See One Thing: The Imperial Palace Gardens

 

  

Tokyo is regularly featured on lists of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it is easy to see why.  The ten to twelve hour layovers that I find are standard when connecting from a Southeast Asia flight back to the US give me the perfect amount of time to 'see one thing' in the city.  It is a massive urban area, but is immaculately maintained, safe to explore, and features some elegant public spaces.  One of the most famous and accessible of these is the grounds of the Imperial Palace, and the surrounding gardens.  This complex includes the residences of the emperor and empress, various administrative and government buildings, as well as the gardens. 

 

It is an expansive space, set in the heart of the city, just a few blocks from Tokyo station.  It is estimated that at the height of the Tokyo property bubble, the Imperial Palace and grounds foot-for-foot were worth as much as all the real estate in California, combined!

 

 

Much of the grounds are closed to the public, but the East Gardens are free of admission.  You get there by crossing the moat that encircles the grounds via one of the bridges.  At the gate, you are given a free 'admission ticket' that you hand back when you leave.

 

 

Wandering around the gardens is a perfect respite from a long weekend of traveling.  When I have a layover in Tokyo long enough to make it into the city, which takes approximately an hour each way via the Narita Express train, I try to spend a good amount of it outdoors.  Of course, my second order of business is always a sushi lunch! 

The gardens are comprised of many smaller areas of trees and planted areas, that allow for a range of experiences.  There are groves of bamboo, ponds, and waterfalls.

 

 The use of water was particularly beautiful.  It made the spaces seem even more peaceful, even amidst such a busy urban area.  

 

There were also some of the most beautiful Koi I've seen.  They were swimming by one of the bridges over their pond, probably hoping it was feeding time. 

 

It wasn't cherry blossom season when I visited, but there were still a few last petals hanging on. 

 



 

After a relaxing stroll for about an hour, I headed back into the rest of the city to look at the nearby shops and get some food before catching the train back to the airport.  As always, the train was immaculately on time, clean, and quiet.  I arrived back in plenty of time to enjoy a drink at the Sakura 1st lounge, before catching my flight back home.  

 

 

Just one more reason to love a Tokyo stopover!

 

Travel well,

 

~CruisingAltitude 

 

If you're looking for other one-day stop tips, also check out See One Thing: Victoria Peak

 

 This post is part of #WanderfulWednesdays, Budget Traveler's Sandbox's #TravelPhotoThursday, #WeekendTravelInspiration, and #FlyAwayFriday at Time Travel Blonde. Check out these linkups!



Let's Do That Again....

Yes, this picture I took of 'AA through the years' at ORD hangs in my office.  Don't judge....

As it's the opening week of my Mileage Season, I'm obliged to honor my tradition of posting the layout of my travel plans on the way to 100k and EXP status for 'One More Year.'  This will be the fourth time I've said 'One More Year,' for those keeping track at home.

I thought last year's mega-mileage runs would cure me of this hobby.  I mean, booking yourself 48 solid flight hours over a long weekend should logically deter a reasonable person from wanting to get back on a plane for the foreseeable future.  But, as has been made clear, mileage runners aren't reasonable people.  At least not about this.

Honestly, even with the jetlag, the hours in economy seating, warmed-over food, Chinese smog in Shanghai, and questionable connections in snowstorms, I had a blast.  I met new people, saw things and places I didn't even know I was looking for, and learned to navigate cities and airports as foreign as they come.

So, in four short days, I'm off on the first of this year's two long-haul runs.... and I can't wait.  

I think 'Donkey' said it best...

As any mileage runner who's in it for the status level knows, the adventure can be a by-product of the goal of reaching 25, 50, or 100k miles.  So, for those wondering where the mileage runs are this year, and why, here's an overview of this season's itineraries-

This season is comprised of two long weekends headed West over the Pacific from Dallas to various destinations in Asia.  Weekend one is the longer of the two, coming in at around 22,600 elite qualifying miles, with a flight path from LAX-DFW on the red eye to meet up with a mid-morning nonstop to Hong Kong.  I then have a night at an airport hotel, before heading out the next morning from HKG to Jakarta, Indonesia.  There's about 8 hours on the ground there, enough time to go relax a little at a close-by Sheraton resort (on points, of course), before an overnight flight to Tokyo Narita.  Then about twelve hours of daylight time there to go into the city and see a few things, before hopping on the return NRT-DFW-LAX trip back home again.  Simple, right? 

