Monday, February 1, 2016: A Day in Tokyo, flight homeI woke up early in order to maximize the one day I had in Tokyo. At 8am on the dot the bellman rang my bell with my kosher breakfast order. After I davened I ate breakfast in the room, and while not a traditional breakfast (I’d been forewarned about that) it was very tasty. I even had 2 of the 3 sandwiches leftover.
Kosher breakfast arrives
Kosher breakfastI headed up to the lobby to get directions to the Skytree, the activity for the day. In retrospect I don’t know if I’d chose it again. It could be it was overcast, so visibility was not excellent (no Mt. Fuji views). It could be I didn’t know the significance of what I was looking at, but I wasn’t super impressed.
I also booked a bus at this point, the Narita Express, to the airport for I also booked a bus at this point, the Narita Express, to the airport for ¥3,100. While it would have been cheaper to go on the Airport Express train from Shinbashi station, I decided to book the bus directly from the hotel for two reasons: 1) I had loads of cash now and 2) I wasn’t sure if I’d have the same trouble finding Shinbashi station as I did leaving it.
Anyway, I got a subway map and directions to the Skytree. I was to take 2 trains, which was pretty easy. The concierge guy suggested which two to take, so even though Google disagreed, I figured I’d trust the local. That was a mistake.
I learned something that day about how Tokyo metro works. Basically there are a few different companies that operate trains under and around Tokyo: Tokyo Metro, Tokei trains, JR, and maybe more. For a single ride ticket on Tokyo Metro you can transfer to another Tokyo Metro train, but not a Tokei train. Since there’s no real way of knowing which one is which, and since the ticket machines give you two options to get to your destination, it’s very easy to get confused.
Basically, the way the concierge guy told me to go involved transferring to the Tokei line for one stop. Since I did this I ended up having to pay twice. It should have only cost ¥200 to get to the Skytree all on metro, but the Tokei line added ¥230 just for 1 stop!
On the way back I just listened to Google (which even displayed the prices based on the route), look other trains, and only paid ¥200. Lesson learned. It wasn’t too bad, but I was more confused than anything.
Anyway, after 45 minutes on the trains I arrived at the Skytree station. The station is in the basement of the huge Skytree City, a mall/offices located around the base of the Skytree itself. There were lots of helpful signs directing you through the mall to the ticket counter. I paid in cash (not sure if they accept credit card, but I had an overabundance of cash anyway), got my ticket and headed up to the 350th floor.
The mall below the Skytree
Views from the 350th floor; Tokyo tower as seen from the Skytree (middle)I walked around the floor, using the provided map and electronic displays to see the view of the Tokyo skyline. After walking around once, slowly, I decided to pay some more for tickets to the 450th floor, again mainly because I’d taken out too much cash.
As it turns out, they were having a special exhibit on the top floor all about Star Wars. This would have been super cool if I was a Star Wars fan, but alas I’m not. I spent some time up top taking in basically the identical views we had 100m below before taking the elevator down to the 345th floor. I wouldn’t recommend the top floor after having gone (unless there’s a special exhibit you want to see). The views didn’t wow me any more than the lower floor did.
Star Wars exhibit on the 450th floor
Views from the glass floor on the 345th floorI left the Skytree and decided to just walk around the mall on the souvenir floor to find something to bring home. I guess the Japanese have different ideas about what a souvenir is. I couldn't fince one shot glass, one magnet, one beer bottle opener, or one keychain anywhere!
At this point it was around 11:30am and my bus was leaving at 12:55. I was thinking about walking around other areas of Tokyo, but due to the cold, lack of time, lack of knowledge of where exactly I was going and lack of street names I decided to just head back to the hotel.
Tokyo Metro
Really cool screen on the train. It makes it super easy to navigate the metro, though it wasn't on all trains I took. NYC should get ideas from themI got back to the hotel around 12:15pm, cecked out the spa/pool on the 37th floor, packed up and got on the bus. The bus as promptly on time and stopped at a few other hotels before heading out to the airport. There was 1 person on the bus before me and a total of about 6 people from 3 hotels. We arrived at Narita Airport, terminal 2 at 2:25, right on schedule.
I checked in with Japan Airlines First Class check in, proceeded to an empty security line followed by an empty immigration line. There were literally no people other than me in either place.
