Dream Trip (Babymoon) to Japan ft. SQ Suite + First SYD - SIN - HND RT

[Ardeevee]

Ardeevee, can you make use of Takkyubin luggage services on this trip in any way? Say have your bags sent over to Nara freeing you to enjoy Tokyo & Kyoto with backpacks-only? That's what I've done in the past and it just makes transiting so much more pleasant.

I did put this as an alternative if we find that our luggages are going to be a trouble. However major disadvantage about using this service is that our luggage will arrive the next day, so we need a major planning for items we're sending off - because we move a lot from places to places.

Thanks for the advice! =)

 

[Ardeevee]

D-1 Day to dream trip!

So things have been hectic with clearing out work to allow holiday mode on along with the preparation for the trip. With current autumn weather in Japan, we're not quiet sure if we should pack for cold weather or for warmer weather, but looking at the weatherman, it looks like its going to be similar to Sydney's winter...

Also in this trip, I'm bringing my trusted Nikon D600 along with DJI Osmo for us to take some vlog along the way.

We can't believe its tommorow!

The plan is that we're going to leave around 8.30am and hope to arrive at 9am to do our first ever suite check in.

Then we're going to clear immigration quickly.. claim some TRS, then off to Silverkris Lounge!

We'll that's a preview, so I'll see you all tommorow =)

H-10 Hours. Ardeevee is starting his engine...

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Don't forget to ask for your TPR invitations at check in - they may have them there or at lounge - don't fall for the 'Invitation is on Boarding Pass' - ask for your hand written invitations - you will love them as souvenirs.

 

[Ardeevee]

Don't forget to ask for your TPR invitations at check in - they may have them there or at lounge - don't fall for the 'Invitation is on Boarding Pass' - ask for your hand written invitations - you will love them as souvenirs.

Thank you for the reminder CE! This has been on top of my must have list from the trip

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Also the ladies go gaa gaa over the Salvatore Ferragamo amenity kits - I never take male ones but always ask for female so the Ette can pass on to one of her buddies - so if you are not fussed don't be backward in asking for an extra ladies in place of your male one.

 

[Ardeevee]

Hi AFFers!


Its the day!


I overestimating myself thinking that I could live update as soon as I arrived at Silverkris Lounge in Sydney. WRONG! We were too busy enjoying ourselves at the lounge.. sorry guys =p
Now we have 5 hours layover at Changi airport and after.. enjoying ourselves again at The Private Room (This place is 10x better than Sydney Silverkris Lounge!)..
Let's turn back in time 9 hours..


So we arrived at Airport quiet early to allow some time for ourselves to enjoy lounge. Last night when I checked in, I saw there is 5 of suites class passenger, but of course all 4 has to be checked in at the same time! So we que a bit, but apparently the couple in front of us has their ticket reissued due to unknown circumstances so we have to wait longer than the business class passengers queing next to us..

First world problem, but we have about 3-4 business class passenger passed us and none of the counter called us to business class counters, oh well...

Then we cleared immigration quickly and I decided to skip TRS, because the que is wayy too long..

We made our way to Silverkris Lounge and first impression is: WOW!

As soon as they find out that we're Suites Class passengers, the lady at the counter pressed a button and whala... a door to secret room next to her opened and she introduced us to first class lounge.

We quickly ordered some breakfast and it is quiet nice =) I ordered SQ satay knowing that they rarely have them on board anymore, and I was right =) (PS. Satay at The Private Room way tastier!)

 

[Ardeevee]

Finally we're called to board the aircraft. First time in our life we don't have to que with the economy line and we're straight ahead to the Suite Class line!

As we approach the plane, we're mildly greeted and was pointed out to our seat..



Amenity kit were given out along with SQ branded pijamas.


Not long after, the inflight supervisor greeted us and introduce himself. When he about to introduce his crew, he didn't remember their name by heart, so he has to resort to his name list.

Shortly after the leading stewardess confirmed our Book the Cook order and I asked for my first champagne: Dom.

