So, I flew Cathay Pacific First Class again.  After a lackluster trip to Hong Kong where everything was foggy and black and white it was time to come home.  I didn’t really do much in Hong Kong this trip.  I did eat at Tim Ho Wan twice though, and honestly if the entire trip was to eat there I don’t think that’s a wasted trip.  Curious about Tim Ho Wan?  Don’t worry, post coming soon.

I’ve flown Cathay Pacific in First twice, once on the 777 and once on the 747 (in seat 1A).  It’s simply a gorgeous experience.  From top to bottom I’ve enjoyed the absolute heck out of every flight I’ve taken with Cathay Pacific and was hoping this one would be the same.  (Note: this review won’t be as long and effusive/emotional/fanboyish as the past couple, mainly because I was apocalyptically tired and slept through much of the flight and was clutching my pillow for the other part to try and calm down during some pretty sporty turbulence.  Tried to get some good pics though)

After spending some time in The Wing I made my way down to gate number 3, at the very end of the concourse and in the USA security area.  A brief security inspection ensued with one of the most duh lines of questioning I’ve ever experienced:

Agent: “What is this, a tripod?  It looks like a tripod.”
Me: “It’s a tripod.”
Agent: “Oh ok, it’s a tripod.  You’re good to go.”

Feeling much more secure I made my way down the jetbridge to the one part of life that always seems to get me kind of drunk make sense: being escorted to my seat in Cathay’s exclusive 777 6-seat First Class.  I was escorted to my seat and the wonderful flight attendant gave me a quick tour of the seat, showed me where to stow my bag, informed me of the flight time (“Slightly under Not Nearly Long Enough”) and then got down to business.  And by “business” I mean she asked if she could get me somYES I’D LOVE SOME KRUG.

KRUG GET IN MY FACE

She turned away to help some other customers and I guess I slammed the glass pretty quickly.  When she came back and I was done she chuckled and asked if I’d like another glass.  I tried to make the “flight attendant, my glass seems to have sprung a leak” joke with her but she took me very seriously and presented me with a new glass shortly to replace my defective one.  The new glass appeared with some mixed nuts.

Aw heck yeah Krug

The Aussie pilot got on the PA and said quite a bit but I couldn’t quite listen because the entire time I was thinking about lines from Crocodile Dundee that I wondered if he’d say for me if I asked the flight attendants to ask him.  Some safety stuff blah blah we’d be flying over the (no surprise) Pacific Ocean and he expected “a little chop”.

The seat

Ah, the Cathay Pacific seat.  It’s like resting on a huge puffy pillow that’s softened and fluffified by the tears of your enemies.  My flair for dramatic metaphors notwithstanding, it’s my favorite seat in the sky.  Yes, better than Singapore Suites.

The enormously wide seat

The ottoman seat for your traveling partner and/or feet while you’re sleeping

The entire seat area

It had been too long since I’d partaken in the fluffiness and, since that time, Cathay had refreshed the interior.  Gone were the wood trim and grey upholstery, in its place was different wood trim and grey upholstery.

They were even kind enough to label the seats for you in case you forgot which of the six was yours.

Suite 2K

The cabin, although only containing six seats, is very spacious since there are no overhead bins.

The First Class cabin

And of course, no Cathay Pacific flight in First would be complete without your very own orchid at your seat.

Big ol’ picture of an orchid

The food

We had a quick taxi and took off smoothly, which was about the only smooth part of the flight for the next, oh, eight hours or so.  As the meal service kicked off I was presented with an amuse bouche which was one of the most peculiar-tasting things I’d ever tried.  It wasn’t bad, just peculiar.

Peculiar

The good news about this, though, is the flight attendants did a wonderful job of keeping not only my champagne glass full, but a wine glass as well.  The first course arrived: Cathay’s new caviar service.

Caviar

The presentation was great and the caviar was great with all the fixings on the left.

Caviar Close-Up

From the caviar we went to a spring green mixed salad.  It was very tart.  Not bad per se, just tart.

Tartness

Then it came time for the Steak course.  Remember how in my last post I decried the state of beef aboard planes?  As the flight attendant set it down in front of me my anticipation grew.

Steak steak steak

Could this be the one?  The steak of which I’d dreamt?

Steakappointment

It was better than American’s steak, I’ll give you that.  The steak just wasn’t very good though.  It was flavored real well but the texture was tough and it was overcooked.  Anyway, I wrapped up the first meal service and decided to lay down and try to sleep while the turbulence was turbulenting.

The sleep

The seat lies down flat, which makes entry/egress pretty easy if you need to awake and use the restroom.  As you’ll see in this picture the bottom part of the main seat connects with the ottoman seat to form Voltron the bed mode of your seat.  Here’s what it looks like lying flat.

Seat in full recline

Once the flight attendant sees you making ready for bed he/she will add a mattress pad and small comforter for you.

Look at how comfy that looks!

Wrapping up a great flight

This is what flying can be.  It’d also be nearly impossible for US carriers to replicate, so companies like Cathay are constantly trying to woo business away from the Big 3 in America: United, American, and Delta.  That said, First Class cabins are indeed dwindling on Cathay Pacific as well.  Rumor also has it that Cathay will begin restricting partner award redemptions for First Class (strictly a rumor at this point), so I was glad I got to fly it when I did.  A wonderful flight with a great crew, it’s just hard to beat.

I enjoyed my time on Cathay again and hope to do it again someday!