‘Scripts, Skeletons & Scriptures: Writing About Writing in Yorkshire.

[VPS]

You are on track for a third trip report of the month mate

Love reading your TR.

btw - are you able to disclose now who your famous authors were or is it a secret (if not are you able to send them privately)

 

[Human]

Love reading your TR.

btw - are you able to disclose now who your famous authors were or is it a secret (if not are you able to send them privately)

Thanks for your kind words @VPS

The first author (Alexander Masters) I actually disclosed at the beginning of this TR becasue I finished reading his book A Life Discarded on the SYD-BKK flight.

The second author was Christie Watson. Her book The Language of Kindness is amazing.

 

[RB001]

No -- I like your FlightRadar graphic. Please don't delete!

My last trip to Hong Kong (not in a typhoon) also resulted in a go-around. It was my third, and I manged to call it (in my head!) before the engines roared.
In fact, all 3 of my lifetime go-arounds have been into HKG!

 

[VPS]

Thanks for your kind words @VPS

The first author (Alexander Masters) I actually disclosed at the beginning of this TR becasue I finished reading his book A Life Discarded on the SYD-BKK flight.

The second author was Christie Watson. Her book The Language of Kindness is amazing.

thanks I am not familiar with them but will put them on my ever increasing things I want to read and wait with bated breath for your book

 

[Human]

Now let me flash back to my account of the second half of CX216.

I made up my bed after that (with a little help from the cabin crew).


I unsuccessfully attempted to sleep for a couple of hours, then gave up for a bit and read through the entire blog opus of someone I’d met on the course. Her blog is on the internet so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me giving it a plug:

Dispatches from Dublin | Marguerite / Flea | Substack

Somewhat truthful letters from a Yank living in the Pale. Click to read Dispatches from Dublin, by Marguerite / Flea, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

dispatchesfromdublin.substack.com

Subscribe! It’s honest, heartbreaking, funny, thought-provoking, and phenomenally well-written.

Then, with about 4 hours to go until HKG, I made another attempt to sleep. I really wanted to enjoy my transit in HKG rather than being too much of a sleep-deprived zombie to appreciate it. I think I did get about an hour’s sleep – maybe a little more.

Oh, I almost forgot in the excitement of today: Breakfast. I'd ordered the "Express Breakfast" so as to maximise my potential sleep time. Given the bumpiness that was about to occur, I was grateful that my breakfast had been on the smaller side!



Anyway, the leisurely transit in HKG was not to be. My first attempt to visit the Lounges here was an itinerary booked for March 2020. COVID put an end to that. Oh well. I’m alive.

Reflections on CX216

This flight left me thinking Cathay Pacific Business class really is in the upper echelon of Business class products. The hard product is very good – not the best I’ve been in, but it’s not fair comparing CX’s last-generation product with, say, Qatar’s current-generation product. In fact, I’d say that CX’s last-generation hard product is superior to Qatar’s last-generation hard-product.

As for the soft product, it’s excellent. Again, I’d put Qatar’s food and beverage offerings first due to its dine-on-demand, but Qatar’s cabin crews can be hit-and-miss. When they’re great, they’re fantastic. But they’re not always great.

There are a few little quirks that I noticed, though:

• The noise-cancelling headphones, didn’t.
• The bathrooms aren’t kept quite as pristinely clean as you’d expect on Singapore Airlines or, especially, Qatar.
• The bed gives plenty of space for my legs and feet, but there’s noticeably less space for the upper half of my body to stretch and wriggle as there was on my Finnair lounge/seat.

I would rate the Finnair A350 seat as the best of my trip so far … (but see below for a very pleasant surprise!).

 

[Flyfrequently]

At this stage my itinerary looks like this:

MEL-SYD Qantas Economy
SYD-BKK Qantas Economy (operated by Finnair)
Overnight in Bangkok
BKK-HEL-CDG Finnair Business
3 nights in Paris
CDG-MAN Air France Economy
Overnight in Manchester
5 nights at the writing workshop in West Yorkshire
Overnight in Manchester
MAN-HKG-MEL Cathay Pacific Business

View attachment 465958


That’s not a bad itinerary given I’m using points for every flight and it was only booked 4 weeks before departure! Obviously the 10 or so hours in Economy SYD-BKK won’t be amazing, but at least it’s a daytime flight and here’s hoping I’ll be able to snaffle an empty seat next to me.

