Japan Once More

After returning from our first trip to Japan in 2010, we knew a subsequent trip would come.  So after two years of anticipation and longing, we finally embarked on our second vacation to Monster Island.

Images of Godzilla flash at me from a set of slot machines in our terminal. Godzilla: King of Monsters.

Us at the first airport.

One the first plane.

On the bus to the international terminal at LAX.

Nihon-ryōri plane food.

NICE! JAL is a very nice airline, much better than our American flight last time.

This is the retractable multi-controller in your arm rest of the plane. You can control the TV and play video games with it. The other side is a phone you can make calls with, after you swipe your credit card through it.

On the plane we watched a newer anime called Wolf Children. It was actually quite excellent, and if you are a fan of anime you should definitely check this one out.

We also killed a lot of time watching the entire DVD (season 1 and season 2) of Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule. Brilliant!

Completed a second meal on the 11.5 hour flight to Japan. This one consisted of a Yoshinoya beef bowl.

Periodically, the flight attendants would make an announcement. The screen would display the above which read "PA IN PROGRESS".  At a glance however, this looks more like Pain Progress, which is essentially what a 11.5 hour flight consists of.

Finally off the plane in the train station.

Elevator.

On the Narita Express.

Snack menu on the Shinkensen to Osaka.

Drinks.

Train food. Very tasty with Asahi on 20+ hours of no sleep.