The flights look like this:

via Great Circle Mapper.  Sidenote- the circumference of the Earth is only slightly longer than this run.

What's fun about this run is that it allows some time on the ground in each city, but not so much that the time changes start to get disruptive.  I don't have any specific plans of where to go during the stopovers, so I can relax, or not.  Secondly, I'm really looking forward to getting back to the NRT airport lounge.  Last season I had a great layover there including a nice massage, shower, and some fantastic food and drink.  Plus, the premiere lounge in HKG, 'The Wing,' is constantly in the running for the best airport lounge in the OneWorld system.

As for the other bits of intrigue about this run- the outbound is on AA's 777-300er, which I've previously reviewed.  It's AA's biggest and shiniest plane, at least in the forward cabins. If you're lucky enough for an upgrade to clear, is a fantastic way to sleep away a 16+ hr trans-pacific flight.  The inter-asia flights are on Cathay Pacific and JAL, both of whom offer fantastic service, even in economy.  The longer leg on JAL up to Tokyo is being flown on a large plane, and reports from other mileage runners are coming back that it's nearly empty, letting passengers spread out and take rows to themselves- the economy traveler's 'lie-flat suite.'

The second weekend is a simpler riff on the first.  It's a two night trip to Hong Kong, with time for a stay at the Sheraton in the city.  I'll hopefully have just finished qualifying for SPG Platinum status by then, so hoping for lounge access and a nice upgrade.  No actual appointments, so free to stay on my original timezone if I choose.  The flight path originates in ORD, so I found some milesaver award positioning flights to accommodate.  All in all, the flights look like this:

Also, for comparison's sake, here's the links to previous years' posts on this topic can be found here:
2013 (Johannesburg, ZA and Shanghai)
2012 (Four times to Boston and back)
2009 (NYC and Boston) (yes, my first entry!)

Since I always see people who are curious about mileage running, or deciding whether it's worth it, or if they're finding good deals, asking about it I'll lay out the nuts and bolts of the 'mileage math' for these runs.  They were similar in price, both sub-5 cents per mile ("cpm"), and as I had a $400 voucher from last year when I took a flight change at AA's request, I was able to get a combined 3.5 cpm for the 40,504 elite-qualifying miles these trips will net me.  (yes, that number's even a palindrome, has to be good luck!)  With the status-based doubling for redeemable miles I'm earning 81,008 at 1.7cpm to put towards future travel or upgrades.  Even without the voucher, most people would consider these flights decent mileage runs for status.

'Congratulations, your mileage runs come with a free first class trip to Urubamba, Peru!'

As an example of what this many miles can get you, I took the miles I earned last year and booked myself and Mrs. CruisingAltitude on LAN's 1st class flights to Lima, Peru and onwards to Cusco to go to the Sacred Valley next year at a rate of 60,000 miles per ticket round trip.

Paying cash for these would start at around $4,000.  So, in this example those 60,000 miles earned at 1.7cpm means the ticket 'cost' just over $1,000.  Even this is over-priced as the mileage runs were also a way to gain all the benefits of Executive Platinum status, which on their own far outweigh the cash spent on the tickets.  In a sense, the trip to Peru is a fun side effect of making status.

I booked us at the Tambo Del Inka Resort in Urubamba.  Rumored to be one of the most beautiful SPG properties in the system.  Also one of the best of this level for cash & points redemptions, making stays here start at $110 per night + points.

Indoor/Outdoor pool and spa at Tambo Del Inka.  The resort also features its own train station on the line to Machu Picchu.

Okay....I've probably lost 90% of readers at this point.  For the 10% of you who still care, there's more rambling on this subject on [this post] from last year.  Good luck.

At this point in my mileage running career, I keep wavering between being a little sheepish about it all, and wanting to share my adventures.  One thing that constantly surprises me is how many people actually want to learn about it, even if only to comment on how ridiculous it is.  As mileage season generally lines up with the holidays and time spent with family (most of whom we have to fly to see), I usually end up recounting the latest set of adventures on these visits.  There was enough discussion of it last year after I got back from my JNB  and PVG runs that the first holiday toast (not given by me) was aptly concluded with:

 "....And my flight to be with you all tonight cost me $500 round trip, but it came with about 3 new sweaters."

Sounds like a decent deal to me.

Until the next flight,

~CruisingAltitude 

Its own reward...

