Metrics details Zygaenoidea is a superfamily of lepidopterans containing many venomous species including the Limacodidae (nettle caterpillars) and Megalopygidae (asp caterpillars) Venom proteomes have been recently documented for several species from each of these families but further data are required to understand the evolution of venom in Zygaenoidea we examined the ‘electric’ caterpillar from North-Eastern Australia a limacodid caterpillar densely covered in venomous spines We used DNA barcoding to identify this caterpillar as the larva of the moth Comana monomorpha (Turner and erythema and oedema lasting for more than a week Combining transcriptomics of venom spines with proteomics of venom harvested from the spine tips revealed a venom markedly different in composition from previously examined limacodid venoms that are rich in peptides monomorpha is rich in aerolysin-like proteins similar to those found in venoms of asp caterpillars (Megalopygidae) the venom potently permeabilises sensory neurons and human neuroblastoma cells This study highlights the diversity of venom composition in Limacodidae the venoms of other venomous lepidopterans remain underexplored at the molecular level we analysed the venom composition of a limacodid species from north-eastern Australia known locally as the ‘electric’ caterpillar Commonly occurring on lillypilly (Syzygium spp.) this caterpillar is regarded as a public menace by many gardeners and is a frequent cause of presentation at medical clinics (Renae Vagg The two limacodid species for which venoms have previously been characterised have venom spines clustered at both the anterior and posterior The electric caterpillar is morphologically distinct being covered with spines on most of its dorsal and lateral surfaces we used DNA barcoding to identify the electric caterpillar as the larva of the limacodid moth Comana monomorpha (Turner 1904) and present an envenomation case study We present a detailed analysis of the venom composition and activity revealing a venom that more closely resembles that of previously characterised megalopygid rather than limacodid caterpillars consistent with the observed envenomation syndrome Caterpillars were collected on private land in Townsville Australia with permission of the landowners They were maintained in the laboratory at 23 °C with a 12 h:12 h light/dark cycle on a bouquet of small lillypilly branches with the stems immersed in water venom scoli were cut from eight last-instar caterpillars of unknown sex and stored in RNAlater (Thermo Fisher The envenomation case study resulted from envenomation by a caterpillar of unknown sex Venom was harvested using parafilm suspended on a 20 × 30 mm wire loop with an extended wire handle The parafilm was gently pressed onto caterpillars resulting in the deposition of numerous tiny drops of venom from the spines These drops were recovered by rinsing the parafilm with 20 µL of ultrapure water and transferring the liquid to a 1.5 mL tube After collecting venom from multiple individual caterpillars into a single tube and the protein concentration estimated using a Nanodrop spectrophotometer (Thermo Fisher) with conversion factor 1 AU/cm−1 = 1 mg/mL venom from several caterpillars of each of the final three instars was harvested and pooled for analysis resulting in 42,815 open reading frames (ORFs) encoding polypeptides > 25 amino acids in length together with a list of 200 common mass spectrometry (MS) contaminants were used as a search database for comparison to mass spectra obtained from venom De-identified data from one person accidentally envenomated by an electric caterpillar was collected on a private residence in Townsville under UQ Human Ethics project 2023/HE000629 and the mixed models setting) produced highly similar trees Approximately 50 µg dry weight of whole venom (estimated using A280 measured on a Nanodrop spectrophotometer) was used per sample alkylated and trypsinised samples were prepared by diluting the sample to be analysed in reducing/alkylating solution (1% 2-iodoethanol 50 mM ammonium carbonate pH 11.0) and incubating the sample for 1 h at 37 °C Samples were then dried by vacuum centrifugation and resuspended in digestion reagent (20 ng/µL sequencing-grade trypsin (#7575 10% ACN) before quenching in extraction reagent (50% ACN Reduced and alkylated (but not trypsinised) samples were prepared using the same method but skipping the digestion step Approximately 30 µg dry weight of whole venom (estimated using A280 measured on a Nanodrop spectrophotometer) was used per well Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells were acquired from a 4–8-week-old male mouse and plated in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (Thermo Fisher) containing 10% fetal bovine (FBS; Assaymatrix Australia) and penicillin/streptomycin (Gibco) on a 96-well poly-D-lysine–coated culture plate (Corning Cells were loaded with Fluo-4 AM calcium indicator based on the manufacturers’ instructions (Thermo Fisher) the dye solution was replaced with assay solution (1 × Hanks’ balanced salt solution and 20 mM HEPES) Fluorescence changes due to fluctuations in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) of approximately 100–150 DRG cells per experiment were monitored in parallel using a Nikon Ti-E Deconvolution inverted microscope equipped with a Lumencor Spectra LED Light source Images were obtained using a 20 × objective at 1 frame/s (excitation baseline fluorescence was monitored for 20 s the assay solution was replaced with an assay solution containing whole venom (1:1000 dilution) Experiments were approved by the UQ Animal Ethics Committee (TRI/IMB/093/17) SH-SY5Y cells were plated at 40,000 cells per well in 384-well flat clear-bottom black plates (Corning USA) and cultured at 37 °C in a humidified 5% CO2 incubator for 48 h before commencing assays Cells were loaded with 20 μL per well of Calcium 4 dye (Molecular Devices) reconstituted in assay buffer containing 50 µM propidium iodide and plates incubated for 30 min at 37 °C in a humidified 5% CO2 incubator Fluorescence responses were recorded at excitation and emission wavelengths of 470–495 and 515–575 nm for intracellular calcium measurements and excitation and emission wavelengths of 470–495 and 565–625 nm Recordings were made for 10 s to set the baseline Triton X-100 at 0.025% was used as positive membrane permeabilising control Statistics for proteomic identification of peptides and proteins were produced by ProteinPilot 4.0.8085 software (SCIEX) EC50 values for FLIPR assays were calculated using area under the curve or maximum–minimum fluorescence values fitted to a four-parameter non-linear regression to the data in Prism 10 (GraphPad All animal experiments were approved by the UQ Animal Ethics Committee (TRI/IMB/093/17) All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations The collection of human clinical data was approved under UQ Human Ethics project 2023/HE000629 The authors confirm that consent for participation in this study was declared by all participants in written records kept at The University of Queensland Anecdotal reports from residents of the Townsville region (Queensland Australia) suggested that envenomation from the ‘electric caterpillar’ could cause symptoms not usually associated with limacodid envenomations including long-lasting pain and irritation as well as anaphylaxis-like effects (Supplementary Figure S1) Envenomation by electric caterpillars is a common reason for patients to present at healthcare services in this region we are not aware of any information in the scientific or medical literature relating specifically to envenomation by this species we here report a case study of electric caterpillar envenomation from a Townsville resident Progression of skin lesion over eleven days in envenomation case study B) Caterpillars of third-final and final instars monomorpha from the Townsville region that yielded COI sequence of BOLD sample LOQT663-06 (D) Moth raised from electric caterpillars in the laboratory in this study (E) Geographic distribution of iNaturalist records of electric caterpillars (blue circles) and C all to specimens of Comana monomorpha identified by curators of the Australian National Insect Collection or the entomologist Graeme V monomorpha had < 99.68% identity to the sequence generated in this study and matches to CO1 of other species were < 93% These data provide a species level identification for the electric caterpillar as Comana monomorpha Species with characterised venom compositions are highlighted in blue number of polypeptide precursors detected using LC–MS/MS; right protein abundance according to normalised spectral counting Pie charts on right show protein abundance in each of three gel bands analysed using LC–MS/MS; legend as in panel A (C) Alignment of aerolysin-like proteins from C (D) Comparison of Alphafold 2 predicted structures of Cm1 (green) and Mo12 (orange) with the crystal structure of monomeric form of parasporin-2 (pink Of the three abundant peptide families previously reported in limacodid venom ACP-like peptides and inhibitor cystine knots are present as minor components We note that quantification of short peptides may not be accurately measured using spectral counting methods such as those reported here monomorpha venom contains low levels of peptides in comparison to aerolysin-like proteins Pore-forming proteins in Comana monomorpha venom (A) Ca2+ influx into DRG cells after exposure to venom (100 μg/mL) Panels on the left show cells before and 20 s after venom application and after application of positive control (20 mM KCl) The panel on the right shows fluorescence increase for individual cells (grey lines) median and interquartile ranges (light blue) (B) Venom-induced permeabilisation of SH-SY5Y cells as visualised by propidium iodide (PI) access to nucleic acids (C) Ca2+ influx into SH-SY5Y cells induced by venom (D) Concentration-dependent permeabilisation measured by PI fluorescence (EC50 = 284 ng/mL) Each data point shows the average ± SD of three technical replicates while the curves are four-parameter nonlinear regressions (E) Concentration-dependent Ca2+ influx (EC50 = 888 ng/mL) monomorpha is a unique species with respect to our current knowledge: it is endemic to a small region of coastal north-eastern Australia protected by a dense covering of venomous spines and produces an envenomation syndrome characterised by longer-lasting pain and more visible tissue damage compared to other limacodids such as D monomorpha has a different venom composition from D the similarities between the venom of the limacodid C monomorpha and megalopygid caterpillars we observed in this study may instead suggest a common origin of venom the evolution of venom composition within Zygaenoidea is not yet clear from current data: D monomorpha are more closely related to each other than either is to A and all three species are only distantly related to M opercularis are dominated by aerolysin-rich venoms Examination of the venom composition of additional zygaenoid species with a broader phylogenetic spread is required to delineate the pathway of venom evolution in Zygaenoidea A detailed analysis of the phylogeny of aerolysin-like venom toxins produced by Limacodidae and Megalopygidae would also provide insights Anecdotal evidence (including the authors’ observations) indicates that in humans vulnerans cause short-lasting pain (similar to a honeybee sting) vulnerans causing long-lasting lesions or anaphylaxis-like symptoms as reported by victims of envenomation by C We hypothesise that the cecropin-like toxins are associated with short-lasting pain D monomorpha and megalopygid venoms are associated with longer-lasting and more severe symptoms This study provides a species identity for the electric caterpillar and reveals its venom composition and bioactivity it highlights the diversity of zygaenoid venoms and the need to study a broader range of species to fully understand the trajectory of venom evolution in Zygaenoidea comprising 36 amino acid sequences and the ORFs encoding them was submitted to NCBI and assigned GenBank accession numbers PP480802–PP480837 Carrijo-Carvalho, L. C. & Chudzinski-Tavassi, A. M. The venom of the Lonomia caterpillar: An overview. Toxicon 49, 741–757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2006.11.033 (2007) Goudarzi, M. H. et al. Venom composition and bioactive RF-amide peptide toxins of the saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulea (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae). Biochem. Pharmacol. 