HONG KONG AIRPORT

Hong Kong sits 1,600 miles north-northeast of Singapore and while the average daily temperature may not be as quite high, the climate is still extremely humid. As a guy who’s lived high and dry most of his life, I’m more sensitive than most to humidity over 50%. On this particular night, the airport was uncomfortably muggy – so muggy in fact that I actually gave serious consideration to booking a hotel for my eighteen hour layover in Hong Kong. That is – until I saw the prices.

Evidently there was a huge trade show going on this week and practically every hotel in town was booked. I went to two different hotel booking services but to no avail. Amongst the remaining hotels that still had rooms available, the cheapest I could find was well over $300.00 USD a night. Even if I had $10000.00 cash in my pocket, spending $300.00 of it for the right to sleep in privacy would, for me at least, be just plain irresponsible.

I decided to see if space were available on Cathay’s 12:30am departure to San Francisco. Although my preference would be to fly on a daytime flight, a suite on the midnight flight would give me a comfortable place to sleep for the night. Alas, this was not to be. I was informed that the flight was oversold and that my status as an award traveler standing by for First Class would not be favorable.

On a more positive note, I was informed that I was welcome to check in for tomorrow afternoon’s flight right now. Checking in now would allow me to go airside where the Plaza Premium Traveler’s Lounge offered an air-conditioned bedroom with a shower at $20.00 per hour. As it was now about 10:30pm, I repacked my daypack with a change of clothing, then checked in and headed to Cathay’s Premium Class lounge - The Wing - for a shower and a few glasses of ice water.

Although The Wing offers comfortable cabanas, it closes at 2:00am, reopening at about 6:00am. It is not a good place to sleep undisturbed for the night. The Plaza Premium Lounge is, albeit at considerable cost. I purchased six hours for $120.00 USD and was led back to a small but well appointed room with a single bed, attached bathroom with shower, television and air-conditioner. I turned the temperature down to 18°, crawled into bed and was asleep within minutes.

A knock on the door at 7:15am served as my wake up call. I’d gotten nearly six hours of good sleep and was still allowed to shower and then head out to the dining room for a full hot breakfast buffet that was included in the cost.

Overall, this bedroom at the Plaza Premium Lounge is a great deal because under normal circumstances a room in Hong Kong, including transport out and back, would have cost at least $100.00 though probably more. Two airport hotels, the Regal and the Marriott, offer nightly rates starting at over $200.00. A Plaza Premium arrivals lounge offering similar facilities is also available landside, just across the hall from Cathay Pacific’s arrivals lounge.


April 14, 2010
Hong Kong – San Francisco
Cathay Pacific Airways First Class
Boeing 747-400 B-HKF Seat 2A
2:05pm – 11:25am

I showed up at The Wing at about 10:00am – four hours before flight time. Although Hong Kong’s airport offers a wide variety of shops and restaurants, the lounges took care of all my food needs and as usual there was nothing I needed to buy.

Interestingly, more than a couple of people have expressed surprise that I didn’t head into Hong Kong to take advantage of good prices. Me, I’m like – What good prices? I’ve been in Hong Kong on a couple occasions back in the eighties and nineties and I didn’t see any prices then that made me jump out of my skin. And even if there were low prices, I’m a lousy shopper. That is to say I don’t go shopping for recreational purposes. I buy things when I need them, not because the price happens to be low at the time. Besides, with internet shopping these days I suspect that one can generally locate deals on a home computer that for most items would be just as good as the prices found in most any Asian city.

As for The Wing, it’s a good solid First Class lounge. Certainly there are better lounges such as Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal at Frankfurt or perhaps even British Airways’ Concorde Room at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, but The Wing definitely offers First Class travelers an excellent standard of food, drink and amenities for everything they might need during a typical airport layover. I took advantage of the quiet library to catch up on a bit of news from the extensive newspaper and magazine selection, then headed into the restaurant for a beer and a snack before finishing up with a bit of internet time to check out the latest sports scores and commentary.



