Christmas in Asia (AA/CX/UA J; BA/AA/CX Y)
May 22, 2016, 1:18 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
Christmas in Asia (AA/CX/UA J; BA/AA/CX Y)
Christmas in Asia (AA/CX/UA J; BA/AA/CX Y)
Introduction
Introduction
It started innocuously enough. After two failed attempts of trying to take both of my parents somewhere, I gave it another try. As far as destinations go, Jakarta and Hong Kong seemed to be the best places as go. We could visit family in both places, and it would set us up well for side trips to nearby destinations, such as Bali and Singapore. I was able to grab us First Class seats on Japan Airlines for the outbound and returning on Cathay Pacific using my AAdvantage miles.
When I made the bookings, it was January 2015. We weren’t scheduled to travel until November. A lot can happen in ten months, and a lot did happen. In August, my grandparents lost their long and hard fought battle with liver cancer. Obviously, it was an incredibly emotionally and physically stressful period of time. When things finally calmed down a bit, I did some thinking. One of the things my family has never done is to bring my youngest two sisters back to Asia to visit our family. There’s always an excuse. Not enough time, too expensive, let’s go next year, etc. As such, my grandparents had been planning to bring them to China during the summer of 2015, but were of course unable to do so as their health deteriorated rapidly. While it would be great to finally take my parents somewhere, we’ve put off bringing my sisters back to Asia long enough. My parents agreed, so I began looking into changing our itinerary.
Now that my sisters were coming, I would have to plan around their school schedules. This meant we would have to travel during the holidays. Also, with three more in our travel party, I decided to go with Business Class as it would be far easier to procure six Business Class seats than six First Class seats. As it was less than two months before departure, award space in any class of service was scarce. But I was fairly confident space would open up once we got closer in, so I decided to wait. Trying to explain this to my parents and the relatives we were visiting was a chore, as they couldn’t comprehend how I could possibly plan a trip without any flights booked with just 6 weeks to go before departure. In the meantime, It was decided my dad, eldest sister, and I would head to Jakarta first as we had the most flexible schedules. My mom and two other sisters would depart after they finished their midterm exams, and meet us in Hong Kong.
Ten days before our first travel party was scheduled to depart, space opened up as I expected. I was able to book my dad, eldest sister, and myself on Cathay Pacific’s redeye from JFK to Hong Kong and connecting onward to Jakarta. American Airlines also helped us out by releasing domestic award space around the same time. I was able to easily find space from Houston, for my sister and I, and from Florida for my dad to JFK. After debiting my AAdvantage account 165,000 miles, we were set. Additionally, I booked our return from Jakarta to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific, in economy class given the relatively short flight, using British Airways’ very reasonable cash and Avios rates.
As for my mom and other sisters, they were travelling much closer to Christmas Day, so award space was far scarcer. Domestic award space had dried up long ago, so I booked them revenue tickets from Houston to Los Angeles on American. I figured Los Angeles would be the best bet for space to open up last minute given the sheer volume of oneworld flights to Asia between American, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines. A week before their departure day, Japan Airlines opened up Business Class seats on their Los Angeles to Osaka service. I was able to book them on that flight. However, that necessitated an overnight connection in Osaka, before connecting to a Cathay flight in economy class to Hong Kong. Not the most ideal itinerary, but that was the best I could do at that point. Finally, at exactly 24 hours before departure Cathay released the last three Business Class seats on their midday departure to Hong Kong for award bookings. That was very flight I wanted, as it fit perfectly with the American domestic connection I booked for them. The wifi at our Jakarta hotel was pretty slow, so it took several tries before I was able to get through to American via Skype. Luckily, I got a great agent who efficiently made the changes and reissued their tickets.
As for our return back to the U.S., we would need to head back at three different times. My oldest sister needed to leave first as she was slated to be the maid of honor at her friends’ wedding. I was able to grab her a Business Class seat on Cathay’s redeye from Hong Kong to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve using another 55,000 AAdvantage miles. I needed to leave a few days later to return to work, but I was already set with the return portion of my United ticket to Hong Kong from my November trip. One of my friends, who just happened to be a Premier 1K, had an expiring Global Premier Upgrade without a trip worthy to use the instrument on. She very generously applied it to my reservation, and it cleared immediately. My parents and youngest two sisters would be returning last. For them, we would be dipping into my dad’s sizable SkyMiles balance. Somehow, there were four seats available on China Eastern from Hong Kong to Shanghai Pudong, where they would connect to Delta’s flight to Los Angeles. In Business Class. At the Saver level. I could not book those tickets fast enough. Good thing I did, because Delta raised the price of the Saver level awards from 70,000 to 80,000 miles without warning the week after I booked.
Altogether, I spent 385,000 AAdvantage miles, 12,000 Avios (for our flight back to Hong Kong from Jakarta) and ~$385 in taxes for our flights. My dad spent a total of 280,000 SkyMiles and ~$400 in taxes and fees.
So my final itinerary is as follows:
American Eagle 4288 Houston Intercontinental to Chicago O’Hare Embraer E175 First Class
American Airlines 1305 Chicago O’Hare to New York JFK Boeing 737-800 First Class
Cathay Pacific Airways 845 New York JFK to Hong Kong Boeing 777-300ER Business Class
Cathay Pacific Airways 777 Hong Kong to Jakarta Boeing 777-300ER Business Class
Cathay Pacific Airways 776 Jakarta to Hong Kong Airbus A330-300 Economy Class
United Airlines 896 Hong Kong to Chicago O’Hare Boeing 777-200ER Business Class
United Airlines 2012 Chicago O’Hare to Houston Intercontinental Boeing 737-800 First Class
Trip Reports Index
False Start (AA J JFK-LHR; BA Y LHR-DUB; Hilton Dublin Airport; AA Y DUB-PHL)
Already? (AA Domestic F IAH-ORD-JFK; Flagship Lounge JFK; CX J JFK-HKG-CGK; CX The Pier HKG)
A New World (Exploring Jakarta)
Here We Go Again (CX Y CGK-HKG; Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Shui)
Back Again (Exploring Hong Kong Part 1)
A New Perspective (Exploring Hong Kong Part 2)
Are We There Yet? (UA J HKG-ORD; UA Domestic F ORD-IAH; SQ KrisFlyer Lounge HKG; United Club ORD)
Previous Trip Reports:
2015: A Manic Fall (AA/WN/UA/CX/FD Y; CX F; AA F)
2015: An Apartment in the Sky (Etihad Apartment First Class, AA Y, BA J/Y, QR Y)
2014: The End of An Era (JL/CX/TG/QF A380 F, OZ J, KA Y, and a Chinese Bullet Train!)
2014: A Tale of Two Cities (AA 77W J BA Y IB Y AF J)
2013: It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year (AA/MQ F AS Y)
2013: Geeking Out Across America (AA F)
2012: Around The World and From Sea to Shining Sea (AA F/Y, CX F, SQ F, UA F, DL F, WN Y)
2011: Everybody look at me because I'm sailing on a boat (KL J and DL Y)
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 8, 2016 at 7:51 am
May 22, 2016, 1:21 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
False Start
Did I mention this trip report was about a trip to Asia? Oops… Here’s a little bonus installment, just so I can torture you, dear readers, some more. Just before I departed on my Asia trip, I made a little detour to Europe. The detour was made for the love of Guiness, Jameson, and miles. But mostly the miles.