213, 115598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2023.115598 (2023) Walker, A. A. et al. Production, composition, and mode of action of the painful defensive venom produced by a limacodid caterpillar, Doratifera vulnerans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2023815118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023815118 (2021) Walker, A. A. et al. Horizontal gene transfer underlies the painful stings of asp caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Megalopygidae). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2305871120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2305871120 (2023) Zaspel, J. M., Weller, S. J. & Epstein, M. E. Origin of the hungry caterpillar: Evolution of fasting in slug moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Limacodidae). Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 94, 827–832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.017 (2016) Lin, Y.-C., Lin, R.-J., Braby, M. F. & Hsu, Y.-F. Evolution and losses of spines in slug caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae). Ecol. Evol. 9, 9827–9840. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5524 (2019) Schmieder, R. & Edwards, R. Quality control and preprocessing of metagenomic datasets. Bioinformatics 27, 863–864. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btr026 (2011) Haas, B. J. et al. De novo transcript sequence reconstruction from RNA-seq using the Trinity platform for reference generation and analysis. Nat. Protoc. 8, 1494–1512. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2013.084 (2013) Kuraku, S., Zmasek, C. M., Nishimura, O. & Katoh, K. aLeaves facilitates on-demand exploration of metazoan gene family trees on MAFFT sequence alignment server with enhanced interactivity. Nucleic Acids Res. 41, W22–W28. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkt389 (2013) Minh, B. Q. et al. IQ-TREE 2: New models and efficient methods for phylogenetic inference in the genomic era. Mol. Biol. Evol. 37, 1530–1534. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa015 (2020) Chernomor, O., von Haeseler, A. & Minh, B. Q. Terrace aware data structure for phylogenomic inference from supermatrices. Syst. Biol. 65, 997–1008. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syw037 (2016) MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models Almagro Armenteros, J. J. et al. SignalP 5.0 improves signal peptide predictions using deep neural networks. Nat. Biotechnol. 37, 420–423. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-019-0036-z (2019) Altschul, S. F., Gish, W., Miller, W., Myers, E. W. & Lipman, D. J. Basic local alignment search tool. J. Mol. Biol. 215, 403–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-2836(05)80360-2 (1990) Eddy, S. R. A probabilistic model of local sequence alignment that simplifies statistical significance estimation. PLoS Comp. Biol. 4, e1000069. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000069 (2008) King, G. F., Gentz, M. C., Escoubas, P. & Nicholson, G. M. A rational nomenclature for naming peptide toxins from spiders and other venomous animals. Toxicon 52, 264–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2008.05.020 (2008) Senior, A. W. et al. Improved protein structure prediction using potentials from deep learning. Nature 577, 706–710. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1923-7 (2020) Kramer, S. et al. High-content fluorescence bioassay investigates pore formation, ion channel modulation and cell membrane lysis induced by venoms. Toxicon X 21, 100184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxcx.2024.100184 (2024) Ratnasingham, S. & Hebert, P. D. N. BOLD: The barcode of life data system (http://www.barcodinglife.org). Mol. Ecol. Notes 7, 355–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.01678.x (2007) Lin, Y. C., Lin, R. J., Braby, M. F. & Hsu, Y. F. Evolution and losses of spines in slug caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae). Ecol. Evol. 9, 9827–9840. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5524 (2019) DNA barcoding solves the mystery of the rainbow battleship caterpillar and reveals cryptic diversity in Australian limacodids Osteen, J. D. et al. Subtype-selective spider toxins implicate NaV1.1 voltage-gated sodium channels in mechanical pain. Nature 534, 494–499. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17976 (2016) Li, X. et al. Structural basis for modulation of human NaV1.3 by clinical drug and selective antagonist. Nat. Commun. 13, 1286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28808-5 (2022) Peraro, M. D. & van der Goot, F. G. Pore-forming toxins: Ancient, but never really out of fashion. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 14, 77–92. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2015.3 (2016) Reboul, C. F., Whisstock, J. C. & Dunstone, M. A. Giant MACPF/CDC pore forming toxins: A class of their own. Biochim. Biophys. Acta Biomembr. 1858, 475–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2015.11.017 (2016) Ulhuq, F. R. & Mariano, G. Bacterial pore-forming toxins. Microbiology 168, 001154. https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001154 (2022) Dang, L., Rougé, P. & Van Damme, E. J. M. Amaranthin-like proteins with Aerolysin domains in plants. Front. Plant Sci. 8, 1368. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.01368 (2017) Szczesny, P. et al. Extending the aerolysin family: From bacteria to vertebrates. PLOS ONE 6, e20349. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0020349 (2011) Moran, Y., Fredman, D., Szczesny, P., Grynberg, M. & Technau, U. Recurrent horizontal transfer of bacterial toxin genes to eukaryotes. Mol. Biol. Evol. 29, 2223–2230. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mss089 (2012) Jia, N. et al. Structural basis for receptor recognition and pore formation of a zebrafish aerolysin-like protein. EMBO Rep. 17, 235–248. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201540851 (2016) Tamura, S., Yamakawa, M. & Shiomi, K. Purification, characterization and cDNA cloning of two natterin-like toxins from the skin secretion of oriental catfish Plotosus lineatus. Toxicon 58, 430–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2011.08.001 (2011) Epstein, M. E. Revision and phylogeny of the Limacodid-group families, with evolutionary studies on slug caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Zygaenoidea). Smithsonian Contrib. Zool. 582, 1–102. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.582 (1996) Perez-Riverol, Y. et al. The PRIDE database resources in 2022: A hub for mass spectrometry-based proteomics evidences. Nucleic Acids Res. 50, D543–D552. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab1038 (2022) Download references The authors would like to thank Marc Epstein and Samantha Nixon for assistance obtaining caterpillars and Renae Vagg at the Magnetic Island Health Service for information on electric caterpillar envenomations We acknowledge funding from the Australian Research Council through Discovery Project DP200102867 to A.A.W and Centre of Excellence CE200100012 to G.F.K is supported by an Australian National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant (APP2017461) Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Protein and Peptide Science and that the consent forms are kept at The University of Queensland The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-65078-1 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology a bright green caterpillar’s sting ‘feels like the seven rings of hell’ But scientists in Brisbane hope its toxin can be used to heal The devil arrived at Andrew Walker’s laboratory in a cardboard box was adorned at both ends with a pair of black horns For residents of north-east Queensland this devil – scientific name Comana monomorpha – is known as the electric caterpillar typically received while tending to lilly-pillies in the garden The venom causes a nasty welt and a considerable rash that can last for a week. It’s so bad that some victims have spent a night in an emergency department. Health professionals treating afflicted people were seeing swelling blood-filled boils and welts – but they could find nothing to help ease the pain According to one poster to a Townsville community group on Facebook View image in fullscreenGlenn King holds the discarded husk of a tarantula spider Photograph: David Kelly/The GuardianBut where unlucky gardeners see an enemy “Caterpillars are my favourite venomous animal at the moment,” he says a molecular entomologist at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience has characterised the venoms of some of the world’s least-studied venomous animals an affable biochemist who leads the Institute’s “bugs and drugs” group the group has collected venom from more than 500 species building an unrivalled collection of animal toxins View image in fullscreenRed tiger assassin bugs Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian“This is by far the biggest invertebrate venom library in the world – probably the biggest venom library in the world,” King says Given that it includes venoms from Australian tarantulas a Brazilian caterpillar and the lethal funnel-web spider it might even be considered the most deadly library in the world But researchers like King and Walker aren’t interested in venoms’ ability to kill a toxin delivered by one animal into another But that definition diminishes toxins’ complexity – they are composed of rich cocktails of molecules More than 200,000 species on Earth are venomous and each have evolved their own set of biological weaponry to help them kill prey or Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads So far six venom-derived therapeutics have been approved for use in humans Many venoms are adept at disrupting a piece of mammalian cellular machinery known as an ion channel These channels are used for everything from breathing to muscle contraction and neural signalling A venom library supercharges this process, allowing researchers to screen