Restaurant at The Wing



Salad Selections



This will have to tide me over until dinner is served onboard


Boarding for this afternoon’s flight to San Francisco was from gate 4, conveniently located just a short stroll from The Wing. Interestingly, carry-on bags were individually inspected at a security checkpoint located in the jetway. I remember thinking it’s a good thing the crew that inspected my bag in Belfast last month wasn’t working this flight or we wouldn’t have gotten out of here until 7:00pm. As it was, my daypack was essentially given a pat down and I was sent on my way.

Ah… it’s good to be back in First Class again! Even the boarding experience is special. Whereas back in Business and Economy classes the cabin is filled with all manner of humanity trying to get their various carry-ons stored and themselves situated for the long flight ahead, up in First Class the Flight Attendants move unobtrusively through the cabin assisting passengers with settling in or serving welcome drinks such as chilled Krug Champagne or frothy Cathay Delights. Cathay’s 747s seat just nine passengers up front, so the atmosphere is as serene and relaxed as my Cathay Delight is cool and delicious.



Suite 2A

Pushback was as punctual as a Swiss train’s departure. The Captain offered us a cordial welcome aboard and then spoiled the good mood somewhat with his announcement that strong tailwinds would have us arriving in San Francisco a good half hour early. Flight time would be a mere eleven hours and forty minutes.

Bright sunlight flooded the cabin as we broke through the mist and clouds that seem to perpetually hover over Hong Kong. Just once I’d like to fly into or out of here on a nice sunny day. I’ll bet it would be quite a nice treat for the eyes.

In the meantime, the Wine List and menu were presented and I had a decision to make. What would you choose?




Wine List HKG-SFO


WINE LIST

Champagne
Krug Grande Cuvée Champagne

White Wines
Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay 2006
Bouchard Pere & Fils Meursault Les Clous 2006

Red Wines
Chateau Lynch Bages 2003
Bouchard Pere & Fils Morgon 2009
Felipe Rutini Reserve Malbec 2006

Port
Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira 10 Year Old Tawny Port

Cognac
Tesseron Lot 76 XO Tradition

Whiskies
Chivas Regal 12 Years Old, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Canadian Club, Gentleman Jack Bourbon, Glenfiddich Ancient Reserve Single Malt Whisky


I decided to start with a glass of the delicious Bouchard Pere & Fils Morgon. As an aside, I also requested that I be brought just a small sampling of the Gentleman Jack Bourbon. I explained that I just wanted to get a sense of the flavor since I’d never had this bourbon before. This was apparently not understood back in the galley however, and I was subsequently presented with a full serving of both the bourbon and the wine. The drinks were of course served with a smile, but I suspect that beneath their professionalism the First Class Flight Attendants may well have had me pegged as a serious lush.

Soon enough, it was time to consider the luncheon options. I was leaning towards the Chinese specialties but after consulting with Britney and learning that the chicken was really not that spicy, I decided to go with the Rack of Lamb. As for accompaniments, bring ‘em on! I want it all – the caviar, the soup, the salad… We’ll talk about cheese and dessert later in the flight.

Here’s the luncheon menu:


LUNCHEON
Hong Kong to San Francisco

Caviar and Balik Salmon Delight
Oscietra Caviar and Balik Salmon “Tsar Nicolaj”
Served with Warm New Potatoes and Crème Fraiche

Soup
Creamy clam chowder with herb croutons

Salad
Mesclun salad with green olives, feta, sun-dried tomato
and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Bread Basket
Assorted Bread and Rolls

** ***** **

INTERNATIONAL FAVOURITES

Roasted Rack of Lamb
Served with pencil potatoes and ratatouille

Green Peas and Mint Agnolotti
With roasted capsicum and caramelized pearl onions


CHINESE FAVOURITES

Starters
Pork Soup with marrow and red dates
Cold Plate – Beef tendon sticks with mixed vegetables

Steamed Cod Fillet in Golden Bean Sauce
or
Chicken with Onion Chilli Sauce

Served with steamed jasmine rice, stir-fried pak choy with ginger and chilli


** ***** **

CHEESE AND DESSERT

Cambozola, Comte, Double Gloucester, Chaumes

Fresh berries with cream

Chocolate bread and butter pudding with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce

Green beans with kelp dessert




SNACKS

Grilled seafood skewer with tartar sauce and salad

Assorted sandwiches

Shui gaw with noodle in soup

Braised beef shank with noodle in clear soup

Ice Cream



This meal was a typical Cathay Pacific feast. Here it is in pictures:



The First Class Menu with Caviar



Chunky Clam Chowder



Savory Salad



Melt In Your Mouth Lamb Chops


Although there was not a lot of meat on the chops, they were surprisingly tender and in combination with everything else they had me feeling satisfyingly sated at meals end.

