Short hair Francis

Part 1 – Memories from STL/"Up in the Air" (BUF-ORD-STL-LAX)

It was a weird way to end my junior year in college.
My journey didn’t really feel like it was starting at home, it felt like it was starting earlier at a faraway place. But without explaining my pre-trip before the real trip, it just won’t feel right to type up this trip report in the first place. So after completing 3 exams in 3 days before the mini-trip, here was my crazy weekend before my real trip.

Trip Parts
#1 - Memories from STL/"Up in the Air" (BUF-ORD-STL-LAX)
#2 - LAX for the Star Mega DO 2 launch event and rush home for the last party of junior year (LAX-JFK-YYZ)
#3 - Exam and the AA ORD-PEK slot issue/reticketing
#4 - Woohoo! CX883 LAX-HKG First Class (Part of a YYZ-LAX-HKG-PEK routing)
#5 - HKG Lounge Hop and time in PEK
#6 - Going Back home, JL J/AA F PEK-NRT-DFW



Mini-trip Idea
-Head to LAX for the Star Mega DO 2 launch event on Friday night.
-Fly out Saturday morning from LAX to get back home by 9pm to start my last drinking weekend of the term with my college friends
-Study like hell on Sunday
-Monday 9am exam then fly out to Dallas by 3pm.

With that in mind, it takes me an hour to get to either Buffalo or Toronto Airport and the shuttle that’s drives me to the airport picks me up 4 hours before my flight.

Apr 23, 2010 – Friday

AA 3943 BUF-ORD 6:30am - 7:15am (ER4/Y)
AA 325 ORD-STL 9:00am -10:10am (S80/F)
AA 1661 STL-LAX 1:40pm – 3:40pm (S80/F)

Start of the pre-trip, shuttle gets to my door at 2am. I guess I was the only one passenger that morning so here we go. Get to the Fort Erie border station, border guard doesn’t quite understand why I’m flying to LAX and back on one day but at least he did believe me, so after some typing and moderate questioning, I’m off to Buffalo airport. Now here’s why I hate the shuttles, I got drop off by 3:30am, ticket counters don’t even open until 5 am. So here I am, bored beyond belief, but then I remember to study so here comes out all the study notes.

The rest was pretty smooth, finally saw BUF has decided to put up a premium/first class security line , got some breakfast at the new food court and onto regional jet I go.

AA 3943
Buffalo to Chicago O’Hare
6:30am – 7:15am, 1 hr 45 min flight
Economy Class, Seat 12B (exit row)
Food – Beverage Service
Aircraft – Embraer 145 Regional Jet by American Eagle

Being an YYZ/BUF based flyer, I’m used to regional jets, I don’t hate it, I get them going to BOS, LGA, and ORD and it’s part of life really. As AA EXP, I get 1 free alcoholic drink and a snack (trail mix or almonds), but who in the right mind drinks at 7am in the morning????
So I just stick to my usual Dr. Pepper and almonds, then pass out for some much needed sleep. My blessing that morning was that 12C, was empty so I pretty much had a regional first class seat. Close to landing, I learn that 12A was also an EXP, DFW based in fact and of course we talk about miles. At the end of the flight, the FA announced connections including one for HNL, simultaneously both of us EXPs awed and in fact the ones going to HNL were directly behind us, and we told them that it would be a long 9hr ORD-HNL flight and to buy some food because AA no longer serves complementary food on domestic flights.

Off to Chicago H/K Admiral’s Club, I desperately needed that shower, what a blessing a club membership for anyone travelling a reasonable amount. Was even thinking changing my ORD-STL-LAX to ORD-LAX but it won’t be a Flyertalker way especially going to an event, AAngels even could’ve got me a 1st class seat on a friday flight as a standby surprisingly.

