I had an approximately one hour layover at NRT before my flight to TPE. We were late leaving LAX so I was a little anxious since I knew I had to re-clear security and find my next gate.
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| Mini van again! |
After bolting off the plane and directly to security I discovered that my next flight was at the other terminal that I could get to via a tunnel.
When I got to the gate I discovered that it was a dreaded bus gate. It meant that we would have to board a bus to get to our plane which was at a remote stand. The cool part was that I got a nice view of the Star Alliance 777 which I had flown first class on before.
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| JA731A |
Boarding onto the bus commenced after a few apologies for a 5 minute delay. Try and get that apology from a US domestic carrier! Business class passengers were first followed by everyone else. On the bus it meant that all the business class people got to sit down while the economy class people had to stand. It felt a little awkward but thankfully it was a short ride.
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| My ride to TPE. A Boeing 767-300 |
I was a little bit excited to be able to board via a flight of stairs! It was like the old days.
Once on board I found my seat at 5G. It turns out I had no one sitting next to me so I had the two seats all to myself.
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| ANA Business recliner seat |
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| Seat controls |
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| IFE remote...very old. |
This inter-Asia business class cabin is configured in a 2-1-2 style. So the middle seats are kind of like thrones but I much prefer the window. My disappointment with this product is that it is old and uncomfortable. The IFE is really outdated on these planes too. However I later found out that they will be replacing these 767-300s with 787s and the staggered business class product. Supposedly this will happen in the fall. I cannot wait for that to happen because this is a total let down after coming off the 777. In the seat was a thin blanket and a pair of slippers. The purser came by to introduce herself and to distribute menus.
Another apology was issued when the next bus was late to the plane. But once those people boarded the door was swiftly closed and we began our safety video.
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| Well at least it has updated storage bins! |
I snapped a few photos of airplanes as we were taxing for departure. The traffic is always more interesting when you are away from your home airport.
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| Vietnam Air A321. I really like this livery. |
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| We have liftoff! |
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| Qatar 777-200 |
The service quickly commenced once the seatbelt signs were turned off. I ordered the ANA kabosu for my drink. The flight attendants always seem amazed when a foreigner knows of kabosu. I was surprised to see that they still give some sort of tablecloth. It was more of a dinner mat than the full on tablecloth that you get in the staggered business class. However it was a nice touch for making do with the old product. The flight attendants also took our meal orders at this time.
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| Snack + ANA kabosu |
I like window views especially for these medium haul flights. You can get some spectacular views.
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| Wow! |
I of course ordered the Japanese option. You simply cannot go wrong with ordering the Japanese option when departing from Japan. Everything was served on one tray this time. It makes sense considering the duration of the flight and it is only a 3.5 hour flight.
I think catering or the flight attendants goofed up though because I ended up with the same dish twice!
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| Japanese meal option |
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| Consistency! |
It was so good though I didn't mind that I got two of everything. I don't normally eat whole shrimp but those little buggers were so yummy.
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| Sea snail |
I'll admit that I hesitated to eat the sea snail but I tried it anyway. It was surprisingly good.
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| Rice and curried fish |
The main for the meal was a curried fish. It was all delicious and I cleared the entire tray.
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| In seat pop up TV |
During the meal I tried to watch something on the IFE given that I had nothing else to do. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what I was watching. There was a manual explaining which channels were what but it didn't seem to correspond. I eventually gave up and just opted to look out the window and enjoy my meal. In reality we're so connected these days it's not often we get to just eat and watch the world go by.
After the meal I took a nap and before I knew it we were arriving in Taipei Taoyuan Airport.
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