Tokyo - Pros and Cons

[Renato1]

I’m told the ‘96 is spectacular if it’s been cellared well...

Should be good - non of those silly Vanilla or Raspberry variations were around back then.
Cheers,
Renato

I am not following the PepsiMax thing.... is this some kind of inside joke that I have missed??
You surely cannot be serious about a brunch at the Ritz (or even McDonald's, for that matter) that would serve bottomless Pepsi?

I'm talking PepsiMax, not Pepsi.

Which seems to be scarcer in Japan and Indonesia than Dom Perignon.
What's the point of spending big dollars and not getting one's favourite drink - and putting up with second rate drinks like maybe Coke No Sugar/Zero?

I rate airlines mainly on the availability on them of PepsiMax (or second best Pepsi Lite) - which makes Philippine Airlines, Jetstar, Qatar, Emirates and RyanAir tops in my book.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Regardsing airport transportation... a very easy way to get to downtown from either NRT or HND is the airport limo. Drops off at various locations. Taxis in central Tokyo have now reduced their flag-fall to just 450 yen (down from 750), so the last little bit to your hotel with luggage is quite economical.

Thanks. What had put me off getting taxis from Narita - apart from comments at Trip Advisor and the like that in peak hour the trips could cost around A$300 - was that at the Narita Airport site advising how to get into Tokyo from the airport, they actually said that taxis were expensive and weren't for most travellers.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Max Samuels]

I rate airlines mainly on the availability on them of PepsiMax (or second best Pepsi Lite) - which makes Philippine Airlines, Jetstar, Qatar, Emirates and RyanAir tops in my book.

Are we actually talking about a soft drink?? Surely this is some kind of inside joke that I am not aware of - come on guys!

If we really are talking about soft drink I suppose the good thing is that there is an easy solution for a truly first world problem - one can take as much as they like with them in their luggage! I have yet to see a country where customs imposes limits on soft drink - you could have a whole crate of the stuff and no one would mind

 

[bPeteb]

Are we actually talking about a soft drink?? Surely this is some kind of inside joke that I am not aware of - come on guys!

If we really are talking about soft drink I suppose the good thing is that there is an easy solution for a truly first world problem - one can take as much as they like with them in their luggage! I have yet to see a country where customs imposes limits on soft drink - you could have a whole crate of the stuff and no one would mind

The more I read Max, the more I wonder if this is just a really hilarious piss take. One of the better fishing expeditions. A whole holiday tainted due to the lack of availability of a soft drink.

 

[offshore171]

I rate airlines mainly on the availability on them of PepsiMax (or second best Pepsi Lite) - which makes Philippine Airlines, Jetstar, Qatar, Emirates and RyanAir tops in my book.

Ok now I’m sure you’re just messing with us.

 

[Max Samuels]

Ok now I’m sure you’re just messing with us.

Yeah.... as soon as I saw the word "Jetstar" in a list of "top" airlines I knew it was a joke

 

[suze2000]

I dunno, having read a lot of Renato's TRs over the years, he's got some pretty strong ideas about things.

 

[Renato1]

Are we actually talking about a soft drink?? Surely this is some kind of inside joke that I am not aware of - come on guys!

If we really are talking about soft drink I suppose the good thing is that there is an easy solution for a truly first world problem - one can take as much as they like with them in their luggage! I have yet to see a country where customs imposes limits on soft drink - you could have a whole crate of the stuff and no one would mind

Thanks but I already travel with suitcase filled to the maximum on every trip. It's not feasible to take PepsiMax with me.
Regards,
Renato

Ok now I’m sure you’re just messing with us.

Somewhere here, there is a post from me in November 2017 pleading for assistance asking if anyone knew where to find PepsiMax in Bali. One respondent Googled it, and was amazed to see that I was not the only one who had been asking that question on the internet.

Why would I not rate airlines in accordance with how they meet my strong drinking preference?

In last month's trip back from Bali in Jetstar - when I had my three meals and one of my wife's meals - what a delight it was to have them accompanied by PepsiMax.
Cheers,
Renato

I dunno, having read a lot of Renato's TRs over the years, he's got some pretty strong ideas about things.

Thanks. After a month without PepsiMax in Italy where it was then not available, we had a long drive to Amsterdam back in 2013, where much to my delight PepsiMax was available - I brought cartons back with me to Italy.

