We can’t believe how quickly the Japan portion of our trip has flown by. 10 days with Jason and Kelly has been awesome, from summiting Mt. Fuji, to staying in a Ryokan, to eating some of the freshest sushi, to watching Japanese baseball history being made. Definitely not an experience we will ever forget.
The transition to the next chapter of our journey is something I had been looking forward to since booking the 4 hour flight several months ago. United / ANA flight NH1255 aboard the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Our takeoff was delayed first due to “cabin preparation,” second due to “flight preparation,” and lastly due to a “cargo door issue.” I chose to downplay the fact that the last battery fire incident was aboard an ANA Dreamliner.
Aside from these minor issues, he Haneda airport and ANA service was simply awesome. The service representative to traveler ratio seemed >> 1 which was a real treat for us deprived westerners. Even on this short 4 hour flight, we got the choice of western or Japanese meal. Nicole noticed that the stewardesses would regularly re-enter the bathroom to fold the TP ends into triangles.
The sky was clear at take-off and we got some impressive views of sprawling Tokyo with Mt. Fuji in the background.
[ Video with Mt. Fuji available, but too big 
]
With the carbon fiber construction, the wings seemed to flex a lot more during flight — perhaps providing better shock absorption? It was a very smooth ride although the interior was not as revolutionary an upgrade as we were expecting. The seats were still firm and mildly uncomfortable. The ambient lighting was nice. The large electronically dimmable windows were very cool. The bathroom was incredible: it had a window, enough room to walk around, a “western-style” toilet, full length mirror, and auto-sensing flush / faucets…
If you travel with a plethora of gadgets like JJM (and me), you would be happy. Each seat had an 8″ widescreen touchscreen monitor with all sorts of interactive programs, maps, flight tracking, seat to seat messaging, USB interface to charge and play your own electronic media, and a universal power plug for those of us that don’t carry around a cigarette lighter adapter any longer (that was the only option our AA 777 flight had from the states to Japan). I appreciate the courtesy our pilots extended by deviating from the ideal flight path which would have taken us over P’yongyang.
Definitely a highlight of the trip for me.
The Dreamliner looks awesome, so cool you were able to see Mt. Fuji on the plane! I was looking, but didn’t see it. Good thing there were ‘western style’ toilets… Nicole… Can you imagine if it was a Japanese toilet…on a plane?! Also, let me guess who ate what. Ryan had pasta and Nicole had the traditional meal. I’m not going to miss that pressed fish paste, not going to lie
Good luck going forward!
Good guess!
A note for all you conspiracy theorists out there (Tony), our plane did make a series of odd zigzag turns as we headed into Chinese airspace. The theory that Chinese cities are not really where our “western” maps tell us they are may actually be true