A trio of firsts - Hong Kong, CX J and CX F
Feb 28, 2014, 1:35 am
#17
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,757
I saw the laser light show the first night I was there and wasn't that impressed.
Few lasers, some nice lights being turned on/off in sequence on the Bank Of China building etc and some Chinese music. Some English explanation of the "storyline" may have helped.
Wastes 15 minutes or less but it's a beautiful and iconic skyline to say the least!
I had breakfast at Delaneys (Peking Rd, Kowloon) one morning with 2 other people in there. Came to around HG$160 with a fresh orange. Nice enough although found places like The Australian Dairy Company at HKG$30 or local steamed bun places for say HKG$2 a lot better value.
As for the trams, gimmicky. Stopped everywhere (as with the San Francisco ones) and even though people couldn't even get through the turnstiles, they kept on trying to get on.
I was at the back and you have to go to the front to exit which is fun when you can't get there! Missed a few stops but eventually squeezed through.
Few lasers, some nice lights being turned on/off in sequence on the Bank Of China building etc and some Chinese music. Some English explanation of the "storyline" may have helped.
Wastes 15 minutes or less but it's a beautiful and iconic skyline to say the least!
I had breakfast at Delaneys (Peking Rd, Kowloon) one morning with 2 other people in there. Came to around HG$160 with a fresh orange. Nice enough although found places like The Australian Dairy Company at HKG$30 or local steamed bun places for say HKG$2 a lot better value.
As for the trams, gimmicky. Stopped everywhere (as with the San Francisco ones) and even though people couldn't even get through the turnstiles, they kept on trying to get on.
I was at the back and you have to go to the front to exit which is fun when you can't get there! Missed a few stops but eventually squeezed through.
Mar 1, 2014, 7:57 am
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 4,028
Part five - oh dear god that's high
I've mentioned in previous reports that I'm not that keen on flying, but don't let it get in the way of going where I want to go. I've been applying the same thing to the fear of heights that's developed in my 30's.
Suffice to say this has been less than successful, but not in every situation.
A case in point: Victoria Peak.
One morning we found ourselves queuing at the tram stop at the bottom of Victoria Peak and waiting for the very steep climb to the top.
Quick, and painful, diversion from the main point here - as the tram arrived and we got on, a rather over enthusiastic, rotund Chinese lad literally blasted through the doors like a cannonball shortly after they opened, shoving people out of the way and somehow managing to pin himself against my shoulder, forcing it backwards over the edge of the seat until I contorted myself out from him. The entire time he was still trying to push himself forward, and as such my shoulder backwards, showing no comprehension of what he was doing, meanwhile his mother just ambled past staring at her phone. I was not happy! And whatever he did to my shoulder, it was still painful a couple of weeks later!
Anyway, I digress - once up to the top of the peak, we continued up to the viewing platform. Arriving just in time for the smog to start rolling in...
My sole smog free shot from the top...
However, I then made the terrible mistake of looking over the edge of the viewing platform. And that was it, I was done. Dry mouth, dizzy, pins and needles sensation. So back down I went, naturally enough through another shopping centre
Having wandered around the peak, we headed back down and to the Star Ferry terminal and back to TST - by which time the smog was REALLY making its presence known...
Going... Going...
Gone...
The shoreline we'd been able to see so clearly a few nights previously had now completely disappeared!
Having had a quick freshen up, we headed out to the famous Ladies Market.
Stop pointing that at me!
Wow. I have never seen such a huge amount of tat in one place (and I used to live near Romford market). It was brilliant! Naturally we bought loads of it... At this point I should point out that Mrs Lem is absolutely hopeless at bartering. And example of this was such:
Mrs Lem: "How much is this?" *points at a knock off hand bag*
Stall keeper: "100 dollars"
Mrs Lem: "Ok" *hands over 100HKD*
Where's the fun in that?
Coming up next: More heights! Big Buddha! Maccau! More people everywhere!
Back soon
I've mentioned in previous reports that I'm not that keen on flying, but don't let it get in the way of going where I want to go. I've been applying the same thing to the fear of heights that's developed in my 30's.
Suffice to say this has been less than successful, but not in every situation.
A case in point: Victoria Peak.
One morning we found ourselves queuing at the tram stop at the bottom of Victoria Peak and waiting for the very steep climb to the top.
