The Flyover

Posted by Serina Hardiman

So when booking our flights we decided to try out the highly rated Singapore Airlines. We also booked on the largest passenger aircraft in use, an A380 Airbus where we landed seats on the top deck. 

Photo Credit: Felicia Evans

 The airplane is so huge it has full blown sleeping suites on them for the mere pocket change of $12,000. Next time, Singapore Air! Next time!

Our seats were part of a four block so we were next to 1/3 of our party. We were greeted with hot towels and a travel pack that had socks, a toothbrush, and toothpaste.

Next up came our meals. We were able to specify our meal preferences to which Chris got the vegan, I got the vegetarian, Mike got a low carb, and Dabney was the easy goer with the normal meals but got the chance to pick between an standard meal or Japanese meal so she went with the latter. We were also able to pull a fast one on Mike as we flew on his birthday and asked the airlines to properly embarrass him on our flight out. It came complete with many congratulatory handshakes from the flight staff, a cake, multiple Hershey's bars and a bottle of champagne!

Between the in-seat entertainment units, the pillows and blankets, a decent recline on the seats, and foot rests it made for a decently comfortable flight! I got to catch up on some movies I hadn't seen (Monsters University  - Loved it!, A Place Beyond the Pines - Good drama!, The Heat - HILARIOUS!, and Man of Steel - Meh.)

We managed to stay up the entire flight try to ready ourselves for the local arrival time of 7PM in Narita. Once we arrived we had to walk a little bit of a stretch (which after the flight we didn't mind) to make our way to customs which was extremely easy and so polite!

Photo Credit: Felicia Evans

After we rounded up our group it was time to pick up a WiFi hotspot we rented which has paid for it's weight in GOLD (more on that later) and is highly recommended for anyone traveling abroad with electronics who doesn't have international access on their phone. Chris rented one through a company called GlobalCom for the entirety of our trip. We also needed to exchange our Japan Rail Pass vouchers for our actual passes which have also been an essential purchase that has already paid for itself. It allows tourists to purchase 7 or 10 day unlimited use passes on the participating railways which cover pretty much all of Japan.

Once all of our prep work was completed it was time to get to the hotel. We opted to stay near the airport for the night since we weren't sure how we'd adjust to the time. After a 15 minute cab ride we arrived at the Richmond Hotel Narita. Be warned, hotel rooms in Japan are smaller than Westerners are accustomed but if you pack smartly and can keep tidy it will be no sweat! The rooms certainly make up in amenities what they may lack in space like ELECTRIC TOILETS complete with automatic seat warming! You also are in no need for pretty much any toiletries and personal care products. They really know hospitality!

They have a slot near the door for you to put your hotel room card to "turn on" all of the electricity which I think is not only an awesome conservation idea to keep from leaving lights on when you leave the room but also is pretty nifty at keeping your room card in a spot you won't forget it. We started playing with all of the light features as they have light controls for all parts of the rooms on your headrest of the bed complete with reading lamp dimmers, a foot lamp so you can see were you are walking if you get up at night, and even a stow away flashlight. So thoughtful!

The rest of our evening was trying to work out the details of the next days trains and locating our nearest station. All of the flying, planning, and check-ins completely tuckered out the Mister.

Next up: Taking the Trains a Kyoto Day 1!