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10 Countries in 9 Days (CX, KE, QR, TG, KL, BI)

10 Countries in 9 Days (CX, KE, QR, TG, KL, BI)

Old Jan 29, 2018, 9:34 am
  #31  
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Originally Posted by offerendum
Jakarta Airport seems to be great😂
The building itself is quite interesting and beautiful. It looks more like a resort than an airport. On the other hand, amenities are seriously lacking... It definitely bucks the trend among larger SE Asian airports.
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Old Jan 29, 2018, 11:56 am
  #32  
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Bi872: Kul-bwn

Royal Brunei Airlines
Economy Class (Y)
BI872: KUL-BWN (Kuala Lumpur to Bandar Seri Begawan)
25 January 2018
Airbus A320-200
V8-RBU
Seat 27C

Departure: 12:21PM
Arrival: 02:38PM


Planning
As part of the trip to the region, I wanted to visit Borneo and specifically Brunei. I knew there wasn't a whole lot to do in the small island nation, so I didn't want to overnight there. At the same time, I didn't want to fly MH and backtrack through KUL. I found that BI flies the KUL-MNL route with a 4 hour stop in BWN (on certain days of the week only), which was just enough time to get out of the airport and see a bit of Bandar Seri Begawan. So, I decided to book a one-way economy class ticket for a whopping $210 USD. Online booking was painless, as they use the same back-end system as a number of other airlines. In other words, their IT was quite good for such a small airline.

Check-in
I was unable to issue a mobile boarding pass due to the fact that I was flying a one-way ticket into Manila. My onward flight was booked with CX, but BI had no way of knowing that. As such, I went to the online check-in counter at KUL (very short line) and provided my onward ticket to the agent. She promptly issued my boarding passes and I was off. Security and immigration were a breeze and I was airside in no time.

KUL Airport
My flight departed from the C gates in the large Satellite Terminal, the same terminal my KL flight arrived at. As such, I had to make a short transfer to that building. Unfortunately, the inter-terminal train was down for maintenance, so I ended up taking a short shuttle bus ride to my concourse. It was pretty painless and quick. I even saw two Nesma Airlines 777s parked on the tarmac (somewhat) near the shuttle bus loading point. Don't see those very often.

Nesma 777


V8-RBU
Here's the bird I'd be flying that day.


Expectations
I'll be honest. I had no idea what to expect for this flight. This was my first time flying Royal Brunei and online reviews about the airline are scant to nonexistent. They have a grand total of 10 planes and fly to a whopping 18 destinations.

Boarding
Boarding was fairly organized. Pre-boards went first, then business class, then boarding group A, B, C, etc. They mostly enforced the boarding order and it went smoothly. I've been on AA flights that were less organized. Overall, I was impressed. In addition, the incoming flight was delayed by roughly 30 minutes. Despite that, they were able to turn the plane around very quickly and we departed only 11 minutes late. We ended up arriving at BWN only 8 minutes late, which was pretty impressive. In addition, this flight was fairly full, so that made the quick turn all that more impressive.

Upgrade Bidding
Apparently, BI has an Upgrade Bidding system similar to what CX uses. The site has the same design as CX, so they probably use the same vendor. The minimum bid to upgrade each segment was around $150 USD (roughly $300 total). I didn't feel it was worth the cost for such short flights.

Seats
I purchased a seat with slightly more pitch and it included priority boarding. I believe the cost was around $10 USD. It was worth it. The seats weren't huge, but leg room was more than adequate and the seats were fairly comfortable.


Prayer
The only slightly strange thing was the playing of a prayer prior to takeoff (the Doa Safar) on the overhead screens. I know some ME carriers do a similar thing, but what struck me was how long the prayer took. It was a solid 90 seconds. I believe QR has a pre-flight prayer, but it's very quick. Everyone pretty much ignored it and went about their business, so it really didn't bother me at all.

IFE
There was no IFE system on the plane. I brought my own iPad, so that wasn't an issue. J class pax were issued iPads to watch content on the flight, but Y pax were not. For such a short ride, the lack of an IFE was not a problem. And honestly, I'd prefer no IFE than an IFE system with lousy content. I suspect the IFE content would be pretty sterile, given the fact that BI is majority owned by the Government of Brunei.

Food
This was the really impressive thing. This flight was scheduled for 2hr20min total. Despite that, they provided a full hot meal service. They even had two different entree choices. I was floored. My HKG-TPE flight on CX was of similar length, but the meal service was much less extensive and there was only a single choice of entree and no drinks service. BI gets really high marks here for the meal service. You'd NEVER see this flying Y in the US, even on a 6hr TCON! In fact, I'd say the meal was on par with what is served by BA/AF on TATL flights from the East Coast. Of course, a one-way TATL usually costs a lot more than $210 (especially on BA).

