Review of Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Auckland in Business

This is the 2nd leg of my trip.
Previous Flight Reports:
First year anniversary RTW trip
Refer to links below for previous legs of the journey:
1st leg – ORD - HKG
We took the free shuttle bus over to the Novotel Citygate and got there in 10 minutes. Check-in was smooth and we were headed up to our room in no time. Snapped pics right away before freshening up. The room was a good size compared to the Sheraton in Kowloon that we stayed at in 2013. Woke up early next morning and decided to check out, check-in for our flight to Auckland and head into town.

View from the room in the morning:

Checking in for our Auckland flight - waited a minute before we were helped. We were connecting the same day into Queenstown and unfortunately Cathay indicated that all bags has to be collected for customs and could not be checked all the way through. Bummer!

First Class check in:

Some day, I will have the opportunity to check in there:

After the check in, we took the Airport Express over to Hong Kong Station:

Where we would catch the H1 bus to Pacific Place where the PYE store was located:

We parted with some nice T-shirts after using our free gift coupon from Cathay.

We then headed back to Hong Kong station to hit up Tim Ho Wan. I knew the line was going to be ridiculously long for sit down. We could have come here at 9am but asking the wife to get up early is tantamount to murder.

Ended getting take out which took 15 minutes. Forgot to take pics but you can see the bill and figure out what we ordered. :D

Took the Airport Express back to get some relaxing time in at the lounge. Pic of the Novotel from the outside:

Back in the comfort of HKG. Proceeded straight through customs and security and got through in 10 minutes. Made the long trek over to gate 65 where the Pier lounge was located. We mistakenly walked into the first class lounge and the agent indicated to walk one gate over to the business lounge. We would not be allowed in even though we came off a F flight the previous night.

As we walked, I detoured to take some pics of planes.
I will be seeing you very soom Mrs.Whalejet:

Spotted our bird that would be taking us to AKL. First time flying the A350-900 and was excited.

God, we are still walking:

After an eternity, we made it:

Comfy business centre:

Plunked ourselves in the comfy chairs by the windows:

The lounge is pretty long and divided into 5 sections - 1 main buffet dining area, bar, noodle bar, tea bar, spa

Pretty good planespotting:

Decided to get some food after our drinks. Tasty stuff.

I am a pig:

Ah-murrican departing for home:

BA pulled in next door:

Oh yea, you're a dirty girl. You like it when your windows are dirty.

30 minutes to departure, we left the lounge and made our way to gate 15 where our bird would be departing from. As we passed a monitor, I noticed that the status said Final Call. WTF. We ran to our gate and by the time we got there, we had a good sweat going. This would be the 1st of 3 mad dashes during our adventure.
Initially, we selected the last 2 seats in the main cabin. During check in, the agent put us into the mini cabin which was only 2 rows. Sweet!
Nothing unusual about this seat. Have been in it twice before and knew what to expect.

Forward cabin.

PE and Y class beyond:

So this goof and his wife were annoying. They were playing home vidoes on their phone for the entire cabin to hear and was pissing the crap out of me. Luckily, a flight attendant came by and requested to turn down the volume and switch to airplane mode. The man asked when they could turn wifi on and the flight attendant said once we take off and there would be a charge. He did not expect the last statement and became quiet. I know a certain FT-er who loves people who display their feet in F or J class … no names but it rhymes with 787. :P

Forgot to take a picture of my glass but here is a pic of the bottle. Worst. Champange. Ever! Turrible!

Time for the menu pics.

We pushed back on time and started the long taxi to the runway. Pics of birds as we passed by:

AC just landing:

And we are off!

Bye bye HKG! See you … sometime soon?

Pic of the amenity kit:

Warm nuts and an apple juice to start:

Lunch service started with the apps. Really tasty salmon:

Yummy garlic bread:

I liked the cart service that Cathay has for J class. I went with the Lamb Korma.

Tasted better than it looked.

Followed by a barely palatable chocolate mousse. I dont understand why its called mousse when its just cream filling.

Went to bed right after and conked out. Woke up to see where we here on the map which was about 2 hours out. The breakfast service was about to begin.

Flipped through to see what was on. The clarity of the screen is excellent:

Quick shot of the main cabin:

Behind my seat:

Breakfast is served … almost …

Yummy dim sum:

Totally forgot that the A350 had a nice tail cam and turned it on. Wonderful to watch the landing:

Cabin crew, please be seated.

Gloom and doom in Auckland.