hundreds of venoms at once and rapidly identify promising candidate molecules. Read more“We can apply [the library] to virtually any human disorder where we think an ion channel might be involved in the disease,” King says Walker leads me through doubled locked doors to the institute’s insectary There are signs on the walls outside about the dangers that could be lurking within; chief among the threats is the funnel-web Inside the space is not much larger than an apartment bedroom The sterile white and windowless laboratory is punctuated by three large grey cabinets – the kind you might find at a large hardware store plucks out a plastic lunchbox and lifts the lid the institute’s “media-trained” rainforest scorpion Free weekly newsletterEach week our editors select five of the most interesting entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning View image in fullscreenView image in fullscreenFrom top: a tarantula is sedated with dry ice before venom is extracted; spider specimens at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience Photograph: David Kelly/The GuardianTo date snakes have provided the most useful venoms for human drugs and therapies and spiders – which belong to the same class of animals – have long provided useful insights into venom though no therapeutic compounds have been developed from them The bugs and drugs group hopes to change that Read moreIn animal models, studies have suggested the molecule may have protective effects against heart attack It’s slated for preliminary human clinical trials in 2025 Walker explains how his research has seen him move from neuroscience to studying silk proteins and now to looking beyond scorpions and spiders if you went to a different group of animals that had evolved venom independently then you would start to see very different types of molecules,” he says Walker’s work with caterpillars is at a much earlier stage than the group’s funnel-web studies. Spiders are generally much larger than caterpillars and produce a lot more venom The typical yield after milking a spider can be measured in microlitres Venom yield in caterpillars is measured in nanolitres – amounts barely perceptible in a test tube King says it would have been impossible to study this amount of venom just 20 years ago but technological advances have enabled researchers to identify peptides from minuscule volumes View image in fullscreenDani Rojas-Azofeifa Andy Walker and Glenn King examine a live scorpion in their University of Queensland lab Photograph: David Kelly/The GuardianFor one it was predicted that caterpillar venoms would contain simple peptides and proteins – much like bee venoms – because they’re used purely for defence But Walker’s studies have shown that the molecules produced in caterpillar toxins are much more complex than expected In the case of the asp caterpillar, a moth larva which looks like a toupee, Walker found evidence that it may have acquired its toxic capabilities via gene transfer with bacteria many millions of years ago he suggests that the electric caterpillar may have undergone a similar process Both species contain venoms rich in molecules which are able to punch holes in a cell membrane Read moreElectric caterpillar envenomation has been notoriously difficult to treat Aspirin and paracetamol don’t ease the pain when I’m meeting King and Walker at the university cafe to talk about caterpillars they devise a potential solution in real time King notes that pain from jellyfish stings can be alleviated by heat and Walker’s work has shown that peptides in asp caterpillar venom break down at higher temperatures so they reason that a heat pack might be the best course of action for afflicted patients Walker doesn’t seem totally convinced but resolves to email a health worker in north-east Queensland who has been looking for answers This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Misinformation and outdated science abound when it comes to attaining our fittest selves social media and infomercials throw around buzzwords and promote fad routines leaving many of us bewildered about what will actually boost our bodies — and what’s just smoke and mirrors “It’s embarrassing,” says San Diego State University physiologist Fabio Comana built on hearsay and YouTube videos,” on a daily basis He adds: “There’s a lack of evidence-based science In the interest of science and helping you achieve a better you we asked exercise science experts to set us straight on five of the top myths about the biomechanics of working out If you last set foot in a gym in the early 2010s — hey, no judgment here — you might recall trainers preaching a short cooldown to bookend your workout. The goal was largely to reduce post-workout soreness does holding stretches do much to mend your aching calves after leg day “The research doesn’t support that a cooldown will reduce muscle soreness because the muscle damage has already been done (during the workout),” says Comana Comana says people with conditions such as high blood pressure may need to gradually taper their level of activity to avoid feeling light-headed cooldowns may be the perfect time to work on skills like flexibility But Comana admits he has been guilty of skipping them if he’s running short on time though there are no downsides to doing a cooldown." the hottest piece of gym equipment on the market has been … you using the weight of your own body rather than free weights Body weight training has become popular because it’s the ultimate portable gym Using your own weight as your sole workout tool is said to prepare the body for everyday movements, which is why it’s known as functional fitness. To exercise scientist Sandra Hunter, the director of Marquette University’s Athletic and Human Performance Research Center both functional fitness and resistance training have their place in the workout world “Free weights and weight machines can be extremely valuable for isolating a muscle group so you can progress “But functional fitness … allows you exercise close to what your central nervous system will ask your body to do during the actual activity.” She uses the example of a swimmer: Weight training can help bulk up certain muscle groups but functional exercises like planks help the waterborne athletes learn to keep steady when they’re swimming “You can’t get on a weight machine and do a lot of weights and then expect to sprint faster.” The rise of body weight training, CrossFit and other popular whole-body regimens has elevated the burpee, invented by Royal Huddleston Burpee in the late 1930s Of course, the burpee has come to be much more than a simple up-back-down-and-up-again. It’s been marketed as the ultimate single exercise, working your body head to toe, with enthusiasts claiming it’s got both aerobic and strength-building benefits. It’s also widely considered the most hated exercise But some experts have less dramatic opinions “The burpee is a good exercise, but there are better aerobic exercises for you to do, and there are a lot of other, better things you could do for strength training,” says Harry Dorrell, who researches strength and conditioning at England’s University of Lincoln While whole-body exercises boast their well-roundedness he says the burpee is too focused on the entire body Instead of homing in on specific muscle groups the burpee gives a swift overview from head to toe — meaning no specific muscle groups get the TLC they need to become stronger “You could do 10 reps and you’ll be gassing but that doesn’t mean you’re accomplishing anything,” he says “The work you’ve done is not the most effective work you could have done.” But not all our experts were immune to the burpee’s charm “I think burpees are fantastic,” Hunter says Think of what you’ve put your midsection through: those elbow-swinging sit-ups in PE class or holding a plank till you quiver and quake If you’re looking to trim down the size of your waist, both sit-ups and planks appear to have the same effect. A 2016 study in the International Journal of Physiotherapy and Research found that the two exercises were “equally effective in reduction of waist circumference” after 30 days of working out But abdominal exercises are much more than a tool for slimming down — and might not be equally effective he says your exercise of choice should depend on what you’re training for I would never have them do a plank or a crunch or a sit-up,” he says need to strengthen the rotational muscles in the torso for rowing is much too static for such a sport — it doesn’t strengthen the muscles needed to perform well in the actual setting where the sport is done “We train our athletes as they’re going to be performing and that should be true for the general population as well,” he says So what is the trifecta of well-known ab exercises actually doing for your body? Turns out it might be beneficial for the more sedentary among us, as stronger abdominals can help with posture and balance But if you’re training for something outside the office how you work out your abs should come down to how you’re moving your body You can make your muscles stronger through resistance training but you cannot make your muscles longer or leaner Take it from Dorrell: “Muscle is a lean tissue And if you could change the length of your muscle where it attaches [via tendons to the bone] I think we’d have a lot of much taller people around Dorrell chuckles over the popular marketing ploy, often claimed by fitness gurus targeting women he encounters female athletes reluctant to weight-train for fear of looking less svelte “Resistance training is very important for building a strong you’ll likely reap more benefits from lifting weights than avoiding them Jennifer Walter is an assistant editor at Discover Gemma Tarlach is senior editor at Discover Register or Log In Want more?Keep reading for as low as $1.99 Subscribe Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER Costa Rican authorities are investigating the death of a 53-year-old Romanian millionaire found on an Avianca flight traveling from Bogotá was facing a corruption investigation in his native country at the time of his death Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Police said Thursday that Comana committed suicide Comana allegedly fled Romania after authorities opened a bribery investigation against him according to the Romanian news channel ReporterNTV was arrested last week as part of a corruption investigation into illegal subsidies for their company a 35-year-old Romanian woman who has not been identified told Costa Rican authorities that Comana appeared anxious during the flight and got up several times to use the bathroom according to a statement released by the OIJ The woman said she fell asleep during the flight and when she woke up just before landing She went to the airplane lavatory and called his name but got no response She and an airline attendant forced open the lavatory door and found Comana dead OIJ spokesman Marco Monge told The Tico Times that Comana had hanged himself OIJ also confirmed that the couple was traveling with roughly €11,000 but added that the amount was not considered suspicious Comana was reported to be one of the richest people in Romania with a fortune estimated at between €30 and €32 million according to the Romanian news website Gândul was a Romanian