Spymon

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

Duke787

Yes it was quite comfortable. It's the same seat that TK uses and is 100% lie-flat. I can't really argue with 8+ hours of sleep on an 11.5 hour flight either

Thanks! I actually walked for the most part. The Sheraton on the Park is only a couple KMs from Circular Quay and the Park Hyatt is right there. I also bought a MyMulti 3 my first day there which at $63 AUD (~$59 USD) was a great value. It provides unlimited access to the trains, light rail, buses, and ferries. The reason I went for the MyMulti 3 is the MyMulti 2 will not cover the ferry out to Manly where the MyMulti 3 does. The pass is good for a week so for me it was perfect and allowed me to use public transportation when convenient and walk when convenient.

The only two times I used a cab were transiting from the SOP ---> Park Hyatt and from the Park Hyatt ---> Hotel. In both instances by the time that happened by bags had 8 bottles of wine in them and I just had no interest in walking from the Circular Quay stop to the Park Hyatt with that heavy of a bag. Otherwise no need to cab.

Thank you! I highly recommend doing both just be aware of how long the Sushi Dai line is even at 430-5am! The earlier you can get there the better and don't be deceived by the line looking relatively short.

Thanks! You'll definitely enjoy it. Definitely a good call going with TG F on the return SYD - BKK. The reason I didn't go that direction is getting to NRT (within the constraints of my award) via BKK required a redeye to NRT on a NH 767 which apparently is a horrendous J product. CA J is actually lie-flat on the route (same seat as the TK 777 and A333) so it was quite comfortable and in retrospect I can't argue with 8+ hours of sleep but that still doesn't compare to TG F, especially if you get F to yourself like I did on BKK - SYD!

Manly is great and if you are looking for good fish and chips I strongly recommend going to "Monger's" - relatively inexpensive ($18 AUD) and if you check in on Yelp you get a free beer!



Thank you!! I promise the conclusion will be up shortly - finishing these things is hard to do when you get back to working but it will be up tonight or tomorrow I promise.

choch345

Excellent TR!

CDKing

I'm almost thinking for my one day in SYD that i should just pay as i go for public transit. I'm staying at Best Western Stellar Hotel which is 1KM from where you stayed. Im planning on walking the opera house and botanical gardens, walk across the harbour bridge and ferry to manley. If ferry is going to be separate its probably not worth the money.

I wish i had seen this report before i booked shuttle from the airport. Seems like it would have been quicker to take the train to museum station and walk the 450 meters to the hotel.

Duke787

NH 2 and NH Suites Lounge

Good morning, did you take a look at the sunrise outside our window at the Sheraton?



This is going to be one weird day isn’t it – it’s 6am Japan time on Saturday, we’re getting picked up at 6:30am by the Airport Limousine Bus, we should get to the airport by 8am, our flight leaves at 11:05am, and we arrive in Washington at 10:30am this same morning.

Well, it’s time to go and finally complete this vacation, thanks for hosting us Sheraton:



Ahhh hello Narita Airport, thank you Mr. Airport Limo Bus Driver and yes, I double and triple checked my pockets to make sure I have my phone this time!

It’s been exactly three weeks since we were last here to catch a ride on the TG A380 down to BKK. This time instead of checking in at TG, we get to check-in at ANA’s special “ANA Suite” check-in:



Okay, this isn’t as nice as the TG check-in at BKK but it’s still nice to be in this special room to check-in. It sounds like there will be three (3) other people with us on the flight this morning. It also sounds like we’ll be taking off from gate 46, which is over by the ANA F Lounge in Satellite 5, so we’ll get to experience a different F lounge than the one we were in three weeks ago!

I know we’ll be fed well on our flight but it’s only 8:45am and we likely won’t actually start eating on the flight until at least 12pm so I’m going to have breakfast in the form of curry Udon noodles:



Mmmm delicious, I think a quick shower is in order as well before we head off. This shower room is exactly the same as the one in the other ANA Lounge (except I didn’t break the shower head this time) so no review is necessary:







That was refreshing, I know it’s early in the morning but hey it’s 5 o’clock somewhere right? How about a nice Hibiki 17 to start the morning off right?



Oh and that’s our plane in the background there. She’s a 777-300, our first of the trip, though it doesn’t contain ANA’s newest F product. Despite that I’m anticipating we’ll have a great ride down home this morning / afternoon. Speaking of, I’m going to go grab a bottle of this Hibiki 17 from the duty free shop; I’ll meet you at the gate for boarding in five (5) minutes!

Hey there you are, yep I got the bottle right here with me. Before we board let me get a quick close-up of plane:



Okay let’s get this show on the road! I’m sitting in 2K and you’re next to me 2G and it appears that the other three passengers are in 1A, 1K, and 2A respectively. Before we walk down and onto the plane, make sure you take it all in. This is the last First Class flight we’ll be on for a while I want to make sure we enjoy every moment of it. This has been a hell of a trip and this is a great way to end!

