were the nicest showers I has ever experienced (you might be able to tell we don’t stay in nice hotels or fly business class much... or until this point, ever). With both rainforest and handheld shower heads, along with 3 side jets, I was having a whale of a time already and we hadn’t even come within cooee of the plane yet
Feeling a million dollars after our showers we moved upstairs to see what food offering they had. I was a little surprised at the lack of Japanese options and actually their lack of options in general but what was available was certainly quite nice, I guess I just wasn’t sure what to expect. The bar area was well stocked in addition to the Sapporo automatic beer machine though they only had a Spanish (??) sparkling in lieu of Champagne. Dessert options were quite limited with only a couple of bakery type items available. We then moved back downstairs as there was far less people with I think maybe half a dozen spread out across the vast space. At this point it was only around 30 min to boarding so we didn’t see the need to test the QF lounge and decided to just wait it out with a few glasses of 18yo single malt
.
NoobFlyer
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The Journey Home - Part 2
Flight 3
NRT-BNE
A333
Seat 3J/K
We left the lounge at about 6:55 and heard boarding announcements at about 7:00 so slightly earlier than the 7:05 printed on the boarding pass. Not sure if this was for elite and J pax or a general call though. I had been following the planes assigned to this route hoping for a last minute sap back to refurb but it wasn’t to be as I saw QPJ on its way to NRT that morning.
Luckily after I received the text notifying the successful points upgrade (very surprising for this very grateful NB), I was able to select 2 vacant seats on the right hand side. If I was going to have to climb over someone to access the aisle, I figured it might as well be my fiancée. As it turns out the non-refurb was a blessing in disguise as not only would the extra 2 J seats on the cabin provide a better chance for the upgrade, we were able to share this amazing experience together without having an aisle or immovable divider between us. Though I loved the suite on the outbound to NRT, I was secretly over the moon that we hit the 2/9 chance though I’m sure there were a few other pax not so happy with the product :/.
We were quickly offered PDB after boarding and we both selected champagne (what else to celebrate this moment), though I’m not actually sure what champagne it was or even it was actual champagne – you may be able to tell by now we aren’t exactly champagne connoisseurs. Waiting at our seat were also the breakfast selection cards designed to maximise rest at the back end of the flight – a very good idea indeed.
Having boarding occur through 2 doors really made the pre-departure experience more pleasant with only the J pax coming through the cabin instead of the entire plane like in BNE. I know that sounds rather elitist but it was nice to be have that slightly more private feeling.
Now unfortunately for this TR, I may have forgotten about taking notes for much of the flight to Brisbane but we were just having too much fun! We did still take photos of the food and I remember they had short catered my first choice (my fault for not pre-selecting as I did on the outbound).
The menus from the flight to BNE.
Flight 3
NRT-BNE
A333
Seat 3J/K
We left the lounge at about 6:55 and heard boarding announcements at about 7:00 so slightly earlier than the 7:05 printed on the boarding pass. Not sure if this was for elite and J pax or a general call though. I had been following the planes assigned to this route hoping for a last minute sap back to refurb but it wasn’t to be as I saw QPJ on its way to NRT that morning.
Luckily after I received the text notifying the successful points upgrade (very surprising for this very grateful NB), I was able to select 2 vacant seats on the right hand side. If I was going to have to climb over someone to access the aisle, I figured it might as well be my fiancée
. As it turns out the non-refurb was a blessing in disguise as not only would the extra 2 J seats on the cabin provide a better chance for the upgrade, we were able to share this amazing experience together without having an aisle or immovable divider between us. Though I loved the suite on the outbound to NRT, I was secretly over the moon that we hit the 2/9 chance though I’m sure there were a few other pax not so happy with the product :/.We were quickly offered PDB after boarding and we both selected champagne (what else to celebrate this moment), though I’m not actually sure what champagne it was or even it was actual champagne – you may be able to tell by now we aren’t exactly champagne connoisseurs
. Waiting at our seat were also the breakfast selection cards designed to maximise rest at the back end of the flight – a very good idea indeed.Having boarding occur through 2 doors really made the pre-departure experience more pleasant with only the J pax coming through the cabin instead of the entire plane like in BNE. I know that sounds rather elitist but it was nice to be have that slightly more private feeling.
Now unfortunately for this TR, I may have forgotten about taking notes for much of the flight to Brisbane but we were just having too much fun! We did still take photos of the food and I remember they had short catered my first choice (my fault for not pre-selecting as I did on the outbound).
The menus from the flight to BNE.
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NoobFlyer
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At some stage after takeoff we were offered drinks and a packet of nuts and pretzels.
Drinks and snack
We both had the Zucchini and Basil Soup to start. Very nice.
My partner had the Chicken Karaage Roll after discovering a love of the Japanese friend chicken on our trip (and apparently she loved it so much I didn’t have a chance to take a photo )
I had the ramen which was ok from what I recall.
For dessert my fiancée chose the profiteroles and kindly allowed me a bite to confirm they were very tasty.
While I had the cheese plate.
we were offered drinks and a packet of nuts and pretzels.Drinks and snack
We both had the Zucchini and Basil Soup to start. Very nice.
