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Wow at Hamilton Island! :o
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Great TR!
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Thanks very much for the nice comments guys. I’ll finish this off soon as I get the time. Turns out these TRs take quite a while to put together! |
Great report so far HoneymoonFlyer - many congratulations on your nuptials! Looks like you have had a great time so far. Well done for joining FT and taking advantage of the wealth of information here. Looking forward to the rest!
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Great TR! Love that aerial photo of Hamilton Island.
Congrats on the marriage! |
Finally getting round to the final installment!
From Cairns airport we drove inland to the Atherton tablelands which felt surprisingly like the deep South in America. We thought it'd be a good idea to stay in more basic accommodation after our hyper-luxury at Qualia so we spent two nights in a treehouse style retreat near Yungaburra. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1f8f7a0aa7.jpg The driveway of Mount Quincan Crater Retreat, Atherton Tablelands Whilst this was suitably different so offered good variation, it was a bit too close to the local wildlife for our liking. We did our best to relax (despite constant interruption from bush turkeys, wallabies and possums) and were quite relieved when our two days were up and it was time to head to Port Douglas. This was much more 'us' - a great beach and a surprisingly small town with dozens of restaurants, bars and cafes as well as a pleasant marina for boat based excursions. We took a speedboat snorkelling trip to the outer reef - lots of fish! All too soon it was time for our next flight to our final destination; Tokyo. Flight 7: JQ25 Cairns - Tokyo Narita on Jetstar, Business Boeing 787-800 Like the AirAsia X flight upthread, the Jetstar flight to Narita allowed us to travel to Tokyo in a premium cabin without the need to book a return flight as you would with most legacy carriers. The ticket cost around £420 each and included a checked bag, priority check in & boarding and seating in a premium-economy style 2-3-2 configuration. No lounge access was included. Priority boarding worked well and we were onboard before the legion of Japanese school children who were presumably on their way home. Whilst the hard product onboard fell short of lie-flat business, it was perfectly comfortable for the 7hr daytime flight. What really impressed me though was the soft product which was up to international business class standards. Service began with a hot towel and a glass of Australian sparkling wine. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6cd53d26d.jpeg I'd read somewhere that row 1 wasn't good for some reason so we'd book row 2. In hindsight this was a misjudgement - row 1 looked very comfortable: https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0edfcab7d.jpeg At every seat was a blanket, headphones and an amenity kit which was pretty good considering it wasn't a particularly long flight. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5a85c3b83.jpeg Amenity kit contents https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8a1a48be4.jpeg Jetstar headphones - not bad And menus: https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...de298b13c.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e76a286e1.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5a4caabdf.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...148770064.jpeg Once airborne the crew did a drinks run. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2ee241d18.jpeg Penfolds Max's Chardonnay and pretzels And lunch followed. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...897a7bf5c.jpeg Barramundi soy and ginger https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9d8224566.jpeg Braised beef rib Starters and mains were presented together. Food was decent, though not outstanding. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7ad0c9541.jpeg Cheese plate & Ringbolt Margeret River Cabernet Sauvignon The crew were very good at drinks runs and I did indulge a little as the wines were very pleasant. I liked that the crew hand poured top ups at-seat and I was in no danger of going thirsty. The IFE worked well and though the choice wasn't expansive it was adequate - I chilled out watching the Lion King for the first time in years so no complaints from me. Once I was a bit wined out I moved on to a G&T and did my best to keep Mrs HF's mitts off of it. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c95c2c7a9.jpeg Beefeater gin & tonic After a couple of those and a brief rest it wasn't long until the pre-landing snack. I thought a coffee was probably a good idea after the boozy indulgence earlier. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d6b242536.jpeg Aloo tikka pattie with a very generous serving of chocolate cake for dessert Unpictured (sorry) is Mrs HF's chicken croquette - both this and my pattie were tasty and left us feeling satisfied at the end of a pleasant flight. I think the product offered excellent value and was very comfortable for a daytime flight where a flat bed wasn't really necessary. Thanks Jetstar! Despite de-planing almost first we got unlucky with our queue and ended up last through immigration. Priority baggage didn't work too well on this occasion so we waited a little for our suitcases before making our way through a short and friendly customs check (more a brief chat than a search). We were staying in Shibuya (more on that later) which didn't look too easy to get to on the train with our heavy bags. We could have got the 'limousine bus' directly to our hotel, but we opted for a private car. This was expensive at £175 vs the £40 that the bus would have cost the two of us, but we thought it'd be more straightforward. In hindsight I would probably do the bus as I don't think it saved much time having the car - anyone having any experience here? Next up: the final installment - Tokyo and the flight home! |
