A SLOW JOURNEY TO A JOYFUL DESTINATION. MIAMI TO KL VIA NEW YORK CITY AND TOKIO (AND JAKARTA)

Once you taste the benefits of higher levels of Frequent Flier Status, retaining it becomes a type of obsession. You begin to dream of impractical voyages and excuciating journeys and other tricks you have learned from the Internet discussions and mayvens.

If you travelling within the USA with any great frequency, it is almost necessary to maintain some sort of a status with a domestic airline, otherwise you would discover soon enough the incompatibilities of american characteristics and sophisticated travel. Very rarely anything tasty or healthy is offered at american airports and even if so, at ridiculous prices and there are lines even to get a cup of coffee. and there would be a rush to get a seat to wait for your flight which may or may not be on time.

Now that I am not flying within the USA any more, for me status on American Airlines is about two things: 1. being able to take two suitcases to Cuba without paying additional fees. 2. to relax in the Flagship Lounge before my trips to Cuba

I had to device a trip in the few days left before the new 1 March 2023 deadline kicks in.

Miami to New York to Tokyo to Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur and return

Why not make this a slow trip and enjoy the scenery on the way ?

Flagship Lounge at MIA (courtesy the Status)

the pleasant lady from Dominican Republic whips up an omelette and the staff are friendly.

Miami to New York on Business Class ( Status)

The flight to New York was pleasant. There was an unforgettable meal but I had filled myself at the Flagship Lounge

People of New York have a rough exterior and one has to be very careful whom you approach. There were groups of New Yorkers staying at the hotel having a great time together and definitely with a cordon around them!

I did not enjoy the stay at the hotel even though the room was up to Marriott quality, nothing else was. The breakfast was pathetic. The area where the hotel is situated is not safe and all in all , a less than pleasant experience.

Left early to the Terminal from which Japan Airlines were flying. Checking in was very professional. I was directed to the Air France Lounge which had only the Japan Airlines flight passengers at that hour of the morning.

Being a francophile, i took this lounge to be a good omen for what was in store for the 14 hour flight to Tokyo NRT.

The boarding was orderly and there began the japanese orderliness, correctness, politeness and the attention to detail. The purser and the person attending to our side introduced themselves and the service started as soon as feasible.

I had procured seat 5A the first single window seat on this section of the aircraft

They were pretty strict about wearing a mask onboard. I wore this one till I found one a bit more appropriate.

I had pre ordered my Japanese food and it was such a treat to eat good and authentic japanese food after the fake and or Sushi restaurants..I enjoyed very much the offering, the quality, attention to all tastes and the umami. portion size ,intimate details of food presentations and i enjoyed each and every minute of that flight. There was no time for socializing as the Flight Attendants were busy doing things (unless the American Airlines attendants whisk away your plates and are seen no more!)

This was also my chance to try SAKE and i tried both on offer, each was good but i was slightly inclined towards the second one 

Endless ice and snow of the Canadian arctic.. it was such a pleasure to sitting comfortably and watching that scenery moving underneath you

WiFi was available (half the price of USA based airlines and the same provider) and that made easy communicating with my usual friends and also to look up information as the flight was leaving the frigid Alaska to cross the International Date Line. Most americans may not know that while USA shares land borders with Mexico and Canada, their closest neighbour is Russia which lies only 3 miles west of the American Island of Little Diomedes , the bigger one being the Russian one, an anamoly of the russian trade of Alaska in early 1900s.

The International Date Line passes in between the Diomedes islands (named after the Greek Philospher by Vitus Bering of the Bering straits fame? Bering was Danish-Russian). So while on the Little Diomede on the USA side , it would follow the Alaskan time table whereas 3 miles west they follow the Far Eastern Zone of Russia  which is 21 hours ahead. As you cross the date line going west, one day becomes oblivious.

There was plenty of food to be tasted and I was very content.

Japan was closed for a long time to foreigners and even now the formalities are not simple . You are directed to an area where your papers are checked and also your vaccination status and then directed to the Immigration officer where your photo and fingerprints are taken and then you are let go . I was travelling with just hand luggage so i did not have to wait for my luggage and soon I was on the landside. I waited at the appointed area for the hotel shuttle which arrived on time and within fifteen minutes we were at the Hotel.

One thing is obvious in Japan of these days 

Japanese population is decidely older and they, however reluctantly, are begining to employ young foreigners in public places of service. The agent at the Crown Plaza hotel was Nepalese and could see a fair bit of Filipinos.

