I fondly recall how excited I was when I had to make a business trip to Indonesia and its capital city of Jakarta a while back. While I’d been fortunate to travel the world, that was one country and one city I’d never had occasion to visit before. I learned that Indonesia lies over 10,000 miles from the Eastern United States,“as the crow flies,” but that’s based on a straight line distance. Since we’re not crows flying in a straight line, any trip that far would take the better part of a day and require a change of planes in either Asia or Europe. I chose Asia since the continent was my final destination and it’s always easier to fly west with the sun in terms of jet lag. So, with my visa in hand, I began an early morning journey on an American Airlines Embraer 175 going to Kennedy Airport in New York to meet the initial All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight to Tokyo where I would connect with another ANA plane bound for Jakarta.
While American uses Terminal 8 at Kennedy, ANA operates from Terminal 7. Transferring between the two was relatively quick and easy, thanks to the free AirTrain. The Terminal 7 escalators took me up to Level 2 where the ANA ticket counters and priority check-in and were located. Once I received my boarding pass, I headed straight for the Horizons First Lounge located directly behind the TSA security checkpoint. This was formerly the British Airways lounge and ANA has been using it on a contractual basis. The agent at the welcome desk greeted me warmly and escorted me into what was the First Class section of the lounge on the left (Business Class passengers went to the right). I’m not sure what the differences were, if any, between the two areas. The refreshments were modest, but standard, including Eggs, Bacon, Yogurt, Oatmeal and Miso Soup. It wasn't outstanding, but did prove to be a relatively quiet and comfortable place to wait before my flight.
Boarding commenced promptly at 10:00 AM and the purser showed me to my seat 2A on the port side of the B777-300ER. There were only eight open suites in the forward cabin spread across two rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. The seat was private, perhaps too private, with boxy shields that made it difficult to see out the window and I imagined that it would also be somewhat problematic to speak with the person seated next to you if you were traveling with a companion in the center sections. (ANA has since installed fully enclosed suites with doors in the First Class cabins on this aircraft.) The seat measured 33 inches wide and offered a generous 76 inches of pitch, though it did narrow a bit around my head when reclined into bed mode. All First Class passengers received pajamas and a hard-sided Samsonite amenity kit, as well as a separate set of skincare products by The Ginza, a high-end Japanese brand. The airline was serving Krug Champagne as a pre-departure beverage that morning, a fitting choice for a premium cabin.
ANA is well known for the high quality of their food and beverage and I have heard the Japanese meals onboard up front are wonderful. I can attest they are one of the few airlines that can cook a US Prime Beef Fillet at altitude and everything on the Western menu I selected was good, including the appetizer, salad course, entrée, cheese plate and dessert. The drinks menu was extensive consisting of no less than seven top shelf sakes, several champagnes, and a broad selection of white and red wines, spirits and beers. I selected the Château Haut Batailley Bordeaux from France to enjoy with my lunch and it proved to pair very nicely with the beef.
Of course no discussion of ANA — in any cabin for that matter — would be complete without mentioning the incredible service. Japan is known for its phenomenal service culture, and that extends to ANA's flight attendants as well. While there were a few instances of a minor language barrier, the flight attendants I had were working so hard to make my trip enjoyable that you never would have known. Little touches like holding the bathroom door open for me and insisting on folding my clothes after I changed into pajamas were one thing, but when I was ready to go to sleep, a flight attendant not only prepared the lie-flat bed meticulously, but then came over and actually tucked me in under the blankets! I was bowed to at least five different times even before we pushed back from our gate, and pampered the entire way to Tokyo. Needless to say, it was a wonderful flight and the 14 hours and 15 minutes passed by quite quickly.
I had a two-hour layover at Narita Airport and spent the time at the expansive ANA Lounge located near Gate 53 in Terminal 1, Satellite 5. Overall, the airline delivered a fine product here with a good selection of both Japanese and Western dishes amidst more excellent service. My connecting flight was operated with a B767-300ER aircraft which departed on time at 6:00 PM. The Business Class cabin featured 35 angled seats across seven rows in a 2-1-2 configuration and I selected the single middle seat in the second row for this eight-hour journey to Southeast Asia. While the food and beverage selections were not as extensive as those found on my initial flight, there were several options presented among both cuisines which were plentiful and satisfying. Once again, the drinks menu was most impressive with at least six varieties of sake. But, after traveling for over a day, I didn’t indulge much of either and had no trouble drifting off to sleep for several hours before touching down in Jakarta at close to midnight local time.
Indonesian Customs and Immigration procedures were speedy at that hour at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and within a half hour of landing, I was in a taxi en route to the JW Marriott Hotel located some 19 miles northwest of the airfield. This Five-Star, 30-story luxury hotel is situated in the Golden Triangle, a popular business and shopping area in the Indonesian capital. Each of the 317 rooms and suites featured plush bedding marble bathrooms, ergonomic workstations and breathtaking views of Jakarta. The lobby was nearly empty by the time I arrived in the early morning hours and check-in was fast and seamless. I was assigned an Executive King Room on the 28th floor with complimentary Executive Lounge access. The 452 square-foot space was equipped with a 37 inch LED television with cable and premium movie channels, two telephones, free high-speed Wi-Fi, a robe, slippers and came with evening turn-down service. The lounge on the private-access 29th floor offered personalized check-in and check-out, full American breakfast, afternoon tea. complimentary evening canapés and cocktails as well as the pressing of two garments per day and complimentary two hour usage of a meeting room each day of one’s stay. Live cooking stations and an open kitchen are featured at Sailendra, the hotel’s Indonesian restaurant and a curated Cantonese menu is offered at the Pearl Chinese Restaurant. Authentic Japanese food was to be found at Asuka and the Blue Martini Bar & Lounge offered an extensive menu of craft cocktails, beers, wines and spirits.
This full-service hotel was an excellent spot to return to after a full day of business meetings. I’ll tell you all about how I spent my free time in this exciting city in a future post.
Until next time…safe travels.
This was wonderful
It’s amazing how many places you have been and how much you remember!
Thank you again for sharing ❤️