November 13, 2013
Cathay Pacific Johannesburg – Hong Kong 1235p – 710a 747-400 First Class

In The Great Railway Bazaar Paul Theroux writes that it is "better to go First Class than to arrive ... " This is especially true when we’re talking about International style First Class such as that experienced aboard world class airlines like Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Emirates and Swiss. Flying First Class on these and a very few other airlines is not just a flight, it’s an experience.

It’s not just the space or the food. It’s the training and pride reflected in flight attendants who anticipate your needs, not just come when they’re called. It’s consistently and graciously meeting the expectations and needs of an often sophisticated and seasoned clientele, many of whom have expectations commensurate with their lot in life, a lot that rarely if ever includes Economy or Business Class travel. It’s training and pride that reflect in a meal being presented, not just served. It’s a commitment by the airline to provide only the finest in food and amenities and to maintain a high standard of service that allows only the best and most dedicated flight attendants to work the First Class cabin. It’s class. First Class. It all adds up to the very best service one can expect in the air and its exciting stuff to experience, much less anticipate.

I have been fortunate to have experienced inflight service of this caliber on many occasions, my first having come aboard a QANTAS 747 back in 1976. Believe me when I tell you that a flight in international First Class remains every bit as exciting for me today as it did on that sunny April afternoon 37 years ago. More than anything else, that excitement is what fuels the style and depth of my trip reporting.

Now while I have thoroughly enjoyed my recent Business Class flights aboard Austrian, Tyrolean, Turkish and South African, those products pale in comparison to the comfort and service soon to be experienced aboard my upcoming flight on Cathay Pacific. I’ve been looking forward to this flight for months and now the day is here! Let’s head on over to the International Terminal and check in!

Last time I flew out of Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport on Cathay, the check-in counter didn’t open until a mere two hours before departure. Worse, when it did finally open it was assigned counter space over on the other side of the airport in the Domestic Terminal. Not wanting to risk a repeat performance, this time I checked in online. When I arrived at the airport I headed straight through security and immigration, breezed through all the duty free shops without spending a cent and presented myself at the Shongololo Lounge, primed and ready for a couple of hours of quality lounging before the flight. As an added bonus, my Cathay 747was parked at A9, the closest gate to this lounge. Awright!

The Shongololo Lounge is conveniently located right at the head of the international A concourse and serves about two dozen international airlines. It’s a decent lounge – not as opulent as an Emirates or Virgin lounge but well stocked with hot and cold food, beverages and comfy chairs. Unfortunately the Wi-Fi connection still showed certificate errors as it has every time I’ve ever visited this lounge, so I avoided any use of the Internet. Instead I fired off a few postcards while enjoying a plate of beef curry over rice.



Shongololo Lounge at JNB



Shongololo Lounge Hot Buffet



Shongololo Lounge Cold Buffet

Heading down to the gate at 11:45, I arrived to find two orderly queues – one for First and Business Class, the other for The Great Unwashed. This was a huge improvement over my last Cathay flight when the scene at the gate lounge was more like that of a U.N. food distribution center in some famine ravaged third world country. I handed over my boarding pass for inspection and then made my way down the jetway to the waiting 747.



Jetway to Heaven

It was a beautiful day for flying – bright, sunny and about 75°. I paused briefly to admire the airplane close up before stopping to exchange greetings and cordialities with the flight attendants at the door. The recognition that I was a First Class passenger resulted in a special escort as we turned left and then glided into the realm of Cathay Pacific’s First Class.

Ahh… now this is just heavenly. For me at least, a lot of this wonderful sense of calm and tranquility has to do with the unique ambience of the 747’s forward cabin combined with the spacious layout of Cathay’s First Class cabin. I’ve never sensed this ambience when boarding a 777 or an Airbus and I didn’t feel it in First Class on the Emirates A380 either, mainly due to the clutter of the shoulder high suites. Mind you, I love the suite experience on Emirates but in all honesty I have to say I prefer the clean, uncluttered feeling of Cathay’s First Class cabin and suite.



Cathay Pacific First Class Suite

Soon I was comfortably ensconced in Suite 2A with my suitcase stored, jacket hung, shoes kicked off and seat slightly reclined with a glass of exquisitely chilled Champagne at hand. Krug is still the welcome of choice on Cathay’s long distance services. If only my Economy Class riding friends back home could see me now. And we haven’t even gone anywhere yet! Yes, but that too is part of the thrill of First Class, avoiding the mob scene that goes hand in hand – or should I say shoulder to shoulder – with traveling in the back of the plane. I don’t even want to think about the bedlam that must be going on back there right now, what with all those people and their myriad pieces of carry-on luggage trying to get themselves sorted out before squeezing into their 17” wide seats for the twelve and a half hour flight to Hong Kong. Dread…



A Truly First Class Welcome

What’s that? Oh, sorry, I – I must have drifted off, there. Why yes, please, I will take a refill on that Champagne.

