10 days of eating ramen and drinking everything in Japan/Korea via ANA J
Apr 22, 2017, 8:40 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,790
10 days of eating ramen and drinking everything in Japan/Korea via ANA J
After 3 months stuck on the rock known as North America, it was time to break free to the Land of the Rising Sun. Booked last summer to include the Japan and Korea DOs, and give me some extra time, I booked the ANA IAH-NRT route in J, and then OZ NRT-ICN in Y. Given my Hilton Diamond status and point stash, I booked 5 nights at the Hilton Tokyo and 2 nights at the Conrad Seoul.
Stick along for lots of ramen, beer, whisky, soju, Hiltons, and all that fun. My liver and body clock are only now beginning to forgive me and I’ve been home for almost 4 days...
Planned segments:
NH J IAH-NRT (and arrival in Japan)
On the ground in Tokyo, Hilton Tokyo, and Matsumoto
OZ Y NRT-ICN and Conrad Seoul
On the ground in Seoul and our visit to the Demilitarized Zone (and missed run in with Mike Pence)
OZ Y ICN-NRT and Hilton Narita
NH J NRT-IAH
Sunday, April 9
It started on a beautiful Sunday morning, sunny with a slight Spring chill in the air. I made my way to IAH and arrived about 9:30 am, so about T-2. I felt no real rush to get to the airport since I knew ANA used a contract lounge, and due to Texas liquor laws, the bar at the Amex lounge didn't open until 10:30. Priorities, amirite?!
There was no wait for business class check in, and I noticed that ANA contracts out its ground duties to United staff and lounge access to the Terminal E United Club, which makes total sense for a once a day flight. Again zero wait at security despite no precheck. For those not familiar with IAH, Terminal D, which is home for nearly all non-United international flights is very sleepy in the morning and grows to be a mess by late afternoon.
I bee lined for the Amex lounge for some food as I'd been awake since 5:30. After some food, a Bloody Mary, and a stop at the ATM it was time to board, which began a couple minutes before 11, the stated boarding time.
NH 173
IAH-NRT
777-300
Seat 8K (Business)
I had been excited for this flight, as my first time on ANA and first real trip to Japan. ANA doesn't seem to be frequently covered around here, but the reports I had seen paint a good picture of ANAs premium cabins.
I arrived to find all of the goodies laid out perfectly on the seat, including bed pad, blanket, slippers, amenity kit, and headphones.
As boarding progressed, the crew came around with PDBs (choice of sparkling wine or orange juice) and Japan landing cards. We eventually pushed back about 25 minutes late, not that it was any imposition on my schedule.
In the air the crew jumped to serve lunch. I chickened out and went with the western meal, which was quite solid.
The amuse Bouche featured salmon, marinated mushrooms, and duck liver. I enjoyed all but the liver and had a G&T to start.
The salad was a crab meat and avocado salad which was delicious, as was the corn soup. Moved over to the bubbles to accompany this part of the meal (ANAs wine list was nothing to write home about)
I chose the beef for my main, and again was cooked a very nice rare, rarity for plane beef (pun intended )
The dessert was a bit of a disappointment. I chose the blueberry cheesecake, and it was OK, but not very flavorful and it was served a bit too close to room temperature for cheesecake, so it wasn't very firm in texture.
I spent the next 4ish hours drinking Hibiki 17 and watching House of Cards and La La Land, which was actually enjoyable. Note in this picture, you can see how private the staggered business class is. I could barely see any of the other passengers unless they got up from their seats.
Somewhere around 6 hrs in, the Hibiki had me hankering for a bit of food, so I ordered the ramen bowl which was hit the spot. Somehow I managed the chopsticks better at this point than I do sober.... A good thing since they do not provide forks with this meal (although I'm sure they would if asked).
I put the bed down and took a 4 hr nap and was woken up by the FA before the second meal. Due to the relatively high temperature of the cabin, I didn't use the blanket or the bed pad. I had the same issue on Cathay last year and had to just kick the blanket aside. Pajamas are not provided at the seat or proactively, but as I discovered on my return flight, they are provided if you ask.
For breakfast I had the Japanese menu. I wasn't super hungry and picked at it, though the fish was good and the rice was amazing, or as amazing as rice can be.
Another Hibiki and House of Cards episode and we were coming in for landing, where cherry blossoms greeted us as early as the Narita lawn sign.
In no rush to get to my hotel, I went to find the ANA arrivals lounge. They don't have much in the way of real food here, but they do have a beer machine and whisky, so there's that. After killing a couple hours here, I found the shuttle for the ANA Crowne Plaza.
ANA Crowne Plaza
Rate paid: $69 (including tax)
Platinum benefit: free draft beer or wine in restaurant
I figured with the late arrival I'd stay out at NRT where it's far cheaper and I'd crash thanks to jet lag anyway. The room was pretty unremarkable, and I was originally assigned a smoking room, which I didn't request and I got switched to non smoking at check in.
I wondered up to the restaurant on the top floor to redeem my free drink chit and promptly crashed after that. Of course I was wide awake at 2am, but back to sleep after an hour or so of Netflix.
Up in the morning I used the mediocre fitness center, which took me about 20 minutes to gain access to, because my room key wasn't coded to access it. The new key they brought me then effed up all my room keys and I could no longer access my room at all. After 3 new keys, none of which worked, the front desk rep had to escort me to my room and open it with his master key. That's what I get for trying to stay active on vacation!
For simplicity I took the shuttle back to the airport and took the Narita Express train into the city. The foreigner round trip ticket is definitely a deal worth standing in the ticket office line for since it saves you about $20 vs buying at the kiosk.
NEX train is nice and comfortable, and with free wifi the time to Shinjuku Station passed quickly.
Hilton Tokyo
HH Diamond status
Rate paid: 200k Hilton points (50k x 5, with 5th night free)
Room booked and received: King room
I walked to the Hilton Tokyo in the light rain, not realizing they have a shuttle bus from the station. Oops... Anyway I was promptly checked in despite being about 4 hrs before checkin time and was asked to sit and enjoy the lounge while she checked room availability. I didn't receive an upgrade, but didn't mind too much. This hotel is very busy and had high room rates, so upgrading a Diamond squatting for the whole work week probably wasn't a priority. That said the rooms are large by Japan standards and nicely appointed.