That said, aside from there being a hot meal service, the food was really excellent. The flatware, though plastic, was very high quality and substantial. The meal choices were a chicken green curry and a beef dish (special meals were available if ordered in advance). I went for the chicken and it was very tasty. The curry was flavorful and a bit spicy. There was also a tasty noodle salad, a warm roll and a Kit Kat bar. The drinks were non-alcoholic, of course, but I don't drink so that makes no difference to me. Alas, they didn't have my customary Diet Coke (just Coke Classic), so I had the mango juice instead and it was quite good.


My only issue here was the meal service took almost the entire flight to complete, so I had to wait roughly 90 minutes to use the Y lavatory in the aft, as the aisle was blocked the rest of the time. I tried to use the J lav out of sheer desperation, but I was annoyingly denied by the J class dragon. Pro tip: use the lav before the meal service!

Summary
Before I knew it, we were landing at BWN. I was off the plane and through immigration very quickly. No issues at customs and I was landside maybe 10 minutes after landing. It's a small airport, but it's very efficient. That shouldn't be surprising, since the whizzes at SIN helped design the recent renovations at BWN. My tour guide met me at arrivals and we were off to see the city.
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Old Jan 29, 2018, 12:51 pm
  #33  
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Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Tour with Han from ToursByLocals


Han picked me up from the airport promptly after my arrival and we left immediately. Prior to my visit, I knew almost nothing about Brunei. I knew it was a small country on the island of Borneo, majority Muslim and fairly wealthy. I didn't realize they practiced Sharia law. Despite my personal feelings on that subject, I try not to judge. They appear to have a very orderly and peaceful society. I felt perfectly welcome as a non-Muslim visitor and did not feel the least bit uncomfortable at any time. I tried to be mindful of my behavior and followed the rules.

I did learn that the Government of Brunei provides free education to all citizens, up to and including postgraduate studies (even abroad if necessary). They also provide free healthcare and will send people to Singapore for specialized care that cannot be had locally. The government provides interest free loans and subsidizes the cost of buying/building a home as well. They will also provide citizens with the land on which to build a home for free. We often hear about the extravagances of the Sultan (and his brother), but we don't often hear about the ways in which the government provides for the people. I'd love it if the US government provided for us in such a manner.

The first stop was to see some water villages across the river from a new shopping mall complex built by the Sultan. I believe this was the downtown area of Bandar Seri Begawan. Traffic was minimal, but very orderly. The public spaces were immaculately clean. I saw virtually zero other tourists around and very few people as well. That wasn't overly surprising given how hot it is during the day. I believe locals try to stay inside during the day as much as possible.

Shopping Mall



Water Village


Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque
This was the next stop. The mosque is striking and quite beautiful. As with the rest of the area, it was immaculately clean and well maintained. Unfortunately, I was unable to go inside on my visit, as the mosque is off limits to non-Muslims on Thursdays and Fridays. This is due to important prayer services held on those days. It was completely understandable, as I wouldn't want to disturb their prayers.






Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque
This is the national mosque. It's enormous and breathtaking. The pictures speak for themselves, but the two domes indicate the separate mens and womens prayer rooms. Despite the separate rooms, women are allowed to pray with the men if they so desire. In order to afford women privacy if they desire it, men are not allowed to pray with the women. Women in Brunei, unlike Saudi Arabia, have full equality with men. They do not have to wear the hijab if they don't want to, they drive, work, and do all the things that men do. I was pleasantly surprised by this, given the fact that the country practices Sharia law.
















Istana Nurul Iman
This is the royal palace and seat of government of Brunei. It is the largest palace residence in the world. We were unable to stop for a photo by the front gates and it's hidden at the top of a hill behind jungle. So, this is the best I could do for a photo. I've cropped it a bit to give a better view of the roof line, which is difficult to discern against the clouds.



Return to the Airport
We also stopped by the Jerudong Park, a theme park built by the Sultan's brother in the 1990s. It's quite large, but it was nearly empty when we were driving through. Evidently, people are more apt to go in the evening when it's cooler outside. We also drove by the 5-star Empire Hotel, which was originally built as a palace for Prince Jefri. It's a huge property and quite lovely. The main hotel lobby is over the top. Evidently, the hotel has a roughly 10% occupancy rate, so if you're looking for somewhere great to stay in Brunei, that's probably your best bet. Their rates are around $200 USD per night, which isn't bad for such a luxurious property.