millionaire about to be indicted for corrupt business deals in his native country when he hanged himself in the toilet of an Airbus just before the plane landed in Costa Rica Costel Comana killed himself in February 2015 Liviu Dragnea is the president of the ruling PSD party in Romania The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and its Romanian partner investigated his death and found that Comana’s life was complicated He was tangled in a web of murky businesses with a powerful group of Romanian politicians and businessmen who spent their holidays at Cumbuco an oceanside resort in the northeast of Brazil The most prominent of the Cumbuco group is Liviu Dragnea the president of Romania’s ruling Social Democratic Party and one of the country’s most powerful politicians It was Comana who put the first million in Dragnea’s pocket The lives of the politician and the millionaire were intertwined as they rose together to wealth and power the friends and their business activities shuttled between Romania and Brazil with money from the Eastern European nation apparently funding an increasingly lavish lifestyle in the beautiful coastal resort The last trip of Comana’s life started in Cumbuco The small fishing village of 1,600 people on the South Atlantic coast is blessed with beautiful wide beaches and renowned sand dunes are the constant southeasterly trade winds and mild weather which makes it ideal for kitesurfing and windsurfing and officials at the Ministry of Transportation Prosecutors also planned to indict Comana but he wasn’t in the country so they just said the indictment included some unnamed persons Regiotrans was paying off CFR and government officials so Comana’s company could take over railway routes from the state-owned company and illegally cash in more than $345 million in state subsidies Regiotrans took over routes which had little passenger traffic The company claimed it was fulfilling a social need by helping remote communities and got state subsidies based on the distance the trains traveled They then increased the number of trains on the routes to earn more money despite no passenger demand Documents examined by OCCRP show that Dragnea the powerful Romanian politician and Comana’s old friend played an important role in advancing Regiotrans’ business Dragnea was the president of the Teleorman county council the highest political position at the county level in Romania Dragnea signed a document granting private companies such as Regiotrans access to the region’s railways Comana bought six separate properties from Dragnea paying the politician over $1.2 million cash in total Comana paid many times more than the price Dragnea had paid for the properties One of the properties was seized by the state Prosecutors said Comana paid for the properties with money earned illegally and have sought to seize all six but four have already been sold by Comana’s daughter Dragnea told reporters he used part of the money to build a house in Alexandria But Comana and Dragnea were not just business partners Their friendship goes way back to their college days when they lived in the same student dorm on the campus of the Polytechnics University in the Romanian capital of Bucharest Comana would spend part of the last year of his life sharing a luxurious oceanside villa in Cumbuco with his college buddy when Dragnea vacationed in the coastal town is framed by tall palm trees on 3,280 square meters of land on the Atlantic shore Property records obtained by OCCRP show that the land is registered to a company that belongs to another old pal of Dragnea’s Gheorghiaș lives in an apartment in a modest Communist-era block of flats in a small Romanian town Dragnea and Gheorghiaș also met in college in Bucharest They played together in a rock band called Ego nicknamed “Melcu,” (The Snail) played guitar Gheorghiaș established a local company in Brazil in order to purchase the property in Cumbuco for about $730,000 Much of the business conducted by Gheorghiaș seemed to be structured in a way that made his friend Dragnea the end beneficiary He established the company with a Brazilian partner Campos would also play an important role in Comana’s businesses four years later when he was picked by Comana to be a minority shareholder in two Brazilian companies he formed in 2014: Regiotrans Fabricacao de Locomotivas and Robra Ltda The first bears the same name as the Romanian private railway company that brought Comana both his wealth and his troubles to purchase a seaside luxury condominium in February 2015 in Cumbuco for about $215,000 Dragnea is the president of the ruling Social Democratic party (PSD) which won the latest elections using a populist platform resembling that of Viktor Orban to mass-pardon a slew of corrupt politicians The move brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets he was convicted for illegally influencing the vote during a 2012 referendum to impeach the president and sentenced to two years; the sentence was suspended He is awaiting a second verdict in a separate case in which he is accused of abusing his political power to materially benefit his political party it is very likely that he will end up in jail The local group of Romanian cronies is well known to locals in Cumbuco An OCCRP reporter was greeted with “Bună dimineața!” the Romanian phrase for “good morning,” when he told locals he was from the Eastern European country who they mistook for the prime minister of Romania They mentioned all the tennis gear the Romanians would bring each time they came to Cumbuco Satellite imagery indicates that the Romanians built the tennis court in 2011 Another set of satellite images from the same period shows that avid tennis player Dragnea added a similar professional tennis court to his property in Teleorman county Satellite imagery indicates that both properties used by Liviu Dragnea in Romania and Brazil were equipped with tennis courts in 2011 Teleorman is one of the poorest counties in one of the poorest countries in the European Union. The average income in the county is not quite $380 (1628 lei) per month This is where Dragnea built his political career and where he became rich with the help of friends such as Comana and Gheorghiaș One of his earliest deals took place when Dragnea was the president of the county and privatized the local road maintenance company the state-owned company rarely received any local government contracts The local council decided to privatize it because of its poor performance the newly privatized company started receiving a huge flow of public money Tel Drum was awarded almost half a billion dollars in state contracts over the past 10 years A number of these contracts were awarded by the country Dragnea headed the company’s ownership was changed to bearer shares a notoriously opaque ownership structure in which the owners are literally whoever has physical custody of the share certificates Fișcuci sold the majority of the Tel Drum shares to two former University colleagues and rock band buddies: Gheorghiaș who received 44 percent Romanian company records show that Tel Drum SA’s beneficial ownership is obscured by bearer shares Dobrescu played guitar in the Ego rock band the Tel Drum bearer shares have not been publicly assigned to anyone The last mention of Gheorghiaș and Dobrescu as the owners of the bearer shares was made in the company’s paperwork in 2008 Romania is one of the very few countries in the world that still allows bearer shares which can be used to completely hide ownership The media in Romania has speculated on various occasions that the mystery owner of Tel Drum is actually Dragnea Dragnea told a leading Romanian newspaper that “the Rat and the Snail [Dobrescu and Gheorghiaș] are former university and rock band colleagues It doesn’t mean I know what company every former colleague is involved with.” Dragnea’s family was directly benefitting from Tel Drum’s wealth Tel Drum paid more than $80,000 for tuning up a Golf 6 that is driven by Dragnea’s son This Golf 6 may be the most powerful car of its kind in the world more powerful than the engine in a small airplane and as muscular as that in a Lamborghini Aventador Tel Drum also paid more than $660,000 in accommodation fees to the Turris Hotel owned by the Dragnea family in Teleorman county Dragnea started spending his holidays in the Cumbuco villa that Gheorghiaș had purchased in Brazil Reporters for OCCRP found out that between 2010 and 2011 Gheorghiaș is registered as transferring money to Brazil at least six times according to the country’s central bank database Dragnea repeatedly refused to answer RISE’s questions about Comana the holidays he spent there or about Gheorghiaș and Tel Drum that he had been vacationing in Brazil for the past 11 years and that he’ll keep on doing so When RISE reporters tried to approach Gheorghiaș at his address in Romania they were chased away by bodyguards riding in a Tel Drum car emails and messages via third parties went unanswered Another prominent Romanian politician who vacationed in Cumbuco is Radu Mazăre the former mayor of one of Romania’s largest cities is a prominent PSD member and has his own corruption-related legal problems He is charged by Rmanian prosecutors in an ongoing case with taking bribes in connection with developing real estate at the Black Sea and the former mayor told RISE Project that he once met Dragnea at a restaurant in Fortaleza Brazil: “There were some women with us… We talked about women and politics I also talked about sport.” Locals in Cumbuco recognized Mazăre when shown his photo and said he had visited numerous times After Comana’s suicide in February 2015 the Brazilian partner of both Comana and Gheorghiaș Photo: InstagramHe took over Comana’s shares in Robra Ltda. the company that Comana used to buy a luxury condominium in Cumbuco and he also introduced his wife Campos Junior tried to sell Comana’s condominium and tried to rent Gheorghiaș’ villa It seems that these moves angered the other Romanians who according to local sources who prefer to remain anonymous Relationships between the Campos family and the Romanian group have not always been tense the Brazilians visited Romania on a few occasions and were treated very well They bragged back home about using a helicopter to get around in the Eastern European country Reporters identified a photo on Aysla Campos’ Instagram account where she poses next to a black helicopter registered to a Romanian company called Cobrex This same helicopter and company was used by Dragnea and other leaders of the ruling PSD party in campaigns and other political trips in the past few years Reporters for OCCRP have also seen one payment made by Tel Drum to Cobrex but nothing to indicate it is  related to the transportation of the Brazilians “The helicopter is mine but I did not fly with the Brazilians or with this lady that you are mentioning It might have been a tourist somewhere in the mountains where I landed with a helicopter and she took a picture The same helicopter featured on Aysla Campos’ Instagram was used by Liviu Dragnea in political campaigns still can’t understand why his life-loving friend committed suicide Alberto first met Comana in Casa Grande when he was asked to teach him kitesurfing and they became good friends The first Russian bomb that fell on Ukraine