Why 3 nights in Paris on the way? Firstly, because there were no later award flights available that would still get me to the workshop on time. Secondly, because my sister and her family live there, so I can crash with them for a few nights. Having free accommodation in Paris as a fallback if the dates didn’t quite work out certainly made planning this trip a lot easier — and cheaper!

Very late to the party, am impressed with your project and on board with you @Human

 

[Human]

I must be the only AFFer who’s not familiar with HKG airport. I’d been so looking forward to visiting at least one of the famed Cathay Pacific Lounges! But it was not to be. We disembarked just under an hour before my scheduled flight CX163 to MEL.

I just focussed on getting through Transit Control and finding my gate – gate 25.




I arrived at the Gate just before 11:30am and asked, somewhat pathetically, whether a few minutes in a Lounge was a possibility. But, darn it, the flight was on time! The agent smiled and shook her head ruefully. So I waited at the Gate and used the free WiFi to FaceTime my wife and daughter.


Boarding was called and I entered to be very pleasantly and unexpectedly surprised by … an Aria Suite! I wasn’t expecting it on this flight at all and according to a member of the cabin crew this is a one-off, at least for another week or two until Aria Suites become permanent on CX163.




I have to say it looks great. The seat looks and feels a little wider than the seat I had on CX216, with just as much space for my legs, if not more. The screen is huge – I think the biggest screen I’ve had in Business class. And, of course, my suite has a door.

The only slight disappointment is the storage space. There’s less in the Aria Suite than there was on my last flight. On CX216 there was space for me to store my 15-inch MacBook Pro even during takeoff and landing. Here, it has to be stored in the overhead locker.

Anyway. Boarding was efficient and concluded in plenty of time. Then the Captain, speaking with a distinctive London accent, made an announcement:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure you know of the weather conditions we’re experiencing at the moment. As a result of these conditions there is a big backlog of traffic ahead of us … we are expecting at least an hour delay. I’ll update you in 25 or 30 minutes with news about when we’ll be able to depart”.

The delay doesn’t bother me. But why, oh why, can’t I be spending this delay in a Lounge?

As I write this, this is the view from my window … and the plane is rocking uncomfortably. I’m no pilot, but there’s no way we’re taking off in this.


At 11:55am the Captain informed us that the delay was still at 1 hour, we were still in the queue, but that the weather was expected to improve over the next couple of hours. Then just a minute ago, just before 12:45pm, he told us that we would be taking off in about 30 minutes. But it’s still bucketing down outside with horizontal rain. We’ll see!

In the meantime, the cabin crew are being amazing – serving snacks, hot and cold drinks … the Cabin Manager, Melody, even offered to hotspot her phone because she has loads of data expiring in 2 days! Great customer service.

 

[Human]

Meanwhile… my luggage is still in MAN. At least it’s made it from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 – T1 is to the east of T2, so that’s progress!

 

[BriarFlyer]

thanks I am not familiar with them but will put them on my ever increasing things I want to read and wait with bated breath for your book

I have done the same with the TBR additions and shall also await your book - no pressure to produce it. None whatsoever.

 

[RooFlyer]

(Yes, yes, this is the second time in two Trip Reports that I’ve written that line. But it’s a great line. There’s no law against that, is there?)

Your editor or publisher may take a dim view. But at least it wasn't a dark and stormy night (I'm related to that guy - may explain a lot about my own writing )

Qatar’s cabin crews can be hit-and-miss. When they’re great, they’re fantastic. But they’re not always great.

Very much agree. I've taken 4 return trips to Europe in the past 2 years and the DOH-Europe crews are consistently less proficient than the DOH-Asia/Australia.

