This was a trip that was 7 years in the making *lol*.
Note: Some direct videouploads seemed to be missing. Let me sort that out later. Sorryyyy
My last trip to the States was wayyy back in 2016. After 2 presidents and one long pandemic, I decided that it was time to. Actually, I only submitted my US visa renewal application in mid March. At first, the website states that if the US visa had only expired for less than 2 years, there's a possibility for the renewal by mail option. Unfortunately my passport got returned soon after I dropped it off at Aramex (the assigned courier) with a note to schedule an appointment for a face to face interview.
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| the need to be interviewed memo |
I booked a slot on April 3rd and thank God it was approved on the day itself, unlike on the previous renewal where I had to wait for a month before they told me that visa application was approved. I was a little worried during the interview - although the questions are pretty basic (like the why, the where, for how long), but the lady behind counter was clicking away on her mouse and keyboard with that perplexed look, or the "Huh? Something is amiss" look. Thank God, once we were done, she gave a slip that indicated that my application is approved and the next steps of the visa approval process.
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| I passed the inteview. Yay! |
When I got back my passport AND my US visa, I was looking at the flights for May. Man, the prices were crazy. So after discussing it with Sila, I opted for end of August/early September instead. I could take advantage of the National Day on 31/8 and Malaysia Day on 16/9 public holiday and just top it up with the rest of my annual leaves.
It would be nice to have a lesser wait for the trip and even nicer to go for my 25th reunion. But I haven't done anything besides getting my visa renewed, like booking for the flights and hotels, coming up with the plans and more importantly securing the budget :D.
Eversince graduation, I've never flown via Tokyo/Taiwan because I've been been taking the Middle-east airlines like Emirates and Qatar. I once took Singapore Airlines and the taken route was via Frankfurt. So this time around, I chose ANA (All Nippon Airways) because it was cheaper and I wanted to try out the service.
Outbound flights: KUL - NRT - ORD - DAY
My outbound flight to Narita was at 7am on Merdeka Day. One of my colleagues volunteered to send me off to the airport at 3 o'clock in the morning. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Mickey D's before we parted ways.
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| Azman was kind enough to send me to the airport in the wee hours of the morning |
The aerotrain was out of commission so we had to take the bus to the satelitte building. The bus ride was good and quick.
We were able to use MAS's Golden Lounge before the flight.
The boarding sequence started close to 7am and I went to my seat at 7A. It was my first time flying on a Dreamliner.
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| sunrise on merdeka day |
I opted for the Japanese cuisine for breakfast and asked for ice cream for dessert :).
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| the breakfast menu |
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| I chose japanese |
The thing about taking a flight on Business Class, you have a really good and comfy seat to sleep on, but at the same time you would want to stay awake as much of possible to enjoy the services and amenities :D. I must have dozed off for a bit because I didn't manage to catch a good night sleep last nite since I need to be ready by 3am.
I saw the IPPUDO Plant-based "Pla-ton" Ramen in the 'Order Anytime' section in the menu and ordered it because curiosity got hold of me. I would've liked it much better if it wasn't a creamy soup, but having said that it was good.
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| plant-based ramen |
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| Mount Fuji |
When we landed in Narita, there was only an hour and half of layover before my next flight to O'hare, so I didn't have much time to enjoy the lounge. Besides, I was still kind of full. So I walked around in the terminal going in and out of the shops. I really like to browse the food sections and see how they are boxed and packaged.
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| Cute! |
Then it was time to board the plane to O'Hare, but this time it was a B777 plane.
I've already chosen a Muslim food for this leg several days prior, and the flight attendants confirmed it with me after we got ourselves settled in. That's the downside of flying carriers from non-Muslim countries. Unlike Malaysia Airlines, Emirates and Qatar for instance, ANA's main dishes which you could choose either Western or Japanese meals aren't halal, except for the KUL-originated flights. I would have liked to try out more of the Japanese dishes. I also opted for halal meal on my Singapore Airlines flights to the USA, and they provided me with Arab food. Oh well.
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| Killing time |
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| Some shrimp dish. |
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| Eating ice cream in the dark :D |
After 12 hours of flight, we landed in Chicago. Clearing immigration and customs was quick. Alhamdulillah.
My next flight to Dayton is with United but it wouldn't be for another 2 hours. There wasn't much to do at the terminal, so Phooi Seng volunteered to call me and kept me company :D.
The flight got loaded up, left the gate and arrived at Dayton on time, which was at 8:15'ish. I was greeted by Sila and the whole gang while I was waiting for my bags. It still amazes me that the baggage carousels in the domestic terminals in America can be accessed by the public, not just the passengers.
We can skip my time in US for next time, and I'll just cover the inbound flight in the same post.
Inbound flights: BOS - JFK - HND - KUL
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| Sadddd |
For the flights home, I took an 8:45am Jetblue flight from Boston to JFK. I checked out from the hotel at 6am and took an Uber to Logan. We arrived at the airport in no time by taking the tunnel. I couldn't check in online so I had to queue up to check-in.
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| Go B's! |
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| New york, concrete jungle where dreams are made of |
I could've chosen the same route back to KUL via O'hare but I chose the flight that flew out of JFK to Haneda. That's because the B773 aircraft had The Room business seats and from the handful of YouTube videos that I saw, it looks so fancy. The only downside is that I had to be content with 6 hour layover at Haneda.
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| B777 |
I must agree that The Room was soo amazing. The seat is wide enough that it could even seat 2 people side by side when it is upright. I chose a window seat, with the seat placed closer to the window and the table on the aisle side. These seats are rear facing ones, and we needed to wear an additional chest strap upon take off and landing. I had this tiny reservation with these rear-facing seats, but I didn't get any dizzy or nauseous feeling.
I love playing with the sliding door and the sliding panel 😁. They provided an extra level of privacy especially when you're lying down to get a few winks. It could pass as a first class suite. Well that's just me who never flown in one :D
Granted that I don't fly business that often. Just Qatar on a Doha-Boston leg and Emirates on LGW-DUB-KUL flights. But I believe Emirates provide far more storage space, which I know I wouldn't use all of them because I'm afraid that I'd leave my things behind. But everytime you board the plane, you'd find all the mattress cover, blankets, a pillow headphones, amenities like toiletry bag on your seat and a question comes to your mind - where can I store them right?
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| The seat next to me was vacant |
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| Chest trap |
Now, more food pictures :D
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| Once again, not the cola that I wanted |
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| Jeling jee. :D |
Oh I almost forgot about the toilet. The bidet is sooo Japanese and I simply love it!
Haneda T3 was small. If it wasn't for the Lounge access, the 6 hour layover would feel much, much longer. The lounge was nice but it was packed almost to the brim. I even dozed off at the table with the bar stool like seating 😆
It was time for the final leg of the trip home!
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| That's the face that was close to a day of traveling and still has 7 more hours to go |
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| The so-called breakfast 😀 |
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