dat4life

After taxiing to Shenzhen, or at least it felt like it, we finally pulled into a midfield gate, which meant a quick-ish walk to the massive line at transit security. As with all things at Hong Kong International Airport, things moved relatively efficiently and I cleared in a reasonable amount of time. Fourteen plus hours on a plane is a long time no matter where on a plane you’re seated in. With our very early arrival, I had plenty of time to stretch my legs. As anyone who’s flown out of Hong Kong can attest to, the airport is massive. A lap or two around the terminal easily nets a couple of miles.

I was thrilled to see that my flight to Jakarta was departing from gate 66, which is just a couple of gates down from my favorite airline lounge in the world: Cathay Pacific’s The Pier lounge. Before I left home, I thought I didn’t have access to The Pier because my AAdvantage number was attached to my ticket. Then I remembered midway between Los Angeles and Hong Kong I was connecting from an international First Class flight so I should golden. Indeed I was after a quick scan of my boarding pass. Since I had just enough time to pop in for a shower and enjoy a Cathay Delight and a latte, here are some shamelessly recycled pictures from a prior visit.











I left the lounge just a few minutes prior to scheduled boarding time.



Cathay Pacific Airways 777
Hong Kong (HKG) – Jakarta (CGK)
Depart: 9:10 AM
Arrive: 1:10 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 11A (Business Class)

I last flew this very flight in 2015. Back then, I was amused that a Boeing 777 was operating flight 777. Today, I was very amused that an Airbus A330-300 would be operating flight 777. If you are thinking that I’m easily amused, you would be correct.

Doing the honors today is 15 years young B-HLS. This was my second flight on B-HLS, having flown it once before three years ago from Hong Kong to Bangkok. That flight was also my very first Cathay Pacific flight on which I was not seated in row 1. I remember it was quite the daunting task to make my to row 66, which I had no idea existed before that day. I did however survive. Today, I would be flying at the pointy end of the aircraft. On Cathay Pacific’s A330, that meant Business Class, which would be more than adequate for this 2,015 mile flight. This particular aircraft was outfitted in the long haul configuration, featuring the same reverse herringbone Business Class seats as Cathay’s and American’s 777-300ERs albeit a smidge narrower. The reduced width was definitely noticeable, but I found the seat to be just as comfortable as the ones on the aforementioned larger aircraft.







Service began with flight attendants offering hot towels with a smile. I should point out it was a REAL towel. Take notes, American!



Orange juice, apple juice, and water were offered next, followed by the purser warmly welcoming each passenger and distributing menus for the flight.

Despite what appeared to be a full load, doors closed nearly 15 minutes early. Equally as surprising was our quick taxi to the runway and the lack of a takeoff queue as the flight departed in the thick of the morning bank of flights. We were airborne just a couple minutes after stated departure time.

The cabin crew was dinged out their seats minutes after takeoff and got busy getting ready for breakfast. Might as well take a peek at that menu now.






Service began with another round of hot towels, followed the drink cart. I asked for apple juice and a coffee.



Soon after, a flight attendant came around laying a tablecloth on each tray table. And the said table cloth actually covered the entire tray table. Yes, I’m still talking to you, American.



A cart with the (tray) table settings and the first course of fruit came down the aisle. As is the norm on Cathay, the fruit was fresh and ripe. Cereal was also offered, but I declined.



For the main course, I chose the dim sum. It was fine for airplane dim sum, and chili sauce that came with it added a very nice kick. Another flight attendant followed with the breadbasket, stocked with muffins, croissants, and white bread. I went with the croissant and enjoyed every crumb of its buttery goodness.



Everything was cleared about 90 minutes after takeoff, and it was time to settle in for the next two plus hours of flying. I had started watching Hidden Figures during breakfast on Cathay’s excellent entertainment system, dubbed Studio CX. Studio CX has a great selection of content, though a good chunk of that content is understandably geared toward Chinese tastes. The interface is intuitive for the most part, though I did find it a slightly clunkier than American’s.

Mid-way through the movie, it was pretty much near impossible to keep my eyes open. I was hoping to get through the day without any napping to combat jetlag, but it was an obvious losing proposition. So I grabbed a blanket and reclined my seat. I napped until a flight attendant gently shook my shoulder because we were in the final stages of descent into Jakarta. She came armed with a bottle of water, which I gladly accepted. Just as I had got my seat upright, the landing gear dropped.