Unfortunately, we didn't stop for photos at either place because I didn't want to be late for my flight. I ended up being quite safe for time and could have cut it closer by nearly an hour. Oh well. Han dropped me off at the airport at the end of the tour and I went to catch my onward flight to Manila.
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Old Jan 29, 2018, 2:10 pm
  #34  
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Bi685: Bwn-mnl

Royal Brunei Airlines
Economy Class (Y)
BI685: BWN-MNL (Bandar Seri Begawan to Manila T1)
25 January 2018
Airbus A320-200
V8-RBT
Seat 27C

Departure: 06:13PM
Arrival: 08:18PM


Since I already had my boarding pass, I quickly made my way through immigration and security. It was very quick and painless. Took a total of perhaps 10 minutes. BWN is a very small airport, with only a single terminal and maybe 10 gates. It's actually smaller than my home airport PVD (Providence, RI), which is a bit of a change for me. Since I was a bit early, I strolled around the terminal and looked for a souvenir to buy. There's not a ton of food or shopping options here, so I wouldn't plan a long layover if you can help it. Since I was flying economy, I did not have lounge access. BI doesn't belong to an alliance, so my Oneworld Emerald status was of no use here.

BWN Departure Area
It's pretty basic here. A few shops and a cafe, but not much else. There's more stuff to do landside.


V8-RBT
The bird I'd be flying on the second leg of my journey. Sorry for the potato quality. It's the best I could get, given the arrival traffic passes between departures and the outer windows.


Livery Porn
You don't see a B788 in Royal Brunei livery too often, so I made sure to snap a few pictures. I really like the BI livery. It's clean, simple and understated.

787-8 with BWN terminal in the background



There's a second 787-8 hiding behind that A320-200


In-flight Service
On-board service was courteous and prompt, as usual. The J cabin had a total of two pax and the Y cabin was less than 50% full. I had 27ABC all to myself, so I was able to lie down and stretch out after dinner. The flight began with the usual prayer, followed by a hot meal service. This time the choice was roast chicken or a prawn and noodle dish. I opted for the chicken. Though this was the same model plane as the previous flight, the layout was slightly different.

This time, they played a movie for us for the majority of the flight. Instead of a Hollywood hit, they played an hour long Brunei tourism industry commercial about how to spend a couple weeks in Brunei. Honestly, I'm not sure how one could possibly find enough things to do to fill a two week long trip to Brunei. But I believe it would involve venturing into the Malaysia and Indonesia portions of Borneo. Either way, my attention span is far too short to consider such a long trip to Borneo.

Food
The meal was quite good, as I'd come to expect from Royal Brunei. Thumbs up once again. This was roast chicken with rice and vegetables, a salad of celery, cucumber and tomato, a warm roll and two pieces of chocolate.


Goodbye Brunei
Overall, I had a very nice visit to Brunei. It's a charming and sleepy little country, but I definitely enjoyed my short time there. Arriving in Manila would be a rude awakening after the Bruneian tranquility.

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Old Jan 31, 2018, 9:51 am
  #35  
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Manila Marriott Hotel

Manila Marriott Hotel
Booked: Standard Guest Room - King Bed
Upgraded to: Junior Suite


MNL Arrival
Since I was flying BI, we arrived in T1 at MNL NAIA. T1 seemed to be recently renovated and was fairly orderly, if a bit small. Immigration and customs took about 15-20 minutes, which wasn't too bad. I changed some money in the terminal to pay the cab (ATM fees were crazy) and I was off.

Taxi
Outside, I easily found the metered taxi (yellow cab) stand and quickly got a car. I directed the driver to drop me at the Manila Marriott and we were off; I could tell he was annoyed to get such a short fare. The ride took around 15 minutes, despite the fact that it was only a 5km drive. It could've been worse. Traffic was light at that time of night. The taxi cost roughly 250PHP ($5 USD) using the meter. I was monitoring most of our route on Google Maps to make sure he wasn't driving in circles or anything, but still the fare was a bit (50-100PHP) more than I was expecting. Not too worried about $1-2 USD.

Security
After passing through the outer security perimeter where the taxi's trunk was checked and given the once over by a bomb sniffing dog, we were allowed to drive up to the front entrance. Then I had to put my bag through an x-ray machine and walk through a metal detector to gain entry into the building. I did not remove my watch or phone before going through the metal detector, but I didn't set it off. Perhaps it's all largely for show. Either way, I didn't like it.

Check-In
Once inside, I was informed by the front desk that the hotel was very full that evening, so they'd upgraded me to a suite. Nothing to complain about on that count. I was a bit surprised since I have zero status with Marriott; I guess I just got lucky. They pointed the way to my room and I was off. The room was in the west wing on the 12th floor overlooking the golf course.

Lobby at Night
I must say, the lobby has exceptionally crowded with people when I arrived. There's a wine bar in the lobby, so that's probably part of the reason. Definitely not the calm, quiet environment that most hotel lobbies maintain. It was actually a bit of a zoo, mirroring the streets of Manila near the airport to an extent.

