Gday
Itinerary:
SYD- NRT F JL
NRT- GUM J JL
GUM- KIX J DL
KIX- GUM J DL
GUM- NRT Y JL
NRT- SYD F JL
It was more flights than i would have hoped for but it was (mainly) a USDM redemption and it was all i could get(The Delta flight was not part of the USDM redemption). First time in both Japan and Guam for my wife and I.
Overall a great trip. Had phone issues the week before i left so had no phone photos. My thoughts:
JAL- first time i have used them and wont be the last. First class was exactly that. Great food, drinks, and service. Common courtesy will never go out of fashion in my books. JAL has it in spades. Flights were punctual. Got to enjoy the QANTAS First Class lounge in Sydney and it was great. Had a shower and champagne breaky before boarding. Check in was a bit of a drama as Guam is a part of the USA so I got an ESTA but my wife is on a Malaysian passport and doesnt qualify for one. However Malaysia is one of 12 countries which can enter the North Mariana Islands for less than 45 days with a visa waiver form. Took about 20 minutes at check in to get this sorted. JAL flight to GUM was a 767 and quite nice. Decent food and drinks.
Guam- never had this on my bucket list but I was here. To be honest it was a bit of a cultural wasteland. It has natives- the Chamorra, but they speak like american's and there local food is nothing out of the ordinary, just some BBQ'd stuff. Portion size's are American(opposite end of the spectrum to Japan!). Even though they use USD it is a relatively cheap place for food and drinks compared to Sydney. And the clincher for my wife was outlet store shopping. We bought so much we had to buy a large suitcase to bring it all back. The main beach is ok. If you are from China, Japan or Korea you will think it is the best but if you are from Australia it isnt that spectacular. Tourists were mainly younger Jap and Koreans on school/university graduation trips with a few Chinese and Americans.
Delta- first time i have used them and it will be the last. Planes were older than me- 757's. They didnt even have an entertainment system or extendable footrest in Business class! Food and drinks were clearly a notch down from JAL. But the real kick in the balls was that in Guam since January 2015 there is no lounge access for Delta business passengers. Considering the plane to Osaka leaves at 0600 i had planned to shower and have breakfast there. Not happy. To top it off on the return leg in KIX airport when we checked in the check in man said that unfortunately we wouldnt have any lounge access as Delta has recently changed their policy. For all Guam flights and other shorter international flights particularly from USA to the carribean, Business and First class passengers would have no lounge access. I told him it was pathetic and that their product was not competitive as JAL, United and Korean Business class passengers all have lounge access on this route. He could do nothing but agree. I have to say i have heard alot of bad things about US based airlines over the years and have never dared try one. This was it and it ended poorly. They just burnt my wife and i as potential customers for the rest of our lives.
Osaka and Kansai region- Spent about a week based in Osaka. Loved it. Not much english spoken by anyone but we got along fine. Toilets in Japan are great. Best thing we did here was buy a Sanyo Area Rail Pass. Valid for 7 days or all JR west trains and ferries including the Shinkansen between Shin- Osaka and Hakata. I should add that this includes the newest, fastest trains called Nozomi- most rail passes dont. We were on them every day visting Kobe, Kyoto, Himeji, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Hakata. Had some great food like the Kobe beef. And if you are in Osaka try and visit the Kurumon food market. It has many stalls selling all the stuff you want to try like fugu, otoro, uni, and wagyu. Kyoto was a bit over run by tourists. We stayed a night in a Ryokan on a little old island called Miyajima. Was really nice and would have liked to stay another night or two but it was too expensive.
Tokyo- stayed here for 4 nights. Will need to head back as didnt really get a chance to do much. First night we stayed in a love hotel in Shinjuku which was awesome. If you could stay in them like a normal hotel i would have stayed here our whole time in Tokyo. In room multi person spa, in room sauna, 50 inch plasma with VOD. Only downside was the smell of cigarettes but that is Japan in general. Other things we did was go shopping in Shibuya(its permanently full!), visit a cat cafe, visit a maid cafe, go to the shrine near Harajuku station. Overall Tokyo was a lot more westernised that Osaka and many more people spoke english.
Restaurants-
Eternite in Osaka (One Michelin star). Food and service was fine but a bit pricey.
L'Atelier de Joel Robouchon in Roppongi, Tokyo (two Michelin stars). Was counter service but that fine. Nice menu je jour but probably a bit too much food.
Ryuzu in Roppongi, Tokyo (two Michelin stars). Table service and was my favorite. The chef used to work under Joel Robouchon. The right amount of food and high quality. Was the cheapest of all and in my opinion the best. Would go back for sure.
All in all a top trip. We will be heading back to Japan and Guam at some stage. The worst thing about Japan is the amount of smokers. After living in Australia for so long then having a customer at a table next to you light up a smoke is a shock. And it makes you, your hair and all your clothes stink.
JAL customer service- our flight from Narita left at 1935. Once we had boarded the flight my wife realised she had left new new jacket in the coat room in the First Class lounge. She filled out a form and when we landed in Sydney a JAL lady at the plane door confirmed a few things with her. Next morning we get a call- its ready to be picked up from the JAL office at the airport. Fantastic.
Pele.
