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Chasing Cherry Blossoms - Tokyo March 2016 - UA 777 Y & 787 J

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Old Apr 4, 2016, 4:16 pm
  #1  
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Chasing Cherry Blossoms - Tokyo March 2016 - UA 777 Y & 787 J

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1 – Japan Trip Planning
Part 2 – LAS Centurion Lounge & LAS-SFO via United 737 First
Part 3 – SFO Centurion Lounge & SFO-HND via United 777 Economy
Part 4 – Tokyo Tales Day 1 – Yasukuni, Tsukemen, Ueno & Ikebukuro
Part 5 – Tokyo Tales Day 2 – Tokyo DisneySea
Part 6 – Tokyo Tales Day 3 – Tsukiji, Ginza & Asakusa
Part 7 – Tokyo Tales Day 4 – Harajuku, Shinjuku Gyoen & Cherry Blossom goodness
Part 8 – Tokyo Tales Day 5 – Nikko, Nikko, and more Nikko
Part 9 – Lounging and shopping at NRT
Part 10 – NRT-LAX-LAS via United 787 Business


Full write up can be found: HERE


INTRODUCTION

So back in February, I was able to hop on the low fares on UA to Tokyo. Some of the fares were going as low as $440 but since I was leaving from LAS instead, mine ended up being $550, which I will still call a steal!

I managed to I found an entire week in March that I did not have to be in school (read: able to skip class) and the decision to jet off for a spring Japan trip was pretty simple! (Made even easier with the fact that I would be there during cherry blossom season!!) Being in Japan during sakura season has been one of my all-time travel bucket lists and low and behold!


FLIGHTS



The plan looked a little something like this:

LAS - SFO - UA 737-900 F
SFO - HND - UA 777-200 Y

NRT - LAX - UA 787-9 J
LAX - LAS - UA 737-900 F

I was particularly excited to be flying back on the Dreamliner, my very first flight on one!

I used a mileage upgrade (with miraculous availability) for the return flight and was CPU'd on the very first flight to SFO.


WHERE TO STAY

As soon as tickets were booked and seats were selected, the next major hurdle came into view. Where should I stay in Tokyo? It is arguably one of the busiest times to visit Japan and hotel prices definitely reflected that. Since I would be traveling with two other companions, finding a hotel that could accommodate 3 people in a room and not be outrageously priced was difficult, if not impossible.

We settled on an Airbnb. My only stipulation is that it needed to be close to train station. Most people, hopefully, can contest that this is a very important thing to consider if you are traveling around Tokyo. Being far away from a train station can really suck, especially after a long day of walking and exploring Tokyo.

Here's some pics of the the quiet area we ended up staying at. It was a 5 minute away from Ebisu Station!





PLANNING AND BUDGETING

Despite popular belief, and thank whatever higher power you may believe in, Japan/Tokyo is pretty affordable. This is coming from a medical student in mountain-loads of student debt. Plan your meals smart and your attractions in an efficient manner to utilize the train/public transportation.

Having been to Tokyo just 2 years ago, this trip would be a little mix of things done last trip as well as a good mix of brand spanking new experiences!


So 1.5 days of air travel, 5.5 days in Tokyo, and 906 photos later, here I go with my Japan trip of March 2016! Enjoy!

Check out the full writeup/blog post for some preview pictures including gratuitous cherry blossoms! HERE

Last edited by reverted; Apr 20, 2016 at 12:29 pm
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Old Apr 5, 2016, 3:35 am
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reverted, are you planning to post further updates in this thread?
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Old Apr 5, 2016, 9:57 am
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Originally Posted by matthandy
reverted, are you planning to post further updates in this thread?
Most definitely! I will be updating this thread as I finish more posts, fear not
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Old Apr 5, 2016, 10:11 am
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Originally Posted by reverted
Most definitely! I will be updating this thread as I finish more posts, fear not
Looking forward to this - hope to be in Tokyo in June, and visiting Nikko
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Old Apr 5, 2016, 10:13 am
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Looking forward to the rest of this TR! Looks like you found a great location to stay in btw - would be curious to see some pics of the inside of the place you ended up with.
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Old Apr 5, 2016, 10:33 am
  #6  
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Part 2 – LAS Centurion Lounge & LAS-SFO via United 737 First

Full post: HERE



Before taking off to San Francisco for our connecting flight to Tokyo, a quick stop at the LAS Centurion Lounge was in order to really kick off vacation and relax for a bit!