Junior Suite
The room was large, but the fit and finish was not as good as any of the other hotels I'd stayed in recently (e.g. PH Saigon, Raffles Le Royal, etc). It was absolutely fine for a night or two, but I wouldn't make the hotel a destination. One drawback to this room was it adjoined the room next door and the soundproofing was not great. My neighbor was playing loud music for about an hour after I arrived and I could hear it clearly. Luckily, it stopped after a while and I was able to sleep quite well.




The plumbing setup under the wet bar sink (at the far end of the below pic) was disgusting. Instead of a U-bend style sink trap, the waste pipe was interrupted by a huge rectangular metal box (presumably a ridiculously oversized drain trap). When opening the doors to the sink cabinet, sewer gas came wafting out. It was truly disgusting. The stench went away if the doors were kept closed.







Room Service
I ended up staying in and getting room service for the evening. I had it in my mind that I wanted to have Filipino food, but when the time came I was a bit tired and didn't want to risk a disappointing meal. I also was not up for braving the hectic zoo downstairs. So I got a burger from room service. My first and last burger on the entire trip, for what it's worth. It was a pretty good burger, though.

Breakfast Buffet
I was up early, so I got my stuff together and headed down to hit the breakfast buffet (included in the room rate) at 7:30AM. The buffet seating was quite full, but they found me a table quickly. The buffet itself was pretty good. Roughly on par with the Grand Hyatt KL quality-wise, though a somewhat smaller selection. I wasn't overly hungry, so I had scrambled eggs (to order, not the premade swill), a few rolls, four seasons juice and espresso. Everything was good. The stand out was the pan de coco, which was truly excellent. I could eat a thousand of those little things. Ridiculously good.

Convention Craziness
Apparently, the Manila Marriott boasts the largest banquet hall in the Philippines. Yay. So there was some sort of cheerleading competition/event happening that day and there were tons of people around the hotel lobby. Easily 100 people milling about with loud dance music blasting from the banquet hall around the corner.

This is what the non-crowded section of the lobby looked like at 8AM on a Friday.


Don't let the lonely orchids fool you. There were fifty people milling about to the left of that column and a further 50-100 golf bags lined up against the outer wall. The x-ray and metal detector are clearly visible on the other side of the glass in the center of the photo.

Airport Transfer
After breakfast, I checked out and then waited in the lobby for the shuttle to arrive at 8AM. It was prompt and we were off. Not too many people to pick up from the nearby hotels, so I was at the airport by 8:15AM or so. Free and painless.

Shotguns and Assault Rifles
There was a ridiculous amount of security at this and nearby hotels. There were heavy duty metal security gates in front of each hotel entrance. Each was staffed by at least two (federal?) police officers armed with either shotguns or assault rifles and bomb dogs (in some cases). Their presence made me feel significantly less safe than I would have otherwise felt. Now, I realize the Philippines has had issues with terrorism in other parts of the country recently, so I can't blame them for the enhanced security measures. But, it's really not conducive to putting people at ease (at least in this person's opinion), especially when deployed in this manner.

I was in Paris this summer and I remember seeing a heightened federal police presence throughout the city, but they weren't stationed at hotels and their presence didn't unnerve me at all. The way police were deployed in Manila was completely different and it made each hotel feel like a bunker that was under siege. I don't know how to better explain it, but I didn't like it.

Observations
I didn't have high hopes for my time in Manila. I'd heard bad things about MNL Airport, taxi scams, violent crime, etc. But I wanted to see for myself. My short time in Manila was fine. No problems encountered and I didn't really see anything of much interest. Granted, I didn't plan enough time on the ground to accomplish much of anything. The most off-putting part of my visit were the armed police checkpoints around the hotels. That aside, the city felt a bit hectic and disorganized. Moreso than the other cities I'd recently visited.
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Old Jan 31, 2018, 10:39 am
  #36  
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Cx906: Mnl-hkg

Cathay Pacific
Premium Economy Class (E)
Upgraded to Business Class at Gate
CX906: MNL-HKG (Manila to Hong Kong)
26 January 2018
Airbus A350-900

B-LRO
Seat 18G
Departure: 11:00AM
Arrival: 01:08PM



MNL NAIA T3
When I was waiting for my BI flight to depart KUL the previous day, I went to the CX counter in the satellite terminal and had the agent issue my CX boarding passes and a hard copy of my itinerary. I knew I'd need the hard copy itinerary in order to gain entrance to the MNL airport terminal. Sure enough, the police officer stationed at the entrance to NAIA T3 asked to see the hard copy itinerary. Once I produced it, I was quickly inside. I was able to bypass the check-in counters and head directly to immigration. I was cleared through immigration and then security within 10 minutes; it was very fast and not terribly crowded. I hadn't seen any shopping or dining of interest on the landside mezzanine overlooking the check-in counters, so I'd skipped all that and decided to go to the lounge instead.