Good morning Ms. Flight Attendant! How are you doing this morning? Yes, I’ll take a pair of large pajamas (I know how they tend to run small on the Asian carriers by now) blue slippers, and a gray Rimowa amenity kit! Oh, I should go ahead and change into them before we takeoff? Of course.



Sorry about that, I didn’t even get a chance to give you my first impressions of the seat and the cabin! Why don’t we take a look at the seat and cabin we’ll be in for the next 12.5 hours:













You already know what I’m going to say don’t you? Yes, I hate the fact that it’s so open given my penchant for privacy. That being said, relative to TG F on the A380, I actually find this to have slightly more privacy, the curvature of the walls provides a false sense of isolation that the walls on the TG A380 didn’t.

The seat however is unbelievably comfortable which is hard to believe given that this is a relatively old F product, which means these seats have been around the block a few times. I think the most disappointing aspect is the size of the TV screen; compared to the gigantic screen we had on our first flight this is pretty bad in all aspects. I think it’s safe to say this screen is even worse than the IFE on our two CA flights.

At least we aren’t back in business class, it looks horribly cramped and the seats don’t even lie-flat! (not pictured, two more seats to the left):



Good thing we aren’t back there, speaking of being in First Class, Ms. Flight Attendant, can we get a a couple glasses of Krug to start our journey off right?!


Time for takeoff, it’s been a hell of a trip hasn’t it, goodbye Tokyo!



Oh yes of course, a new glass of champagne sounds like a great idea now that we’re up in the air!



Now why don’t we take a look at today’s menu, similar to our TG flights we’ll get everything listed under “Amuse” so we don’t need to select something off that list:

Modern European

Amuse

Loquat-like jellied foie gras mousse
“Yuba” bean curd aspic with wasabi-flavored oil and trout roe
Mixed Parmesan cheese and dried sour cherry rolled with uncured Kyou-gamo, duck ham
Smoked and dried salmon trout / Yuzu-citron flavored cheese bar

Appetizer Plate

Caviar with traditional garnish
Foie gras and yellow bell pepper mousse with tomato coulis
Smoked scallion, sea urchin in marinated Ehime sea bass frivolite-style, carrot sauce
White asparagus with lemon flavored sauce

Garden salad served with cheese crouton
Served with choice of dressings: Hokkaido Yama-wasabi, Japanese horseradish dressing, Strawberry dressing, Caesar dressing

Main Plate

Grilled Miyazaki beef sirloin with ginger flavored Japanese-style sauce

OR

Grilled Sea bream with pernod flavored creamy sauce

OR

Stuffed and roasted quail with Hokkaido cherry vinegar flavored sauce

Selection of Breads

Baguette, Onion bread, Roggenbrot, Cherry blossom flavor bread (March / April specialty bread)

Cheese Plate

Coulommiers , Gorgonzola, Chabichou du Poitou, Petit Agour

Dessert

Cassis ice cream and cheese ice cream duet
Cherry roll cake
Tea pound cake and honey ice cream
Fruit



And the other option, Kaiseki Cuisine (note remember it is April so only ‘for April’ menu items are included where applicable)

Kaiseki Cuisine

Amuse

Loquat-like jellied foie gras mousse
“Yuba” bean curd aspic with wasabi-flavored oil and trout roe
Mixed parmesan cheese and dried sour cherry rolled with uncured Kyou-gamo, duck ham
Smoked and dried salmon trout / Yuzu-citron flavored cheese bar

Sakizuke

Marinated prawn and squid with butterbur and miso paste

Zensai

Salt-pickled wasabi stem dressed with sake malt. Asparagus rolled with grilled beef
Sake-steamed abalone. Trout ball with lily-bulb filling
Smoke scallop roll with kombu kelp-cured field mustard. Grilled snow crabmeat
Simmered shitake mushroom in thick soy-based sauce
Pickled yellow pepper with sweetened vinegar sauce

Owan

Simmered sea bream and various vegetables in seafood stock

Otsukuri

Quick-seared bonito

Takiawase

Simmered potato in soy-based sauce
Simmered baby octopus in soy-based sauce
Stir-fried burdock root with soy-based sauce. Field mustard

Kobachi

Dressed seafood and vinegared (sic) miso mixed with mustard

Shusai

Grilled tilefish miso taste

Steamed Rice

Onboard-steamed rice, miso soup, and assorted Japanese pickles

Wagashi

Toraya “Yoru no ume”



I don’t know what you’re leaning towards, but even though I love Japanese food I think sadly I’m going to have to go with the European meal – specifically the Grilled Miyazaki steak. For starters Miyazaki steak is top notch and not readily available in the US (if available at all). I also don’t want to ruin that amazing sushi we had last night – I’d prefer that to be my lasting memory of Tokyo / Japanese food. I’m also just not wild about the April selections for the Kaiseki Cuisine, many of the March and May options look better but since this is April no luck.