We had a look at the amenity kit, I think SQ has recently changed their amenity kit design. It wasn't the one I usually see at people's trip report. The lady who seated next to us also got one, but she got a red amenity kit (there is 3 type now?)



Today we're seating at window seat 2A & 3A, and having a lunch together at 3A.



I ask the leading steward for a turndown service at middle suites 3C&D and they did not object since noone seats there.



Overall, SQ Suite Class hard product is excellent, there are signs of wear and tear, but none that stands out. For the service though, I found that the crew is less engaging than I expected.

I'll do the meal review at next post =)

 

[Ardeevee]

We started our meal service with garlic bread. SQ's garlic bread is so amazing.. taste just right and the bread wasn't too hard.



My appetizer for today is Chilled Malossol Caviar. Oh my.. I enjoyed this very much.. my first caviar ever and it tastes perfect in my mouth..



Next come the soup, for the soup I ordered Double Boiled Chicken Soup. This soup is nice after the caviar. It cleans my mouth for the main.



For main, I have Boston Thermidor Lobster from BTC. I didn't find the lobster as enjoyable as the caviar. I personally found the lobster is a bit hard (overcooked) and I think the rice was heated too much as the edge of the rice is already crispy-dry.



I am very full after the main, so we decide to eat the dessert after resting at our double bed.

5 hours into the flight, my wife requested an ice cream since she's getting hungry (pregnant remember?) I told her that she won't get hungry in flight, but she did! I found that the refreshment service is too far away from the lunch (for pregnant lady at least), and they don't have any other snacks for her to eat.

She asked for an ice cream, and the leading stewardess brought us a sorbet, which is frozen solid. I can't even crack it with spoon, yet alone eats it.

So after giving up on the ice cream, we decided just to get the dessert we rainchecked before. The dessert we ordered was Strawberry Shortcake (which come with Basil ice cream). To our horror, the basil ice cream is frozen solid as well. I'm not sure why all the ice cream is frozen solid, but shouldn't there be procedure to unfrozen the ice cream before serving? At least that's what I would expect.

Nevertheless, the shortcake itself is nice and (thankfully) not frozen solid.



2 hours before arrival, we were served with refreshment. We both decide to eat Vietnamese Pho and it is very nice! The beef is so tender and the soup taste is spot on! My wife even said that this is better than the chicken rice she ate during lunch service.

Overall we enjoyed the food service, not sure if this is the food standard in SQ first, but some preparations to the meal were overlooked and made the meal a bit below standard.

Well, that's it for SQ 232 - Sydney to Singapore Suite adventure today. To close our journey, I asked the crew to sign my adventure journal, but they came back with more than just signature. The captain gave us personal thank you note and the crew signed the page and they also put some details of the flight. Not to mention, we're also given a SQ bear as souvenirs =D

Now off to The Private Lounge!

 

[love_the_life]

Sounds great, a pity your wife being pregnant isn't able to drink the champagne and other tempting beverages. We're in Tokyo at present and the weather is very pleasant. Like you we were wondering what to pack.
We leave for Kyoto tomorrow.

 

[Ardeevee]

Sounds great, a pity your wife being pregnant isn't able to drink the champagne and other tempting beverages. We're in Tokyo at present and the weather is very pleasant. Like you we were wondering what to pack.
We leave for Kyoto tomorrow.

It's a pity, but both of us don't drink alcohol that much anyway. I did enjoyed Dom though.. more than Krug.

Yes! The weather in Tokyo is perfect. We're also off to Kyoto tommorow, let us know how the weather are there =)

 

[Ardeevee]

After our arrival in Singapore, we quickly went to voucher counter to grab our $40 shopping at Changi voucher. However, we decided not to do any shopping today, because we'll have longer layover during our trip back to Sydney.

We hastily made our way to the grand Silverkris lounge in terminal 3. Going up that escalator and looking at the Silverkris sign on your left is a satisfaction itself. I instantly know that this is a huge lounge as the atmosphere is quiet grand.



We were greeted straight away with 4 of the staff. After confirming our boarding pass, one of the lady asked us: "Is this your first time to The Private Lounge?"

"Yes!" we answered.

