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

[yflyer]

Excellent trip report yflyer! I am always amazed at the quality of your photographs and your ability to photograph ordinary things and make them look stunning.

Thanks for reading, RedEyeflight and appreciate the kind comments! Japan is such a great place to be a photography buff. So many beautiful scenes to capture in pictures. I can't say I am a serious photographer but when I was younger, in the days of 35mm film photography, I did count photography and cameras as one of my hobbies.

These days my pics are taken with an iPhone 13. Hope to upgrade to a newer model soon as the cameras on the newest iPhones are noticeably better. I don't really edit my photos apart from blurring out faces in aircraft cabins and lounges. It's usually just cropping the frame, and adjusting brightness/contrast/saturation.

I have not been to Japan since 2014 and last flew on NH then as well. It looks like the carrier is holding up quite well. I love how they hand out menus with photos of the meals they'll be serving.

My experience with ANA was pretty good! I would happily fly with them again. Between SQ and NH, I still prefer SQ of course, but when you consider itineraries with domestic connections, there are some advantages to flying NH.

It just feels so Japanese; to make ordinary things feel so high quality.

That's my impression too, the Japanese take great pride in doing everything properly and meticulously, with an eye on beauty and quality. They take rules very seriously too, which is usually a good thing, but don't try and ask for a late checkout at smaller hotels. :-)

[RedEyeflight]

Excellent trip report yflyer! I am always amazed at the quality of your photographs and your ability to photograph ordinary things and make them look stunning. I have not been to Japan since 2014 and last flew on NH then as well. It looks like the carrier is holding up quite well. I love how they hand out menus with photos of the meals they'll be serving. It just feels so Japanese; to make ordinary things feel so high quality.

[yflyer]

Thanks for reading, and for your kind comments, loldude333!

I really enjoy writing these TR's and am glad to have the opportunity to share my travels here! Never really thought of it ever being a side hustle, as my main hustle is already so time consuming :-) Besides if there was a monetary incentive, I think my objectivity would be compromised... at least now I tell it like it is (or at least how I perceive it :-) ...

I am envious that you are going to Japan in summer! Wish I could go back again so soon as well! 4 months will go by in a flash!

[loldude333]

Your TRs are masterful. If you ever decided to take up travel blogging as a side hustle, i'm sure you could make a decent amount from it. I'm only getting more excited for my own trip in summer 2025! Gotta tahan 4 more months.....urghhh!

[yflyer]

Japan is always a good vacation idea for me and my family.
Thank you for such cool and informative sharing of your vacation, yflyer!
Lots of ideas of things to do for our future trips.
Would love to do the whisky tasting/distillery tour.

Thanks StarG! Agree that Japan is a wonderful place for a vacation!

Yes, definitely consider doing the distillery tour in Yoichi, and budget enough time afterwards for a long tasting session in the Whisky Museum!

ANA lounges never disappoints - except during super peak times when finding a seat is a challenge.

I am a fan of ANA lounges as well. Also the JAL lounges. I don't fly Oneworld much these days, so I really miss the JAL signature beef curry that they serve in the lounge. I also miss JAL's 8-abreast Dreamliner Y cabin...

It's interesting that at Haneda, both the ANA and JAL lounges are super packed during peak periods, but outside of those peak periods the lounges are fairly quiet. Thankfully when I was there this time round, it was off-peak and the large ANA T2 lounge at Haneda was very quiet while we were there.

Much appreciate your efforts in taking us with you on your trip with this TR.

Thanks again for reading, StarG!

[StarG]

Japan is always a good vacation idea for me and my family.
Thank you for such cool and informative sharing of your vacation, yflyer!
Lots of ideas of things to do for our future trips.
Would love to do the whisky tasting/distillery tour.
ANA lounges never disappoints - except during super peak times when finding a seat is a challenge.

Much appreciate your efforts in taking us with you on your trip with this TR.

[yflyer]

Final reflections...

