V-Flyer

And so it was time to go east at last!

Myself and two mates came down to LHR from Edinburgh on an uneventful BA shuttle earlier in the afternoon and checked in without fuss or queue at T3. Security was pretty quiet too so my walk to the Clubhouse was not delayed.

The two others amused themselves while I took in the delights of the newly extended facility. I must say that if some one could copy the 'feel' of the place they'd have a pretty damn good restaurant/bar on their hands! Swigged a couple of strong G&T's then had a short session on the laptops checking out the map of Causeway Bay that Mitcha had sent me then left prematurely to go and join my mates downstairs.

VS200 was on gate 39 (IIRC) so we strolled that way to be greeted by the sight of 'Soul Sister' my first ever A340-600 flight and my 25th time with VS.




Priority boarding was efficiently handled and I about the third person to board. I had chosen 12A for this leg so stuck the bag in the overhead and sat down. I immediately noticed how much narrower the 340 seat felt to that on the 744 as when the drinks shelf was down it was digging into my shoulder. Pre flight Champers was offered and consumed and a post take-off drink order taken as usual. We had a minor paperwork disrepancy that delayed our pushback until 2300 but the Captain kept us well informed of what was going on which makes all the difference.

We rotated off 27R at 2315 precisely for what felt like a very leisurely climbout. Despite the cabin fixtures sounding a bit 'rattly' during the taxi the 340-600 impressed me with it's noise level once in the air.

I chose some Chinese options for dinner including Spring Roll for starter and the 'Seven flavoured' chicken for main. Spring Roll was soggy and the rice that accompanied the chiken was like gravel but SRB's fav rhubarb crumble for pud was nice enough.

Soon after dinner the cabin began to take on it's purple glow and I got off to sleep for an impressive 6 hours, waking somewhere over Kasakhstan.



I had the English breakfast before landing and was very impressed with the black pudding which was moist and tasty.

Bags came off in priority order and we then caught the airport express into Hong Kong where we visited a mate for a few days. Two of the group were in the Holiday Inn Express near Causeway Bay with the other two in the InterContinental, Kowloon. The view of Hong Kong Island from this hotel was stunning and the sound and light display at 2000 every evening was terrific.

Here it is in full swing!



China Eastern TR from HKG to PVG to follow...

Regards

John

Nice one, John [y][y]

How were the loads? UC looks pretty full from your picture.

Nick

Sorry Nick, forgot to say that Upper had one spare seat before takeoff that I could see but this was taken once we were in the air. Think there were a couple free in PE and Economy was pretty full too.

Regards

John

Thanks for the post John, HK light show looks impressive.

How was the rtn trip, looking forward to that TR if you can remember[;)]

Iain

The views from the InterConti Kowloon (Formerly 4Seasons) have got to be the most increadible city views from any hotel room anywhere on the planet!

Looking forward to my 30th bday there next Feb!

You can see the 'Avenue of the Stars' walk at the bottom of the shot Ben. The music and lights show at 2000 each evening that lasts for 16 mins really is a sight to behold!

Enjoy!

John

Wow.. great picture of the light show - never seen that before. And didn't see it last time I was in HK..

Note to self - schedule another trip to HK.

Thanks![:D]

VS.

The view of Manhattan from across the Hudson while in NJ is awesome enough but I have to say this gives it a pretty good run for it's money!

Regards

John