After arriving in Abu Dhabi, I was transferred via the complementary limo service to the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai. In Dubai, we visited the Burj Khalifa and several of the city's other attractions including the nearby desert and various markets.
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| Burj Khalifa |
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| The Address Hotel which later suffered a massive fire |
Three days later it was time to head off to Hong Kong. My next flight was a redeye on Cathay Pacific's A330 business class. After spending time in the British Airways Galleries business class lounge, I headed off to my gate where I boarded through the forward door into seat 14K.
After a pleasant flight, I immediately transferred to the Hong Kong Airport Ferry terminal and boarded a high speed ferry to Macau, the gambling capital of the world. Our hotel, the Conrad Macao, was situated directly across the street from the Venetian Macau, a sprawling complex of shops, casino, and hotel, much larger than the Venetian in Las Vegas. It didn't take long to realize I couldn't hang at the tables with the HK$500 (about $70 US) table minimums at the blackjack tables.
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| Venetian Macau |
The following day, we transferred back to Hong Kong via high speed ferry and checked in the JW Marriott Hong Kong. The first to do item was to visit Sam's Tailor to get fitted for a custom suit in Tsim Sha Tsui. Sam's tailor is the go to place for custom suits, having fitted several former presidents, foreign diplomats, athletes, and celebrities.
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| Sam's Tailors |
Our visit to Hong Kong coincided with the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament that drew fans from across the world including New Zealand, Australia, England, France and the US. These fans loved to party and brought a Mardi Gras feel to the Lan Kwai Fong Bar area. After eating and drinking our way through Hong Kong for 5 days, and catching the cities views at both day and night, it was time to move on to Tokyo.
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| Hong Kong from TST |
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| Market |
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| Seafood Street Market |
The journey to Tokyo began in truly comfortable fashion at Cathay Pacific's The Wing First Class Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport.
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| Obligatory photo-op with the cardboard Cathay Flight Attendant |
After several glasses of every champagne on offer, it was time to dine at the full service restaurant for some much needed food.
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| Self Service Champagne Bar |
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| Complementary A la Carte Dining |
After Lunch it was time to enjoy The Wing's crown jewel offering, the Cabanas. These cabanas offer the opportunity to relax and shower in one of the most incredible airport settings imaginable. I'll spare you the details.
Finally it was getting closer to boarding time so I headed all the way down the end of the terminal to have one more glass of champagne at The Bridge Business class lounge where I was able to snap this picture of my aircraft, Cathay Pacific's Queen of the Skies, the 747-400.
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| I will never get tired of seeing this plane |
After a short walk, I approached the gate and boarded first through door 1L followed by a prompt left turn into the first class cabin, situated nicely in the nose of the aircraft.
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| My seat will be the first three windows. |
I took my seat in seat 1K and was promptly offered yet another glass of champagne
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| A very tired picture |
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One more glass, just for good measure.
Notice how the windows allow you see to forward in the direction of travel |
After another smooth 3.5 hour flight, we landed at Tokyo's downtown Haneda airport and I made my way to the Tokyo Marriott Hotel. It couldn't have been a better time of year to visit Tokyo, as it was timed perfectly to coincide with Sakura, or the cherry blossom season. Four exhausting days Tokyo, that included a birthday bar crawl through the Roppongi bar district and the freshest sushi imaginable flew by.
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| Unfortunately, I don't remember what this is. |
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| Cherry Blossoms |
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| More Cherry Blossoms in a market |
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Birthday sushi at the Tsukiji Fish Market which unfortunately
will be torn down and moved to make way for a road to facilitate
Olympic travel. |
All good things must come to an end, and the same is true with this trip. One final flight home was due to depart at 12:05 from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to San Francisco International Airport. First though, an airport visit isn't complete without a visit to the First Class Lounge. Japan Airlines newly renovated first class lounge is beautiful. it's complete with dining area, freshly prepared sushi, champagne room, Shoe shining room,a game room, and free massages.
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Unfortunately the only picture I have of the champagne room is a
screenshot I took from Snapchat. It is, in fact, nice. |
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| Reading room |
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| Game Room |
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Shoe Shining Room. The nice man who stands behind
the desk moved out of the way for my picture. |
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| Main Dining Area |
As you can see, I was just about the only in the lounge... and I was ok with that.
Finally it was time to board Japan Airlines Flight 002, operated by a beautiful Boeing 777-300ER. Boarding commenced promptly and I boarded through doorway 2L and turned left toward my seat, 1A.
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| Seat 1A |
Pajamas were distributed and I changed into the JAL PJs for my 9 hour flight.
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| Oh yeah, and more Champagne |
Being a flight departing midnight, a full course dinner is available, however I opted for the Caviar and champagne before trying to get some sleep.
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| Caviar and Champagne |
Because the first class cabin was near empty, The flight attendants offered to make up seat 1D as my bed so I could switch back easily when I woke up.
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| JAL's Signature Bedding. |
After a quick 4 hour nap, it was just about time to land and arrive back in the USA. Global Entry made immigration a breeze and I had a nice 7 hour layover in San Francisco to go into town and grab dinner with some friends before continuing on a redeye to Dallas. Much to my dismay, my seat on my 737 to Dallas did not fold down to become a bed.
This flight capped off an amazing trip that I will never forget. Travel is an incredible opportunity to learn about and experience other cultures and I am very thankful to my family and my job that have allowed this to be possible.
