FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - An alternative to therapy - A RTW on OW in First including MH F, QR F, AA F and CX F

Apr 14, 2015 | 12:20 pm

#62

Moomba

Join Date: Jun 2005

Location: London, UK

Programs: AA 2MM - PLT, BA GGL, SPG Plat, Hilton Diamond

Posts: 6,221

Part 12 - BOM-HKG-HND

I pottered around the hotel until around 22:00 when I grabbed a car out to the airport. It seems Mumbai traffic is 24 hour peak and this was made worse by road works along the way. The journey was almost an hour and at the end was the very impressive site of the airport lit up at night.

There was a dedicated section at the end of the building that handled first and business class passengers for Cathay, Etihad and Emirates. I had to wait for a while behind a family that the agent was taking her good sweet time over.

Another agent appeared and processed the two guys in front of me and finally a senior agent called me over to process me. She tagged my case to Haneda and gave me boarding passes for this flight and the HKG-HND and lounge invites for both this airport and Hong Kong. She also asked me to attach a CX label to my hand luggage.

There was a dedicated lane to the right for First and Business class security. You step through a WMD and then they still wand you anyway. The chap wasn’t particularly friendly as he stamped my BP and waived me on. My hand baggage CX tag was also stamped after it went through security. Next was a dedicated line for emigrations where an equally friendly chap motioned me over, pointed to the camera and then waived me giving me back my BP and PP without a single word.

The airport was designed like many are these days where you need to negotiate the duty free store before getting to main airside areas. I did this and then found the GVK lounge complex that was split into a First section and Business section that I believe was on the floor above. I was informed that they don’t do boarding calls and welcomed inside the first lounge. There was a restaurant area with tables and chairs and a fairly substantial buffet.

Buffet Area GVK F Lounge BOM

The seating was in groups of lounge chairs or single seats along the length of the windows overlooking the apron.

Window Seating GVK F Lounge BOM

Midway down the lounge was a manned bar where the bar tender made me a mojito and I sat down to wait out my flight. There was also a spa at the far end with complimentary 15 minute treatments.

Mojito GVK F Lounge BOM

At the boarding time I walked out of the lounge and down to the gate at the far end of one arm of the building. The flight had been delayed due to the late arrival of the inbound flight. At around 01:20 they started to call for small children and elderly to board and one guy in the Biz queue got all in a huff and went off on one.

They eventually started to board the J cabin and my boarding pass only was required and a serious looking chap in uniform checked everyone’s hand baggage to ensure they had the security stamp attached to the tag. One of the most bizarre things at the airport was that I heard the familiar gong for an announcement and then the exact same voice that is used to make announcements at LHR.

I made my way down on to the plane and there was no one at the door so I just walked down to my seat.

Flight CX 0660 BOM-HKG Seat 12A (Business)
Aircraft: A333
Departure time: 01:00

On board my jacket was taken and I was offered OJ, apple juice or water prior to take off.

A hot towel was passed out on the ground and the ISM dropped my to welcome me on board.

CX J Seat

The captain came on the horn and announced a flight time of a very short 4 hours and 45 minutes.

We pushed back at 01:52 and made a quite long taxi before taking off tat 02:12.

After the crew were allowed up they dropped by with menus and amenity kits. Pretty much the whole cabin then set down their seats to get some sleep including me.

Amenity Kit

I awoke mid flight and asked for some water which was given to me in a bottle. Around 1.5 hours out of Hong Kong the crew came around with another hot towel and asked if I would like some breakfast.

I agreed it would be good idea and they set my table and put down the tray with the fruit starter and enquired about my beverage of choice.

The paw paw was like granite but the rest of the fruit was palatable.

Fruit Starter

I decided to go the whole hog and have the yoghurt with some muesli to follow this.

Yoghurt & Muesli

Finally I opted for the lovely noodles with chicken served with that delicious Guilin style chilli sauce.

Chicken Noodles

After the meal I opted for a cappuccino that was pretty insipid. I think they forgot to put the pod in. I wouldn’t have even known it was coffee if I hadn’t asked for it.

The cabin was made ready for landing and the ISM dropped by again and thanked me for flying Cathay Pacific.

We touched down at 09:25 and taxied up to a gate at the end of one of the Y arms at HKG. I walked up to the transit area and was quickly through the screening and up into the departures area.