And now for a movie. While perusing Studio CX’s April movie selections, I was surprised to see the addition of Clint Eastwood’s classic police thriller Dirty Harry. I doubt this movie was shown on airplanes back in the early 1970s when it was first released. Recently I saw a History Channel documentary on Dirty Harry that helped explain why the movie was so well received in its time, a time of relatively high crime rates in America coupled with increasingly “enlightened” sentencing guidelines for violent offenders. The public was becoming fed up with the inability of the justice system to effectively address the rising crime rate. Harry Callahan and that big .44 Magnum of his settled things right away. I hadn’t seen the movie in years, so it was fun to watch it again. All that was missing was the popcorn, so I settled for cheese, port and dessert instead. In terms of service, this is without a doubt the best place to watch a movie that I’ve ever been in!



Do you feel lucky?



Cheese and Port Service HKG-SFO



Chocolate bread and butter pudding with ice cream and raspberry sauce


That 10:55am arrival in San Francisco was now less than seven hours away, but the local time in Hong Kong was only about 7:30pm and I was far from tired. Maybe more whiskey… Then again, maybe not. Too much alcohol (except wine) tends to work against a good sleep for me, particularly inflight. Instead, I popped a melatonin and washed it down with a glass of red wine. Even then, I didn’t fall asleep for another hour and ultimately only netted about four and a half hours for the entire flight.

I could have slept through breakfast like a couple of other passengers did but I placed a greater value on what could be my last meal for a while in Cathay Pacific’s First Class. I know, I know… I could likely get an even better breakfast at any number of earthbound restaurants but there’s the rub – I can go to one of those restaurants any old time. Very rarely do I get to enjoy the experience of being wined and dined like a plutocrat while watching the world go by 30,000’ below me.

Cathay serves a pretty good breakfast, too. Check out this breakfast menu:


BRUNCH

Orange, apple or grapefruit juice

Forest berry smoothie

Fresh Seasonal Fruit

Natural or Low Fat Fruit Yogurt

Assorted Cereals

** ***** **

MAIN COURSES

Eggs ~ Freshly Scrambled, Fried or Boiled
Served with your choice of grilled breakfast steak, chicken sausage, fried potato, shimeji mushrooms, asparagus or mixed vegetables in tomato concasse

Minced Pork Congee
With baked barbecued pork pie

Dim Sum served with Chilli Sauce
Chicken and ham in bean curd skin, pork siu mai with crab roe, seafood dumpling, chive and pork dumpling

Bread Basket
Assorted Breakfast Bread and Fresh Toast
Served with Preserves, Honey and Butter

Tea and Coffee

Pralines



I’d had enough eggs of late, so I decided to blend Chinese and Western breakfast fare with a plate of dim sum accompanied by sausage, potatoes, steak and asparagus. Lots of good hot coffee washed it all down and by the time we landed in San Francisco at 10:47am, I felt pretty good.



Fruit Plate HKG-SFO



Dim Sum Bowl with Western Accompaniments


As usual, my only real complaint with Cathay Pacific is that the flights weren’t longer. Although Cathay’s First Class product is not quite the equal of airlines like Singapore and Emirates, it is still a very, very good service that certainly deserves to be ranked amongst the top ten in the world. I will always look forward to any and all future flights aboard Cathay. Hopefully, as with all of my past flights on CX, they will continue to be in First Class.