Pushback was three minutes early by my watch but what the heck – I’m ready to go! The Captain came on with a nice welcome and promised a pleasant journey across broad expanse of the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, he added, it’s while flying over the only large land mass in the middle where we’ll encounter a few bumps as moderate turbulence over Madagascar had been reported by other aircraft in the area. Flight time was projected to be twelve hours and twenty-one minutes with arrival in Hong Kong to be shortly after 7:00am.

Who knows how many flights this nineteen year old 747 has flown – first in the service of Singapore Airlines, then since 2005 under the reins of Cathay Pacific – but she showed no hesitation as we made a sweeping U-turn onto runway 3L where the Captain smoothly pushed the throttles forward and we began a long, thunderous take off roll.



Hong Kong, Here We Come!

It takes a lot of runway for a fully fueled and loaded aircraft – much less a 747 – to build up enough velocity to defeat the twin forces of gravity and drag and thus take flight. This is especially true at Johannesburg where the elevation is 5751 feet above sea level (1753m). 52 seconds. That’s what it took our venerable 747 to accomplish the feat, soaring ever so smoothly into the clear blue skies over the African Highveld. As the nose wheel retracted into its well and the engines were throttled back, the cabin became noticeably quieter. Up here in the nose of a 747, we’re so far ahead of the engines that the cabin noise level is one of the quietest in the skies.

Now comes one of my favorite parts of the flight. I can recline my seat a bit and anticipate the wonderful cabin service soon to begin. I’ve got twelve wonderful hours ahead of me so I might as well start with a drink. Let’s have a look at that Wine List:


WINE LIST

Champagne
Krug Grande Cuvée

White Wines
Louis Jadot Meursault 2011
Saint Clair Marlborough Premium Sauvignon Blanc 2011

Red Wines
Finca El Origen Gran Reserva Malbec 2009
Cederberg Shiraz 2010
Wine Promotion: Château Figeac, Saint Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé 2007

Port
Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira 10 Year Old Tawny Port[/i]

* * * -------------- * * *

Aperitifs and Cocktails
Campari ~ Martini Rosso ~ Martini Extra Dry ~ Tio Pepe Sherry ~ Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sweet Sherry ~ Tanqueray Ten Gin ~ Bacardi Rum ~ Belvedere Vodka ~ Bloody Mary ~ Screwdriver

Whiskies
Chivas Regal 12 Year Old ~ Johnny Walker Blue Label ~ Canadian Club ~ Gentleman Jack Bourbon ~ MaCallan 17 Fine Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Cognac
Tesseron Lot 76 XO Tradition

Liqueurs
Cointreau ~ Drambuie ~ Kahlua ~ Bailey’s Irish Cream

Beer
International Selection





Gentleman Jack & Almonds

One of these days I’d like to check out that international beer selection on Cathay but it’s been my experience – not just with Cathay but with all airlines – that very few of them serve a properly chilled beer. I’m talking about lagers and pilsners here, though by my tastes even Guinness Stout tastes better at about 40°F. I expect the folks at St. James Gate in Dublin would beg to differ on this point but what can I say – we all have our peculiarities. One of mine is truly cold beer. So – let’s check out the spirits instead.

Even though Gentleman Jack is a sour mash whiskey rather than proper bourbon, it is, by my tastes at least, some pretty darned good whiskey. I’ll go with a glass of that, please – in a glass filled to the top with ice.

So it is then that twenty-two minutes into this flight I’m sitting here in the lap of luxury sippin’ fine Tennessee whiskey and munching on a plate of delicious roasted almonds while watching out my window for the coast of Africa to go gliding beneath us as we speed eastward over the deep indigo of the Indian Ocean. It’s a cloudless day and the views up here look pleasant and warm even though the Sky Map indicates it’s -56°F outside. I recline my seat a bit more and take another pull on the whiskey. Ahh… it’s a good life indeed.



Here’s to The Suite Life!
No collection of photographs is ever - by themselves – going to capture these moments in the same way that words will. That’s why I like to write them out and augment them with the occasional photo like this one.

There are three of us sat up in the forward cabin today – me and two middle aged guys dressed like soccer coaches. They’re both wearing their colors and my first thought when I saw them was that perhaps they were officials of some local squad. Then again, maybe they just like wearing their team’s colors. In any event, it’s a little past 1:00pm local time, menus have been passed out and it would appear they are ready to eat now.