View from the room today…
After the rain cleared Tuesday evening
Tuesday
After checking in, I went to grab lunch at funnji ramen, which is in Shinjuku near the station. The rain seemed to keep the usual crowds away a bit as I only had to wait about 10 minutes for a seat. It's a typical ramen shop in that you select your order from a vending machine which prints out a slip for you to hand over once seated.
Well worth the 750Y on a cold rainy day.
After a bit of a rest back at the hotel, it was time for evening happy hour. The exec lounge at the Hilton has their HH from 5-7. The food definitely qualifies as light bites and might be tough to make a full dinner out of it, but what's provided is tasty. The lounge also features free pour wine and spirits.
Wednesday
Today I had breakfast in the main restaurant in the lobby. While the food and selection was very good, it was the only day I ate down here. The lounge had probably 80% of the selection (and 90% of what I wanted), but the real issue is the lobby restaurant is very busy and with lines for the made to order eggs station. The lounge was much calmer and had zero lines for anything. Another perk: free bubbles with breakfast in the lounge
After breakfast, I was meeting a couple folks down at the Kirin Brewery in Yokohama to do the factory tour and tasting. It was about a 1 hr trek on various JR lines, ending with a 15 minute walk on a beautiful day. Wednesday was a 180 turn from Tuesday, weather wise.
Lots of people didn’t heed this PSA
Cherry blossoms in Yokohama
A seemingly safe at grade JR line train crossing that I had to walk across to get to the brewery
The brewery tour was very well done, and very Japan, being far more high tech than ones back in the US. The 3 free 12 oz pours were appreciated before the trek back into town.
Video shown onto the floor of the brewery
An interactive display where the enzymes react to the shapes your hands form
The bottling line. Sidenote: I always enjoy industrial/factory tours because one of my family’s businesses when I was a kid was factory based, so I have memories of my grandpa walking me around through all the machines and explaining what all the different intricate machines were doing.
Finally time to start drinking!
After getting back, I went to lunch at Tempura Tsunahachi around 3. For about 20000Y, got a nice set menu of tempura consisting of prawns, fish cake, and other deliciousness. I met a girl from Taiwan sitting next to me and we set off for the gardens to look at the cherry blossom afterward. We hung out until the park closed at 4:30 and parted ways, so back to lounge happy hour for me!
Cherry blossoms in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Stick along for lots of ramen, beer, whisky, soju, Hiltons, and all that fun. My liver and body clock are only now beginning to forgive me and I’ve been home for almost 4 days...
Planned segments:
NH J IAH-NRT (and arrival in Japan)
On the ground in Tokyo, Hilton Tokyo, and Matsumoto
OZ Y NRT-ICN and Conrad Seoul
On the ground in Seoul and our visit to the Demilitarized Zone (and missed run in with Mike Pence)
OZ Y ICN-NRT and Hilton Narita
NH J NRT-IAH
Sunday, April 9
It started on a beautiful Sunday morning, sunny with a slight Spring chill in the air. I made my way to IAH and arrived about 9:30 am, so about T-2. I felt no real rush to get to the airport since I knew ANA used a contract lounge, and due to Texas liquor laws, the bar at the Amex lounge didn't open until 10:30. Priorities, amirite?!
There was no wait for business class check in, and I noticed that ANA contracts out its ground duties to United staff and lounge access to the Terminal E United Club, which makes total sense for a once a day flight. Again zero wait at security despite no precheck. For those not familiar with IAH, Terminal D, which is home for nearly all non-United international flights is very sleepy in the morning and grows to be a mess by late afternoon.
I bee lined for the Amex lounge for some food as I'd been awake since 5:30. After some food, a Bloody Mary, and a stop at the ATM it was time to board, which began a couple minutes before 11, the stated boarding time.
NH 173
IAH-NRT
777-300
Seat 8K (Business)
I had been excited for this flight, as my first time on ANA and first real trip to Japan. ANA doesn't seem to be frequently covered around here, but the reports I had seen paint a good picture of ANAs premium cabins.
I arrived to find all of the goodies laid out perfectly on the seat, including bed pad, blanket, slippers, amenity kit, and headphones.
As boarding progressed, the crew came around with PDBs (choice of sparkling wine or orange juice) and Japan landing cards. We eventually pushed back about 25 minutes late, not that it was any imposition on my schedule.
In the air the crew jumped to serve lunch. I chickened out and went with the western meal, which was quite solid.
The amuse Bouche featured salmon, marinated mushrooms, and duck liver. I enjoyed all but the liver and had a G&T to start.
The salad was a crab meat and avocado salad which was delicious, as was the corn soup. Moved over to the bubbles to accompany this part of the meal (ANAs wine list was nothing to write home about)
I chose the beef for my main, and again was cooked a very nice rare, rarity for plane beef (pun intended
)The dessert was a bit of a disappointment. I chose the blueberry cheesecake, and it was OK, but not very flavorful and it was served a bit too close to room temperature for cheesecake, so it wasn't very firm in texture.
I spent the next 4ish hours drinking Hibiki 17 and watching House of Cards and La La Land, which was actually enjoyable. Note in this picture, you can see how private the staggered business class is. I could barely see any of the other passengers unless they got up from their seats.
Somewhere around 6 hrs in, the Hibiki had me hankering for a bit of food, so I ordered the ramen bowl which was hit the spot. Somehow I managed the chopsticks better at this point than I do sober.... A good thing since they do not provide forks with this meal (although I'm sure they would if asked).
I put the bed down and took a 4 hr nap and was woken up by the FA before the second meal. Due to the relatively high temperature of the cabin, I didn't use the blanket or the bed pad. I had the same issue on Cathay last year and had to just kick the blanket aside. Pajamas are not provided at the seat or proactively, but as I discovered on my return flight, they are provided if you ask.
For breakfast I had the Japanese menu. I wasn't super hungry and picked at it, though the fish was good and the rice was amazing, or as amazing as rice can be.