April 14, 2010
San Francisco - Seattle
Alaska Airlines Economy Class
Boeing 737-400 N793AS Seat 8C

Although I was booked aboard Alaska’s 5:00pm departure to Seattle, our early arrival in San Francisco allowed me to standby for the 1:00pm flight. Unfortunately there were no First Class seats available, but on a 737-400 that offers one of the least spacious First Class cabins in the industry, I didn’t feel too put out by my aisle seat back in steerage. In fact, I was so comfortable that I slept through most of the flight.

I could have stood by for another flight between Seattle and Fairbanks but by now jetlag was kickin’ my butt pretty good, so I headed over to Priceline and booked a great deal for a night at the SeaTac Doubletree.



A nice room for $50.00

I wasn’t doing myself any favors by going back to bed at 5:30pm but what the heck – I’ve got three days to recover. At about 11pm I emerged for a couple of beers and a burger at the grill downstairs. The Doubletree was hosting a tattoo convention and I hope you’ll pardon the pun if I tell you the bar was filled with some colorful characters in every sense of the word.


April 15, 2010
Seattle – Anchorage - Fairbanks
Alaska Airlines First Class
Boeing 737-800 N517AS Seat 2F
Boeing 737-400 N706AS Seat 2A

I went back to bed at about three, woke up about eight and figured I’ve got this jet lag thing licked now. As things turned out, nothing could have been farther from the truth but that’s another story for another time.

You know, it’s hard to get worked up to write with any degree of passion or detail about flying on a US domestic airline – even if it is in First Class – after having just completed four flights aboard a First Class the caliber of Cathay Pacific’s. I will try, however.

Let me begin by saying I saw a beautiful sight today over at SeaTac’s North Satellite. For the first time ever, I saw a group of United Airlines airplanes all of which were decked out in United’s attractive “new” colors. I think United now has one of the best looking liveries in the industry and to see four United aircraft all blue and white and shiny out there in the morning sun just warmed my heart. That livery was first introduced in 2004 but given the glacial pace at which United is repainting its fleet, it still seems “new” to me.

On a somewhat sadder note, I remember when that North satellite used to be filled with United airplanes. These days four of them at one time is about the most you’ll ever see. Alaska is now the dominant carrier at the North Satellite, not to mention the airport as a whole. When I first flew Alaska back in 1976, they only needed six or seven gates over at the pre-expansion D Concourse.

My 10:00am flight to Anchorage was scheduled to depart from N-9, so once again I headed over to United’s Red Carpet Club, conveniently located right downstairs from the N gates. I was impressed with United’s breakfast offerings highlighted by three different types of cold cereal and a variety of yogurts. Oddly, I didn’t see any breakfast breads but there were two or three different juices available. Wi-fi is also available – for free now – so I grabbed a cup of coffee and checked out last night’s scores.

The boarding process was well under way by the time I arrived at N-9. It’s weird – I’m often the first person to show up in First Class on international flights but on domestic flights I honestly could care less. I’d rather hang out in the lounge than sit around in an airline seat, especially when there’s no compelling service perks available to me onboard.

Anyone who’s flown Alaska much has probably come across the Flight Attendant who likes to model his pre-flight safety announcements after Scotty, the engineer in the early Star Trek series. This is all well and good but both myself and the guy sitting next to me had a hard time understanding his faux Scottish brogue and we speak English. I know, I know… nobody ever listens to those announcements but actually some people do. I’ve got nothing against a bit of humor, but clarity in those announcements should be paramount.

We used to have an FA at Frontier back in the 70s who would preface her safety announcements with “Please focus your attention on the flight attendant standing at the front of the cabin holding the rubber chicken.” She was, too. Of course, upon hearing that everyone would look up whereupon she’d continue with “Now that I have your attention…”



Alaska Airlines First Class Sandwich SEA-ANC

Lunch was a good sized chicken, ham and cheese sandwich with the usual side salad. I thought it was pretty tasty despite still being in withdrawal from caviar as a first course. After the last of the plates and glasses were cleared, I fired up the laptop and got to work on this report.



Anchorage International From Above

Aside from taking notes, I haven’t done much with it since Darwin. While I’ve got a two day break back home in Fairbanks to look forward to, this trip is far from over. I still have another 19000 miles of flying and 25,000 total miles still to go so I can’t afford to get too far behind.