Worst Airport Award
I can see why people dislike MNL. While they've made improvements in recent years, the airport sucks. The layout is strange and disjointed and there are a many seemingly redundant layers of security. During my visit, the air conditioning in T3 did not work at all. It was sticky and hot in there. There's really no excuse for that. The airport interior is ugly, lacks natural light and has has a very old-fashioned feel to it. But it's not quaint and doesn't have any character. The only exception is the T3 check-in area, which is airy and looks nice. The fact that the four terminals are so far spread out and have no shuttle/tram/train service linking them is just a hilariously bad design.

Further, the airport is in the middle of a neighborhood, with development far too close to it. There's an entire neighborhood (Vitalez) in the middle of the airport. Who thought that was a good idea? Naturally, traffic can be a nightmare. Realistically, they need to do something drastic about this because the current layout really doesn't work. Infrastructure to/from the airport is sorely lacking, as is the airport infrastructure itself. An underground train linking the terminals would be a good start. The renovations at T1 are nice, but it doesn't change the fact that the current best way to transfer from T1 to T3 is by taking a (potentially) 30min cab ride. It's insane. Realistically, they need to build a new airport from the ground up.

Cathay Pacific Lounge T3 MNL
Thankfully, there was a CX-operated lounge at MNL. While it doesn't compare to The Pier, it's a solid lounge and worth a visit if you're there. The breakfast menu was small, but I decided to have a couple things. I had a couple vegetable dumplings (not pictured) and a comically large char siu bao (BBQ pork bun). And naturally I had an obligatory Diet Coke, also not pictured.


B-LRO
I specifically chose this flight because I greatly prefer the A350 over the A330 that is usually used on this route. I think I made the correct choice. Best photo I could get of the bird I'd be flying.


Boarding and Op-Up
This flight was oversold in economy, so I was upgraded to business class during the boarding process. Unlike usual, I got the red light when they scanned my boarding pass. They had me stand to the side for a couple minutes and then returned my boarding pass to me and told me I'd been upgraded to business class. They didn't issue a new pass, just crossed out my seat assignment (32A) and wrote 18G on it instead. A little strange, but it works for me!

The boarding process was uneventful and I was seated in no time. I was a bit disappointed that I no longer had a window seat, but that's a small price to pay for J on the A359.

Seat
This was my first time flying in CX's A359 business class product. It's quite good and very similar to the seats in their 77W fleet.


Menu
Lunch was served on this flight.



Meal
I went with the beef this time around, as I'm not a fan of salmon. The beef was quite good and tender. They served my favorite chili sauce along with it, so I was definitely a happy camper. Everything in the meal was good. I finished it off with another Diet Coke. This time around, I decided to forgo the Oriental Breeze, as the cabin crew were quite busy to get the service completed before landing.



Service
As always, the inflight service was quite good and before I knew it we were on the ground in HKG. I did notice that I did not receive a greeting from the purser or ISM on this flight. Perhaps it's because I was moved at the last minute from my seat in the PE cabin and their manifest wasn't properly updated? Or perhaps it's because it was a full flight and they had a lot to do before landing. No big deal regardless.

On the Ground
Once on the ground, I decided that I'd register for e-channel. So I proceeded to immigration and entered HKG. I thought the enrollment office was in the baggage claim area right after the immigration hall. However, I couldn't locate it. I believe the office is actually in the immigration hall immediately after passport control, but BEFORE entering the baggage hall. Ah well, my mistake on that. Maybe next time.
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Old Jan 31, 2018, 2:18 pm
  #37  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Programs: BA Bronze, Emirates Silver, Virgin Silver, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,399
Just catching up with your TR and wow, what a journey you are having!
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Old Jan 31, 2018, 2:25 pm
  #38  
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Join Date: Apr 2017
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Cx812: Hkg-bos

Cathay Pacific
Premium Economy Class (E)
CX812: HKG-BOS (Hong Kong to Boston)
26 January 2018
Boeing 777-300ER (77W Four Class Configuration)

B-KQH
Seat 32A
Departure: 06:13PM
Arrival: 09:04PM


HKG Layover
After going through immigration and attempting (and failing) to find the e-channel registration office, I decided to go up to departures and get myself airside. Lines were minimal, so I got through security and immigration in about 10-15 minutes tops. Since I had a few hours to kill, I decided to make the most of it.

Qantas Business Class Lounge
My first stop was the QF J lounge right next to the the far right hand exit from immigration. This was my first visit to the lounge and it was pretty nice. There was a good selection of prepared food, so I tried a few different things. Nothing really jumped out at me and the lounge was somewhat busy, so I quickly moved on to my next stop. The Wing.

