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Woo-Hoo!  I’m back to writing regular entries on this blog again.

I just recently arrived in Tokyo, Japan (yesterday) with my husband.  My traveling companion & I will be in Tokyo for one week before we jet off to China for another week.  We had originally planned to use this vacation time as our fun time…but alas…we have some serious family matters to take care of while we are traveling, so this is going to be one heck of a ride folks!

The first thing I want to say is: HOW COME I’VE NEVER FLOWN ON ANA EVERY SINGLE TIME BEFORE NOW??!  Every other time we have traveled to Tokyo, we’ve always flown via United Airlines.  It’s not the worst airline we’ve ever flown on, but it’s at least the most basic to get us to our destination.  Then, when we flew on ANA this time around, we were so blown away by how awesome the airline was!  The service was great, our seats were comfortable & (with the help of our own noise-cancelling headphones) we had a relatively no-screaming-kids flight.

 

1. The seats were very comfortable with plenty of leg room, even for a 6 foot tall person.  When the seats recline, only the bottom seat-cushion and back cushion slide down & forward…so the back rest doesn’t push backwards & obstruct the space of the person sitting behind you.  Also, the headrest adjusts up & down for comfort.

 

2. There is a foot-rest for each seat!  This really is a huge comfort plus…

 

 

3. Each seat has its own interactive TV screen, which you can watch various videos, movies &/or listen to music.  There is also a USB connector, so you can plug in your MP3 player & listen to your own music.  Also, the movie selection was really good.  There were about 12 or so movies to choose from, so you don’t have to watch the same Disney channel kids movie on repeat while on a long flight.  The only downside is you can’t adjust/swivel the TV screen, so if you want to prop your head to the side, you will get an annoying glare from the screen’s privacy coating.

4.  Our in-flight meals didn’t taste like cardboard or mush.  They actually tasted pretty decent.  My husband was pleasantly surprised to find that ANA serves Suntory the Premium Malts beer on the flight…not just the usual Asahi or Sapporo.  Also, did I mention there was a handy cup holder for your drinks?

 

5.  One of the best moments of our flight…right after they served the first (& the main) meal, the flight attendants came around & served Häagen Dazs ice cream to all of us.  As some of you may or may not know, Häagen Dazs is my all-time favorite brand of ice cream.  Like. Ever.

 

That pretty much sums up our awesome in-flight experience.  I’d love to post a blog entry each day about my goings-on in Tokyo while I’m here, but I think I’ll just stick to posting just the highlights… maybe a few highlights of each day.  Until then, I’ll leave you with 2 random pictures for now.

Can you guess what brand of soda this is?? If you guessed SPRITE, then you’re correct!

The legendary vending machine(s) of Japan. This one dispenses both hot & cold drinks. Yes, I said HOT & COLD. The drinks marked in blue are cold. The drinks marked in red are hot…& yes, they do come out HOT, not lukewarm. Perfect for the chilly morning weather!

 

 

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I just discovered this crazy awesome new radio App called Rio Radio, & I am completely obsessed with it!  I am so in love with this App that I put it on both my iPhone & my iPad.  This App streams popular Brazilian music (some straight from local Sao Paulo radio stations, complete with commercials), & also streams popular Bossa Nova, Jazz & Samba music.

Lately, I’ve just been on this extreme Brazilian everything spree.  I have been practically binging on all things Brazil. For example, I recently bought the Blu-Ray DVD of one of my all-time favorite movies: RIO, & I have been playing this movie on repeat everyday.  I’ve also been listening to Brazilian Pop music non-stop (even when I’m working out at the gym) even though I don’t understand a lick of Portuguese!  Well, I do somewhat understand the universal Spanish words, but I don’t understand any of the traditional Portuguese words.  Although, I do find the language very interesting (& sounds very close to French)!

I’ve also been dreaming a lot lately of visiting Rio de Janeiro.  I’ve been playing around with the idea of visiting Rio for my honeymoon vacation…but the only thing that’s holding me back from taking the plunge to go there is the safety concern.  I’ve been reading up on a lot of travel guides & tourism board websites, & all the resources say that right now is not really safe for tourists to travel to Brazil.  I’ve even had a former boss that visited Sao Paulo in mid 2011 for a business trip, & he had to travel around town with a personal driver & a bodyguard.  I know that sounds like a totally extreme case, but his experience really makes me think twice about traveling to my fantasy destination until the tourist safety situation improves.

Anyway…enough about my Brazilian obsession.  I am also listening to my (usual) favorite Bossa Nova & Jazz music on the Rio Radio App. I really love this App, except for the tiny little bug in the App where it’ll sometimes shut-off by itself…but otherwise, I am smit-ten!  Que é tão surpreendente. <— copied from Google Translate.

Stuff Frequent Travelers Wish We Knew via: bethtourek.com.

I am in love with this blog post. Everything that @WhiteElephantInTheRoom wrote is 100% what I’m thinking, but just written out loud.  This blog post just aptly sums up all the basic rules of proper airport / airline etiquette.  Please check it out.

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