JL F check inThere are two first class lounges in terminal 2, one in the remote terminal and one in the main terminal. Since my flight was leaving from gate 61 in the main terminal I just went to the lounge just after immigration. The first lounge is actually located in the same room as the business lounge, but as separate facilities, kind of like the SilverKris lounge in SIN. I showed the agents by boarding pass and was promptly admitted.
This lounge was really nice. I was able to stow all my carry ons in lockers for the duration of my stay. They were self service, so I could access my bags as frequently as I’d like. The general seating area was large, with great views of the tarmac and approaching flights. While there was no kosher food in the lounge, they did have a ton of stuff to chose from, including a sushi bar with two chefs making sushi to order. They also had a sake bar.
F lounge lockers
Seating areas
Sushi and Sake bar
Business center
Massage roomThe lounge also had plenty of shower and offered free massages. I had better luck then in HKG (the lounge was quite empty at this point) and scheduled myself a 10-minute foot massage with a mere 15-minute wait. After the massage, in which the masseuse only touched me through towels I took a shower. While the shower rooms was not as nice as the ANA F lounge in Terminal 1 (near gate 46), it was still nice enough.
Shower roomAfter my shower the lounge started to fill up quickly. At that point I decided to try to find my friends. That’s right, I’d helped some friends of mine book a trip to Bali and Singapore for a week 1 week prior to departure and wouldn’t you know it they were on my flight back to LA, JL 62, in Y.
I left my things in the lounge and found their recently arrived plane. While they had to go through security before boarding the next flight, I did catch site of them deplaning so I knew they’d made it.
About 30 minutes before boarding I left the lounge and headed to the gate. I met my friends there and we spent some time catching up about our respective trips. Boarding was announced, and we boarded (they boarded with first class since we were travelling together). We split up at the jet bridge, me heading to the left to F and they to the right to J and Y.
Out plane
Upon boarding I was directed to my seat, 2K. I was immediately offered sleepwear (unlike on SQ where I had to request it) and changed right away. A flight attendant was waiting right outside the lav to hang up my clothes as soon as I exited. The lavs in F are right in front of the cockpit, on either side. Both are small but nice, though nothing like SQ or CX offered.
My seat
JL F pajamasThe flight was a bit rocky at the beginning due to some strong turbulence, but the flight crew was up and about serving dinner. The meals on this flight were from Stogel: my new favorite caterer. Hermolis was good, but Stogel was better IMO.
I had dinner right away and then wanted to go to sleep. Even though the flight attendants were still in the middle of dinner service for the other 6 passengers (7/8 seats were occupied) they didn’t hesitate to make up my bed while I went to the bathroom for a few minutes.
Dinner courtesy of StogelSince this flight was relatively short, at just 8:50 I really wanted to maximize my time sleeping since I needed to go to work the next (same) day. The flight attendant offered to wake me 90 minutes before arrival for breakfast, which I greatly appreciated.
Seat as a bedI was woken right on time, after a short 5.5 hours of very comfortable sleep. I got up, davened (it was just getting light outside) and got ready for breakfast. The food was great. They even had eggs with fake sausages for the main course, which were not rubbery.
BreakfastI then changed back into my clothes and invited my friends from Y to check out F class. They came up and checked things out for about 10 minutes before heading back. Since we live a few blocks apart we decided to share an Uber.
After they left I just enjoyed the views. We'd entered California airspace just south of Monterey, CA and were flying down over the San Joaquin valley. The views were amazing! After some storms on Sunday, there was not a cloud in the sky. Between the snow-capped mountains, the fields and the ocean I was glued to the window. Views once we go to LA was equally as nice; it was my favorite landing by far.
Our views on landingWe landed a bit early, around 9:15am on Monday (yup, I got to experience the worst day of the week twice!), about 8 hours before we left. I was though immigration and customs 9 minutes after leaving the aircraft door. I did, however, have to wait 35 minutes for my friends to come out. I ordered an UberXL (since we had 3 people and they checked bags) which took another 15 minutes to show up due to the airport being super congested. The ride home was traffic free. We dropped them off, and I got home a minute later around 11:00. I was at work by 11:45am.
While I did miss my wife, I was really glad I went on the trip. It was a lot of fun and travelling solo was not as bad as I though it would be. I even saved some things to do in each city for when I can go back with my wife some time in the future.
Thanks for reading!
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