By the time December rolled around, I was just a couple of thousand elite qualifying miles short for American Airlines’ top tier status, Executive Platinum. Being a consummate geek, I had anticipated this thanks to
The night before I was going to Dublin, I was out to dinner with a few of my work friends. I had mentioned my plans for the weekend, which elicited a few groans and snickers from the crew. One of my friends mentioned she knew someone who worked at our company that was as crazy about travel as I was. That someone was none other than the legend himself, mbwmbw. While I had corresponded with him through FlyerTalk and instant messenger, I had never met him in person. It just so happened that mbwmbw was also in DC on an assignment. So my friend shot him a text, and within an hour we were hitting up a nearby bar for drinks. Though we had never met, we hit it off instantly, talking about all things points and miles. Our mutual friend found it our conversation rather …“cute”. Alrighty, then. I’ll just go back nursing my scotch.
Anyways, somewhere between rounds of drinks washed down by a couple of rounds of shots, I told mbwmbw of my weekend plans and he generously offered to apply his unused Systemwide Upgrades to my reservation. A quick glance at Expert Flyer showed there was one seat available for upgrade. We called American to get the upgrade applied right there at the bar, which was a first for me. Thanks, buddy! I owe you!
I didn’t quite remember making it back to the hotel. The next thing I remember was I waking up the following morning with a pounding head and an aching back. Nevertheless, I dragged myself to work and made it through the day without issue. Work let out at mid-day. By that time, I felt much better with the help of a gallon or so of water. So I hopped on the Metro into DC to do a little sightseeing.
Despite numerous trips to DC over the past few years, there’s still plenty I haven’t seen. Like the National Christmas Tree.
I then made the trek to Bureau of Engraving and Printing about 15 minutes away. So that’s where a good chunk of America’s greenbacks are printed. I have always wanted to do the tour, but I never seem to make it there when it’s open. Until today. Tours are free, and run about 45 minutes. Pictures are strictly prohibited, but the tour is well worth it. It’s not every day I get to see $1.6 million in cash just sitting on a pallet.
After the tour, I headed down to the Jefferson Memorial, which is the only major memorial in DC I had yet to visit. It was pleasant walk along the Potomac to the memorial.
I had some competition for a photo op at the memorial.
I then hailed an Uber back to Arlington, where I hit up one of my favorite restaurants in the DC area, El Pollo Rico. They serve just one thing, Peruvian Style Rotisserie Chicken. Just choose your portion, quarter, half, or whole chicken. As for the sides, steak fries, rice, and coleslaw are the only choices. The chicken is always hot, juicy, and well seasoned. And the sides provide a nice contrast to the chicken.
After eating, I headed back to hotel for a visit to the gym before heading to the airport. I was flying out of Reagan, so it was a quick cab 15-minute cab ride. Other beautiful views of Washington DC while climbing out, there isn’t much to say about my flight up to New York.
Technically, my New York to London flight was the continuation of the AA 104 from Washington Reagan. There was a change of equipment, of course, as it is as imprudent to operate a 777-300ER between New York and DC as it is to operate American’s variant of the 737-800 between New York and London. The flight from DC ended up arriving 20 minutes early, giving me plenty of time grab a shower at the gate 12 Admirals Club.
Soon enough, it was go time and I made my way to the nearby gate 7 for boarding.
American Airlines 104
New York (JFK) – London (LHR)
Depart: 9:20 PM
Arrive: 9:15 AM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 5J (Business Class)
December 4, 2015
Business Class seats don’t get much better than this, a fantastic combination of privacy and comfort.
Waiting for me at my seat was a menu for the flight and amenity In 2015, American released a line of series of heritage amenity kits. Each of the kits in the series was branded with the livery of past airlines which are now cobbled together in the new American. The kit I received on the flight was branded with the red and orange of PSA Airlines. While the case wasn’t particularly nice, I did like the heritage branding and the contents are pretty useful.
The cabin looked very sleek and modern, but to borrow from esteemed SFO777, there were little touches that reminded me that I was on American. Like the crumbs on the floor near my seat.
A choice of champagne, orange juice, and water was offered just before pushback. Orders were also taken on the ground, which was understandable given how short the flight was. Once we took off, I fired up American’s excellent IFE system, while waiting for dinner. There’s a fantastic selection of movies, TV shows, and other content available. Since I had already seen most of the new releases, I just went with Jurassic World.
Dinner was served not long after take off. With a flying time of a shade less than 6 hours, dinner was understandably a one-tray affair. I had chosen the tilapia for my main course, which was fine.
Dinner service a bit rushed, but service was friendly and attentive. Trays were cleared fairly quickly after I finished. I was full but I still couldn’t turn down dessert. Having flown American regularly for years now, I’ve had my fill of ice cream sundaes. So I went with the mousse cake instead. It was delicious.
I tried to get some sleep after dinner. But for some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep despite being dead tired. Eventually I gave up and watched another movie.
Before long we were approaching the coast or Ireland, and it was time for breakfast. It was probably just over three hours since I had eaten dinner. But I can pretty much eat anytime I’m in the air.
To be responsible, I went with the lighter fruit and granola option.
I’ve been pretty lucky recently when flying into Heathrow with respect to not having to hold. My string of luck continued as we were cleared into the airport without delay. Our descent took us over central London, with the scattered low-level clouds allowing for a couple of nice glimpses of the city.
We parked at the gate ahead of the schedule.
The gate we were assigned seemed to the very last one in the terminal, which meant a lengthy walk to the transfer bus center. But it was just what the doctor ordered after a redeye. After taking a few laps around Heathrow in the transfer bus, I was deposited in the bowels of (in)famous Terminal 5, where I was greeted by a massive line at transit security. The line moved at a glacial pace, but I finally got my free massage. That rather unpleasant experience over, I made my way to the Galleries Lounge. The friendly attendant promptly admitted me after scanning my boarding pass.
While it is certainly a large facility, the lounge was very crowded when I arrived. The crowd did thin out after an hour so. Breakfast was being served when I arrived, and it was on the very continental side. There were just some breakfast breads, pastries, and oatmeal on offer. I was still full from the meals on my flight to London and I wasn’t crazy about the offerings. So I passed. In the meantime, I killed time by doing a little work and, like any good millennial, wasted even more time on social media. A few hours later, lunch was served. It was quite good and far more substantial than the breakfast offerings.
A gate wasn’t assigned for my Dublin flight until a few minutes before boarding was scheduled to begin. Since the gate wasn’t terribly far from the lounge, I didn’t have to hurry. Boarding began about 10 minutes after I got to the gate.
British Airways 836
London (LHR) – Dublin (DUB)
Depart: 1:20 PM
Arrive: 2:50 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A320-100
Seat: 11F (Economy Class)
December 5, 2015
The aircraft operating our flight featured a refurbished cabin, which meant less pitch and slimline seats. Fortunately, I was able to snag an exit row seat ahead of time, thanks to my oneworld Sapphire status. The legroom in the exit row was far better than any seat in the so-called intra-Europe Business Class. Throw in the fact there was no one in the middle seat next to me, I got the far better deal. Those poor saps who ponied up the extra cash and/or points for Business Class... Those poor suckers.
The next thing I remember is waking up just as we were holding short of a runway to allow a company 747-400 to land. Nearly two days without much sleep finally caught up with me. After shaking the cobwebs in my mind loose, as we taxied into and held in position, I was able to a bit of plane spotting.
A few minutes behind schedule, our A320 raced down the runway, screaming its guts out, and climbed into the blustery and dreary day.
The ride throughout the flight was really rough. Despite that, the cabin crew toughed it out and did a full beverage and snack service.
