ANA 787 J HND-BKK
This was my first time flying out of Haneda and was excited because it's twice as close as Nartia and it's a new airport to check out.
Google maps had a few ways to get there either going to Tokyo Station and taking JR to monorail or the Asakusa line from Takaracho. I stopped by the front desk and they confirmed to just go to Takaracho and take one of the every 9-11 min HND express trains. I asked because on google it showed Sengakuji the line color changing and wasn't sure if it was a transfer or a new ticket etc.
The ticket took a few extra seconds of navigating the machine to find the right fare and eventually you get to a screen that shows HND and you can plop the coins in.
Lovely timing JV...fortunately it cleared out after 2-3 stops and I then had a seat the rest of the trip.
Plenty of elite help.
Quick premium security, no lines at exit passport control and I was airside 50 min from when the train picked me up at Takaracho.
I went to exchange the yen I had into baht...I needed 60 yen more to make it a clean number to get all baht back. I forgot to take my 100 yen coin out of the tray at security which meant I had about $14 worth of yen left so I got a little sake, green tea and stuff.
Lounge was pretty full. Hard to find a cushy seat if you were a group of two. Plenty of bar/counter top space.
Typical offering as the NH lounge at NRT. Nice that this one has windows and was able to see the R2-D2 livery scoot past.
I kept blowing by the sake as I wanted to have a glass before I left...finally I found it as it was sitting on a counter outside of the food area. Just one type from Akita...IRRC last time at NRT there were 3-4 to taste.
As with no F on the flight the first to board were Diamonds. Imagine if UA did that for 1K and not just GS. This left a French man complaining that people seated in economy were able to board before him in Business Class.
Sure it's not the staggered IOJ seat, but I don't mind this. For me it was comfortable to relax and recline in, not really sleeping on a 5:45min flight leaving at 11am. I'm sure a credit card blogger would throw a hissy fit.
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A lot more gelatinous and goo foods on this flight.
Was not a an of the bone in fried fish and peppers on the top left. The grated seaweed/yam good was interesting...hard to eat like natto.
A tiny meatball and 2 dry pieces of chicken.
I should have got the curry when we were closer to landing. I thought I was getting hungry but could hold out. Then I smelled someone else's and then I saw it was 55 min to landing and I just said screw it I'll wait. But then we did a few circles 75 miles out for about 5-7 min plus another 7 min on the ground short of the gate (waiting on a VN plane it seemed). I was rationing my RX bars for the rest of the trip so I didn't eat one. No line at passport and bags came off quick so I just grabbed bananas from the 7/11 near the train entrance.
Traffic was showing it would take 1:20 to get to Silom so I opted to take the train to Makasan and transfer to the MRT to Sam Yan. When I came from CNX for a wedding and stayed at Le Meridien earlier in the year it was a Friday night and same deal with traffic so I was familiar enough with the route and no problems this time with luggage.
There's a nice connector to get from the airport train to the MRT.
A quick walk around the temple and down the alley puts you right next to Le Meridien.
About 65 baht ($1.80) and took 55 min compared to sitting in a probably hot taxi in traffic for 90 min and spending $9-$13.