ANA to Hokkaido - Autumn Snow, Seafood and the Art of Onsen Appreciation

[yflyer]

I spent pretty much the whole day in the lounge frantically trying to finish as much work as I could before starting the vacation in earnest. It was a pretty conducive environment for work.

Of course, there was no food in the lounge, and I had to find lunch, but that turned out not to be a problem, as there were several ANA Festa retail outlet in the airside area, and these served very delicious bento meals.



It was possible to leave the lounge, head to airside retail to buy a bento box, then bring it back to the lounge to eat.



The snacks and bento meals available looked very appetising indeed...



I purchased an anago (sea eel) bento box, and headed back to the lounge, where I unwrapped and ate it.



Yum...this was quite delicious. The bento set came even came with a small container of crisp fried eel bones, which had a nice tasty crunch to them.



So although the lounge had no in-house catering, I was quite happy with the bento selection which could be purchased downstairs in the airside area, for consumption within the lounge.

Eventually, it was time for me to head to the gate for my flight to Nagoya.



The main takeaway from my experience at the ANA domestic lounge was that the facilities available at ANA's domestic lounges were a far cry from what ANA offered in their international lounges.

The lack of food was a bit of a shocker at first, but this turned out to be a non-issue as it was very easy to head out of the lounge to buy a delicious bento box. I did wish there were showers available, as well as recliners or loungers for pax who needed to sleep or rest in the lounge though.

The positives were that the lounge had good work facilities, and adequate seating for peak crowds. The beverage selection was decent enough, and the all lounge staff were unfailingly polite and very helpful.

[yflyer]

At the gate for NH85 to Nagoya. This short sector, HND-NGO, had a block time of 55 minutes, but actually flying time of about 40 minutes.



Today's flight was operated by ANA Wings, on 737-800, rego JA83AN, a 9 year old aircraft.



This was a 2-class aircraft, with a small J cabin, laid out 2-2...



...and a main Y cabin, laid out 3-3...



Seat pitch was ok...



Decent recline for such a short sector.



USB charging was available for each seat.



The bathroom was in a configuration I had not encountered on a 737 before, with just one bathroom in the rear.



A view of the wing, and the terminal.



Safety video on fold down screens from the ceiling...



After take-off, the cabin crew came round with beverages.

[yflyer]

There was wifi on this flight.



The inflight map on your phone...



Flight details...



Approaching Nagoya...



Nagoya's Airport, Chubu Centrair International Airport was built on an articial island, and from satellite pictures, looked quite impressive, but it was late at night when we landed, so I did not manage to take any pics.

Once on the ground, it was relatively simple, with the help of Google Maps, to catch a train to from the airport to Nagoya Station, and from there, take a short walk to our hotel, The Royal Park Canvas Nagoya.

To be continued!

[jammed]

Thanks for another TR, looking forward to more of yr vivid imagery, run reports, and will there be another round of detective work? Ha ha ha

IMG_7849.jpg

I always found ANA’s seatpitch to appear more spacious than SQ’s, I just returned from KIX on SQ787-10; but a check found ANA’s 31 while SQ’s 32

I could not help contrasting that with how I perceive SIA treats their customers. Sure, if you are PPS, Solitaire or Lifetime Solitaire, you get wonderful treament, but my cynical side thinks that these days, all SIA sees in a passenger is customer lifetime value in dollar terms, and nothing else.

I haven't kept careful track of how much I have flown on SQ, but I am certain is is more than a million butt-in-seat miles, and I have never been more than Krisflyer Gold because I fly mainly Y. Recognition? Forget it.

And now, even PPS is awarded based on "PPS value" which is based on dollar value spend. All very objective -- a beautiful scheme from a CFO's perspective. I can't prove it, but my gut says that loyalty is something that should be measured using more than financial terms. Sounds like a topic for a future management guru.

I'll end this rant by saying that I think that might be some intangible, and even tangible, benefit to SQ if they took a more holistic view of customer loyalty rather than simply how much cash one has forked over in the past 12 months.

totally agree with you - like you, have lost track of the miles i butt-ed for all the work and leisure trips over the decades, but never extended beyond Elite Gold cos mostly Y. For years I have deposited miles with OZ cos the *A EG needs only 40k, but with OZ now sold to KE i wonder what will happen to all the miles and status.

Anticipating the next installments to come

[SQ218]

Look forward to your report on Takayama. Thanks for sharing again yflyer.

[yflyer]

Thanks for another TR, looking forward to more of yr vivid imagery, run reports, and will there be another round of detective work? Ha ha ha

IMG_7849.jpg

I always found ANA’s seatpitch to appear more spacious than SQ’s, I just returned from KIX on SQ787-10; but a check found ANA’s 31 while SQ’s 32



totally agree with you - like you, have lost track of the miles i butt-ed for all the work and leisure trips over the decades, but never extended beyond Elite Gold cos mostly Y. For years I have deposited miles with OZ cos the *A EG needs only 40k, but with OZ now sold to KE i wonder what will happen to all the miles and status.