The bottom really dropped out on the ride as the crew tidied up the cabin for landing. We rocked and roll all the way through the decent. At this point, I had flown just over 700,000 miles in my life. I have experienced quite a few rocky descents, but nothing like this. The wind howled loudly against fuselage, and gusts would catch the plane causing us to yaw. At the same time, we hit a number of pretty substantial bumps. The pilots did a fantastic job keeping on course despite external forces acting on the plane in all four points of the axis. All through out the descent, I could hear gasps, ooh, and ahs from my fellow passengers. My seatmate was gripping his armrests so hard his knuckles were turning white. I’m sure quite a few people were relieved when we went feet dry over shores of The Emerald Isle.
As we were in the final stages of the descent, I noticed something off. When I figured out what it was, a smile crept on to my face. The pilots were crabbing the plane, or essentially the aircraft was flying in a different directionthan where the nose is pointed, in preparation for a crosswind landing. While I have seen quite a few videos of crosswind landings, this would be the first time I experienced one. There was quite a bit of mumbling once the aircraft started crabbing. Moments before touching down, the pilots applied hard opposite rudder to line up the nose with the runway centerline. There were quite a few loud gasps when this happened, but those gasps turned into applause after we touched down firmly on the runway and began decelerating.
The captain came on the horn and explained what had just happened, and that the crew was a bit too busy to talk to us during the descent. I wouldn’t expect anything less. Of course, the first rule of aviation is to aviate, naturally, before navigating and then finally communicating.
I thanked the crew, and congratulated the flight crew on the fantastic landing. It was a short jaunt to immigration after deplaning. A stunningly beautiful immigration officer greeted me. While friendly, she was quite interested in my less than 24 hour stay in Dublin. After explaining the whole miles/points deal, she still looked rather confused as to why anyone would do such a thing, but still she was satisfied I was legit and let me into the country. Before I left, she warned me to check make my flight was still a go the following day as many were already canceled due to the gnarly weather.
A downright cold, rainy, and gusty day awaited me as I left the cozy confines of the airport. I had trouble finding the hotel shuttle area and walked around in a couple of circles before giving up and asking a friendly policeman, who then walked me over to the shuttle area. The Hilton Dublin Airport shuttle was already waiting, and I gladly took the very last seat on the shuttle. It was a short ride to hotel. I really lucked out being the last one on the shuttle as the cargo hold was full. So I had to ride shotgun with my bag. Therefore, I was able just hop out and rush into the lobby before the rest of the hordes could even exit the van. Check in was efficient, and I was in my room in minutes.
These days, I don’t typically mileage run for the sake of miles. I usually make time to do something at the places I “run” to. In the case of Dublin, my flight was scheduled to arrive just before 3PM. Which gave me to check into the hotel, and head into Dublin proper for a pint or three of Guinness and perhaps a few shots of Jameson along with some bangers and mash for a proper diet. Ya know, what the locals do every day. What I didn’t plan for was staying out late on Thursday night, not sleeping on the plane at all Friday evening, and of course the nasty weather. So I decided to head to the hotel gym for a quick workout and promptly fell asleep afterward.
I woke up to groggy hour of 6AM the next morning, which gave me plenty of time to grab a spot of breakfast downstairs, which was complimentary thanks to my Diamond status, before heading to the airport. A full Irish breakfast, including eggs, streaky bacon, beans, and blood sausage, was available on the buffet. It was quite decent. After breakfast, I went back to my room to check the status of my flight. As I mentioned earlier, quite a few flights to/from Dublin were canceled the previous day because of weather. One of the flights that got canceled was the inbound flight from Philadelphia. That plane remains in Dublin overnight and flies back to Philly the next day, which was the flight I was booked on. However, the American app showed another plane would be ferried over from Manchester to operate the flight to Philly. Try as I might, I couldn’t figure out how that plane got to Manchester in the first place. So I waited until Flight Radar 24 confirmed the ferry flight was off the ground before heading to the airport.
One weird aspect of the Hilton Dublin Airport is that the shuttle from the airport is free, but the shuttle back to the airport cost 5 Euros. But at least it ran on time, and I got to chat with the only other passenger on the shuttle, an Irishman seeking respite from the wind, rain, and cold in Italy. He happened to go to college at Arizona State University on a soccer scholarship. We had lively discussion over debate of whether or not college athletes should be paid.
Once at the airport, check in was swift and headed toward the US Customs and Immigration Preclearance facility. In theory, it sped things up in the sense that flights departing from Dublin to the US would arrive as a domestic flight. However, it was quite the inefficient process as one has to clear security twice, once just after checking in and the second time just before entering the Pre-Clearance facility. For those with Global Entry, the facility has no real advantage as pretty much everyone had to visit with an Immigration Officer.
The whole process took about 30 minutes. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a lounge I was eligible to access in that terminal. So I grabbed a coffee and a couple of bottles of Fanta for later and then hung out at the gate.
Indeed, the aircraft had arrived from Manchester, and was being readied for the journey home. As terrible as weather was the day before, it was just absolutely perfect this morning, with the sun out and clear blue skies.
American Airlines 723
Dublin (DUB) – Philadelphia (PHL)
Depart: 10:40 AM
Arrive: 1:50 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200
Seat: 9F (Economy Class)
December 6, 2015
Boarding began right on time. I had been monitoring the seat map for this flight that morning. Though the flight looked pretty full, the seat next to me had remained empty. While it looked good, it wasn’t a sure thing until the door closed.
And indeed the cabin door was closed with the seat next to me empty, making for a fairly comfortable flight. Operating the flight today was a legacy US Airways 757-200. I did appreciate the leather seats, but legroom was bit lacking. But it’ll do.
Anticipating strong headwinds, the captain opted take on more fuel for the transatlantic journey. Flying time announced to be just less than 8 hours.
There was some interesting traffic ahead of us in the take off queue.
Take off was powerful, as expected with a 757. Shortly after take off, the ground became shrouded with a low level overcast. Inside the cozy confines of seat 9F, I was setting up my own IFE in lieu of what was being shown on the main screen. I decided to continue the Star Wars marathon I had started during my trip to Asia the month prior.
Lunch was the choice of chicken with rice or pasta with red sauce. I chose the chicken, and it was actually pretty good.
Not long after lunch, I fell asleep still tired from the past few days. When I woke up hours later, we were cruising above the vast frozen expanses of northeastern Canada. The trash my seatmate and I had compiled on the tray table of the empty middle seat was still sitting there.
At least the view outside was far nicer.
A snack was served 60 minutes prior to arrival, which consisted of a pizza pocket and a pastry. It was fine.
The cabin was then tidied up, and we landed a few minutes ahead of schedule.
It was a fun, but exhausting weekend. Was it worth it? Well I secured my Executive Platinum status for the first time since 2013, the most valuable perk of which were the aforementioned Systemwide Upgrades, of which I got 8. And the redeemable miles I earned from this weekend were put to good use as it ensured I could fly my mom and all my sisters in Business Class to Asia in the coming weeks. Though I value my time more and more these days, that alone made this weekend worth it.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 12, 2016 at 8:25 am
May 22, 2016, 1:48 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
Already?
The next week flew by, and in what seemed like a blink of an eye it was time to pack up and head to Asia again. Already. It seems like I just got back from… Where was the last place I went again? Oh well, it’s better to look to the future than dwell in the past, anyways.
I spent the morning on the day of departure tying up some loose ends at work, before hurriedly packing 30 minutes before it was time to head to the airport. Winter is one of the best times of year to be in Texas. This day was a fine example of how nice it can be, with plenty of sunshine, clear blue skies, and a hint of chill in the air. With the exception of north Texas and the panhandle, there’s no need to shovel snow. .