I, on the other hand, would prefer to hold off a bit. I had a late breakfast and besides, with twelve hours of flying ahead of me, there’s hardly a rush. One of the advantages of a top flight international First Class service is that the crew will serve you whatever you want, whenever you want it. They’d whip me up a plate of eggs right now if I asked them to. As it is, I’m more likely to ask for a refill of this Gentleman Jack for the time being.

The past three times I’ve flown between Johannesburg and Hong Kong, I’ve done so in March. Cathay normally switches from a three-class 747 to a two-class 777 starting in late March, so the impetus has always been getting that First Class seat, not to mention logging another flight aboard a 747. I know there are a lot of people here who think that Cathay’s Business Class is perfectly acceptable but I’m not one of them. Not for a twelve hour flight, at least. No – from where I sit, up in Suite 2A, those Business Class seats look narrow and claustrophobic. These First Class suites offer about three times the personal space and that translates into a much greater sense of calm and tranquility could ever be experienced in one of those narrow Business Class chambers.

One of the downsides of flying each year in March is that I’ve hit the same menu cycle each time. That’s right – each year, the menu has been pretty much exactly the same as the year before. This year should be different. Let’s have a look at that menu now…


LUNCHEON
Johannesburg to Hong Kong

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

Salad
Mesclun salad with chicken, orange segments and tomato

Soup
Carrot and coconut lime soup

Bread Basket
Assorted Bread and Rolls

** ***** **
INTERNATIONAL FAVORITES

Seared Salmon with Cajun Butter
Presented atop pommery mustard mashed potato and vegetables

Murgh Dildar, Dal Lasooni and Basmati Rice
Creamy chicken cooked with pineapple, Ligurian vegetable and parmesan cheese

Rigatoni with Tomato Concassé
Ligurian vegetable and parmesan cheese

CHINESE FAVORITES

Starters
Double boiled marrow and red date pork soup
Cold Plate ~ Drunken Chicken

Beef Strips with Honey and Sesame Sauce
Steamed jasmine rice, broccoli and peppers

** ***** **
CHEESE AND DESSERT

Simonzola, Camembert Forest Hill, Gouda and White Rock Cheese

Poached pear with Greek yoghurt and raspberry compote

Sticky date pudding with vanilla ice cream

Red bean soup with lotus seeds

TEA and COFFEE

Pralines


Hmm… I think I’m going to set a new personal record for the most caviar ever consumed in a single year! Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Not at all! I informed Rebecca and Carrie – both of whom have been tag teaming me in the service department all afternoon – that I’d like to start with a plate of that caviar, followed by a bowl of the Pork and Prawn Wontons in Noodle Soup. I realize that it isn’t part of the normal luncheon menu but I like those snack soups much more than the traditional offerings, especially with a good dollop of that “Sum Bi+ch!” Extra Hot Lee Kum Kee sauce. Now for the main course… I’m betting that the Seared Salmon with Cajun Butter atop pommery mustard mashed potatoes will taste every bit as good as it sounds. Cheese and dessert? I’ll have to get back to you on those…

Another Gentleman Jack? Oh, yes please!

Boy, the captain wasn’t kidding when he mentioned the turbulence over Madagascar. For a while there our 747 felt like it was being taxied down an old four wheel drive track. The turbulence lasted most of the way across Madagascar, diminishing pretty much the moment we moved out over open ocean again. Rough skies notwithstanding, I most definitely want to visit Madagascar someday and experience some of its four wheel drive tracks on my own.

We had agreed that luncheon would commence at 2:00pm local time. In truth it began a bit later than that because Rebecca and Carrie were huddled around my suite looking at pictures of everything from the back roads of Alaska to Emirates First Class food service. As one might imagine, they were particularly interested in the pictures of Emirates’ meal service and presentation as well as the onboard shower. Of course the question came up as to what I thought was the better airline. Ever the diplomat, I responded that they are both excellent airlines, each of which had certain strong points. With Emirates, the food offerings are obviously about twice what Cathay offers. However, I think Cathay’s big wide fabric upholstered seats are quite a bit more comfortable than the impressive looking but otherwise stiff leather seats on Emirates. Yes, those sliding door suites are mighty nice but the shell around Cathay’s suites offers more than enough privacy for my tastes.