The rewards that make the delays worth it-
 Breathtaking sunlight through clouds on approach to NRT

I'm so glad I took that advice from 1500's.  So, so glad.  In particular, that suitcase full of patience I've got properly stowed in the overhead bin has come in very handy of late.  It's what's kept all the little trials of mileage running from upping my blood pressure this weekend.  I've had my phone 'eaten' by my J seat for the better part of my 14 hr inbound flight (took 3 flight attendants and nearly a mechanic to get it back), navigated the Maglev and Shanghai subway system, and white-knuckled it more than once worrying over my 'transit without visa' status getting into China.  So far, however, I've made it through in pretty good spirits.

I slept well last night, after exploring a little down at The Bund yesterday evening and enjoying my corner room at the Sheraton Hongkou.  Now, I'm currently on my 4th of 7 segments on this weekend's marathon mileage run.  It's JAL flight 872 from Shanghai Pudong to Tokyo Narita.  We're en-route...finally, after a 2.5 hour ground delay in PVG due to heavy fog.  Honestly, considering I believe I heard (things get lost in translations and accents) that at least briefly all runways were closed.

Riverfront walk- Shanghai skyline at night

To get an idea of how much of a mess closing even partial runways at this airport would be, let me put it this way- at least from my limited time there PVG makes a place like SFO or SEA look like a municipal field with one windsock.  The place is huge- dizzyingly tall sloping ceilings, never ending walkways & lots and lots of flights.

All in all I'm counting myself lucky on this one- we're in the air & my connecting flight back to ORD is much later today, so I'll still have some time on the ground in NRT.

Plus, I'd heard about JAL's reputation for great customer service, and I haven't been disappointed.  One thing of note was that they boarded on time and the delay kept us on-board for 2 hours before we pushed back.  Sounds like shades of the issues that prompted the 'passenger bill of rights' awhile back, no?

"Smogged in" in PVG

Except, it wasn't that bad- definitely not as bad as being on a US domestic flight in a similar situation (I'm looking at you JetBlue at 1am in JFK in the snow).  The attendants were professional and friendly, and we were offered drinks, snacks, and even our meal service prior to take off.

In seat entertainment was active, and I tried (for the second time this trip) to watch Elysium....but still only made it part way.  Next flight, provided I can sort out the fast forward.  I'm conflicted about this one though- Jodie Foster's character is supposed to be the villain, and out of habit I want to take her side anyway.  She's had me since Ellie Arroway :)

The flight deck kept us updated, and the time passed pretty quickly.  It also didn't hurt that the Y cabin is fairly empty, and they let me move back to an empty A-C row for some extra space.  Besides, they passed out extra rice crackers. I love rice crackers.

I will say though, I'm glad to be on my way and above the layer of smog and clouds that covered everything in Shanghai.  Up at 30,000ft it's a beautiful day over the water as we make our way Northeast, around the coast of South Korea.  The sky has given way to a broken ceiling of puffy clouds that reflect off the blue-green water benieth.

Beautiful day up here - over the water PVG-NRT

Up next- hopefully a view of Mt. Fuji & then the JAL 1st lounge for a bit before heading back across the Pacific!

Here's to the journey!

~CruisingAltitude

Endnote- posted from the JAL 1st Lounge in NRT.  We made it (finally) and I'm enjoying some food and drinks before my massage time.  Then....off to the next segment & hopefully a good night's sleep back to ORD.

How to pack for a journey...

I'm not sure those will fit under the seat in front of me....or in the overhead bin.

It's that time again already, CruisingAlitiude is packing for the next (and final!!) mileage run.  I thought now would be an opportune time to take some advice from people who've done this before.  Where better to go than history?

Here's some advice on how to pack for a journey, circa 1480:

"[A traveler] should carry with him two bags: one very full of patience, the other containing two hundred Venetian ducats, or at least one hundred and fifty... furthermore, he should provision himself with good Lombard cheese, sausages, tongue, and other cured meats of every sort; white biscuits, some cakes of sugar, and various confections, but not a great quantity because they spoil quickly. Above all he should take plenty of fruit syrup, because that is what keeps a man alive in extreme heat; and also ginger syrup to settle his stomach if it is upset by too much vomiting." 