We arrived at the airport just over an hour before departure. Since there were a couple of weeks before Christmas, I didn’t anticipate much of crowd at the airport. But the terminal was absolutely packed when we got there. American’s priority line moved a snail’s pace, thanks to a couple of difficult passengers in line ahead of us. The real gem of the day was a lady trying to talk to the agent into waiving all fees for her two 80 pound bags on account of her Gold status. She went back and forth with the agent for nearly ten minutes, before finally caving in and very reluctantly paying. The agent apologized to after we finally made it to the counter, and then efficiently checked us in.
The line at the south security checkpoint was ridiculous, stretching into the check in hall. To top it all off, the Pre Check lane was closed. So we doubled back to the north checkpoint where the priority lane was wide open and we cleared in the matter of minutes. We arrived at the gate just as boarding began. Had we stayed with the south security checkpoint, we would probably still be waiting in line.
American Airlines 4288
Houston (IAH) – Chicago (ORD)
Depart: 1:25 PM
Arrive: 4:10 PM
Aircraft: Embraer E175
Seat: 2D (First Class)
December 14, 2015
Wonderful FA Angela greeted us at the door, and we settled into our comfortable seats, 2C and 2D.
Predeparture beverages of choices were offered, which in my opinion is the mark of a good crew. Boarding wrapped up fairly quickly, and we pushed back on time.
After reaching cruising altitude, Angela got hard to work. Linens were laid on each tray table prior to the first round of drinks. Ramekins of mixed nuts soon materialized and multiple refills were offered.
Choices for lunch were a grilled chicken salad and a curry chicken wrap. I went with wrap, which was a smaller version of what was served on snack flights just a few short years ago. It was pretty tasty. The chocolate cake for dessert was far too rich for my tastes.
Weather remained crystal clear until we crossed in to Missouri. By the time we neared Chicago, a thick overcast shrouded the ground below.
It was raining steadily when we touched down at O’Hare. We landed a few minutes ahead of schedule, but ended up waiting 30 minutes for a gate to free up. We finally parking at the G terminal, so it was a fairly long walk to the H/K gates.
As a oneworld Emerald travelling internationally, I had access to American’s Flagship Lounge. The Flagship Lounge at O’Hare is the only one in the system I haven’t been too. For some reason, I thought it was located inside the H/K Admiral’s Club. The AAngel manning the admissions desk at the club invited us in, but pointed us toward the Flagship Lounge near gate K19 for a better experience. It was just a short walk away. Once there, another friendly agent promptly admitted us.
The lounge is pretty small.
There was a fairly decent buffet setup, with sushi, vegetables, and a few hot dishes along with a selection of soft and alcoholic drinks
This was my sister’s first time at any airline lounge, period. So naturally, she was very impressed. The Flagship Lounge really isn’t a bad lounge, but there are far better ones out there. I couldn’t wait to see her reaction when we hit up The Pier when we arrived at Hong Kong.
Our flight to New York was departing from gate H17, which was fairly short walk away. We got to the gate just as boarding began.
American Airlines 1305
Chicago (ORD) – New York (JFK)
Depart: 6:35 PM
Arrive: 9:59 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 5F (First Class)
December 14, 2015
Since December 2013, American began taking deliveries of new 737-800s equipped with a brand new interior than includes audio and video on demand at every seat, nearly identical to the setup on the Legacy American Airbus A319 and A321. I have flown well over 150 flights on American 737-800s since then but have yet to draw one of the new ones.
My heart skipped a beat when I stepped on a plane when I saw the flight attendant’s passenger service screen just above the jump seat with a Thales’ logo on it. Could it be? I turned right, and there it was. I finally drew one of the new AVOD equipped aircraft! Naturally, my sister rolled her eyes at my dorky excitement.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I really enjoy American’s selection of content on their entertainment systems. I found a real gem, Free Willy, which I haven’t watched since I was a little kid. After awhile I did find myself wondering how did I ever like the movie, but nostalgia factor was pretty powerful.
The flight was less than half full, even in First Class. I can't remember the last time I've been on a flight this empty. Despite the very light load and the slightly delayed departure due to flow control into JFK, no pre-departure beverages were offered. Post take off drink orders were taken on the ground as the flight to New York was expected to take only 90 minutes.
Service began not long after take off, with drinks and warm mixed nuts. I’ve been a gin and tonic guy for the longest time, though lately I’ve really gotten into vodka tonics. I had one of those to accompany the warm mixed nuts.
I had preordered the black bean tamales for myself. They were fine. A choice of sourdough and pretzel rolls were offered. Of course I chose the always excellent pretzel rolls. My sister had the chicken dish, which she enjoyed. The usual crappy post 9/1/2014 chocolate chip cookies were offered for dessert. I passed on that.
After few laps in a holding pattern, and we landed 30 minutes late. Arriving at gate 40 meant it was quite a trek to the terminal exit. Our dad’s flight from Charlotte was also a bit behind schedule. So my sister and I waited for him at model 767 near the gate 12 Admirals Club.
After a short wait, it was off to the Air Train bound for Terminal 7. With the last of British Airways’ flight to London Heathrow departing earlier in the evening, the terminal deserted with just our Cathay flight to Hong Kong standing in the way of quitting time. Check in was swift, as was security. With a little over an hour to go before departure, we headed to British Airways Galleries Lounge to kill some time. The lounge was fine, though I’ve had better.
The gate was a short walk away. We arrived to find the nicely dressed crew milling around the gate, and a mass of humanity queuing for boarding.
Scheduled boarding time came and went, but still no announcement as to the nature of the delay. Then a couple of minutes past scheduled departure, the gate agents began scanning boarding passes nary an announcement. Alright then, I think we can roll with this.
Cathay Pacific Airways 845
New York (JFK) to Hong Kong (HKG)
Depart: 1:00 AM
Arrive: 5:40 AM+1
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 18A (Business Class)
December 15, 2015
I have been very fortunate to cross the vast Pacific Ocean a number of times in Cathay’s First Class cabin. However, this would be my very first time flying Business Class with them. I have read a number of good things about Business Class as well over the years, so I had fairly high expectations.
Cathay Pacific uses the same fantastic Cirrus Business Class seat as American. Other than a few minor differences with respect to the finishes and controls, the cabins were identical.
Hot towels and pre-departure beverages were then served. As expected for Business Class, a choice of water, orange juice, and champagne was offered. I chose champagne, which was good.
One thing Cathay really does a fantastic job of is recognizing top tier elites, including that of their oneworld partners. This was my first time flying them as an Emerald, and I’m not going to lie. I was looking forward to it. As boarding was wrapping up, the purser dropped by to say “welcome back” and gave a bit of flight information, including our projected flying time of 15 hours and 30 minutes. This is a really small gesture, but it goes a long way in recognizing loyalty and costs the airline absolutely nothing.
By the time the plane was hurtling down the runway through sheets of pouring rain, it was nearly 40 minutes past of scheduled departure time. We hit a few bumps during the initial climb out, but the ride smoothed out pretty quickly. The flight attendants sprang into action as soon as they were released from their seats. Service began with the distribution of menus.
I started with one of my favorite drinks on the menu, the Cathay Delight. It was great, as usual.
Supper
A TASTY BLEND OF
Freshly prepared savoury dips and bread sticks
WITH A CHOICE OF
Fried Chicken, onion, choy sum, carrot and
steamed jasmine rice
Spring lamb chop, roasted eggplant, red pepper
confit, potato terrine and black pepper jus
A FRESH NOTE OF
Seasonal Berries
CHEESE PLATE
Chammes, Gruyere, Cambozola
crackers, grapes and quince paste
FOR THOSE PREFERRING A LIGHTER MEAL
Minted pea and edamame soup, bread sticks
King crab, avocado timbale and gazpacho jelly
A fresh note of seasonal berries
illy Freshly brewed coffee
and a selection of teas
PRALINES
And of course there’s the all-important matter of liquid nutrition.
