First, a note on timezones. All of China uses GMT+8, and all of Japan uses GMT+9. Neither country observes daylight savings time, so the difference from British time is reduced to +7 and +8 respectively during the summer (as now). Unless otherwise stated, all times are local.
Flight NH202: 19:35 London Heathrow T3 to Tokyo Narita T1, arr 15:20
Operated by ANA (All Nippon Airways) using a Boeing 777-300ER, seat 32B
Pushback 19:36, wheels-up 19:50, wheels-down 14:50, on stand 14:58
Written c23:00 British tine / c07:00 Japan time:
As I write this we are 33000 ft in the air over Russia, just east of Saint Petersburg, about a quarter of the way from London to Tokyo. This is my first long-haul flight, and I must admit that it's not as horrid as I expected. So far, anyway.
The Boeing 777 is a twin-engined long-range widebody jet, most easily distinguished by its notched tailcone. This one has nine seats per row and was full, and there are perhaps a dozen gaijin (Westerners) like myself, the rest being Japanese. I guess that is to be expected given I'm flying with All Nippon Airways, the Japanese's second national airline (after Japan Airlines). Nearly half the main economy cabin is filled with about 50 Japanese schoolchildren, about 16 years old or so, who are evidently returning from a school trip to England.
We took off on time from runway 9R at Heathrow, climbing quickly into the low cloud, and headed east over Suffolk, out over the North Sea, directly over Copenhagen, before tracking over the Baltic Sea, southern Estonia (from which we got wonderful silhouettes of the Gulf of Finland) and St Petersburg. Aside from the Gulf of Finland, there is very little to see thanks to the cloud and the night.
Flying, as we are, so far north means that, of course, we come very close to the Arctic Circle. As such it's never really dark: there's always a red spit of flame on the horizon to the north (I'm one seat away from the left-hand, i.e. north-facing, window).
ANA is still a full-service airline, at least when it comes to long-haul. We were each provided with a blanket and pillow for the journey. Dinner service started about half an hour after takeoff, but since I'm four rows from the back I had to wait. In the meantime I watched an episode of Yes Minister which I had downloaded to my iPod.
There was a choice of a Japanese meal of noodles with shrimp and other assorted seafood, and a Western chicken and rice option. Much as I know my stomach will have to get used to it sooner or later, I wimped out and avoided the seafood option. The chicken piccanta with rice was quite nice - the chicken was remarkably tender - and the Mediterranean vegetables with it were tasty too. It came with a side of coleslaw and a few other cold vegetables, as well as a roll and butter (which I left, being a bit full). Dessert consisted of what I think was banoffee, I couldn't be entirely sure of what it was but it tasted nice enough. All in all a good dinner, at least by airline standards.
Now, for some sleep, methinks. It's been a long day, but in some sense it's already Friday morning...
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Written c05:30 British time / c13:30 Japan time:
Having cruised over most of Siberia, we're now just approaching the north end of Hokkaido, the northernmost of the Japanese islands, about an hour and a half from touchdown. Breakfast/lunch is gradually being served. I haven't slept much: I slept for half an hour or so around 07:00 Japan time, and about two hours from 10:30 to 12:30 Japan time; otherwise I just dozed.
I envy the schoolkids, though: while some of them have curledt up and tried to sleep, most have been up all night playing video games and watching movies. Ah, to be 16 again...
I've now had my lunch - a very tasty roll with cheese, ham and chicken which you put together yourself, and a yogurt and some fruit salad. Boy, was I ready for that!
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Written on day 3:
We got away so promptly from Heathrow that we landed half an hour early. So much so that I disembarked, went through security for connections, and found my gate ten minutes before we were due to land!
Narita is a very pleasant, spacious, modern airport; on this occasion, however, I could find little to do. I used the Internet for half an hour, but otherwise I just wandered around, too tired to do anything serious. There was a slight delay in boarding the next flight:
Flight NH955: 17:20 Tokyo Narita to Beijing, arr 20:10
Operated by ANA (All Nippon Airways) by a Boeing 767-300, seat 24A
Pushback 17:33, wheels-up 17:47, wheels-down 19:51, on stand 19:58
While I would have considered a three-and-a-half hour flight as pretty long until today, next to the long-haul flight I'd just stepped off it was nothing. In the end the flight time was only three hours and five minutes, ensuring an early arrival after a slightly late departure.
We were served a meal, a choice of fish or pork stew. The pork stew was not stew: it was some pieces of pork and mushroom in a thick, gloopy, orange-coloured sauce, and didn't taste great. It was served with mash and a few vegetables, which were alright. I couldn't work out if the (cold!) noodles with soy sauce, and the random selection of things which could just about be described as a 'salad', were meant as side dishes or a starter: as it was I didn't eat much of either. The dessert was a creme caramel, which was by far the best thing on the tray, even though it wasn't brilliant.
While I had a window seat, unfortunately I was right over the wing so I couldn't see much of the ground. On the other hand, most of Japan was shrouded in cloud, except Mount Fuji which stuck proudly up through the clouds. We then passed over South Korea before following the Gulf of Bohai up towards Beijing. The cloud didn't lift even as we came into land at Beijing, and only when we were a few feet off the ground could we see anything.
Beijing Capital Airport is, quite simply, enormous. Apparently Terminal Three is second in size only to Heathrow T5, but it seemed much bigger even than that, with a huge expansive roof and an internal subway system to move you from the gate (in T3E) to baggage reclaim (in T3C).
I retrieved my baggage, which successfully made it across Narita, and was met by my cousin Catherine. Catherine has been in Beijing for three years teaching in an international English-language school for ex-pats. She has a lovely flat in Sanyuanqiao in north-eastern Beijing, which she shares with her fiancé Martyn.
I got in to her flat about 21:15, had some cereal and got to bed after 31 hours being awake (well, that does include a couple of hours of sleep on the plane).
News of day 3 to follow shortly!
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