Review of Cathay Pacific flight Tokyo → Hong Kong in Business

introduction

Time runs fast and it is time to head back to Hong Kong after around 1.5 week time in Japan. Although this time the weather was not that good, it keeps on raining on some days, but it is somehow a common weather pattern at early summer in Japan; and the hydrangeas are not yet fully blossoming around Japan; and at last even I got a COVID (actually the symptoms were so light and I think it is a common cold only), still I enjoy this trip. Hopefully I can get some more beautiful shots when visiting this country next time. 

Originally I got a very early flight, which departs from NRT at around 9am, back to Hong Kong. Occasionally I checked that there is one redeemable seat available for a flight departing from NRT at around 10am. Thinking that NRT is actually not close to the heart of Tokyo and therefore I made a decision on changing my flight and so I would have a longer time to enjoy the airport and the lounge service.  

As the flight departs from NRT, I therefore chose to live in Ueno in Tokyo the night before. Ueno is a nice place to stay at, with restaurants and convenience stores around. And it is also a convenient place to stay at, if you are traveling to/from NRT. There is a kind of train called Skyliner which operates by Keisei Electric Railway. The train runs fast and it takes only around 40 minutes to reach the airport, compared with Narita Express, which operates by JR and it takes around 70 minutes to reach the airport from the Tokyo Terminal.   

Enjoying the last night and sunrise at Tokyo, with Tokyo Skytree, at a hotel in Ueno, Tokyo.

Here is the look of the Keisei Ueno Station, where trains would take you to Narita Airport, much faster than N'EX, which is operated by JR EAST.

Some pictures showing the features of Skyliner, a fast train moving between the heart of Tokyo and Narita Airport. The train is comfortable, with big luggage storage area. 

Arriving at the Airport

After arriving at Narita Airport, I immediately headed to the check-in counter and got the boarding pass. The check-in process is quick, as there are not many for business class customers at that moment. I would like to get a K side window seat instead of an A side and politely asked the attendant whether there was an empty seat for K side. Sadly that all the K side seats were occupied, after the checking. 

I immediately headed to the security check after getting my boarding pass. Seems that there were quite a lot of flights departing from NRT that morning and so the queue for entering the security counter and the customs was quite long. Or probably it is also due to the fact that one of the counters was closed as it seems that there was still not enough manpower for all the airport facilities after the COVID. But to be honest, after the X-ray scan, it was fast to pass through the immigration counters, as they introduced machines to check for the passports automatically, by taking photos and checking against the photos on the passport. 

What a long queue!

After passing through the security counter, it was time to enter the lounge, after doing some shoppings at those souvenir shops.  

lounge experience at the JAL Sakura lounge

After reading reports I decided not to enter the Cathay Pacific Lounge at NRT, as it seems that it is just a resting area with some basic food only. Instead, I picked the JAL Sakura Lounge. Cathay Pacific and JAL are both oneworld alliance members. And so business class passengers for Cathay Pacific can still enter the JAL lounge. The attendant greeted me politely and after checking my boarding pass, she welcomed me nicely to enjoy the facilities at the lounge.  The entrance of the Sakura lounge is not far away after passing through the security check. 

There are two floors for the JAL Sakura Lounge. The lower floor consisted of seats and resting area, while the upper floor consisted of a large dining area. The two floors are connected with a big staircase.

Reading other reports that the curry rice is a must try item at the JAL Sakura Lounge and so i ordered the curry rice first. And then I tried the soups and the tiramisu. All are delicious. 

The service at the lounge is stunning. I spilled my coffee on the tray a little bit when walking back to the seat. It is not a big issue, but the attendant saw and immediately approached me, got some paper towels for me and asked if it is alright for her to make a cup of coffee for me again; I tired the coke machine but seems that there is something wrong with the settings at the coke machine, another staff saw, fixed the issue after greeting me to take a seat to relax first, and then came with a newly well prepared coke. What a nice service, JAL Sakura Lounge! But it may be nicer to have more choices of food, like sushi and hot noodles. But I guess it is due to the fact that it was still the morning breakfast time. Seems there is a shower area at the lounge but i did not try them this time. 

Here are some of the other facilities at the lounge. Beer Machine! Wow! But it is too early and so I did not have a try.  

