Precious Memories: LAX-Xiamen-Narita

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

LAX-Xiamen-Narita

12-Day Southeast Asia Cruise on Diamond Princess December 7~19, 2018

Pre-Cruise: Los Angeles - Xiamen, China - Yokohama, Japan

LAX to Xiamen on Xiamen Airlines

Everybody thought I was crazy to be home for four days and then leave again for another long-haul flight to Asia. That was exactly what I did, except this time leaving MOR and ChC home and joined SC, CiC, and ET for an amazing trip to southeast Asia. The last trip was with MOR's family and this one was with my siblings. It's always fun and precious to be traveling with families.

LAX was not that busy that evening, and after our experience at the Ontario airport, I felt that even the Tom Bradley terminal was quite acceptable even though I was not having the TSA pre-check privilege because the Airline (Xiamen Air) do not have a contract with TSA. Some TSA officers were actually quite pleasant and courteous for a change, as we were queuing for security check. Some even wishing us a pleasant trip. A step up in service, I must say.

We found ourselves at the food court after being air-side and looking for some dinner before boarding our plane that was to leave around 10:00. KFC was sufficient for me and other choices for the rest in our party. But then it was another story at the boarding gate which was at the lower level of the terminal with hundreds of people jammed inside this very bare and basic waiting area like a herd of cattle. It was almost like being in a huge warehouse which I thought we were back in time about 20 years ago. This is an area I have never been to of all the traveling that I have done at Tom Bradley. Quite an eye-opener. Crowded and disorganized. We had to take the shuttles to get to another building to board our plane. So glad it was over and settled down in our seats on this Boeing 787.

We had the middle rows seats on this plane with 3-3-3 configuration.

Thank goodness, there was an empty seat between ET and I making this long flight a little more bearable. This plane was quite comfortable with enough leg space and good entertainment system. There were plenty of shows and games available and the service was quite good.

Food was decent, better than China Airlines that we flew on a few days ago, in my opinion.

First meal around two hours into the flight.

I was able to sleep for a few hours and watched a couple of shows during the long flight.

Breakfast was served before landing at Xiamen airport.

To transit from Xiamen to Tokyo, we had to officially enter China and filling out the entry form. We thought that being just transferring, we just filled out the 'blue' entry form but was told later by the immigration official that since we already have the 10-year visas, filling out the 'yellow' form would make it easier and faster when going through immigration. Another lesson learned.

Now that we entered Xiamen, China, we thought it would be great to just walk out and see Xiamen even for just a little bit. This was right outside the terminal.

Can't go too far!

Actually, Xiamen was the first city we visited on our very first trip into China in 1988. I am sure it is very different now but I remember I had a very good impression of this coastal city then. Would love to explore this fast-developing city again.

After going through three security checks, we were back air-side in the airport. Having some time to spare, we decided to have a snack before boarding our flight to Narita, Japan.

We noticed that some passengers who were on the flight from L.A. to Xiamen were also transiting with us. I am sure the low airfare had a lot to do with this flight schedule. We paid only around $550 round trip for this LAX-Xiamen-Narita then Singapore-Xiamen-LAX flight on our return trip. A really good bargain that many travelers on this cruise took advantage of. Longer flight and transit time but quite worth it.

We found this cafe as we were walking to the boarding gate.

The ladies decided to have this abalone and pork ribs soup which was very good!

And SC had the fruity drink.

The flight to Narita was smooth and uneventful other than they changed our boarding gates while at Xiamen airport, making us walk a little more than necessary.

We arrived Narita on time and pretty soon we were out looking for the Airport Limousine counter which is right there at arrival exit. Our plan was to take the airport limousine bus from Narita to Yokohama for $36 each with the final stop at the Hotel New Grand. Then we would walk a couple of blocks to our hotel near Chinatown in Yokohama. This would be the most direct and easy way for us without any transfer on trains, buses or taxis. The only thing is there are not that many buses doing this route so we had to wait about an hour for our bus to leave Narita at around 4:20. It was OK though, I would rather sit and relax than hauling our luggage getting on and off trains and stations. All we had to do was hand over our luggage to the workers at the station and they took care of everything until we get off the bus.

Arrived at Narita and waiting for our limousine bus to depart for Yokohama.

Inside Narita Airport

Visitor Center

It was nice to be able to see some of the sights as we traveled from Narita to Yokohama. The only stops we made on this route was the two terminal stops at Haneda airport. There were not that many people on this bus and most passengers got off at either one of the stops at Haneda. At the end there were only the four of us and two other passengers who were also going on this cruise getting off at Hotel New Grand.

It was drizzling a little when we got off the bus making our walk to the Rose Hotel a little difficult but fortunately it wasn't too far away.

By the time we checked in and settled down, it was close to 7:00. Knowing real well that the restaurant we planned on going would be closing soon, we decided to take a walk and see what we could find for dinner. There was no lack of food being in Chinatown but Chinese food was not what we wanted when in Japan.

Chinatown Yokohama in the evening.

Then we crossed the bridge over to the Motomachi area where it was festively decorated.

It was a funny feeling that I was just here about two weeks ago.

Having the luck of getting some good toro at the Mega Don Quijote supermarket a couple of weeks ago, we decided to check that out and see what we could find. We ended up with some sushi and sashimi at a bargain since it was getting late in the day. They also had many other cooked items and prepared foods like fried chicken, sandwiches, etc. at the market. We enjoyed a good dinner inside our hotel room that evening.

Inside the Mega Don Quijote.

As I have mentioned on the previous post, this store has everything from toothbrush to second-hand LV bags. You could possible spend a couple of hours in there.

1 Chome-2-8 Shinyamashita

Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken 231-0801, Japan