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Taken January 2000 from Honolulu to Osaka

I got lucky and got a First Class seat in Economy -- by that I mean a window seat at one of the exits. I volunteered to man the door in case of any incident, and the two 100-pound (?) attendants said "don't worry, we'll ask for your help!" This was followed by absolutely the best salmon steak I've ever had.

I told the attendant I had a copy of the flight plan of the flight and she asked me if I'd like to visit the captain? I said sure! If it was okay. "Just put your beer down." So up the spiral staircase we went... and soon I was showing the flight plan from a competitive airline (not on this route) against Capt. Terasawa's 3x5-inch card. We compared notes for perhaps 10 minutes on the 747-200. Much less noise up there than I would have thought, and no sense of motion.

The only bad thing about this link is New Kansai airport. Try to find a drinking fountain -- they want to fleece you into buying expensive beverages. And the dry air in the terminal dries your nasal passages. But in the air, JAL is as close to perfect as it gets.