Japan is one of those countries which you can visit again and again and always find something new to experience.

While Mrs yflyer and I had been to Tokyo before, I don't think we will ever tire of going there. It felt different this time round, as we stayed in Odaiba, rather than in the city itself.

Hokkaido was simply amazing. It had been on our list of to-go destinations for a long time, and it was great to finally visit. I would certainly want to visit again, maybe in winter (Even though I have never put on a pair of ski's in my life). While Hokkaido is super popular as a winter/ski destination, we were very happy to have visited in late Autumn as well.

We ate wonderful food at every stop. Japan really is a gourmet paradise, and many of the most memorable meals were fairly inexpensive too, for example the chicken skewers in the small Izakaya in Nagoya, which was easy on the wallet, but which was one of the most memorable meals of the trip for me.

Our Shinkansen experience in their Green Car (The Shinkansen equivalent of business class) was very good. The seats were spacious and comfortable, and the bento meals we purchased at the station and ate onboard were delicious as well.

I would highly recommend just about all the hotels and onsens we stayed at on the trip. The one which made the deepest impression would be the Lake View Nonokaze Resort at Lake Toya: the rooms and view were stunning, as was the food and the onsen. But by and large all the hotels we stayed in were wonderful. Kudos to Mrs yflyer for doing all the necessary research and picking such memorable places to stay at each destination.

Our flights on ANA were comfortable and went without a hitch. Given the popularity of Japan as a holiday destination, the air tickets weren't exactly cheap, but I was very happy with the ground and air experience with ANA, especially as a Star Alliance Gold member. Highlights for me on ANA were the catering, and punctuality and the cleanliness of the planes. Ground crew and cabin crew were consistently courteous and professional as well.

As for the ANA lounge experience, I did not expect such a gulf in facilities between ANA international lounges and their domestic lounges. I was quite stunned at how basic the catering was at their domestic lounges, which had no food at all. But ANA's international lounges are as good as any, and we had a great experience at their international lounge at Haneda before our flight back to Singapore.

And after visiting onsen after onsen on this trip, I now think I understand why the Japanese are so fond of their onsen culture. I found the whole experience of cleaning oneself, then soaking in the hot (and sometimes cold) water so relaxing and therapeutic. I can't wait to head back to Japan to experience those wonderful onsens again.

Thanks for reading!

[yflyer]

An hour and 21 minutes left to run...



Nice views of the Singapore skyline out the left side windows as we made our final approach to Changi...



Spot the Singapore Flyer in the pic below...



We landed at 6.36am, 19 minutes ahead of schedule.

Overall a pleasant enough flight for a red-eye in economy, although a 6 hour 50 min flight really wasn't enough time to get a good night's sleep, whatever cabin class you were in.

We had a wonderful holiday in Japan, and it was good to be back home.

[yflyer]

I ordered a G&T...



Inflight wifi was available for a fee.



I slept pretty well until I was roused 2 hours prior to take off, for breakfast service.

Two choices for breakfast...



I opted for the Japanese breakfast, which was rockfish with rice. They tray as served...



...and with covers off...



This was tasty, and quite substantial, although in terms of meal format for a red-eye, I would have preferred supper after take-off and a small snack before landing, rather than the other way around.

The other option was penne gratin with vegetables, which also looked pretty good.



Cabin ambience on this full flight was decent.

[yflyer]

Boarding took place on time.

The J cabin, laid out in staggered 1-2-1 layout.



Premium Economy in 2-3-2.



Economy cabin in 3-3-3.



Decent seat pitch.



Footrest, which is a rarity in Y these days.



IFE screen with USB charging port...



A/C power...



Sleek bathrooms...



...with washlet (Is ANA the only airline which has this? I am sure no other non-Japanese airline has this)...



Flight time today 6 hrs 50 minutes.



Blanket, pillow and headphones at each seat.



After take-off, a snack pack was handed out...

[yflyer]

After our visit to the ANA T2 International Lounge, Miss yflyer no.2 and I headed to the gate to meet with Mrs yflyer, who was already at the gate.