 

[Kctoo]

Eventually there was a gap in the wall. I’d survived! “Free at last!” I thought. I walked along the path just as it started to rain heavily. I just had time to put on my trusted Kathmandu Gore-Tex jacket, when the rain stopped.
View attachment 467489
View attachment 467490

I emerged to see some signs of civilisation.
View attachment 467491
View attachment 467492

I continued on another path, before arriving at the Church building.
View attachment 467493
View attachment 467494View attachment 467495

I found its cemetary.
View attachment 467497

And within a few minutes I’d found this grave. I have a colleague at work, an English teacher, who would have killed me if I hadn’t come here and gotten these photos.
View attachment 467498View attachment 467499View attachment 467500

One thing for sure: I was most definitely not returning via the same path I came! I walked through the village, and along the road, before arriving at the familiar and welcome path back to the house.
View attachment 467501View attachment 467502
View attachment 467506
View attachment 467507
View attachment 467504
View attachment 467505

On the minus side, I didn’t make it to the shop. On the plus side. I did not slip and plunge to my death. That’s a win in my book.

So enjoying your trip report and particularly this post. My Wheelhouse ancestors are buried in that cemetery at St Thomas'. They were wheelrights there from 1790. I have visited the UK several times but haven't yet made it to Hebden Bridge. Hoping to rectify this in '27 when we head back for the Ashes. Thanks for your beautiful photos. Can't wait to see it with my own eyes.

 

[drron]

Another great TR. But I bring you sad timings. The signs are there that number 3 is unlikely. For the first time giving a like to your post I was asked to confirm that I really wanted to do that.

 

[Human]

We ended up pushing back just after 2pm – almost 3 hours behind schedule. Then it was a 45-minute queue on the tarmac before takeoff. The flight is ended up arriving just before 1am, Melbourne time – about 3 hours behind schedule.

The weather had improved considerably by the time we took off. The captain had told us to expect a bumpy ascent, but it wasn't too bad at all and once we were over the clouds, things were quite nice…




The menu for this flight…



I really wanted to prioritise sleep. I had a one-hour drive to get home from the airport and I kept thinking that to do so on zero sleep would be dangerous… I really am quite an anxious traveller sometimes! So no caffeine for me until immediately before landing.

Within about 45 minutes of taking off, the lunch service started (it was, after all, almost 4pm by that time!). I chose the “Honey glazed smoked duck breast with mixed vegetables” as the starter. It was quite nice.


For the main, I had pre-selected the “Signature shrimp wonton noodle soup” – the lightest option, on the assumption that I’d have stuffed myself somewhat in the lounges prior to the flight. That hadn’t happened, but I was still very happy with the soup. Soon after I took this photo, I was offered various breads. I chose a very nice sourdough which was placed on the plate on the left. The wine was a Chinese red which was pretty good.


I just had ice cream and fruit for dessert.


It was then time to attempt a sleep. I made up the bed. It was definitely wider around the shoulders than my previous seat on CX216, and once again there was plenty of legroom. As far as Business class beds go, this was definitely one of the better ones.


I slid the “door” shut, though it’s more a “privacy screen” than a door, as such. Note the small gap on the right, even when the door is closed. Later on in the flight, I was given a hot towel and the flight attendant just reached over it and handed it to me.


With six hours of the flight remaining, I lay down to sleep, thinking that 3-4 hours would be ideal…

I woke up with 4 hours and 50 minutes of the flight remaining. Darn!

After about an hour of failing to go back to sleep, I had a cup of Cathay’s “Hong Kong-style milk tea” which was very nice.


I changed tack. I went from full “bed” mode to “recline” mode and just tried to doze. I did some stuff on my phone but, flying over the Top End, internet was slow-to-non-existent, so all I could manage was some messaging and clicking “like” on a couple of AFF posts!