Drink List
JUICES
orange, apple, tomato
SOFT DRINKS
Coke Zero, Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Perrier water, tonic water, soda water and ginger ale
COFFEES
freshly brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte
regular or decaffeinated
TEAS
Fuding jasmine silver fur, Anqui supreme Ti Guan Yin
Japanese, iced oolong tea, Hong Kong style milk tea
Organic selection: English breakfast, camomile, earl gray and peppermint
HOT CHOCOLATE
Champagne
Champagne Deutz, Brut Classic
White Wines
Chanson Reserve Du Bastion Vire-Clesse 2013
Peter Schweiger Gruner Veitliner “Zobinger
Terrassen” Kamptal Reserve 2013
Red Wines
Liberty School Central Coast Merlot 2012
Chateau Du Retout Esperance Haut Medoc 2013
Port Wine
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2009
Apertifs and Cocktails
Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin, Bacardi Run, Absolut Vodka, Martini Rosso, Martini Extra Dry, Campari, Sweet and Dry Sherry, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver
Whiskies
Chivas Regal 12 Years Old, Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve, Jack Daniel’s, Canadian Club,
Cognac
Hine Rare Fine Champagne
Liqueurs
Drambuie, Cointreau, Bailey’s Irish Cream
Beer
International selection
Signature Drinks
Cathay Delight
A kiwifruit based non-alcoholic drink with coconut juice and a touch of fresh mint.
Pacific Sunrise
A refreshing combination of champagne and Drambuie with the zest of orange and lemon.
JUICES
orange, apple, tomato
SOFT DRINKS
Coke Zero, Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Perrier water, tonic water, soda water and ginger ale
COFFEES
freshly brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte
regular or decaffeinated
TEAS
Fuding jasmine silver fur, Anqui supreme Ti Guan Yin
Japanese, iced oolong tea, Hong Kong style milk tea
Organic selection: English breakfast, camomile, earl gray and peppermint
HOT CHOCOLATE
Champagne
Champagne Deutz, Brut Classic
White Wines
Chanson Reserve Du Bastion Vire-Clesse 2013
Peter Schweiger Gruner Veitliner “Zobinger
Terrassen” Kamptal Reserve 2013
Red Wines
Liberty School Central Coast Merlot 2012
Chateau Du Retout Esperance Haut Medoc 2013
Port Wine
Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2009
Apertifs and Cocktails
Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin, Bacardi Run, Absolut Vodka, Martini Rosso, Martini Extra Dry, Campari, Sweet and Dry Sherry, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver
Whiskies
Chivas Regal 12 Years Old, Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve, Jack Daniel’s, Canadian Club,
Cognac
Hine Rare Fine Champagne
Liqueurs
Drambuie, Cointreau, Bailey’s Irish Cream
Beer
International selection
Signature Drinks
Cathay Delight
A kiwifruit based non-alcoholic drink with coconut juice and a touch of fresh mint.
Pacific Sunrise
A refreshing combination of champagne and Drambuie with the zest of orange and lemon.
Given the late departure, the first service was an abbreviated “supper”. The long and short of that is everything is served on a single tray, and the typical appetizer and salad are replaced by a selection of “Savoury Dips”. Humus and baba ghanuoush were the dips on offer that evening. While it seems like a bit of a cop out, I liked them both. A choice of breads was also offered, I chose a couple of slices of garlic bread and a pretzel roll.
I chose the lamb chops for my main. The presentation was really lacking, as it looked like an economy class meal served on better plating. That said, it tasted fine.
Trays were cleared quickly, which was much appreciated given the late hour. Another coffee, tea, and digestif run was made prior to the cabin lights being dimmed for the night. It seems like quite a few people on the Cathay Pacific forum aren’t too happy about the cheapening of the traditional dinner service on these redeye departures. Personally, while I enjoy the onboard meals, I appreciated being able to get it over with quickly to maximize rest on a redeye flight.
I ran into the lavatory to change into t-shirt and shorts before conking out. I slept for nearly 7 hours, waking up with just over half the flight to go. Feeling hungry, I decided to take a look at the snack menu, which is exactly the same one that’s available to First Class.
Snacks
Available upon request
Grilled Prime beef burger, bacon, cedar cheese
kaiser roll, barbeque sauce, and tomato ketchup
Wontons in noodle soup
Haagan Daz Ice Cream
Available upon request
Grilled Prime beef burger, bacon, cedar cheese
kaiser roll, barbeque sauce, and tomato ketchup
Wontons in noodle soup
Haagan Daz Ice Cream
A smiling flight attendant appeared moments after I rang the call button. I ordered the wonton noodle soup, which was served 20 minutes later as promised. It was pretty good considering the fact I was about 5 miles above the Pacific Ocean.
While snacking, I browsed what was available on Cathay’s excellent StudioCX entertainment system. One of the curses of frequent longhaul travel, especially on the same airline, is running out of things to watch on the entertainment system. I was pleased to find the December IFE update added quite a few new options to StudioCX. I am a big fan of Tom Hanks’ work. His latest movie, the political thriller Bridge of Spies, was excellent. I also watched Max, which was so-so, but it is a fairly watchable movie for any dog lover.
Afterwards, I worked on this report (a lot of good that did me), until breakfast was served about 90 minutes prior to landing. On offer this morning:
Breakfast
Served prior to arrival
REFRESH WITH
Orange or apple juice
Mixed berry smoothie
Fresh seasonal fruit
Fruit yoghurt
Assorted cereals
FOLLOWED BY
Smoked gouda omelette, pork sausage, sautéed
spinach, potato cake and cherry tomato
Braised e-fu noodle, mushroom and yellow chives
Cod fish congee and steamed shrimp rice roll
BREAD BASKET
Assorted breakfast bread
Preserves, honey and butter
illy Freshly brewed coffee
and a selection of teas
Served prior to arrival
REFRESH WITH
Orange or apple juice
Mixed berry smoothie
Fresh seasonal fruit
Fruit yoghurt
Assorted cereals
FOLLOWED BY
Smoked gouda omelette, pork sausage, sautéed
spinach, potato cake and cherry tomato
Braised e-fu noodle, mushroom and yellow chives
Cod fish congee and steamed shrimp rice roll
BREAD BASKET
Assorted breakfast bread
Preserves, honey and butter
illy Freshly brewed coffee
and a selection of teas
I asked for both a glass of orange juice and the berry smoothie, which the flight attendant happily obliged.
The fruit starter was good.
Another flight attendant came around with the breadbasket. I chose a croissant, or at least a small part of one.
Cereal was then offered. I chose muesli, which was good. Obviously, that’s hard to screw up.
The main course cart soon followed. It was nice to be able to see the options prior to selection. I went with the e-fu noodles, which was tasted just fine
Descent began not long after breakfast dishes were cleared. Unlike American, Cathay does not require passengers to stow the IFE monitor for take off and landing. That meant I could watch our descent and landing through the perspective of the aircraft’s belly camera. There wasn’t much to see initially as the pilots guided our heavy aircraft through the ATC directed approach in the pitch-black pre-dawn darkness. Finally, the lights of Runway 7R came into view. The hum of hydraulics lowering and locking the massive landing gear in the down position filled the cabin, and we landed smoothly moments later.