Cathay Pacific The Wing First Class Lounge
Next up was The Wing F. This was my first visit to Wing F, though I'd been to Wing J several times before. This time, I just wanted to stash my bag in their storage room so I could walk around the terminal unencumbered. I also figured that my flight would be departing from gate 1-4, since that's where US-bound flights usually board. Stupid assumption on my part. The prepared food selection at Wing F was boring, but I wasn't overly hungry so I decided to skip the in-lounge a la carte restaurant. Instead, I decided to venture out into the terminal to do a little shopping.

HKG Terminal 1 Shopping
I bought some cakes and cookies at Wing Wah and Hong Kong Delices. Then I made my way to The Pier F.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge
This wasn't my first rodeo at The Pier F. I wanted to arrive in BOS reasonably fresh and not crusty, so I took a quick shower. By then I'd worked up a bit of an appetite so I went to the lounge restaurant. The prepared food selection wasn't very diverse at that time of day, but the lunch menu was decent. Despite that, I decided on a simple bowl of dan dan noodles. It was quite good. There really wasn't anything else on the menu that struck my fancy. At that point, my plane had a gate assignment. Gate 49! Pretty much the worst possible gate I could have. At that point, I knew I had to go all the way back to Wing F and then go all the way to the other end of the opposite prong of the terminal building.

A visual aid to illustrate. Pier F is around Gate 63 and Wing F is near Gate 3. Qantas J is near Gate 15. It's bit of a hike.


Cathay Pacific The Wing First Class Lounge
A 20 minute walk later, I was back in Wing F with my newly purchased cakes. I felt I deserved a reward for my efforts, so I decided to hit the Noodle Bar in Wing J for good measure. I quickly ate a couple vegetable dumpling and a char siu bao, drank an obligatory Diet Coke and then headed to the Wing F front desk to retrieve my bag. Bag in hand, I decided to go to a lounge located closer to my gate. Next stop: The Bridge!

Cathay Pacific The Bridge Business Class Lounge
By this time, I didn't feel like walking the roughly 1km to The Bridge, so I went downstairs and hopped on the train. After pushing my way through the slow moving, but aggressive Chinese grannies, I found myself at the entrance to The Bridge. I was ready for another meal after all the pushing and shoving I had to do. So, I presented myself and my thoroughly used boarding pass to the lounge dragon at The Bridge. She took one glance at my boarding pass and saw re-entry stamps for both The Wing and The Pier. She found this incredibly funny and decided to show it to the other lounge dragons, who also had a good chuckle at my expense. She then added a stamp for The Bridge. If only I'd visited The Cabin, I would've had the set. Next time.

Undaunted, I turned left and made my way to the Bistro. Seeing nothing of culinary value, I chugged an espresso, made an about face and went to the other part of The Bridge. On my way, I passed by the lounge dragons who were still having a good chuckle at my expense. Head held high, I made it to The Bakery, which had a much more satisfactory food spread. I indulged in a bit more dim sum and another Diet Coke, then searched for a seat with a view. I ended up at the bar staring at the runway action. I had another espresso (my 14th of the day?) and contemplated the coming 16 hours. Before I knew it, it was getting to be that time again. So, I grabbed my bag, braced myself for derision and mocking by the lounge dragons and made my way to Gate 49. But this time I grabbed a luggage cart because only fools carry their own bags at HKG.

B-KQH
Shortly after arriving at the gate, the lumbering beast that would carry us to BOS rolled into the gate and ground staff began preparations for boarding. After a short interrogation mandated by US CBP/DHS/NSA/CIA, I was allowed to wait in the gate's "secure" area. After a long while, I boarded the plane with the First class passengers, but went to sit aft with the other peasants.

Boarded.... Phew
At this point, I was looking forward to the long flight and some solid sleep (courtesy of Benadryl and cumulative sleep deprivation). Sadly, there was no operational upgrade in the offing for me this time around. Instead, I was seated next to a nice older (84 year old) lady from Palm Springs who had no idea how to use the IFE system. Having an elderly grandmother who also struggles with electronics, I was happy to assist. I showed her how to watch a movie, use the touchscreen, plug in headphones, adjust volume, remove the tray table from the armrest, etc.

In the Air Once More
Shortly after takeoff, the ISM and purser both came up to my seat and greeted me personally. They first butchered my name, then asked if I needed anything. I was tempted to say I needed a seat in business class, but I don't think that's what they had in mind. Perhaps that could be a viable upgrade strategy in the future? Next, the menus and amenities kit were distributed. Then the drinks service began. The FA for my section magically knew of my Diet Coke requirement and promptly served me a Coke Zero with some almonds on the side.