At that point, with a couple of hours until landing, I started to feel anxious and nauseous. This sometimes happens to me at the beginning or end of a long or meaningful trip, when thoughts start rushing through my head about what is about to come next (or what I fear will come next!). I’ve learned to live with it but I knew that if I ate anything I wouldn’t be able to keep it down… so with about 75 minutes remaining the flight attendant came around to ask me to get ready for the light dinner. I reluctantly told her that I’d have to give it a miss.

The meals started coming around … they smelled good… my nausea and anxiety unexpectedly left me … the FA came around asking if I really wanted to skip the meal? … I apologetically asked if I could have it after all. She seemed genuinely pleased. I chose the “Wok fried seafood egg noodle with Sakura shrimps and dried anchovy paste.” Given that it was about an hour before landing at that stage, it was served on a single tray; the dessert was fruit and a “Key lime custard”. I ate heartily – it was all delicious.


I then asked for a skinny cappuccino to help keep me awake on my drive home.


The lights of Melbourne looked genuinely attractive as we descended. This was the best I could do for a photo. More than once, I felt grateful that MEL doesn’t have a curfew. If we’d been due to fly into SYD I have no idea where we’d have ended up – but it would not have been Sydney!


We landed, took about 4 minutes to taxi to a gate, and left the plane. As we exited, a Cathay staff member held up a sign with my name on it, and told me to report my missing luggage to Luggage Services (as if I would have forgotten!). That was probably the longest part of the exit process. I was at my car at the Value car park by 1:45am and home less than an hour later.

It took me a couple of hours to get to sleep, but when I did sleep I slept deeply, before waking up at 11am.

Reflections on CX163 (with a few thoughts on CX216 thrown in for good measure):

First things first: the Aria Suite was excellent. It was wide, it was comfortable, and had some very nice features such as the privacy screen (I won't call it a "door") and a very large monitor. On balance, I would marginally select Aria Suites over Q-Suites. It's a very close thing, and there are ways that the Q-suites are superior (the door offers more privacy, and there is more storage space). But the Aria Suite seats are just that little bit wider, and that makes a difference.

The food and beverage options on Cathay can't be faulted. I didn't have one meal on my flights from MAN to MEL via HKG that was less than excellent. I'm also very glad to have mostly gone with the Asian options, although the Western options look pretty good too.

What was most impressive were the cabin crews. On both of my flights they were excellent -- right up there with the best Singapore Airlines crews I've had (and that's VERY high praise!). They were friendly -- kind, even! -- efficient, helpful, proactive ... nothing was too difficult for them. They were amazing.

In the end, then, I was left with a very positive impression of Cathay Pacific. Yes, both flights were three hours late. Yes, I still don't have my luggage as I write this (when I last checked it had made it to HKG). But the actual inflight experience can't be faulted.

Is Cathay the very best? I think I'd still marginally choose Qatar because I value dine-on-demand very highly, especially on long-haul flights. Qatar also keeps its toilets cleaner (ie. spotless). But it's a very close thing. And based on my two Cathay flights I'd now put CX ahead of SQ as my second choice.

 

[Human]

Your editor or publisher may take a dim view. But at least it wasn't a dark and stormy night (I'm related to that guy - may explain a lot about my own writing )

Well, a TR is very different from a book!

With books, every sentence is a work of art -- to be carefully and painstakingly crafted and edited to within an inch of its life.

With a Trip Report (well, with my TR's anyway), it's more "stream of consciousness" stuff -- I post basically the first draft of what I write, without much editing at all, and without waiting to mull over what I've written. I do check for spelling and grammar errors and typos, and hopefully I pick up most of them, but that's it.

The exception for me is Post #1 of each of my TRs -- I do tend to work and reflect on them before posting them, and I do try to "craft" them and make them the best I possibly can.

 

[Human]

Just a quick post on the best Business class hard products I've flown, given that I've flown a few new ones on this trip.

A clear first to me is Singapore Airlines's bulkhead Business class seats on its B777 and long-haul A350s. The space you get in those seats is amazing -- really akin to First class in some ways. The problem is that those seats are very difficult to get unless you're one of SQ's top elites. I was able to get bulkhead seats for my marathon MEL-SIN-MAN-IAH trip earlier this year, but I think that was a bit of a fluke. And yes, the way you have to get up to make the seats into a bed is annoying. But on the bulkhead seats what you get is a genuine bed, not just a seat that reclines flat. And that, for Business class, is just about unique.