AA 325
Chicago O’Hare to St. Louis
9:00am – 10:10am, 1 hr 10 min flight
First Class, Seat 5F
Food – Beverage Service
Aircraft – McDonnall Douglas MD 80

I was really tired having not slept the previous night, so I immediately passed out and start to gain some sleep, short flights are really uneventful. I was excited to get to STL, go check out the filming scenes of our favorite movie “Up in the Air”, so some quick snooze

Landed at STL, here comes all the TWA memories from childhood, now all gone, AA finally torn down the remnants of the STL hub which was always expected. It was just outright depressing in STL, the place is just empty, check-in desk, concourse, club, even security. Having nothing to do, I went around the airport taking some pics then back into the lounge for some work, travel work that is

STL pics

STL Terminal Structure


Check-in area Departure Screen


C Concourse


STL Admiral's Club






My Circle Pacific ticket was needing work once again, it's so annoying to get it re-price every time after a change. Finally, down to the C concourse for my pre-flight Venti no-whip Caramel drizzle Java Chip frap at Starbucks then finally onto LAX.




AA 1661
St. Louis to Los Angeles
1:40pm – 3:40pm, 4 hr flight
First Class, Seat 5B
Food – Snack/Brunch
Aircraft – McDonnall Douglas MD 80

McDonnall Douglas MD 80 First Class Seat



Get on the plane, the plane having been about 20 mins late inbound
Blast #1, why won’t my carryon fit on the left side, it usually does
Blast #2, why isn’t the coffee doing anything, I’m still as crazy sleepy as before
Blast #3, this Mad-Dog doesn’t have wi-fi, ahh!!! Why didn’t I check it at the club, damn! How am I supposed to contact the other flyertalkers?

This is why I find Mad-dog flights fun, many people, not enough luggage space, combine with a young person in 1st while others in the back and you can see some fun in it, for me there is anyway.
Unfortunately I only had 5B for an aisle that day so you can also feel there is definitely less pitch than my previous flight in 5F.

AA 1661 Snack/Brunch
To Start
Hot Nuts

Main Meal
Chicken Parmesan with Green beans
or
Salmon Salad

Sides
Pita chips with hummus
Side Salad with pepper and radish on Italian Vinaigrette

Dessert
Coconut Cranberry Cookie



Another average mid-con flight.
Right after the meal, right back to sleep, I’m so tired.
Got 2 hours on the plane, nice, was never a good sleeper on a plane usually.
Finally land at LAX and off to Mega DO launch event!

DLATL777

You mention standing by; were you non-reving this trip or using miles?

Keep it coming; LAX-HKG on CX F is one of fav. flights.

SFO777

2am pick-up? OMG... oh to be young again. Enjoying the report so far, and really looking forward to your CX and AA TPAC section. Thanks Francis.

Short hair Francis

Ooo, finally got the pics resized, the Original ones were a little small so hopefully now is better.
To DLATL777, the standby was changing ORD-STL-LAX on a paid ticket, all confirmed on first to ORD-LAX which surprisingly I could've also gotten first class for.
To SFO777, unfortunately most of my flights require me to up at those hours, at least I don't fly every week , I did enjoy CX F as expected

time2go1st

Great start to a TR. Especially nice to see the pics of STL -- although yes more than a bit sad nowadays, at least to those of us who remember when it had life AND beauty to it. I always liked using it, it gave a sense of a center of worldwide commerce right in the middle of the plains. Nice restaurants, too.

Actually -- why did you go through there at all, wouldn't the direct AA ORD-LAX service have worked better for you as your time was short on that mini-trip?

SFO777

I'm guessing ease and/or availability of upgrade, extra EQMs, probably even fare.

Short hair Francis

To Time2go1st, if I was in a rush to get LAX, then yes. But SFO777 got it right on, STL-LAX I thought was always an easier upgrade, and I wanted to see STL after the dehubbing (childhood memories) , mind you I don't need too much time in STL. 3 hrs was more than enough for what I wanted. STL-LAX got cleared at T-112, fare was around 75 bucks cheaper and frankly more EQM as well

RyanOKC

It was great to see STL. So sad to see the decline from the old TWA days. It was especially nice to see the former Ambassadors Club. It still looks like I remember it 10 years ago when I flew TWA all the time. I always loved the glass panels with the TWA globe etched on them. Have some great memories of stopping there on my way to see the world. Thanks for sharing. It made me smile thinking about all my old friends at TWA and the adventures of my late teens & early 20's.

