airbusmango From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, RR: 0 Posted (10 months 2 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 4778 times:
THE STORY
Hello again, A.netters! This is another TR about my past travels, way before I got an A.net account. It is only right to dig up and plant it here, no? So anyway, my brother worked for the then-Northwest Airlines and managed to snag us standby tickets to Tokyo. After years of watching Japan Hour travel documentaries on television, I would finally have my own Japan Hour (or rather, week) travel documentary! What made it doubly special was the departure date – we’re going on New Year’s Day. I might have forgotten some details regarding the trip as it was more than three years ago, so my apologies if there are ‘gaps’ in the report!
PART 1
THE DEPARTURE
1st JANUARY 2009
Changi International Airport (SIN/WSSS)
Carrier: Northwest Airlines
Flight: NW 20
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330-223 (N853NW)
Seat: 20A
Terminal: 1
Gate: D42
Estimated Departure: 0600
Actual Departure: 06??
TO
Narita International Airport (NRT/RJAA)
Terminal: 1
Gate: ??
Estimated Arrival: 1340
Actual Arrival: 1300
Huge signs used to hang from Terminal 1’s ceiling
At such an hour, Terminal 1 is quite deserted
The compulsory Passport + Boarding Pass shot
NW 20 would continue on to MSP afterwards
For those who have just arrived!
More deserted parts of Terminal 1
After having a quick and light breakfast at Delifrance, it was time to head over to the Gate and wait for boarding to commence.
The very first American-registered metal for me.. N853NW!
The flight was somewhat full, as I recall. Not long after settling down, my seatmate sauntered over and sat down without a word. Ah well, so much for planning to have meaningful conversations with my neighbors!
SV plane next to DL
Tiny, compared to the likes of SQ’s current offerings
Doors soon closed, the plane was proceeded to its pushback phase and taxied out to the active runway.
Korean Air, Alitalia and Northwest widebodies in the distance
We pulled in to a sistership.. a Boeing 757-251 N535US
Nice to meet you!
One of NRT’s many signage
NRT’s arrivals information board
NRT’s arrival hall
After getting some information at some counter in the arrival hall, we took the escalator down to the train platforms. We were to take one of the local trains out to the city of Narita.
airbusmango From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (10 months 2 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 4774 times:
Part 2
A WEEK IN TOKYO
Me and my family had a fantastic week. Evidently a week is not enough to explore what Tokyo as a whole has to offer. We took a Joetsu Shinkansen “Tanigawa” out to GALA-Yuzawa Station and went up the slopes to enjoy snow for the first time in our lives. Here are some pictures from the trip!
As it was New Year’s Day, devotees and believers flock her to pray for an auspicious year ahead
Buds on a tree within the temple grounds
The pond within the temple
I have never seen one of these before
I have never seen these before either.. a huge no-no for me, anyway
Windmills exist in Japan too!
Railroad things
Imperial Palace entrance from the town
I just love Shinkansens!
Riding the cable car up to the ski resort
My feeble attempts at making my first snowmen ever
Snowflake!
Wide-eyed fish at Tsukiji Market
Extinct cats are being sold at Tsukiji Market too
SL Train displayed at a museum in Ueno Park
Huge whales too
Just a flock of pigeons hanging out
Doraemon
This traffic light mirror is telling me to go Brisbane
airbusmango From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (10 months 2 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 4774 times:
PART 3
FLYING HOME
All too soon, our week in Japan was up and it was time to head home back to Singapore. It was most certainly an eye opener to walk through the quaint Japanese streets, experience the crisp winter weather and see the array of people found in the vast metropolis. I will definitely be back in Tokyo again and again and never get bored of it! But for now, time to catch a flight back to SIN
7th JANUARY 2009
Narita International Airport (NRT/RJAA)
Carrier: Northwest Airlines
Flight: NW 19
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330-223 (N854NW)
Seat: 41H
Terminal: 1
Gate: 15
Estimated Departure: 1745
Actual Departure: 17??
TO
Changi International Airport (SIN/WSSS)
Terminal: 1
Gate: D42
Estimated Arrival: 00??
