Skip to main content

TOKYO TO HONOLULU

 Woke up on our final Tokyo day to a resplendent Mount Fuji.

Final breakfast in the Tokyo Westin Hotel.
This hotel is a popular place for wedding parties.
Took the Airport Limousine Bus to Narita International Airport.  Over Rainbow Bridge.
You might wonder why that name when the bridge is all white colored.  At nights, lights change the color to rainbow hues, especially during the holiday seasons.
Got to the ANA Business Class Lounge with almost 3 hours to enjoy the food and drinks there.  This is one of the best in the world.

Sat so that we could see the 14th day of the Tokyo Sumo Tournament.  Tomorrow is the final day.  Started with curry rice, Suntory AO whiskey, beer and sake.
Second course of ramen, chicken and lasagna.
On the way out of the lounge, saw these turtles.

Asked Google AI what they were.

The "turtles" are ANA’s (All Nippon Airways) "FLYING HONU" Airbus A380s, featuring special liveries of Hawaiian sea turtles (Honu) to symbolize good luck and prosperity on flights between Tokyo and Honolulu. Each of the three, named Lani (Blue/Sky), Kai (Green/Ocean), and La (Orange/Sunset), represents a different aspect of Hawaii's environment. 

Saw the 2025 Big Bold Beautiful Journey, mostly because the title seemed to capture the essence of our two-month trip.  Bad choice of film, for Rotten Tomatoes gave it 36/58 scores.  About right.  Starred Margot Robbie of Barby fame and Colin Farrell

Nuts with Suntory Hakusho Whiskey ($100 to $200 bottle, depending where you find it) and green tea.

With the meal, added some chilled sake:  Yamahai Omachi, which sells for $104/720ml bottle in the U.S.

The meal was beautiful and outstanding.  However, we had eaten so much in the ANA lounge that much of the above was wasted.  Yet, you could still have the following at any time.
So I did order a ramen with shoju on rocks.
Mostly listened to music.
First sight of Hawaii from my seat was Kaena Point on Oahu.
Kahe Power Plant.
West Loch, Pearl Harbor.
Sunrise over Honolulu.
Walked 6901 steps from Japan to Hawaii, 3900 miles from Westin Tokyo Hotel to 15 Craigside.

- 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DAY 1 on the DIAMOND PRINCESS

But first, Sheraton Yokohama Bay highlights of our Sheraton Club eats/drinks and breakfasts. Breakfast stations. Then taxi off to the Diamond Princess.  Fall colors. Approaching from the rear of the Diamond Princess. Departure of Diamond Princess from Yokohama, Departure snack of lamb, beef, penne pasta, Johnny Walker Gold and champagne. Leaving Yokohama. We then went to Kai Sushi for dinner, Sushi and sake dinner, Then, off to Fun Dance Class. That followed by karaoke. The night continued into some old time disco.  Finally, after midnight, back to our stateroom.  Walked 4127 steps today. -

DAY 4 IN SEOUL: Most popular Korean Songs from the 1950's to the Present

Korean music was almost totally missing, growing up in Hawaii.  The exception was  Arirang .   Today, BTS and BLACKPINK resonate around the world.  In addition to the 600 year-old  Arirang,  what is the all-time #1?  My favorites are: Baby Shark , released by Pinkfong in 2016. For one, it is the most-viewed You Tube video ever, hitting 7 billion views and surpassing  Despacito  in 2022.   Is now up to 16.47 billion views, with  Despacito  at 9 billion. Top 10 music videos, based on data from   Kworb   and   Wikipedia :  Note that most are nursery songs. "Baby Shark Dance"   – Pinkfong Kids' Songs & Stories (16.47 billion) "Despacito"   – Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee (8.91 billion) "Wheels on the Bus"   – Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (8.29 billion) "Bath Song"   – Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (7.31 billion) "Johny Johny Yes Papa"   – LooLoo Kids (7.13 billion) "See You Again"   –...

THE VERY BEST MOVIE MUSICALS

Two weeks ago I featured the   best dance films.   Many of them are repeated here because where there is dance, there is also music.  An excellent best musical list from   IndieWire : #1    Singin' in the Rain (1954) #2    All that Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979) #3    West Side Story (1961) #4    Dancer in the Dark (2000), featuring Björk #5    Mary Poppins (1964), nominated for 13 Oscars #6    The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) #7    The Wizard of Oz (1939) #8    Nashville (1975) #9    Cabaret (1972) #10  Moulin Rouge (2001) #11  The Sound of Music (1965) #12  La La Land (2016) #13  Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) #14  My Fair Lady (1964) #15  Fiddler on the Roof (1971) #16  The Red Shoes (1948) #17  A Star is Born (1954), there was another in 1937, then 1976, and finally 2018.  The 1954 version starred Judy Garland and James Mason. #18  The...