Surprisingly, I would now put Finnair's A350 "lounge" second. The fact that they don't recline really isn't a problem (or it wasn't to me), and what you lose in the lack of reclining, you more than make up for in the extra space you get (in my opinion). It's just a shame that Finnair's soft product really isn't competitive.

As I posted above, I'd now say that CX's Aria Suite is third, and QR's Q-Suites are fourth -- but it's a very close thing.

Yes, there are plenty of great Business class hard products that I haven't flown. But from my (limited) personal experience, that's where I'm at right now.

Oh... and I also now have a clear last place: Finnair's Embraer E190 Euro-Business!

 

[Human]

Epilogue: The Turning Point.

I am a writer.

I would not have written that, much less believed it, two weeks ago. That is the key takeaway from this trip.

I am a writer.

I can do this. I can write a book that is worth reading.

There will be no substitute for hard work. It will at times be exhilarating. At other times – probably more times – it will be hard slog and demoralising. But I can do this.


There were so many highlights of this trip

• Getting to sample so many airline products that I hadn’t flown before: Finnair A330 Economy and A350 Business (let’s just put E190 Business aside for now…), Air France A220 Economy, Cathay Pacific A350 Business and B777 Aria Suites. Not to mention the Qatar Lounge in BKK (excellent) and the Finnair Lounge in HEL (pretty good).
• Visiting family in Paris.
• Returning to the Louvre.
• Visiting the Catcombs.
• Eating and exploring in Paris.
• The Rylands Library and a Saturday evening party atmosphere in Manchester.
• Landing (on the second attempt) in a typhoon in HKG – I won’t quickly forget that!

Then there was the highlight: the residential writing workshop in Yorkshire. Where do I even begin?

• Meeting so many amazing, talented, brilliant, generous, friendly, wonderful people whom I already miss.
• Being tutored, mentored, guided, challenged, encouraged, pushed, and instructed by two authors at the top of their field who were genuinely wanting to make me the best writer I could possibly be.
• Yorkshire! The village, the town, the pub, the walks (even though they involved taking my life into my hands) … and the countryside. Everything about Yorkshire is just beautiful. Its people are friendly and its landscape is breathtaking.
• What I learned and picked up at the workshop– there’s so much for me to work on, but also so much I can take back to my students so I can teach them better.

But the major takeaway from all this can be summed up in four words.

I am a writer.

Thanks so much for travelling with me on this trip! I simply write about the things that I find interesting, so I hope you’ve found them interesting too.

My next TR will follow very soon – unlike this trip which was very much last-minute and unexpected, my next trip is a long-planned-for school holiday trip…

… in which you will meet the subject of my book!​

Stay tuned and thanks so much once again for reading.

 

[VPS]

Thanks once again for a wonderful trip report.

For some reason I’ve always wanted to spend a few days in Hebden Bridge. Would you recommend that for a visit?

 

[Human]

Thanks once again for a wonderful trip report.

For some reason I’ve always wanted to spend a few days in Hebden Bridge. Would you recommend that for a visit?

Thank you for your kind words -- so glad you enjoyed the TR!

I've only spent a couple of hours in Hebden Bridge myself (ie. the actual town) so I feel unqualified to say whether you should visit it.

This I will say: the town is quaint and has some nice places to eat and shop. The surrounding area is beautiful. There are plenty of places to explore, by foot or car. And the people are warm, friendly and outgoing, and always up for a chat.

And, if you happen to get a little bored, it's only half an hour by train from Manchester, which as a city impressed me far more than I thought it would.

This was my first visit to England in 23 years and my first visit to the north of England ever. But would I like to go back? Too right I would!

 

[Flyfrequently]

Thanks for allowing us to tag along @Human
Really enjoyed your travels and only wish you were teaching my grandchildren.
All the best with your book.