To end the meal, the black forest pudding with vanilla ice cream ad raspberry coulis was just perfect. The warm chocolate pudding sweetens the palate with the coolness of vanilla ice cream that just melts delicately. Add in the sour raspberry drizzle, and the taste is just that of a classic black forest cake. just before dessert service commenced though, the cabin lights were dimmed to allow those passenger who skipped dessert to retire first for the night. I was also offered a choice of after meal drink and went for green tea which came in a pot, much better than the way it was served in the lounge. Every passenger was also provided with a bottle of Evian placed by the side for personal refreshment.


Black forest pudding with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis


Green tea in a pot

The generous fruit platter that came after that totally satisfied my stomach for the dinner! So from the start of boarding till the end of the meal, I already had a nice glass of champagne, milk tea, nuts, a tour of islands in the south of Hong Kong, a magnificent vista from the eastern end to western end of Taiwan, and the best inflight cuisine ever. As you can see, there is no need to advertise top star chefs in airline menus, since they don't really improve on the taste, and just make expectations harder to reach. Definitely a great start to my flight! In between my meals, I also finished the movie 'Thor' and got ready to retire to my bed. Before that, I had to request for an amenity kit since I wanted the socks and it turns out the crew had forgotten to hand them out to passengers as they were too busy. I returned back to my seat and withdrew the hangar from the closer as the crew member came around with the amenity kits.


Fruit platter

As I got up to head to the lavatory, she also enquired if I wanted my seat to be made up into a bed, and I obliged since I wanted to take a nap after the meal. As mentioned earlier, the First Class lavatory is definitely a more comfortable space for one to brush their teeth and change! The wonderful amenities within the lavatory was also by Acca Kappa just like the contents of the amenity kit. There was also hand towels, moist paper towels, shaving kits and sanitary pads in the drawer underneath the washbasin.


Washbasin onboard Cathay Pacific First Class


First Class Bed

The small size of the pyjamas really fitted me nicely and it was a really comfortable piece of cotton pyjamas with a nice oriental design, derived from Shanghai Tang's classic collections. Perhaps the best pyjamas on any airline as well, though I realized it can get warmer than the Qantas Business Class pyjamas which I also liked for its simplicity. On my return to the seat, the crew asked me if I would fill up a comment form and provided me with the form, a pen and a $5 voucher for inflight purchases. Upon my return to the seat which by now has become a bed, I filled up the comment form and returned it to the crew. I also decided to ask the crew if I could like maybe use the voucher to offset the purchase of an extra pair of pyjamas which I was thinking of giving to my Dad. The crew responded graciously by saying she would check with the senior purser and get back to me. I returned to my seat thereafter and take a peek out of the window to notice that we had just passed the southern coast of Japan. The nice sunset cast a warm glow to the scenery outside and fortunately the moving map still showed our correct location and travel routes even if the home screen of StudioCX still thinks we are heading to London Heathrow! As I lie down on the 'bed', I got really comfortable, even with the IFE screen being extended outwards, and there was really no issue of getting out or knocking my feet against the IFE.


Flying past Southern Japan

I had nearly 4 hours of sleep and found the additional duvet for the seat to be supremely comfortable. With the nice fluffy blanket, it was a cozy 'suite' for a nap and I was neither too hot or cold. In fact the temperature was just perfect. Though I imagined the same ambience in an A380 would be even better since there would be less noise. During my short nap, there was also a bit of turbulence, which woke me up eventually and this also meant that I didn't have a long sleep as I wanted to.


Ice cream and more tea


Horizon over the Pacific

So I asked for some ice cream along with a pot of green tea by walking to the galley. I like to take this opportunity to stretch out my legs a bit rather than just asking for the attendant button. The senior purser was there at the galley at the time and mentioned to me about the pyjamas which I seemed to have forgotten after my nap. Anyway she mentioned that they are running low on the small sizes and it would be better for flights heading back to Hong Kong when they would be able to know if they have spares to pass to passengers. But not a chance of even purchasing them onboard since they are 'exclusively' for Cathay's First Class passengers!