Italy has it now, but the bottled version doesn't have the zing that it has over here, while the canned version is nearly as good as ours.

I couldn't find any PepsiMax in New York and Washington back in 2016, and had resolved that the trip was going to be a bit of a dud, But I then found plenty of it at Walgreens in Los Angeles and San Francisco, which perked me up greatly.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Max Samuels]

Thanks but I already travel with suitcase filled to the maximum on every trip. It's not feasible to take PepsiMax with me.

If you're WP you get at least 96kg of luggage allowance on QF... plenty of room for PepsiMax!

 

[drron]

Thanks but I already travel with suitcase filled to the maximum on every trip. It's not feasible to take PepsiMax with me.
Regards,
Renato



Somewhere here, there is a post from me in November 2017 pleading for assistance asking if anyone knew where to find PepsiMax in Bali. One respondent Googled it, and was amazed to see that I was not the only one who had been asking that question on the internet.

Why would I not rate airlines in accordance with how they meet my strong drinking preference?

In last month's trip back from Bali in Jetstar - when I had my three meals and one of my wife's meals - what a delight it was to have them accompanied by PepsiMax.
Cheers,
Renato


Thanks. After a month without PepsiMax in Italy where it was then not available, we had a long drive to Amsterdam back in 2013, where much to my delight PepsiMax was available - I brought cartons back with me to Italy.

Italy has it now, but the bottled version doesn't have the zing that it has over here, while the canned version is nearly as good as ours.

I couldn't find any PepsiMax in New York and Washington back in 2016, and had resolved that the trip was going to be a bit of a dud, But I then found plenty of it at Walgreens in Los Angeles and San Francisco, which perked me up greatly.
Cheers,
Renato

So now I realise why I like Japanese food and You don't.I much preferred Coke Zero over PepsiMax.I literally cried when Marriott took over Starwood as they changed Starwood's coke to their pepsi-cheapskates.

 

[Renato1]

If you're WP you get at least 96kg of luggage allowance on QF... plenty of room for PepsiMax!

WP???
Wrong Person/Well Played/ White Person??

Whatever it means - how would I get the PepsiMax in the actual cabin to enjoy it with my meal?
Cheers,
Renato

So now I realise why I like Japanese food and You don't.I much preferred Coke Zero over PepsiMax.I literally cried when Marriott took over Starwood as they changed Starwood's coke to their pepsi-cheapskates.

I'd be irate about that too if the Colas were reversed.

Coke Zero/No Sugar is okay - it just lacks the full bodied flavour and zing of PepsiMax.

Mix Coke Zero with a good single malt Scotch and it tastes pretty average. Mix it with PepsiMax and I'm in heaven. That's what I most often order on planes.

Pepsi is cheaper than Coke both here and in Italy. While I can understand it for full strength sugared Colas, I'm a tad mystified why that should be the case for the zero sugar stuff.
Regards,
Renato

 

[love_the_life]

WP???
Wrong Person/Well Played/ White Person??

Whatever it means - how would I get the PepsiMax in the actual cabin to enjoy it with my meal?
Cheers,
Renato


I'd be irate about that too if the Colas were reversed.

Coke Zero/No Sugar is okay - it just lacks the full bodied flavour and zing of PepsiMax.

Mix Coke Zero with a good single malt Scotch and it tastes pretty average. Mix it with PepsiMax and I'm in heaven. That's what I most often order on planes.

Pepsi is cheaper than Coke both here and in Italy. While I can understand it for full strength sugared Colas, I'm a tad mystified why that should be the case for the zero sugar stuff.
Regards,
Renato

Pepsi and single malt? Sacrilege.

 

[offshore171]

Pepsi and single malt? Sacrilege.

I thought only teenagers add such things to single malt whisky.

I was once standing at the bar in Sydney that carries a number of good specialty whiskys.

Guy ahead of me orders Yamazaki and coke.

Barman says “you mean in the same glass?”

 

[Renato1]

Pepsi and single malt? Sacrilege.

Maybe Pepsi and single malt is sacrilege.
I don't know.
I'm only talking about PepsiMax and single malt - I have much experience, as I possess around a score bottles of single malt Scotch. The only ones that don't work well are Talisker, Ardberg and Caol Ila.
Regards,
Renato