Quick, and painful, diversion from the main point here - as the tram arrived and we got on, a rather over enthusiastic, rotund Chinese lad literally blasted through the doors like a cannonball shortly after they opened, shoving people out of the way and somehow managing to pin himself against my shoulder, forcing it backwards over the edge of the seat until I contorted myself out from him. The entire time he was still trying to push himself forward, and as such my shoulder backwards, showing no comprehension of what he was doing, meanwhile his mother just ambled past staring at her phone. I was not happy! And whatever he did to my shoulder, it was still painful a couple of weeks later!
Anyway, I digress - once up to the top of the peak, we continued up to the viewing platform. Arriving just in time for the smog to start rolling in...
My sole smog free shot from the top...
However, I then made the terrible mistake of looking over the edge of the viewing platform. And that was it, I was done. Dry mouth, dizzy, pins and needles sensation. So back down I went, naturally enough through another shopping centre
Having wandered around the peak, we headed back down and to the Star Ferry terminal and back to TST - by which time the smog was REALLY making its presence known...
Going... Going...
Gone...
The shoreline we'd been able to see so clearly a few nights previously had now completely disappeared!
Having had a quick freshen up, we headed out to the famous Ladies Market.
Stop pointing that at me!
Wow. I have never seen such a huge amount of tat in one place (and I used to live near Romford market). It was brilliant! Naturally we bought loads of it... At this point I should point out that Mrs Lem is absolutely hopeless at bartering. And example of this was such:
Mrs Lem: "How much is this?" *points at a knock off hand bag*
Stall keeper: "100 dollars"
Mrs Lem: "Ok" *hands over 100HKD*
Where's the fun in that?
Coming up next: More heights! Big Buddha! Maccau! More people everywhere!
Back soon
Last edited by darthlemsip; Mar 10, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Mar 7, 2014, 7:45 am
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 4,028
Part six - Don't look down...
Having failed to get over my dislike of heights at Victoria Peak, and still nursing a very sore shoulder from that darn kid, Mrs Lem decided to torture me with a quasi-combination of flying and heights - a cable car to the Big Buddha!
Not too bad facing this way, what's it like behind us I wonder?
AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Actually, it wasn't that bad. It didn't sway around, and it was enclosed, so it didn't bother me at all. I suspect if we'd have been in the cars with a see-through floor it may have been a bit different...
As we ascended up and went past the airport, I went to pop my 18-200mm lens on my camera to get some shots of the planes on the apron - and found it wasn't in my bag. Cue much cursing at having lost a rather pricey bit of kit as I had definitely put it in my bag. When we got back to the hotel later, naturally enough I found the lens sitting on top of our safe... But the upshot is, I only had my 50mm prime lens with me, so all shots for this part will be fixed focal length only - which wasn't that helpful!
A Cathay 747 heading off somewhere - the knackers yard possibly
Once we reached the top, we stepped out into a beautiful sunny day and what was the first sight that greeted us? Yep, a Subway, followed by a pizza and kebab shop - cultural!
But if you can ignore that rampant commercialism, it really is rather pretty up there.
Is he holding an ice cream?
Of course, what they don't warn you about is 'the climb' to get up to the Buddha. I'm not exactly unfit, but man those steps were a killer!
While it was busy, it occurred to me that this was the first place we'd been to on the whole trip so far that wasn't absolutely mobbed with people.
First, and, as it turns out, last...
Which brings us on to Macau.
A typical Macau street
Holy cow! Hong Kong had nothing on the shear volume of people here.
Having taken the advice of a travel blog we found, we hopped on one of the free casino buses at the ferry port in order to get into town - and there were rather a lot to choose from! Having been to Las Vegas a few years back, I was expecting Macau to be like a run down version - no idea why, that's just the vision I had in my head.
I couldn't have been more wrong. The casinos were vast and spotless, once again with the signs of money everywhere - Rolex shops in every one, the fleets of cars outside etc.
A little runaround for the regular patrons...
It's no surprise though, I've read since returning that Macau's revenue is now SEVEN TIMES that of Vegas. That is simply a bewildering amount of money.
I would say Macau doesn't have the fun, energetic vibe that Vegas does, but then the folks that come to Macu are there to gamble (and gamble big), not to party.
Twenty minutes later she'd placed her one bet inside that casino, lost, and then swore off gambling forever...
One thing that did make me laugh was the water show outside the Wynn - BLATANTLY stolen from the Bellagio in Vegas...