Another Hibiki and House of Cards episode and we were coming in for landing, where cherry blossoms greeted us as early as the Narita lawn sign.
In no rush to get to my hotel, I went to find the ANA arrivals lounge. They don't have much in the way of real food here, but they do have a beer machine and whisky, so there's that. After killing a couple hours here, I found the shuttle for the ANA Crowne Plaza.
ANA Crowne Plaza
Rate paid: $69 (including tax)
Platinum benefit: free draft beer or wine in restaurant
I figured with the late arrival I'd stay out at NRT where it's far cheaper and I'd crash thanks to jet lag anyway. The room was pretty unremarkable, and I was originally assigned a smoking room, which I didn't request and I got switched to non smoking at check in.
I wondered up to the restaurant on the top floor to redeem my free drink chit and promptly crashed after that. Of course I was wide awake at 2am, but back to sleep after an hour or so of Netflix.
Up in the morning I used the mediocre fitness center, which took me about 20 minutes to gain access to, because my room key wasn't coded to access it. The new key they brought me then effed up all my room keys and I could no longer access my room at all. After 3 new keys, none of which worked, the front desk rep had to escort me to my room and open it with his master key. That's what I get for trying to stay active on vacation!
For simplicity I took the shuttle back to the airport and took the Narita Express train into the city. The foreigner round trip ticket is definitely a deal worth standing in the ticket office line for since it saves you about $20 vs buying at the kiosk.
NEX train is nice and comfortable, and with free wifi the time to Shinjuku Station passed quickly.
Hilton Tokyo
HH Diamond status
Rate paid: 200k Hilton points (50k x 5, with 5th night free)
Room booked and received: King room
I walked to the Hilton Tokyo in the light rain, not realizing they have a shuttle bus from the station. Oops... Anyway I was promptly checked in despite being about 4 hrs before checkin time and was asked to sit and enjoy the lounge while she checked room availability. I didn't receive an upgrade, but didn't mind too much. This hotel is very busy and had high room rates, so upgrading a Diamond squatting for the whole work week probably wasn't a priority. That said the rooms are large by Japan standards and nicely appointed.
View from the room today…
After the rain cleared Tuesday evening
Tuesday
After checking in, I went to grab lunch at funnji ramen, which is in Shinjuku near the station. The rain seemed to keep the usual crowds away a bit as I only had to wait about 10 minutes for a seat. It's a typical ramen shop in that you select your order from a vending machine which prints out a slip for you to hand over once seated.
Well worth the 750Y on a cold rainy day.
After a bit of a rest back at the hotel, it was time for evening happy hour. The exec lounge at the Hilton has their HH from 5-7. The food definitely qualifies as light bites and might be tough to make a full dinner out of it, but what's provided is tasty. The lounge also features free pour wine and spirits.
Wednesday
Today I had breakfast in the main restaurant in the lobby. While the food and selection was very good, it was the only day I ate down here. The lounge had probably 80% of the selection (and 90% of what I wanted), but the real issue is the lobby restaurant is very busy and with lines for the made to order eggs station. The lounge was much calmer and had zero lines for anything. Another perk: free bubbles with breakfast in the lounge
After breakfast, I was meeting a couple folks down at the Kirin Brewery in Yokohama to do the factory tour and tasting. It was about a 1 hr trek on various JR lines, ending with a 15 minute walk on a beautiful day. Wednesday was a 180 turn from Tuesday, weather wise.
Lots of people didn’t heed this PSA
Cherry blossoms in Yokohama
A seemingly safe at grade JR line train crossing that I had to walk across to get to the brewery
The brewery tour was very well done, and very Japan, being far more high tech than ones back in the US. The 3 free 12 oz pours were appreciated before the trek back into town.
Video shown onto the floor of the brewery
An interactive display where the enzymes react to the shapes your hands form
The bottling line. Sidenote: I always enjoy industrial/factory tours because one of my family’s businesses when I was a kid was factory based, so I have memories of my grandpa walking me around through all the machines and explaining what all the different intricate machines were doing.
Finally time to start drinking!
After getting back, I went to lunch at Tempura Tsunahachi around 3. For about 20000Y, got a nice set menu of tempura consisting of prawns, fish cake, and other deliciousness. I met a girl from Taiwan sitting next to me and we set off for the gardens to look at the cherry blossom afterward. We hung out until the park closed at 4:30 and parted ways, so back to lounge happy hour for me!
Cherry blossoms in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Last edited by krazykanuck; Apr 29, 2017 at 6:59 pm
Apr 22, 2017, 10:16 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: LAX
Programs: United Silver, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 988
This is perfect! We are heading to Tokyo in 2 months to try and score some Japanese whisky after failing last time. I'm hoping to get your reviews of ramen spots to help filter out the lowlights when we're out hunting for a delicious bowl of our own. And of course, we're staying at the Hilton Tokyo as well.
Apr 23, 2017, 6:52 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,790
Thursday
With the early sunrises in Tokyo, I was up far earlier than I needed to be at around 6, so I decided to go for a run around Shinjuku in the cool morning air. It was a beautiful morning to observe the business core of Tokyo with near a complete lack of people.
After breakfast in the lounge, another Japan DO attendee and I visited the observation deck at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. It’s located around the 40th floor and has no admission fee. It’s also only 1 block away from the Hilton. Unfortunately Mt. Fuji wasn’t visible this morning.
I decided to take a walk around the imperial gardens area after taking the train to Tokyo station.
After the walk it was time for a beer at Craft Beer Market, located in the bustling business area south of the gardens, where I had a couple pints and a good chat with a US military guy who was in town from the base trying to sort out visa issues! Apparently even they aren’t immune to that struggle… I had a couple beers from Baird Brewing, a local shop.
Now it was lunchtime and I was off to find Tokyo Ramen Street, a subterranean part of the walkway off of the maze that is Tokyo station. It’s supposedly ~10 of some of the top ramen restaurants in the city in one place. Not knowing where to go as everything was in Japanese, I picked a random ramen restaurant, paid my 1000Y, and took a seat.