in 2022 also blew up grain exports… Where the money came from Between 2012 and 2018 Horațiu Potra worked for three years… The real estate from Austria A constant critic of the West presidential candidate Călin Georgescu… The best answer to the question, "When should I work out?" is also the simplest: whatever time works best for you. Considering around 75 percent of Americans don't meet the CDC's guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities most health and fitness pros aren't overly concerned with exercise timing A consistent exercise routine — early in the morning over your lunch break or in the evening — is a win if you have the flexibility to choose when to schedule your sweat sessions mental and logistical factors worth considering To help you determine what workout time best suits you and your goals we looked at the research and chatted with a few experts Here's what you need to know about the best time to work out If you've got a "get it done first thing" mindset, you're definitely onto something. One of the benefits of working out in the morning is that a morning routine can be easier to stick to. An August 2022 study in ‌Current Biology‌ suggests that after a long day of decision-making your brain fatigues and tends to gravitate toward "low-effort actions with short-term rewards." (If you've ever skipped an evening workout to spend the night curled up on the couch you're familiar with the concept.) Working with a "fresh" brain in the morning you may be less tempted to bail on your date with the gym the amount of insulin your body would need to metabolize that would be less in the morning than it would in the afternoon," Comana tells LIVESTRONG.com "What that means is you're going to have an elevated amount of insulin [in the afternoon and evening] that is also probably going to stay in circulation for a little longer." so you may burn more fat when exercising in the morning than at night Morning vs. Evening Workouts: What's Best for Your Goals? If gaining strength and improving athletic performance are your primary concerns, working out in the evening could help you tap into your full potential. A December 2020 study in ‌Physiology‌ suggests muscle strength tends to peak in the late afternoon to rising hormone levels and shifts in the body's joints and fascia the layers of connective tissue that encase our muscles and other internal structures (This is why you often feel "stiff" or "creaky" when you first step out of bed.) you're having to fight a little bit of your own internal resistance," Comana says and your joints are lubricated with synovial fluid You might find that you can move faster or lift heavier in the evenings for all the potential gains that come with nighttime workouts Exercise —especially intense exercise — raises the body's core temperature which can stay elevated right up until the time you go to bed is marked by a lowering of your core temperature because that actually prepares your body for restful sleep which falls in stage three and stage four of sleep," Comana says "If your core temperature remains elevated but you may not be getting into the deep stages of sleep." To make sure you're not compromising rest and recovery, Comana recommends against doing high-intensity workouts late in the evening a February 2019 review in ‌Sports Medicine‌ found exercising at a moderate intensity up until an hour before you go bed isn't likely to disrupt your sleep But if you do exercise a little too close to bedtime at a higher intensity a cool bath can help reduce your core temperature If you don't have a flexible schedule or generous lunch break research suggests some major health benefits A February 2023 study in ‌Nature Communications‌ compared the mortality of participants who performed moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise in the morning (5 a.m Researchers found a link between afternoon exercise and a reduced risk of early death While an afternoon workout may not capitalize on your body's full fat-burning potential or tap into your peak strength it may hit a "sweet spot" for overall health "[The research findings] make sense," Paul Arciero, PhD, professor of health and human physiological sciences at Skidmore College "The body's in a more homeostatic state in the afternoon you're not transitioning from sleep to moving if people had the ideal lifestyle and they could fit in an exercise routine between 3 p.m that could be definitely beneficial." "What is the best time of day to exercise?" is the one that works best for your schedule So it makes sense that your environment can also affect your exercise experience and consistency and it's important to consider your gym's own "internal clock" when scheduling your workouts For every member who wants to get their workout done as quickly and efficiently as possible there's someone who gets more satisfaction from a leisurely you'll want to identify your gym's least busy times as it will be easier to navigate the facility and access equipment and if you're wondering when your gym is the least busy you can even use Google to see if your gym will be packed at a certain time if you don't want to check it out in person Crowds tend to be lighter early in the morning and mid-day, and the gym-goers who do show up at these times tend to be of the same mindset, according to Pete McCall, CSCS, CPT, master trainer and host of the All About Fitness podcast "The early morning workout people are serious The people at lunchtime want to get in and get out," he tells LIVESTRONG.com McCall has interacted with many clients who make the gym part of their social experience by taking their time and chatting between sets "You're paying for your membership so why not go there and make it a social event and hang out with your friends for a couple of hours?" he says The key is to find the time of day that best aligns with your needs and expectations the only time feasible time to hit the gym is right before or after work dumbbells and treadmills will be harder to access If you have a flexible schedule, it's best to avoid these times. If you can only get to the gym during peak hours, go in with a Plan A and a Plan B. For example, your Plan A might be to use the squat rack and run a quick mile on the treadmill. But, if the squat rack is busy and there are no open treadmills, pivot to Plan B, a lower-body dumbbell circuit and five minutes on the rower Even if you don't plan to attend group fitness classes knowing the schedule can help you avoid some of the gym's busiest times you might have three or four studios going on at the time And if they all have classes starting on the hour then the locker room is going to be chaos a few minutes before the hour," McCall says "You're better off timing it so you get there 10 or 15 minutes after the hour." The sudden disappearance of Denise Comanne is a shock to all of us who were active with Denise over the last thirty years we appreciated her practical help during the yearly meetings of our yearly General Assembly Denise was a practical internationalist through her work as a member of the CADTM; one of her important contributions concerned the position and the  problems women are confronted with in the global South In an article she wrote just before her demise she describes the difficulties even in a radical social movement like the CADTM to construct and propagate the feminist dimension of all struggles for emancipation The self organisation of each liberation struggle was a central principle of Denise's work That is why she actively supported the World March of Women and that is why she could describe in detail how patriarchal attitudes infiltrate inside all organisations including CADTM Her life has been dedicated to the fight against injustice Staff and volunteers of the IIRE Amsterdam ContactT: (+31) (0)206717263Email: iire @ iire.orgFollow @twitterFollow @Facebook Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker In July 2019, All Nippon Airways introduced spectacular-looking new first & business class seats with barely any lead time as their first plane with these seats entered service just weeks later I knew I had to try them, because both first and business class look industry leading. As of now ANA is offering their new cabins to London Heathrow and New York and they’ll soon also be offering them on flights to Frankfurt While I had reviewed ANA’s new business class (“The Room”) from New York to Tokyo a couple of days prior it was now time to review ANA’s new first class (“The Suite”) from London to Tokyo The reason I flew to Tokyo twice on this trip is because ANA has significantly more first & business class award availability to Tokyo than from Tokyo so this was the only way I could redeem miles for both experiences on one trip All Nippon Airways is in the Star Alliance so there are plenty of options for redeeming miles for them Some of the best options for one-way first class tickets include the following: The very best value for redeeming on All Nippon Airways is to book through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, as you can redeem just 120,000 miles for a roundtrip first class ticket from New York or London to Tokyo. Unfortunately they don’t allow one-way awards so in this case that wasn’t an option for me I ended up redeeming 115,000 LifeMiles miles for this ticket and paid a total of $303 in taxes and fees (there were no carrier imposed surcharges but rather the fees were so high because I was originating in the UK LifeMiles is transfer partner with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou and in this case I redeemed miles I already had in my account from having outright purchased them given that LifeMiles often has sales on buying miles I got to Heathrow Airport at around 4PM for my 7PM flight to Tokyo. ANA departs from Terminal 2 at Heathrow, and ANA first class passengers have access to the Singapore Airlines first class lounge I won’t be reviewing that this time around since I’ve done so in detail in the past Singapore Airlines first class lounge Heathrow Boarding for the ANA flight was scheduled to start at 6:30PM at gate B46 At 6:20PM they started to “open up” the queues and then at 6:30PM on the dot boarding started with first class and ANA Mileage Club Diamond members being invited to board first All Nippon Airways departure gate London Heathrow Before I start this flight review, for context check out my review of ANA’s “old” first class from a recent flight from Chicago to Tokyo This flight was boarding through two doors though the forward door was being used exclusively for first class passengers meaning I was one of only two passengers to use the door Upon entering the plane I was greeted by what can only be described as a rockstar team including the first class flight attendant ANA’s new first class is a massive improvement over their old product in every way — I was so impressed ANA’s first class cabin has eight seats spread across two rows in a 1-2-1 configuration All Nippon Airways first class suite cabin the first class flight attendant explained in the most adorable way that the right side of the cabin was all “mine,” as the only other first class passenger was in 1A The center seats in ANA’s new first class are ideal for those traveling together and such an improvement over the old seats — in the old configuration