My first experience with Cathay

As far as I can remember, I have always only taken the few airlines since I started traveling; other than that first time I flew out of the country for a camp which I attended on a scholarship years ago when I was still in high school; and that was Northwest Airlines, and other than that, it has always, or at least, almost always the same airlines.
My frequent mileage points are accumulated on those few usual airlines, though I do board different airlines occasionally.

Cathay Pacific airlines is always this airline which I have heard of; which is no surprise as it is one of the highly acclaimed airlines originating from Hong Kong. My first experience was supposed to be last year where I was booked on a flight to the States (which I have yet to blog about, bummer, but will be coming up soon after this series, I promise), and unfortunately got cancelled due to some circumstances which was rather unpleasant. In short, I would not say that was really that memorable of an experience and I would rather dismiss it as it left a bitter taste that I was quite skeptical about the airlines for a short while.
Anyway, you don't avoid airlines for long especially with a major airline like Cathay, which flies regularly to Hong Kong and Taiwan unless you just avoid traveling to those countries.

My recent trip got me booked on Cathay Pacific again, and this time, it was for real, as in I boarded the flight and flew to and from my destination (to be revealed soon).
I have noticed that the seats and space in the aircraft were definitely larger compared to my usual (MAS and SIA), leaving much more leg space right in front.



No complaints about the punctuality, and the ground staff service too, as checking in was quite efficient and swift at the counters. We were bound on a early morning flight, and it did not take us long to get ourselves on board the aircraft.


Raining early in the morning, on the day I was taking off 

Interesting features to take note of on the aircraft: 
1. Touch screen television (selection of movies could be improved to include more variety)

2. Standard power outlet ports available for phone/tablets/laptop charging (the usual 3-pin used in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong).

3. There is this option available on screen where one can view the flight taking off and landing through the camera installed in front of the aircraft

Moving on to the meals, Airlines meals rarely got anyone excited, and I am sure most would agree with me though I have not had much to complain about when I was on my usual airlines.

While Cathay had surpassed in the space and comfortable seats in her aircraft, I can't say the same about the meals served on board. Perhaps it was my own picky tastes when it came to food, or the excitement which enveloped my thoughts at the time of the flight, but frankly, having the same type of food presented to you on both of your outgoing and incoming flight is not exactly my idea of a vacation. I just felt that there could be a little more variety in the choices of food on the menu, or perhaps it was just my luck.














Overall, I wouldn't say my experience was bad, as besides the food, I did find the entire experience an extremely pleasant one and it helped that we had signed up for the Marco Polo membership which entitled us to privileges during boarding and checking in. (find out more at the Cathay Pacific's official website).

To be continued with my destination in a bit....stay tune~

My Escapade to Bangkok

I have to admit, that when my friends asked if I wanted to join on an all-girls' trip to Bangkok, I was rather skeptical. Security may be one of the reasons of course, but there was also the part of planning six months in advance which posed a lot of doubts and uncertainties especially when dealing with a work schedule like mine (well, even with work aside, personal things could come up at the very last minute too).
I am not one for early travel planning or for making booking in advance mainly because my schedule can be rather unpredictable and I like to play safe. At least I could travel with a peace of mind once I have everything under control.
However, I decided to take the risk this time for; it sounds like fun, and besides, I have not traveled with the girls before and Bangkok was one place where I hopped on and off the plane most of the time for layovers or extremely short trips where all I remembered of the city was how the airport looked like, and probably the busy traffic. (I was in the cab most of the time, trying to get to the hotel or the airport anyway).
It was really a spur of the moment thing and to be frank, I was almost caught in last minute changes prior to the trip! Apart from that, I was convinced by my best gal pal who was really like me in lots of ways, who was rather familiar with the city and could help us get through the itinerary planning.

There were news of demonstrations the same week of our trip, but nothing major and we went ahead on the trip. It was a rather good reason for me to catch my breath from the stress piling up to my chin; and I was really looking forward to having a relaxing time; traipsing the streets for interesting sights, do a little shopping and catching up with my old school girlfriends.

Flight food (to be frank, I personally find that Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines serve better in-flight meals than any other airlines I have taken).


Our luggages; not planned but somewhat turned out to be in a rather unique sequence in height =)


It was a short flight from KL to Bangkok; probably an hour plus with our neighboring country (our destination) lagging an hour behind us. The one-hour difference did get us muddled up at times, but it was manageable as we were only there for a couple of days. Besides, the worst scenario would be either sleeping an hour earlier or waking up an hour later, right?

A glimpse of our hotel lobby;  recommended by our 'guide' - Novotel Siam Square.



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This is just a short post as a sneak peek into my trip and will be followed by more posts on the vibrant and bustling city...

To be continued...

Long Flight and meals on Delta Airlines

As I left the comforts of Malaysia Airlines and embark on Delta Airlines for the first time, I did not want to harbor high expectations of the comfort and luxury level.
Anyway, I was not really disappointed in the airlines either although the food, yeah, the food did bug me a little.