Ok. So good. Rule number 1 of ramen: make sure it has an egg in it. If it doesn't, most shops have an option to add it for ~Y100. I missed this on day 1!
The afternoon got away from me, mainly because I got lost in the underground, so I didn’t have time to check out the Japanese whisky store that lives in the labyrinth of the Tokyo station underground mall, and headed back to the Hilton for a couple of beers in the lounge and meet up with the Japan DO folks that were going to a baseball game.
We took the subway back to the baseball stadium only a couple blocks away to see the Tokyo Swallows play…somebody. I don’t remember. We bought unreserved outfield home seats for about Y1300.
I love the beer girls here though. Whoever thought to put a pony keg into a cooler backpack was onto something! Y750 for draft beer wasn't too bad of a price either.
After a relatively quiet game in which the Swallows finally pulled into the lead in the bottom of the 9th, we headed out. The umbrellas signify excitement, or something…
Friday
On Friday we had a morning walkabout scheduled for the Shitimachi part of Tokyo. This part of town was spared bombing in WW2.
Gotta get some matcha ice cream!
Following the walk, many of us headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and some drink before the official DO dinner, which was hosted at a restaurant just east of Shinjuku station.
Hilton Exec Lounge afternoon snacks
Dinner pics, well in part:
ALL THE ALCOHOLS
Following dinner I redeemed my diamond free drink chit at the lobby bar, which featured a nice band at ~10pm. This is an Old Fashioned, IIRC. Very delicious!
Saturday
Today we were taking a day trip to Matsumoto, a town about a 3 hr train ride from Tokyo. The Azusa doesn’t have a café car, but rather a cart with a pretty sad selection of food, mostly pound cakes and sweets. On the plus side, beers are Y280-300, a bargain compared to Amtrak trains!
I love alcohol with my pancakes!
A low flying Chinook helicopter while we were walking about, though I wasn’t able to find any military installations near Matsumoto
All about frogs in this market
The main attraction was the Matsumoto Castle, a 1500s remnant of Japanese samurai culture and is included on the country’s national treasures list.
There were some exceptionally steep staircases in the 6 story castle which posed comfort issues for some of us. For me the main issue is they don’t allow you to wear shoes, so you’re wearing only socks in a really cold old drafty building. This made the safety plastic strips they installed on the stairs uncomfortable to step on.
After the castle visit, we split up and some of us went to find Matsumoto Brewing, which turned out to be perhaps the world’s smallest brew pub. Somehow our group of 7 managed to fit into their upstairs area, but only by “borrowing” chairs from other patrons
We then stopped for lunch at, well frankly, the first restaurant we found open at 2:30 pm. Many restaurants close from 2-5, so, it was basically this or McDonald's and I think we made the right choice. Y800 later… I know it looks bizarre, but it was delicious. Our server didn't speak a word of English, so we made do with gesturing to the English menu and her following along with the Japanese menu
Unfortunately all of our trains back to Tokyo were delayed due to a train accident on the line, so we basically lurched from station to station with intermittent and undefined stops for the first 2 hrs of the scheduled 3 hr trip.
Even my Y280 Kirin is in the spirit of the season!
Sunday
Travel day to Korea! We were getting ready for our visit with news like this:
Though it's hard to worry though with a view like this…
I used the return portion of my NEX ticket and we were back to Narita promptly. No issues with security and the like, and thankfully one of my fellow Korea bound FTers was kind enough to guest me into the United Club at NRT. The NRT UC puts all of its stateside siblings to shame with its spacious seating areas, free pour soda, liquor, beer, and what appeared to be real food. And by real food I mean breakfast sushi
though hey, I ate it and survived!
After putting back a couple servings of Buffalo Trace, it was time for the Asiana flight to Seoul.
With the early sunrises in Tokyo, I was up far earlier than I needed to be at around 6, so I decided to go for a run around Shinjuku in the cool morning air. It was a beautiful morning to observe the business core of Tokyo with near a complete lack of people.
After breakfast in the lounge, another Japan DO attendee and I visited the observation deck at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. It’s located around the 40th floor and has no admission fee. It’s also only 1 block away from the Hilton. Unfortunately Mt. Fuji wasn’t visible this morning.
I decided to take a walk around the imperial gardens area after taking the train to Tokyo station.
After the walk it was time for a beer at Craft Beer Market, located in the bustling business area south of the gardens, where I had a couple pints and a good chat with a US military guy who was in town from the base trying to sort out visa issues! Apparently even they aren’t immune to that struggle… I had a couple beers from Baird Brewing, a local shop.
Now it was lunchtime and I was off to find Tokyo Ramen Street, a subterranean part of the walkway off of the maze that is Tokyo station. It’s supposedly ~10 of some of the top ramen restaurants in the city in one place. Not knowing where to go as everything was in Japanese, I picked a random ramen restaurant, paid my 1000Y, and took a seat.
Ok. So good. Rule number 1 of ramen: make sure it has an egg in it. If it doesn't, most shops have an option to add it for ~Y100. I missed this on day 1!
The afternoon got away from me, mainly because I got lost in the underground, so I didn’t have time to check out the Japanese whisky store that lives in the labyrinth of the Tokyo station underground mall, and headed back to the Hilton for a couple of beers in the lounge and meet up with the Japan DO folks that were going to a baseball game.
We took the subway back to the baseball stadium only a couple blocks away to see the Tokyo Swallows play…somebody. I don’t remember. We bought unreserved outfield home seats for about Y1300.
I love the beer girls here though. Whoever thought to put a pony keg into a cooler backpack was onto something! Y750 for draft beer wasn't too bad of a price either.
After a relatively quiet game in which the Swallows finally pulled into the lead in the bottom of the 9th, we headed out. The umbrellas signify excitement, or something…
Friday
On Friday we had a morning walkabout scheduled for the Shitimachi part of Tokyo. This part of town was spared bombing in WW2.
Gotta get some matcha ice cream!
Following the walk, many of us headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and some drink before the official DO dinner, which was hosted at a restaurant just east of Shinjuku station.