Having full had enough of casinos, we headed out to check out the more cultural aspect of Macau. Having a place over in Portugal, it was fascinating to see the blend of architecture we see there blended in with the more Chinese type.
So that pretty much covers the main areas we visited out there. Courtesy of Photobucket messing my photos up into a random order, this has been a much harder trip report to right than usual (hence the brevity of each part), so I'll stick some more photos in the next part of other aspects of our trip that don't fit in with the main parts...
Having failed to get over my dislike of heights at Victoria Peak, and still nursing a very sore shoulder from that darn kid, Mrs Lem decided to torture me with a quasi-combination of flying and heights - a cable car to the Big Buddha!
Not too bad facing this way, what's it like behind us I wonder?
AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Actually, it wasn't that bad. It didn't sway around, and it was enclosed, so it didn't bother me at all. I suspect if we'd have been in the cars with a see-through floor it may have been a bit different...
As we ascended up and went past the airport, I went to pop my 18-200mm lens on my camera to get some shots of the planes on the apron - and found it wasn't in my bag. Cue much cursing at having lost a rather pricey bit of kit as I had definitely put it in my bag. When we got back to the hotel later, naturally enough I found the lens sitting on top of our safe... But the upshot is, I only had my 50mm prime lens with me, so all shots for this part will be fixed focal length only - which wasn't that helpful!
A Cathay 747 heading off somewhere - the knackers yard possibly
Once we reached the top, we stepped out into a beautiful sunny day and what was the first sight that greeted us? Yep, a Subway, followed by a pizza and kebab shop - cultural!
But if you can ignore that rampant commercialism, it really is rather pretty up there.
Is he holding an ice cream?
Of course, what they don't warn you about is 'the climb' to get up to the Buddha. I'm not exactly unfit, but man those steps were a killer!
While it was busy, it occurred to me that this was the first place we'd been to on the whole trip so far that wasn't absolutely mobbed with people.
First, and, as it turns out, last...
Which brings us on to Macau.
A typical Macau street
Holy cow! Hong Kong had nothing on the shear volume of people here.
Having taken the advice of a travel blog we found, we hopped on one of the free casino buses at the ferry port in order to get into town - and there were rather a lot to choose from! Having been to Las Vegas a few years back, I was expecting Macau to be like a run down version - no idea why, that's just the vision I had in my head.
I couldn't have been more wrong. The casinos were vast and spotless, once again with the signs of money everywhere - Rolex shops in every one, the fleets of cars outside etc.
A little runaround for the regular patrons...
It's no surprise though, I've read since returning that Macau's revenue is now SEVEN TIMES that of Vegas. That is simply a bewildering amount of money.
I would say Macau doesn't have the fun, energetic vibe that Vegas does, but then the folks that come to Macu are there to gamble (and gamble big), not to party.
Twenty minutes later she'd placed her one bet inside that casino, lost, and then swore off gambling forever...
One thing that did make me laugh was the water show outside the Wynn - BLATANTLY stolen from the Bellagio in Vegas...
Having full had enough of casinos, we headed out to check out the more cultural aspect of Macau. Having a place over in Portugal, it was fascinating to see the blend of architecture we see there blended in with the more Chinese type.
So that pretty much covers the main areas we visited out there. Courtesy of Photobucket messing my photos up into a random order, this has been a much harder trip report to right than usual (hence the brevity of each part), so I'll stick some more photos in the next part of other aspects of our trip that don't fit in with the main parts...
Mar 9, 2014, 7:55 pm
#22
formerly ltabi
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: AA PLT, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 202
Awesome trip report, I went to Nong Ping 2 years ago and rode on the glass bottom cable car. It was quite fun, although I did feel like we were going to fall into the water (I am terrible with heights). The hike to see the Giant Buddha was brutal...but again, I went in July so technically it was my fault. :P
Mar 10, 2014, 2:59 pm
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 4,028
Part eight - We're there already?
With our week in Hong Kong at an end, and knowing we were flying home in F, we curiously took the cheaper option to get to the airport and got the free shuttle from the Langham (well, outside the Marco Polo Hotel) to Kowloon station and availed ourselves of the Airport Express.