they had partitions between center seats that made it impossible to enjoy the flight together while now there’s a partition that can be moved up or down the window seat on the right side in the second row On the surface this might not look like a cutting edge first class product but what sets it apart is the massive TV and well thought out design though ironically I think the business class seat is wider The first thing that stood out to me was the truly ginormous 42″ 4K TV at each seat making this the biggest TV you’ll find at any first class seat To the front left of the seat was an enclosed storage compartment The ottoman could also double as a buddy seat should you want to dine face-to-face with a travel companion To the right side of the seat were the entertainment controller and HDMI plug (which for whatever reason wasn’t working yet but this will be an awesome feature when it’s functional) There was also some more storage in this area To the left side of the seat was a literature pocket though this secretly doubled as a large mirror when you opened it up I could see most people completely missing this feature Then there was a narrow coat closet to the side of the seat as ANA’s old first class seats didn’t have this ANA’s new first class hard product is top notch It addresses all of the complaints I had about the old seat — how they were “boxed in” (preventing you from talking to the person next to you but the seat is incredibly well thought out Already waiting at my seat upon boarding was a pillow and a blanket which was in addition to the more substantial bedding available with turndown service There were also a pair of high quality Sony headphones I was proactively given large pajamas — these are definitely Japanese sized because the top was basically the shirt equivalent of jorts (which is to say my arms weren’t fully covered) There was also an amenity kit containing an eye mask and some toiletries from “The Ginza.” I quite like the facial cleanser they have in there especially since it’s in a convenient travel size container The amenity kit contents were pretty basic but that was because a moment after settling in I was brought a basket with all kinds of other amenities from lip balm to leg refreshing sheets (which I’ve still never tried on an ANA flight… what’s wrong with me?!) At this point I was also presented with a Wi-Fi voucher for the flight offering free Wi-Fi with no data caps for the entire flight… yay At this point the first class flight attendant all stopped by my seat one-by-one to welcome me onboard The chief purser told me the flight time would be about 11 hours meaning the whole boarding process took just 15 minutes That’s because of the light load — if I overheard the ground staff correctly in the gate area It’s pretty crazy when nearly half of the passengers onboard are in business class at which point the safety video was screened We had possibly the shortest Heathrow taxi ever and by 7:05PM were cleared for takeoff on runway 27R 10 minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off at which point the curtains between cabins and the galleys were closed Just 15 minutes after takeoff I was presented with the menu for the flight I was reminded that I could have whatever I wanted whenever I wanted though I followed the traditional format of the menu and had dinner after takeoff and then a snack before landing Less than 20 minutes after takeoff I was presented with my first drink It’s interesting to note that they seem to load both 375ml and 750ml bottles since it’s potentially less wasteful I think they may have gotten the wrong read on me and a couple of refills in I heard them pop open a 750ml bottle I only ended up having a glass from that bottle To go along with the champagne I was offered the amuse bouche I decided to have the Japanese set menu for dinner though also asked if I could have the caviar first What followed was probably the best meal I’ve ever had in first class Dinner began with caviar along with all the traditional accompaniments I was blown away by the quality of the meal When you go to a good omakase restaurant in Japan everything is so fresh that they’re basically killing the fish in front of you I was amazed by the flavors and freshness of everything given that we’re talking about airplane food Next up was the clear soup with deep-fried sea bream and shredded vegetables Then there was seared tuna and poached squid sashimi Then to finish off the Japanese portion of the meal but figured I had to take one for the team and try one of the desserts I selected the warm apricot tart with vanilla ice cream At the conclusion of the meal I was offered a bottle of water I can’t do justice to how good every part of this meal was There were two flight attendants working first class so each passenger essentially had their own dedicated flight attendant The one taking care of me simply couldn’t have been better — she seemed to enjoy her job and was so attentive and just generally delightful without being overbearing At the conclusion of the meal I asked to have my bed made and in the meantime checked out the two lavatories at the front of the cabin I’d love to see ANA offer a real mattress pad I realize a lot of people prefer hard beds so it would be nice if they provided the option of whether you wanted a hard or soft mattress pad I particularly like that ANA’s new first class suite has doors which their old first class didn’t have At the conclusion of the meal I browsed the entertainment selection I was in disbelief at the size and quality of the screen though as was the case when flying ANA business class the entertainment selection as such was lackluster In that sense the HDMI functionality will be awesome — what could be better than watching 90 Day Fiance on a plane on a 42″ 4K TV Of course that’s probably never going to happen for me since it would require not watching 90 Day Fiance the moment that new episodes are released… By the time I was ready to sleep we were about 8hr30min from arrival in Tokyo but was wide awake just three hours after going to sleep Since I was arriving in Japan in the evening At this point I decided to get some work done ANA’s 777s used to have slow Wi-Fi where they charged based on data while they now have high speed Wi-Fi with pricing based on time which just requires entering the code that you’re given Shortly after waking up I opened the blinds a bit One other cool feature of the plane that I hadn’t realized up until this point — the plane has a nose camera that shows the altitude and speed Soon after waking up I was asked if I wanted anything to eat or drink I noticed on the menu that they had some iced coffee drinks which by comparison wasn’t good at all and matched my previous experiences of ordering speciality coffee drinks on ANA (which I haven’t found to be very good) and then about 90 minutes before landing decided to order something to eat The anytime dining and pre-landing menu read as follows: The options from the “light dishes anytime” menu appealed to me most so I ordered the open-faced sandwich with smoked salmon to start I then had the mushroom and artichoke risotto To finish off the meal I had some fresh fruit We began our descent around 2:40PM Tokyo time This was my first time landing at Haneda during the day so much like when I departed Haneda a couple of days prior during the day 35 minutes ahead of our 3:50PM scheduled arrival time and despite not having purchased a ticket in advance made the 3:35PM bus to the Andaz with time to spare Everything about the experience was flawless ANA’s new first class suite is top notch and they’ve addressed all of the issues I had with their old seats from the slow Wi-Fi to the poorly designed “cubicle” design The crew couldn’t have been lovelier and I think I had the best meal I’ve ever had in first class on any airline ANA first class has gone up a few notches in my book What do you make of ANA’s new first class suite Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" I wonder if ANA communicated the substitution of (unpublished) tomato in lieu of avocado when serving the "Scallop and avocado with citrus gelee" from the printed menu I understand that allergies should always be reported to servers beforehand; I was just wondering how proactive ANA was about communicating the substituted ingredient I just booked HND to JFK and I got a notice about pre-booking the meals I figured it was like Singapore Air's Book the Cook program I found out that my late night flight (I leave 10:55pm -- NH 160) DOES NOT HAVE the super duper meal this review features You pick your menu based on route and I noticed the night time route (NH 160) does not have the "Washoku" menu... I figured it was like Singapore Air's Book the Cook program You pick your menu based on route and I noticed the night time route (NH 160) does not have the "Washoku" menu The fine print on the main page featuring their dining services also has it written "excluding late night routes" The price is the same as as the morning NH 110 flight How can they get away with this disparity Does anyone know if flights from ORD are updated and follow the same format out of JFK with the new layout or is it unique to JFK only as of now as well I was told by ANA to call back in January regarding the updated seats for ORD I have a flight that I booked for ORD next November and would like to experience ‘The Suite’ as well Tokyo Bay Aqualine - 1/2 tunnel 1/2 bridge - the quick way to drive from Tokyo to Chiba And a ventilation shaft for the tunnel section The airport in the photo is Kisarazu Air Field https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisarazu_Air_Field The sailboat looking thing is the ventilation for that tunnel running under the bay is what a flight attendant told me made the 3:35PM bus to the Andaz with time to spare." This particular part of the review hasn't withstood the test of time The structure you saw on your approach into Tokyo is the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line Its a 24km tunnel/bridge that provides a way to get from one side of the bay to the other without having to go through Tokyo proper The bit specifically is where it transitions from bridge to tunnel and they put a service station there because its.. they put a service station there because its nice to have Service stations are on a whole different level in Japan compared to the US Is this your first time having the Japanese menu on either ANA or JAL Looking at your past reviews it seems that you've always ended up choosing the international option which is surprising since the Japanese option is usually much more interesting (especially with ex You must be a recent convert to Japanese cuisine ;) Looking forward to the 2020 edition of your top business class and first class products Guess you gotta check out Starlux first before you rank though I'm guessing Starlux (given its A321neo seating configuration) won't make the list How would one book ticket thru Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or the 120k mile r/t award More here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU4VVA8TE4E&t=1s i'd love to hear your thoughts on the value of new ANA F over J Was there no mattress pad at all for the bed my old F flight in november had some kind of pad Any chance the new product will