Hilton Exec Lounge afternoon snacks
Dinner pics, well in part:
ALL THE ALCOHOLS
Following dinner I redeemed my diamond free drink chit at the lobby bar, which featured a nice band at ~10pm. This is an Old Fashioned, IIRC. Very delicious!
Saturday
Today we were taking a day trip to Matsumoto, a town about a 3 hr train ride from Tokyo. The Azusa doesn’t have a café car, but rather a cart with a pretty sad selection of food, mostly pound cakes and sweets. On the plus side, beers are Y280-300, a bargain compared to Amtrak trains!
I love alcohol with my pancakes!
A low flying Chinook helicopter while we were walking about, though I wasn’t able to find any military installations near Matsumoto
All about frogs in this market
The main attraction was the Matsumoto Castle, a 1500s remnant of Japanese samurai culture and is included on the country’s national treasures list.
There were some exceptionally steep staircases in the 6 story castle which posed comfort issues for some of us. For me the main issue is they don’t allow you to wear shoes, so you’re wearing only socks in a really cold old drafty building. This made the safety plastic strips they installed on the stairs uncomfortable to step on.
After the castle visit, we split up and some of us went to find Matsumoto Brewing, which turned out to be perhaps the world’s smallest brew pub. Somehow our group of 7 managed to fit into their upstairs area, but only by “borrowing” chairs from other patrons
We then stopped for lunch at, well frankly, the first restaurant we found open at 2:30 pm. Many restaurants close from 2-5, so, it was basically this or McDonald's and I think we made the right choice. Y800 later… I know it looks bizarre, but it was delicious. Our server didn't speak a word of English, so we made do with gesturing to the English menu and her following along with the Japanese menu
Unfortunately all of our trains back to Tokyo were delayed due to a train accident on the line, so we basically lurched from station to station with intermittent and undefined stops for the first 2 hrs of the scheduled 3 hr trip.
Even my Y280 Kirin is in the spirit of the season!
Sunday
Travel day to Korea! We were getting ready for our visit with news like this:
Though it's hard to worry though with a view like this…
I used the return portion of my NEX ticket and we were back to Narita promptly. No issues with security and the like, and thankfully one of my fellow Korea bound FTers was kind enough to guest me into the United Club at NRT. The NRT UC puts all of its stateside siblings to shame with its spacious seating areas, free pour soda, liquor, beer, and what appeared to be real food. And by real food I mean breakfast sushi
though hey, I ate it and survived!After putting back a couple servings of Buffalo Trace, it was time for the Asiana flight to Seoul.
Apr 29, 2017, 6:26 pm
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,790
This is perfect! We are heading to Tokyo in 2 months to try and score some Japanese whisky after failing last time. I'm hoping to get your reviews of ramen spots to help filter out the lowlights when we're out hunting for a delicious bowl of our own. And of course, we're staying at the Hilton Tokyo as well.
Apr 29, 2017, 6:48 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,790
OZ101
NRT-ICN
So for those unaware, Etihad has a pretty random selection of partners, and Asiana is one of them. For 12k Etihad miles I booked NRT-ICN. Oddly United.com was showing saver availability for this route as well as the HND-GMP Asiana route as well, but the Etihad rep said they couldn’t see it. Oh well.
I slept through much of the flight only waking up to eat. The hot meal in Y was some kind of chicken and noodles. It wasn’t bad tasting, so I figure that’s a win for a 2 hr flight. Though oddly (to me) the beverage service was limited to coffee, tea, juice, and water.
After landing at ICN, the fellow Korea DOers and I took the Airport Express all stop train, since to get to the Conrad you need to change lines before Seoul Station which is where the AREX train ends. The nonstop AREX train which has a higher fare runs straight from ICN to Seoul Station. The all stop fare was about 4000 won.
My very Korean T-Money card
Though I wonder about all these gas mask stations in the Seoul Metro. Do they really think these are enough for whatever they’re worried about?
Conrad Seoul
Sunday
Arriving shortly after 5, I got checked in as quickly as humanly possible and headed for the lounge, which is the perpetual default meeting place for FTers during DOs.
After a few quick drinks before leaving for dinner, we took the subway to dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant. Much deliciousness was consumed. And by that I mean meat.
The aftermath…
After dinner a few of us struck out for beer at Magpie Brewing, a local microbrewery. Following that, an even more whittled down group of 5 of us got absolutely hammered drinking soju. Whoops…
NRT-ICN
So for those unaware, Etihad has a pretty random selection of partners, and Asiana is one of them. For 12k Etihad miles I booked NRT-ICN. Oddly United.com was showing saver availability for this route as well as the HND-GMP Asiana route as well, but the Etihad rep said they couldn’t see it. Oh well.
I slept through much of the flight only waking up to eat. The hot meal in Y was some kind of chicken and noodles. It wasn’t bad tasting, so I figure that’s a win for a 2 hr flight. Though oddly (to me) the beverage service was limited to coffee, tea, juice, and water.
After landing at ICN, the fellow Korea DOers and I took the Airport Express all stop train, since to get to the Conrad you need to change lines before Seoul Station which is where the AREX train ends. The nonstop AREX train which has a higher fare runs straight from ICN to Seoul Station. The all stop fare was about 4000 won.
My very Korean T-Money card
Though I wonder about all these gas mask stations in the Seoul Metro. Do they really think these are enough for whatever they’re worried about?
Conrad Seoul
Sunday
Arriving shortly after 5, I got checked in as quickly as humanly possible and headed for the lounge, which is the perpetual default meeting place for FTers during DOs.
After a few quick drinks before leaving for dinner, we took the subway to dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant. Much deliciousness was consumed. And by that I mean meat.
The aftermath…
After dinner a few of us struck out for beer at Magpie Brewing, a local microbrewery. Following that, an even more whittled down group of 5 of us got absolutely hammered drinking soju. Whoops…
Apr 29, 2017, 6:50 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,790
Monday
I woke up around 8am with a hangover of epic proportions. The last time I was this hungover was probably the morning after a friend’s wedding summer of 2015. Every load noise evoked a bit of sadness and regret. Every whiff of food caused a fleeting thought of do I want to eat this or throw up. Following an amazing shower in the Conrad’s rain shower I went to find breakfast in the restaurant, where my situation led me to assembling a greasy and delicious plate of noodles, mac and cheese (not sure why this was on the breakfast buffet, but I liked it!). Sorry no photos!