The lounge is located in Terminal 3 at the D Gates across from D1. There is some signage directing you to the lounge. And the entrance is pretty obvious.




The signature living wall and AMEX logo

Stepping into the lounge, you are taken into a beautifully decorated space that makes you question whether you are still at the airport or not. There was a good amount of seating when we arrived (3pm on a Tuesday) but I can definitely see this lounge crowding up if we were flying during a busier time.





There were many power outlet options also available (that I could see) throughout the lounge.

Now the food and drink! I was so impressed by the spread here. It certainly blows any US airline lounge I’ve been in out of the water in terms of quality and options. There were two kinds of soup, sandwiches, some side dishes, a salad bar and several dessert options!


Buffet spread


Alcohol spread



The bar had a nice selection suitable for everyone's taste in libations. There was a signature cocktail menu as well that you can find HERE.

The WiFi connection at the lounge was good and fast. Fast enough that I managed to catch up on some Netflix while sipping on my champagne.


Quick shot of the view before leaving

Overall I had a wonderful time and am surprised how much I enjoyed myself compared to other domestic lounges. It's a great place to kill time during a connection or before your flight and I would purposely get to the airport a tad bit earlier just to spend some time in here again!

Alas it was T-40 until our flight to SFO and we had to bid adieu to the Centurion Lounge and start the journey to Japan!

The flight to SFO was pretty exciting for me, at T-24 hours. After checking into our itinerary, I received an email saying me and my companion both got upgraded ala CPU for the short hop to SF! First CPU as a UA Silver!


Nice way to kick off vacation in First, no matter how short :P

The flight itself was on a 737-900 and was nothing amazing. Short and efficient, which I can not complain about!


Quick picture before pushing back


Wonderful view flying over snow-capped mountains!

Before we knew it, we were in San Francisco! Now the journey had just begun and the real monster was yet to come, 11 hours to Tokyo! Stay tuned for the next installment!


Full post: HERE
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Old Apr 5, 2016, 1:30 pm
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Interested to see how your trip turned out, as I also flew 875 in Y and stayed in a Tokyo Airbnb this summer.
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Old Apr 6, 2016, 11:32 am
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Originally Posted by arlflyer
Looking forward to the rest of this TR! Looks like you found a great location to stay in btw - would be curious to see some pics of the inside of the place you ended up with.
Thank you! I actually did not take any pics inside the Airbnb. Strange now that I think of it. Here is a link to the Airbnb posting. It definitely did the job in terms of space since we didn't want to be living out of a closet for 5 days.

Originally Posted by Tocsin
Looking forward to this - hope to be in Tokyo in June, and visiting Nikko
Thank you. Stay tuned. I had a wonderful time exploring Nikko and would definitely recommend it

Originally Posted by lesamuel
Interested to see how your trip turned out, as I also flew 875 in Y and stayed in a Tokyo Airbnb this summer.
Thanks. I had a great time especially since being in Japan during this time of year has been on my list for awhile. I'll be posting more parts up very soon!
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Old Apr 6, 2016, 11:49 am
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Part 2 – SFO Centurion Lounge & UA 777-200 Y to Tokyo

Full report/post: HERE


After a short hop over from Las Vegas, the plane landed early at SFO and so there was time for a little exploring and of course, a lounge visit! We would be flying out of the international terminal of SFO and low and behold what was on the way to out gate? The SFO AMEX Centurion lounge! Quick visit but why not.

