Res and I were looking forward to a long overdue vacation. We had some mileage expiring from PAL, and decided to visit Japan again. Last time we were in Japan 3 years ago in April, we enjoyed the weather, food, and politeness of the people, and visited quite a few cities. This time we decided to just rest, so we spent 5 days in Tokyo.
PAL flies its newly acquired Boeing 777s to Tokyo, and the new Mabuhay Class with its Recaro-designed seats were a welcome change from the old PAL Mabuhay Class seats. These seats lie flat, although at an angle, so technically, they are not flat beds. They are very similar to the previous Cathay Pacific Business Class seats, which I believe is better spacewise, compared to the current CX Business Class layout.
The service was surprisingly good on the way to Tokyo, it seemed like the cabin crew were proud of the new aircraft. We got into Narita International at 8pm, then headed to the JR East (Japan Railways East) ticket office to buy our Narita Express (NEX) tickets into Tokyo. For foreigners like us, JR East has a promo wherein you pay JPY 3,500 for a one-way NEX ticket to Tokyo, plus get a Suica card worth JPY 2,000, which includes a JPY 500 deposit when you return it. The Suica is a pre-paid card that you can use on buses and the Tokyo Metro. So in effect, your NEX ticket is only JPY 1,500.
By the time we got to the JR Tokyo Station, it was almost 10pm, so we grabbed a bite at a sushi place in the station, then grabbed a cab to our hotel. By the time we checked-in and got to our room, it was almost 11pm. Time to call it a day.
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