Etihad? Emirates? Doesn't matter: One Week of Photographing Asia!
Jun 7, 2018, 1:31 am
#32
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Germany
Programs: Oneworld Emerald, *A Gold, Sixt Platinum, Etihad Gold
Posts: 108
Sunday, 22. 4. 2018
As this was just a short trip, Sunday was already the last day of it. I was allowed to have a late check-out at 99Bonham, so I walked around Central a bit in the morning – mainly the Mid Level Escalators and Lan Kwai Fong. Despite the higher price that weekend, the 99Bonham's location is really good to explore Central by foot.
I passed a Ramen place near Lan Kwai Fong at around 11, and as there were a lot of locals in there I gave it a shot. The Ramen was good with a nice spicyness, and the Gyoza were great as well:
Afterwards I went back to the hotel, showered, packed my bags and took a super inexpensive cab (as it's only the minimum fare of 24 HKD, felt a bit bad for the driver) to Central Station. The airport express brought me back to HKG, and the following flights were waiting for me:
22.4. HKG → AUH EY C
23.4. AUH → MAN EY C
23.4. MAN → SXF FR Y
(yes, the drop from Etihad's Business to Ryanair's Economy is quite steep).
Etihad uses the relatively new 'Club Bauhinia' Lounge by Hong Kong Airlines:
Although the lounge is pretty small (and a .... ton of other airlines use it as partners), I liked its design with lots of small details from the city. The food offerings were OK, with a couple of tasty snacks. I got a prosecco (no champagne) and enjoyed the marvelous views from the huge window front:
Even the 'Queen of the Skies' paid us a visit:
After a bit of waiting and relaxing in Club Bauhinia (some more photos here) it was time for boarding, and I walked around 10 minutes to the gate. Etihad's beautiful dreamliner was already waiting for me in the evening sun:
Etihad's Dreamliner offers the awesome Business Studios, with lots of space and privacy.
Sadly all window seats were taken already, so I reserved one of the 'backwards' aisle seats:
My real aviation highlight was about to happen though: as one of the members of the awesome cabin crews was talking to me about my camera and the places I visited, I kindly asked if there was any chance to visit the cockpit. I didn't want to annoy the crew of course but as we had delay, the cockpit door was open and the pilots didn't seem busy I thought it was worth a try (and the aviation nerd in me couldn't resist). After some time the stewardess came back and said it was fine, so I made my way to the shiny new Dreamliner cockpit:
This is why I love flying with Etihad!
At some point it was time for 'all ground staff leave the aircraft' and we departed Hong Kong towards Abu Dhabi! Once we were on cruise level the dinner service started with some Mezze...
...followed by a simple but tasty stir fried beef with goji berries:
To finish the service I had a lovely dessert and a small cheese plate:
I slept for most of the remaining flight and woke up right before our descent into AUH. I really like the Business Studios as I just sleep so well in them. If you want to check them out, I've uploaded more wide-angle photos of the Business Studios here from older flights. In Abu Dhabi it was time for the always-pleasant bus tour through the night, just to get to our arrival gate, immigration and the lounge. This will all be in the last part of the trip (tomorrow!)
As this was just a short trip, Sunday was already the last day of it. I was allowed to have a late check-out at 99Bonham, so I walked around Central a bit in the morning – mainly the Mid Level Escalators and Lan Kwai Fong. Despite the higher price that weekend, the 99Bonham's location is really good to explore Central by foot.
I passed a Ramen place near Lan Kwai Fong at around 11, and as there were a lot of locals in there I gave it a shot. The Ramen was good with a nice spicyness, and the Gyoza were great as well:
Afterwards I went back to the hotel, showered, packed my bags and took a super inexpensive cab (as it's only the minimum fare of 24 HKD, felt a bit bad for the driver) to Central Station. The airport express brought me back to HKG, and the following flights were waiting for me:
22.4. HKG → AUH EY C
23.4. AUH → MAN EY C
23.4. MAN → SXF FR Y
(yes, the drop from Etihad's Business to Ryanair's Economy is quite steep).
Etihad uses the relatively new 'Club Bauhinia' Lounge by Hong Kong Airlines:
Although the lounge is pretty small (and a .... ton of other airlines use it as partners), I liked its design with lots of small details from the city. The food offerings were OK, with a couple of tasty snacks. I got a prosecco (no champagne) and enjoyed the marvelous views from the huge window front:
Even the 'Queen of the Skies' paid us a visit:
After a bit of waiting and relaxing in Club Bauhinia (some more photos here) it was time for boarding, and I walked around 10 minutes to the gate. Etihad's beautiful dreamliner was already waiting for me in the evening sun:
Etihad's Dreamliner offers the awesome Business Studios, with lots of space and privacy.