The SFO Centurion Lounge is located near gate 74 and lucky for us, this is pretty darn close to where our flight arrived. The lounge is open from 5AM – 11PM daily.



The entrance is pretty hard to miss as you can see. With the signature living wall like we saw at the LAS Centurion Lounge and nicely marked signs. The check-in desk is actually situated on the second level with the rest of the lounge. The agent actually could see that we had just visited the LAS lounge and pointed out a few things that make the SFO Centurion Lounge special.



The agent noted the extensive wine collection at the lounge and the wine tasting that's available at the bar. You get a voucher from the bartender and scan it at the machines to get a tasting pour.




One thing that the LAS Centurion Lounge wins over its SFO counterpart is the lack of a view at the SFO lounge. At the LAS location, you can look out onto the runway and watch some planes push back if you were lucky. Here at SFO, you get a glorious view of…


the wonderful terminal beneath you..


At around T-45, we departed the lounge and were onward to Japan! Our gate was right around the corner and boarding had already started when we got there.



SFO-HND UA875


The 777-200 that would chariot us over to Tokyo

We were departing from gate 92 which is coincidentally right around the corner from the SFO Centurion Lounge and the first gate of Boarding Area G of the international terminal!

UA875 SFO-HND
Depart SFO: 7:30PM
Arrive HND: 10:35PM +1 day
Economy Plus Row 19

At check in, row 19 on the 777-200 Version 2 opened up. The plane is configured in a 3-3-3 in the Economy cabin. Since it was the only row completely empty, we took a little gamble and selected both aisles. More on that later.

Row 19 is normally a bassinet row so I was wary that we had a chance to sit next to a baby for 11 hours, but luckily that did not happen. Being a bulkhead row, there was even more legroom than normal E+ seats. I would have preferred row 20, which is one of four pairs of 2 seat rows on the plane. But those seats were taken well before T-24.


I'm 5'8" for those that want a reference point.

Unfortunately closer to departure, someone did end up choosing our middle seat.

PLOT TWIST: But as my weird luck would have it, we ended up having the entire row to ourselves for the ride over to Tokyo. Long story short: the passenger became unruly and grabbed a flight attendant prompting the purser to insist she be deplaned.

The flight was pleasant enough, after all of the drama. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the food or much of the plane. (Oops, too distracted by what was unfolding right in front of usu) The IFE selection was very good and kept me pretty entertained for the duration of the flight.


So so tired but excited to finally arrive!

Our plane landed a little before 11PM and we darted off as soon as we could. The last train to leave Haneda to go to Tokyo left at 12:10AM. We got to immigration and BAM! crowds and crowds of people were queuing up. By the time we cleared through, wouldn’t you know, it was 12:15AM. Damn that late departure!

One of the things I liked about flying on UA875 was the ability for it to make jetlag and time zone changes a tad bit more bearable. Departing at 7:30PM and arriving at 11PM, I somehow managed to stay up the entire flight and was able to fall asleep pretty quickly after settling into our Airbnb. It let us be fully rested to start the trip the next morning.

Now that we've finally made it to Tokyo, the real trip report can begin. Stay tuned for our days in Tokyo! Thanks for reading so far everyone!



Full report/post: HERE

Last edited by reverted; Apr 6, 2016 at 12:02 pm
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Old Apr 7, 2016, 11:42 am
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Originally Posted by reverted
Here is a link to the Airbnb posting. It definitely did the job in terms of space since we didn't want to be living out of a closet for 5 days.
Wow, that is really nice, and a good price for the amount of space and the location. Definitely a great find there!
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Old Apr 7, 2016, 2:08 pm
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Part 4 - Yasukuni Shrine, Ueno Park and Beyond

For the full post and more pics, check it out HERE!


A good night’s rest after the long flight from San Francisco was just what we all needed to kick off our first day in Tokyo. The plan for our first full day was do some cherry blossom viewing, a stop at Tokyo Station for lunch and heading up to Ueno Park and Ikebukuro!