Anticipating the next installments to come

Thanks, jammed! I am also curious as to what happens when OZ becomes part of KE, and what happens to all the Star Alliance memberships. Wonder if they will status match to their Skyteam equivalents, or even convert points across!

[yflyer]

Look forward to your report on Takayama. Thanks for sharing again yflyer.

Thanks SQ218! Just a day trip to Takayama this time round, so just a taster / teaser of this charming town.

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

Our hotel in Nagoya was The Royal Park Canvas Nagoya.



The hotel was very conveniently located right in the heart of the city, within walking distance of Nagoya's main train station.



I arrived at the station at night, and took a short stroll from the train station to the hotel in pleasant evening weather. My walk was outdoors, but it turns out there was an underground mall, Unimall, which ran from the train station right past the hotel, and it was possible to get from the station to the hotel underground as well.

The lobby, with its main restaurant.



Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2 had already checked into the hotel previously, so no pics of the actual triple share room we stayed in but here is a pic of one of the other rooms on our floor. Rooms were not large, but very clean and comfortable.



The hotel breakfast was decent. Not a huge selection as it was not a large hotel, but the ingredients were of very high quality.



Apart from the Japanese and international buffet selection, each diner on the breakfast package was entitled to an open face sandwich, which was made to order...



The weather was perfect when we were in Nagoya. Clear blue skies and very mild weather in the mid 20's.



The Unimall underground mall made it very convenient to get from the station to the hotel and many other parts of the city.



The station itself was always very busy...while the streets of Nagoya were fairly quiet, the station itself was thronging with residents and visitors.

[yflyer]

While in Nagoya, we did the touristy thing and saw the sights, including the Imperial Palace.



While the Palace itself was steeped in history...



..I was actually more impressed by the massive defensive fortifications...



...and gigantic moat surrounding the palace.

[yflyer]

By sheer coincidence, on the way to the Palace, Mrs yflyer and I stumbled upon one of Nagoya's covered shopping streets, where a French fair, of all things, was underway.



The atmosphere was great, with food, music and dancing...



The local buskers were great...



Champagne in plastic cups...



Cheese and other snacks...



It was all very festive...



Bubbly in hand, we strolled up and down the full length of the alley.



Festivities extended to nearby streets as well.

[yflyer]

For lunch, we dined on Unagi...



While some menus were in English, the full menus were in Japanese, along with the tablet based ordering app, but with Google Translate's photo function, it was not difficult to figure out what to order on the tablet.



The unagi here was outstanding...really tasty and savoury eel, with excellent texture...not the sauce soaked, mushy eel you were often served in Singapore.



Our side dish of eel livers was superb as well.

[yflyer]

There was a branch of the Japanese department store chain Takashimaya in the Nagoya station building.



We headed there to check out the Food Hall.



What an amazing place...the sheer quantity and quality of the food and delicacies on sale was just mindboggling...



Everything was just beautifully presented...



The cooked food looked stunning...



The food displays here just put similar food halls in Singapore and other countries to shame...


Just don't come here on an empty stomach!

[yflyer]

While in Nagoya, we headed on a day trip to Takayama by train.



The train route was very scenic, winding through a river valley for much of the journey.



The train we took, the Hida 1 Limited Express, was immaculate and very comfortable...



This was a 2 and a half hour train ride, which was a fairly long time to be on a train, but it was a very comfortable ride, and the route was very scenic.




After arriving in Takayama, we walked from the station to the old town...



The old town was very popular with visitors...



The streets of the old town were busy, but not overcrowded.



A popular local snack there was beef sushi, prepared with cuts of the famous local Hida beef...



There were served on edible crackers instead of plates (What a great idea), and were quite delicious...



You could have your beef seared, or raw. Both versions were very tasty!

[yflyer]

In Takayama, one of the dining recommendations we had from friends and relatives was this Japanese-Western place serving excellent Hida beef...



We had a lunch reservation there that day...



A rustic, Western-style dining room...



Very fine tableware...



A beautiful salad to start...



Country style pate...



I ordered the fillet steak...



...which was tender and delicious....



There was the option of rice as a side dish. This was moist, glistening Japanese rice that went very well with the steak...



A glass of Italian Red to pair with the steak...



Mrs yflyer opted for the beef tongue stew, which was very refined and intensely flavoured...



An excellent meal, with the perfectionist Japanese chef/proprietor focused on the grill in the open kitchen, and warm, friendly service from the chef's wife in the front of house.

[yflyer]

Just next door to the restaurant was a shop which all manner of teacups, tableware and antiques...



...and not far off, the Takayama tradtional culture and crafts square, where visitors could take part in various activities relating to local crafts such as braiding and wood carving.



One of the activities was carving a traditional wooden ladle from magnolia wood...



Miss yflyer no.2 gave it a go, She was guided by a grandfatherly craftsman who spoke no English...



...but was somehow able to demonstrate to Miss yflyer no.2 the proper technique to carve the ladle.



The end result was quite beautiful!