I then walked the long walk up to the Wing and was welcomed in by the agent.

Walking up the spine at HKG

First stop was a cabana to have a bit of a rest and a bath before waiting out my time in the F lounge. I did duck over to the J lounge to have some Dan Dan noodles and dim sum though.

Dan Dan Noodles

Dim Sum

The original gate for my flight was in the twenties but I noticed a couple of hours out that it changed to a 60’s gate. I decided to make my way down to the Pier to wait out the flight.

I opted to walk down to the lounge rather than take the transit as I had been sitting on my butt for a long time as it was.

In the Pier I was escorted to the temporary F section that is in place until they finish refurbishing the Pier F lounge.

Close to my flight time I walked back up to my gate and they just started boarding as I walked up. I joined the end of the elite queue that was moving fast. My BP and PP were checked and then I was on my way down to the aircraft.

Flight CX 0542 HKG-HND Seat 2A (First)
Aircraft: B747
Departure time: 16:25

I was greeted at the door by the ISM and handed off to another FA who escorted me to my seat. My jacket was taken and hung in the closet at my seat.

CX 747 F Seat

CX 747 F Seat

I was offered a drink before take off and of course I chose some Champagne.

Pre-deaprture Champagne

The captain announced a flight time of 3 hours and 35 minutes. A hot towel was placed at my seat on a small tray and my bubbly was refilled. We pushed back at 16:30 and hit the runway at 16:53 before breaking through the clouds over Hong Kong.

Once safely in the skies a crew member handed out the menu and wine list for the flight list and was back shortly after to take my order.

Wine List

The ISM dropped by the welcome me on board.

I decided to go for the Mandarin Oriental menu. But first some Johnny Blue scotch, sans dry this time with the nuts and rice snacks.

JW Blue & Rice Snacks

After I had downed the scotch it was time for the meal. My table was set and the starter of asparagus and ham. It was pleasant enough but the asparagus was a little on the tough side.

Asparagus Starter

My chosen tipple for this and the soup courses was the St Clair Sauvignon Blanc and a mighty nice tipple it was.

The soup came out with the ‘dry’ ingredients in the bowl and the cold soup in a small jug that I could pour on myself.

Soup – ready to pour

The soup was very tasty and very green.

Soup – ready to eat

Sunset Shadow

The main course came along next and looked a treat. My one lingering thought on this dish was that the potatoes were some of the best tasting food I had ever eaten on a plane. The sauce was also wonderfully full of flavour. The major let down for this dish was the lamb that was a bit tough.
I switched to the Rhone wine that was once again the Xavier.

Lamb Main

Finally it was time for the dessert course and the cheesecake was beautifully presented in a little soft cheese wooden box with the compote in a small jam jar on the side. The comment I wrote in my notepad about the cheesecake cannot be posted online. I will say it started with abso and ended with lutely awesome. What a beautifully designed and executed dish. It was sublime.

Cheesecake Dessert

Cheesecake Dessert

I skipped any further food and it wasn’t that much longer before we were due to start descent. Only after I finished the meal did I realise that there was no bread offered with the meal. I don’t know if this was because it was the special meal or they simply forgot. In hindsight this was probably a good thing as I would have just eaten it anyway.

We touched down at 21:34 and there was a long taxi to the gate. I thanked the great crew on the way out and made the long, long walk to immigrations. A plane load of Korean’s had landed before us and the queues were quite long but the queue monitors managed to keep everyone moving along nicely. Once in the baggage hall I had time to make a pitstop and as I came out my bag appeared on the belt.

I wasn’t hassled at customs and was able to exit and head down to the railway platforms and my train to Shinjuku where I changed to another to take me to Ebisu and the Westin.

I had noticed that my SPG booking for the Westin had shown a smoking executive room earlier in the day that I was pretty miffed about as I had a confirmed non-smoking room in the booking. I was ready for a fight at check-in when the agent said we have upgraded you to a suite. Well I never, I didn’t even think they ever upgraded people to suites at this hotel. The best I had ever received before was a corner room or executive room.

Entrance to the Magnolia Suite

What a suite it was; it was huge with dining table and chairs for six, plenty of seating, a wet bar, two bathrooms, walk in closet and the bedroom was bigger that most hotel rooms I have stayed in.

Magnolia Suite

Magnolia Suite View

Magnolia Suite View

What a shame I was only going to be here for 12 hours.