The flight on ANA 177

On the airplane

So, boarding onto the ANA 787 was rather orderly.  The flight crew loaded the Business Class and Economy Plus passengers first , as well as those needing extra assistance.  When it cam to the General boarding, there was no call for zones or sections or rows - it was just “General Boarding”, and we all headed to the gate.  Fortunately, a cue began ahead of time, and we got into it near the beginning.  We made our way to our seat.  The 787 is a wide body airliner, and seemed to be pretty roomy.  This airplane was configured as a 3x3x3 (three seats on each side of the aisle, and three seats in the middle)  Our seats were in row 25 , seats D and F - so we had an aisle and middle seat.  This was the front section of Economy.  There was plenty of overhead storage for the suitcase.  The seat pitch seemed very generous - probably 33 or 34 inches.  Each seat had a seat-back entertainment system.  Not only did it have a selection of movies (mostly international), but it also had games, a moving map of where we were),  live TV broadcasts from  CNN, Sport 24, and NHK (Japanese news network).  Each seat also came with a set of cheap headphones, and a small pillow and blanket.

The crew went through their check lists and pre-flight preparation.  Instructions were given in Japanese and English.  The flight attendants also came through right away with our Japan Immigration forms (one for each of us), and a Japanese Customs Declaration form (one for both of us).  We’ll have to complete the form before arriving at Narita.

Push back from the gate was about 20 minutes late.  No big deal for a 10 hour flight.

We taxi’ed out to what I believe was 16L.  As we “lined up and waited”, I noted a long string of airplanes on the taxiway that were behind us.  6 Alaska planes, a Delta, and a Southwest.  We were the larges plane of all of them.  Kinda felt good to be the big dog in the pack.

When the 787 spun up the Rolls Royce engines, it wasn’t nearly as loud as I had expected.  The newer technology engines and this aircraft did a real good job of dampening the engine noise.  The take off was very smooth, and it seemed like it only took a few minutes before we reached 10,000 feet, and the Fasten Seat Belt sign was turned off.  

The aircrew got right to work, bringing a bag of rice crackers/nuts and water through the cabin.  They also brought a small moist towelette to wipe your face with.  Nice touch for Economy. 

As I explored the seat back entertainment, and played some Blackjack and a round of Golf, the flight crew came through with the first beverage service.  It had the usual stock of soda, water, or juices.  They also offered alcohol - wine and beer.  And, it was included - no sliding of a card for that extra.  So, I decided to try my first Sapporo beer.  They gave me the whole can, and it was rather good.  

Donna and I started to watch a movie on the seat back system - “Going in Style”, the movie where Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin, and *********** decide to rob a bank after their pension was dissolved in a corporate shell game.  Not a bad flick.

Lunch service began during the movie.  The flight attendant came by, row by row, and provided a plastic menu with the current offerings.  The seat back menu wasn’t exactly up to date - it only provided information about having a “Japanese” meal or an “International” meal.  The menu for today was either Mackerel with rice and salads  or a Chicken/Beef meatball meal.   Donna took the mackerel, and tried the meatballs.

We weren’t disappointed.  I think this was the best in-flight meal I’ve ever had.

The meal came with a hot entree - Meatballs in a tangy sweet sauce and veggies, and tater tots.  I didn’t see that coming.  It also came with some cold noodles and a noodle sauce and packet of dried seaweed;  a small bowl with potato salad, pork slice, and cantaloupe; another small bowl with a candied/pickled mushroom-type vegetable, and a small dinner roll.  The beverage cart immediately followed, and I had another Sapporo.  She also offered a vegetable soup in a cup.  The silverware was real metal cutlery - albeit, the knife was VERY rounded on the end, and not too sharp.  For economy class flying, it was a great meal.

Oh - and it was followed up with Haggen Das ice cream cups.  1++++++++.

We went back to the movie and I suspect we’ll get some sleep.  Yea, I’m typing this at 36,000 feet, somewhere off the southwest coast of Alaska.  No Wifi - I’m just typing this in a word processor for now, and will cut/paste into the blog later.  If anything else of significance comes up during the flight, I’ll add it.  Otherwise - next stop, Narita Airport.  

At Seatac

**I tired to do this post from Seatac airport, however the Wifi at the terminal was way over loaded.  I thought it got posted, but apparently not.  We're in Tokyo now, so I'm now posting this entry about Seatac****


We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  I was taking into account traffic and potential security delays.  Apparently, ANA doesn't participate in TSA Pre Check, so we had to go through the normal lines.  It wasn't a big deal - all the lines were relatively short, and we were through Security in about 10 minutes.

Our flight departs from the "S" Terminal, requiring the ride on the subway system.  The crowd is building in our gate area, and the plane is already here, being prepped.

Boarding will begin soon....

48 Hrs to go....

We are a "go" for Japan.  Despite the best effort of Kim Jong Un to discourage us, we are still going.

The past few weeks have been filled with work schedules and other travel opportunities.  Donna and I went to Baltimore a week ago to see Samantha re-einlist in the US Navy.  5 more years.  That was a proud parent moment.