I must say, the downtown check-in facility is a superb idea. A lovely lady printed off our boarding passes and lounge invitations, and I gladly waived goodbye to our bag - Mrs Lem had clearly packed house bricks again, so it was annoying to be dragging around (especially as the child induced shoulder pain was still bothering me). I did have a pang of "We're never seeing that bag again are we?" as it disappeared - regular readers will know that I have an exactly 50/50 record of my bag making it onto a long haul flight to the UK whenever I fly with BA, and that's dropping it off at the airport - not miles away! Speaking of which, how do the bags get to the airport? I didn't see anything getting loaded onto the Airport Express. Anyway, I resolved to myself that it would be fine, the only tenuous link to BA was that these flights were paid for using Avios I accumulated with them, and we'd be reunited with Old Yeller (it's a great big yellow Tripp suitcase, can never be mistaken for anyone elses!) at Heathrow.
About 20 mins after boarding we found ourselves back at HKIA, significantly less tired and bewildered than a week prior, and headed for security. There was no dedicated security line for premium or status pax that I could see, and it was all a bit of a scrum really - took about 15 mins to get through. But once we were done, we found ourselves spat out next to the entrance to the first class section of The Wing. Mrs Lem went excitedly bounding off towards the gate angels, it's not that often she gets to go in a lounge as anything other than my guest, so I laughed at her over exuberance and then followed her in, gratefully accepting a glass of Moet Rose from the drink ninja who sprung up next to me. The individual pods looked great for a solo traveller, and I made a mental note to use them should I be passing through HK again (which, it turns out, I will be doing next week).
The Haven was about half full, and we were shown to a table with no issues. As the time had now passed midday, it was important that I got my priorities right about what to do first
Aaaaah, that's better
I ordered the duck dish off the main menu, and headed to the buffet - clearly hadn't had enough dim sum in the last week
Oi! Get your own...
Despite the place not being that busy, service was pretty slow, but when the duck turned up it was worth the wait - it was cooked to perfection. Unfortunately the only photo I got of it turned out to be a blur - I'll try and get one next week when I'm back there (assuming it's still on the menu)
Once sated (not eating too much as we had 13 hours of flying and eating ahead of us) we went on a mini lounge tour, taking in The Cabin which was pretty good but very hot with the sun shining right against it, and The Pier, being hurriedly escorted to the roped off F section, where there were four staff and only one other pax - so it turned into personal butler time!
On a side note, we didn't know about the automatic transport you can use to get down to The Pier end of the terminal - we walked and it's quite a way, so leave yourself plenty of time if you're doing this.
Will be interesting to see the refurbished Pier when it re-opens, but fear my next trip comes to soon for that.
Boarding for the flight was called, and there were line patrols to make sure pax were in the correct first, business and economy lines - and I was slightly confused to find 10 people in the F line when there are only 6 seats... And then boarding we delayed due to "a minor technical issue" - cue some muttered obscenities from a DYKWIA type couple in the J line, who turned and walked off towards The Pier again, and me setting nervous flier mode to maximum... As soon as the thoughts of impending doom entered my head, whatever the problem was (they couldn't turn a tap off I found out minutes later) was resolved and we headed onto the plane, 4 of the people in the F queue heading onto the Y jetway (so must have been status related).
Now we were both excited!
And that seat is HUGE.
Obligatory leg room shots - I'm 6' 2"
I loved it. I've flown F with EK and BA before but just on the seat alone this won hands down. I turned to see how Mrs Lem felt about it, but we couldn't hear each other as we were seemingly in different post codes.
How's the weather over there?
I relocated over to her seat with her for a bit - another thing I loved, you could easily both fit on the seat - and she informed me at length that we will never be flying anything other than Cathay's first class ever again and we will route all our flights accordingly.
Somewhere in London, my bank manager had a terrible chill sensation suddenly
All three crew members looking after the F cabin came round and did their personal introductions, asking if we were on our honeymoon - they'd noted we have different surnames on the manifest, saw Mrs Lem's wedding ring and how excited we were, and assumed we'd just got married. Curiously they seemed even more excited at the fact that we were like that because we'd been looking forward to this particular flight, as opposed to anything else, and that Mrs Lem's passport still hasn't been changed because we keep booking holidays....
One last peak out the window at the planes queuing up and we were off
Obligatory champagne shot
Travelling in F, I asked Mrs Lem to get a photo of me that captured all the sophistication and elegance one should display when travelling in the pointy end.
Nailed it!
Not long after take off menus, amenity kits and PJ's were distributed, champagne topped up and orders taken a little while later still. Amnesia had set in and I forgot the food at the airport, promptly ordering the duck again as a main, lobster bisque to start.