In-flight entertainment was still good, thank God, to make us through yet another long flight to our destination. I was extremely excited but I tried to make myself go to sleep to avoid the effects of jet lag when we land at the destination and spoil the first part of my vacation, or honeymoon!

The food we had





Fresh fruits


Chocolate cake


Fresh and moist towelette to freshen ourselves up as we are about to land...

MAS and Flight meals en route to Narita

Taking off at 9am in the morning, I was equipped with books, updated playlists to keep me occupied for the first 8 hours of the flight from my origin to the transit destination; Narita International Airport.

Of course, Malaysia Airlines also made sure that we had a good time by feeding us a full meal and also snacks and constantly hydrating us with rounds of drinks.

There is never a moment of boredom with the updated lists of movies, tv series, and songs on the in-flight entertainment.


Flight meals


Braised chicken with rice


Cold Soba


Chicken salad


Fish with potatoes


Thai mango with shrimp salad


Cake with caramel milk for dessert


Eight hours of flight, a meal and a snack and tons of new movies to watch and a good book, well, not too bad for the first part when one is excited :)

Flight Food

I am finally starting the posts on my travel in December 2011; and to reveal where I have been for my Christmas cum New Year break.

I took off from the local international airport on the 26th December 2011, and having to travel from where we were to the main airport required us to wake up and leave our premises from as early as 5am!
Anyway, we took a connecting flight to the capital and then we were on our 5 hours flight to our destination (to be revealed in later posts)

A snapshot of the food we have during our flight:
Nasi Lemak with sambal shrimps


Fish with mushrooms, long beans and omelette


Fruits


To be continued...

You can take a guess, where was I heading to? ;)

Flight to Hong Kong

I love the brief wait to board the flight whenever I am flying off for vacation (who doesn't anyway?).
I love looking at the airplane parked out there while being cleaned and inspected by the crew to ensure that the aircraft is safe to carry us and a few hundred passengers to our destination.

If you have noticed from my previous posts, you would have realized that I love taking these same shots each time I travel.
I love looking out of the plane and watching as the plane slowly take its flight into the skies.

I watched as the wings flapped and then we were already soaring in the skies.
It always makes me praise the Wright brothers silently, for their invention which connects the world together; making the places reachable in a shorter time :)


It was an evening flight to Hong Kong, and we were served our dinner shortly after the plane took off.
My dinner in the air, as I was crossing to the east coast of Malaysia :)

Seared salmon steak with sweet and sour tomato gravy

Braised fish fillet with white rice and steamed vegetables


The flight to Hong Kong took about 3 hours and 15 minutes, and as the crew announced the landing, I looked out of my window (again) and saw these specks of light dotting the dark background out there.

It is hard to make them out there and they do look like little stars dotting the skies, don't you think?
For a momentn, I actually thought that I had landed among the stars! :)

It didn't really make sense though, and I have finally made out to be ships (probably those fishing boats or vessels) out there in the open sea, blanketed by the darkness and clustered all over the place.
It is no surprise indeed, as Hong Kong itself means the fragrant harbor and is world-renowned as one of the busiest international ports in the world.

I spotted a crescent moon at that point too, although I didn't manage to capture it in the photo; it was really a rarity as I don't recall seeing the moon on my many flights at night before.
I smiled as I admired the moon, as it reminded me of a very famous line from China's ancient poet, Li Bai's poem, translated as "Looking at the moon from my window"

Half an hour later, we have landed at the Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport, officially marking my second visit to Hong Kong after four years :)


I felt like welcoming myself to Hong Kong as I step into the brightly lit arrival hall of Chek Lap Kok!~ =)



We were picked up a friend at the airport this time, thanks to his kindness, we are enjoying a safe private ride all the way to our airport ;)


Welcome (myself) to Hong Kong again!~

Perth 2010 - The Flight to Perth

This is my first time flying Malaysia Airlines for international flights, and I don't think I have much to complain about as it is just as good as Singapore Airlines (which I am one of a frequent flyer a few years ago)


Well, it is no wonder Malaysia Airlines is also one of the world's best airline =)
After all, MH is more than just an airline code, it means Malaysian Hospitality and we are proud of it =)


It was quite stuffy when I first boarded the plane, but I was soon glad to have this


The most important thing on an international flight is to constantly hydrate our body with lots of liquids and MAS did just that, constantly serving juices and water throughout the entire flight and making sure all the passengers are not short of anything. The hospitality was excellent and the economy class was just as well attended!~


The food was just as good as well; I had a rather fishy one (me like! =)





Of course, there's also our local favorite; Malaysian Nasi Lemak on the flight

Served with sambal shrimps, which was quite generous in serving





There was also a chocolate treat after our meals as well, talk about a luxurious and sinful meal =P



The flight to Perth took approximately five hours, and it was about 2 magazines, one movie and a few sitcoms' time to touch ground.
Of course, being visitors to a foreign country, we are required to fill in the immigration forms for inspection upon arrival by the local immigration department


We have touched the grounds of Perth, the capital of Western Australia!