Journey –
HKG-SYD
Flight no. –
QF128
Class –
Business
Seat –
12C(?)
HOMEWARD BOUND – I WISH I WAS HOMEWARD BOUND
This is it – it’s the final countdown, I’ll soon be leaving on a jet plane and I will be home
for a week. To my delight my trip through security is very quick and I am in the Pier shortly after landing. I want to call mrssimongr, freshen up and get something to eat before seeing if I should explore the QF lounge (never been there and I need to change my FF number as I note the BP has my QFF number) and the Wing (never been there also). There is a lot to get through but I have plenty of time as my BP says boarding at 21:10 for a 21:30 departure (this is very important later).
In the Pier for the first I find the Long Bar. When I was here in the J lounge before I wondered why everyone raved as the beer selection was pretty poor – just some canned beer near the noodle bar. I perhaps should have looked right as I turned into the lounge and I would have seen the massive marble topped bar before
I have a really great shower in the lounge – it even gives me some ideas regarding shower design when I come to build my own place (still 5 years away). I am feeling a lot more human after the shower but I know I am going to be sick this weekend. The flu is building inside me.
I have my first noodles from the noodle bar (I desperately want to run into the F lounge and see if they have any of my favourite BBQ buns). The wonton soup is nice but scaldingly hot and the noodles aren’t great – so perhaps it wasn’t my best choice.
I decide to watch a little TV on the laptop and realise I left my international charger on the previous plane – ARGGGGGGGGGGGHHH so I am on battery power. When that finally dies (a little sooner than expected which foreshadows my need for a new battery a few days after landing) I decide to explore HKG. MY objectives are to find the QF lounge and the Wing. Now as a relative newbie to HKG I actually find it hard to navigate and after about 40 mins of walking I finally find the QF lounge but still haven’t found the J entrance to the Wing. A quick stroll around the QF lounge reveals that my selection of the Pier is a good one – except it is much closer to the QF gate. I get my BP updated (well they change the number in the system but refuse to give me a new BP even though I have been sat on this one for 15 hours and it’s a bit ragged.
I can now see the J entrance to the Wing and I estimate it’s a 10 minute walk. It’s now 8PM so I have plenty of time to wander over there. In the Wing I am a little disappointed – it seems more cramped than the Pier. I set up the laptop (with replacement power adapter and grab a beer). At about 20:40 I reckon its time for a second beer. As I wander up to the short bar I grab a quick look at the departure screen and am a little surprised to see that my flight is in
Final boarding. That can’t be right I still have 20 mins to boarding. Just to be sure I take a look at the boarding pass and see that the boarding time is 20:10 with a 21:10 departure!!!!!! It’s time to scarper!
I grab my gear, finish my current beer (well you can’t let it go to waste – that would be irresponsible) and run/walk to the other end of the terminal. I get there and no-one is remaining to board and I think I glimpse my name on a board as I run to the gate – well at least there are no queues on boarding – it’s like my own personal elite lane
On board the plane is full but the staff are great – there are no semi-surly staff glaring at me for being late – just someone taking my jacket and offering me champagne. So far this is the best QF flight in a while.
We are actually a little delayed on departure as the ATC need to go to manual which means 6 minutes between take offs. This delays us 35 mins but gives the crew time to hand out the new J amenity kits. I am conflicted by these. Whilst I think it’s great to minimise waste by only handing out the stuff people want (personally I only use the facial products or give them to mrssimongr – the rest is dumped) it just looks cheap and tacky.- maybe they could do it like the breakfast menu, pick the bits you want and then they can hand them out rather than running a trolley of it all.
With my time waiting for take I am able to reflect on what I prefer as a J seat and frankly the Skybed is the best of the bunch for me. Perhaps it’s a little nostalgia as the Skybed was my first business class experience but I just find them more comfortable than the rest. They feel more spacious than CX and I really, really hate Club World (I wont rate the AA domestic F and J seats or Club Europe).
We push back at 21:35 and I am amused to hear that we have a German CSM – not sure why that is amusing but it has been a long trip.
The rest of the flight is a blur – I think that they take food orders by status as across my four seats they ask for food choices 1-3-2-4 in that order and sneaking a look the pax next to me looks like a WP. I can feel that I am getting sicker and slightly more depressed that I am ending a massive trip like this again.
The food was ok – the service was good but this is a flight that I am too sick and tired to enjoy this flight and it’s a real shame because I think this was the best flight on QF for a while – especially international J.
Finally we land into SYD. I am pretty quick off the plane and I can see that other aircraft are disembarking so it’s elbows out, head down and a brisk walk to duty free. Two bottles of vintage moet (to restock the cellar after Christmas and House moving decimated the stock) and I am into the “express duty free lane” which works pretty well. I see my flight companion stuck in the queue for a while after I am through to baggage collection. It’s the usual story here – my bags are not even close to priority but at least for once they are not last.
The queue to clear customs is a monster – about 20-25 mins queuing just to see a customs officer and even then all bags have to be x-rayed. The upside is that “Border Protection” is being filmed so if my contraband is discovered at least I will get to be TV (“Hi Mum”). Seeing the x-rays queues I happily declare that I have goods to declare – in fact it’s just four boxes of tea bags – but they are still food
At the customs counter the staff are very pleasant and ask what I have to declare:
Customs: So sir where are you coming from today?
Simongr: Umm, Hong Kong, well Cyprus via London and Hong Kong
C: That’s quite a trip
S: Yup it sure is
C: So sir what have you to declare?
S: A few boxes of tea bags
C: Is that it?
S: Yup
C: No chocolates for easter, gifts for the wife?
S: Nope – I really have a sad existence don’t I
C: Yup – off you go
So finally I hand over my bags to the driver and it’s off home. I get to go through the new Tunnel that has just been built in Sydney and it cuts my travel time home from 50 mins (on the way there) to about 35 mins – well worth the toll when we start to pay it.
I have two more trips on this DONE4 but they are just a simple SYD-BNE-SYD weekender with mrssimongr. Generally a pleasant trip but not really worth a report. It’s amazing for me how far I have come that a return flight to Brisbane in Business Class is not that impressive!
But now I am home and I get to spend 4 days sleeping and recovering from my flu and the trip. I am home for at least 5 weeks before I am up into Asia that is another story….