Suddenly - Gasp!! Ohmigod! It’s 2:35pm! The girls suppressed screams in unison as they hurried off to set up my luncheon service. Well geez, we were just starting to have a little fun here and what the heck – I could eat at 3 anyways. Besides, where else are you going to find a couple girls that think it’s fun to look at airline food and service pictures? Still, we’d agreed on 2 and so I cleared off my tray table and prepared for lunch.

One of the highlights of any long flight aboard Cathay Pacific is their caviar and salmon presentation. Very few airlines still serve caviar these days, either due to the high cost of procuring it or the drastically reduced availability of good caviar due to environmental contamination and/or over harvesting of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and other regional fishing holes.

Cathay serves Oscietra Caviar with all the trimmings. It’s fairly mild tasting caviar but it went down quite nicely with a glass of the Meursault. Traditionally caviar is served with vodka and Rebecca did offer to bring me some, but I’ve tried it on a couple of occasions now and cannot say I particularly care for the flavor combination.

Meanwhile, the salmon was just heavenly and I gave serious consideration to asking for seconds before remembering that I’m always quite full after these big First Class feeds so I really ought to save some room for the rest of the meal.



Luxury = Caviar and Salmon

Next up was the pork and prawn wontons with pak choy in noodle soup. The name may not roll off the tongue so smoothly but it sure rolls over it well. Cathay’s noodle soups are always a highlight for me and this one was excellent as always.



Wontons & Noodle Soup

Seared salmon with Cajun butter. Mmm! The presentation was artful and the flavor simply sublime. I didn’t detect much Cajun in the butter but the salmon itself had plenty of flavor and in combination with the creamy goodness of the pommery potatoes was one of the better fish dishes I’ve had aloft in a while. Bravo to whoever prepared this meal out of Johannesburg!



Seared Salmon with Cajun Butter

We were almost three hours into the flight when Carrie brought me a small plate of cheese to enjoy with a glass of port and a couple episodes from Season 5 of Breaking Bad. Cathay may be the only airline that dares show this highly acclaimed television series, now in its final season. It’s won and/or been nominated for oodles of awards covering everything from acting to direction. Frankly I find it refreshing that whoever puts the entertainment programming together at Cathay respects us enough to offer programs like this. Most airlines – particularly the U.S. carriers – offer a safe selection of romantic comedies, family shows and maybe a daring drama or two. Here! Here! for trusting us with a little edginess.



After Dinner Cheese & Port

Shortly thereafter the combined effects of two tall glasses of bourbon, a big meal, a glass of wine and a smidgen of port began to catch up to me. I flagged down Rebecca on one of her occasional forays through the cabin and requested that my seat be converted to a bed in anticipation of a proper mid-flight nap. I then trotted off to the second biggest loo in the sky (behind Emirates’ shower spa) for a bit of flossing and brushing. When I returned I found a wonderfully wide and inviting bed (as opposed to the MRI tubes some airlines call flat-beds) all made up with duvet turned down and a fresh bottle of water placed by the window. After reading for about fifteen minutes, I fell into a comfortable slumber that carried me all the way across the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean to the tropical shores of northern Sumatra.



Bedtime in Cathay Pacific’s First Class



Ship of Dreams
Artwork by Dean Morrisey

Ah… it is truly a magical experience flying across the planet in such opulence. Honestly, life could hardly be any finer whilst hurtling across the globe at near 600 mph. The same cannot be said for those behind the curtain – even in Business Class. I took a stroll back there and of those that were conscious, they all looked considerably less comfortable than I. You could see it in their faces. Don’t kid yourselves, people. Business Class is not where it’s at – not when there’s a better alternative just a few feet forward. Save up! Fly more! Sell a kidney! Do whatever you have to but please – at least once in your lives you really ought to go out and experience passenger flight in its finest form.

There are those who will argue that other forms of flight such as piloting their own plane or hang gliding are superior. I cannot argue against their points. To each their own, as it were. But for those of us who fly aboard commercial airliners for a living or perhaps even enjoy the occasional flight when and where it happens, international First Class of the caliber practiced by airlines like Cathay Pacific is one of life’s great experiences - one that surprisingly few people get to experience in their lifetimes.

It’s fun to read (or look at) reports from those of us who are fortunate enough to have the time, money or guile to work the system and get ourselves into international First Class on a regular basis; but for those of you who’ve yet to experience it, I sincerely hope that each and every one of you will someday find a way to do so on your own. Who knows, you may even be moved to treat us all to a trip report of your experience.

I awoke feeling as refreshed as I have in a good long while. That mattress is pretty darned comfortable! I was actually pain free – for about fifteen minutes. Turning to the Sky Map, I saw we were cruising at a mere 33000 feet, speeding along at 593 mph whilst battling a 16mph headwind.



