Introduction
Seattle to San Jose
San Jose
San Jose to Narita
Narita to Hong Kong
Hong Kong Part 1
Hong Kong Part 2
Hong Kong Part 3
Hong Kong to Narita
Narita to Seattle
Conclusion
The Fairfield Inn shuttle was waiting to take us to the airport when we checked out and after trying to explain to the driver where we were going (funnily enough even ANA in an aussie accent is hard to understand apparently) we were dropped off at the A Terminal for our flight on “Anna” (how the driver kept pronouncing ANA).
Terminal A at San Jose Airport is the older, original part of the airport and although it has been refurbished, it is not nearly as nice as Terminal B. As the marketing manager of the airport said it to us, Terminal A is nice, Terminal B is Fantastic. There was plenty of ANA staff at check in, making sure there was not a problem at all.
We were quickly helped at check in, and I easily handed over my passport and my bag was tagged all the way through to Hong Kong. I was given two boarding passes, instructed where to go the lounge and all without a hassle. I love experiences like this. After checking in for our flight, we checked in with the ANA rep who was waiting to greet us and we were handed over to a representative of the Airport so that we could be taken to where the rest of the media where for the arrival of the aircraft.
As we waited at the gate, ready to get into the sterile corridor (where we were going to shoot photos from), a local media outlet asked to interview us, we broke his happiness by telling him we were media as well, but if he waited a little bit we could set him up with someone to interview as we had a tip off via an Airline Reporter fan who was also on the flight. So I gave him a message when he landed to head over to the gate and we could get him on TV. It was funny to chat away with the local media as they seemed stunned at what we did, and I was stunned at what they did. Different worlds right?
As we tracked the inbound aircraft via Flightradar as it made it’s final approach we were escorted into the sterile corridor to make it easier to take photos through only one pane of glass rather than several, and the photos turned out pretty well. There was enough other movements around the airport to get some test shots in and check the light levels and the camera ready. As the aircraft seemingly appeared out of no where, the photos were snapped away but since we had a small window of opportunity, it was soon move and wait time as the plane had to taxi its way back to us.
Once again the aircraft appeared out of almost no where to us and more photos were taken but as I was shooting with the longer lens and had left my widest lens on the other side of the glass at some point I had to stop shooting and move over to the phone to tweet. Still have to make sure im tweeting and doing everything I can, so everyone knows where I am.
Once the aircraft was stopped, we were quickly ushered out of the corridor and back into the terminal, we had to be vacated from the corridor so that the passengers could disembark. The media were asking the usual questions (something I had forgotten to do) and they were told that there was only 44 people onboard the inbound but the outbound would have 110. Fairly good load for the outbound, not so good for the in.
With the gate festivities pretty much over, we headed up the lounge, which actually opened a day before the original San Jose innagural flight. The “Club at SJC” is actually a paid lounge and thankfully as an ANA guest it meant I could get in for free. In the Avgeek tradition, you always look after your fellow traveller, so I guested him into the lounge (showing my Aegean Gold Card, even though I wasn’t getting any points off this trip, or really using it) and they allowed him in.
The lounge was pretty good actually, very nice looking food, plenty of snacks and drinks and to top things off, hot breakfast food. Add in showers, free wifi, plenty of power outlets and comfy (ish) seating and you have yourself a pretty good lounge to be honest.
We spent most of the time chatting away with fellow avgeeks, talking the usual stuff, and meeting up with our fellow travellers who were coming on the flight. There was a few other guests who although not part of the press trip they were covering the story for other outlets. We were also given our ANA swag bag full of the press materials but also lots and lots of goodies and there was many times where I was acting like a little school boy with all the free goodies.
Eventually we had to head out to the gate so that we could be there to get the shots of the first people onboard. Jason wanted to be first onboard but me, I didn’t mind, I wanted to cover the shots of people getting on. I had been onboard an ANA 787 at Seattle when they first began, so I have all the hi res cabin shots I need. For me it was now all about getting those last few shots of the beginning of the flight.
