Tokyo - Hanoi Wednesday Nov 26

 Wednesday Nov 26 2025 - Tokyo Japan - Hanoi Vietnam

Previous posts can be found on the right side under BLOG ARCHIVE.

STEPS not many 

TRANSIT 1 cab 

WEATHER sunny

TOUR DAY 1 airport transfer

You have to be early to catch Mount Fiji from our room. 

We had a later breakfast, I tried the vegetable and mushroom dumpling this morning along with the rose ham.

And then hung around our room. 

 I used the business centre to do some blog updates..Have I mentioned that I HATE this chromebook!!

We arranged our airport transfer for 12:30 PM even though the flight is at 6. Hotel checkout is 11 and I arranged for a 12:30 checkout. 

As we were going to checkout the driver messaged to say he was early and we could leave when ready. We got in the cab and he was away running. It took 1.5 hours to get to the airport compared to the 2.5 when we arrived.

Narita airport is amazing! Check in was quick and efficient. Then through priority security, it was so quiet and it was mainly women working there. Immigration was a matter of scanning our passports. Then to the Sakura Lounge. It is two floors. 

There was a good selection of food. Beer and wine were dispensed by machine! 

Pretty fancy bidet in the airport! The bathroom was the most technical we've seen! 

Boarding was at 15:50 PM and it was seamless. The gate attendants made sure boarding was orderly. Some tried to skip the line and were sent back! Our tickets, through Air Canada, said Premium Economy so I assumed upright seats like AC with no amenities! WOW what a surprise! 

I would love to see JAL business class, never mind, first class! 

 Seats that fully reclined to flat. Yikes, they had built in massages.

The head flight attendant greeted each of us with a series of bows. 

We were offered Japanese sweaters, yes, please.

John, in his sweater and slippers, fully looked like an English lord of the manor.

 A full bar and menu selection, both Japanese and western.

The service was outstanding.

After a Japanese whisky, I chose the Japanese meal for the experience. I enjoyed parts of it...I chose Japanese red wine. John had the steak which he said was meh. 

I watched a silly movie Something from Tiffany's and rewatched Juror No.2.

Hanoi Vietnam from the air.

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Tour description

Welcome to Hanoi! You will pass through immigration (have your visa ready) and then go to baggage claim. Our representative will welcome you outside the arrival’s hall holding a sign with Wingbuddy's logo. The representative will brief you about the tour and advise the pick-up time for your first activity. Transfer to the hotel and check-in.

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It is a 6 hour flight and we gained 2 hours.
We landed about 10 minutes late and headed to Immigration, where the lines were long. Passports stamped, and we never had to present our visas. It was probably already in the system. Luggage picked up and Vinnie met us with his sign and called for the car. It is about a 40 minute drive to the hotel so it was around midnight when we got our room. This is considered day one of the tour although the actual tour doesn't start until Nov 29, as we booked two additional hotel stays to be spent on our own.



The hotel is the Thang Long Opera hotel in the French Quarter. It is called the French Quarter although the French left the city nearly 70 years ago.

It is late but John says the windows are covered will you be okay. I said yeah, yeah.

Population: 97.34 million

Currency: Vietnamese Dong

Capital city: Hanoi

Major airports:Noi Bai International Airport (HAN), Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) and Da Nang International Airport (DAD)

Language: Vietnamese

TORONTO - VANCOUVER - TOKYO Nov 21 - Nov 22 UPDATED

 Friday Nov 21 - Saturday Nov 22 2025 

I bought a Chromebook for this trip and it isn't cooperating with Blogger so I'm just going to post as is, call it a draft and fix it up when I can!

STEPS 6,000 

2 planes

We got an Uber at 6:33 to the airport at 6:52! Check-in and security were quick through the priority lines.

We went to the Air Canada Cafe rather than the lounge.  It was perfect.

Destination Vancouver, Vancouver Departing 0900    Arriving 110

Estimated Time 5 Hrs 7 Min

Vancouver is 3 hours behind Toronto time.

There was a problem boarding. The bridge was backed up waiting for the crew to complete security.  Despite that we took off on time.

Breakfast was served - fresh fruit and parsley omelettes.

I watched The Beach Boys documentary and Bridget Jones.  John did the new Jurassic movie.

We had a stopover in Vancouver and headed to the International departures and the lounge was close by so we had drinks and snacks before heading to the departure gates at 12:15.

Destination Tokyo, Narita International Airport Departing 1305 Arriving 1620 / 22 Nov 

Estimated Time 10 Hrs 15 Min

The International Date Line (IDL) is an imaginary boundary, running from the North Pole to the South Pole. It lies mainly along the 180° longitude in the Pacific Ocean.
While this line is not straight, it bends to accommodate international borders and territories. For example, it zigzags around nations like Fiji and Samoa, so travelers can keep consistent time zones.

Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Toronto, therefore you lose a day.

We had preordered our dinners.

The appetiser was shrimp in garlic and dessert was lemon tart with cheeses.

Jackie BRAISED BONELESS LAMB SHANK

John KOREAN BARBECUE GLAZED CHICKEN THIGH

We were given FAST LANE passes as we landed. This allowed us to bypass the lineups for customs.

We arrived, went through customs with our QR codes, however, John's wouldn't work, so he disappeared from my vision! He had to complete a paper form, then he did his photo and fingerprints and was done! My officer didn't speak any English so we communicated by gestures.

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We quickly found our luggage and headed out to find our driver. He messaged that he was parking and to wait for him.

We arrived at the hotel at 7:45, over a 2 hour drive from the airport! We were upgraded so we had access to the executive lounge. The hotel clerk says, since we missed cocktail time she would send a bottle of wine to our room!

In our room. The fridge contains complimentary soft drinks, beer and water daily.

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We fell in love with bidets! The heated seats! They were everywhere.

We're staying in the Shinjuku neighbourhood at the Hilton Tokyo. It is a gorgeous hotel with exceptional service. You want something and it is at your door almost immediately.

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Since it is 8:30, and after being up for 26 hours, we decided to get a bite in the hotel.

John had a club sandwich and I had to try the wagyu steak with mushroom pate and caviar. You can see by the marbling that it melted like butter! Very rich!

Good Night!