Carfield

Dear all,

Here is the second part of the Asian trip report, and it is time to continue onto Los Angeles and this time I am flying the usual CX F to Tokyo Narita and continuing onto Los Angeles on JAL. It is my first time flying Japan Airlines First Class and I am pretty excited about trying out the new Skysleeper Solo seats, which have recently been introduced on LA routes (JL 061/062).

March 2, 2007
CX 504 HKG-NRT Lv0905 Arr1400 Boeing 747-400 B-HUI
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...=8QbNHDNy5bts2

HK airport was pretty busy at these morning hours but the CX First Class check-in desks were as efficient as ever. Now the expanded F area increased the amount of desks and the porter wasted no time in getting my check-in bag. The agent printed my boarding pass to Tokyo only, as JAL has not been fully incorporated into the Oneworld system yet (still one more month to go), but connecting gate information was available. After buying a few more magazines, I headed to the Pier, as my gate was 65 this morning.

In terms of plane-spotting, I spotted an unusual Air New Zealand’s Boeing 777 (ZK-OKC) parking in the tarmac, next to the SQ’s Boeing 777-200ER 9V-SQA, the 10am flight to SIN, which was busy loading cargoes. I guess there must be a charter or a special flight, but I did not see any flight information. At the same time, I saw the usual NZ’s Boeing 747-400 ZK-SUI with General Electric engines heading to LHR. I saw the soon disappeared morning NRT bound United’s Boeing 777-200ER N796UA, as well as the JFK bound A340-600 B-HQC at the USA pier. Another Airbus A340-600 B-HQB parked next to us, which seemed to be heading to LHR later that afternoon.

The Pier lounge was pretty busy as usual, due to the amount of morning flights departing. I headed towards the dining area first for a light breakfast of congee and dim sum, and some iced lemon tea. Then I used my laptop a bit and got a bottle of Evian water.

Boarding began at 8:35am and there was a separate first and business class line. First class was fairly full today, but the service was as great as usual. The HK based F/A, Zoe, was especially nice and I don’t think I need to say more about CX good F service. The only thing missing was a pair of slippers, which many airlines offer on Japanese and Korean bound flights in first and business class. We pushed back at 9:02am and headed towards R/W7R. Two interesting things happened this morning. First, I spotted an ex-SQ 747-400 at the HAECO hangar and guess another ex-SQ 744 is being refurbished for CX use. Second, a CX’s Airbus A330-300 B-HLP jumped line in the takeoff queue and took off from R/W7R from point E1, which was quite unusual. We took off at 9:22am, and our flying time was a quick three hours and twenty-one minutes. We cruised at 37,000feet and the routing took us towards Taichung, and then onto Kagoshima, and then onto Tokyo.

Beverage was served with cashews after takeoff and then the meal was served. Since I had the same Japanese meal a year ago, I decided to stick with the Western selection with the new Chinese entrée. The meal was excellent as usual.

Brunch
Starters
Juice Selection
Roasted Lobster with leek, onion, and potato salad served with tomato vinaigrette
Green peas, bacon, and mint soup served with cheese straws
Really lovely lobster appetizer and the potatoes were very tasty.
The soup was nice as well…
There was a mini breadbasket for each passengers, which featured pretzel rolls, multigrain twists, and olive rolls.

Main Courses
Grilled Beef Tenderloin with rosemary wine sauce
Swede Mash, Green asparagus and Baby carrots
Or
Chinese Dim Sum
Or
Braised fish with bean curd sheets and mushrooms served with Chinese baby cabbage and oyster mushroom with oyster sauce, egg fried rice with spring onion
I had the fish fillet, which was excellent, and it was served on the new Chinese style china, and the main dish was served separate from the side vegetables, and the rice came in a separate bowl.