We had three nights in Tokyo to stuff ourselves with as much sushi, ramen, tempura, wagyu and sake as we could. We stayed at the Cerulean Tower hotel which was a bit soulless but very convenient for Shibuya and big enough to be easy to find either on foot or by taxi. Though unashamedly tacky we loved the lights, busyness and general happenings of Shibuya.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4031179625.jpg Shibuya crossing A highlight was Tsukiji fish market which despite having moved the inner (commercial) market to a new location was still going very strong in the outer (retail) market with amazing fish produce, street food and sushi bars. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...30ff97ec13.jpg Tsukiji fish market sushi counter - one of dozens We also loved that you could get amazing food at the most basic kiosk type restaurants in the maze of walkways within the big stations. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...190096270.jpeg A typical commuter snack-stop I'm not such a fan of ramen at home but when in Japan, do as the Japanese do. I thoroughly enjoyed these efforts: https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5ea2a34b20.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ab39995841.jpg Hot (top) and cold (bottom) noodle soups We found Shibuya a good place to stay and would recommend it to other first timers. There's enough there that you can spend an evening with all the variety there, but it's so well connected that you can explore the rest of the city easily too. A word of warning though - the city is enormous and makes London feel like a sleepy regional centre in comparison. Leaving the hotel in the morning would not see us return until early evening - highly unusual for slow-paced travelers like us! Great fun though with endless things to see (and eat) so it was with some regret that we ran out of time after three nights and only two full days there. Flight 8: BA08 Tokyo Haneda - London Heathrow on British Airways, First Boeing 777-300 Choosing which return flight to book was a toss up between the morning Haneda flight on the 777 or the slightly later Narita flight on the 787. I would have preferred the 787 experience for the smaller and more modern cabin, but the convenience of and cheaper taxi ride to Haneda swung it for us. Cerulean Tower to Haneda was only a 35 min taxi. Priority check-in was done without much fanfair but did at least mean no queuing, in contrast to the economy queue. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...889ffceae.jpeg First check-in counters tacked onto the rest of the bank Fast-track security was probably included but was not made very clear even on questioning. Luckily we found the regular security area right by the BA check-in counters super efficient so no issue there and we were quickly through. BA use the Japan Airlines lounges in Tokyo as OneWorld partners, so we made our way to the JAL First Lounge. We expected this to be nice and it didn't disappoint. The lounge is interestingly laid out and portioned into three distinct areas. The dining room in the middle had the buffet selection, live station (pancakes at our time of day) and selection of table and bench seating with good runway views. To one side was a lounge type room which also had good runway views but we found too quiet to be comfortable. We like quiet places so for us to feel like that it must be quite a thing - it was dead silent in there! Finally at the far end of the lounge was the 'red suite', which seemingly no one had discovered. This had the coolest champagne fridge and self serve station that I've ever been invited to use (it'd be rude not to) and reminded me of the 'Bolly fridge' in Absolutely Fabulous. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6837f4577.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...11a8678dd.jpeg Laurent Perrier fridge and self-pour counter https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7bcd913e2.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a9bfa3c4f.jpeg Self-pour Laurent Perrier https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b4f708624.jpeg Sake - if champagne is't your thing! It was a bit early even for us (about 7:30am) but we did manage a glass or two of the Laurent Perrier, and very nice it was too. Despite knowing that we'd be having the Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle onboard this was too tempting to resist. