Kon’nichiwa from Japan!

Tokyo –

After our glorious first class flight, we hit the ground running in Tokyo at 7am. We headed out on the town and had our morning coffee with owls. Like in the US where you can have coffee with kittens, in Tokyo you can have coffee with owls.

After that we checked out Takeshita street which was jammed with people and crazy things to buy.   We had a fun time tasting food from vendors and looking at the all the souvenirs.

For lunch, we had sushi near Shibuya crossing. The sushi was delicious and special orders were sent passed the conveyor belt to our table on its own monorail. Thanks for the recommendation, Kasia!

Later that night, we had ramen with our neighbors as they were coincidentally in Tokyo as well.

The next day, we headed to the Imperial Palace which is the primary residence of Japan’s Emperor. It was also the beginning of cherry blossom season so we had fun taking pictures. I never really understood why people cared so much about them, but seeing these beautiful trees among the Japanese architecture was truly special.

Later that day we made our way to Shinjuku and had a great tour at the Samurai Museum. They had all sorts of armory, swords and paintings that were up to 1500 years old. The detail and art work on each artifact was really amazing. While we were there, John defeated a ninja and became a Samurai.

As a token of honor [and a fair amount of Japanese yen], the Voychicks were granted a Nanban Tsuba. This is a hand guard from a real samurai sword from the Edo period [200-300 years ago].

That night, we went bar hopping in the Golden Gai district. This was our favorite place in Tokyo and if you are ever there, this is a must do. It is series of over 200 bars and eateries squeezed in between 6 alleys with extremely narrow walkways. It has been described as “shanty style” and old Tokyo with most bars not fitting more than 5 or 6 people. If you go, we recommend starting at Albatross.

Kyoto-

The next day we took the bullet train to Kyoto. Unfortunately for us, the one full day we had in Kyoto was cold and rainy. Fortunately for you, this did not stop us from renting electric bikes and taking pictures of all the amazing temples and shrines.

We were also lucky in that it was the beginning of Miyako Odori. This is a festival held annually in Kyoto to celebrate Japan’s old capital. Residents of Kyoto dress up in Geisha attire and have several performances over the course of a few weeks.

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This was our favorite part of Kyoto was in the Gion District enjoying the celebration.

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We also had a great time at a traditional teppanyaki grill in Gion which is where hibachi can trace its roots to.

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In the morning, we road our bikes 1.5 hours to the bamboo grove which was simply magical.

And then went to the monkey forest where you could feed the monkeys right from your hand!  We enjoyed some time at each spot before it was time to catch our plane home to see our good friends Evan and Casey get married in Bel Air.

Singapore Suites. Beyond first class.

Last week we had the opportunity to fly one of the most aspirational awards bookable on points. This was to be the best flight we have taken to date, and a difficult, near impossible one to top.

We cashed in 161,500 Singapore Air points to book two 1-way tickets from Sydney to Tokyo with a layover in Singapore.

After checking in at Sydney, we breezed through security, passed the business class lounge and straight to first class. We enjoyed satay skewers, New Zealand sauvignon blanc and took showers after roughing it for a week in a van.

While boarding, we were greeted by name in the jet bridge and were escorted to our seats by the SQ airline team.  Our two seats were combined in the center to make one extra-large suite.

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The head steward immediately brought us over our first glass of Dom Perignon and our amenity kits. We had our own pajamas, perfume and cologne to name a few things.

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After take-off we decided to taste test the free flowing drink menu. It turns out Ashleigh prefers Dom Perignon while John enjoys Krug. Hennessey XO stands for “extra old,” and Johnnie Walker Blue Label is still frowned upon when mixed with ginger ale.

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The highlights of the five course meal included lobster, filet mignon and caviar. While I can’t say I particularly love caviar, I’ll probably have it every time it’s offered because I know it’s expensive.

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After our meal, our seats were completely transformed into a bed including a mattress topper and a duvet. It was completely over the top luxury and comfort while at 40,000 feet.

Throughout the remainder of the flight, we watched movies, played cards and emptied a few bottles of Dom and Krug.

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For our layover, we were curious to see what this invitation to the private room really meant. We arrived at the SQ lounge and were escorted through the business lounge to the first class lounge. Upon being greeted by the lovely attendants, we were guided away from the first class lounge into a secret door behind the wall. This was the private room. It’s literally a lounge, within a lounge, within yet another lounge.

Our two hour layover had somehow turned into a dinner date at a Michelin starred restaurant.

After the layover, we boarded our second flight to Japan where our 20 hours of luxury would come to an end and we were stuck at the Intercontinental Tokyo for a few nights.