Santo Brasca, Viaggio in Terrasanta (1480)

I'm not sure how Chinese customs agents would feel about the cured meats and good Lombard cheese, but I've got my suitcase full of patience. Well, full of patience and the rest of my stuff.  You didn't think I was going to check it, did you?  Plus I agree wholeheartedly on the ginger.  I've got syrup, caps, fresh..you name it- good for the stomach, motion sickness, and circulation.  But, does anyone know where I can get about a hundred Venetian ducats?  Are those accepted where they don't take AmEx?  Maybe I'll just try changing some money in PVG....

This weekend is part 2 of this mileage season.  Tomorrow I've got positioning flights LAX-SFO-ORD.  LAX-SFO has cleared for the upgrade, but I'm still waiting on the second longer segment.  The good news is the following day my ORD-PVG (Shanghai Pudong) flight has already cleared into J (business) class.  Thank God, since it's an impressive (if I do say so myself) 14.5 hr flight.  The angle-lie flat seat will make a world of difference.

From there, I have an afternoon in Shanghai and a night at the Sheraton before flying onward to Tokyo (NRT) on JAL, and then enjoying the F lounge for awhile before heading back on my NRT-ORD-DFW-LAX marathon on Sunday.  Upgrades for those are still pending, so wish me luck!

Maybe those 14 hours will be a good time to finally finish my trip report for the last MR.  Like I've said in recent posts, JNB and back was a blast (yes, including the passport mishap and jetlag).  In the mean time, here's a few pics from our trip to Lion Park - totally worth the 48 hours of flight time!  (The 22.6k miles didn't hurt either)

This giraffe was displeased with waiting for his treat until after I took the picture.
Incidentally, this is the exact same expression on most mileage runners' faces when
they hear 'first class has checked in full, please board with your assigned groups.'  

They let you play with lion cubs- this one got fresh and bit my jacket for awhile.
I and the jacket survived, don't worry. 

Fly Safe,

~CruisingAltitude

Anatomy of a mileage season....

This season's flight paths, yes really.
(via Great Circle Mapper)

Last weekend Mrs. CruisingAltitude and I had some friends over for our, now annual, 'Fall in California' party.  You can read more about it from her [here] at our 'grounded' blog.  Turns out if you put enough pumpkin and cider into it, even an 80 deg  SoCal day by the beach can take on a convincing seasonal shift.  My point in bringing this up is that, after a few glasses of hard cider, someone asked what 'the deal was with my travel thing.'

A slight look of worry then crossed Mrs. CruisingAltitude's face as she warned our unwitting friend not to ask that question if they didn't actually want the whole answer (or lecture as it might be).  However, they laughed it off and said they really did want to know.  In short- can open, worms everywhere.

From meeting other miles and points junkies and addicted travelers, I know I'm not alone in this particular proclivity. Whether it's the latest flight deal or best card offer, when asked we really can't help but give a full....some might say exhaustive... answer.

Maybe it's our personal excitement over the subject, maybe a little pride in having caught that great deal, or maybe it's just simply that none of this stuff lends itself to a short reply.  I mean, honestly, if anyone's devised a way to explain the concept and execution of manufactured spending or valuation of elite status in a charming, witty, cocktail party-appropriate manner please god let me know.  Immediately.  

This is something of particular concern as I'm on 'short final approach' to a whopper of a mileage season.  This year, as last, I'm just under 40k shy of Executive Platinum status with American.  This is, yes, a lot.  Last year they ran a end of year DEQM, making qualification much simpler.  This year, however, it doesn't look good, so I'm doing things the old fashioned way.  I went back and forth for months about whether or not to re-qualify given the numbers involved.  In the end, I left it to fate and passively cruised for deals in case it could be done reasonably.  And, as it turns out, it can.  ('Reasonable' being a very relative term here)

The goal was to get it done in a minimum of weekends away, and little to no time off work.  The result of my search is the following two weekends:

Trip 1- 'The Real Test Of Resolve.'
This is a 5 segment, 3 continent, 22.6k mile round trip itinerary from LAX-London Heathrow-Johannesburg, South Africa-London Heathrow-DFW-LAX requiring around 48 hours of flight time.  Yes, once again, I'm serious.  It is, however, not a 'true' mileage run by purist standards as I have a night (on cash and points) at the Hilton Sandton in ZA and the better part of two days on the ground.  I know, I know, serious bad form there ;)

Challenges:
-Well, 48 hours of flight time, at least 24 of which must be in Y (coach) as they're a British Airways codeshare with no option to use a SWU.
-Parts of Jo'burg require some situational awareness while sightseeing.
-Likely stuffed to oversold flight on the outbound to LHR in all classes.