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...11d156dc6.jpeg The deserted Red Suite Oncesuitably topped up we helped ourselves to some breakfast from the buffet. Whilst pleasant this was not quite as impressive as the drink selection, though I did enjoy a beef curry and Mrs HF sampled the live-cooked pancakes. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...179afceba.jpeg Beef curry and Laurent Perrier - is that a thing? https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dc072f729.jpeg Pancakes probably more appropriate for the time of day! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f9cb36c0b.jpeg Nice apron and runway views As with our outbound, we wanted to enjoy the service onboard especially as this was a long daytime flight. I did my best to not eat too much and given the time of day found it quite easy to not drink too much. We enjoyed around 1hr of lounge time and though very pleasant we would not put this on the same level as the Concorde Room at Heathrow. Boarding was called a mere 35 mins before scheduled departure which I appreciated and the process at the gate was run efficiently with Group 1 of First passengers and Gold status holders invited to board fist. The one jetbridge split into two to service both doors 1L and 2L at the same time. Whilst this did mean that First travelers had direct access to the cabin it did also invite a small amount of footfall from Club passengers who avoided the greater congestion from economy and premium economy passengers boarding at 2L. Talk about first world problems! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...067eedd5b.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bf5a898de.jpeg Cabin shots of the First cabin on the 777-300 The cabin was noticeably more dated than the 787 one that we experienced on the outbound. Still, the basic layout was the same with perhaps slightly more at-seat space, though with a little less privacy from the dividers and with fewer storage cubbies. As on the outbound we immediately changed into our complimentary pyjamas and settled into our pre departure drinks of Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a77ac9d49.jpeg I've mixed feelings about the amenity kits: https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3e0ba6cae.jpeg BA First male amenity kit The Liberty bag itself is very nice and we re-use it regularly. The toiletries are mainly from The Refinery, a brand of Aromatherapy Associates, which I think is reasonably expensive. The moisturiser is pleasant but very heavily scented - too much so for every day use. The lip balm is not as good as the Elemis one that they used to give out in Club World, so a bit of a backward step there. Shave gel and razor - does anyone actually shave on planes? The toothbrush and toothpaste were of good quality though. There's also a mini roll-on deoderant which I suppose could be handy, a pen and a very nice eye mask which I have re-used on other non-First flights (like a true DYKWIA). A comb and a pair of pretty useless earplugs complete the offering. Boarding completed remarkably quickly and we pushed back promptly. Ascent offered amazing views of Mount Fuji on the port side, so I recommend the A seats for Haneda departures. This as a morning flight but luckily offered a full lunch service, so we decided to chill out with a couple more glasses of champagne before starting our meal service (BA offers dine on demand in First). A flick through the drinks list:https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2db451879.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1df05965b.jpeg And the food menu, starting with lunch and later a lighter pre-landing meal. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9283d398a.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3a97e794a.jpeg Lunch menus https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c3f31c822.jpeg Pre-landing light meal menus We toyed with the idea of buddy dining, where two dine together by making use of the ottoman as a seat, but we decided it was more comfortable as we were. The crew were most encouraging though and commented that a couple behind us were doing just that. After an hour or so of champagne aided chat we ordered our lunch. In the same way as on the outbound I requested a 'quick G&T' post champagne but pre-white wine with the starter. The amuse bouche offered just the window! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4064be2e9.jpeg Duck wraps amuse bouche I did my best to make the G&T as quick as possible as I wanted a glass of Chablis with my starter of assorted Japanese appetisers. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5b47294e1.jpeg Japanese appetisers of minced duck with egg, simmered prawn, green gingko nut, chestnut pouch, salmon, red salmon roe and marinated radish Catering ex-Japan was in many ways better than ex-London. This was a bit of a shock to eat something so varied on a plane (and on BA!) so I didn't know what to make it. I'm not sure I liked most of it, but it was fun to have something so local to the departure location. As with the most authentic Japanese food, it's good and weird in equal measure - this was no exception. After nibbling on that and having a good attempt at enjoying it I was quite looking forward to my big plate of beef for main course. Not before a mention to Mrs HF's starter though: https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4ef2123b0.jpeg Steamed asparagus with quail eggs and truffle cream This was reported to be very good with nicely cooked asparagus and a seriously truffley cream. Mains followed, but not without some more refreshment. