London

LHR✈︎AMS

BA0428

My journey begins at around 05:30 at Heathrow Terminal 5.

After bag drop and security, I pay a quick visit to the Aspire Lounge using my Priority Pass via Amex Platinum.

This lounge is the only alternative available in T5 to those without BA Silver / oneworld Sapphire status, or who aren't flying BA business or higher. It was empty during these early hours of the morning, but I can imagine the small space gets crowded later in the day.

I had a light breakfast and coffee before boarding my positioning flight to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam

AMS✈︎HKG

CX0270

After a couple of hours in Amsterdam, it's time to board Cathay Pacific 270 to Hong Kong. This view is from the British Airways lounge at Schiphol. I also tried the Aspire Lounge next door, which I found to be better overall.

✈️ Hong Kong

Landing in Hong Kong in the early hours of the morning, the sunrise complemented a picturesque backdrop of mountains and hills in the distance of HKG international airport.

HKG✈︎HND

CX548

The view from The Cabin, one of Cathay Pacific's lounges at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). I had a stopover here for a couple of hours on before heading on to my final destination: Haneda Airport (HND) in Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo 🇯🇵

Shinbashi

For my first night in Tokyo, I was immersed in the bright lights of the Shinbashi district.

Shimbashi Station

This is the view you see straight after getting off a train at Shimbashi Station. Hidden in the shadows of the bright neon lights sits a steam train in the centre of the plaza.

Haisai / はいさい

3-3-3 Shimbashi | 5F Pioneer Bldg

This Okinawan restaurant, named after the Okinawan greeting that is equivalent to "good day", was the first place I had dinner in Japan. It was my first time trying Okinawan cuisine, which had dishes I'd never seen before such as these purple sweet potato chips.

Tokyo Tower / 東京タワー 🗼

Shiba-koen

Tokyo Tower can be seen from many vantage points across the city, but I wanted to see the second tallest structure in Japan up close and visit the observatory inside.

Ginza

Chūō

Ginza is a popular shopping district in Tokyo. It made for a great night street photography location.

At weekends from 12:00-17:00, Ginza's main street is closed to vehicles and becomes fully pedestrianised. This is known as "Hokōsha Tengoku" or "Hokoten" for short, translated as "pedestrian heaven".

Tokyo Skytree

The highest viewpoint in Tokyo is the Tokyo Skytree. This is the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa, and you can reach as high as 450m in the top observation deck.

The view from 450m high in the sky.

Akihabara / 秋葉原

Akihabara was originally known as "Electric Town" for its numerous electronics shops. Today it is known as a centre of Otaku culture – video games, anime, manga, and computer goods.

Odaiba / お台場

This artificial island in the Tokyo Bay is connected to the city by the Rainbow Bridge (pictured). It is home to business headquarters such as Fuji TV, and the Aqua City complex houses many shops and restaurants. Oddly, there is also a Statue of Liberty replica.

From here, you can take a cruise on the Sumida River with the Tokyo Water Bus. I took this all the way to Asakusa, passing under the Rainbow Bridge after leaving Odaiba.

Harajuku

The Meiji Shrine is inside a 200-acre park in Shibuya. The huge forested area makes for a peaceful break from the metropolis of Tokyo.

Kazaridaru

On the walk to the Meiji shrine, I passed a stunning display of decorative Sake barrels – known as 'Kazaridaru' in Japanese. These empty sake containers commemorate the various sake houses that supply the shrine with the wine for Shinto purification rituals. (Source: Urge to Wander)

One of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Tokyo, Aoyama is home to many high-end fashion boutiques.

Pictured is the Prada building in Aoyama, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. It is located on Omotesandō – one of the foremost architectural showcase streets in the world.

Below is A Bathing Ape's Bapexclusive Aoyama store.

Tokyo Subway

The easiest way to get around Tokyo is on their extensive network of underground and overground subway trains. As a tourist in the city, it is easy enough to look out for station names in English and find your way around by looking at the maps. Citymapper was also a great help for me!

Pictured is Mita Station on the Toei Subway.

Shinkansen

Literally translated to "new trunk line" in English, the Shinkansen is Japan's famous high speed railway. I took a short, one-stop journey on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line from Shinagawa station (pictured) to Shin-Yokohoma on an N700 series train.

After inserting (two) tickets through the gates, I made my way to the platform. A Shinkansen train was just pulling in.

A guard on board the train looks out of the window on the approach to Shin-Yokohoma.

One thing you will notice in Japan is that the railway staff are frequently pointing at things and shouting to themselves. This is a safety technique known as "shisa kanko" or "pointing and calling" in English – it has proven to reduce mistakes by up to 85%.

Shin-Yokohoma

Ramen Museum

Shin-Yokohoma

One of the top attractions in Shin-Yokohoma is the Ramen Museum – yes, a whole museum full of different types of ramen noodles to taste!

The place has been designed with the aesthetic of Shitamachi (old Tokyo) in the late-1950s, when ramen noodles were invented.

Sensō-ji

Asakusa

Tokyo's oldest temple is located in the heart of Asakusa. Hugely popular amongst tourists, the main street leading to the temple from the East is lined with street vendors with stalls selling Japanese speciality foods and souvenirs. There are some interesting things on sale, but it does make the temple feel commercial in contrast to Meiji.

The market stalls on the path to Sensō-ji temple.

Suzukien x Nanaya Gelato Shop

Asakusa

Here I was able to try the world's richest matcha (green tea) ice cream. You can choose from 7 different levels of matcha strength – 7 being the the most intense flavour, which is the one I went for. I also tried the black sesame ice cream, which was surprisingly good. This place is very popular; to avoid people queuing outside the shop, there's a waiting room/building down the road which they send you to until it's your turn in the queue.

A street in Asakusa – the Skytree visible in the distance.

Shibuya

Chances are that you have already seen the Shibuya pedestrian scramble in the movies. This famous crossing frequently turns the lights red in all directions, allowing pedestrians to take over the road for 30 seconds before swiftly clearing out of the way for the cars to resume driving. It is quintessential of the organised chaos that you see all over Tokyo!

Shinjuku

Shinjuku is a major business district of Tokyo. Many of the city's tallest skyscrapers are found here, most notably concentrated in the district of Nishi-Shinjuku.

This is a view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observatories – it's free to enter, and I recommend it to anyone who loves urban architecture.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

Shinjuku

Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

Nishi-Shinjuku

Roppongi / 六本木

An affluent area of Minato known for its nightlife scene.

The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo

You don't have to look hard to find supercars in Tokyo, such as this Porsche 911 spotted at the Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo Midtown.

Sushi 🍣

It goes without saying that the sushi in Japan is excellent. At this traditional tatami seating restaurant, I had the best sushi and sashimi I had ever tasted. My favourite was the ōtoro pink fatty tuna; this is much harder to find outside of Japan.

Shabu-Shabu

Ginza Shabutsu Yoshi No Sasa

HND✈︎LHR

I flew BA 8 back from Tokyo to London, as I was able to find reward availability for the direct flight. Taxes for reward redemption were lower than leaving from London – though still significantly more than from Amsterdam at around £250.

This was my first time trying BA First. The most noticeable difference for me was that it was much more private for a solo traveller than the yin-yang layout of Club World. Overall, I was more impressed with Cathay Pacific's business class product on the outbound journey, when considering that this is BA's highest offering and that was only CX's business product (I definitely want to try CX first!)