She then said, "Great! Let me give you a tour".

She toured us across the vast business class lounge. The lounge was quiet busy that day, similar to a Sydney domestic lounge during morning rush hour. During our walk, the lady who escorted us keep convincing us on how exclusive TPR is: on how only SQ first class can access it, not even the star alliances member.

We turn left on the first branch towards first class lounge, then at the end of business class tunnel, we turn left and found ourselves in the first class lounge. We turn left and went through the lounge. While there, I found that the first class lounge is less busy then the business class counterparts. I had a look at the buffet bar too, some quiet nice food there!

At the end of the lounge, we turned left and finally we see the signage of "The Private Room"



We were introduced straight away to the dining area. Without asking whether we want to eat or not, the lady set us down in dining area and one of the butler there showed us the menu.



Obviously we can't resist the menu they had there. They all sound nice! We ordered the wagyu burger, dim sum and singapore satay.



Wagyu burger is soooo nice. The buns were crunchy and the meat was tender (I asked for medium rare). Quail egg were cooked perfectly and you can see runny yolk. I'm not sure what they put on the top bun aside from the tomato relish, but that thing made the whole burger complete. We ends up ordered another wagyu burger, and the taste is very consistent!



Next we tried the dim sum. I found the dim sum quiet average. You can find better one in Sydney's major dim sum restaurant.

Last is the Singapore Satay (I wish I can post more than 5 pictures, neither I want to break this section into 2 post - I believe you all have seen the satay anyway, so here goes). We were served lamb and chicken satay with their sauce. The sauce is as consistent as always, taste very similar to Sydney's one. Again, we enjoyed the satay. I found the chicken satay is better here than the Sydney's lounge.

After savouring ourselves with all these meals, we took some mouth refreshment and fresh juice at the buffet bar.

We found ourselves some seat in the main lounge and we took shower to refresh ourselves for the next journey.

Although we layed over 5 hours, we felt that the time passed real quick as we enjoyed TPR, so we haven't got chance to jump to other Silverkris lounge in other terminal.

We went to the gate for boarding. Our gate for the night is A11 and is quiet a walk from TPR. The boarding has commenced as we arrived at the gate.

A bit of dissapointment when I see the registration of our plane.. it was.. 9V-SWT...

 

[Ardeevee]

As expected I found myself in the older type of first class. I can already see how worn out the seats are. This is quiet a letdown as I have keep track of SQ636's plane and in the past week, they have use the 777-300ER equipped with the new first class. Today, they just decided not to use the new one, and send us flying on an older first class.



Oh well, it gives me some experience in experiencing the older first class! It is going to be a sleeper service anyway, so not too fuss about it.



First impression of the older first class that I can conclude that it has been quiet worn off. You can see scratches on TV screen and panels coming off here and there. I took a peek at the business class and surprise.. it wasn't much different in terms of hard product. Maybe it is, but from a quick eye, its not.

The crew in the flight is more amazing though, Jenny, the leading stewardess quickly accommodate us with some warm conversations, before confirming our food for the night. My wifee was already soo tired, she wanted to skip her meal, but she ends up decide to just get the main.

For me, I don't want to waste the experience, so I went through the courses, except I gave up on the dessert. I was under impression that on sleeper service, you don't get courses, you only get the meal. However, by looking at the menu, there's multi course options even on supper service.



To start, I have an average lobster salad.



Then, I had a duck soup which I found quiet nice to get ready for the main.



Then my BTC of the night is Chargrilled Miso Beef. I enjoyed this meal so much. The mushroom and mushroom rice were a winner. The beef taste nice, but its funny that it was perfectly cooked on one side, but overdone on the other half. Overall, I enjoyed the meal!

My wife and I quickly asked for the bed as soon as we finished our meal, because we're already so tired enjoying all the luxuries that day.

That night, the flight was very bumpy, a lot of multiple turbulences, so we didn't get good sleep.

Nevertheless, it was enough for us to recharge ourself and in no time we found ourselves landed at Tokyo Haneda Airport. After landed, I asked Jenny to fill my adventure book and she got the crews and captain filled it with another warm message.

