We set our alarms to go off at 6 am but were awake before they went off. It’s always difficult to sleep the night before a big trip. Once up I had a light breakfast while Kuah did the finishing touches on readying our house. Then we went next door loaded up Mom’s car and headed to the airport. We were running a bit ahead of time so it was not a stressful drive. After Mom saw us off we headed inside to check in.
While we were at the check in people came up to the kiosk next to ours and were talking about how their JAL flight had been cancelled the day before and they were trying to re-book. I thought we were lucky we hadn’t flown the day before. It turned out that our trip wouldn’t be so easy either.
Check in went smoothly and then we headed the the Flagship lounge. I had read great reviews on it so was excited to go. It ended up being a bit disappointing. The food was not very good. They had some nutella beignets but they were so greasy that I only ate one bite. I did end up snacking on a few chocolate malt balls. The seats were fairly comfortable but not as nice as some lounges I’ve visited.
Soon enough it was time to head to our gate. We got in line and waited to board. They were using a facial recognition system for boarding which I thought might take longer. However, it took about the same amount of time for the facial recognition as it does to get your ticket scanned.
Once aboard we relaxed while others boarded then did our customary anti-germ wipe down. I was excited. We were on the plane and ready to go. The JAL business class does not have as much privacy as some other airlines but the seat was comfortable and there was a great place to store my small backpack. There was also a plug so I could charge my phone at my seat.
Kuah and I were in the middle row which meant he had someone next to him but he was able to keep the partition up for most of the flight. One nice thing about their layout is that all seats have aisle access. This makes life easier when you have to go to the bathroom.
After sitting for a while the announcements started and it was not good news. There was a mechanical issue with the plane they were trying to fix. Our flight was supposed to depart at 10:45 and around 11:45 they announced we had to change planes. This involved going to a new gate and boarding again at 12:30.
We headed to the new gate but unfortunately didn’t end up boarding till 1:30. This meant there was no way we would catch our connecting flight. Thankfully we had arranged our car pick-up service through St. Regis so I was able to email them and update them on what happened.
The flight itself went fairly smoothly. They did not keep the cabin too hot so I didn’t get sick. Kuah and I both ordered the Japanese meal. He seemed to enjoy it but I thought it was just OK. The chocolate panna cotta at the end was delicious though.
Kuah rested his eyes a bit and I got about an hour of sleep during the flight. Sometimes I get more sleep but my foot was hurting during the flight. This is probably because I swell a bit on flights.
We landed, went through customs and got our suitcases. Then we went to the JAL desk to try and get on a later flight. Unfortunately, all of the later flights were booked. This left us with 2 options; staying the night in Tokyo and taking a flight the next day, or taking a 2 hour shinkansen to Osaka. We decided to go with the shinkansen.
I thought that JAL did a particularly bad job in how the organized the shinkansen. You get walked to a desk where they give you cash you can use to purchase your ticket and then they give directions. On one hand, having lived in Tokyo I understood how it worked, but on the other hand I had been up for about 20 hours at this point so was not firing on all cylinders.
We bought our ticket to ride the subway from Haneda airport to Shinagawa station and then headed to the train platform. It was a bit tough figuring out which train to get on but we got on the correct one and reached Shinagawa station about a half hour later. From there we asked how to get to the shinkansen and then headed in that direction.
I think it would’ve been easier if they gave you your tickets at the airport and had someone on the platform to make sure everyone got on the right train. Especially since their plane’s mechanical failure not only meant we would arrive much later but also that we would have to schlep through the train stations with our luggage.
At Shinagawa station we purchased our shinkansen tickets and then headed to the platform. Here is where a bit of guidance could’ve been useful as they call their business class the green cars. I had even asked about first class or business class tickets for the shinkansen and was told by JAL there wasn’t any. They should have let me know about the green cars.
Once on the train we contacted St. Regis to see if we could have a car meet us at the Osaka train station. Normally we’d just take the subway and then walk but we were so exhausted we didn’t want to have to think.
We checked into the hotel about 24 hours after we had begun our trip and were thankful that we could go to sleep.
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