The bisque was superb - rich and creamy, with the perfect flavour. The duck on the other hand was rather dry and a bit of a disappointment.
However, the finest thing on the menu was one of the wines - a 2006 Chateau La Gaffeličre, a Bordeaux red from St-Emilion. It was simply stunning. And I did end up drinking rather more than I planned to - through no fault of my own, honest! I did refuse wine on a few occasions, even sending the glass back, but I would return from visiting Mrs Lem in the next town over, or from the bathroom, and find a full glass next to my seat. It would have been rude not to drink it...
Despite the flight being a full 13 hours, we'd decided to stay awake as we were landing around 8.30pm and would be exhausted upon reaching home and ready to sleep. I genuinely thought it would be difficult to stay awake for that long (and the seat was so comfortable) but the service was so good, the food (other than the duck) was great, and the wine was excellent - the time, quite literally, flew by (pardon the pun). It only seemed a few hours before the captain came on the intercom to announce 20 minutes to landing.
And there we were, back in London, reunited with Old Yeller and our adventure at an end.
As a first time visitor to Hong Kong I really hope it's not the last time I get to spend some time there (more than transiting). It is a fantastic city, with so much to offer - from the food, to the architecture, to the nightlife, to the people it was just wonderful. Definitely up there amongst my favourite cities.
And as for Cathay - top of the class for them. Their service was top notch, the food was mostly superb, and while their F was excellent (certainly the best seat I've flown in), the real star of the show is their new J - as I said earlier, that is the best business class I have ever used. The 1-2-1 layout gives most people an ideal choice of seat, which is big, comfortable and has great storage options. The seat is very reminiscent of BA's new F seat, just a bit smaller - for a J seat it's exceptional.
So impressed with them was I that when my upcoming Melbourne trip was moved, I happily rebooked onto Cathay from Qatar. And that loses me 40TP's - a crime here on FT!
So there we go, first trip report of the year over - I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll be back in the coming weeks with a report on my first visit down under!
Safe travels everyone
With our week in Hong Kong at an end, and knowing we were flying home in F, we curiously took the cheaper option to get to the airport and got the free shuttle from the Langham (well, outside the Marco Polo Hotel) to Kowloon station and availed ourselves of the Airport Express.
I must say, the downtown check-in facility is a superb idea. A lovely lady printed off our boarding passes and lounge invitations, and I gladly waived goodbye to our bag - Mrs Lem had clearly packed house bricks again, so it was annoying to be dragging around (especially as the child induced shoulder pain was still bothering me). I did have a pang of "We're never seeing that bag again are we?" as it disappeared - regular readers will know that I have an exactly 50/50 record of my bag making it onto a long haul flight to the UK whenever I fly with BA, and that's dropping it off at the airport - not miles away! Speaking of which, how do the bags get to the airport? I didn't see anything getting loaded onto the Airport Express. Anyway, I resolved to myself that it would be fine, the only tenuous link to BA was that these flights were paid for using Avios I accumulated with them, and we'd be reunited with Old Yeller (it's a great big yellow Tripp suitcase, can never be mistaken for anyone elses!) at Heathrow.
About 20 mins after boarding we found ourselves back at HKIA, significantly less tired and bewildered than a week prior, and headed for security. There was no dedicated security line for premium or status pax that I could see, and it was all a bit of a scrum really - took about 15 mins to get through. But once we were done, we found ourselves spat out next to the entrance to the first class section of The Wing. Mrs Lem went excitedly bounding off towards the gate angels, it's not that often she gets to go in a lounge as anything other than my guest, so I laughed at her over exuberance and then followed her in, gratefully accepting a glass of Moet Rose from the drink ninja who sprung up next to me. The individual pods looked great for a solo traveller, and I made a mental note to use them should I be passing through HK again (which, it turns out, I will be doing next week).
The Haven was about half full, and we were shown to a table with no issues. As the time had now passed midday, it was important that I got my priorities right about what to do first
Aaaaah, that's better
I ordered the duck dish off the main menu, and headed to the buffet - clearly hadn't had enough dim sum in the last week
Oi! Get your own...
Despite the place not being that busy, service was pretty slow, but when the duck turned up it was worth the wait - it was cooked to perfection. Unfortunately the only photo I got of it turned out to be a blur - I'll try and get one next week when I'm back there (assuming it's still on the menu)
Once sated (not eating too much as we had 13 hours of flying and eating ahead of us) we went on a mini lounge tour, taking in The Cabin which was pretty good but very hot with the sun shining right against it, and The Pier, being hurriedly escorted to the roped off F section, where there were four staff and only one other pax - so it turned into personal butler time!