Despite the late departure, we reached the gate exactly on schedule. I guess the gate agents at JFK knew exactly what they were doing. Jet bridges were promptly attached, and we were off. Quite a few Cathay longhaul redeye flights arrived around the same time, all of which seemed packed to the gills from pre-Christmas traffic. That meant a massive line at the transit security checkpoint. It took us 30 minutes clear security. Though it allowed my dad, sister and I to talk extensively for the first time in 16 hours. One of the best features of many new Business Class seats is privacy. It is also one of the drawbacks if you’re traveling with someone. At any rate, my sister was quite excited and pleased with her longhaul premium cabin flight.
We had arrived close to midfield, so it was a short walk to The Bridge lounge. A friendly agent admitted us promptly after glancing at our boarding passes.
After the long flight, the first order of business was to shower. I marched us up to the shower attendant desk and requested three rooms. It was at this point my sister shot me her patented look of death. As she was packing for the trip prior to departure, I told my sister to pack a change of clothes in her carry on, so she could shower when we got to Hong Kong. Her reaction was something along the lines of “are you effing kidding me” and “there’s no way in hell I’m showering at a nasty airport”. She was quite annoyed at me until she got a look at the shower room.
After being disconnected for nearly a day, my dad had quite a bit of work to catch up. So he set up in the business center of the bridge, while I brought my sister to The Pier. That actually worked out well, because I can only guest one person into The Pier, which is a First Class lounge, with my newly re-minted oneworld Emerald status. My sister was confused and a smidge annoyed, as she just wanted to chill. “This is already super nice. Why the hell do we need move for?” Just you wait, sis.
When we got their, another smiling agent welcomed us in after scanning our boarding passes. My sister’s initial reaction was in the neighborhood of “holy $%@!”. Yeah, sis. You should listen to me more often.
The lounge wasn’t full, but it was busy enough to where I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures without disturbing anyone. So here are some recycled pictures from my visit the previous month.
We headed to the restaurant, and got a light snack and a couple of Cathay Delights. The next couple of hours were spent vegging out, just like my sister wanted, in one of the many comfortable sitting areas. My dad eventually sent a text to let us know he was done working, and we reconvened to do a couple of laps around the entire terminal before boarding our flight to Jakarta.
Cathay Pacific Airways 777
Hong Kong (HKG) to Jakarta (CGK)
Depart: 9:25 AM
Arrive: 1:20 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 11A (Business Class)
December 16, 2015
Interestingly, though this flight was sold with three classes, a four class aircraft operated the flight which I knew by looking at the seat map. Unsurprisingly, all six First Class seats remained unoccupied. I was able to get us seats in the mini cabin, just behind First Class, for this segment.
With far less traffic through the cabin, I was able to get some decent pictures of the seat.
A choice of water, orange juice, and champagne were offered. I chose water. Menus were distributed shortly after, and the purser came by to do the now familiar Emerald greeting.
As is the norm in Hong Kong, there was plenty of interesting traffic for plane spotting.
We taxied into position following the China Eastern A321-100, and began our take off roll after a brief hold.
After take off, I picked up where I left off with the NCIS: New Orleans marathon I started on the way home from Hong Kong several weeks prior. Breakfast service began after we reached our cruising altitude.
Breakfast
REFRESH WITH
Juice selection
Fresh seasonal fruit
Fruit yoghurt
Assorted cereals
FOLLOWED BY
Sweet corn and spinach frittata, pan fried veal
sausage, Lyonnaise potatoes, asparagus
and sautéed mushrooms with tomato concasse
Chinese dim sum
Beef siu mai, scallop dumpling, vegetable fun gor,
mini vegetarian glutinous rice
Pan-fried chicken, ginger and spring onion,
broccoli and steamed jasmine rice
BREAD BASKET
Assorted breakfast bread
Preserves, honey and butter
illy Freshly brewed coffee
and a selection of teas
Drink List
JUICES
orange, apple, tomato
SOFT DRINKS
Coke Zero, Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Perrier water, tonic water, soda water and ginger ale
COFFEES
freshly brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte
regular or decaffeinated
TEAS
Fuding jasmine silver fur, Anqui supreme Ti Guan Yin
Japanese, iced oolong tea, Hong Kong style milk tea
Organic selection: English breakfast, camomile, earl gray and peppermint
HOT CHOCOLATE
REFRESH WITH
Juice selection
Fresh seasonal fruit
Fruit yoghurt
Assorted cereals
FOLLOWED BY
Sweet corn and spinach frittata, pan fried veal
sausage, Lyonnaise potatoes, asparagus
and sautéed mushrooms with tomato concasse
Chinese dim sum
Beef siu mai, scallop dumpling, vegetable fun gor,
mini vegetarian glutinous rice
Pan-fried chicken, ginger and spring onion,
broccoli and steamed jasmine rice
BREAD BASKET
Assorted breakfast bread
Preserves, honey and butter
illy Freshly brewed coffee
and a selection of teas
Drink List
JUICES
orange, apple, tomato
SOFT DRINKS
Coke Zero, Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Perrier water, tonic water, soda water and ginger ale
COFFEES
freshly brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte
regular or decaffeinated
TEAS
Fuding jasmine silver fur, Anqui supreme Ti Guan Yin
Japanese, iced oolong tea, Hong Kong style milk tea
Organic selection: English breakfast, camomile, earl gray and peppermint
HOT CHOCOLATE
I started with orange juice and water.
Fruit plates were offered next. The presentation was quite nice, and the fruit itself was ripe and refreshing.
Since the flight departed from Hong Kong, I decided on the stir fried chicken and broccoli with rice. It was very disappointing. The rice and broccoli were way overcooked, and the chicken itself was overly salty. I’ve had far better in economy class. In fact, the fish curry I had on my Cathay flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok a month earlier was far better.
Five episodes of NCIS: New Orleans later, the cabin crew began batting down the hatches in preparation of landing. We began our descent over the Java Sea. Though clouds shrouded the world below us for much of the flight, there were just scattered clouds by the time we reached Jakarta Bay, allowing to get my first glimpse of my grandparents’ place of birth.
We turned back toward the west toward the airport, taking the sprawling city of Jakarta down the left side of the aircraft.
I also got a preview of what awaited us on the ground, the joys of Jakarta traffic.
It started raining during our final approach.
After 35 hours of traveling, we were finally in Indonesia.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 12, 2016 at 1:58 pm
May 25, 2016, 5:43 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
May 27, 2016, 3:48 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
Thanks, Dave737!
Thanks, Stevie.
May 27, 2016, 9:52 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
A New World
Though I have been quite fortunate to have traveled quite a bit around the globe, I have never really left the beaten path. For example, the places I have been to in Asia include Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Bangkok. Of course, there was that odd trip to Wuhan, China a couple of years ago. But other than that, I have not really left the well-worn tourist path. This visit to Jakarta would be my first time off the path of the typical Western tourist. And man, it was a completely different world out there.
The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the heat and the humidity. I grew up in a very humid place and still live in a city known for high humidity. Heck, I’ve also spent a fair amount of time in Hong Kong. Even that can’t hold a candle to what Jakarta has to offer. Though slightly better inside the airport, immigration and baggage claim was sweltering by my standards. Speaking of immigration, Indonesia recently waived the visa on arrival requirement for citizens of many countries, including the United States, for visits up to 30 days. That saved us a nice chunk of cash.
One of my aunts was hosting us on this visit. She sent her driver to meet us at the airport, and he was waiting for us just outside of baggage claim. Our hotel was approximately 40 kilometers away from the airport. Ordinarily, that should take no more than an hour to reach. Jakarta traffic is not normal. Despite it being just 2PM, gridlock was in full force. It took us a whopping 2.5 hours to get to the hotel.