An Exotic Place to Wake Up

There were a little less than four hours left in the flight. Let’s have a look at that snack menu…


SNACKS

Pork and Prawn Wontons
With pak choy in noodle soup

Cheese Pie
With red onion marmalade relish

Assorted Sandwiches
Mayonnaise chicken, cheddar cheese, cream cheese with sweet chilli sauce, prawn on tikka coriander

Ice Cream


Honestly, I wasn’t all that hungry so I ordered a cup of coffee and a Danish. Then I fired up the laptop and put in some work on this report. Over the past week I’ve come tantalizingly close to catching up with the present on this report but the reality is I’m also down here to have a good time and enjoy wherever it is I’m at. Obviously, a report of this size and scope takes a lot of time dedication but at the same time I’ve been busy going out and doing other things like hitting the Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth or visiting Jurong Bird Park in Singapore. The result is that now, as I sit here typing away during a long layover in The Wing, (there are worse places to type… especially since they so happily refill my Jack Daniels and deliver snacks every hour or so) I am only one week behind.

This report is already well over 50000 words long and by the time I get around to submitting it there will be well over 200 pictures. It’ll probably be December by the time I finally get it proof read, get all the Vb code installed, title all the pictures and install the language to get them loaded. It’s enough to write a report of this size but believe me, there is still a huge amount of work involved in putting it all together. By the time I finally get it submitted in early December, most of the newbies‘ll probably look at it and say “What the – this happened back in October. Screw that! This other dude’s got a big photo report that covers his trip around Asia from last month! And there’s another thread where this guy’s promising to go on a really cool trip to Eastern Europe in a couple of months!”

Somebody asked me once – Why do you bother? You don’t even know these people. Well that’s true but FlyerTalk is a place where my reports will potentially live on even if, eventually, I won’t. I’m happy that there’s a place that’ll accept them into print because let’s not kid ourselves – outside of FlyerTalk and a couple of other aviation related sites, there’s not a whole lot of interest in my style of writing. Indeed, while I suspect there may be as many as three dozen people here at FlyerTalk who actually enjoy my written reports, that’s a lot more than I can count amongst my friends outside of FlyerTalk - most of whom would no sooner care to read about travelling somewhere in First Class than they would run out and get their tongues pierced. Additionally – it’s nice to write something and have it appreciated by like-minded contemporaries – even if there are only three dozen of you. I’m thankful for your audience. ^ ^

Holy Guacamole! We’re only a couple of hours out of Hong Kong and Carrie just stopped by to remind me that if I’m gonna have breakfast, I’d better put in an order pretty soon. Well you know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and Cathay actually serves up one of the better breakfasts aloft, so let’s have a look at that menu:


BREAKFAST

Orange or Apple Juice
Mango Energizer
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 back bacon, feta spinach chicken sausage, potato corn cakes, plum tomato and spinach and leek

Congee
With salted pork and century eggs

Braised Udon Noodles
With five spices duck and choy sum

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

Tea and Coffee


Oh yeah, I can definitely put something together out of all this – I’ll start with a cuppa coffee and a Mango Energizer. Then, uh… let’s see – okay, a fruit plate and finally some fried eggs – over medium – with all the fixings. You know, I actually ordered the braised Udon Noodles for breakfast once, way back in 2004. Never again. Maybe if I’d been born and raised in Asia, but I wasn’t, so no. Once was enough. And congee – well, no. Same thing.


Cathay’s Fruit Plate ~ A Great Start to The Day


Two Eggs Over Medium ~ With The Works

And you know those eggs were darned good, too! I think it’s great that Cathay will actually cook them to order, because a lot of airlines won’t. Even Emirates – this year’s Airline of The Year – won’t cook eggs inflight. Not only that, Cathay will even make you some fresh toast. Right on!

All good things must come to an end and sure enough, by the time the last detritus of my considerable breakfast had been cleared away there was less than an hour left in this flight. Hues of blue and orange painted the distant horizon, becoming more vibrant by the moment as we sped towards an unfortunately early arrival in Hong Kong. I suppose they were all celebrating back in Steerage but up here in the pointy end of the plane I could easily go another couple of hours.

That’s alright. I’ve got lots to look forward to in the coming week, starting later today with my first ever flight aboard Korean Air – on another 747 no less. Tomorrow I begin a Star Alliance adventure that’ll take me from Seoul all the way down to Jakarta and back up to Osaka, traveling in Business Class on four airlines that I’ve never flown before. So it’s all good – especially since I know that just one week from today I’ve got another twelve hour flight coming up in Cathay’s First Class.