Looks like the flight seem to be pretty much on-time
30-Dec-2015 11:20AM JST 07:31AM CST Scheduled
29-Dec-2015 11:39AM JST 07:20AM CST En Route
28-Dec-2015 11:36AM JST 07:35AM CST 10:59
27-Dec-2015 11:25AM JST 07:19AM CST 10:54
26-Dec-2015 11:34AM JST 07:20AM CST 10:46
25-Dec-2015 11:29AM JST 07:30AM CST 11:01
24-Dec-2015 11:31AM JST 07:41AM CST 11:10
23-Dec-2015 11:50AM JST 07:36AM CST 10:46
22-Dec-2015 11:24AM JST 07:00AM CST 10:36
21-Dec-2015 11:50AM JST 07:27AM CST 10:37
20-Dec-2015 11:53AM JST 07:34AM CST 10:41
19-Dec-2015 11:37AM JST 06:51AM CST 10:14
18-Dec-2015 11:53AM JST 07:15AM CST 10:22
17-Dec-2015 11:23AM JST 07:21AM CST 10:58
We woke at 6:00 AM, headed down to breakfast at the Narita Hilton. Large buffet with pancakes etc but also with full dinner choice as well, you never know where people are from or where they are going, do you? I have been shocked to see how many people eat a full salad for breakfast.
We took the 7:40 AM shuttle bus to Narita terminal 2 and saw that we had to go to counter L and we see an agent standing there
Then we look down the row and see all the agents standing away from their counters. Look at them. A straight row. Away from the carpet. Look at their hands. Waiting to serve. With a smile.
Even after we left, here is a picture from behind, you can see them standing there waiting
But notice business class, they stand next to their counter, they don't stand away from their counter like first class
At the counter
At the counter
The agent that was taking care of us was working and then another agent came to help her. Then another. Three people worked on our paperwork and created bag tags for the carry-on bags. Then we were told of the fast security line just for us and no one was there, it was a breeze
Then we went to the first class lounge and each of us signed up for a free massage.
This is looking to the left
Full business center. The place was very quiet, not like the Admiral's Club's that are very loud
Dark and quiet with copier
There are two massage chairs as well.
I took a shower while I was waiting.
Good water pressure
Hot towels were presented to us - with a bow - of course - as we entered. Found a place we can as many as we want
Beer machine
A full bar - all for free -
Sake bar as well
Sushi bar
Two sushi chefs working
I had three of these, or was it four?
Our plane is the third one down
Getting ready to board our flight to Chicago at 11:10
Looks like there will be a lot of activity outside the window but I am on the right side of the window.
We left at 11:00AM Tokyo time which is daylight. But we traveled against the sun at 600 miles per hour so our daylight faded much faster than if we stayed in Tokyo. So our night arrived pretty quickly. Here is looking backward with the sun setting in the west. This is a 77-300ER and it has no winglets (see the wing tips? They are flat. They are not curved up like some other planes you see. The curving up are called winglets and are used to save 2-3% fuel).
You might get one window depends on where you sit, this real estate in first class gave me 5 windows all to my self. I can't even step back far enough to take a picture of all 5 windows.
Conversely, as the earth rotated below us around 800 miles per hour and we headed east at 600 miles per hour, our sun rise was accelerated and here is what we saw in the east a few hours later.
The boarding area was a tight squeeze and it was hard to find where the entrance for first class was. The agent motioned and made a new line for us, sort of where the clock says 10:41
Once on the jet bridge, we went to the left and we never saw any passengers who went to the right. To us, there were only 8 people on the 777-300ER (extended range) plane plus the 4 flight attendants plus one purser servicing the 8 of us.
The curtain was drawn and they never saw us and we never saw them.
There was a man, his wife and their four year old son. Each had their own first class seat. Yes, the four year old had his own seat. The other person was a guy from Atlanta who uses JAL to get from the US to Korea but hates Delta Airlines. And the four of us. Total of 8. The kid spent most of his time in his mothers lap or fathers lap and didn't really use his seat or the meal service that much.
Once again we had 4 of the 8 seats in first class. This was my window seat. Two business class seats are right behind the wall that occupy this width of one first class seat. Behind them, three coach seats occupy the same space as two business class or one first class seat.
You can see my Bose headset, blanket and pillow. Two reading lights. Two more reading lights are overhead. Everything along the window edge is storage. Push the button and they open up.
Looking back towards business class, here is a little partition that is lowered during boarding / take-off / landing, you can see three business class seats in the middle in the same space as two first class seats.
Hot towel was served along with a choice of champagne or orange juice on a silver platter.
I have a personal ottoman and it has a seat belt so someone can join me for a meal or drink or just sit with me and wear a seatbelt. That tray table slides back and forth. To the right where my yellow cord is sticking out is the power port area.
Thick curtain with pleats. There is a sign attached to this on that tells the business class folks they cannot enter first class and they need to use the lavatory behind them.
Flight info
FA brought the wine menu to me. Didn't really occur to me that it was not in a binder like the trip over to Japan. I selected both sake. This first one is very expensive and hard to find in Japan
Look to the bottom right of the glass, it has JAL engraved on the bottom
Then she bought this and I didn't know what it was.
I had to ask for a menu. She brought the menu. I said last flight the menus and papers were in a leather binder, why are they not in a binder? She wasn't sure of what I was saying but came back 3 minutes later with an empty binder. I put the two menus in the binder. Maybe this flight had a different policy? Different procedure? Hand out menus instead of putting them in a binder?
Then set the table. It was not set perfectly as the last flight. It was not deliberate. It was kind of just put there. I had to arrange it perfectly as you see below, the way it was on the last flight. This is the way it should have been set. There are my feet in white socks
Here is the (first part of the) menu
I thought the food was colder than it should have been. It was not the right warmth.
Next course was
This is the owan, it was also not the right temperature
Next course was
Closeup
Then the main course
The beef was good but it wasn't hot. It was sort of warm. The FA told me to dip it into the egg (front center) to add flavor. It did add flavor.
Then dessert
All were good. The green tea is to the right and what is supposed to be a hot towel but is cold
Look at the attention to detail on this rope / string
This was very tasty
This would make crunching noises in my mouth as it melted
And there were gifts
The FA asked is she can make my bed for me and asked if I would like the hard or soft mattress. I picked the hard mattress and she brought the quilt and extra pillow.
I was too excited to sleep and needed more food. Again the food should have been hot but was barely warm. I was disappointed.
There was a corner set up by the bathrooms with a display, very cute
I have NEVER seen a JAL FA sit down. They are always standing or puttering around or checking on us. They have the curtains drawn most of the time so you don't see them. I did see this and look at the stool they use to sit on, if they do sit. They don't sit on the jump seats
They do bring you pajamas at the beginning of the flight and escort you to the very large bathroom (there are two just for us) and they hold the door open and help us close the door. They wait out side and when we come out wearing out new pajamas, and holding our street clothes in our hands, they ask if they can take the clothes and they put each item on a hanger in the closet with our seat number already labeled on it.
The bathroom does not have paper towels. They have disposable linens.
Just love how much real estate I have all to myself - the width of three coach seats
Can I get more food?
So sad the flight has to come to an end
We landed in Chicago at 7:45 AM, took the train to domestic terminal 3, stayed in the Admiral's Club FlagShip Lounge and had more buffet food. At 9:00 AM Central time, it was midnight Japan time, so we all toasted happy new year Japan time.
We then caught our 11AM flight ORD to DFW and landed in Dallas at 12:34PM and got in our car and went searching for hamburgers.
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