A Hong Kong Transit, featuring Cathay Pacific’s “The Pier” lounge
Taking the long way (and back) to Singapore
With the first big segment out of the way, it’s time to navigate Hong Kong International Airport. I’ve always found it efficient to fly in and out of the place, but how does it hold up for transfer traffic?
In this adventure
- I needed a break
- 02:40 on the coach? Nothing changes, with Heathrow Terminal 5 and British Airways South Lounge
- BA776 London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda (Club Europe)
- An afternoon in Stockholm featuring ABBA The Museum
- Off to Stockholm Bromma, AY840 Stockholm Bromma to Helsinki Vantaa with NoRRA (Economy Class)
- A Rapid Helsinki Transit and The Finnair Lounge
- AY099 Helsinki Vantaa to Hong Kong International with Finnair (Business Class)
- Transiting Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Lounge
- CX715 (AY5855) Hong Kong International to Singapore Changi Terminal 4 with Cathay Pacific (Business Class)
- Into Singapore, IBIS Budget Crystal
- The Mercure Hotel, Bugis
- Boating around the Singapore River
- Exploring Hawker Markets and random fooding around Singapore
- The Best Camera is the One You Have With You – Exploring The Gardens by the Bay
- Up to the Marina Bay Sands Skypark…
- …and the fallout of a stolen and returned iPhone
- Back to Changi Airport the Pokemon Centre at the Jewel and Terminal 4
- 3K513 (AY6379) Singapore Changi to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Jetstar Asia Economy Class)
- One night in Bangkok and the Avagard Capsule Hotel, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
- An early morning at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and The Miracle Lounge, D Pier
- AY142 Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Helsinki Vantaa with Finnair in Business Class
- Out of Vantaa Airport and into Helsinki… and a little beyond
- Holiday Inn, Helsinki Airport
- Early morning at Helsinki Vantaa Airport and The Finnair Schengen Lounge
- AY841 Helsinki Vantaa to Stockholm Bromma with NoRRA (Economy Class)
- The slow return to Arlanda Airport (with a military band)
- D84459 Stockholm Arlanda to London Gatwick with Norweigan Air Shuttle
- How to get home… coach or train?
- Sometimes, Simple Isn’t Needed… Or Wanted
Getting off the aircraft at Hong Kong International Airport, I started to follow the signs for transfer. Whilst I had a boarding pass, I did need it reissued (as Cathay Pacific loves to demand lounge invites when going into their facilities.
Sigh.
I therefore followed the crowds to the transfer area at E1 and E2. A quick scout around and there was no Cathay Pacific Transfer desk to be found.
I found a member of staff eventually… and found out I needed to go to the W1 transfer where there was a transfer desk.
So for those of you in the back, I walked down half of the main terminal wing and now had to walk to the other end. This was sub-optimal, especially with half of the walkways out.
Eventually, I made it to the W1 transfer area and there were two desks handling the transfer passenger queries. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long to be processed and get new boarding passes.
I was also informed that I should use The Pier Lounge – as it would be closest to the gate. Its useful customer service touches like that, which make travel a little easier.
What didn’t make travel easier was the queue to clear transfer security. This took a good 20-plus minutes to clear – as I arrived in the evening peak transfer time.
Sigh. There’s not a lot you can do, other than follow the signs, the tensabarriers and instructions when you get to the gate.
Once through security, I headed upstairs. And yes, I played some Pokemon Go. Because there’s nothing like mining for digital creatures, whilst sharing your location data, is there?
A tourist shop did entrap me on the way, but once I was clear of that, The Pier Lounge was a short distance away.
The sweetmeats shop also tried to entrap me.
It’s somewhere down here…
Ah. Here.
It was time to enjoy one of Cathay Pacific’s lounges at their home base. Whilst I’ve enjoyed it at their London outstation, how will their home lounge do?
The Pier
Arriving at The Pier, it felt like I had stepped into a massive complex for their business class passengers.
The lounge is divided into various sections for work, dining and even sleeping pods. I walked around the lounge to orient myself – before selecting a window seat.
Yes, it might have been getting a little late, but I found a view against a window and settled down for two minutes, before starting the hunt for food.
Let’s go through the sections of the lounge – as it is one heck of a big facility.
At the entrance, there is a sleeping pod space nearby/quiet area. Moving into the lounge itself is the first food and drink station – mainly dedicated to Western food. Whilst the pizza looked good, the rest looked… fine. Nothing outstanding.
Moving onto the next section – it’s the bar. Amazingly, I didn’t drink my weight in bubbly here – I was sticking to cola at this point (mainly to keep the pallet clean but also so I didn’t miss my flight… being stuck in Hong Kong for the night was not on my agenda.
Next up is the Noodle bar and Cantonese Kitchen. And I’ll be blunt – my favourite part of the place. There’s also help yourself DIm sum and some help yourself with Asian style foodstuffs.
Condiments.
Help yourself selection
Fried Rice
Red bean soup
char siu bao
At most stations, there was a Jing Tea selection too.
For those who wanted to indulge their tea tastes without bags, there was a dedicated Tea room too, where you can select Jing teas in loose-leaf form to go into a pot and take several egg custard tarts with you.
I love the touches and designs they put in this lounge – lots of local touches, but still in that Cathay Pacific brand.
As for food… yes. I raided the Chinese section. Momma needed a Char Sui bao that was freshly steamed.
I headed to the noodle bar which was turning over food at a fast rate. This noodle bar has a much larger selection of freshly prepared food compared to the Heathrow one, so I took more than a couple of turns to browse the menu.
And maybe seconds too.
Again, the food being turned out here was of high quality. It was a delight to watch the staff, whilst items rapidly appeared.
It gave me a chance to cool down after a rather hectic transfer experience, as well as stock up on a cola or two for later.
A Cathay Boeing 777-300ER parked.
My view. That was good.
Eventually, my time came to an end, with the flight changing from “Go to Gate” to boarding.
I therefore exited the lounge and headed upstairs.
Thankfully, with my departing gate next door, it was a short walk over, where business class had boarded, and economy class was making its way in.
I shot a few pictures of the aircraft and then presented myself at the gate. With a blip of my boarding pass, I was let through.
It was time for the other flight on this trip I was rather excited for.
Next:
Cathay Pacific CX715 Hong Kong International to Singapore Changi – Business Class.
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