Menu
Premium Economy Menu with obligatory Coke Zero


Meal Time
I decided to be brave this time around and went with the beef. It ended up being a good choice. The meat was tender and cooked medium (or thereabouts). The appetizer was twelve kinds of nasty, so I avoided that like the plague.


Post-Meal Coma
After eating the meal, I watched a little TV on my iPad and promptly zonked out for at least 12 hours (courtesy of my good friend Benadryl). I awoke some time later. It's hard to say when exactly, as time and space tend to merge on these long flights in PE.

Snack Time
I'm pretty sure we were still in the air, probably somewhere off the West Coast of the US by now. Seeing as I was awake again and had nothing better to do, I summoned the excellent FA serving my section. I requested a snack. She knew immediately what I wanted. "Certainly, Mr. (butchered last name), would you like your usual hamburger?". How could I decline such an offer? Twenty minutes later, she came back with a perfectly reheated formerly frozen hamburger. This burger was a pale shadow of the magnificent burger they offer in Business Class, but beggars can't be choosers, so I greedily scarfed it down.

Post-Snack Coma
By that time, Mr. Benadryl was knocking on my door, so I decided to give in to his demands and passed out for another 12 hours. When I woke up, I was pretty sure we had passed Boston and were now flying somewhere over the Middle East. Upon checking the in-flight map in the IFE system, I discovered that was not the case. We were actually somewhere over the flat part of the country and would soon be approaching our final destination. At this point, the cabin crew turned on the lights and prepared to serve the second meal.

Post-Snack Pre-Landing Meal
I now had another agonizing decision to make. Dim sum or eggs? As I've said before, I usually avoid airplane eggs at all costs. But in this case, I had to go with the eggs. The dim sum meal was packed with shrimp, so as a non-seafood person I felt the Chinese meal would be a bad decision. I made the right call.

Breakfast?!? At 8PM...
Which brings me to my next point. Why the heck do they serve breakfast at 8PM local time? It makes no sense. I realize it's morning in HKG, but we're not going to HKG. We're going to Boston, where it's night time. And we don't eat breakfast at night in Boston (or anywhere else in America, afaik). For my money, they should do a second dinner service. That would make much more sense. Breakfast at night is just confusing.

So I got the eggs. It was a passable meal. Not outstanding, but (somewhat) better than nothing. The bacon was a bit underdone for my tastes, so I brought it home to feed to my dog. CBP doesn't mind pocket bacon, right? The rest of it was good enough, though by no means "good" in absolute (or relative) terms.



Post Pre-Landing Meal Nap Time
Unfortunately, there wasn't really enough time to get a third 12 hour nap done before landing, so I decided to forgo the nap this time around.

Conclusions
Before I knew it, I was off the plane and quickly through immigration thanks to Global Entry. My Uber was waiting and I made my way home. I had a good time on this trip and saw a lot of cool stuff. I wish I'd been able to sample a bit more street food on my journey, but that's pretty much the only regret of the whole trip. I did a lot of flying and I enjoyed the vast majority of it. The biggest surprise of the trip was how good Royal Brunei was and how bad Thai Airways was. Everything else mostly met my expectations. I couldn't have done it without the invaluable knowledge I gained here on FlyerTalk, so I really have to thank my fellow FTers for their various insights and tips. The trip went really smoothly and was really easy.

Next Up
My next trip report will come in late May. We're going skiing in Vail in March, but I probably won't write a report for that trip. Unless the mood strikes me. Who can say. Next up is my May trip to Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, Mongolia and China. Still working out the kinks for that trip, but that's the basic outline for now. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.
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swingaling is offline  
Old Feb 2, 2018, 10:44 am
  #39  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Shanghai (PVG/SHA)
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Ah, too bad you’re not stopping by PVG.

MNL is actually built in 2 different cities. T3 is in Pasay, the other 3 are in Paranaque. I’ve used that Marriott lobby before for a nice place to sit in between stopovers...

Which countries have you you already visited? I’m also trying to visit as many countries as possible, only at about 45 now. Don’t think I’ll be able to get to every country, some just aren’t feasible (eg Saudi) when you’re female and travelling alone.
ellyse is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2018, 10:56 am
  #40  
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Originally Posted by ellyse
Ah, too bad youre not stopping by PVG.

MNL is actually built in 2 different cities. T3 is in Pasay, the other 3 are in Paranaque. Ive used that Marriott lobby before for a nice place to sit in between stopovers...

Which countries have you you already visited? Im also trying to visit as many countries as possible, only at about 45 now. Dont think Ill be able to get to every country, some just arent feasible (eg Saudi) when youre female and travelling alone.
I will definitely get around to Shanghai at some point (going to Beijing in May). I may do a short trip there later this year for a quick mileage run to finish off my AA EXP renewal (will only need 5k miles, but fares to PVG are super cheap) and burn a couple upgrades.