As a part of that trip, we also took an Amtrak train trip to New York City, and saw the 9/11 memorial and museum.  it was part of a guided tour package that got us a tour of St. Pauls church, Fire Station 10, The fountain and memorial grounds, access to the museum, and access to the observation deck of the new One World Trade Center building.  The 9/11 memorial did have lot of stories and testimonials regarding the day, and how people coped with the event and aftermath.  Lots of stories were conveyed in reader boards about loved ones lost on a seemingly beautiful day, where New York hummed along like it did every summer day.

What got me were the number of vendors in the general area, selling 9/11 souvenirs and trinkets - coffee mugs, bookmarks, shirts, hats, toy fire engines - all kinds of stuff.  There was even a gift shop inside the museum, right near the exit and not far from the exhibits that were pulled from the rubble.  For some reason, it struck me odd to have a gift shop at this museum.  Sure, the gift shop proceeds were probably used to support the memorial and it's operations. Perhaps they even supported the families.  However,  It just didn't feel right.  Blatant consumerism butted up against immense sorrow, destruction and loss.

Anyway, we will be getting the last bit of packing done over the next 48 hours.  I always seem to pack at the last minute, and toil over the decisions to be made about what to pack and what to leave behind.  Since we're in Japan, and space is a premium, we'll be going as light as possible.  We will only take enough clothes for a couple of days, and wash them in the hotel laundry room (or in our hotel sink and hang stuff up to dry, like we did in Greece).  Going light is real nice.

We have invested in quite a few travel pants and shirts (synthetic stuff), so that it wicks away moisture and is easy to wash and dries quickly.  We'll probably look like tourists just from our clothes.  But we'll also look like tourists because we are caucasions in Japan.  That's probably a give away, too.

I worry about the electronics way more than the clothes.  This time around, I'll be bringing my netbook with a Linux distro on it (Lubuntu).  The netbook originally came with Windows 7 Starter, an Atom processor, and 1gb of RAM.  It was a slow and obnoxious computer, at best.  I upgraded it to the max RAM it would take (2gb), and the performance didn't improve much.

Lubuntu is a lightweight version of Ubuntu.  It was made for netbooks and older PC's that didn't have much horsepower.  So far, I like it.  Boot up is notably faster, and the performance is snappier.  For just getting on the web to research stuff or for doing this blog, this just might work out ok.
It even has an SD slot, so I can move photos over to this computer and save them in the cloud somewhere (provided the wifi doesn't suck in our hotel.  Which it probably will).

So, we leave on Wednesday.  Though United that had the lowest airfare at the time, the flight will really be on a code-shared All Nippon Airways flight, direct to Narita airport on a newer Boeing 787.  This will be my first time on a 787, and looking forward to the experience.

Enough for now.  More to follow.....

So, why go to Japan?

Good question.

Because it's there?

Yea, pretty much that's it.

So, on the heels of our London trip in November 2016, we decided that we always wanted to have a trip in the works.  To have something else to look forward to.   When we came back from London, we had some ideas, but certainly nothing that we would submit our VISA card for.

Fast forward to mid January, 2017.  Still no definitive plan for our next trip.  I enjoyed the London area so much that I wanted to go back and see more of the country.  And, to see some of the stuff I didn't get to see before (more world war 2 sites and other museums, mainly).

And, there was talk of going to Friedrichshafen, Germany.  Why an obscure corner of Germany?  Well, the largest hamfest (Amateur Radio event) in Europe happens there.  A great excuse to visit Europe again - specifically, Germany.  Donna was there back in the 80's and loved it.  She wants to go back.

So, since we went to a hamfest in London during our visit, it seemed like the right thing to do.  Visit hamfests that happen to be in other countries that I wanted to visit, anyway.

Then I get an email.

Art, N7CC (his amateur radio callsign), is a world traveller.  He spends most of his summers overseas (usually southeast Asia), and his winters back in the US or Canada, being a ski bum.

His email was pretty simple:

"I'm going to the Tokyo ham fair on Sept 2-3. You guys should use it as an excuse to go to Tokyo. Why the heck not?"

Well, that was a good question.  Why the heck not?  It fit my new criteria of 1) it was in a country that I wanted to go to anyway, and 2), there was a hamfest involved.

So, within 24 hours, I had done some hard time on Expedia, and found a "Deal of the Day" for round trip flights and hotel stay in Tokyo for just about $1000 per person.  With added trip insurance and a modification to the flight selection, the total was about $2,200.  Not a bad deal for direct flights from SEA to Narita, then a hotel stay in Tokyo.  I only took the hotel for 9 nights, with the intent of travelling outside of Tokyo for a few days.

So, we're committed to going to Tokyo at the end of the month.  There's still plenty to plan out as far a local attractions, getting around, and some hotels to acquire for the last few days of our journey.

But, working out the travel details - that's the part I like.

Next Chapter:  Getting a reciprocal ham radio license in Japan.