We would be staying at the Cosmo Amaroossa Hotel as it was just around the corner from my aunt’s place. The hotel was just a few years old; however, it wasn’t well maintained and the property was really starting to age. Cleanliness was just ok. There were quite a few spots around both our rooms that weren’t particularly well cleaned. That said, I didn’t want to complain as my aunt booked it for us, and we couldn’t the convenience of the location. The price for two large room for a week was a little over 8.6 million Indonesian Rupiah, or $650 USD. So not bad.
On one of our last days in Jakarta, we discovered there was a new JW Marriott being built just a mile or so down the road. I know where I’m staying the next time I come out here.
My grandparents were born in Indonesia to large families. Naturally those large families became even larger over time, and fast forward to 2015 I have a whole lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. to visit over there. Though I’ve heard so many stories about them from my grandparents, I have never met any of my relatives down here. Our week in Jakarta was chock full of hugs, cheek pinching, and the inevitable privacy invading questions that comes with visiting relatives. Of course, none of us ever eat enough despite working on what was probably my twentieth plate. All kidding aside it was truly an honor and pleasure to meet and get know of all of them.
In between all of that that, we did get to see bits and pieces of Jakarta. What we got to experience most in Jakarta was the traffic. It was beyond awful, between the scooters, the lack of respect for traffic laws, and the sheer massive volume of vehicles on the road. It took us hours to get anywhere, even places just a few kilometers away.
Jakarta is an interesting mix of modern high rises and multilevel shopping malls.
And scenes that were a complete 180 degrees removed from the above modern sights.
These aren’t things I see at home on a regular basis.
There’s a Hakka Museum in Jakarta. The Hakka are another sect of Chinese culture, primarily from southern provinces of China. The museum itself recognizes the heritage of the Hakka who immigrated to Indonesia in the early 20th century, which how that part of my family ended up in Indonesia.
One day, my aunt and uncle took us into old town Jakarta. On the way, we passed by a protest. Not sure exactly what it was about, though the protestors did seem quite angry. That said, everything seemed pretty orderly.
We also passed by some of Jakarta’s more famous sights. Like the National Monument.
The Arjuna Wijaya.
And the Merdeka Palace.
Naturally, we went into Chinatown. I’m quite used to the open air vendors typically found in Chinatowns in many cities, and of course Hong Kong. However, this was a completely different experience, even for me.
Well… that’s an interesting place to store food.
Ribbet.
We did have a delicious lunch at a restaurant that was run out of someone’s kitchen. Lunch was made extra interesting by the owner’s anti-American rant, and the America lovin’ fellow customer who wanted to give us several million rupiah so we could bring him some Apple products. And I can also cross off stir-fried pig kidneys off my food bucket list.
Speaking of food, we had a lot of very tasty meals in Jakarta.
I love coffee. I typically take my coffee black, but I’m willing to doctor it to shake things up once in in while. One of most favorite ways to doctor it up is drip coffee Vietnamese style with condensed milk. But coffee with avocado and condensed milk? Get out of here. But seriously, it was flipping delicious. Oh… and err… Can you spot the out of place item in the picture below?
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 12, 2016 at 7:43 am
May 27, 2016, 9:54 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
Here We Go Again
The past six days in Jakarta were fantastic. It was great to be able to meet and get to know my relatives for the first time. Speaking of which, I am truly grateful for their hospitality. They really rolled out the red carpet for us. And of course, It was great to be to visit a new country, and learn about another culture. But by the end of it, I was more than ready to move on.
Naturally, the only time we didn’t run into traffic was on the way back to the airport. It took just 45 minutes for us to reach the airport from my aunt’s place. We actually headed to airport a bit early so we could meet up another one of my cousins who was arriving with her daughter and husband from Singapore for Christmas. It was great to be able to meet them over coffee at a landside shop. Alas, they needed to head out to hopefully beat some of the traffic, and we had flight to catch.
There was a shared contract lounge past security and immigration, but it was nothing to write home about. So we just hung out at Starbucks and then headed to the gate after clearing the secondary security screening.
Boarding passes were scanned prior to being admitted to the gate area, so all there was left to do is get on the plane when called. With boarding beginning with Business Class and elites, I was one of the first on board.
Cathay Pacific Airways 776
Jakarta (CGK) to Hong Kong (HKG)
Depart: 2:35 PM
Arrive: 8:25 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 64A (Economy Class)
December 22, 2015
Cathay’s economy class really isn’t a bad place to be. I find the seats to be decent in terms of comfort and size. Service is typically pretty friendly, and the folks in back have access to the same great entertainment system. Given the short duration of the flight (just over 4 hours), I didn’t really feel the need to splurge for Business Class, even though that was available. And given the price I paid, ~4,000 Avios and $100 per person, it was a bargain.
Though the flight was completely full as far as I could tell, boarding finished early and we even pushed back a few minutes early. While the distance to the active runway seemed fairly short, we taxied at a glacial place, presumably due to the seemingly never ending queue of landing aircraft. I had a front row seat to the action, which was especially interesting as there were quite a few liveries I haven’t seen before and even an airline or two I haven’t heard of.
We finally took off over 30 minutes after pushback. The lengthy taxi seemed to be expected, or at very least the schedule was very well padded as we were still projected to arrive in Hong Kong ahead of shed-jewel.
We climbed out over Jakarta Bay for a few minutes before adopting a more northerly course toward the Java Sea.
Dinner began with a drink service. I’ve been better about avoiding sodas in recent months, but I was suddenly craving one. What’s one drink, right? So I ordered a ginger ale, which was served with a pack of peanuts.
Shortly after drinks were served, the purser came to do the Emerald spiel. Additionally, she explained the options for dinner, which was beef rendang or pasta, and then asked for my preference. I chose the rendang. She also asked the person sitting next to me (my dad) was traveling with me, and then she asked him what he wanted for dinner and offered us both a bottle of water.
Having not eaten anything since early that morning, I was hungry. The smell of the meal being prepared wafted through the cabin, whetting my appetite even more. And it smelled great, which didn’t help matters. Finally, the food laden meal carts were wheeled down the aisles. My dad and I both got our first choices of beef rendang. It was served with a roll, fresh fruit, and a packaged cookie for dessert. A bottle of water was on the tray and a choice of coffee, tea, or juice was offered. I went with apple juice.
You don’t hear this said about economy class meals, but oh my God it was absolutely fantastic. The rice was perfectly cooked, and the flavor of the rendang was spot on. It was leaps and bounds better than the main course served in Business Class on my way to Jakarta
Dinner was served while we were flying over the dark green forests of Brunei.
I started watching American Sniper just before dinner, and which finished up as the sun was setting. In hopes of catching a good view of the sunset, I chose a seat on the left side of the aircraft. The brilliant orange and blue hues of the setting sun eventually faded out, giving way to the inky black of the dark night sky.
As promised, the parking brake was set a few minutes early. We parked at a midfield gate, necessitating a bit of a hike and a ride on the inter-terminal train to reach immigration. Immigration is typically a non-event in Hong Kong, but this time around the immigration officer scrutinized the information that appeared on his screen, after scanning my passport, quite carefully. Not sure if it is because my numerous visits, some lasting just a couple of hours, over the past year or so. Anyhow, I was eventually admitted. No harm, no foul.
We met up my mom and other sisters at The Arrival. They fared quite well, other than a little snafu when trying to through check bags on two separate tickets. Somehow, my oneworld Emerald status had stuck on my mom’s ticket, and they were even able to access the oneworld First Class lounge at LAX. Technically, only one guest was allowed but the agent at the lounge allowed them all to enter, on the account of my sisters’ age.
