fjiii From Japan, joined Mar 2009, 8 posts, RR: 0 Posted (8 months 3 weeks 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 13471 times:
Trip Report
Flight 1 - CX 837
Route : YVR-HKG
Operating Aircraft : B-KPL
Aircraft Type : Boeing 777-300 ER
Miles : 6,381
Seat : 1A
We are flying from Vancouver to Tokyo with a brief stop-over in Hong Kong today.
Joining me are four small Canadian kids (from front to back they are Snail, Fly, Ladybug and Butterfly) as well as their distinguished-looking chaperone Eggplant who you can see resting comfortably in the arm chair. Snail is leading the other small kids to find some soft drinks in the fridge for them as well as a half bottle of Moët for himself.
The oneworld-liveried B-KPL is taking us to Hong Kong today and the kids are admiring it with anticipation.
The loading appears to be quite high but the boarding process is smooth. Upon hearing, "ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting; we now invite passengers traveling with small children to board", the kids jump off the window sill and excitedly head down the gangway with me. Ahead of the other passengers in first class !
The ISM shows us our seat and the kids settle into their respective take-off positions.
The four small kids are eager to watch the view outside whereas Eggplant is happy just to sit back and doze off on the buddy seat (he is not the most attentive chaperone). The captain comes on the PA and mentions that APU and ground power troubles are delaying our push-back by a little, and almost in lockstep, the flight attendants pass out cold towels and refills our champagne flute.
Not long after take-off, the first meal is served, starting with the Cathay Pacific long haul staple - caviar and balik salmon tsar nikolaj paired with a fresh glass of Krug.
As you can see from the photo, the kids still have not torn themselves away from the gorgeous white clouds rolling by outside. All the kids that is except for Snail, who instead has moved to the optimal position for observing the champagne's gorgeous fine bubbles. He gives the bubbles an A-, and the champagne a B-.
Butterfly, Fly and Ladybug now join in on the main course, a sumptuous serving of chinese-style stir-fried lobster. The photo does not do its tastiness justice, but this short exposé on Cathay's catering facilities at Vancouver International where you can see the chef stir-frying the fresh Halifax lobsters will definitely make your mouth water.
And with the flute emptied, Snail moved onto the red, the Château Cantenac Brown 2005. This wine is part of Cathay's classified growths promotion for its long haul first class flights and is absolutely delicious - silky but full-bodied and exactly what Snail likes. He gives the wine an A.
With the kids not being able to decide on just one dessert, Yohan - a charming Vancouver-based cabin crew member - thoughtfully serves us with all three dessert choices.
You can tell Butterfly is the eldest kid - he opts for the most healthful choice of fresh berries with custard sauce. Ladybug is the stylish one in the family and he chooses the sticky toffee cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Fly is already quite full but he gives the fruit and cheese plate a try. Yohan also pours Snail a glass of a 10 year old Ramos Pinto. Snail throws a little bit by the edge of the table to make room for the Tawny, which he gives a B+.
Look at all the drinks Snail ordered ! Snail is a bit like me in that he is a little lacking in self-control and have a hard times doing things in moderation. One time, as a homework assignment, the teacher gave him some sweets to take home and he had to count them, but Snail ate all the sweets on the way home and so his answer was zero.
By now Snail is already quite drunk and so June - our resourceful and budget-conscious flight attendant in the second shift - and I decide to play a small trick on Snail. All but one of the above are "mock-ups" only, using water, juices, and for the very realistic-looking Cloud 9 on the left, a few drops of milk.
Can you guess which drink is the real ?
Flight 2 - CX 548
Route : HKG-HND
Operating Aircraft : B-KPM
Aircraft Type : Boeing 777-300 ER
Miles : 1,803
Seat : 1K
After a refreshing overnight nap at the nearby Novotel (fantastic dinner buffet by the way), the kids and I head back to the airport for our connecting flight to Tokyo. Our first stop is of course the business class section of Cathay's newly-renovated The Wing lounge. His head cleared with a strong cup of coffee in the Coffee Loft, Snail leads the kids to the Noodle Bar for some breakfast congee.
Eggplant however looks like he will be sleeping some more.
About fifteen minutes later (being so small, the kids walk a fair bit slower compared to you and me), we arrive at the quintessential Cathay Pacific frequent flyer refectory - the Noodle Bar. Do not be fooled by the photo, this place is never ever empty ! The illusion of emptiness above is created largely by camera angle and Photoshop compositing.
That I walk around with so many all kids also tend to disperse crowds.
What fantastic clear weather we have today !
Parked at gate 23, the recently refurbished B-KPM looks like it's ready to go. I imagine most people prefer departing from gates 1 to 4 which are right outside The Wing, but gate 23 is my favorite because I can take an eye-level head-on photo of our plane from Cathay Pacific's The Cabin lounge.
Again, a few photographs were composited together to make this one devoid of airfield officers. I seriously dislike extraneous people in my photos.
Our breakfast choice this morning is the Chinese dim sum selection, served with a class of guava juice. Shortly after breakfast, snail leads the kids on a cabin tour. B-KPM was refurbished just a couple months ago when new business class seats (replacing the herringbone ones) and premium economy class seats were put in and the AVOD system was upgraded as well.
Flying six people in first class is quite expensive; perhaps the kids will take a liking the the premium economy seats (not very likely).
One more photo before we land.
Eggplant is sleeping tight in the baby bassinet (literally, he soon will not be able to fit in it anymore), and the small Canadian kids are doing what they love doing most - looking at the marvelous views outside the cabin and enjoying the flying experience on their favorite airline.
Oh did you notice the purple cabin lighting ? Normally a bland yellow at this stage of the flight, Keiko-san, our loving flight attendant, switches on mood lighting and flicks it to purple to match Eggplant's color. She says it should help Eggplant sleep better.
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 1, posted (8 months 3 weeks 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 12811 times:
Fjiii, very interesting report! Your photos are excellent, very clear and crisp. Slightly odd featuring your "children", but it was a nice story! I booked my first CX F ticket last night, so it was a nice taster!
ba319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8264 posts, RR: 56 Reply 2, posted (8 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 12365 times:
Interesting report, thanks for sharing.
Pictures and nice and crisp.
The children are an interesting inclusion.....
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): Joining me are four small Canadian kids (from front to back they are Snail, Fly, Ladybug and Butterfly) as well as their distinguished-looking chaperone Eggplant who you can see resting comfortably in the arm chair
- Hmm.....
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): Look at all the drinks Snail ordered ! Snail is a bit like me in that he is a little lacking in self-control and have a hard times doing things in moderation.
- Now not even I have had that many drinks running at the same time!
celestar From Singapore, joined Jul 2001, 245 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (8 months 3 weeks 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 11431 times:
When you are taking all these wonderful shot of your 'kids' how are the FA taking this? I would imagine just arranging them for photo would arouse some interesting attention, I am quite sure CX FA are very professional in 'helping' you out!
Nice and interesting TR!
fjiii From Japan, joined Mar 2009, 8 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (8 months 3 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 10576 times:
Quoting celestar (Reply 4): When you are taking all these wonderful shot of your 'kids' how are the FA taking this?
I am sure all the FAs are rolling their eyes on the inside but I have to say they almost always manage to come across as sincere in their interest in my cabin photography with the kids. The photo with all the different drinks for instance was suggested by June who, after learning that Snail loves drinking, insisted that she bring out all the different kinds of glassware they have for drinks, so Snail can have a group photo with them =)
In this photo for example, the flight attendant saw that I was short a pair of headphones and she went and got a spare from storage for me so that both kids could enjoy the IFE !
Their In-flight Service Managers do a particularly good job of not being weirded out by me. Though there was an instance on CX J a while back when after she saw my kids, the (junior) flight attendant would not look me in the eye again on the flight. I remember when I went to the galley to get a bottle of water, she retrived one from a cart and handed to me with her head turned the other way ....
I am of course shunned by all the other passengers in the cabin but that's a small price to pay for the photos.
Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 1): Slightly odd featuring your "children", but it was a nice story!
Quoting ba319-131 (Reply 2): The children are an interesting inclusion.....
Quoting azstar (Reply 3): I give you an A+ for originality.
Hehe, thank you all for the positive spin on the comments !
chrisair From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 1772 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (8 months 3 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 10560 times:
Do you talk to your "kids" on the flight?
Quoting fjiii (Reply 5): I am of course shunned by all the other passengers in the cabin but that's a small price to pay for the photos.
NZ107 From New Zealand, joined Jul 2005, 5672 posts, RR: 40 Reply 7, posted (8 months 3 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 10448 times:
Nice TR, CX F looks great. Good to know they cater for your "children" too! Great pics.
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): The oneworld-liveried B-KPL is taking us to Hong Kong today
Nice, I hope to get this one soon..
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): this short exposé on Cathay's catering facilities at Vancouver International where you can see the chef stir-frying the fresh Halifax lobsters will definitely make your mouth water.
Great video, thanks for sharing it!
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): His head cleared with a strong cup of coffee in the Coffee Loft
Did you get a real coffee from the espresso machine or something made from the instant machine? I was disappointed last time I was there.. Maybe time to check it out again!
ClassicLover From Ireland, joined Mar 2004, 4522 posts, RR: 25 Reply 12, posted (8 months 2 weeks 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 7724 times:
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): By now Snail is already quite drunk and so June - our resourceful and budget-conscious flight attendant in the second shift - and I decide to play a small trick on Snail. All but one of the above are "mock-ups" only, using water, juices, and for the very realistic-looking Cloud 9 on the left, a few drops of milk.
My guess is one of the glasses of wine is real.
I thought the report was excellent! I love how unusual it is - and I think it's quite cool that you travel with a posse! The photos are brilliant - some really good composition and interesting angles there. I will have to try some of that myself in the next trip report.
Well done for posting something different! I also thought the external links were a nice touch too!
Enjoyed it very much!
I do quite enjoy a spot of flying - more so when it's not in Economy!
flightsimboy From Canada, joined Sep 2005, 849 posts, RR: 4 Reply 13, posted (8 months 2 weeks 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 7480 times:
Lovely crisp photos but the kids are a tad bit disturbing lol. However CX being CX looks like they did a professional job catering to you and their needs. Very nice that they could bring a second set of headphones for the "kids"
fjiii From Japan, joined Mar 2009, 8 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (8 months 2 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 6362 times:
Quoting chrisair (Reply 6): Do you talk to your "kids" on the flight?
Not just talk with; but kiss and hug them as well. And I try to think of different things they would do on a plane; they all have differing likes and personalities =)
Quoting mvecchi4 (Reply 8): At first I was a little lost with all the "children" thing but then I thought it was very original and entertaining.
Quoting PlanesNTrains (Reply 10): I think it's funny but it is a little ... odd. But mostly funny.
Quoting ClassicLover (Reply 12): I love how unusual it is - and I think it's quite cool that you travel with a posse!
Hehe, thanks !
Quoting beowulf (Reply 11): How many "kids" do you have with you when you travel?
There are over a dozen in total. You can see the rest on my website at www.fjiii.com/. The number of kids accompanying me would vary depending on cabin class (none of the kids want to come along in Y and when I'm traveling in F so many want to come I have to hold a lottery) and the length of the flight. I also try to make sure each kid gets to travel to different destinations as well.
Quoting ClassicLover (Reply 12): My guess is one of the glasses of wine is real.
Sorry, both are made from juices - the red from grape juice and the white from apple juice. The real drink is the second one from the left - the champagne-based CX signature drink Pacific Sunrise On a higher-resolution version of the pic on my website, you can see the bubbles in that one !
lukeyboy95 From Papua New Guinea, joined Apr 2008, 951 posts, RR: 35 Reply 15, posted (8 months 2 weeks 3 days ago) and read 6205 times:
The... well I have to say it.... complete weirdness of your interaction with cuddly toys was outweighed by the fact that...
-Your clearly a very clever man
- the report pictures where absolutely beautiful and magically devoid of people
- You must have made your money somewhere by being sane and cunning.
- the report was beautifully presented.
I do hope you might be able to have real children at some point in your life as it seems you would take excellent care of them.
thanks and more days-out with the kids are welcome.
SR117 From Mexico, joined Jun 2000, 753 posts, RR: 1 Reply 16, posted (8 months 2 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 5861 times:
Hey fjiii
Thanks a lot for this very creative report and for the exquisite photographs. I am impressed at how you've managed to capture an entirely different world populated by your posse and an odd flight attendant here and there. It's nice to see different takes on reports.
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): By now Snail is already quite drunk and so June - our resourceful and budget-conscious flight attendant in the second shift - and I decide to play a small trick on Snail. All but one of the above are "mock-ups" only, using water, juices, and for the very realistic-looking Cloud 9 on the left, a few drops of milk.
I thought the real one was the white wine.. and I thought the Pacific Sunrise was some sort of Pineapple Juice, sounds like June was very good at making mocktails.
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): Oh did you notice the purple cabin lighting ? Normally a bland yellow at this stage of the flight, Keiko-san, our loving flight attendant, switches on mood lighting and flicks it to purple to match Eggplant's color. She says it should help Eggplant sleep better.
A very nice touch, and it makes for a nice picture.
Quoting fjiii (Thread starter): Their In-flight Service Managers do a particularly good job of not being weirded out by me.
Well, honestly, if I was working the cabin, I think I would worry much more about rude, noisy or drunken passengers vs someone taking pictures and re-aranging their ahem.. companions : )
Very nice pictures on your website too, and I loved your minimalist space in Tokyo ! You did a great job there.
lukeyboy95 From Papua New Guinea, joined Apr 2008, 951 posts, RR: 35 Reply 17, posted (8 months 2 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 5750 times:
Quoting lukeyboy95 (Reply 15): complete weirdness of your interaction with cuddly toys
Actually I want to take the opportunity to moderate that comment as it sounds a little brash. Let me say the eccentricity ... since we're all a little eccentric in our own looking-at-planes way.
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