Review of Cathay Dragon flight Beijing → Hong Kong in Business

Hi Flight-Report community,
This will be my first flight report in KA J from PEK to HKG.
I took this trip about 4 months ago and at that time I didn't think I would post a flight report so I did not take too many photos, but today I decided to post this flight report as there are not many reports about KA here.
I will take more photos in my future trips in order to write a better report.

The check-in counters for CX and KA are located in row C T3 of PEK.
There were 2 counters for J and 1 for F.
When I arrived at the check-in area, I went to the lane for J and a lady was actually waiting there, but when she saw me coming, she moved out of the way and I got really confused. The ground staff approaches to me and asked if I'm in Business class, then she quickly escorted me to the counter to check-in.


BP

When I left the check-in area I found out the lady in front of me was unpacking her luggage so I assume she could not check in because her luggage was over weighted.

Then I took the train to the E section of the terminal 3 for my flight.
I don't think there is a fast track service in T3E, and the line in the immigration and security check was long, and it took me about 40 minutes to clear the immigration and security check and I'm finally in the airside.
Then I made my way to the KA and CX lounge, which is located opposite to gate E21. The lounge was pretty basic, as you don't really expect to find a good lounge in China. ( though the lounge staff at the reception was really friendly compare to the reception in HKG lounges)
The hot food selection was limited

My offering. It tasted OKAY. The fruit was good and it contains dragon fruit.

Inside the lounge was very quiet at the time I visited it, I think less than 20% of the seats are occupied and you can even hear your footstep when you walk inside the lounge.
It has a good view of the tarmac but no planes were parked there at that time. Sad

I walked to the gate at the boarding time shown on my BP, it was a very short walk as the lounge is opposite to E21, and we were boarding thru E25 at that day.
Boarding didn't start on time, so I took a seat near the boarding gate, the lane was starting to form for Y.
At that time, they have already started the new boarding rule for MPC green so that the premium lane was actually very short, with less than 10 passengers. Many MPC greens have been asked to wait in another lane to board after the premium lane, but before Y.

One interesting point I found out was that they did not have a specific lane for F that day, instead, a ground staff was standing in front of the counter with a paper that reads First Class. Judging from her face I can tell she felt quite embarrassed.

Boarding started about 15 minutes later, there was a separate jet bridge for F and J.
Date : 27 Feb 2016
Flight Number : KA993
PEK to HKG
Aircraft : Airbus A330-300
Departure Gate : E25
Arrival Gate : 502

The cabin features the latest regional J seats for CX and KA. Enough for a 3 hour regional trip.
Once I am seated an FA came to take my jumper, and then another FA offered me PDB.


Seat and PDB.
For PDB, I chose the Dragon Sunrise, which is a KA signature drink. FA remained me that it contains alcohol, which was a nice touch.

The load in J was very light, about 15/42
The load in F and Y was very high.

Then the door is closed and we were on our way to HKG.
Crew started service once the seat belt sign was turned off. Menu was distributed and order of drinks was taken.


Menu and Drink List

I opted for an orange juice, and a pack of nuts was also distributed.

Then the dinner service was started.

Entree

Entree tasted very good. Crew also came to offer breads from basket which I went for some garlic breads.

For the main I opted the seafood option. Sorry I didn't take any photo about the main, but I didn't like it much.
The presentation was bad and the taste was SO-SO.
I did enjoy the garlic breads, I asked for two more after I finished the first two I was given.

The plate was cleaned as soon as I finished my main, and FA asked me what flavour of ice cream would I like, I opted for milk flavour.

Ice cream and another OJ

The rest of the flight was uneventful, as I just reclined my seat and watched a movie. I have also ordered a bloody mary.


During the flight I paid a visit to the lavatory, and I found that the crews were chating and eating ice cream in the galley.

Lavatory

Before touch down, crew came to offer a cup of water, which I think was a very nice touch.

We arrived in HKG on time, and the aircraft parked on a remote gate 502.
There was no separate bus for F and J, the only advantage is that you can get a seat on the bus as you left the aircraft earlier if you are in F and J.