Cheese and Dessert
Selection of International Cheese
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Almond Frangipane tart with clotted cream
The fruit selection includes mango, strawberry, melon and cantaloupe.
The almond dessert is also nice.
504-1890F <03/07>

Japanese Meal
Canapes
Sweet Broad Beans and eel roll skewer
Salmon roll with rape blossoms
Bamboo Shoot with sesame paste, fish cake with seaweed
Stewed Squid and Braised Shrimp

Liqueur
Choya Ume Liqueur

Appetizer
Sliced Salmon Belly, smoked snapper, Japanese grass shrimp

Clear Soup
Fish Ball with bamboo shoot, soaked wakame seaweed
Lily Bulb shaped in cherry blossom petals, kinome

Braised Dish
Braised bamboo shoot, seaweed, Japanese butterbur
Sea Bream roe, Braised gluten and carrot

Hot Dish
Baked Seafood with mayonnaise sauce

Vinegar dish
Assorted shell meat with tasazu vinegar sauce

Noodles
Cherry Leaf noodle and white buckwheat noodle

Rice dish
Steamed rice, miso soup, assorted pickles

Fruit
Fresh Seasonal Fruit

Beverages
Ginjyo-sake, green tea, mineral water
504-JAPF <M-A.07)

Wine List
Champagne
Cuvee William Deutz Brut 1998

White Wines
Vaucher Pere Meursault Premier Cru 2004
Pemberton Reserve Chardonnay 2004

Red Wines
Chateau Branaire-Ducru 1998, 4eme Cru Classe
Corton Grand Cru Louis Max 1996
Castelgiocondo, Ripe al Convento, Brunello di Montalcino

Port
Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira 10 Years Old Tawny Port
500,502,504,506,508,520,532,536,580

In general, it was a good meal as usual, and CX scores well this morning. After the brunch, I decided to watch a few videos, but unfortunately, only the February videos are available, unlike the March entertainment guides that were loaded. Descent soon began at 1:19pm Tokyo time, and we landed on R/W34L at 1:43pm. For the first time, we needed to taxi the long way towards Terminal Two, and were parked at gate 63 at 1:54pm.

JL 62/AA 5830 NRT-LAX Lv1720 Arr0955 Boeing 747-400
JA8919 with Yokoso Japan large print livery
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Coming off from an excellent flight, Japan Airlines has a lot to live up to. Well I headed to the transit counters, and finally JL has established a separate first and business class line. Last time I was there, there was a long time and no separate premium class line. The agent was a bit cold and indifferent, and just gave me the boarding pass, and I had to ask for directions to the first class lounge. There were a number of lounges in T-2 and JL kept on changing things, so I was going to be proactive this time in seeking information. Terminal two definitely looked dull compared to the brand new renovated Terminal One, which had lots of interesting eateries and shops, but Terminal Two were also undergoing refurbishment, which made the terminal not too appealing. So I headed towards JAL First class lounge, which was disappointing and not even up to the standard of American Flagship lounge or United’s International First Class lounge. The First class lounge at the satellite terminal was a link up lounge with Global Club lounge, but First class has a little rope off section. There was an excellent lounge attendant that will bring you over to the lounge and pour you drinks, hang up your coat, and give you a hot towel. The service is excellent in that aspect, but the lounge, as you can see from the pictures, is small and the free wifi service is slow and unreliable, which is unacceptable considered it is a paid service, but JAL will give you a free wifi card. The food offerings are onigiri, some rolls, pastries and very basic cold food items. Nothing substantial! Thank goodness for a more than substantial lunch on CX. With nothing much happening, I read the South China Morning Post and then headed towards the duty free shops and various gates. Our flight arrived a bit late from Chicago, so our boarding time was pushed back till 5pm.

I have to say I quite like the new flight information display system. Anyhow, boarding began at 4:57pm, and the F/As immediately welcomed me to the seat. Everything was done so formally, and newspapers were available at the console area. Due to local Japanese regulations, no pre-takeoff beverage can be offered, but the F/As came to say a very formal hello, as well as passing out the BOSE 2 noise-canceling headsets. It is interesting that they gave out the headset, but took away the case. Nothing else was offered, as the F/As seemed to be waiting for some VIP passengers, which were responsible in delaying our departure ten minutes later.