Guess what? They gave us a lady bear to accompany the man bear we received earlier in Suites.

SQ does know how to satisfy their customer, don't you think? =D

 

[Ardeevee]

It was 6 AM when we arrived at Haneda Airport. We quickly cleared out immigration and had our bag waiting for us (thanks to priority service!)

As we have plenty of time before our scheduled time to Tokyo, we walked around the terminal and went up to the observation deck.



It was nice sunny weather with temperature ranging around 15 degree. Perfect weather! and perfect view to look at the surrounding terminals. I wish Sydney have one of this, I would've spotted a lot of planes!



As we walked around, I found a hall full of plane figures.



This is Haneda International Airport check in area from top level.



We found ourselves quiet hungry from all the walk, and we went to the restaurant area to find ourselves some breakfast.

We end up having breakfast at Yoshinoya, one of the famous gyudon chain in Japan.

After stuffed ourselves, we went back down to arrival area and looking at our options to go to Tokyo city.

 

[TomVexille]

I tried sitting in the J seat earlier this year and while it looks similar at first glance, F has waaaay more room

 

[Ardeevee]

We missed the Haneda limousine bus to Ikebukuro (where we staying), so plan B, we use Tokyo Monorail and trains to Ikebukuro.

We buy Suica card at Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport kiosk. Suica card is similar to Sydney's OPAL card / Melbourne's MyKi, except Suica card can be used all around Japan including some vending machine, gaming machine, even restaurant!



I found Tokyo Monorail very funny as the seat design layout is allover the place, there's small platform.. there are window seats, facing each other seats, etc...



We arrived at Ikebukuro Station after 1 hour ride, with 4 luggages and 1 behind my back, its quiet tiring for us, so we checked in quickly at our hostel.

Today we're staying at Kimi Ryokan. Kimi Ryokan is hostel-type accommodation where the room is japanese style. You get to sleep on a futon. This is very good choice for budget traveller as the smallest room (4.5 futon - approx. 2.5m x 2.5m) cost 6500 yen per night. The room is spacious enough for 1-2 people.

Toilets and Showers are not private, but available on each floor. I never have problem with queing for toilet / shower even though the accommodation is full. There is also common lounge and kitchenette providing the basics of living.

Each room comes with yukata (japanese sleeping robe) and slippers (you have to leave your shoes at lobby) and air condtioning.

Overall, recommended if you're here on a budget and is looking for cheap yet clean hostel. The hotel is about 8 minutes walk from Ikebukuro station (exit C6).



For lunch we went to Shinjuku to eat at Katsukura. Katsukura specialise at Tonkatsu (pork katsu). It is interesting as first we have to grind sesame seed, then mix it with sauce of our choice. I dipped the tonkatsu to the sauce before eating it. Overall the pork is quiet dry (I choose the standard pork katsu, maybe different if you get the more expensive one), but the breadcrumb is crispy. The condiments are nice though, and it comes with unlimited rice and cabbage. Note that the rice is mixture of Japanese rice and Barley rice.



After lunch, we walked around shinjuku and have a rest at our accommodation.



For the night, we are meeting our cousins that live in Tokyo. They cooked us Japanese Nabe. It is one of the 3 kind of Japanese hot-pot. With Nabe, you cook it with special broth along with other vegetables, pork, mushrooms and noodle.

We end the day with soba tea that my cousins served. Soba tea is very nice and they're no-caffeine, good for night tea.

 

[Ardeevee]

Apologise for the lack of updates guys.

We have hectic daily schedule in Japan, so as soon as we're back to our accommodation at night, we're sooo.. tired and beat.

I will try to push some update as soon as possible.

Cheers!

Ardeevee

 

[love_the_life]

Ya need plenty of stamina to be a tourist

 

[Ardeevee]

Hey guys!!! Finally have the chances to continue our trip report, so here goes:

On our 4th day, we woke up earlier than our usual routine, guess what? Yep, today we're going to que for our lunch. Did you guys know that Tokyo hosted a lot of michelin stars restaurants? The one we're going today is famous for its Gyukatsu. Gyukatsu is a beef dish where the beef is breaded with panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and the crumbs are cooked crispy while the beef stays rare inside.