StudioCX


More caviar

I continued watching my episodes of House M.D. while enjoying my supper. And as the ice cream and pot of tea came in a small tray, they were able to be placed on the ledge rather than requiring me to take out the whole table out again. Another benefit of First Class. Finishing the tea and the ice cream, I took another peek out of the window to see the sun setting across the horizon, giving it a nice hue to the scenery as we pass by the Bering Sea. I returned for another short nap, but was only able to sleep for another 45 minutes or so before waking up once again. This time round, I decided for more snacks and enquired if I could get snacks from the snack bar. Instead the crew asked if I would like to order from the menu. I guess she didn't understand I wanted chips or chocolates, so I had to further explain and she eventually led me to the business class section where there was a self snack bar and I got a couple of pralines with a pack of apple chips to enjoy with more entertainment from StudioCX. I also enquired if they might have more caviar, and while they said they have it, they didn't have the potatoes. I just wanted the caviar with the toast anyway, and these were then delivered to me shortly afterwards as I am halfway through watching the comedy 'How I met your Mother'. With the caviar, I also ordered a cup of Hot Chocolate and it was a fantastic snack prior to the breakfast that would be served later.


Fruit platter to start breakfast

I gave up on sleeping and decided to just relax during the flight with several more episodes of House to keep me occupied. It was definitely a very nice way to lounge on the bed while watching some of my favourite TV shows. Around 1 hours and a half later, the first course of breakfast was served which consists of more fruit, grapefruit juice, mango & passionfruit smoothie and warm fluffy croissants with a selection of spreads, honey and butter. A glass of smoothie for breakfast is always appreciated and the starter was an excellent prelude to the main course of dace fish julienne with pak choy congee and stir-fried egg noodles with vegetables. I went with the Chinese selection for breakfast again when orders were taken earlier during the flight and didn't regret my choice at all. The congee is as good as those one can get in the congee house around Hong Kong, though the stir-fried noodles was a bit too oily and I was already too full after the bowl of congee. There was also freshly brewed coffee served in between which was excellent to perk me up just before our entry into the United States.


Dace fish julienne with pak choy congee 白菜鲮鱼粥

The completion of breakfast service also marked the near to the end of the flight and I used this opportunity to change back to my clothes. However the busy cabin in the morning meant many passengers had the same idea, and both lavatories were used, so the crew mentioned that she will call me from my seat once the lavatories are ready for use. I returned to my seat and continued my show on the IFE and realized that in First Class the service is truly so much better and that is what passengers are paying for in addition to the luxurious offerings.


Seat armrest in First Class


North California in sight

Again I was able to change back to my clothes in the clean lavatory, and it is amazing how the lavatory is well maintained during the whole flight in the First Class cabin. I guess it helps that only 2 lavatories are shared amongst 9 persons. Returning back to my seat and with the cabin lighting being switched on in preparation for our descent, I was comfortable in putting the window shades up to get a glimpse of the coast of Northern California and San Pablo Bay indicating we are close to landing in San Francisco. I tried to get a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge but it just seems to be eternally covered in fog while the downtown and the Bay Bridge is visible under clear skies. Passengers on my side of the cabin are treated to a view of Foster City and the artificial lake within as we landed on the runway at 11:56am local time. The plane took some time to taxi towards the gate and it was a magnificent summer day in San Francisco.


Downtown SF and the Bay Bridge


Landing at SFO

To truly end the flight on the high note, the flight attendant held back all business class passengers on disembarkation to ensure all First Class passengers disembarked first. It was something really necessary since the queues at the immigration was really long with several international flights arriving around the same time. This was something I really didn't expect since my arrival into JFK on Cathay's flight from Vancouver had been met with no immigration lines at all. There was a really long wait of more than 1 hour before I was served and allowed to proceed and collect my luggage. The priority luggage tags had no effect at all in this case since all the luggage were out on the conveyor by this time. There were complimentary trolleys in the international arrival baggage claim which was a nice welcome, before I pushed my luggage to collect my rental car from Hertz.


First 3 rows of the First Class cabin

My first time on an international First Class flight with such a great airline like Cathay Pacific totally exceeded my expectations and I finally understood what the fuss was about CX's First Class. Let's just say I would think First Class is absolutely worth the money/miles required if one could afford it. It is such a great experience to be able to fly in First, from the food to the extra mile that the crew goes for the passenger and the added comfort and amenities, that this flight would always be on my mind. Save for the minor flaws like the faulty IFE information on the home screen and the long queues on arrival at San Francisco, I think this flight is close to perfect as far as it goes. It also reaffirms Cathay Pacific as my top airline in the world.


Fondly missed seats...


Jumbos at SFO