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...45cd59d10.jpeg Chateau Prieure-Lichine 2011, Margaux I quite enjoyed this and did my best to deprive the rest of the cabin of it. Main courses followed. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7d8521e73.jpeg Sukiyaki Wagyu beef We both had the beef as it sounded too good to turn down, especially as it was catered out of Tokyo. It was cut into thin strips as opposed to being in steak form and tasted good. The dressing was a little bit teriyaki-ish, which didn't go that well with the wine, but it didn't last long enough in front of me to be too much of a problem. It came with a great clear-soup. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...284b3dd5c.jpeg Lunch was going well, if equally because of novelty value and intrigue than particularly amazing taste. Regrettably we were too stuffed to eat dessert, but instead chose to relax with the cheese plate. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6860ea978.jpeg The cheese was very pleasant once it had enough time to come up to temperature (no problem when lounging with a film on a 13hr daytime flight). Observant readers may note that the Margaux has morphed into something more ruby in colour. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c7003c7c0.jpeg I put a good tent in the bottle as I slowly grazed on the cheese plate even after other passengers had turned in for a nap or to watch a film. The main three First crew were on their rest so were covered by the purser and and another crew member from Club who responded to my call bell top-up requests in literally seconds, each time with great encouragement and seemingly genuine happiness to be called upon. Once I got a bit ported out I thought a good idea to try a JW Blue - even though I hate whisky. This confirmed that I hate whisky, but seemed like an appropriate place to check. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fad45f659.jpeg I appreciated being pro-actively offered a cashew based snack to help with the whisky, but it wasn't working out so I took the opportunity to take a mid flight nap. Again I found the bed very comfortable with good bedding and dozed in more of a booze-nap than a proper sleep as it was properly daytime by my body clock. With a couple of hours until landing passengers started their second meal so I thought a good idea to join them. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...abaaab027.jpeg A half decent cappuccino revived some semblance of sobriety before the food came. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...887faa591.jpeg The octopus and prawn salad continued the locally-catered theme. It was light and tasty and not in any way breakfast like so as not to confuse the body clock further. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...97fe195eb.jpeg The braised pork was a bit standard BA, and Mrs HF's wild mushroom risotto was more of a cheese rice, which to me sounds quite nice. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a3a1b3ee9.jpeg I'm slightly ashamed to admit that we were back on the LPGS by this point. If the crew felt anything amiss about this then they didn't show it - top ups flowed liberally. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cee38f841.jpeg I squeezed in a fresh fig tart before landing. It was nice. Unfortunately Mrs HF ran out of time before landing for dessert, which is perhaps the only negative comment I'd make about the service set-up. It's dine on demand so passengers are expected to ask when they want something, while she instead waited politely for her pre-landing meal service to start. This could perhaps have been better explained by the crew who only realised late-on that she did indeed want more service before the end of the flight. Obviously not a biggie, but for those like us less familiar with First etiquette a bit more hand-holding might be a good idea. To cap off a very enjoyable flight and a beyond incredible honeymoon we were invited to visit the flightdeck once we were on-stand. This was a great privilege (as if sitting in Row 1 wasn't enough) and was a great honeymoon gesture for the crew to make. Again, BA's crew were on point from start to finish. We both really enjoyed our return flight and have very similar conclusions to our outbound. Yes, it is not the most premium First product in the sky but comparisons with Business class are slightly misguided in my opinion. At the right price we would consider paying for the product and as a redemption I think it's one of the best investments of time you can make to learn all the necessary tricks to make it happen. I hope you've enjoyed reading my musings and welcome your thoughts on the product and my reports themselves. Over and out! https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...93a1854ac6.jpg |
Great report, thanks for sharing!
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I enjoyed that. Thanks for making the effort to post. Some great memories for you both in that trip.
AO |
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