The restaurant famous for its Gyukatsu in Tokyo is Gyukatsu Motomura. We went to the main store in Shibuya. Gyukatsu Motomura opened 10.30am and when we arrived there at 10.20am, there is already a line forming to the underground entrance. There's about 8 people in front of us and we've to wait 45 minutes to get our seats. Once inside, the restaurant is very small.. there are only 8 eats (no wonder the long wait).

Since order has been placed when we're in que, we're served our food as soon as we took our seat.



Gyukatsu is recommended to be eaten raw (as per photo), but there is hot stone on each table if you prefer it more-done. Gyukatsu is perfect to be eaten with a little wasabi and soy sauce dip.




Aside from the gyukatsu, they also served Japanese rice mixed with Barley rice which I found very delicious and fragrant. Japanese grated yam also served as condiments to the rice.

A perfect meal I would say... If you're around in Shinjuku / Shibuya, dropby Gyukatsu Motomura and it won't dissapoint.



After lunch, we took a quick tour at Shibuya's famouse Hachiko (Japanese dog famous for being so loyal to its owner) statue and of course: taking a lot of pictures of Shibuya's famous crossing.

After happy with our pictures, we took train to Harajuku station. As we exit Harajuku station, we're welcomed with the famous Shopping street: Take****a street. However our first destination is not the shopping street. We took a detour to Meiji Jingu Shrine to see Tokyo famous giant torii gates. I was amazed how there is huge greens area just next to busy shopping streets and malls. Once inside the shrine area, you don't feel like you're in metropolitan Tokyo anymore. I felt like I'm in the middle of mountain areas with natures surrounding us.



After exploring the area, we continued our journey to Harajuku's Take****a Street. We did some shopping while stumble upon one of my favourite Japanese brand snack shop: Calbee+



We end the day with a dinner at Sakuratei. Sakuratei specialise in Okonomiyaki with a twist. The twist is that you order the ingredients and you have to cook your own Osaka style Okonomiyaki. The foods are delicious!

We return to our accommodation after long day walking around western Tokyo...

 

[Ardeevee]

Today wasn't going to be a tiring day, but it is the first day we have to move in between accommodation. What it means is that I have to carry 3 luggages, since missus is pregnant and can't carry heavy items.

Here is my setup for in between accommodation:



Not bad, just a bit hard on some subway, especially during peak hour. We started the day by going to Ikebukuro station and change our JR Pass exchange order to the actual JR Pass.

Note that you can only change this at JR East / West Ticket Office, not the smaller ticket office inside the station.

Below is some basic rules for JR Pass:


After receiving our JR Pass, we took train to Tokyo station and have a quick lunch at Tokyo Ramen Street. We then catch a Hikari Shinkansen to Kyoto. While waiting for our train, we bought some snacks.. (SOME!)



When we arrived at Kyoto station, it was already almost sundown (4pm). Over here in Japan, during these months, sun went down literally around 4.30-5pm, which make our day much shorter.

We took bus straight away to our Airbnb accommodation for the next 3 nights.



After checked in and sort our stuff in our accommodation, we went out and its already dark. We walked about 10 minutes to Kyoto Gion-Kawaramachi area (which is the central shopping area in Kyoto) and got ourselves dinner at Ichiran. Ichiran is Japanese (possible most) famous Ramen chain shop. You eat in small cubicle, because they said they want us to enjoy ramen to the fullest.. (It's like a date with ramen, literally). There is only 1 branch in Kyoto, so we have to que around 1 hour before we got our cubicles.

In this restaurant, we can choose how our ramen is going to be: rich or not rich soup.. oily or less oil soup.. firm or soft noodles, etc...

The way I love it is: Medium firmness noodle with extra rich and oily soup + double spicy sauce + full garlic cloves... The besttt....



After savouring our dinner, we walked around a bit before calling it a day.

 

[TomVexille]

mmmmmmmmmmm, ramen :mrgreen::mrgreen: