Flight Number: PR307
Scheduled Push-Back Time: 6:00 PM
Real Push-Back Time: 6:05 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Registration: F-OHZM
Date: May 12, 2002 (Monday)

Got to the airport aboard the bus. Chek Lap Kok is one superb airport!   We entered the cool airport and proceeded to the check-in counters.
Check-In was a PAIN as the lady said we had to weigh our handcarry baggages (It was a requirement of HKG airport) and blah blah blah. Next to us, the check-in lady was creating a fuss and demanding a lady's passport because her son didn't look like here.  
Finally got our boarding passes. I got 69A (yeah, a window seat!  ) and my mom 69C. Was the back of the plane since the A333 has 76 rows of seats. Then we heard one lady calling the check-in lady 'stupid' many times because she asked for a seat around row 40 and they gave here 70 instead.
Finally cleared immigration and I quickly dashed off to spot planes. Saw a Garuda 742 bound for SIN, a BA 744 (G-CIVV) in the Rendenzvous tail bound for LHR at 11 PM that was parked on the ramp, a China Southern A320, and an Air China 772 bound for Beijing.
Went into a bookstore, and when we came back out I was surprised to see another BA 744 taxiing to a gate, this time G-BNLF in the Union Flag Tail.
Ran to the other side were all the Cathay jets were. Saw A330s, A340s, and 744s. Also spotted a SAA 742 parked in the middle of all the Cathay planes.
We decided to go to our gate, which was gate 18. The HOng Kong style is different, for they have one large seating area servicing three gates, this time the area was servicing gates 17, 18 and 19. Gate 17 was a SriLankan A330 bound for Colombo via Bangkok and 19 a Qantas 744 bound for Melbourne via Sydney.
I had a good view of the landing runway. A TON of Mainland Chinese jets landed. After that a CX A333 came smacking down. An Emirates 773 landed soon after than followed with so many Chinese jets.
Spotted what looked like a MD-11 from headon but turned out to be a DC-10 with Biman livery?
An Air France 772 made a smoky touchdown and taxied to our area (Doesn't AF fly 747s to HKG?). Registration was F-GSPJ, the aircraft which I had seen back in November of 2001 at Singapore pushing back for Jakarta.
Three Cathay Pacific 744s took off one after another on the runway opposite the landing runway followed by a China Southwest 757.
An A330 smacked the runway and quickly taxied off. Turned out to be the SriLankan bird that was registered 4R-ALA.
Another plane was on finals. It was a twinjet, heavy airplane, and winglets. Can’t be a 777 then. As the plane came 25 feet above the runway I figured out that it was an A330. But which airline? It taxied off the runway. The plane was white, with a colored tail. It had to be PAL! Finally my plane was here. 
But when the aerobridge docked I didn’t see any passengers disembark. Weird. Registration was F-OHZM with a 60th Aniversery sticker. It looked great beside the Garuda 742, which was now on its way to the take-off runway.
Right after that a SIA Megatop landed and taxied to its gate. An A340 was on finals. I hoped it was Virgin Atlantic in the Silver Dream livery. It was.   Yippy! My first sight of the Silver Dream livery. I had seen a Virgin A340 on finals while I was at the Shing Min Valley Swimming Complex in Tsuen Wan, but it was Tinker Belle in the white and red livery.
A Grey 744 landed and then taxied to near where the SQ 744 was parked.
I saw many other planes, but these were the ones most interesting.
Finally it was time to board. There was a LOOOOOOONNNNNNG line. But the Chek Lap Kok staff as usual worked really fast and efficiently and we were in the plane in no time.
We found our seats at row 69. Yes, a window seat!  
The bottom and middle part of the seats were as comfortable as the 744, but the headrest was horrible because from the back support it immediately jumped to the head with no slope connecting the seatback to the headrest so your neck ached really quickly. The seats were colored about the same color as the SQ Raffles Class.
A Qantas 747-400 pulled in. I watched as catering workers quickly unloaded empty food containers and baggage collectors drove their vehicles to grab all the suitcases. I even saw a man trying to get his bag from the overhead bin through one of the windows!  Registration was VH-OJQ.
We pushed back and taxied to the departure runway. G-BNLF was being towed besides sister ship G-CIVV. I wished I had my camera. I spotted dozens of Cathay birds, which I only managed to capture on of the registrations, B-HXJ, an A340. We passed the Cargo hangers, where Cathay Pacific Cargo 747s were parked flanked by FedEx MD-11s. A couple UPS birds were also there. I also spotted one of Dragonair’s Ex-SQ 743s converted into a cargo lifter.
Our take off was short and noisy (A330s are really noisy during take off). We were second out of five to take off; first was a CX A330, second us, third a China Southern 757, fourth a MH 744, and last a KA A320.
I got a superb bird’s eye view of HKG, which was much smaller than what I thought it was. Almost all its gates were crowded with aircraft. I caught a QF 763 I hadn’t spotted before and two grey 744s parked side by side.
Dusk started as we climbed to FL360. Dinner was served, it was beef and chicken with hot sauce and rice, a sweet cake, and bread. I opted for a Pepsi while I ate up the main course and the sweet cake and then read more of Lee Kuan Yew’s book, ‘From Third World To First’.
I then asked for a 7-Up, which was politely and quickly served. Descent started while we were off the coast of Central Luzon.
The murky waters of the dirty Manila Bay were soon sighted followed by the bright city lights. We kept heading towards Coastal Road and the official city of Manila until the Captain made a sharp turn left. Cabin lights were dimmed for landing.
We descend to about 900 feet where I could see cars, buildings, and houses. Apparently the Captain had a hard time keeping the aircraft straight because it banked twice right.
We made a soft landing at Ninoy-Aquino International Airport and quickly taxied off the runway. I looked and saw two aircraft approaching. Quite unusual for a not-so-busy airport such as MNL. It was European airline time at NAIA1, were I saw a LH 744 (D-ABVD), an AF A340, a Kuwait A340, and an Emirates 772. A PR 733 was taking off.
We then taxied to our gate at NAIA2. As the aerobridge was docking, an SQ 772 operating SQ76 from Singapore rolled down the runway. Man, was I jealous!  Registration was 9V-SQG. It was to stay at MNL for the night until operating SQ71 back to Singapore the next day.
A Cebu Pacific DC-9 in normal colors then landed. We got off the aircraft and and spotted a sister ship A330 (F-OHZN), a sister ship 744 (N752PR), and another A340 operating the night’s flight to Los Angeles.
We entered the immigration hall and the lines were horrendous! There were only six counters! Luckily the staff worked faster than in NAIA1 and we passed after a while.
Our three pieces of baggage were quickly collected and we sped off into the darkness back to home.