Underway over the Pacific, my sisters were so scared of crossing the ocean they didn’t sleep a wink during the nearly 15 hour journey. Because… sharks.
That turned them into little jet-lagged zombies by the time they arrived in Hong Kong.
We caught a couple of cabs to our home for the next week, the Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui.
Finding hotel room(s) at a reasonable cost for large family is a chore. Throw in the fact that I needed said rooms in Hong Kong, and it’s pretty much mission impossible. Even using points for our stay was not entirely feasible given the exorbitant amount of points needed. In the end, I booked two rooms using the Points and Cash rate of 7,500 Gold Passport points and $100 per room each night. I also applied a Diamond Suite Upgrade to one of the rooms for a little extra space.
Since my mom and other sisters were scheduled to arrive a couple of hours before us, the plan was for them to head to the hotel first. Thus, I emailed the hotel a couple of days earlier and arranged for my mom to check in first. Though they decided to wait for us at the airport at the last minute, my mom’s cab arrived at the hotel before mine did. Despite my prior correspondence with the hotel, they did not allow her to check in. It ended up being just a minor annoyance, but it could have a far more annoying issue had my mom not decided to wait for us at the airport.
We were assigned two rooms next to each other on the 11th floor. The suite was the room on the very end of the floor. Size wise, it was more on the side of a junior suite, but it was still really nice. Since there was no sofa bed, I requested a rollaway bed, which was already in the room when we arrived.
Our other room was just a standard two twin bed room. There wasn’t much of a view to speak of in either room. But then again, we didn’t really spend time in the room other than sleeping.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 12, 2016 at 1:59 pm
May 29, 2016, 2:12 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
Back Again
As I mentioned earlier, this was my youngest sisters’ first visit to Hong Kong. While this was my fourth visit in the past 12 months, Hong Kong never gets old for me, and do pretty the same things I did with my friend back in November.
We made sure they hit the “must sees”. Like the trams.
The Star Ferry.
The sights of around the harbour.
Hong Kong’s famous skyline.
And of course, the crowds.
No visit to Hong Kong is complete visiting the Peak. With such a large group of people, it was actually more cost effective to catch a cab to the top of the Peak than it was to take the Peak tram. The tram cost $40 HKD per person. Though we needed two cabs, the ride cost us $50 HKD per cab. The weather was nice and sunny on the way up. After reaching the top of the peak, we killed some time at the mall there. Which was a mistake. But we did grab a snack of black sesame soft serve ice cream at the McDonald’s there. It was absolutely amazing. The best thing I’ve ever tasted from any Mickey D’s.
However, while we were inside the mall, a fog bank came out of nowhere and enveloped the city, shrouding the views below.
Seeing all of this was all would be exciting to any normal person. But from the perspective of a teenager, it is “super boring” and “pointless”. Bring them to a mall, and their eyes all of the sudden light up. Please excuse the shamelessly recycled picture below.
While they did damage at the various shops in Times Square, I entertained myself with the various displays from The Force Awakens themed displays, which we had seen while we were in Indonesia.
Another must do in Hong Kong is eat, and eat we did.
Of course, I can’t leave Hong Kong without at least eating my favorite wonton noodle soup at least once.
And some fried fish balls.
Beef tendon lo mein.
Jun 6, 2016, 12:17 pm
#15
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Join Date: Oct 2009
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A New Perspective
As many times as I’ve been to Hong Kong, I can’t say I’ve seen everything. Hong Kong Island is where I spend the most time, as pretty much all of my relatives live there. So I have seen quite a bit there. I’ve stayed in Kowloon a few times, but I have never ventured out much beyond Tsim Sha Shui. I was pretty excited when one of my uncles offered to take us around and see another side of Hong Kong that most visitors don’t see on Christmas day. Heck, it was the even my parents’ first time seeing most of the places we went that day, and they grew up in Hong Kong. So all of us would be seeing Hong Kong from a new perspective that day.
My uncle picked us up from our hotel at 8AM that day, and began heading toward the mountains that stand guard north of Kowloon. On the way there, I realized I left my camera’s SD card in my computer after downloading pictures to my hard drive earlier that morning. So our iPhones would have to tide us over for the time being.
Our first stop was the grave of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s mother.
Next, we headed up to the Kowloon peak, which is far less frequented than its counterpart across the harbour, the Victoria Peak. It was easy to see why. The Kowloon Peak is impossible to get to with out a car. The view was no less fantastic. Seeing this view from the perspective of looking over toward Hong Kong Island was really interesting. Overcast skies, light rain, and smog were the conditions at the time, but visibility was good enough for a decent look. I wish I had my camera to use, but all I had to at that point was my iPhone. It did get the job done, but my DLSR would have done a much better job.
There were several placards giving the old (in)famous Kai Tak airport a nod, which has since been razed and built over after the current Hong Kong International Airport opened in 1998. Kai Tak was (in)famous for being one of the most difficult airport to fly into, as it require pilots to descend in between the high rises of Kowloon and Lion Rock while turning to line up with the runway. Needless to say, that required some serious skill and nads to complete. I can only imagine how wonderful the plane spotting at this very spot was less than 20 years ago.
Afterwards, we headed down the mountain and went to Kam Shan Country Park to see Monkey Hill. It began raining steadily at this point, but those little guys didn’t let us down.
We then headed to a street market in old Kowloon. Once there, I was able to pick up another SD card for my camera, and I was back in business
The hustle and bustle in the market was amazing.
We hit up one of Hong Kong’s oldest tofu appetizer for an appetizer.
At this stage of the report, I’m sure most of y’all realize by now that I love to eat. But I wasn’t looking forward to lunch. You see, my parents were craving Chinese snake stew (did I seriously just write that?). My uncle was far too enthusiastic in the trying to accommodate. I found myself strolling into one of the more famous snake stew joints in Hong Kong for lunch.
While I’m a pretty adventurous eater, I was a bit apprehensive about eating snake. But I had been watching a lot of Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmermn of late. And well… If it looks good, eat it. When the steaming bowls of stew came out, it really didn’t look half bad.
And it tasted alright. Just like super stringy chicken. Per Wikipedia, there’s usually several species of snake in there, possibly even cobra. So I ate cobra. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.
You might be wondering how my sisters fared. Well, they didn’t ask what they were eating, and didn’t know enough Chinese to understand what we were talking about. My parents didn’t tell them what they ate until a few days later. And they took it surprisingly well.
After lunch, we headed to Tsing Yi. Like most tourists, I have passed through Tsing Yi a number of times on the way to and from the airport. But I never stopped, until now. My uncle brought us to a park with great views of the Ting Kau and Tsing Ma bridges.
On the way to the observation area of the Ting Kau Bridge, a sample of the cross-section of the bridge’s cable wires was on display. Inside of that white housing are hundreds of cables helping support the weight of the bridge’s deck. Truly an engineering marvel.
The observation area for the Tsing Ma Bridge was a little further up the hill.
Boasting the title of being the 9th longest suspension bridge in the world, it too is an engineering marvel.
Watching the traffic on the water was quite fascinating.
Speaking of traffic, there was plenty in the air as well. From our vantage point on top of a hill and somewhat close proximity to the airport, this was an alright place to plane spot, provided you have decent long distance lens.
Next stop was a monastery somewhere in the mountains near Kowloon.
I have always been interested in photography, but I really got into it ever since I bought myself a Nikon D5300 for Christmas in 2014. One of the weak spots is night photography. And there aren’t many places better to practice than Hong Kong.
Last edited by dat4life; Jun 12, 2016 at 7:34 am