Thankfully we didn’t have a super packed schedule this morning and the FTer I had breakfast with struck out to meet up with the group for the changing of the guards ceremony.
On our walk to lunch, we encountered a demonstration spurred by Mike Pence’s visit to Seoul today. Loved the signs!
After lunch and feeling a little weary, a couple of us took a cab back to the Conrad where I proceeded to take a nap. I woke up at 5 and headed up to the lounge for happy hour and some hair of the dog. A few of us who weren’t planning on going to dinner spent until about 8 just sipping champagne, chatting about travelling, credit cards, life, and just relaxing. Also laughing at the WhatsApp group we had set up for the Korea DO and the number of people that got lost trying to find the restaurant.
Some were so perplexed they were sending photos of current locations, but all’s well that ends well, since they eventually all found dinner
Meanwhile back at the lounge…
I was still full from lunch and took a nice bath before turning in early for our 6:30 ish departure to go on the DMZ tour in the morning.
Tuesday
Something to wake up to on DMZ day… Pence made an unannounced visit to the JSA (Joint Security Area) on Monday, something made possible since Monday is the day where the JSA is closed to public tours.
Up early and since we were leaving before breakfast, one of our group asked if they’d make breakfast bags for us and the Conrad gladly came through for us, with a juice, coffee, yogurt, fruit, and a couple pastries. ^
We all had to meet at the Hotel President, which was a ~15 minute and KRW 10,000 (about ~$10) cab ride away from the Conrad where we would pay the KRW 85,000 tour fee and board the bus. Side note about cabs: both cabs I used, the driver didn’t speak English anywhere near enough to interact with them. So it’s far easier to be able to show them they name or address of the hotel in Korean on your phone.
Once everybody was paid and accounted for we took off for the DMZ around 7:30 am. It was about a 1 hour drive and it’s interesting to see how they have built fences with razor wire on top to deter people from coming into South Korea over the river. You can also see Army watch towers along the river driving out from Seoul, which as you can imagine, increase in frequency and size as you get closer to the border.
At the DMZ photography is pretty restricted. You’re not allowed to take photos in between the first guard gate and the 2nd gate (the entrance to Camp Bonifas), nor are you allowed to take photos of anything on the Camp except while at the visitors center. At the visitors center everybody goes through a brief presentation led by a US Army service member and then transfers from the bus we arrived on to a base bus and is driven to the border, or MDL (military demarcation line) as it’s officially called. The tour is accompanied by a US soldier for the whole time from the visitors center to the MDL, and then back to the visitors center.
The terminus of the bus is at the Freedom Center, a building that has never been used for its intended purpose, which was reuniting family members from the North and South, the reason being that the North doesn’t permit its citizens to cross into the South. We were instructed that photos were allowed so long as our cameras were pointed North, so we couldn’t photograph any buildings that were solely on the South side of the MDL.
The buildings used for meetings between the North, South, and UN officials. The MDL is that concrete ridge visible in between the buildings on the ground. You can see 4 South Korean soldiers on our side and 1 lone North Korean soldier at the top of the stairs of the far building.
Inside the meeting building, this is the table used for meetings. The microphones on the table lie on the MDL dividing the table into two sides.
The door to North Korea, which is being blocked by 2 South Korean soldiers
After this we headed back to the visitors center where there is a small gift shop selling overpriced stuff. We then went to lunch at a local restaurant (included in the tour fee) for Korean hot pot lunch. It was pretty good, though no photos. After being dropped at the Hotel President, it had begun raining and many of us went back to the hotels while others went on a walking tour.
Back at the Conrad I camped out in the lounge until taking the train back to ICN.
I woke up around 8am with a hangover of epic proportions. The last time I was this hungover was probably the morning after a friend’s wedding summer of 2015. Every load noise evoked a bit of sadness and regret. Every whiff of food caused a fleeting thought of do I want to eat this or throw up. Following an amazing shower in the Conrad’s rain shower I went to find breakfast in the restaurant, where my situation led me to assembling a greasy and delicious plate of noodles, mac and cheese (not sure why this was on the breakfast buffet, but I liked it!). Sorry no photos!
Thankfully we didn’t have a super packed schedule this morning and the FTer I had breakfast with struck out to meet up with the group for the changing of the guards ceremony.
On our walk to lunch, we encountered a demonstration spurred by Mike Pence’s visit to Seoul today. Loved the signs!
After lunch and feeling a little weary, a couple of us took a cab back to the Conrad where I proceeded to take a nap. I woke up at 5 and headed up to the lounge for happy hour and some hair of the dog. A few of us who weren’t planning on going to dinner spent until about 8 just sipping champagne, chatting about travelling, credit cards, life, and just relaxing. Also laughing at the WhatsApp group we had set up for the Korea DO and the number of people that got lost trying to find the restaurant.
Some were so perplexed they were sending photos of current locations, but all’s well that ends well, since they eventually all found dinner Meanwhile back at the lounge…
I was still full from lunch and took a nice bath before turning in early for our 6:30 ish departure to go on the DMZ tour in the morning.
Tuesday
Something to wake up to on DMZ day… Pence made an unannounced visit to the JSA (Joint Security Area) on Monday, something made possible since Monday is the day where the JSA is closed to public tours.
Up early and since we were leaving before breakfast, one of our group asked if they’d make breakfast bags for us and the Conrad gladly came through for us, with a juice, coffee, yogurt, fruit, and a couple pastries. ^
We all had to meet at the Hotel President, which was a ~15 minute and KRW 10,000 (about ~$10) cab ride away from the Conrad where we would pay the KRW 85,000 tour fee and board the bus. Side note about cabs: both cabs I used, the driver didn’t speak English anywhere near enough to interact with them. So it’s far easier to be able to show them they name or address of the hotel in Korean on your phone.