A pre boarding speech was given by and he apoligised for the 787 issues (not that he needed to) and this was not the first time that the apology was given. The captain onboard gave it, along with the cabin crew as well during the flight briefing.
All Nippon Airways – NH1075
San Jose to Tokyo Narita
1305-1610
Boeing 787-8 (JA806A)
Business Class – Seat 9A
Boarding: 1240 (Gate 15)
Push Back: 1301
Take Off Roll: 1315 (Runway 30R)
Top of Descent: 1440
Touch Down: 1510 (Runway 34L)
Shut Down: 1512 (Gate 58)
As we headed onboard each guest was handed a little welcome card from the ANA San Jose staff and each card had been hand written! This along with a pen was the only real token of the flight and without it, you probably wouldn’t of even known this was an inaugural (of sorts).
With Jason already onboard and snapping away at his seat, i casually made my way onboard and took a few photos here and there, enjoying myself and the experience. For me this was more about the flight, not about the product onboard or the aircraft. It was all about soaking in the atmosphere. It was also about the connecting flight as well, just seeing how easy Narita is to transit (more on that later).
Boarding was completed quickly and before I even really knew it we were pushing back. I was shocked, we pushed back about 5 minutes early and we had barely loaded in 15 minutes. Crazy!!!! We pushed back from the gate and as we lined up for our taxi out to the active runway, all of the SJC and ANA ground staff came out onto the stand to wave us goodbye. I missed the photo of the bow by a number of the staff but I got some good shots of all of them waving. We were told no video of the take off, but that wasn’t a big deal for me anyway.
The take off roll was spirited and smooth as the wing flexed us into the air. The wing flex on the 787 will always amaze me and it just looks so amazing as it flexes up into the sky. Unfortunately as I was on the A side (even ANA seemingly knows my bad habits) I may have gotten the good shots on the ground, but unfortunately I did not get much of a view on the climb out. I was right over the wing anyway so my fascination in this instance was the wing flexing, the engine and the coast below as we powered west towards Japan.
The flight cruised on up and the Captain kept the seat belt sign on a for a little bit extra according to the crew due to a possible few bumps but within 10 or 15 minutes he turned this off and let everyone loose. I was immediately up and exploring, not always possible down the back of the bus but these days if I can i prefer to move about. Maybe it is because I am worried about DVT (since my dad has it) or maybe it is because I am just way more active compared to the past and I can no longer sit still for much without fidgeting.
Menus were distributed, drink and meal orders were taken and guests just relaxed into the flight as though this was any other flight, no fan fare, nothing like that, just a seemingly normal flight across the pacific. Not exactly the same as my first 787 flight, but this felt more like a 787 flight should. If there was going to be any fan fare I was hoping it would be on the ground in Narita.
I had decided before the flight that I would keep the Japanese meals for the flights out of Tokyo being that the local chefs there would be the ones preparing them, they would be of much better quality and more authentic. The western meal out of the USA sounded pretty good so I went with that. I knew ANA had very good food from my last flight with them and that their snack menu in between meal times was very sufficient. The meal size was much more appropriate to the multiple course format compared to other airlines (looking at you Cathay).
The courses came out starting with a few horderves that were not listed on the menu. They seemed good and i immediately fell in love with the mushroom and chilli they had on it as it was just the right amount of kick for someone like me. After that came the table lay out with the bread, butter and appetiser.
The Appetiser was described as a Nicoise Salad and this was a very loose interpretation of one but it was still damn tasty. I enjoyed the wide variety of seafood and the bread they served was amazingly good. It was kind of like a savoury raisin roll and it was tasty… so much so I gobbled down a few (with a good bit of butter of course).
The Main itself though small was appropriate with a good bit of bread and the over sized appetiser so I was happy and follow that with a nice cheese plate, mal is a happy boy. Dessert was some fresh fruit, a banana I had somehow brought on board with me (not sure where that came from!) and some ice cream with a very wierd, yet tasty, kiwi fruit sauce.