Oh and of course I’ll go with the caviar and how about just the “smoked scallion, sea urchin in marinated Ehime sea bass frivolite-style, carrot sauce” appetizer.

Okay first up, the Amuse plate, oh and let’s keep the Krug going…for now…



Not bad, by now you know I don’t love foie gras but this application wasn’t bad as some of the others we’ve had on our trip. I though the rolled duck ham was especially good.

Before we go any further it’s time to officially set our tray tables for the rest of the meal. Oh and I just had a great conversation with our Flight Attendant. I was asking for recommendations on the Sake and she was shocked to hear I didn’t really know much about sake (I chose not to mention sake-bombing – not the right place or time). So, she’s going to give us a try of each of the three sakes, one at a time, starting with the Yamamoto Junmaiginjo, which you can see she brought along with the place settings (it’s the clear one that looks like water – don’t worry it’s not):



That is some excellent sake – I could drink this all day and it definitely does not need to be dropped in a beer to be consumed. Now, onwards to my favorite appetizer, the caviar – we’ll keep the sake for it:





Mmmmmmm. In my opinion, that is definitely better than the caviar we had on TG F BKK – NRT, though not as good as the caviar we had on JFK – ICN. The blini were by far the best, perfectly sized and not dry / stale at all.

Oh don’t forget to select a couple of breads from the basket! Getting a baguette is a given for me, but I’m also really intrigued by the Cherry blossom bread. How about one of each for now?



Wow that Cherry blossom bread is shockingly good. It’s got a nice sweet flavor to it and doesn’t need any additional olive oil / butter / salt / etc.

Next up, the “smoked scallion, sea urchin in marinated Ehime sea bass frivolite-style, carrot sauce”:



Not bad, a bit of a filler course, if I wasn’t sitting up here in First Class I wouldn’t have needed this dish. In fact even sitting up here in First Class I probably didn’t need it!

And of course the first part of our meal wouldn’t be complete without the garden salad accompanied by the strawberry dressing:



I don’t know what you thought of your salad but I’m pretty disappointed in mine. It’s literally lettuce and a couple croutons. Heck, United has more complex salads than this.

Before our next course let’s take a quick look out the window, we’re firmly over the ocean now. The map on the IFE is anticipating a polar route but we seem to be going further and further across the ocean without making the turn left – maybe we’re just going to go straight across today:



Oh and Miss Flight Attendant why don’t we switch to the next sake, Rin Ikkai-hi-ire, with the steak:





Oh. My. Goodness. That was the best steak I’ve ever eaten on a plane. Period, end of discussion. Look at it; it’s pink and juicy in the middle!!! I hope you liked yours just as much. You did? Good.

Whew, why don’t we take a quick breather before eating dessert and enjoy the scenery for a bit. Oh, let’s try sake #3, Saika Junmai Ginjo, while we do that!



Okay, you don’t have to eat your dessert now but I think I’m ready for mine. I’m going to keep the cherry / cherry blossom theme going with the Cherry roll cake:


Wow. That is quite tasty. I can’t believe how light and airy that roll cake is – I would buy a piece of this on the ground.

Yes Ms. Flight Attendant? You mean there’s more? Uhh yeah sure, I’ll take the petit fours (well looks like petit threes but oh well), and can I have another glass of sake #2, I really liked that one:





Looks like it’s time to turn off the lights and close the windows “for the night,” let’s see what this bed looks like when it’s flat:



Hang on one second, I’m going to go brush my teeth, I’ll let you settle into your suite and catch up with you in the morning.

See this is what I love about ANA (and Asiana) versus the American carriers, they didn’t even ask me if I wanted turndown service, I just went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and upon returning foam pad was down, the duvet was laid out nicely, and I have about 3 more pillows to use:



I definitely need to try and get some sleep on this flight, but I’ve been traveling for so long that it really does feel like it’s only 2pm right now so I think a movie is a good call right about now. And as much as I want to keep enjoying the sake, I have to try the Hibiki 21. You already know I love the Hibiki 17 enough to buy it at the Duty Free, and the 21 was double the price, so since it’s free on this flight I have to try it:



Good, but honestly I think the Hibiki 17 is better. Not that there is anything wrong with this, it’s still world-class, but it doesn’t taste $80 dollars better than the 17. Okay, movie-time, let’s go with Wolf of Wall Street – that’s a nice, long movie that doesn’t require that much thinking:



I guess I ought to put my movie critic hat on again. Well, overall I thought it was a pretty entertaining movie. I continue to be amazed that Leonardo DiCaprio has never won an Oscar, he has quite an impressive range. That being said, I’m even more impressed with Jonah Hill’s acting. I had just recently watched Superbad before leaving on this trip and it’s impressive that we’re talking about the same actor.