Once everybody was paid and accounted for we took off for the DMZ around 7:30 am. It was about a 1 hour drive and it’s interesting to see how they have built fences with razor wire on top to deter people from coming into South Korea over the river. You can also see Army watch towers along the river driving out from Seoul, which as you can imagine, increase in frequency and size as you get closer to the border.
At the DMZ photography is pretty restricted. You’re not allowed to take photos in between the first guard gate and the 2nd gate (the entrance to Camp Bonifas), nor are you allowed to take photos of anything on the Camp except while at the visitors center. At the visitors center everybody goes through a brief presentation led by a US Army service member and then transfers from the bus we arrived on to a base bus and is driven to the border, or MDL (military demarcation line) as it’s officially called. The tour is accompanied by a US soldier for the whole time from the visitors center to the MDL, and then back to the visitors center.
The terminus of the bus is at the Freedom Center, a building that has never been used for its intended purpose, which was reuniting family members from the North and South, the reason being that the North doesn’t permit its citizens to cross into the South. We were instructed that photos were allowed so long as our cameras were pointed North, so we couldn’t photograph any buildings that were solely on the South side of the MDL.
The buildings used for meetings between the North, South, and UN officials. The MDL is that concrete ridge visible in between the buildings on the ground. You can see 4 South Korean soldiers on our side and 1 lone North Korean soldier at the top of the stairs of the far building.
Inside the meeting building, this is the table used for meetings. The microphones on the table lie on the MDL dividing the table into two sides.
The door to North Korea, which is being blocked by 2 South Korean soldiers
After this we headed back to the visitors center where there is a small gift shop selling overpriced stuff. We then went to lunch at a local restaurant (included in the tour fee) for Korean hot pot lunch. It was pretty good, though no photos. After being dropped at the Hotel President, it had begun raining and many of us went back to the hotels while others went on a walking tour.
Back at the Conrad I camped out in the lounge until taking the train back to ICN.
Apr 29, 2017, 6:56 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,790
Asiana Business Class lounge
Flying on an Etihad issued award ticket clearly bestowed zero lounge access, so I was thankful that I had Priority Pass lounge access. Of course the directions and location in the PP app were completely wrong, but that’s not exactly a first… The PP App says to take the escalator to the 4th floor. I’m not sure if there is a 4th floor, but if there is, I’m not sure where floors 1 and 2 are, because the lounge is definitely only 1 floor above the terminal. Oh well
Once in I availed myself of the hot buffet knowing the food on the plane would probably be lacking. The lounge food was pretty good, they had a chicken and peppers dish as well as a full salad bar and a dude in a chef’s hat preparing pasta at a side station. It’s a nice lounge with good views. I’m honestly surprised they open it up to PP as opposed to relegating PP holders to the non-business class lounge.
The meal on the flight back was no better or worse than the flight up, except for the seatmates. We experienced some turbulence coming into NRT and to me, on a scale of 1-10, I’d grade it about a 3-4. It was rough air but nobody was getting lifted off their seats. This woman completely freaked out, grabbed both armrests for dear life, and started scream-muttering something. It was in Korean or Japanese, so I have no idea what she was saying but it definitely sounded unsettled.
Thankfully there was no queue at immigration and my bag came off pretty quickly, so it was time to grab the shuttle to the Hilton Narita.
Hilton Narita
The Hilton is only ~15 mins from the airport. I think I may have been upgraded to a better view, not that I really would have noticed. There isn’t much to see around Narita besides trees. I was given a free drink chit at checkin for a beer/wine so I took that after dropping my bag at the room. I’ll take a Y1000 beer for free… One thing I’d never seen before was a hotel using cards like this for room keys. It had the feel of a NYC Metrocard rather than that of a normal hotel key/credit card.
Next morning I had breakfast in the lobby restaurant (full hot buffet with no upcharge or BS). I just had eggs, some fruit and juice and coffee, knowing I’d be eating the whole way home to Houston.
ANA Business Class lounge
After check in and picking up some snacks at duty free (ok mostly candy) it was up to the lounge, conveniently located right above my gate. It’s a very nice space with nibbles reminiscent of the arrivals lounge, but they also had hot food on the buffet, but I made room only for the noodle bar, and some single malt of course.
Our flight to Houston
After some noodles and some Hakashu (both really tasty) it was time to board…
NH 174
NRT-IAH
Time to go home… For today’s flight I booked an A seat to be on the other side of the cabin. Omitting the boilerplate pictures (same amenities as the flight out here)
After a fairly long wait to take off, we’re off!
Amuse, a foie gras mousse, along side olives and cheese
Appetizer, scallops with carrot mousse, and roast beef
Main meal, I went with the Japanese short rib
OMG, so delicious and tender, it tore apart with only the slightest touch.
Chocolate mousse for dessert with some Hibiki
Beautiful day for some flying
After a couple hours of TV, probably around 4-5 pm local time, I requested a set of pajamas which were quickly delivered to my seat. Once I changed the FA offered to take my jeans and shirt away and hang them up until landing. I asked that I not be woken up for breakfast as I had a 4 pm job interview once I got back to Houston, so I wanted to maximize sleep on the plane.
I woke up after a great 6 hrs of sleep to the clanking sounds of breakfast and ordered a croque monsieur and a salad since I wasn’t feeling the breakfast of eggs and pork sausage. Feeling peckish and with a bit over an hour to go I ordered the ramen again
Ridiculously beautiful views flying over Texas on this Wednesday morning. We landed on time and with GE I was to the belt before my bag and quickly in an Uber on my way home.
And now I’m grounded as I don’t have any international travel plans on the books for the balance of 2017, though I do have a trip back to Japan scheduled in January 2018 on ANA, this time in First. One of the primary purposes is to go skiing or snowboarding, but I can’t do either of those, so I see a trip or two to Colorado this fall to prepare!
Thanks all for following along!
