Once boarding was called, we eagerly walked down the jet bridge and were warmly greeted by cabin crew. A quick left turn and we were in our seats at 1D/G, where a Porsche Design amenity kit was waiting. We later found out that we would end up 1 for 2 since the PJs were back to the old design.
My 24-70 GM taking a break while I popped on the Batis 18mm that I rented
IFE controller hidden under a panel
USB and power outlet is at the front which was out of reach unless you leaned forward excessively or got out of your seat
Free WiFi code good for 24 hours of access. Good enough to load most webpages and even a few photo uploads, unlike Emirates.
Boarding finished relatively quickly...it always does at the front of the plane. It's when you're at the back that it feels like the whole airport and its staff are streaming endlessly into the cabin. While those poor souls were getting crammed in like sardines, I had a glass of bubbly and the wife had some OJ. Pushback seemed again to occur immediately, followed by a slightly longer taxi before takeoff.
Once in the air, a pre-amuse bouche was presented, consisting of a smoked salmon tartare and shitake mushroom with blue cheese. The salmon was pretty good, and thankfully, the blue cheese was very mild, tasting more like cream cheese. A pour of Hibiki 17 was the choice of alcohol.
Full menu for the flight
I opted for the western option as did the wife. Quite a few passengers had the same thought, so they presented the wife with the option of 2 appetizers instead of the amuse bouche to avoid a shortage. Amuse bouche and garlic bread
After I polished off the Hibiki, I asked for a pour of Salon 2006
The wife's lobster
I had 2 servings of caviar thanks to the baby
The tenderloin was pretty decent. I asked for medium rare and there was still a little bit of pink. Although it was on the dry side, it's one of the better steaks on a plane
Wife had the sea bass
Cheesecake for dessert was surprisingly delicious
Afterward, I did some stuff using the free WiFi, while most other passengers had their beds made to catch some Zzzzz. Shiseido kits for men and a face mask for women were also handed out along with PJs.
I waited until a little later, but the cabin was pretty dark by then, so I didn't bother snapping a picture of the bed in almost complete darkness. I was able to choose what mattress topper I wanted in the form of soft or hard. Normally, I like a firmer surface to sleep on, but the crew explained that the soft version is better for relaxing, so who was I to question it? I got changed and the bed was turned down before I even got back to my seat. I got 2-3 hours of sleep in, before it was snack time! My wife was ahead of me and already and was chowing down on the udon. I opted for the same, as well as the slider, accompanied by some Queen of Blue tea. There was a small display of drinks and water setup by door 1L.
In the words of SFO777, showtime! The udon was delicious and really hit the spot. The warm soup accompanied by the springy texture of the noodles was perfect for me in my still slightly groggy state.
The Queen of Blue that I enjoyed quite a bit
Finishing off with some ice cream and more tea
Approaching Haneda
All in all, it was an excellent flight with very attentive crew. There was a slight language barrier and slight awkwardness in our interactions, but it was definitely among the top few we have experienced. As good as they were, they still do not hold a candle to SQ and Christine from our RTW last year...she is simply in a class of her own.
Up next: one night at the Conrad Tokyo before our friend arrives and we move over to the Hilton Tokyo for the next 6 nights.