Well, I’m going to try and sleep for a few hours!

A couple hours later

That was a decent sleep. Not the best sleep of the trip but it had nothing to do with the seat, that was incredible comfortable. It was more the timing just prevented me from being that tired and getting anything more than a couple hours of alcohol-induced sleep. It does look like we’re just about back of North America and very nearly back over the US – turns out we did just cross straight over the Pacific instead of doing the polar route:



For some reason I’m hungry again, so let’s get a bowl of the ramen off the snack menu and another Hibiki 21. Oh and let’s go with an episode of Friends:



Why not have some of that cheese as well since we didn’t that earlier:



Let’s take a quick peek out the window and see what’s going on out there, oooo it’s sunrise!







Don’t worry, the engine isn’t on fire, that’s just the sun.

It looks like the rest of the cabin is awake and opening their windows – in that event I don’t feel bad opening a couple and watching this sunrise from my seat (instead of hunched over a window):





It’s morning so I think a mimosa is in order (made with Krug of course):





Ahh I’m just going to sit here and enjoy a couple of these for the next couple hours until we get close to DC, maybe work on a the next section of the trip report. How’d you sleep over there? You look like you enjoyed your bed quite a bit

A couple hours later

We’re just 60 minutes out? Oh wow okay let’s go for breakfast, I think just the basic cereal, yoghurt, and croissant sounds good to me:



Good, I mean it’s cereal and yoghurt, even United can do that, so ANA's version is obviously pretty good. Still, I'm not adventurous enough to try those pickles…

Well it sounds like we’re getting ready to land. One last cheers to you, thanks for coming along with me! I’ve booked a seat for you on my next adventure in June / July so I’ll hope you’ll join me. We’ll be going to Istanbul for 3 days (by way of OS J to VIE), Athens for 2 days (by way of A3 J), Rhodes for 2 days (by way of A3 Y), Paris and Normandy for 4 days (by way of A3 Y), Copenhagen for 1 day (by way of SK J), and then returning back to DC (by way of LH F).

Until then, cheers!

bluetear

Cheers! Excellent TR! Really enjoyed every bit of it

deovrat

Fitting end to the TR ! Loved your writing style throughout.
And yes, I've never been able to get that Cherry cake outside of Japan !

Duke787

Thank you!!

Yeah the train is pretty quick - if you haven't booked a return shuttle I would recommend taking it back, especially if you're departing in the evening and want to avoid traffic.

Your day sounds good but just be aware of the timing. The ferry takes 30 minutes to Manly in each direction and will cost money (not sure what the roundtrip cost is since I did the MyMulti so it was included in that price).

Thank you very much for the kind words!

Thank you glad it was enjoyed by others! Gives me the encouragement needed to keep doing it for future trips.

As for the Cherry cake (and the Cherry blossom bread), I've never seen either before but it was delicious. I need to find a way to get on another ANA flight next spring so I can try it again!

quirrow

I was impressed by NH's bread offering in First Class as well, I had a black tea bread on my flight and it was definitely better than what I would usually get at many gourmet restaurants on the ground.

As for the salad, the contents for mine was a tad ordinary but I thought the variety of unique dressings made them special in a way.

arthrod

Read your TR and it's just amazing. Such a fantastic trip!

Melbourne

You lucky lucky boy

Melbourne

btw the way, do you get to check out the Qantas First lounges in MEL and SYD ?They are spectacular

stu1985

Excellent! Can't wait for your next report!

Flyingfox

Why the assumtion that "luck" has anything to do with this? This comes across as condescending. Did he gets this by winning the trip in the lottery?

Perhaps this was a well-needed holiday for someone who saved his hard-earned money to make it happen. He certainly did a lot of work in its preparation and planning.

You want a trip like this? Then make it happen. Do not expect "luck" to get it.

matthandy

What a fantastic report flyerdude88 ^

Reading this and looking at the pictures of Sydney has made me feel quite homesick. I lived in Sydney for three and a half years returning to the UK only 7 weeks ago.

The food in F on OZ looks exquisite, far better than I've seen on some other carriers.

I've visited Korea a couple of times and I had trouble with the toilets too, I scared of sitting down in case water came shooting up!

It was nice to see the new suites on the Thai 747, although I am not a fan of the colour scheme. I wonder how travel has been affected with the recent political situation?

I loved the NZ photos, a truly beautiful country.

Very nice that you stayed in the Park Hyatt. It is one of the most expensive hotels in Sydney. I had an afternoon tea there once and the staff were excellent.

I have to say that you did all the things in Sydney that I would have recommended to do so well done.

When did you visit the Great Ocean Road? I think that we must have been there around the same time.

Looking forward to more reports from you.