Short hair Francis

Part 2 - LAX for the Star Mega DO and the rush home for the last party of junior year (LAX-JFK-YYZ)

Finally landed at LAX, now I do hate Canadian cell phones company, why? Because they try to rip you off at every possibility, my cell phone bill was not very friendly at the end of the month due to 2 trips in the US in April. After arranging some plans with other flyertalkers while I was in STL. It was worked out that I was going to catch a ride from alcathiax and then meet up with SFO777, Bristoltraveller and Luvtworce at the Hilton LAX airport. By the time AA 1661 taxied to the gate, we were about 10 mins late from landing. Fortunately I got both SFO777 and alcathiax’s phone number so I was in luck in updating my situation. One of my fallback when I’m travelling is that I’m very rushy, in fact I was so rushy that I went past alcathiax at the T4 baggage claim which he was holding a sign with my FT handle on it. I walked all the way to T5 then back. After he found me, we also waited for Canarsie who was inbounding on DL, unfortunately Canarsie didn’t know about his ride so we waited and waited and waited. He never showed up :@ so off we go to the Hilton after 45 mins of waiting.

Hilton LAX Lobby


Hilton gave me a corner room which was slightly bigger than the regular size room, unfortunately, the room was so 80’s dated that the hotel room still has the old CRT TV.

Corner Room


Due to the delays earlier, I didn’t get a chance to swim as I originally planned so off downstairs I went to meet SFO777, Bristoltraveller, and Luvtworce. As agreed earlier on FT, I’ve met others at the hotel bar then off to the shared cab ride at the launch event.
Once again, my thanks to the Star Mega DO 2 organizers, tommy777, sbm12, and oliver2002 for the putting together such a great trip.

Star Mega DO 2 Launch Party

Visit CO Headquarters in IAH

Frequent Traveler Awards

Visit Boeing Factory for the 1st Boeing 747-8 tour at Paine Field


It was my first DO which I truly enjoy meeting other Flyertalkers such as Aviators99 which I thank him for answering a question I had about VX earlier in the year, me and alcathiax also chirped Canarsie for disappearing, lol , it’s all good. Another recognition goes to scoow who has to deal with all the TSA security issues on the security forum. Finally it was meeting my night time Flyertalk chat pals SkiAdcock and Iluv2fly which I truly enjoyed meeting and getting to know each other. All in all, I thought the launch event was a very great experience for this relative newbie. After some dinner at Tony P’s with SFO777 and luvtworce, we head back to the Hilton for some rest. Such a long day, now why did I choose to fly at 8am, sleep time.

Apr 24, 2010 – Saturday

AA 34 LAX-JFK 8:00am - 4:30pm (762/J)
AA 4470 JFK-YYZ 5:05pm – 7:30pm (ER3/Y)

Ok, alarm goes off at 5:45am, off to the bathroom for a morning shower. Damn, where is my plastic baggy. Must be at home, damn the TSA Since the shuttle ran every 20 mins on the hour from the Hilton, I made my way to the lobby by 6:10am. Went on the shuttle and SFO777 is right behind me?????? Apparently he had an irrop on his 10:00am flight so he tries to get on the 7:35am instead and gets the battlefield upgrade too So here’s I can learn from the veterans, SFO777 somehow picked out that half the people at the priority security line was not priority at all. I guess I’ve got much to learn, at least I didn’t do too shabby at the security, hehe . After saying good bye to SFO777 at his gate, I went to the LAX admiral’s club to check my internet then back down for usual pre-flight Caramel frap.

LAX Admiral's Club






AA 34
Los Angeles – New York Kennedy
8:00am – 4:30pm, 5 hr 30 mins flight
Business Class, Seat 7H
Food – Breakfast
Aircraft – Boeing 767-200

American Airlines Boeing 767-200


Boeing 767-200 Business Class Seat with my caramel frap


Get on the plane for a pic of my seat. Hmm, 8H gives me a staredown as evident of this pic. Talk about DYKWIA, yeesh!