Champagne at the lounge! 

Some other wine selection at the lounge and the menu at the lounge.  

right before getting on the plane

It is about time to board the plane. The boarding gate for today’s flight is not far away from the JAL Sakura Lounge. Here are some of the information regarding the flight:

B-LQF which is an A350-900 flight
Delivered : Oct 2020 
Age: 2.9 Years

Today's flight back to Hong Kong is a codeshared flight with JAL and Qatar. 

Passengers playing kendama, a traditional Japanese skill toy while waiting for boarding. I was attracted by the sound of the toy!

it is time to get on the plane

It is still an A350-900 flight taking us to Hong Kong from Tokyo Narita Airport. The flight attendant greeted me politely after I stepped into the cabin. I picked a glass of champagne for the welcome drink. 

Here are some pictures for the seat and the cabin for this flight. It is still a comfortable seat offered by Cathay Pacific. It is spacious.  

There was a hot towel service after I sat in my seat. 

how about enjoying some food on the plane?

The attendant also came and asked for what I would like to eat for lunch in the sky. Finally I picked the following:

To Start:
Seasonal Salad - Yuzu soy dressing
Smoked duck with spicy mayonnaise - grilled prawns and mixed vegetables
Japanese flat wheat noodles with mixed vegetables

Mains:
Grilled chicken with vegetable roll - mixed vegetables and japanese rice with black sesame

To finish:
seasonal fresh fruit, selection of ice cream                

It is always nice to enjoy the Cathay Delight in the sky.

Afterwards I got the fruit and the ice cream after the meal. I especially like the pick of the fruit, a slide of the melon, which is somehow the seasonal fruit in Japan at early summer time. I picked the green tea flavour of the ice cream. 

The entertainment system of Cathay Pacific is nice and there is no lagging after I click on the monitor. It also provides lists of programmes and songs for travellers to enjoy on the plane. The quality of the cameras are not bad and so it provides nice views of the plane.  

I always love enjoying the songs from Terence Lam, a Cantonese song writer and singer. I was touched by a song's lyrics and cried a little bit when listening to the song on the plane. Luckily no one saw this scene. lol

During the departure, I saw a A380 from ANA. Seems now it gets back to its service. Mainly ANA will use the A380 to carry passengers to Hawaii from Japan. 
 

The weather is not so stable and so during the journey there were many times that the seat belt signs were turned on. But I did not experience much turbulence at the cabin due to the unstable atmosphere. And there is not much view to enjoy this time, as most of the time the plane passes through areas with thick clouds. But I made some visits to the toilet for K side view (as there is a window installed at the toilet!) when the signs were off and took some snapshots. It should show some areas near Tokyo, like the coastal line near Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. And probably some farmlands around Chiba Prefecture in Japan. 

I took a short nap and afterwards got a cup of Earl Grey tea from the attendant, as I still felt a little bit tired after so. The attendants were nice and responded quickly. 

Time runs fast and finally we reach HKG. The whole journey approaches the end. The weather at early summer in Hong Kong was also not that stable, so we could just see thick clouds around when approaching the airport. 

A final photo for my flight today, at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong International Airport. Thanks B-LQF for carrying me back to Hong Kong from Tokyo Narita! 

Bonus : Click here display hide

This trip I travelled from Kyoto to Tokyo, and hoped to get some good pictures of hydrangeas, which is a kind of flowers common to be seen in Japan during the early summer time. But seems that not all the flowers are blossoming, and some days the weather get very bad. But anyway, i still enjoy my trip and here are some of the random pictures taken from my trip. 

 Tokyo Station and skyscrapers around, viewed from Hotel. 

Tram at Kamakura, a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, which is not far away from Tokyo, with hydrangeas around.  

Kamogawa, a main river stream passing through the city center of Kyoto. During summer time, there will be seats setting up above the river from the stores, such that they could be cooled down in the open area by the water flow of the river. It is quite hot in Kyoto during summer, as Kyoto is surrounded by hills. 

Hydrangea with Tokyo Skytree. 

Kifune Shrine in kyoto, with the signature lanterns at the entrance of the shrine. 

There is still a lot of wonderful sceneries in Japan but i guess there will not be enough space here. hopefully i can travel back to Japan again soon and explore other beautiful places in this country.