The new Skysleeper Solo seats look very nice, and each seat even has a little carpet in front of the seat. There is a separate shoe storage space, as well a magazine stowage drawer, but there is a lack of space for other stuff then. The lighting was sufficient with various options. Due to the rules that no digital camera or more proper electronic equipments can be used while the plane was on the ground, I did not take any seat pictures, and later when the VIP pax, who was a particular famous US singer with visual disability, showed up, I felt a bit improper to take pictures of the cabin, especially he sat in front of me. But I promise I will take more detail cabin pictures on the way back. The white leather looked classy on paper, but in reality, they were really hard to maintain and the white leather no longer looked white, and indeed sort of dirty, even you know the plane was in good conditions especially a Japanese carrier. Comfort level: it was good though and there were various comfortable seating positions.

Boarding was completed early on, but we were waiting for a few passengers, which were our VIP and his entourage. I think this was where JAL lost many points because of the F/As being busy with the VIP passengers, and I felt the other passengers lost much attention. They were also very busy with their demands (not many, but they were hungry, so F/As had to bring them lots of food first after takeoff), and the most annoying aspect was the large amount of hand carry they brought to the plane, and the F/As did not offer to put them in other closet spaces, or rather lack of them. My laptop was being squeezed and piled on top, which really upset me. It was also difficult to retrieve items after takeoff. The F/As were formal, polite and doing the job well, but nothing personable and was a dramatic different from the friendly F/As on ANA, which also did a good job, but very personable and cheerful to all passengers. Door was finally closed at 5:30pm, but the VIP team was still moving around the cabin, while we pushed back two minutes later. In a US carrier, that would not be permitted. I guess why they picked Asian carriers.

We took off from R/W16R at 5:51pm, and the flight was a bit longer than usual, due to the lack of tail wind. Flying time was a long nine hours and thirty-two minutes, and with our late departure time, we were expected to arrive thirty minutes later. The F/As were apologetic and approached each passenger and told him or her about the late arrival. Our routing was pretty straight across the Pacific Ocean and then entered the US airspace through Monterrey and the Malibu approach. Flight attitudes were at first 31,000feet, and then up to 37,000feet, and then down to 33,000feet, and back up to 37,000feet, before heading back to 35,000feet, and the down to 31,000feet before entering the Bay area. The flight was very choppy throughout the night due to a lot of crossing jet streams, and that explained the up and down in finding a smooth attitude.

Champagne was passed out at 6:04pm, followed by hot towels, and then wine list. Beverage order was finally taken, and canapé was served at 6:40pm, which featured a smoked salmon roll, deep fried meatball and some vegetarian terrine. Then the menus were passed out, and meal orders were taken. I decided to go with the Japanese meal, which was served in various courses.
Here is the full menu transcript.

Chef’s Recommendation
Amuse Bouche
Terrine of Conger Eel and Foie Gras
Potage of Welsh Onion

Main Dish
Grilled Fillet of Beef Steak with Balsamico Sauce (663kcal)
Roasted Chicken with Wild Rice (482kcal)
“Bouchee” of Homard & Scallop with American Sauce (662kcal)

Seasonal Fresh Salad

Assorted Cheeses

Fruits in Season
Mango Cream Tart
Strawberry Mille-feuille
Fondant Chocolate

Petit Fours

Spring Taste of Japan
Sakizuke
Walnut Curd Tofu with Soy Vinegar Jelly

Zensai
Braised Prawn
Rolled “Wagyu” Roast Beef with mustard sauce
Marinated Gizzard Shad
Rolled Conger Eel with Burdock
Kelp Roll with Cod Roe
Steamed Fish Mousse
Bamboo Shoot Gratin

Wan
Japanese Clear Soup with Fish Mousse

Mukouzuke
Rolled Sea-bream & Halfbeak “Sashimi” style

Kobachi
Boiled Broad Beans with Cream Cheese Sauce

Nimono
Simmered Lobster with Egg Yolk & Fish Roe

Dainomono
Grilled Fillet of Tilefish with Spring Vegetables

Japanese Steamed Rice
Japanese Pickles
Miso Soup
Fruits in Season
Japanese Sweets
Green Tea

