I am not sure you can walk away from a 15 hour flight followed by another 4 hour flight and feel good about the experience. In the words of Huey Lewis, sometimes Bad is bad.
Aside from the stark differences in the forced caste system of flying economy vs business class vs first class, the experience was tolerable. Flying Cathay Pacific was certainly a better experience than I would have gotten flying with an American carrier. A highlight was that in addition to pretzels and fresh fruit for snacks, you could also ask for a complimentary order of cup noodles. And let me tell you I ate that bowl of cup noodles even though we got two meals on the flight.
The airport in Hong Kong was, quiet likely, the largest I’ve been in. It has 530 gates. Our connecting flight’s gate changed twice so we got familiar with the terminal. Mountains seemed to surround the airport making for some nice scenery while we waited.
In-flight entertainment was good. Watched The Maltese Falcon, Roadhouse (2024), and 3 episodes of Scavengers Reign.
After about 26 hours since out first flight took off, we landed at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Customs lines were long, but moving quickly. We got a shuttle to our hotel in Shinjuku and I promptly dozed off for most of the ride.
Our first stay in Tokyo is at the Gracery Hotel in Shinjuku, which features a giant Godzilla peaking over part of the building. The lobby had several areas commemorating the film history of the Japanese celebrity.
After settling in, we found a nearby Izakaya (think Japanese tapas). We got a number of small plates including takoyaki, which, I am sad to say I immediately burnt my tongue on. Excited to not be able to taste anything for the next few days.
I was excited to be in Tokyo, but also happy the day finally came to an end.
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