Cathay Pacific
Business Class (J)
CX543: HND-HKG (Tokyo Haneda to Hong Kong)
26 May 2018
Boeing 777-300 (73Z Two Class Regional Configuration)
B-HNF
Seat 12H
Departure: 10:35AM
Arrival: 02:20PM
I was up at 6 AM and found myself a bit peckish. After a couple espressos, I decided to sample the various baked goods I'd procured the previous evening. Since I cannot read or speak any Japanese, I really didn't know exactly what I'd purchased at the bakery the previous evening. I took some guesses and I think I made out ok. Mostly. Right, so first up:
Clearly this is some sort of sweet coffee cake topping with a sweet filling
WRONG! This one was filled with a ground beef curry. It was ok, but not my thing. One bite was more than enough for me.
Easy! This is a crescent shaped bun with cheese filling.
It also had ham inside. Not bad. The crispy cheese was the best part. A couple bites were enough.
Mini torpedo roll with (hopefully) chocolate, NOT red beans.
Yes, this was a chocolate bun, thankfully. I was a little worried it would have red beans in it. Pretty good and not too sweet. I ate several bites of this one.
Mini baguette with garlic butter?
Nope! It's slathered with butter and honey inside. Pretty decent, though a bit tough. A third of this was more than enough.
Knowing that free lounge food awaited me, I didn't want to ruin my appetite. So after a sampling of the assorted baked goods, I finished getting ready and checked out of the hotel. I was on the street by 7 AM and I quickly made my way to the nearest station on the JR Yamanote line. So I headed to the Shimbashi Station. It was a 5-6 minute walk and I made it with a couple minutes to spare before the JR Yamanote train arrived.
As before, I transferred to the monorail at Hamamatsucho Station and I was at the airport by 7:30 AM. First, I had to go down one level to departures to return my PASMO card and get the stored value refunded. That done, I got my boarding passes from the Cathay check-in counters and went through the First Class (Priority) security lane. I was the only one in the line, so I was at immigration in about a minute. Another minute or so at immigration and I was airside by 7:45 AM.
First stop was the JAL First Class Lounge opposite gate 112.
JAL First Class Lounge
Made to order buckwheat crepe with ham, cheese and over easy egg. Delicious.
JAL First Class Lounge
Obligatory JAL Curry Beef. Excellent as usual. But I always seem the get it when the beef is almost gone...
JAL First Class Lounge
I find these beer dispensers fascinating
JAL First Class Lounge Red Suite
Cool JAL memorabilia
JAL First Class Lounge Red Suite
JAL First Class Lounge Red Suite
Instruments from an Airbus A300
JAL First Class Lounge Red Suite
First B747 delivered to JAL
JAL First Class Lounge Red Suite
Fooseball
JAL First Class Lounge Red Suite
"Pacific Courier" route timetable and pricing
JAL First Class Lounge
Many JAL planes
Haneda Airport
After a short time, I left the lounge in search of some gifts to bring home to Mrs. Swingaling. I always like the strange sweets they sell at Duty Free, so that's where I went. It took about an hour, but I finally had amassed a sufficient number of strange cakes to bring home with me.
How can anyone like Banana Kit Kat?
So wrong.
Strawberry and Melon Kit Kat
I've had these before and they're quite good. Especially the melon. It sounds weird, but trust me. It's good.
Banana flavored cakes with maple syrup
Just. No. No. More. Banana. No!
Go away banana!
Duty Free shopping done, I went to the Cathay Pacific Lounge opposite gate 114. The food selection was significant smaller than the JAL Lounge, but I wasn't hungry anyway. I had an espresso and then it was time to board, so I made my way to the date.
B-HNF
First glimpse of our waiting chariot.
B-HNF
B-HNF
B-HNF
Too much? Yeah, probably.
Pretty good for a regional business class product
Plenty of leg room
Those who are astute might know that 12H is the bulkhead seat and the seat I'm in is clearly NOT a bulkhead seat. I hate to admit it, but I inadvertently sat in the wrong seat. In my defense, the middle row doesn't line up with the side rows, so the numbering is off in a few places. When the gentleman in 14H showed up, I was suitably ashamed at my error. Though there were ladies in 12H and 12K who were both in the wrong seats, so I didn't feel that bad.
Menu
Menu
Finally I got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji
Oh, look! The seat in front of me magically disappeared! How did that happen?
Oriental Breeze to start
These are tasty and only slightly girly.
Starters
All quite good. And finally a CX starter that doesn't contain fish or game!
At about this time, we started to have fairly moderate turbulence for the next hour or so. They had to suspend the meal service at several points, but I luckily didn't spill anything.
Stir Fried Chicken and Rice
Not bad, but I've had better entrees from Cathay.
A Little Fruit for Dessert
Approach into HKG
A glorious sunny day without the usual haze
Just a beautiful blue sky day in HKG
HKG
HKG
Overall it was a good flight, despite the turbulence. The ISM was very friendly and personable. I chatted with her briefly as we waited to deplane and it was interesting to hear about some of her experiences travelling with CX.
Once on the ground, I was first off the plane and through transit security within 5 minutes. Then I was upstairs on the departures level with a few hours to kill. But that's ok. I can always find something to occupy my time at HKG.