I was quite nervous about the long flight from Boston to Tokyo. Our first leg was a 15 hour direct flight to Hong Kong that left Boston at 1:30am, followed by a 3 hour layover in Hong Kong and then a 3 hour flight to Tokyo.
At Logan airport in Boston, from the moment we checked our bags at Cathay Pacific, it already felt like we had entered Asia and I was loving every moment of it. No longer anxious, I was just filled with excitement. We began boarding the plane and I was surprised to find the seats were no more spacious than most other domestic flights I’ve been on. While this Airbus A350 was the biggest plane I had ever been on with 70 rows of 9 seats across, the actual seats felt smaller and tighter and as I squeezed myself into the window seat, I could feel how easy it would be to totally freak out but I pushed it away and just smiled at Manuela as we got situated. The inflight food was actually quite good! We ordered vegan meals, which come out first, so as soon as we were in the air, we were served some really tasty hot potatoes with beans and vegetables and tomatoes and bread.
After the dinner service was complete we got up to stretch and use the bathroom before falling asleep with the little pillow and blanket they gave us. We managed to sleep for most of the first half of the flight and the next thing we knew they were coming around with breakfast. We opened the window for the first time after taking off, as they mandate that all the windows be closed as it was very bright out and this is how the they put us all to bed. It appeared the sun was just rising but it was actually setting and it was dark as we flew directly over the north pole. We had been flying north and now we were flying south over Asia over northern Russia and Mongolia and then over China.
I listed to some music while Manuela started watching a movie. The seats had big screens built into them with loads of movies, TV shows and games. We each played every single game multiple times like Tetris and Angry Birds. We got up a few more times to stretch and use the bathroom and find more snacks. The staff was incredible warm. It was still dark when we landed in Hong Kong and the airport was quiet and sleepy but we managed to find a restaurant where we got some vegan mushroom noodle soup and hot water with lemon and it was like the most amazing thing we’d ever had.
It brought us back to life and then we took a long walk thru the airport and eventually boarded our flight to Tokyo which was very manageable but that last hour felt like it dragged on forever. After figuring out the express train from the Airport to Tokyo Station, we decided to catch a cab to our hotel which we booked right next to the Vegan Monkey Magic restaurant and it was soooo nice. We showered and stretched out in our beds, taking a short nap before headed out for our first festive meal in Japan. It was a beautiful afternoon in Tokyo.
Thanks for reading. I love you.