Itinerary:
SYD- NRT F JL
NRT- GUM J JL
GUM- KIX J DL
KIX- GUM J DL
GUM- NRT Y JL
NRT- SYD F JL
It was more flights than i would have hoped for but it was (mainly) a USDM redemption and it was all i could get(The Delta flight was not part of the USDM redemption). First time in both Japan and Guam for my wife and I.
Overall a great trip. Had phone issues the week before i left so had no phone photos. My thoughts:
JAL- first time i have used them and wont be the last. First class was exactly that. Great food, drinks, and service. Common courtesy will never go out of fashion in my books. JAL has it in spades. Flights were punctual. Got to enjoy the QANTAS First Class lounge in Sydney and it was great. Had a shower and champagne breaky before boarding. Check in was a bit of a drama as Guam is a part of the USA so I got an ESTA but my wife is on a Malaysian passport and doesnt qualify for one. However Malaysia is one of 12 countries which can enter the North Mariana Islands for less than 45 days with a visa waiver form. Took about 20 minutes at check in to get this sorted. JAL flight to GUM was a 767 and quite nice. Decent food and drinks.
Guam- never had this on my bucket list but I was here. To be honest it was a bit of a cultural wasteland. It has natives- the Chamorra, but they speak like american's and there local food is nothing out of the ordinary, just some BBQ'd stuff. Portion size's are American(opposite end of the spectrum to Japan!). Even though they use USD it is a relatively cheap place for food and drinks compared to Sydney. And the clincher for my wife was outlet store shopping. We bought so much we had to buy a large suitcase to bring it all back. The main beach is ok. If you are from China, Japan or Korea you will think it is the best but if you are from Australia it isnt that spectacular. Tourists were mainly younger Jap and Koreans on school/university graduation trips with a few Chinese and Americans.
Delta- first time i have used them and it will be the last. Planes were older than me- 757's. They didnt even have an entertainment system or extendable footrest in Business class! Food and drinks were clearly a notch down from JAL. But the real kick in the balls was that in Guam since January 2015 there is no lounge access for Delta business passengers. Considering the plane to Osaka leaves at 0600 i had planned to shower and have breakfast there. Not happy. To top it off on the return leg in KIX airport when we checked in the check in man said that unfortunately we wouldnt have any lounge access as Delta has recently changed their policy. For all Guam flights and other shorter international flights particularly from USA to the carribean, Business and First class passengers would have no lounge access. I told him it was pathetic and that their product was not competitive as JAL, United and Korean Business class passengers all have lounge access on this route. He could do nothing but agree. I have to say i have heard alot of bad things about US based airlines over the years and have never dared try one. This was it and it ended poorly. They just burnt my wife and i as potential customers for the rest of our lives.
Osaka and Kansai region- Spent about a week based in Osaka. Loved it. Not much english spoken by anyone but we got along fine. Toilets in Japan are great. Best thing we did here was buy a Sanyo Area Rail Pass. Valid for 7 days or all JR west trains and ferries including the Shinkansen between Shin- Osaka and Hakata. I should add that this includes the newest, fastest trains called Nozomi- most rail passes dont. We were on them every day visting Kobe, Kyoto, Himeji, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Hakata. Had some great food like the Kobe beef. And if you are in Osaka try and visit the Kurumon food market. It has many stalls selling all the stuff you want to try like fugu, otoro, uni, and wagyu. Kyoto was a bit over run by tourists. We stayed a night in a Ryokan on a little old island called Miyajima. Was really nice and would have liked to stay another night or two but it was too expensive.
Tokyo- stayed here for 4 nights. Will need to head back as didnt really get a chance to do much. First night we stayed in a love hotel in Shinjuku which was awesome. If you could stay in them like a normal hotel i would have stayed here our whole time in Tokyo. In room multi person spa, in room sauna, 50 inch plasma with VOD. Only downside was the smell of cigarettes but that is Japan in general. Other things we did was go shopping in Shibuya(its permanently full!), visit a cat cafe, visit a maid cafe, go to the shrine near Harajuku station. Overall Tokyo was a lot more westernised that Osaka and many more people spoke english.
Restaurants-
Eternite in Osaka (One Michelin star). Food and service was fine but a bit pricey.
L'Atelier de Joel Robouchon in Roppongi, Tokyo (two Michelin stars). Was counter service but that fine. Nice menu je jour but probably a bit too much food.
Ryuzu in Roppongi, Tokyo (two Michelin stars). Table service and was my favorite. The chef used to work under Joel Robouchon. The right amount of food and high quality. Was the cheapest of all and in my opinion the best. Would go back for sure.
All in all a top trip. We will be heading back to Japan and Guam at some stage. The worst thing about Japan is the amount of smokers. After living in Australia for so long then having a customer at a table next to you light up a smoke is a shock. And it makes you, your hair and all your clothes stink.
JAL customer service- our flight from Narita left at 1935. Once we had boarded the flight my wife realised she had left new new jacket in the coat room in the First Class lounge. She filled out a form and when we landed in Sydney a JAL lady at the plane door confirmed a few things with her. Next morning we get a call- its ready to be picked up from the JAL office at the airport. Fantastic.
Pele.