AA 34 Breakfast

Main Meal

Breakfast Skillet
Scrambled eggs with Cream Cheese and chives, goat cheese sauce with asparagus and potatoes

Seasonal fruit appetizer

Cereal and Fruit with Yogurt
Served with a banana and fresh seasonal berries

Breakfast Breads
A selection of breakfast breads

Light Refreshment
Freshly baked on board cookies

Chilled Sparkling or Still water with a fresh citrus garnish

Yay, no more of the Eggs Benedict from the February Transcon breakfast, talk about a disaster, I still rank that the #1 worst meal on a plane ever. Start eating, not too bad, I’m not a fan of asparagus but the potatoes and the eggs were fine. Meal shown below.



Oops, spoke to soon , really upset stomach, I ended up using the lavatory 4 times on a transcon!!! Unfortunately I would still rank this better than the previous Eggs Benedict, at least this still taste better than dorm food and Eggs Benedict also made me use the lav heavily as well. Rest of my flight went quite quick with the Gogo Internet, flight seems to fly by with internet with some flight tracking, msn messenger, facebook and of course Flyertalk, another bad characteristics by generations Y-ers, hehe Landing was uneventful although we landed close to 30 mins early, so my 35 mins connection became an hour long. Good, more Admiral Club’s for me. JFK Eagle boarding is always confusing to me, the 5 gates combined into 31A-31E means sometimes people including myself have no clue as to which flight is really boarding.


AA 4470
New York Kennedy to Toronto
5:05pm – 7:30pm, 2 hr 25 min flight
Economy Class, Seat 9A (exit row)
Food – Beverage Service
Aircraft – Embraer 135 Regional Jet by American Eagle


Thank you JFK runway construction, you basically made every ex-JFK flight super-padded in terms of time. JFK-YYZ is 1 hr 10 min in the air, they’ve now padded 50% of the time for tarmac delays. Oh well, only 35 min wait at JFK, bumpy ride but still got a drink and even recognition of the EXP. Land again about 30 mins early into YYZ.
Funny times about the Canadian customs, didn’t ask me how long were I gone, just ask where did I go and that was it. New one for me, no grilling by customs and the shuttle home even put me on standby so I ended up getting home at 9:15pm, not bad for someone living 1 hr away from airport.
Drop off the luggage at home, get changed and off to my friends for some binge drinking. Ya Ya, not healthy but I can’t stay young or in college forever. Off to the bar for some dancing, drunk texting, drunk NHL on Xbox, and drunk pizza and not so much memory left(mini blackout)

vecta

Great read so far, keen to hear and see the CX F sector!

sobore

Never ask this question on Flyertalk, the responses may be overwhelming.

Short hair Francis

Part 3 – Exam and the AA ORD-PEK slot issue/reticketing

Apr 26, 2010 – Monday
Exam came and went on Monday 9am. I gave it all I had, either I knew the material or I don’t and ended up finishing in 35 mins for a 3 hr exam. Uh oh! No worries, ended up getting an A on the exam Rush home, shuttle was to come at 11:20am. News flash, as reported by Flyertalk, “AA new PEK-ORD flight supposedly to start on Apr 26 is cancelled due to slot issues at PEK”.

Original ticket
Apr 26, 2010
AA 1203 YYZ-DFW 15:05 - 17:25 (738/J)
AA 2372 DFW-ORD F 19:15 - 21:20 (S80/F)
Apr 27, 2010
AA 187 ORD-PEK F 11:25 - 13:55+1 (772/F)
May 2, 2010
AA 186 PEK-ORD J 16:50 - 16:40 (772/J)
AA 2349 ORD-DFW F 18:50 - 21:10 (S80/F)