I took advantage of the bathtub with two immersions once before going to sleep and once before leaving for the airport 

While the service couldnt be classified any more than prefunctory and efficient, what a difference from the Marriott hotel in New York to the Crowne Plaza hotel in Narita!!!Day and Night .. Very spacious lounge (the NY hotel had no lounge to speak off and here they had a manned 7/11 kind of store, a south asian worker was present through the night) and there is an inhouse restaurant but i was suffering from over eating so I did not explore the menu. The shuttle back to the airport was punctual and within minutes we were at NRT teminal 2 where the security does not work all overs but a strict schedule, not opening until 7 15 am . The line had formed and I was certain with japanese attention to detail they would open my hand luggage but their technology might be superior to others to know that there was nothing dangerous in my luggage so i was through in record time and the immigration officer quickly stamped me into the departure area and I was soon at Sakura Lounge. Once again efficiency, polite aloofness and reserved welcome. very pleasant time at Sakura lounge where an old european was working cleaning the tables ? He has been in Japan for 29 years and well adjusted to the life here in Japan.

Left the hotel early to enjoy the Sakura lounge. 

Sakura lounge was attended by very polite japanese women young and old and very efficient and nice to rest before the 8 hour flight to Jakarta. which was not my destination 

The plane was an old 767 but the service and the food was up to par with Japan Airlines reputation. 

Nice to watch the city of Narita on the left. I remember staying at a Holiday Inn there and enjoying a very nice meal at an Izikawa, and visiting a Large Buddha ..quite a while ago. but they are the memories 

leaving the coast of Japan as we continued our journey south towards the Indonesian archipelago. I normally fly into Singapore or Kuala lumpur, a six hour journey and i did not realize that this journey to Jakarta will take 8 hours and then an extra two hours to reah Kuala Lumpur 

Welcome to the chaos, inefficiency but pleasant airport with an exterior in Jakarta. Jakarta has had a reputation for being a confusing airport to arrive let alone transit. I had only one hour to transit from incoming Japan airlines flight to a Malaysian airlines flight 

We were told to wait at the Transfer Desk and were assured that someone would come. A policeman came and was polite. A slender woman in hijab had no idea what was happening and insisted that I go to Immigration which sent me back to the Transfer Desk ,still unmanner. A young official looking man said that I have to learn immigration and customs and then go and get a boarding pass at the departure area. While coming back to the Transfer desk, I spied the elevator going up to the departure areas, so i just went up . The security was surprised to see me and insisted on a boarding pass which the Malaysian airlines had not sent to my mobile phone (yet another inefficient space in the Aviation world..) But i told him that my intention was just transit and not visit Indonesia , somehow or other he relented and i was let through. I was at gate 10 and my flight was leaving from gate 2. long long walk.. with fatigue and anxiety everything looked even further. Got to the gate just in time and the pleasant gate agent printed the boarding pass and let me board early , so I could board and make myself comfortable.

A two hour flight, not impressive especially after the Japan Airlines flights but tolerable. the first hour of the flight was bumpy, flown by the co pilot , letting us know that we are in the middle of the tropics.

Arrival at KL international airport and exit and catching a GRAB car hailing company was all smooth 

I felt i had arrived home, a nice sensation of being in a country which is dear to your heart 

after 

Cuba

France 

it was so nice to recognize the workers at the front desk, even at this early hour 1230 am they were friend. Raj from the concierge desk and an old friend Rash in the Front Desk. My friend Shalinda from the Executive Lounge had organized everything and the evening supervisor of Front desk who was about to leave to go home assigned me a very nice room in the higher floor.

I was home and I was among friends and it was to ring true for the next few days of my stay 

I had left the home of my friends on Saturday at 630 am and had stayed in New York and Tokyo/Narita as well as transited at Jakarta airport 

Flagship Lounge in Miami 

Chelsea Lounge in JFK airport in New York terminal 8

Air France Lounge at JFK terminal 1 

Sakura Lounge at Terminal 2 Tokyo Narita 

An anxious transit at Soekarno Hatta Airport at CGK Jakarta 

and I was in my room at Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Kuala Lumpur at around midnight of Tuesday .. Four days minus the time zone difference of 13 hours ..

This set tone for the next few days 

slow travel 

no hurry 

no rush , no anxiety, enjoy things being done in real time 

Mindful travelling ..

from now on ..