Whilst living in London, I remember checking in to BA31 to MNL (via HKG) at Paddington in June 2001. Our most awesome use for HEX check-in was QF2 to SYD in July 2003 - checked in at midday for a 22:00-ish departure and proceeded to pub crawl our way around Paddington and Maida Vale. It was sleepy time all the way to SYD...