Oh no, an international ticket in jeopardy can’t be good news but what can I do? Halfway into the airport shuttle, a phone call came from the AA EXP desk. Yep, AA 187 is cancelled and the agent asks me what I wanted to rebooked. Since, I was on my way to the airport, I didn’t bother to do anything yet as I didn’t have any internet and I wanted to see if the AAngels in YYZ can help me on this one. For some reason, admiral club member can no longer directly call the club but at least the club member center can notify the club that I was coming in that day so they can get a headstart as to what to do.
Got to the counter, ticket agent see this ticket and just shudder. I guess only FTers are crazy enough to fly such a routing. At least they got me a boarding pass to go through US customs and security. Damn it, why haven’t I got the green arrow at the US security checkpoint once since the Christmas day bombing incident. YYZ airport security is just lame if you get the heavy check, 5 PEOPLE in front of me took 1 HOUR!!!

Into the YYZ admiral’s club, Laura sees me and gave me two options
Option 1) AA J/F YYZ-ORD-JFK, CA J JFK-ORD
Option 2) AA F YYZ-ORD-PVG, MU PVG-HKG

Both options didn’t look too good as I didn’t really wanted to fly Chinese carriers. Hmm, my parents were joining me in PEK, flying KA HKG-PEK. Lucky me, both AA YYZ-LAX and CX LAX-HKG still had premium class availability. EXP desk to the rescue! I ended up getting my ticket totally redone in under 40 mins including ticketing. Flyertalk definitely teaches you alot if you desire the knowledge.

New Ticket
Apr 26, 2010
AA 1553 YYZ-LAX J 18:55 - 21:10 (738/J)
CX 883 LAX-HKG F 23:50 - 5:30+2 (77W/F)
Apr 28, 2010
KA 908 HKG-PEK J 11:50 - 15:20 (330/J)
May 2, 2010
JL 860 PEK-NRT J 8:25 - 12:55 (763/J)
AA 60 NRT-DFW F 18:05 - 15:35 (772/F)

Three big outcomes came from this ticket. I originally bought 1 way J/1 way Y for this ticket and then use EVIPs to upgrade both the long-haul flights.
So 1) Somehow AA didn’t downgrade me to J and kept me in F on the LAX-HKG (supervisor approval was needed I think)
2) I get to meet my family in a HKG lounge instead of PEK waiting outside customs
And 3) for some reason, I got re-ticketed into F instead of Y or J on the return trans-pacific sector.

All in all, I surprisingly now have a F ticket for 2500 bucks including a CX long haul flight, score !!!

The rest of the lounge time passed by quiet pleasantly as I had some emails to write and spent reading about the AA mess about the PEK 2am slots instead of the 2pm slots inbounding . At least AA save me today and soon came boarding time for AA 1553.

American Airlines Boeing 737-800


AA 1553
Toronto – Los Angeles
6:55pm – 9:20pm, 5 hr 25 mins flight
Business Class, Seat 3F
Food – Dinner
Aircraft – Boeing 737-800

Boeing 737-800 New First Class Seat


I was surprised to get a J seat because of the last minute changes but lucky me. I do like these new 738 F seats especially in recline if you ask me except in the bulkhead. I’m 5’5” and even I felt the bulkhead was tight if the seats were reclined. Takeoff was reasonably long due to the full load going westbound but soon the flight service began. This was pretty good crew, individually served the appetizer/salad separate from the rest. I truly felt like a valued customer, constant drink service with pre-departure drinks.

AA 1553 Dinner

To Start
Warm Mixed nuts

Appetizer
Cajun-style roasted chicken breast offered on a fresh corn salad

Salad
Combination Salad with artichoke, wild mushroom and peas accompanied by pepper cream dressing or balsamic vinegar

Bread Basket
Assorted gourmet breads

Main Course
Beef Fillet with Grogonzola Mushroom Sauce
Grilled fillet of beef offered with a porcini mushroom and Gorgonzola cheese, accompanied by wax beans and whipped potatoes with turnips

Cheese Ravioli
Cheese Ravioli topped with an artichoke marinara sauce

Dessert
Ice Cream Sundae
Vanilla Ice cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch or seasonal berry toppings, whipped creams and pecans

Or Fruit and Cheese Plate

Light Refreshment
Freshly baked on board cookies

Pre-Arrival Beverage
Chilled sparkling or still water with fresh citrus garnish

Appetizer and Salad


Main Course - Beef Fillet with Grogonzola Mushroom Sauce


Made to Order Sundaes


Got some sleep on this flight and soon we were descending into the LAX, wasn’t I just here 2 days ago, haha!