Flying on an Etihad issued award ticket clearly bestowed zero lounge access, so I was thankful that I had Priority Pass lounge access. Of course the directions and location in the PP app were completely wrong, but that’s not exactly a first… The PP App says to take the escalator to the 4th floor. I’m not sure if there is a 4th floor, but if there is, I’m not sure where floors 1 and 2 are, because the lounge is definitely only 1 floor above the terminal. Oh well
Once in I availed myself of the hot buffet knowing the food on the plane would probably be lacking. The lounge food was pretty good, they had a chicken and peppers dish as well as a full salad bar and a dude in a chef’s hat preparing pasta at a side station. It’s a nice lounge with good views. I’m honestly surprised they open it up to PP as opposed to relegating PP holders to the non-business class lounge.
The meal on the flight back was no better or worse than the flight up, except for the seatmates. We experienced some turbulence coming into NRT and to me, on a scale of 1-10, I’d grade it about a 3-4. It was rough air but nobody was getting lifted off their seats. This woman completely freaked out, grabbed both armrests for dear life, and started scream-muttering something. It was in Korean or Japanese, so I have no idea what she was saying but it definitely sounded unsettled.
Thankfully there was no queue at immigration and my bag came off pretty quickly, so it was time to grab the shuttle to the Hilton Narita.
Hilton Narita
The Hilton is only ~15 mins from the airport. I think I may have been upgraded to a better view, not that I really would have noticed. There isn’t much to see around Narita besides trees. I was given a free drink chit at checkin for a beer/wine so I took that after dropping my bag at the room. I’ll take a Y1000 beer for free… One thing I’d never seen before was a hotel using cards like this for room keys. It had the feel of a NYC Metrocard rather than that of a normal hotel key/credit card.
Next morning I had breakfast in the lobby restaurant (full hot buffet with no upcharge or BS). I just had eggs, some fruit and juice and coffee, knowing I’d be eating the whole way home to Houston.
ANA Business Class lounge
After check in and picking up some snacks at duty free (ok mostly candy) it was up to the lounge, conveniently located right above my gate. It’s a very nice space with nibbles reminiscent of the arrivals lounge, but they also had hot food on the buffet, but I made room only for the noodle bar, and some single malt of course.
Our flight to Houston
After some noodles and some Hakashu (both really tasty) it was time to board…
NH 174
NRT-IAH
Time to go home… For today’s flight I booked an A seat to be on the other side of the cabin. Omitting the boilerplate pictures (same amenities as the flight out here)
After a fairly long wait to take off, we’re off!
Amuse, a foie gras mousse, along side olives and cheese
Appetizer, scallops with carrot mousse, and roast beef
Main meal, I went with the Japanese short rib
OMG, so delicious and tender, it tore apart with only the slightest touch.
Chocolate mousse for dessert with some Hibiki
Beautiful day for some flying
After a couple hours of TV, probably around 4-5 pm local time, I requested a set of pajamas which were quickly delivered to my seat. Once I changed the FA offered to take my jeans and shirt away and hang them up until landing. I asked that I not be woken up for breakfast as I had a 4 pm job interview once I got back to Houston, so I wanted to maximize sleep on the plane.
I woke up after a great 6 hrs of sleep to the clanking sounds of breakfast and ordered a croque monsieur and a salad since I wasn’t feeling the breakfast of eggs and pork sausage. Feeling peckish and with a bit over an hour to go I ordered the ramen again
Ridiculously beautiful views flying over Texas on this Wednesday morning. We landed on time and with GE I was to the belt before my bag and quickly in an Uber on my way home.
And now I’m grounded as I don’t have any international travel plans on the books for the balance of 2017, though I do have a trip back to Japan scheduled in January 2018 on ANA, this time in First. One of the primary purposes is to go skiing or snowboarding, but I can’t do either of those, so I see a trip or two to Colorado this fall to prepare!
Thanks all for following along!
May 1, 2017, 12:34 am
#12
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
A very enjoyable TR, krazykanuck.
Some tasty eats, both on the ground and up in the air.
Surprising to see those 'Preemptive Strike' signs in Seoul too, given the amount of artillery and rockets the North have pointed at the South.
.Some tasty eats, both on the ground and up in the air.
Surprising to see those 'Preemptive Strike' signs in Seoul too, given the amount of artillery and rockets the North have pointed at the South.
May 1, 2017, 3:19 am
#13
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
Great report, krazykanuck, including two of my favorite cities. ^
I'm currently in Tokyo for a few weeks, and your itinerary has provided some ideas for new sites to explore. Thanks.
-FlyerBeek
I'm currently in Tokyo for a few weeks, and your itinerary has provided some ideas for new sites to explore. Thanks.
-FlyerBeek
May 2, 2017, 7:05 am
#14
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
Programs: FT
Posts: 7,285
Nice TR.
Nice. When they bring out the umbrella’s at the Swallows, the intent is to signify that it’s time for the pitcher to hit the showers…very very cheeky.
“Kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, Ah-
Odori odorunaraba choito Tokyo Ondo. Yoi! Yoi!
Hanano miyakono, hanano miyakono mannakade sore! Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!
Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!”
Nice. When they bring out the umbrella’s at the Swallows, the intent is to signify that it’s time for the pitcher to hit the showers…very very cheeky.
“Kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, Ah-
Odori odorunaraba choito Tokyo Ondo. Yoi! Yoi!
Hanano miyakono, hanano miyakono mannakade sore! Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!
Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!”
May 2, 2017, 9:10 pm
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,790
Thanks Daniel.
Nice TR.
Nice. When they bring out the umbrella’s at the Swallows, the intent is to signify that it’s time for the pitcher to hit the showers…very very cheeky.
“Kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, Ah-
Odori odorunaraba choito Tokyo Ondo. Yoi! Yoi!
Hanano miyakono, hanano miyakono mannakade sore! Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!
Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!”
Nice. When they bring out the umbrella’s at the Swallows, the intent is to signify that it’s time for the pitcher to hit the showers…very very cheeky.
“Kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, kutabare Yomiuri, Ah-
Odori odorunaraba choito Tokyo Ondo. Yoi! Yoi!
Hanano miyakono, hanano miyakono mannakade sore! Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!
Yattona sore Yoi! Yoi! Yoi!”
It was funny though at one point they turned a camera on us and the 6-8 gaijins were on the big screen for a minute or so!