Actual Arrival: 0002
Upon check-in, we were told that there might not be seats available for us as a United flight supposedly got cancelled and hence passengers from that flight got transferred over to NW 19. Fingers crossed, eventually it worked out and we were able to secure seats.
The Northwest Airlines check-in row
No prizes in guessing that NRT is an NW hub
More check-in counters
The flights departure board
Japan Airlines Boeing 777-346/ER JA736J
Oh look, it’s N853NW again!
Korean Air and three United (old livery) planes
Korean Air Boeing 777-2B5/ER HL7530 in action
This is the land of Hello Kitties
The exterior of NRT Terminal 1
It is now 15:40 and 8.6 degrees Celsius
World Clock wall
The departure board again
By the time it was time to go airside and board the plane, it was already quite dark outside. Don’t you just love the timings of sunrise, sunset and nightfall during winter? Again, it was quite a full flight out of NRT. Our seats were right at the back!
Right us to us, is a company Boeing 747-451 N673US
Our luggage has been spotted!
Loading the last of the luggage stash for NW 19
The crowded cabin
The tiny screen again
Passport shot!
Doors soon closed, followed by pushback and a slow taxi out to the active runway. As it was dark out, taking photos sure was a challenge!
View of the city by night as N854NW launched itself into the night sky
All signs are still on, keep your seatbelts fastened!
When the seatbelts signs blinked off, the FAs swung into action and wheeled their trolleys down the aisles. They were asking what we would like to drink while distributing a bag of pretzels.
Pretzels and a cup of juice for me with my iPod
Anybody remembers her?
The pretzel in question
From the very back of the plane
NW’s IFE wasn’t really that interesting
Sometime later, the FAs returned with their trolleys! This time, they were dishing out dinner. Hmm I wonder what’s for dinner tonight..
Please watch out for the trolley, thank you!
Dinner on NW 19
Teriyaki Fish with rice
Salad.. some greens are always good for you
A cup of cola is always a must
Bread roll with its accompaniments
I forgot what cake this was
After dinner, most of the passengers just opted to catch forty winks. I, on the other hand, can never sleep in planes. My iPod Classic became my only source of entertainment. Somehow 6-7 hours of flight time whizzed past and the pilot announced that we’re descending, slowing down and eventually about to land at SIN.
Not long after, this Japan Airlines Boeing 777-246/ER JA702J pulled in next to us
***** CONCLUSION
From my impressions formed by flying NW 20 and NW 19, I find Northwest Airlines to be a just-okay kind of Airline. The IFE offerings weren’t really that fantastic, but neither was it abysmal. I gather that the SIN-NRT/NRT-SIN routes on NW (now DL) are quite popular, seeing the how the plane was filled to the brim both ways. Of course, Northwest has since been ingested by Delta so I don’t mind trying out the SIN-NRT/NRT-SIN route on DL and see whether DL has brought anything new or nothing new to the table. Until the next TR, A.netters!
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2256 posts, RR: 14 Reply 3, posted (10 months 2 weeks 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 4740 times:
Hey
Nice trip report, thanks for sharing it with us.
Amazing how much has changed in these 3 years; back in the NW and CO days.
your experciences mirror my experciences on NW. They offer good service but not superior.
airbusmango From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (10 months 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 3878 times:
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 3): Nice trip report, thanks for sharing it with us.
Amazing how much has changed in these 3 years; back in the NW and CO days.
your experciences mirror my experciences on NW. They offer good service but not superior.
Hi Marc, and thank you for taking the time to read. It's a pity that that was my one and only time trying out NW before it got swallowed by DL. I would have liked to fly them a few more times to find out more if their service is good elsewhere!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 4): Hi Hafiz, thanks for sharing! This report brought back some fond memories of flying NWA. I miss those red tails!
Hi Martijn! Where red tails are concerned, at least JAL planes are still around and still bear red tails.. part of it, at least!
Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 5): Another great report! I'm looking forward my trip to Japan next month.
Thank you very very much, Gabriel! Who are you flying on? And what is your itinerary like?
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From Singapore, joined Apr 2012, 61 posts, 
Doraemon
All signs are still on, keep your seatbelts fastened!
Bread roll with its accompaniments
From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2256 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1632 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, 
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