Finish off the meal with a coffee and a chocolate and you have the makings of a lengthy yet relaxed 2 hour lunch service.
Lunch over and done with, I changed into some pyjamas that can be “borrowed” from the airline (although they were super comfy so I am going to have to try and find my way into a pair somehow) and i settled in to get some work done. I had plenty of time to work on the trip report along with also get the story on the resumption of service out the way, check out my photos and even set up my blog post all ready for when I hit the ground in Narita. What better way to make use of around 10 hours stuck inside an aircraft as you cruised at 40,000ft across the pacific.
Time flew by onboard, there was lots of words written, photos worked on (or at least tried to, for some reason the chromebook doesn’t like saving the photos I try to edit) and some snacking and chatting with fellow avgeeks. I took a trip up the back of the aircraft in my pjs to kind of show them off but also because they were so damn comfy I didn’t care.
After trying to settle into watch a movie I just pretty much gave up actually paying attention to it and instead spent most of the time in a conversation with someone up in Economy via the inseat communications. I had a chat with my “seat mate” at one point discussing the fact that the vibrations over the engines are VERY evident. something I guess that would need to be mentioned on Seat Guru. Love to see that warning. “This seat recieves constant vibration from the Engines outside your window.”
With a bit more work after the movie, the time in the flight was winding down fast. So I decided to get myself dressed again (before the post meal rush) and order my final meal as late as possible. Out of the meal options the Japanese meal sounded about the lightest for the arrival meal and this would allow me space for some goodies in the lounge. I was under instructions from a friend to eat my weight in Rice Balls and Japanese sweets while I spent what little time in Tokyo. That was the plan for the first stopover, the second on the way back would be kit kat hunting.
So i settled into the meal with the chat going and the auto map on and when finished, pulled out the laptop to finish off as much of the trip report as I could up until final descent. About an hour out I went through my usual rituals of getting myself ready for arrival, since it is at that point that I have to put the earplanes in. It is always a good a time as any to get myself ready since it usually avoids the rush and then I don’t try scurrying about during the last few minutes before descent (and in my experience Narita can be a bumpy arrival).
After setting my stuff aside and prepping for landing I ended up chatting more with a few of the others in our group and it was an interesting bunch, a very diverse group. 2 Aviation geeks, a travel blogger & 2 real travel journalists. It was interesting as they would primarily be focusing on the travel side of things while Jason and I were obviously going to be writing about the flying aspects. The group should provide a whole range of different points of views of the same flights.
As we tipped over into our descent I was totally suprised at just how gracefully the 787 seemed to handle it. What it really signalled was everyone to stop socialising and get their butts back to their seats. Next thing you know the seat belt sign dings on and the crew is making their final checks as we descend into Narita. I had seen someone with playing cards earlier and had totally forgotten to ask for one, so I did at that point and within moments I was handed a deck of 787 playing cards along with a childs toy plane. Score!!
We turned onto a straight in approach to Narita. A very long gentle straight in approach to the 34 series of runways. As we came in over the Narita area nothing was familiar to me, but then every other time I have landed at Narita it has always been from the other direction, or on 34R. We were coming into 34L which was a new experience for me.
We touched down softly to 34L and even the reverse thrust was not all that evident, more gentle than before. This was totally a diffent feeling to my landing last night where I was seemingly smashed into the ground. But like any good foreign airport the second we exit the runway the camera is snapping as I get all the crazy liveries and airlines I never get to see. A wide range of goodies was on the ramps of Narita including an Aeroflot MD11F, an Air Hong Kong freighter, plenty of United and Delta (almost as many as back in the USA) and plenty of ANA of course. We taxiied past a Thai A380 but I didn’t even really notice it.
We pulled into Gate 58 and very soon the staff around the gate were becking the aircraft in as normal. For us though even though this flight was now at it’s end, the adventure was not. The group collectively started to gather before we had even left the aircraft but once everyone was off we met up and then it was off through Narita security.
