Flight Report :
NH 919 Tokyo Narita - Shanghai Pudong

Early Morning Departure

With the flight leaving at 9:50am out of Narita, I had to wake up extremely early and catch the 6:43am train out of Tokyo's west side to give reasonable time to check-in and do a quick tour of the airport. Narita is really far away. Next time I should seriously consider Haneda.

The airport terminal is old, but they've done good things to keep it look modern. Looks like this is an exclusive Star Alliance terminal.

Poor Signage

Coming up from the Narita Express, there were no obvious signs of where I should go to check-in for my flight. The elevators stopped right between the North and South Wings, and it took a bit of exploring to find the right place for ANA in the South Wing. I was already quite irritated at how long it took to get there.

Confusing Check-In

There was a line at the ANA counter. I was asked to first use the automatic machine to find my reservation and print the boarding pass. Then I had to take a step to the right and line up for the counter to drop my baggage. With 2 sets of people doing different things at each counter, it got quite confusing. There were people and bags everywhere. This automation is not improving our lives.

Observation Deck

A good thing about Japanese airports is the observation deck, which seems to have survived the 9/11 worldwide aviation scare.

This Fedex plane took off with quite a lot of noise. Perhaps that's a point for the naysayers to Narita's expansion.

I always like to get an elevated view of the terminal. From here, it doesn't seem a like a very busy day.

I don't usually see Austrian Airlines in my travels!

With limited time on my hands, I had to rush my plane spotting to do some last-minute shopping and to board my plane of course.

Taxi

We passed by a lot of ANA planes on the way to takeoff. Goodbye, Tokyo!

Ironic I wasn't flying the panda plane into China today!

360-degree Loop

I believe we took off towards the south, but we made a quick 360-degree turn to climb, then headed southwest towards Shanghai. It has been a while since I've experienced a sharp, lengthy turn.

Tokyo Bay

The skies were clearing and the edges of Tokyo Bay became visible. I hurried my camera hoping to get some good aerial shots of the city.

Here is Tokyo! Amazing! It would've been better without the haze though.

Mount Fuji?

Nagoya?

Looks like they're having a sunny day as well. Good thing I secured a right side window. Otherwise all I'd see is ocean most of the way.

Kansai Region

With Nagoya in view, Osaka was likely going to come up soon. I think the plane flew right above it though, but I was able to see the coast west of the city.

Now, the islands start to get smaller and more densely-packed. There were a lot of bridges to spot connecting the various islands.

Delicious Meal

ANA's meals do not disappoint. This is probably the best Economy Class meal I've ever had. The beef rice tasted quite sweet, and fresh. The soba noodles came with seaweed as well, while dessert consisted of a Hokkaido brand custard. Simply delicious.

Upgraded Meal

There was also a menu card in the seat pocket that advertised Business Class meals available in Economy at a price.

Service Summary

Food was good and service was good. ANA certainly impressed me. However, I wished they were less insisting on taking photos inside the plane during landing. I doubt a digital camera can bring down a plane.

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