Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 5 : CX521

Tokyo (NRT) - Hong Kong (HKG)

As far as I can remember, I had only travelled on an A330 once before. As it happens, that was also with Cathay Pacific, as long ago as 1996 on a flight from Hong Kong to Bali, and of course it was in the back somewhere, as indeed were all my flights in those days. I knew that there were only eight first class seats on Cathay's 333s and had therefore hoped that the cabin would have, if anything, an even more exclusive feel than on a 747. Silly me! It just wasn't the same at all. Too much traffic through the cabin, for one thing. And with only two rows, everyone is adjacent to a curtain, which invariably gets left open by those moving about   (In fairness, I mean the passengers - the crew were very good about this.)

But never mind, it is still First Class and that can't be bad, now can it? We pushed back five minutes ahead of schedule at 1620, but due to the time taken to negotiate Narita's maze of taxiways, it was 1643 before we took to the skies. The dinner menu follows. Again, the wine choices were the standard ones for March 2004 (see Flight 3) and again a Japanese alternative was offered, which I won't attempt to reproduce here.

Appetizer

Lobster with tomato chutney

Soup

Oxtail cream soup

*  *  *

Main Courses

Grilled beef tenderloin with natural gravy and Café de Paris butter

Sautéed scallops and lobster in a black bean sauce

Garganelli with olive, caper and tomato sauce

Accompaniments

Boiled new potatoes with parsley or Egg fried rice with spring onion

Selection of Western or Oriental vegetables

*  *  *

Cheese Board and Seasonal Fresh Fruits

*  *  *

Dessert

Bread and butter pudding with raisins served with vanilla sauce

Tea & Coffee

Tea or coffee with pralines

I had the appetizer and soup, the beef with new potatoes and Western vegetables, and some cheese. I had an apple juice before take-off and a glass of champagne once airborne, and having the beef gave me the perfect excuse to try out the Chateau Lynch Bages again, which was just as impressive second time around. I rounded things off with a (wholly uneventful!) cup of cappuccino.

For entertainment, I watched Jurassic Park and an episode of The Simpsons, listened to the whole of the Schubert Piano Sonata No 20 and played a few games of Solitaire! We touched down in Chek Lap Kok at 2035 and were on-stand ahead of schedule at 2040.

Date: Sat 06 Mar 2004
Aircraft : A330-300
Scheduled dep : 1625
Actual departure : 1620
Scheduled arrival : 2045
Actual arrival : 2040
Cabin : First
Seat : 1K

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