Sadly all window seats were taken already, so I reserved one of the 'backwards' aisle seats:
My real aviation highlight was about to happen though: as one of the members of the awesome cabin crews was talking to me about my camera and the places I visited, I kindly asked if there was any chance to visit the cockpit. I didn't want to annoy the crew of course but as we had delay, the cockpit door was open and the pilots didn't seem busy I thought it was worth a try (and the aviation nerd in me couldn't resist). After some time the stewardess came back and said it was fine, so I made my way to the shiny new Dreamliner cockpit:
This is why I love flying with Etihad!
At some point it was time for 'all ground staff leave the aircraft' and we departed Hong Kong towards Abu Dhabi! Once we were on cruise level the dinner service started with some Mezze...
...followed by a simple but tasty stir fried beef with goji berries:
To finish the service I had a lovely dessert and a small cheese plate:
I slept for most of the remaining flight and woke up right before our descent into AUH. I really like the Business Studios as I just sleep so well in them. If you want to check them out, I've uploaded more wide-angle photos of the Business Studios here from older flights. In Abu Dhabi it was time for the always-pleasant bus tour through the night, just to get to our arrival gate, immigration and the lounge. This will all be in the last part of the trip (tomorrow!)
Jun 7, 2018, 9:50 am
#35
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Long Island, NY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Explorist, Marriott Gold
Posts: 732
HK cabs
Originally Posted by The_Mileonaire
Afterwards I went back to the hotel, showered, packed my bags and took a super inexpensive cab (as it's only the minimum fare of 24 HKD, felt a bit bad for the driver) to Central Station.
Jun 7, 2018, 9:57 am
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Germany
Programs: Oneworld Emerald, *A Gold, Sixt Platinum, Etihad Gold
Posts: 108
Yeah, I think that would've been appropriate to do. I wasn't thinking fast enough back then and also wasn't sure on the tipping culture in HKG :/
Jun 8, 2018, 5:51 am
#39
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SFOSJCOAK
Programs: AA-EXP & 1MM+, AS, MR-LTT, HH Gold
Posts: 7,581
Cool report and pics. It’s awesome that they allowed you to take the cockpit shots.Yes, shooting around the world is great fun! While in Hong Kong, did you try some night shots of traffic? Plenty opportunities in Central and Kowloon.Thanks for sharing
Jun 8, 2018, 11:38 am
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Germany
Programs: Oneworld Emerald, *A Gold, Sixt Platinum, Etihad Gold
Posts: 108
Jun 8, 2018, 11:45 am
#41
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Germany
Programs: Oneworld Emerald, *A Gold, Sixt Platinum, Etihad Gold
Posts: 108
Monday, 23. 4. 2018 & End:
Once I arrived in the desert for a stopover, I obviously headed for the oasis first: the Etihad Business Class Lounge in Terminal 3. After passing through security (luckily no line this time) and walking for some time I finally reached the lounge:
There's normally water in an oasis, so as always I headed over to the Six Senses Spa first. Etihad offers pretty good shower cabins and I didn't even have to wait for a refreshing shower this time:
After showering I grabbed an Espresso (big fan of Etihad's coffee right here) and an orange juice, before another glass of champagne came my way (hey – the last one was already a few hours ago). You can order these (among other drinks) at one of the two huge lounge bars:
I wasn't really hungry, even though there's quite a good selection of food in the lounge:
A lot of you might know the lounge already, so I'm not spamming more photos of it (I've uploaded all of them here if you're interested: Etihad Business Class Lounge Abu Dhabi: Review & Photos - The Mileonaire | Travelling the World, Mile by Mile).
I left the lounge early despite the boarding gate being just across the hallway, and this was actually a good decision: there was another security check at the gate, where every piece of and luggage was additionally screened. The guy in front of me apparently didn't have proper paperwork and was guided out of the hallway by a handful of security guards, in front of all the other passengers (awkward). That also delayed the boarding, and once again the 'priority line' for boarding was just there as decoration.
Whatever, at some point I was finally boarded and could make myself comfortable in my favorite seat in Etihad's 777: 14A at the back of the smaller business cabin!
Luckily Etihad has a 1-2-1 configuration in the (very wide) 777, different from other airlines that even go as far as 2-3-2 for their business cabin. That results in lots of personal space (which is awesome), and due to having a smaller business cabin withjust 3 seat rows also a very quiet atmosphere. Some additional rounds of champagne made up for the additional delay, as luggage obviously had to be removed from the plane again. The seat in the 777 is obviously not as new as the one in the Dreamliner, but I still like it. It has enough space for me, I love the massage function and I normally sleep really well in them.
I have more photos of the cabin here (from older flights though): Etihad Boeing 777 Business Class: Trip Report & Review | The Mileonaire
After start I ordered breakfast: some waffles and baklava...
…before I got some sleep again, waking up just 90 minutes before landing in Manchester. I ordered a tasty steak sandwich and enjoyed the view on my favorite plane engine:
We landed in Manchester with some delay, where I had 2 hours to get my luggage, move to another terminal and check in again. It was quite a dropoff, but after 2 hours I boarded my Ryanair flight to Berlin (as it's the only good way to fly to SXF out of MAN):
And with that, a short but interesting trip came to an end. Despite the intense schedule with 11 flights in 8 days (for which people might call me insane) I was able to relax in beautiful plane cabins, explore Angkor again for 1.5 days, spend 2 days in Hong Kong and do a stopover in Bangkok. Maybe this trip was a bit idiotic in other people's eyes, but for me it was definitely more than worth it – and if there are people in the world that understand trips like these, they should be here on Flyertalk
Thank you for joining me on that trip, I hope you liked it!
Once I arrived in the desert for a stopover, I obviously headed for the oasis first: the Etihad Business Class Lounge in Terminal 3. After passing through security (luckily no line this time) and walking for some time I finally reached the lounge:
There's normally water in an oasis, so as always I headed over to the Six Senses Spa first. Etihad offers pretty good shower cabins and I didn't even have to wait for a refreshing shower this time:
After showering I grabbed an Espresso (big fan of Etihad's coffee right here) and an orange juice, before another glass of champagne came my way (hey – the last one was already a few hours ago). You can order these (among other drinks) at one of the two huge lounge bars:
I wasn't really hungry, even though there's quite a good selection of food in the lounge:
A lot of you might know the lounge already, so I'm not spamming more photos of it (I've uploaded all of them here if you're interested: Etihad Business Class Lounge Abu Dhabi: Review & Photos - The Mileonaire | Travelling the World, Mile by Mile).
I left the lounge early despite the boarding gate being just across the hallway, and this was actually a good decision: there was another security check at the gate, where every piece of and luggage was additionally screened. The guy in front of me apparently didn't have proper paperwork and was guided out of the hallway by a handful of security guards, in front of all the other passengers (awkward). That also delayed the boarding, and once again the 'priority line' for boarding was just there as decoration.
Whatever, at some point I was finally boarded and could make myself comfortable in my favorite seat in Etihad's 777: 14A at the back of the smaller business cabin!
Luckily Etihad has a 1-2-1 configuration in the (very wide) 777, different from other airlines that even go as far as 2-3-2 for their business cabin. That results in lots of personal space (which is awesome), and due to having a smaller business cabin withjust 3 seat rows also a very quiet atmosphere. Some additional rounds of champagne made up for the additional delay, as luggage obviously had to be removed from the plane again. The seat in the 777 is obviously not as new as the one in the Dreamliner, but I still like it. It has enough space for me, I love the massage function and I normally sleep really well in them.
I have more photos of the cabin here (from older flights though): Etihad Boeing 777 Business Class: Trip Report & Review | The Mileonaire
After start I ordered breakfast: some waffles and baklava...
…before I got some sleep again, waking up just 90 minutes before landing in Manchester. I ordered a tasty steak sandwich and enjoyed the view on my favorite plane engine:
We landed in Manchester with some delay, where I had 2 hours to get my luggage, move to another terminal and check in again. It was quite a dropoff, but after 2 hours I boarded my Ryanair flight to Berlin (as it's the only good way to fly to SXF out of MAN):
And with that, a short but interesting trip came to an end. Despite the intense schedule with 11 flights in 8 days (for which people might call me insane) I was able to relax in beautiful plane cabins, explore Angkor again for 1.5 days, spend 2 days in Hong Kong and do a stopover in Bangkok. Maybe this trip was a bit idiotic in other people's eyes, but for me it was definitely more than worth it – and if there are people in the world that understand trips like these, they should be here on Flyertalk
Thank you for joining me on that trip, I hope you liked it!