The meals were pretty nice and each course showed that lots of attention and preparation were given to the food before being served. The Western meal looked alright, but obviously ANA also won miles ahead in terms of presentation and creativity and quality of food, but JAL was not bad. I never had ANA Japanese meal, so I can’t compare, but nevertheless, these Japanese airlines are pretty good with meals in premium cabin. (Despite my parents just reported that food was really bad on JAL business class on their flight from LAX to NRT, and then NRT to HKG late in February). After the main meal, I had a nice fruit plate, which featured melon, papaya, pineapple, and strawberry, and the pastries cart look excellent. Both the Mango Cream Tart and Strawberry Mille-feuille were beyond delicious, definitely one of the best pastries that I have had at 37,000feet. I had a lemon tea after the meal, and then the F/As passed out the Shiseido Amenity kits, but no sleeping wear was offered, which was a bit surprising. I guess you had to ask for them, but they were on request and only “borrowed”. In this aspect, JAL scored better, and at least you got an amenity kit. The bathroom was very nice as well with windows and all the fancy designs. I will take pictures on the return flight, when there are actually daylights and I am in a more awaken stage.

There was a bed service, and the F/A will turn your seat into a bed, with a mattress cover and nice duvet blanket. Otsumami, Evian bottled water, snacks and chocolates were offered in the aft console. With a poor entertainment system MAGIC I, there was nothing to do but to sleep. MAGIC I was the classic personal television system with movies play on cycle. There was a lack of videos and other options. So ANA won by miles, especially the new Boeing 777-300ER!

The flight was pretty rough throughout the evening, and around 9am, lights were turned back on in all cabin classes, and breakfast was served. That was another pet peeve of me, as it was almost impossible to communicate with the flight attendant. I try to tell her that I want the Japanese breakfast, but with the Kagoshima Ramen as the main course, instead of the rice or porridge. Of course, she could not understand me, and just got the Ramen, which was excellent. Nevertheless, I was not too hungry, so I did not bother to ask her for the Japanese tray. In this sense, ANA also scores better. For other folks, most breakfast was served in one tray.

Here is the menu transcript for breakfast and other snacks.
Selections
Western Tray
Waffle with Maple Syrup
Bacon & Sausage

Prepared Fresh Fruits
Plain Yogurt
Coffee Tea

Japanese Grilled Fish Tray
Japanese Poached Egg in Jelly

Grilled Salmon
Rolled Omelet
Fish Cake

Japanese Pickles
Miso Soup
Steamed Rice or Rice Porridge

Japanese A La Carte
Steamed Rice and Vegetables with Japanese Tea “Ochazuke”
Vegetable Curry Japanese Style
Simmered Eel in Sweet Soy Sauce
Assorted Seafood on Sushi Rice

Noodle
Japanese “Udon” Noodles in Soup with Fried Bean Curd
Chinese “Ramen” Noodles in Soup with “Kagoshima” Pork Fillet
(Soy Sauce Flavored Soup or “Tonkotsu” Soup)

Western A La carte
Clam Chowder
Clam Risotto Watercress Flavor
Sandwiches

Refreshment
Prepared Fresh Fruits

After breakfast, various immigration and welcome to LA videos were shown, and descent soon began at 9:56am LA time. Seat belt sign was turned on at 10:13am, and landed on R/W24L at 10:23am and parked at gate 121, which was next to All Nippon’s Boeing 777-300ER JA734A. The VIP guest decided to stay on board till after everyone was deplaned, so that was nice of him, but I guess it was also hard to deplane at TBIT anyway, when only one cabin door was used.

So my verdict was pretty simple. JAL scores average and the onboard food services and the new skysleeper solo seats were top notch, but the flight attendants were formal and polite, but lacked a personable factor. They were a bit more reserved and lacked the same energy as ANA F/As. I have no problem understanding why ANA is an upcoming star, rather than JAL. To give JAL credits, JAL will have a new Premium class lounge complex ready soon, but the present standard was just lacking. There was a lot of catching up to do, especially ANA new F/J lounge complex, as well as compared to the other world/Asian carriers. For the price I paid, it was a good deal and could not complain more. But I certainly expect more from JAL, so hopefully the return flight would be better.