replace "The Square" by then? @lucky I would rather your view than using google so can you please post an article about the correct way to consume caviar Does the larger lavatory still have the drop down "shelf" just above the floor to stand on so you can avoid standing on the lavatory floor while changing into/out of the pj's Yay for Krug...who needs the stinking whisky? one of my favorite shows....can you start a blog just about that show?? For my flight IAH-NRT F in February I'd do the same meal plan Caviar to start and then the Japanese service I wouldn't care to watch 90-day Fiance on any size screen although my wife loves the show How is the John Walker and sons King George V I missed the Hibiki comments prior to mine Last I flew from ORD they had both 21 and 17 Amazing that they serve either let alone both Hidden on the menu with little fanfare is Hibiki 21 year old whiskey It sells for around $1,000 a bottle and is excellent I have a couple every time I fly ANA first New seats look amazing though I also enjoyed previous version Food has always been a strongpoint for them having only two passengers in first class should guarantee a good service...if not You should have had the rest of the champagne for breakfast....I would have @lucky The HDMI port in your photo looks like a tag has been added saying "INOP" Am I right in guessing that means the HDMI port has been rendered inoperable I can only imagine hooking up my laptop to watch a couple of my own movies or better yet a nintendo switch to get 12 hours of quality time a good game I flew F on ANA’s A380 HNL-NRT in October and it was almost identical to this Totally blows the competition out of the water and was superb from start to finish what stops the US carriers offering such exquisiteness and royalty to F and J class fliers in terms of comfort Hope I can find an opportunity to fly ANA again The biggest thing is the wonderful people of Japan Lucky great review and yes I did say video trip reports are needed but this was good I love the amount of dishes and options presented I’m flying J in 3 weeks (Friday 4 pm departure) and F is still available This all looks lovely and I am dying to try it My issue is that I'd need to be able to book it with only a month or two notice and it seems like that is impossible with only miles how are the chances at buying business and upgrading with miles The tower approaching landing is a missle launcher not a ventilation tower Soft product doesn't seem like it changed from the old products The essential question is whether the hard product in F substantially better than J to justify the increase in miles Drinking champagne when there is Noguchi Naohiko onboard - pfft I know you have to book a roundtrip with ANA using Virgin miles but do both flights have to be in the same class I don't think your PJ top was like jean shorts just because it had 3/4 length sleeves :) Ben - did they keep the lights on maximum setting like they did in Business I would have done my best to finish off 375ml of Hibiki 21 @Sharp Eye You're misinterpretation what people are asking and sort of ironic given the name you picked They're wondering why Lucky didn't try the Hibiki 21 which was available on his flight Hopefully more US routes get the new hard product Flew the new first suite from JFK-HND and NRT-JFK in November The finest meal I have had on a flight as well amazing flight attendants and very comfortable seats/beds Glad that you have had a similar experience other routes have Hibiki 17 just in case you're booking ANA F and expecting Hibiki 21 Why is everyone asking where the hibiki 21 is It's on the top right of this page in the menu: https://onemileatatime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ana-first-class-drink-menu-6.png Doesn't seem like Lucky is a big whisky drinker so I guess he'll never enjoy the real star of the flight I'll save the champagne drinking for Salon on JAL F Are you still trying to review every First Class product The likely reason for the half bottles of Krug is that they're significantly less than half the cost of a full bottle You can often find them for only 50-60 USD versus 150-160 USD for the full bottle Jay - 11 months out on some crap day of the week The second unidentified picture is a bridge-tunnel combo and I think the third picture is a ventilation tower for the tunnel Whenever I read these first class reviews (here or other blogs) I'd love to know what percent of readers actually find and book more than one award seat on their preferred dates assuming their vacation travel dates aren't 100% flexible so they take vacation precisely when award inventory opens up and they aren't flying alone I'd be surprised if a survey revealed anything higher than single digit percentages To me (sadly) these reviews are just a quick scroll through pretty pictures I've flown the old F twice and wish I had a better opportunity to try the new one So they still stock the Hibiki 17 and the 21 depending on route Now we know where the lion's share of the supply is going Also a fast way to maximise your ticket's worth Maybe they should move this a/c to the IAD route Dying for more information on what routes will be upgraded next/timeline @Ben both the photos you were wondering about show parts of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Bay_Aqua-Line The first picture is where the bridge turns into a tunnel and the second photo is a ventilation tower for the tunnel it’s Kisarazu Air Field (JGSDF - Camp Kisarazu) The other one is Umihotaru parking area on the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line expressway The bridge is leading to a tunnel and the next picture it is guaranteed that an FA will tell you her name as she introduces you to your seat The "bridge leading to a ferry" is the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line a bridge-tunnel combo that crosses Tokyo Bay it starts out as a 4km bridge than becomes a 10 km tunnel I was really looking forward to this review A fun side note though: I flew ANA F recently (old product) and just googled the The Ginza products from the amenity kit because they feel so great (particularly the night serum) retails for an eye watering 180,000 yen or roughly USD 1600! I can't believe they provide such expensive products.. the airport appears to be JGSDF Camp Kisarazu a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force installation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisarazu_Air_Field https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Bay_Aqua-Line The pics show part of the Aqua Line that then becomes submerged Some googling reveals that the road leading to "nowhere" is actually a tunnel The sail-looking thing is a ventilation shaft for the tunnel I recently flew the new ANA economy from NRT to JFK the monitors behind the seats were the best I had seen in any economy cabin take a speed test when using WiFi for next time ;) I’m flying ANA F next month but unfortunately west coast route with the old equipment even without originating in Japan their Japanese dinner looks outstanding I hope you had some of their premium sake with that food Your feedback is important in helping us keep our community safe The comments on this page have not been provided approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered I wonder if ANA communicated the substitution of (unpublished) tomato in lieu of avocado when serving the "Scallop and avocado with citrus gelee" from the printed menu I figured it was like Singapore Air's Book the Cook program You pick your menu based on route and I noticed the night time route (NH 160) does not have the "Washoku" menu The fine print on the main page featuring their dining services also has it written "excluding late night routes" You have successfully joined our subscriber list Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. See more about our ethics policies here which for our Metropolis is the beginning of a new twenty years period and more began with the completion of the feasts of the Holy Twelve Days and the pastoral presences of the Metropolitan of Spain and Portugal throughout Iberia after the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Cathedral of Madrid Igor Kmetyk to the title of Protopresbyter who assumed the difficult duties of the Secretary of the Holy Metropolis on the completion of three years since his election he co-celebrated the Divine Liturgy along with the Most Reverend Bishop of Comana Michael exarch of our Ecumenical Patriarchate in Kiev and head of the St on 21 January he calabrated the divine Liturgy in the parish of St Andrew in Viana do Castelo (Portugal) and on 03 March in the parish of St thus witnessing the work and zeal of our good priests and the growing faith of the multi-ethnic flock of our Metropolis at the beginning of the Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians (22-28 January) at the Cathedral of Saint Eulalia in Barcelona and at the end of the week at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Almudena in Madrid in the spirit of the inter-Christian dialogue and the love that the Mother Church of Constantinople has always advocated and at the very honorable invitation of the Bishop and Prefect of the Anglican Church of Portugal (Igreja Lusitana) (Anglican Communion) attended prayerfully the solemn inaugural Mass on the occasion of the celebration of the 100th Synod of that Church The Mass took place in the Anglican Cathedral of St Paul’s in Lisbon and was attended by the Primate of the Anglican Communion The whole devotional event was graciously graced by President of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa the Metropolitan had a long and cordial conversation with the Archbishop of Canterburry as well as with the bishop conveying the blessings and love of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew thus confirming the mutual love and relationship between the two Churches It is worth noting that the Divine Liturgy was broadcasted directly by the Portuguese national television network had a long meeting of acquaintance and collaboration with the new Archbishop Patriarch of Lisbon D Rui Manuel Sousa Valério at his episcopal residence and then with Archbishop Ivo Scapolo the Metropolitan  thanked the Roman Catholic Church in Portugal for its assistance and for providing places of worship for the majority of Orthodox parishes in the country They exchanged views on ecclesiastical matters as well as wishes for the upcoming Easter of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters and also for the beginning of the Holy and Great Lent the Patriarchate of Jerusalem solemnly celebrated the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women... Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Theotokos.. it was announced that two Roman Catholic institutions in Bavaria have decided to jointly.. A car once used by Pope Francis during his 2014 visit to Bethlehem is being transformed into a mobile.. the Monastery of Saint Vlash in Albania hosted a festal Divine Liturgy on the.. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece presided over the festal Great Vespers at the historic.. (function() { window.mc4wp = window.mc4wp || { listeners: [] cb) { window.mc4wp.listeners.push( { event : evt callback: cb } ); } } }})(); © 2023 OrthodoxTimes.com - All rights reserved Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website These cookies do not store any personal information Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website Best Dressed at Met Gala 2025 - Top 32 Red Carpet Looks Revealed! Rihanna Pregnant, Expecting Baby No. 3 With A$AP Rocky! Every Celeb at Met Gala 2025 - See All Red Carpet Photos & Full Guest List (Updating Live All Night) The Devil Wears Prada star Anne Hathaway is all smiles (and kisses!) traveling through LAX Airport on Saturday morning with a gal pal She even took the time to sign autographs for some for some the airport personnel who spotted her at one of the terminals has her Jane Austen film – Becoming Jane – coming out later this year on Aug She and her real estate developer boyfriend Raffaello Follieri were spotted holding hands in London earlier this year For more pictures of Anne at the airport, CLICK HERE I arrived at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport a few hours before departure and was treated to a remarkable display at the check-in counter. From the very moment of check-in, ANA set the tone for what would be a great day of flying. > Read More: How Impeccable ANA Shines Even During Flight Check-In With boarding pass in hand, I proceeded to the ANA Suite Lounge (full review here) where I spent the next two hours eating breakfast and working. At 10:45 AM, passengers inside the lounge were invited to board via a jetbridge connected directly to the lounge. I just love the “Flying Honu” livery on this aircraft. I was first onboard and a trio of flight attendants greeted me. One escorted me through the galley and to my seat. Japan is a nation that loves to take pictures, so ANA is one airline I have no concern over taking pictures on. I used the moment to take a few pictures of the cabin before other passengers arrived. The seat features bell and whistles including a multi-way seat adjuster, IFE remote, reading lights, multiple power ports, window shade controls, literature rack with vanity mirror, and again, plenty of personal storage. A closet with a pull-out rack allows for storage of clothes when you change into pajamas. Waiting on my seat was a day blanket, amenity kit, pajamas, sweater, noise-cancelling headphones, shoe bag, and shoehorn. After my first meal, flight attendants prepared my bed for a nap. New bedding plus a comfortable mattress pad also make the suite great for sleeping. Although Honolulu to Tokyo does not leave much time to rest, especially if there is no headwind, I still managed a 2.5 hour nap. There’s a metal latch that protrudes into the sleeping area, but is covered by the mattress pad. Prior to takeoff, a flight attendant offered water, Champagne (Krug), or orange juice on a tray. Of course the Krug is very nice, but I am surprised each passenger was not simply asked for their choices…the whole tray option reminded me of business class. Prior to takeoff, a menu folder was distributed featuring separate food and drink menus. I took a few moments to examine the menu for the flight today. We pushed back precisely on schedule and by 11:45AM were in the air. Flight attendants offered another beverage plus amuse-bouche about 20 minutes after takeoff. Today’s selection featured: I was not in the Champagne mood today, but since I planned to choose the beef filet for my main course, I ordered a glass of red wine. The 2014 Canvasback Cabranet Sauvingon from Washington State is not particularly expensive wine (about $32/bottle), but had an excellent taste. Next, the table was set for lunch. With careful precession, a flight attendant arranged each item, including every utensil and even a toothpick. Warm bread was offered, including an amazing sourdough roll. Among the three appetizer choices, I opted for scallop and sea urchin gateau (cake) with cauliflower puree and truffle dressing. The truffle dressing over the scallop was particularly tasting. A salad with mesclun, cucumbers, bacon bits, and cheese served as a suitable palate cleanser. Lunch continued with a bowl of corn soup, again brimming with flavor. Finally, the main course arrived; Angus beef filet steak, radichhio and mushroom, and black pepper balsamic sauce. My mistake was in not asking the pepper sauce to be served on the side. Not only did it create a visually underwhelming appearance on the plate, but it overpowered the taste of the mushrooms and beef. The beef itself was cooked too much for my preference, but still a respectable medium and of good quality. While I had planned to order cheese, I was so stuffed at this point I went right for dessert, a warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. It was perhaps the best part of the meal! I ordered a cappuccino with it and found it to be fairly weak. As if that was not enough, I was also offered cookies and a Godiva chocolate truffle: Overall, I had a better meal out of of Chicago in ANA first class than out of Honolulu ANA does western food better than most western carriers and I greatly enjoyed the meal overall but wanted to sample a couple more dishes for purposes of this review While ANA offered lunch to everyone at the same time after takeoff the remainder of the flight was dine-on-demand…lights were not raised nor were passengers asked to eat at a certain time Next, I ordered a cheeseburger…more so to see how ANA’s would compare to Lufthansa’s then because I was hungry. The cheeseburger turned out beautifully and is a real winner on the snack menu. I rounded out the meal with a bowl of fruit and another cappuccino, this time a double shot. Notice how the FAs tried to create the “Flying Honu” livery in the latte art…I loved the effort. I’d say ANA has a great food and drink menu, but I’ve historically had better meals out of other stations. Oh, can I just defend myself here for one moment? I was the only 外人 (Gaijin) in the full cabin and the three Japanese passengers sitting in row one with me also ordered off the western menu. All three. Don’t ever feel compelled to try the Japanese menu just because you are flying a Japanese airline…I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed it. A blue Globe Trotter amenity kit resembling a suitcase was waiting in my suite. Contents included an earplug toothpaste, eye mask, and beauty products from The Ginza. Prior to takeoff, flight attendants offered additional amenities form a basket: Also waiting in each suite was a gray sweater. Pajamas were distributed prior to takeoff and I asked for an XL, thinking smaller Japanese sizes. That was a poor choice, as the pajamas were far too large for me. In fact, I’m 6’1″ and should have ordered medium… A large IFE screen was not as technically advanced as Emirates’ 777-300ER in first class, but a wide selection of movies, TV shows, live TV, games, and music was available. The flight went by so quickly by the time I had taken my nap sandwiched by two meals there was no time left… Complimentary Wi-Fi is provided for first class passengers and I did take advantage of that. Webpages loaded well and at 10Mb/S down, I found the internet very serviceable. Sony noise-cancelling headphones worked well. Finally, the 380 Flying Honu-themed safety video was a bit of in-flight-entertainment itself… Lavatories on a Japanese airline are clean enough to eat off the counter…I say that as a great compliment. I used the lavatory twice during the flight and it was simply spotless each time. There’s even a little stand you can stand on when changing clothes do you don’t have to touch the (clean) floor. Additional amenities and real towels were available. Service onboard was wonderful. The ladies working first class were caring, kind, and diligent. I was addressed by name, drink glasses were kept full, and there was not a single service slip-up. Yes, there was a bit of an English barrier (as a general comparison, JAL FAs always seem to speak better English) but shame on me for not speaking a word of Japanese…the FAs were fabulous. And while they did not know I was a travel blogger, they certainly noticed I loved this aircraft. One FA prepared a little gift bag for me, which I thought was a very nice touch. We landed ahead of schedule to stormy summer day at Tokyo Narita. As I left the aircraft, I noticed dozens of passengers were taking pictures of their aircraft. Everyone is proud of the new A380. Express lane passes for immigration were provided to first class passengers, which saved me at least 45 minutes. The immigration hall was PACKED at this mid-afternoon hour. My expectations were not exceeded on this flight because I had better food last time around I wholeheartedly recommend ANA’s latest first class product Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry and detailed reports of his worldwide travel What I have noticed when I was on ANA Business Class is that the Japanese passengers often order Western meal while the foreign passengers (myself included) tends to order the Japanese option Daniel k Inouye told Kristin Gillibrand he likes meat in his women as he looked over her approvingly Banned from OMAAT and trolling on here now As a true fanatic for Japanese Curry I think you’re missing out in not ordering ANA’s version that is very tasty Probably my favorite meal there is in the sky I would have even opted for it over the pre landing snack I always thought the idea was for the slide of cheese to get a little melted on top of the hot burger patty… Because of my seafood allergies I’ve ordered curries in restaurants all over Japan and they are always outstanding Corn soup – which seems to be a Japanese staple – is also always a good bet can I just defend myself here for one moment?” their curry is amazing and never disappoints Good review and thanks for the information about this fabulous aircraft My counterargument to your point that the Japanese passengers ordered the western food so you shouldn’t feel compelled to order the Japanese is that the Japanese passengers get to eat great Japanese food all the time because THEY LIVE IN JAPAN While the standard of Japanese cuisine has improved hugely in the U.S it’s still a treat to be able to find authentic even in the big cities (I live in NYC and I’ve managed to find a stable of great places I guess I just have a different food philosophy which is to eat like the locals as much as possible That doesn’t mean I won’t eat the odd Western meal in Asia or on Asian airlines but as a matter of course I’ll opt for the national cuisine when I can All of yours are great but this was really interesting (hence the ‘honu’ livery on the A380) can I just defend myself here for one moment I was the only 外人 (Gaijin) in the full cabin and the three Japanese passengers sitting in row one with me also ordered off the western menu you really shouldn’t feel compelled to defend yourself I like to seek out local delicacies (within reason) when I travel overseas because a) it’s difficult to find a truly authentic version here at home and b) the inevitable “I flew 6,000 miles and used 80,000 points for sashimi” tagline makes for a funny yarn to spin (and blog post) Not wanting to branch out doesn’t make your adventures “fake travel” like some like to insinuate you really did miss out by skipping the Japanese menu 🙂 and website in this browser for the next time I comment Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure