The second flight on my world trip in 2005 was on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Tokyo. Much of my trip was a real whistle-stop tour as I did only a few days at each place before moving on. You can read yesterday’s review of the flight from Sydney to Hong Kong on Qantas here. Enjoy this one, my first Cathay Pacific flight.
I checked in for this flight at the Kowloon railway station. Who knew that there was check-in at the train station? I’m glad I did. It was fast, efficient, and I didn’t have to haul my bag on the train and through the airport. Impressive!
Got to the airport and went swiftly through immigration and to the Cathay Pacific Wing lounge, which was opposite Gate 2. Great view of the apron from there! I had a wine and a danish and then availed myself of the free Internet access for a while. Once I was done with that, I had more danish and a latte, before going to my gate, 32.
CX520 – Hong Kong to Tokyo Narita (HKG-NRT)
30 March 2005
Airbus A330-300 – B-HLB
Seat: Business Class 17K
Boarding was quick and I was first on board. The Cathay F/As were very chatty and smiley and I was offered drinks (I had a champagne and a water), a blanket, the menu and newspapers in quick succession.
Pre-Flight Happenings
The safety demonstration differs from Qantas in that it’s all video until they point out the exits – the F/As appear, point, and disappear. Quite amusing really. On Qantas, they put on the lifejackets, show where the masks will drop from and so on.
Our Captain (British) told us we’d be arriving early due to favourable winds. Our First Officer (Australian) only spoke to tell the Flight Attendants to sit down.
Time To Eat!
We took off, and shortly after the meal service began. At the same time, I whipped out my screen (smaller than Qantas Business Class – and a bit scratched) and watched Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.
Our salad was a seasonal salad, with creamy Italian dressing. For appetizer, we had Salmon Tataki and Saba Noodles with Nameko Mushroom. My main course (choice between three) was Pan-fried Halibut Fillet with Tomato, Olive, Zucchini and Peppers in Chilli Sauce, with Boiled Potato Wedges with Parsley, and fresh French Beans. Other mains were Chicken Teriyaki and Braised Beef Short Ribs.
Dessert was Cheese and crackers for me, though you could also have fruit. We all had a tub of ice cream as well.
Cathay flight attendants work hard and are very attentive compared to what I am used to with Qantas. My drinks would be near empty before they were offering me more, and as a result I drank quite a lot of Champagne and water.
Surveys, Uniform Comments and Toilets
I was also specially chosen to fill in a survey on the flight, so I did that and got a Cathay Pacific pen as a thank you. Lois was my favourite crew member. This is partly because she was wearing a gorgeous long dress with the purple top that just looked awesome, but they were all good.
There is a lot of variety in the uniforms. The cabin leader is very military looking in a navy buttoned up suit, while some wear the white shirts with the Cathay logo in red on it. Interesting!
The toilets were very clean when I visited and had a selection of moisturisers and stuff, which the economy toilets didn’t have (the one time I went back instead of forwards to use the facilities!)
We arrived early at 3:15pm and then taxied around the airport until 3:40pm. From there, it was down the stairs and into buses to the terminal, which was very unusual.
Overall Thoughts
All in all, I enjoyed my first Cathay Pacific flight immensely, and can’t wait to fly them again (which I get to do at least 3 more times!).
—
And that’s how I reported on my flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo back in 2005. It appears that the uniforms really caught my attention and nice to see my love affair with Champagne when flying started nice and early. You can read about the next flight from Osaka to Hong Kong via Taipei here.
Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
To never miss a post, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All my flight and lounge reviews are indexed here so check them out!
Featured image by Kentaro Iemoto from Tokyo, Japan via Wikimedia Commons.