Touchdown was firm, and after a quick taxi the engines were shut down nearly 30 minutes early. The rush of thick warm tropical air in the cabin as the cabin doors was opened was an unwelcome but not unexpected sensation. I’ve spent my entire life living in a subtropical climate, and I consider myself pretty acclimated to humidity. However, Indonesian humidity was something else, which is another reason I didn’t really care for actually staying in Jakarta. Fortunately, I just had to tough it for 60 seconds as I walked up the jetbridge into the slightly better air-conditioned arrivals hall.

The earlier than scheduled arrival in Jakarta opened up an interesting option for me. Originally, I booked myself on SQ 961, Singapore’s 5 PM departure to Singapore (ha!) as it left me a comfortable four hour cushion just in case of any sort of inbound delay in either Los Angeles or Hong Kong. Since my flight to Jakarta arrived early, I had a good shot of making Singapore’s 2PM departure. Four extra hours in Singapore, even spent in my hotel room, was far more palatable than spending extra four hours at Jakarta’s airport. The challenge was if I could find someone that was able and willing to make the change. I had been to Jakarta once, but I didn’t pay attention enough to know if there was a transit desk before immigration. The other option was to clear immigration, and then go back out to check in desks to take care of the change. One quick glance at the immigration line, and I knew option number two was out of the question



As I moved to the side to try to figure out my next move, I saw what appears to be a help desk with a number of people in a generic official looking uniform milling around behind it. Naturally, I started moving toward it, and as I got closer I spotted Singapore’s logo among a cluster of airline logos. After I explained my situation to the employees at desk, one of the employees told me to wait and he would fetch the manager. The said manager materialized a couple of minutes later. He looked all of 16 years old but wore a hardened no nonsense expression on his face. “What seems to be the problem, sir?” he asked. I give him my spiel again. The expression on his face softened, and he asked for my ticket. His eyes widened after a quick glance, and then he asked me to follow him.

And we were off zigging and zagging down the immigration hall, shoving the occasional old lady out of the way. When we reached the immigration counters, he explained to me he was going to take me to the VIP Lounge and then work on changing my flight, but first he needed to clear it with immigration and to do so he needed my passport. The first and probably most important rule of international travel is to never relinquish control of your passport unless you absolutely have to. While it wasn’t the brightest idea, the manager seemed sincere in wanting to help me so I handed him my passport. He instructed me to wait at this spot for him, and then he disappeared into a back office. A couple of minutes later, he reappeared with a smile and asked me once again to follow him. We talked a few steps before he lifted a rope that blocked off an escalator to the departures level, and up we went. It took just a few more steps to reach the “VIP Lounge”, which was the same lounge I used while flying Cathay Pacific a few years ago.

The manager exchanged a few a rapid-fire phrases in Indonesian with the lounge dragon before leading me into the First Class side of the lounge, which looked identical to the Business Class section I used before. He then told me to enjoy myself while he went to check in counters to see if he could make the change. I know he meant well, but there wasn’t a whole lot to actually enjoy at the lounge. There was a fairly large spread of food, but it looked like it had been sitting out for a long time and didn’t look remotely appetizing. Ditto for the juices. I could have gone for some water, but all that was available was water in those small plastic cups with a peel bad lid. Thankfully, I had the bottle of water the flight attendant gave me before landing. That said, the lounge did provide me with basics. It was quiet, the seats were comfortable, and the WiFi was decently fast.

I was still uncomfortable being separated from my passport, so the wait felt like an eternity. Like any good millennial, I killed time on my phone. The lounge dragon checked on me every couple of minutes. While her intentions were certainly good, I was perfectly content and didn’t need anything so it felt a bit overbearing. Finally, the manager reappeared with a big smile on his face. In his hand was my passport and beautiful red tipped boarding pass. He explained he able to move me to the earlier flight without additional collection, as there was space available. But he warned there may not be time to load a meal for me. That didn’t bother me a bit as I just wanted to be on the flight I thanked the manager profusely, and then grabbed my stuff to head to the gate as it was nearing departure I still had security to contend with.