Trip Report: Hong Kong and South Africa on Cathay Pacific (CX) First | Part 4
Part 2: Kingston YGK-Toronto YYZ-New York City JFK AC Y
Part 3: New York City JFK-Hong Kong CX F
Part 4: Life in Hong Kong
Part 5: Hong Kong HKG-Johannesburg JNB CX F
Part 7: Going home! JNB-HKG-ORD CX F and ORD-YYZ AA Y
To be honest, I’m not too fond of Hong Kong. I’ve been here before, and I find the city kind of lifeless, each district is more-or-less the same. However, Hong Kong has fabulous food, and prices in the city are surprisingly reasonable.
On day 1 we went to Macau, which was quite an experience. When we went to Macau, there was a ‘Tier 3’ typhoon warning, which meant that the ferry to and from Macau was extremely turbulent. We were knocked around, and a number of folks were puking throughout the journey.
We used TurboJet to get to and from Macau, and we went for the “business class.” It was about $10CAD more per-person than economy class, but the seats were much larger, the cabin smaller, and a (bad) meal and drink service is provided.
Later that day we picked up the “free gift” offered by PYE to Cathay Pacific F passengers. Attached to the PJ bag is a coupon for the free gift. Your choice is either a 500HKD gift certificate to PYE (which cannot be combined), or a box of six handkerchiefs. I chose the latter.
On day two we took the cable car to the Buddha statue. The cable car offered beautiful views, but it was terrifying. Remember how we were in Hong Kong during a typhoon? Well, the wind whistles and pushes the cable cars from side-to-side… I was crying (In 2007 a cable car fell off). You get an awesome view of the HKG Airport, with the planes departing right beside you (adding to the terror). Sorry, I couldn’t get any photos during the cable car trip, crying and shaking in fear n’ all.
Later that evening we were off to Hong Kong HKG airport for our Cathay Pacific First Class flight to Johannesburg JNB. While there, the only available lounge for First Class passengers (due to construction) was The Wing. It took us awhile to actually find the lounge (bro tip: it’s right beside emigration). We were able to get a cabana, which we used most of our time there. It was incredibly spacious and comfortable. It has a bathtub, a shower, a toilet, and a pretty comfortable sofa/bed.
There was also an excellent complimentary restaurant in the lounge, catered by the Peninsula Hotel (bro tip #2: the chocolates are AMAZING).