Stepping off AA 1553 and off to the flagship lounge, many here I think will flame me for this but I actually prefer the Flagship Lounge in terminal 4 over the Oneworld lounge in Tom Bradley. One is the ambiance of the club, the FL just seem so much more quiet than the OW lounge and have less crowd. Two is the internet speed, no matter if your using the wi-fi or the terminal computer. The OW lounge has a surf speed slower than ants crawling. And since I’m going to eat like a whale on the F flight, I didn’t bother to go for the better food in the OW. Once I get into the FL, awe my favorite agent in LAX is here. I’m surprised I’m getting to know some agents in the system and off to a nice relaxing shower and some internet time in the lounge.

LAX Flagship Lounge











About 1 hr 30 min before CX 883, I said good bye to one of my favorite AA lounges and head for Tom Bradley terminal

I know everyone is dying for the CX long haul but it’s gonna have to wait until after the Brooklyn Reality Tours, sorry folks.

“Spoiler Alert” I’m a lightweight in terms of drinking but eat like a whale. Cheers!

Short hair Francis

Part 4 – Woohoo! CX 883 LAX-HKG First Class flight (Part of YYZ-LAX-HKG-PEK routing)

Thanks for being so patient, here we go, the part people wanted to see

After making my way over to the Tom Bradley International terminal, only here can you find so many different nationalities of people in one terminal. CX First Class Check-in was smooth, even though it took a bit of time to figure out the Chinese visa.

Cathay Pacific Check-in Counter


Tom Bradley Departure Screen


My favorite unofficial benefit from CX is the first class priority bag tags that CX extends to other Emeralds. Soon after, I was through the priority security line and into the Oneworld First Class lounge. Up the elevator I go, where is my EXP card???? I guess I left it at the check-in counter, thankfully although the lounge is managed by Qantas, they were able to call down to CX and they arranged to bring it inside security for me.

TBIT Oneworld Lounge


First Class Section


Business Class Bar


As I explained in the last part, I prefer the Flagship lounge over this one due to the overall amount of traffic and the really slow internet speed here in the TBIT lounge. But since, I only had about 20 mins in the lounge, I gave myself a helping of the Chinese selection, a phone call to family and soon head off to the gate.

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER



CX 883
Los Angeles – Hong Kong
11:50pm – 5:30am(+2) [Apr 28], 14 hr 40 min flight
FIrst Class, Seat 2K
Food – Supper, Breakfast
Aircraft – Boeing 777-300ER

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER First Class Cabin


CX 77W First Class Seat






Flat Bed Mode



Having flown this plane in First once before, I was making sure I can maximize my time. I started off by getting the flight attendant to take some photos for me, then off to a pre-departure Krug. I was never a champagne person, usually I drink rum or vodka but not everyday will a college kid drink 300 dollar bottle boozes so one small glass of Krug for me. I love this CX first seat, the mini closet along with the way the seat is designed gives the customer very good privacy to the point that I can’t even see across the aisle even if I tried but yet allows you to see the upper part of the cabin so you don't feel trapped either.

Pre-Departure Krug Grande Cuvee


Shanghai Tang Pajamas and Bally Amenity Kit


First Class Lavatory, Yay, a real sink on a plane


Pilot announced a flight time of 15 hr 13 mins, door closed at 11:47pm and off we went towards the Pacific Northwest and Asia Pacific. Soon after takeoff, I set up my playlist from Studio CX and off to a very enjoyable flight to Hong Kong

Flight Path



Continues below

Short hair Francis

Studio CX, Enterainment System


CX 883 Supper

Caviar and Fine Smoked Salmon

International Favorites
Starters
Crayfish Bisque with dice tomato

Caesar salad with crisp pancetta, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese

Main Courses
Grilled black angus tenderloin with herb butter, garlic mashed potatoes, carrots and broccolini
Or
Sauteed gnocchi with goat cheese, portabella, shiitake, asparagus and soya beans on tomato basil sauce

Chinese Favorites
Ginseng soup with black chicken

Cold Plate-Marinated cucumber

Braised abalone with chicken, steamed rice, and stir fried mixed vegetables

Cheese and Dessert
Cambozola, Goat Cheese, Port Salut, Cheddar

Seasonal fresh berries with vanilla cream

Hazelbut Chocolate Cake with vanilla ice cream and toffee sauce

Black Sesame dessert

Tea and Coffee
Pralines

Starters – Rum and Coke with almonds


Appetizer - Caviar and salmon


Caesar salad


I thought the Caesar salad on the flight was a bit disappointing as an offering, it simply didn’t taste very good especially the meat in the salad. The western main course of the sautéed gnocchi also tasted rather dry for my taste. I did ask for smaller main course portion so I could try more food

Western Main - Sauteed gnocchi


The Chinese main course however was very tasty and the Ginseng soup was especially excellent
Chinese Main – Abalone Chicken




Chinese Soup – Ginseng Black Chicken

Soon after, due to my love for cheesecake, I stole a cheesecake from business class as the dessert rather than to go for the lava cake.


I however decline the cheese plate and the praline due to lack of interest

After the great meal , the flight attendants change the seat into bed and off to sleep I went for 4 hours.


The one biggest issue I found on Cathay Pacific flights especially with the duvets in First or Business is that you naturally wake up because you overheat during sleep. Since I woke up, off I went on watching some Simpsons episode and eating loads of snack on the flight.

CX 883 Mid-Flight Snack
Fried Chicken with crispy garlic and chilli

Assorted Sandwiches

Wontons with noodle in soup

Haagen Dazs ice Cream

Hot Pot rice with steamed chicken, Chinese sausage and black mushroom served with daily soup

First I had the Chinese Hot Pot rice

Then I had the wonton noodles

Followed by the Chinese black sesame dessert from the supper

And last finished with some ice cream

Here is one of my criticism on CX, why the plastic containers for the ice cream?

Soon after the snack, I took out my camera and computer and starting compiling my photos from the last few trips and later went back to sleep for another 2 hours.

CX 883 Breakfast
Starters
Orange or Apple Juice

Mango Smoothie

Fresh Seasonal Fruit

Natural or fruit yogurt

Assorted Cereals

Main Course
Eggs – freshly scrambled, fried, or boiled
Served with your choice of grilled chicken sausage, Canadian Ham, hash brown potato, roma tomatio or mushroom

Dim Sum Served with Chilli Sauce
Shrimp Siu Mai, mini chicken glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf, shrimp dumpling, chive dumpling

Lobster congee with spring onion pancake

Bread Basket
Assorted breakfast bread and fresh toast served with preserves, honey and butter

Tea and Coffee

Due to my extremely dislike of citrus fruit, I once again had to steal food from business class with an all watermelon fruit plate with a fresh made mango smoothie


Then I had the raspberry yogurt, once again, more plastic in First class

I went with the fresh made eggs with everything plus salmon from supper


Then finally some green tea and hot towel to finish the flight.


Due to all the headwind during the flight, we’re about 45 mins late landing into HKG, the flight attendant also got me to fill out another comment form which I noted specifically about some small detail changes. I saw some small details I didn’t like 1) I just didn’t like the plastic containers for the ice cream and the yogurt. It just cheapens the product. 2) I’m finding continuously that CX headsets can’t tone out plane noise like the Bose ones AA offers and that the duvet sleep to create very hot sleeping conditions. Other than those two issues, I had an extremely enjoyable flight on Cathay especially now with the upgraded entertainment system, updated First class seat, and good midnight snacks. Now off to the Wing and the HKG lounge hop.

Short hair Francis

Is there something wrong with my writing? I'm surprised I haven't had any feedback lately, positive or negative?