On a side note, we didn't know about the automatic transport you can use to get down to The Pier end of the terminal - we walked and it's quite a way, so leave yourself plenty of time if you're doing this.
Will be interesting to see the refurbished Pier when it re-opens, but fear my next trip comes to soon for that.
Boarding for the flight was called, and there were line patrols to make sure pax were in the correct first, business and economy lines - and I was slightly confused to find 10 people in the F line when there are only 6 seats... And then boarding we delayed due to "a minor technical issue" - cue some muttered obscenities from a DYKWIA type couple in the J line, who turned and walked off towards The Pier again, and me setting nervous flier mode to maximum... As soon as the thoughts of impending doom entered my head, whatever the problem was (they couldn't turn a tap off I found out minutes later) was resolved and we headed onto the plane, 4 of the people in the F queue heading onto the Y jetway (so must have been status related).
Now we were both excited!
And that seat is HUGE.
Obligatory leg room shots - I'm 6' 2"
I loved it. I've flown F with EK and BA before but just on the seat alone this won hands down. I turned to see how Mrs Lem felt about it, but we couldn't hear each other as we were seemingly in different post codes.
How's the weather over there?
I relocated over to her seat with her for a bit - another thing I loved, you could easily both fit on the seat - and she informed me at length that we will never be flying anything other than Cathay's first class ever again and we will route all our flights accordingly.
Somewhere in London, my bank manager had a terrible chill sensation suddenly
All three crew members looking after the F cabin came round and did their personal introductions, asking if we were on our honeymoon - they'd noted we have different surnames on the manifest, saw Mrs Lem's wedding ring and how excited we were, and assumed we'd just got married. Curiously they seemed even more excited at the fact that we were like that because we'd been looking forward to this particular flight, as opposed to anything else, and that Mrs Lem's passport still hasn't been changed because we keep booking holidays....
One last peak out the window at the planes queuing up and we were off
Obligatory champagne shot
Travelling in F, I asked Mrs Lem to get a photo of me that captured all the sophistication and elegance one should display when travelling in the pointy end.
Nailed it!
Not long after take off menus, amenity kits and PJ's were distributed, champagne topped up and orders taken a little while later still. Amnesia had set in and I forgot the food at the airport, promptly ordering the duck again as a main, lobster bisque to start.
The bisque was superb - rich and creamy, with the perfect flavour. The duck on the other hand was rather dry and a bit of a disappointment.
However, the finest thing on the menu was one of the wines - a 2006 Chateau La Gaffeličre, a Bordeaux red from St-Emilion. It was simply stunning. And I did end up drinking rather more than I planned to - through no fault of my own, honest! I did refuse wine on a few occasions, even sending the glass back, but I would return from visiting Mrs Lem in the next town over, or from the bathroom, and find a full glass next to my seat. It would have been rude not to drink it...
Despite the flight being a full 13 hours, we'd decided to stay awake as we were landing around 8.30pm and would be exhausted upon reaching home and ready to sleep. I genuinely thought it would be difficult to stay awake for that long (and the seat was so comfortable) but the service was so good, the food (other than the duck) was great, and the wine was excellent - the time, quite literally, flew by (pardon the pun). It only seemed a few hours before the captain came on the intercom to announce 20 minutes to landing.
And there we were, back in London, reunited with Old Yeller and our adventure at an end.
As a first time visitor to Hong Kong I really hope it's not the last time I get to spend some time there (more than transiting). It is a fantastic city, with so much to offer - from the food, to the architecture, to the nightlife, to the people it was just wonderful. Definitely up there amongst my favourite cities.
And as for Cathay - top of the class for them. Their service was top notch, the food was mostly superb, and while their F was excellent (certainly the best seat I've flown in), the real star of the show is their new J - as I said earlier, that is the best business class I have ever used. The 1-2-1 layout gives most people an ideal choice of seat, which is big, comfortable and has great storage options. The seat is very reminiscent of BA's new F seat, just a bit smaller - for a J seat it's exceptional.
So impressed with them was I that when my upcoming Melbourne trip was moved, I happily rebooked onto Cathay from Qatar. And that loses me 40TP's - a crime here on FT!
So there we go, first trip report of the year over - I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll be back in the coming weeks with a report on my first visit down under!