Positives:
-Long flights means lots of miles with fewer possibilities for misconnects.
-Both TATL segments on American's new 777-300ER (aka Tripp from 'Planes'!!) meaning MCE at worst, and lie-flat business class at best.
-Quite a few other mileage runners are going the same weekend- safety in numbers, and a chance to meet some new people.
-No visa requirement
-Totally new destinations/airports/planes - AA Flagship lounges, Arrivals & GF lounge in LHR!
-Lions.

AA's new metal- 777-300ER
& Animated counterpart (above)

Trip 2- 'Just A Little Jaunt Across The Pacific'
The second round, though a little dwarfed by the first, is pretty hefty in it's own right.  However, some hardcore mileage runners would consider it little more than a rambling tour of the Pacific Rim in 36 hours.

It takes 7 segments, and nets right around 18k EQMs.  It starts with a positioning flight LAX-SFO-ORD, with an overnight at the Aloft Rosemont, before a morning flight ORD-Shanghai Pudong.  Then I have a night at the Sheraton in Shanghai (hoping for a nice Platinum upgrade here) and some time to sight see, followed by an early flight Shanghai- Tokyo Narita, 6 hours to enjoy the JAL First lounge, then the long haul of Tokyo-ORD-DFW-LAX.

Challenges-
-Quite a few segments to make connections on.
-Early flight out of PVG may require a taxi ride rather than the train (more expensive).
-Final day is 18+hrs of flying consisting of 4 segments.

Positives-
-Almost entirely on AA metal, with a high chance of upgrades clearing, and therefore, grabbing some actual sleep along the way.
-2 real hotel nights, one of which should result in a nice upgrade and free food and drink.
-Some high end lounges and time to enjoy them, especially in NRT.
-Segment to NRT allows me to waive the $150 Chinese visa.
-Maglev train to Shanghai (300+ mph!!)
-Sushi

All in all I'll fly 12 segments, to and/or through 8 airports, on 3 different Oneworld airlines, in 6 plane types.  If I call it 'extreme flying' does it make it better.....or worse?  True, I'm probably going to be exhausted once the adrenaline dies down, but from my past experience I'll say there's nothing like walking off that last jetbridge at your home airport knowing you've hit 100k, made a ton of miles, and had an adventure along the way.

Planespotting from the LAX AC

One thing I think people don't emphasize enough when they try to tell others about this pass time (er...lifestyle choice?) is that there are so many reasons to do a trip like this, and you can't really separate them out or give them value independently from the other.  Sure, there's the status and the miles themselves, which we always mention.  They're the tangible benefit- something you can try to put a price tag on.  But the rest matters too, maybe even more in the long run (pun intended).

When I look back on previous mileage runs what I actually remember are the 'war stories'-  The gamble on tight connections, solving the puzzle of how to get from point A to point B in C number of miles for under D price, and the fun insanity of a weekend in the closed off world of airports, lounges, and planes - the only place you can be sitting down to a 6am orange juice and cereal, then have someone next to you order up a Heineken and no one even bats an eye.

But there are also the real, personal, memories- like having the chance to meet up with friends in distant cities as if you lived just one town over, walking through an early snowstorm in the Boston Common when it's 80 degrees back home in LA, or sitting down next to a stranger in row 10 of your second transcon of a Saturday, feeling a little silly when you tell him the reason for your trip....only to have him start to laugh, saying, 'Me too, and I've been doing this since Thursday!!'

It's a strange thing, this flying we do, but it offers some of the most unique experiences one can have.  I've had long conversations with people I never would have otherwise met, seen places I'd never have otherwise considered going, and I've worked, dreamed, written, schemed, and had epiphanies all along the way.

So, my point...should I choose to get back to it... is no, I still don't know how to give the cliffnotes version of 'what's up with my flying thing' without it being either unintelligible rambling about cents per mile, or sounding like a ridiculous excess waste of time and money.  I have a hard time getting the charm of it all across.

However, Mrs. CruisingAltitude had some advice- "Maybe you should work on making the explanation sound funnier."

Okay, funnier, here goes:

".....So a 737, a ERJ 145, and an Airbus fly into a bar....and the bartender says..."

Well... maybe not, I'll keep working on it.  Luckily I'll have plenty of time at 36,000ft to do so.  If I can't figure it out by the last of these segments, it's probably a sign the world's not ready.

~CruisingAltitude