My partner had the Chicken Karaage Roll after discovering a love of the Japanese friend chicken on our trip (and apparently she loved it so much I didn’t have a chance to take a photo
)I had the ramen which was ok from what I recall.
For dessert my fiancée chose the profiteroles and kindly allowed me a bite to confirm they were very tasty.
While I had the cheese plate.
NoobFlyer
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The next part is a little hazy but I must have got a few hours of sleep as next thing I knew I woke up as were somewhere between PNG and Aus. The FA quickly noticed I had turned on the IFE and came around to offer the light breakfast I had chosen before departure. I figured we would be able to have a decent breakfast in the lounge before our next flight so didn’t want to be woken for a full hot breakfast in case I got more sleep than I expected.
Apple and Cinnamon Danish
We landed on time at about 7:30 and were through immigration very quickly with no other flights landing around this time. Baggage took quite a while particularly the oversize bag but once the carousel finally got moving the priority tags seemed to be working well. Through customs instantly and off to the transfer desk to drop bags and board the bus to the domestic terminal.
Straight up to the Dom J lounge with no lines to speak of at security. Apologies but with only about 30 min before our flight boarded we didn’t have much time to take pictures, if I compared it to the Sydney lounge it was a fair bit smaller with very similar food selections for breakfast.
Flight 4
BNE-SYD
B738
Seat 2F
Boarding was called a little early at 6:55 and I can report priority boarding was working well with a separate lane and importantly a second QF employee scanning BPs.
We took off around 7:35 and meal service started about 25 minutes later.
I chose the lighter option of the Bircher muesli and fresh fruit.
A rather uneventful flight to finish the trip but we did catch some gorgeous views of the harbour as we overflew the bridge to the east, a track I hadn’t previously flown.
Landed at about 9:45 which was on-time from what I recall and at the baggage carousel around 10:00. Unfortunately I had received a rather unwelcome text from QANTAS informing me that one of our bags (the oversize ski bag) had not made the transit in BNE and would be on the following flight, due to arrive an hour later. The bags that were on our flight came out in no particular order so I guess priority tags just aren't the done thing at Sydney Airport.
Apple and Cinnamon Danish
We landed on time at about 7:30 and were through immigration very quickly with no other flights landing around this time. Baggage took quite a while particularly the oversize bag but once the carousel finally got moving the priority tags seemed to be working well. Through customs instantly and off to the transfer desk to drop bags and board the bus to the domestic terminal.
Straight up to the Dom J lounge with no lines to speak of at security. Apologies but with only about 30 min before our flight boarded we didn’t have much time to take pictures, if I compared it to the Sydney lounge it was a fair bit smaller with very similar food selections for breakfast.
Flight 4
BNE-SYD
B738
Seat 2F
Boarding was called a little early at 6:55 and I can report priority boarding was working well with a separate lane and importantly a second QF employee scanning BPs.
We took off around 7:35 and meal service started about 25 minutes later.
I chose the lighter option of the Bircher muesli and fresh fruit.
A rather uneventful flight to finish the trip but we did catch some gorgeous views of the harbour as we overflew the bridge to the east, a track I hadn’t previously flown.
Landed at about 9:45 which was on-time from what I recall and at the baggage carousel around 10:00. Unfortunately I had received a rather unwelcome text from QANTAS informing me that one of our bags (the oversize ski bag) had not made the transit in BNE and would be on the following flight, due to arrive an hour later. The bags that were on our flight came out in no particular order so I guess priority tags just aren't the done thing at Sydney Airport
.
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Thanks for the trip report NoobFlyer and congrats on the engagement. We head over again next week so this has been a great appetiser.
NoobFlyer
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Many thanks again everyone.
So I guess that's the trip report done for now
As I mentioned earlier I will slowly add a lot more pics to the thread as we process them, I imagine that we will be creating many many photo albums out of this trip
Going by the number of photos I have taken, about one per day I think A very sincere thank you to everyone who posted, liked and viewed this trip report throughout it's course as your interest made it very easy for me to keep coming back along the way to keep it up to date. I hope everyone enjoyed the semi-live nature of the posts as much as I enjoyed writing them. Like I ended my last trip report, I truly hope that anyone that read the TR might have had some questions answered, learnt something new, or even be inspired to visit this amazing country one day - I know for sure we will be at some stage. Though it might have to wait until after our whirlwind sampler trip of Europe
later this year and then of course that little honeymoon thing that we will be upon us before we know it.... Hmm I wonder if the Japanese ski resorts do Honeymoon packages I know it's sounds cliche but the end of this trip really is just the start of a whole new journey.
Until next time.
Sayonara!
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NoobFlyer
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Still another hour or so on the train until we reach Hakuba so I thought I'd pass on the photos my partner took on her flights to Tokyo on SQ. Turns out she is better at this than I am
Of course she is; remember: "Happy wife, happy life"!
kamchatsky
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Great trip report Noobflyer!
It reminded me of my old Japan trip report at FT, which I am in process of relocating to my own website.
In fact, your trip report makes me want to document my next trip to Hong Kong and Japan in next month or two.
It reminded me of my old Japan trip report at FT, which I am in process of relocating to my own website.
In fact, your trip report makes me want to document my next trip to Hong Kong and Japan in next month or two.
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