JL061 on July 2 2009


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I recently took a Japan Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo (JL061). And I finally remembered to take pictures before I eat my food on my LAX-NRT flight. Here's my photo report of my flight.

Check-in: JAL moved to the new counter area and has the new style check-in counters. It looks like they have less counters now but I could be wrong. Line is not that long but the entire area seems crowded. The line you see below is Business class check in not First.

JAL check-in counters at LAX
JAL check-in counters at LAX

Lounge: As expected, I was invited to the non-alliance lounge instead of OneWorld's. Only JAL First class passengers are invited to the OneWorld lounge. Below are the map and picture of the lounge. By the way they changed their boarding pass and they are all black-and-white with a bar code on it. No more color coded boarding pass for different classes. Instead, they use those leftover blue Seasons boarding pass for lounge pass LOL. I ate before I went through security because I knew there will be almost nothing decent to eat there. And that's true. There's some not quite appealing sushi, cup noodles and pastries. Wi-Fi connection at the lounge is TERRIBLE. I constantly got dropped connection and couldn't connect for a minute or so after I got dropped.

Map to the JAL Lounge at LAX
Map to the JAL Lounge at LAX

JAL Lounge at LAX
JAL Lounge at LAX

My Seat: 19A/K are taken but I managed to select an upper deck window seat 16K. It's nice to have the extra storage space right next to you and I can keep my camera there all the time to take pictures :) But I will have to say goodbye to this when they switch to 773 on October 25.

JAL Shell Flat seat on 747-400 upper deck
JAL Shell Flat seat on 747-400 upper deck

Welcome Champagne: As Japan aviation law does not allow JAL (and ANA) to provide pre-flight drink, I only got my welcome drink after take-off. Not long after the seatbelt sign has been turned off, the two cabin attendants brought out champagne for every passenger. If you don't like champagne you can ask for orange juice instead.

Champagne is served as welcome drink on JL061
Champagne is served as welcome drink

Amuse Bouche: After the welcome drink it's the amuse bouche. There's some kind of Ham with artichoke and I still don't know what the other dish is. All I can say is I don't like the texture it's a bit weird for me. But it tastes okay. The ham is a bit salty for me but it's ham so it's supposed to be salty LOL

Amuse bouche on JL061
Amuse bouche on JL061

Amuse bouche on JL061
Amuse bouche on JL061

Amuse bouche on JL061
Amuse bouche on JL061

First Meal: I chose the Japanese dish for my first meal. There were two options and I picked the Teriyaki beef. It's a three-course meal.

From left to right: (2nd row) clam, octopus sashimi, tofu with sea urchin, lobster tail, (1st row) cold noodle, shrimp with some fish balls, seaweed in vinegar, steam chicken. I am really picky when it comes to food. So I didn't taste all of the dishes. But the lobster one is way overcook and the meat is kind of tough. The main problem I have with the dishes are the textures. Maybe they are too authentic for me :) The cabin crew was actually surprised to see how much food was left on my dishes and wasn't sure I was done.

Japanese appetizers on JL061
Japanese appetizers on JL061

Japanese appetizers on JL061
Japanese appetizers on JL061

Japanese appetizers on JL061
Japanese appetizers on JL061

The entree is really tasty. Beef is tender and taste just right. The only complain is it could be a bit greasy for some people.

Japanese main dish on JL061
Japanese main dish on JL061

Japanese main dish on JL061
Japanese main dish on JL061
The dessert is my favorite dish in my first meal. No complain at all :)

Dessert on JL061
Dessert on JL061

After the first meal, It's time to get some sleep.

JAL Shell Flat Seat in bed position
JAL Shell Flat Seat in bed position

Before the second meal, I ordered some snacks from the a la carte menu. I didn't take pictures of the snack because the cabin is way too dark after they dim the light and I don't want to use flash light to disturb other passengers. On the menu are: Chinese dim sum, Chinese cold noodles, sandwich, rice ball, gelato, cheese selections, and of course the cup noodles (I think I might have missed one dish but I couldn't remember what it is).

Second meal: This is the BEST meal during the flight. I picked the Japanese option with includes a seafood congee and some cold dishes. The congee is the BEST congee I have ever had ANYWHERE. Seriously!!! And everything taste wonderful in this meal. The side dishes are fruit, scallops, curry beef, and grilled fish.

Breakfast on JL061
Breakfast on JL061

Breakfast on JL061
Breakfast on JL061

Breakfast on JL061
Breakfast on JL061


After that the plane land safely and it's a very uneventful flight. No turbulence at all which is quite different from my connecting flight to HKG. Seriously the 11-hour flight is just too short. On the other hand my 4-hour flight to HKG to just way too long LOL. Even though I managed to secured the exit row seat with the seat next to me blocked, but it's still Economy class especially after 11 hour of heaven I have experienced just now. The 4-hour flight to HKG is just like hell hahaha...and I didn't bother to take any pictures...

Related post: JL061 on July 28

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1 Comments:

  1. Excellent pics. For some reason, congee on airplanes is quite good. The congee I had on an economy Cathay flight was better than anything I've had in Monterey Park. What was the dessert in the first meal? Looks like tapioca pudding?

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