After a long tenure at the BA F lounge, Flight 831 was finally paged for boarding. This was a moment I’d been waiting for. After skipping the very lengthy economy check-in, I was quickly spotted by the crew upon entering the 777-300ER, and made a left, past the mini J cabin, and into the F cabin.
The suite was nicer than I had expected. Pictures don’t really do it justice. I had such a sense of space and privacy. I had selected 1A for the flight. Cathay runs 6 F seats on the 777, in a 2-2-2- configuration, but 1A+B have their own isle, while the 2+3 have to share an isle. There were only 2 others in first, both in 1K+2K, so I had the whole left side to myself- how nice! I could tell that that couple paid for their tickets, as they were escorted from the lounge to the plane.
Seat Controls
My flight attendant for today was Pao, from Thailand, and Agnes, the purser from the Phillipines. Both were flawlessly presented, and the service remained as near to perfect as one could hope. I don’t think they were used to having many young folk in First, so they were both teasing me a bit for my ID, etc..all quite fun.
This distracting screen of attractive FA's popped up every couple of minutes on the screen.
Here is an interesting analogy that I thought of during the flight. Door-to-balloon time is a big buzzword in medicine today. Basically, it’s the time from a heart attack patient presenting at the hospital, to being cathed/stented to restore blood flow through a blocked cardiac artery. The shorter, the better, in terms of survival outcomes, etc...
Well, on Cathay flights, they have a door-to-Krug time (DtKT). And I must say, the 3 minute DtKT on flight 831 was more than sufficient to save me from the potential horror of sitting on my throne without the delicious notes of toasted almond and caramel. 6 minutes and I would have been a goner. I had the biggest grin on my face as Pao asked, “Mr. Gates, would you care for some Krug Grand Cuvee?” I was pleased to polish off my fourth glass just before the doors were closed for push-back.
Delicious Krug
I followed the cue of the older couple, and changed into my Shanghai-Tang PJ’s, which were quite nice. I can see why some people would almost make a point to collect F PJ’s from around the world. Luckily for me, they gave me a size too small, and after request, I received a medium pair to take home. Two pairs in my bag- nice!
Sporting the first class apparel
There are two lavs on the 777 specifically for first class, so I practically had a private bathroom for the 16 hour journey. The lavs were stocked with Acca-Kappa products, which I found to be quite nice. The amenity kits also had some Acca Kappa stuff, including lotion, lipbalm, and some odd facial mist, scented with sandalwood. I’ve yet to spray my face with that wood-emulsion, but hopefully it is as rejuvenating as it smells!
The meal service began about an hour after takeoff. I really enjoyed the place setting and the breadbasket, filled with all sorts of delicious treats.
Here are the menus:
And the wine list:
The balik salmon and caviar plate was sublime, though admittedly, it was my first time having high quality caviar. Agnes asked if I wanted more salmon, to which I happily nodded. She then proceeded to bring out an entire additional plate, with an even larger serving of caviar.
This was my second full plate
The soup was decent, probably nothing to write home about. It did look very pretty though. I forgot to take a picture- my apologies.
For the main course, I chose the lobster, which was really quite delicious, though somewhat hard to pry from the shell with just chopsticks. I had refused the offer of a fork on principal, and slightly regretted it later on. The portion of lobster was quite generous, and I found myself ignoring the rice and vegetables and going straight for the good stuff.
By this point, I was quite stuffed, so I asked that dessert be delayed. I ended up sleeping shortly thereafter. The seat in the bed configuration was excellent. Pao had made up the bed with a sheet underneath, and a thick and warm comforter on top, turned down on the corner. I crawled in and slept soundly.
The nice thing about a 16 hour flight is you have enough time to drink two bottles of champagne, eat, sleep for 6 hours, wake up with a headache, recover, and arrive at your destination fresh and ready to go. I stopped counting after glass number 8, but I reckon I had to justify the cost of the flight ($0) by consuming $400 worth of champagne. The issue is, on a long haul, the humidity drops to desert-like levels, and it is very easy to become dehydrated over a six hour rest. I ended up resting for another 3 hours in the bed position, interspersed with 3 bottles of water, and then was good to go.
About 3 hours out, I started to get a bit hungry, so I asked for the sliced duck snack, along with some ice cream. The duck was good, but I didn’t care at all for the spicy cheese spread accompanying it. The ice cream was hard as a rock, and I waited 30 mins before attempting to eat it. Earlier I had heard slurping from across the isle, and later regretted not going with the noodle option as a snack. The Tie Guan Yin tea presented was reasonably decent, especially considering it was on an airplane.
Tasty Duck
Wonderful tea
At this point I finally gave up and turned on the IFE, watching Harry Potter. Surprisingly, I found the brightness/contrast on the screen to be quite terrible. I couldn’t see any of the dark scenes in the film, and that was in a dark cabin. Also, while the noise canceling headsets are adequate, they are nowhere near the quality of a similar Bose offering. If you are lucky enough to own a pair of quiet comforts, I recommend you bring them, though I’m not sure about the jack being compatible.
I had asked that my dinner be served 90 minutes prior to landing. The meal service began at exactly 90 minutes prior to landing, according to the moving map display. The light appetizer of fruit was delightful.
Tasty fruit!
I opted for the chicken over the prawns, as I had had enough shellfish for one flight. I definitely made the right choice. The chicken was incredibly delicious, juicy, tender, and perfect. It was by far the best dish of the flight.
Best dish of the trip!
A raspberry cake was a light and refreshing way to end the meal. I opted to include a glass of Johnnie Walker Blue label, as I had yet to try it.
Light, wonderful dessert
Johnnie Blue
30 minutes prior to landing, I changed back into real-world clothes (admit it, you kind of want to walk around the terminal in your PJ’s) and cut myself attempting to shave with the disposable razor in the lav. Sadface.
Landing was a bit bumpy, though it was great to see the lights of Macau on the approach pattern. When flying this route, sit on the right side if you want to see the sunset over China, I was on the left and missed it.
After a brief delay, we deplaned. First class passengers get their own separate jetbridge, which was quite nice for the three of us that used it.
Unfortunately, stepping off the plane was definitely the end of the first class experience. Walking what seemed like a mile, I finally made my way over to HK immigration. It was hot, really hot. I was cued in with a long line of people sweating and jostling about. I wasn’t used to people trying to sneak ahead of you in the cue. A fellow traveler behind me noticed and said, “Yea, this is Hong Kong”, in response. Finally making my way to the immigration counter, I realized why it was taking so long. The immigration officer was texting on her iphone, not between pax, but during the check process. She took my passport, held it, texted for 30 seconds, and then proceeded to scan and stamp. Grrr.
Overall, my flight on Cathay Pacific was as close to perfect as I could possibly imagine, including the food, service, and hard product. Perhaps as a testament to this wonderful experience, I found JAL J class on the 11-hour ride home ‘merely adequate’ in comparison. I highly recommend this experience if you can swing the miles- I can think of no better use!