Operating NH843 HND-SIN today was Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner registration JA925A, a 4 year old aircraft first delivered in April 2021.

[yflyer]

Once airside, Mrs yflyer went shopping, while Miss yflyer no.2 and I headed to the ANA T2 International Lounge.



What a nice lounge it was.



Note that this is a different ANA international lounge at Haneda from the one that SQ uses for their Haneda flights, which is in a different terminal.



We were lucky to be there at time when it was not busy. I sampled as much of the F&B as my (already full) belly would allow...



...along with a few drinks as well.



A full account of our visit to the lounge can be found here.

[yflyer]

Seat recline was ok. Nothing special here, but this was just a 1 hr 45 min flight.



Blue sinks in the bathroom.



Complimentary beverages were served on this flight.



I had an apple juice, which was served in a paper cup.



I had bought a bento mail in an airside shop at CTS prior to departure, and ate that for dinner onboard the plane.



I had also picked out a bento box for Mrs yflyer and she enjoyed that too.



The Air Do route map.



There was wifi-based inflight entertainment and information, but this was captive wifi with no internet access (If I recall correctly.).



Entertainment selections...



In-flight map...



Great views of Tokyo, on a very clear night, as we approached Haneda, with the Tokyo Skytree, DisneySea / DisneyLand and even the Tokyo Tower visible.



Smooth landing and taxi to the gate at Haneda.



A final look at Air Do 767 rego JA613A.



After deplaning, it was a fairly long walk through Haneda to get to T2, where our next flight would depart.



We eventually arrived at the cavernous international check-in area at Haneda T2.



We already had our boarding passes in hand for the next sector, and our baggage would be directly transferred.

We had re-clear security, but there were no queues that evening, so we were airside again very quickly.

[yflyer]

The airside area at CTS was bright and spacious.



Our flight from CTS to HND was an ANA Code share on Air Do. Air Do is a Hokkaido based airline which operates a fleet of 8 Boeing 737-700's and 4 Boeing 767-300's



Operating this 1 hr 45 minute sector was Boeing 767-300ER registration JA613A, a 20 year old 767 which flew for ANA from 2004 till 2019, when it was transferred to Air Do.



Not many opportunities to fly 767's these days!



This was an all-economy aircraft, laid out 2-3-2.



We were seated in row 1.



The interior of this aircraft had been recently refurbished, and every thing was new and very comfortable. Seats were equipped with USB charging points.



On-time pushback, with ground crew standing at attention and waving goodbye, which looked to be standard practice in Japan.



Camera views of the take-off on the cabin's common LCD screen.



Nice views of the semicircular terminal at CTS as we climbed out.



Very nice cabin ambience on this flight. The 767's 2-3-2 Y cabin could more than hold its own againt the more modern 787's 3-3-3, and was far superior to a 10 abreast 777.

[yflyer]

From Sapporo, we would be flying to Haneda before our flight to Singapore. We had a fairly short connection in HND.

At the check-in counter, the friendly check in agent informed us that our original CTS-HND flight might be delayed, and offered to rebook us on an earlier flight, which we readily accepted.

However that meant that our original plan was going to be slightly disrupted. We had arrived at the airport very early, because Sapporo's airport was one of the few in the world which had an onsen within the terminal itself. We had planned to use the onsen before our flight.

Now that we were on an earlier flight, the amount of time before boarding had been much reduced.

But we all had our hearts set on using the onsen. Our flight was departing at 8pm, it was now 6.25pm. There was just enough time!

"Let's still go..." I said, "but we must keep strictly to this timing: We must be out of the onsen by 6.50pm sharp!"

So to the onsen we went...



It was great to be able to bathe, and take in the steaming hot waters in the onsen for one last time, before flying off. 25 minutes was not a long time, but it was enough for a short soak...

Thankfully everyone kept to the timing and we we headed through the short security queue into the airside area without any dramas.