Thanks for reading!

Carfield

PS. The next trip report would be on DL’s new BizElite service between JFK and London Gatwick. It should be up later today or tomorrow.

aw

Thanks for the eye opening report, Carfield. I was told once that Japanese travelers preferred ANA over JAL and now I can see why.

PresRDC

It sounds like Stevie Wonder made the trip much less pleasant.

violist

Thanks for a mouth-watering report!

Carfield

Well I don't want to really blame the rather average (below average) performance on the particular VIP pax.

Other than the "grand" entrance and late arrival into the a/c, he was pretty low key with his manager in row 1. Yes, they asked for the duvet and a few items right away, but nothing really out of ordinary for first class folks.

The problem lied with the F/A team, and how three of them seemed to be out of sync once a few VIP pax were around. I understand that VIP pax required a bit more attention, but to what extent, so your regular folks did not feel chided? English proficiency certainly had nothing to do with VIP present or not... I just feel that the F/As were not as creative and personable as their counterparts at ANA. They were a bit older than the ANA team, which meant they suppose to be more experienced in seeing special passengers. Nonetheless, they did their jobs fine, but just not that extra touch... such as an ANA F/A would say, "Are you sure you have enough to eat? You want another item (before rushing to clear your table)..."

So the question should be, "what should happen on the same situation with CX or SQ or NH? When a special VIP guest was present... Also how about US carriers?"

Sometimes that is the minor difference, which defines good and bad services.

Also, I still can't confirm the identity of the VIP pax... I am really out of touch with the US music industry, but the visual disability seems very obvious and there are some Jap pax asking for autograph. But I just can't 100% tell you that is who you guys are talking about.

Carfield

Flyingfox

Carfield, Thank-You for the (as usual) excellent report - yours are always a joy to read!

We usually fly JAL twice yearly from the US to Japan, mainly from ORD-NRT. We decided to try ANA on that route in Feb 2007 and I can tell you that the FAs are VERY different on ANA. Much more doting and personable. They ask you if you like the meal, if you would like more, if they can get you some tea, etc. This really doesn't happen on JAL. JAL does the job but you have to ASK for things much of the time, including the pyjamas.
The menu on ANA was also more comprehensive, it seemed, with many more choices including Western "comfort foods" like cheeseburgers, calzones, and cereals. JAL's Western items can be a bit bizzarre.
ANA's F seat is much better than the JAL skysleeper solo. It is much wider and has more space at the feet. It's also more private and the video monitor is miles above that tiny, ill-placed screen on JAL. I do understand that JAL are working on a new F seat.

Regarding the "VIP" passenger, I can tell you one thing that I have said at work (as a doc), when I am told "Mr. so and so in room 211 is a VIP" - I tell them "all of our patients are VIPs".
We were on a flight on JAL from NRT-ORD a few years ago in F and the cabin was full. It turns out that my wife and I were the only 2 people in the cabin who were not part of the "------- team" (Japanese), who were going to the states for a competition. The team behaved just like any other passengers and were very polite - service did not change for us one bit.
It's all really a matter of class and being considerate of others, isn't it?Regarding those "VIPs" who consider themselves worthy of extra attention (in this day and age), perhaps a private aircraft would be more appropriate?
If you wanted to take pictures in-flight (of the cabin, seat, meal, etc.), why should the presence of a "VIP" affect this right of yours? If they need that level of privacy, they really should not be flying commercially. You've obviously paid your dues (with money or miles) to sit where you're sitting, and should enjoy it maximally!

By the way - we flew CX from TPE-NRT on our last trip in F and the new serviceware is quite nice. The entree was served on a new large plate (rectangular), but the crystalware is not as nice! I miss the etched crystal, especially the champagne flutes! The service was over the top, as usual. The new chocolates were great, but - no more green tea chocolates!