Excuse the poor lighting in some of the pics. Most of the day was overcast or drizzling so it didn't make for good lighting!


Yasukuni Shrine

The first stop of the day was Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto shrine that is dedicated to those who lost their lives in service to the Empire of Japan. It was a quick walk from the Kudanshita Station.



One of the main reasons I wanted to come to Yasukuni was that it housed Tokyo’s representative cherry blossom tree! When the first bloom opens up on this particular tree, the cherry blossom season has officially started in Tokyo!


The representative cherry tree wrapped up and blooming!



It was my first time seeing cherry blossoms so it was pretty exciting! The temple grounds also had a Japanese military and war museum, Yushukan, as well as its main worship hall.


The main worhsip hall of Yasukuni


Some gratuitous cherry blossom pics


After snapping quite a few more pictures, it was time to hop over to Tokyo Station for lunch at one of my favorite spots to eat, Rokurinsha!

Rokurinsha is located near the Yaesu Exit of Tokyo Station in the famous Ramen Street area of the station's underground mall. It's known for their tsukemen which is dip ramen.


You order from this vending machine and give the ticket to the worker! Efficient!

The line is often quite long but it moves fairly quickly considering how many people are in it. I think we waited about 35 minutes this time. Once you are seated and give your tickets to the worker, you are brought your food in moments!


Yummy yummy tsukemen!

FYI: There is a gift shop right across from Rokurinsha that has the biggest selection of Kit Kats that I saw on the trip. Take a look:




Next on the cherry blossom tour is Ueno Park. Only a few trees had started blooming when we visited so I can only imagine how gorgeous the entire park, lined with sakura, would be if we were there during peak bloom!

Enjoy some of the pics I managed to get while there. For more, check out the full post HERE!






[b]Ikebukuro & Dinner in Shibuya![\b]

We headed up to Ikebukuro which is a big shopping and entertainment district. One of the main reasons we hopped up here was to visit the large Pokemon Center. We all grew up watching, collecting and loving the series and it was amazing to see that the love is still going strong for it here in Tokyo.



We also made a quick stop at Tokyu Hands department store to stock up Dr. Grip pens that I use on a daily basis.


Also found these cute Disney ones to send back home as gifts

Later that night, we headed over to Shibuya and some sightseeing, the famous crossing and the Hachiko statue! After walking around, it was time for dinner at Han no Daidokoro Dogenzaka, a yakiniku restaurant that serves premium Yamagata beef.



This would be my first time trying this sort of meat and boy oh boy was it delicious! I can only imagine what real Kobe beef will taste like now. I guess that will be on the list for the next trip!


After a veryyy filling meal and several rounds of beer, we rolled our way back to Ebisu and called it an early night. Our next day would be an early one as we tackle Tokyo DisneySea! Stay tuned for Part 5!



For the full post and more pics, check it out HERE!
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Old Apr 7, 2016, 5:03 pm
  #12  
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Originally Posted by arlflyer
Wow, that is really nice, and a good price for the amount of space and the location. Definitely a great find there!
Most definitely! The extra bedroom was great for us. The space definitely beats some of the hotels I've stayed at in Tokyo/Osaka
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 12:01 am
  #13  
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Centurion Lounges look really good - time to invest in AX Plat
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 9:09 pm
  #14  
 
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Japan is very affordable these days after the yen devalued by 30% (why isn't anyone accusing them of manipulating their exchange rate, ha!). There are many fast food restaurants serving beef rice or udon that can fill you up for 500 yen.
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Old Apr 18, 2016, 2:44 pm
  #15  
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Part 5 - Tokyo DisneySea

The next installment is posted HERE

Didn't know how interested FTers would be about a full day at Tokyo Disney so head over there if you want to read about it :P

Here's some pics from the day. Otherwise, stay tuned for another day of exploring Tokyo.













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