I'm at 29 countries currently, with another 7 already booked for later this year. Here's a link to the countries I've visited (or booked confirmed travel to) thus far.

Some countries I plan to visit aren't really possible at the current time. North Korea is one (no go for me on a US passport). It would be tough for me to enter Saudi Arabia as a non-Muslim, but I could easily book a flight on Saudia to transit the airport and tick it off that way. However, that's not my preferred way to visit a country. That said, Saudi Arabia is in the midst of passing social reforms and I expect them to open to tourists in the years to come. Most of Africa requires a visa, which will add complexity and cost.

I'm not eager to visit war zones like Afghanistan or Syria, so those will have to wait. But I have so many other countries to visit in the mean time, it's not a problem putting those off to later. In order to do this in a reasonable time frame, I'm targeting 10 new countries each year at a minimum (a target I may or may not hit). For 2018, I'll add 16 new countries to the list.
swingaling is offline  
Old Feb 11, 2018, 8:42 am
  #41  
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excellent trip report and I've enjoyed every post so far

It's good to see that you've got a target to visit x number of countries. How do you count these? You seem to count even if you've transited through?

I want to visit 30 counties by the time I hit 30 - not a steep target by any means. However, I'm only counting countries where I send at least 1 night. This way I will make sure I've seen at least some part of a country before I cant tick it off.
kosy91 is offline  
Old Feb 11, 2018, 9:52 am
  #42  
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Originally Posted by kosy91
excellent trip report and I've enjoyed every post so far

It's good to see that you've got a target to visit x number of countries. How do you count these? You seem to count even if you've transited through?

I want to visit 30 counties by the time I hit 30 - not a steep target by any means. However, I'm only counting countries where I send at least 1 night. This way I will make sure I've seen at least some part of a country before I cant tick it off.
I count it if I step foot in the country (airport counts), though ideally I’d like to leave the airport and see each country. It’s a personal thing, so others may have a different opinion here. I counted HK here because I had a layover there, but I’ve been to HKG a couple times before (spent several days there) so it wasn’t a new country for me. In general, if I only transit a country, I typically plan to come back another time to enter and see the country a bit more.

And I do count day trips. Some countries are very small and don’t really need an overnight stay to see the sights. Gibraltar, Macau and Brunei come to mind.

That said, 30 countries by 30 should be a doable goal. Europe and SE Asia are regions that are very conducive to seeing a lot of countries in a relatively short time.
swingaling is offline  
Old Feb 11, 2018, 3:45 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by swingaling


I count it if I step foot in the country (airport counts), though ideally Id like to leave the airport and see each country. Its a personal thing, so others may have a different opinion here. I counted HK here because I had a layover there, but Ive been to HKG a couple times before (spent several days there) so it wasnt a new country for me. In general, if I only transit a country, I typically plan to come back another time to enter and see the country a bit more.

And I do count day trips. Some countries are very small and dont really need an overnight stay to see the sights. Gibraltar, Macau and Brunei come to mind.

That said, 30 countries by 30 should be a doable goal. Europe and SE Asia are regions that are very conducive to seeing a lot of countries in a relatively short time.
Agree re. Macau - I've done the same

Yes Im already at 17 and have 3 more years to go
kosy91 is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2018, 3:28 am
  #44  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Shanghai (PVG/SHA)
Programs: SQ Gold, AF Platinum, AA Platinum (sadly, expiring soon), QR Silver, EK, MU, HU, PR, HO, OZ, KE
Posts: 685
Originally Posted by swingaling
I will definitely get around to Shanghai at some point (going to Beijing in May). I may do a short trip there later this year for a quick mileage run to finish off my AA EXP renewal (will only need 5k miles, but fares to PVG are super cheap) and burn a couple upgrades.

I'm at 29 countries currently, with another 7 already booked for later this year. Here's a link to the countries I've visited (or booked confirmed travel to) thus far.

Some countries I plan to visit aren't really possible at the current time. North Korea is one (no go for me on a US passport). It would be tough for me to enter Saudi Arabia as a non-Muslim, but I could easily book a flight on Saudia to transit the airport and tick it off that way. However, that's not my preferred way to visit a country. That said, Saudi Arabia is in the midst of passing social reforms and I expect them to open to tourists in the years to come. Most of Africa requires a visa, which will add complexity and cost.

I'm not eager to visit war zones like Afghanistan or Syria, so those will have to wait. But I have so many other countries to visit in the mean time, it's not a problem putting those off to later. In order to do this in a reasonable time frame, I'm targeting 10 new countries each year at a minimum (a target I may or may not hit). For 2018, I'll add 16 new countries to the list.
Right, drop me a PM when you come to Shanghai, and we can meet up? Ive got Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland as new countries planned for this year. Maybe we can even do some country-ticking together sometime.
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