Travel to Japan

I was not looking forward to 14 hours on a single flight.  At least the beer and wine are free - maybe not available as advertised first pass through. While Miller® Lite, Stella Artois®, Elysian Space Dust IPA, and Goose Island® 312 Dry-Hopped were promised, Miller® Lite was the only available choice during the first beverage service.

Flightpath Newark, NJ to Tokyo, Japan

We had the Asian Inspired Vegetable Stirfry dinner.  If this was a taste of meals to come, we should have turned the plane around there and then. 

United's executive chefs Gerry McLoughlin and Gerry Gulli should be summarily discharged for thinking this over-sauced gelatinous mass of mushy shredded vegetables and rice was in any way tasty, acceptable and un-offensive to Asians, vegetables, or rice.  Well, at least the beer and wine are free.

We arrived at Toyko's Narita Airport to transfer to ANA's flight to Osaka.

Narita Airport is, honestly, a large world-class airport.  You could not prove it be the basement gates we found ourselves using. Half a dozen gates, all leading out onto the tarmac to buses for taking us out to the planes. 

State of the art signage

It has been a long time since I have actually climbed outdoor stairs to get to the plane.

All Nippon Airways was a great flight.  Amy and I did not sit together, it was a little turbulent, and the beverage service was cut short - but it was a good flight.  From the airport, it is an hour's ride to the hotel in Kyoto. We used the  Kyoto MK Skygate Shuttle, a shared taxi service, ¥3,000 per person airport to our hotel.  The driver was helpful, providing each passenger with an umbrella for the short walk from the terminal to the van.#GerryMcLoughlin #GerryGulli #UnitedAirlines