Safe travels everyone
Mar 10, 2014, 4:01 pm
#24
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
Lovely photos of HK and the Cathay J/F cabins! You know, I might actually like J better than F - I'll be with my SO and in J it looks like it's easier to talk to each other.
I will be going on my own trip to HK in Dec, haven't been there since 2009 so I'm taking notes on what to do and where to go. Thanks again!
I will be going on my own trip to HK in Dec, haven't been there since 2009 so I'm taking notes on what to do and where to go. Thanks again!
Mar 10, 2014, 11:04 pm
#25
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,498
Another great report. Thank you for sharing and top notch photos as well ^
About the bags on the AEX: the last car of the train when heading from the city to the airport (the one that ends in the pointy driver's carriage) is where the bags go. When you are on the platform at Hong Kong station, standing facing the tracks, you will see the "last car" (which is actually the first car when the train is heading into the city from the airport!) shoot past the end of the platform when the train arrives. The platform actually extends to cover the length of that last/first car, so just behind the wall at what seemingly is the end of the platform on the right, is the luggage loading area.
About the bags on the AEX: the last car of the train when heading from the city to the airport (the one that ends in the pointy driver's carriage) is where the bags go. When you are on the platform at Hong Kong station, standing facing the tracks, you will see the "last car" (which is actually the first car when the train is heading into the city from the airport!) shoot past the end of the platform when the train arrives. The platform actually extends to cover the length of that last/first car, so just behind the wall at what seemingly is the end of the platform on the right, is the luggage loading area.
Mar 11, 2014, 9:00 am
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 4,028
Lovely photos of HK and the Cathay J/F cabins! You know, I might actually like J better than F - I'll be with my SO and in J it looks like it's easier to talk to each other.
I will be going on my own trip to HK in Dec, haven't been there since 2009 so I'm taking notes on what to do and where to go. Thanks again!
I will be going on my own trip to HK in Dec, haven't been there since 2009 so I'm taking notes on what to do and where to go. Thanks again!
Another great report. Thank you for sharing and top notch photos as well ^
About the bags on the AEX: the last car of the train when heading from the city to the airport (the one that ends in the pointy driver's carriage) is where the bags go. When you are on the platform at Hong Kong station, standing facing the tracks, you will see the "last car" (which is actually the first car when the train is heading into the city from the airport!) shoot past the end of the platform when the train arrives. The platform actually extends to cover the length of that last/first car, so just behind the wall at what seemingly is the end of the platform on the right, is the luggage loading area.
About the bags on the AEX: the last car of the train when heading from the city to the airport (the one that ends in the pointy driver's carriage) is where the bags go. When you are on the platform at Hong Kong station, standing facing the tracks, you will see the "last car" (which is actually the first car when the train is heading into the city from the airport!) shoot past the end of the platform when the train arrives. The platform actually extends to cover the length of that last/first car, so just behind the wall at what seemingly is the end of the platform on the right, is the luggage loading area.
Mar 11, 2014, 11:41 am
#27
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
Will have to cross my fingers and hope that F becomes available. It's only on 1 flight per day out of Vancouver!
Mar 17, 2014, 12:27 pm
#28
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: BA Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 108
Great report and I am glad you both found Hong Kong and Cathay to your tastes! Having just returned from a year away for two weeks this has given me the impetus to hopefully defeat my jetlag and get on out there!
Mar 18, 2014, 4:23 am
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 4,028
Thank you all for the kind comments.
One thing I completely forgot to mention - the amenity kit in F. It's very poor, the one from J was much better. I'll stick some comparison pics up later.
Back on Cathay tomorrow, all the way down to Melbourne - jet lag here we come...
One thing I completely forgot to mention - the amenity kit in F. It's very poor, the one from J was much better. I'll stick some comparison pics up later.
Back on Cathay tomorrow, all the way down to Melbourne - jet lag here we come...
Mar 18, 2014, 9:43 am
#30
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
Thank you all for the kind comments.
One thing I completely forgot to mention - the amenity kit in F. It's very poor, the one from J was much better. I'll stick some comparison pics up later.
Back on Cathay tomorrow, all the way down to Melbourne - jet lag here we come...
One thing I completely forgot to mention - the amenity kit in F. It's very poor, the one from J was much better. I'll stick some comparison pics up later.
Back on Cathay tomorrow, all the way down to Melbourne - jet lag here we come...