For a change my husband and daughter decided to take Cathay Pacific to the West Coast instead of the direct flights of PAL. CX flights are via HK and therefore entail longer travel time. Instead of going straight to the US from Manila, one must fly to HK first, wait for two hours then fly to the US for the same number of hours if flying straight from Manila to the US.
When my daughter arrived back in Manila in January, she told us that the flight felt longer. When it was my turn to fly home, oh it took almost 15 hours to reach HK, plus two hours waiting time, plus another two hours to Manila, a total of 19 hours. Had I taken PAL, it would have been a 13 or 14 hours direct flight. It was okay, just like what my husband said “for a change”.
February 9, 2018 Friday
It was an early morning flight contrary to PAL’s midnight flights. I made sure I was at the airport at least two hours before my scheduled flight.
Most of the time I feel lazy going to the airline passenger lounges kasi malayo. Turn right here and walk all the way to the end and that’s where PAL’s lounge is.
Turn left here and that’s where Cathay’s Lounge is.
CX lounge
I ate a lot of food at the lounge, for breakfast and lunch combined.
Nice lounge
Coming here makes one feel the value of paying extra money for tickets.
I ate half a bowl of clam chowder.
Chicken over rice
My attention was caught by a Filipina attending to a Chinese traveler. The world is made a better place by Filipinos who are dedicated to their jobs. When we are abroad we are efficient, respectful, competent, dedicated.
I don’t like toilet doors that are fully enclosed. In case of emergency, no one could hear me and help me.
Boarding
My seat
When my kids were little, every time I traveled to a foreign country I brought with me their lampin. Akap-akap ko during the flights and I placed the lampin beside me on the hotel bed. Sometimes I brought their tiny clothes. I also brought their baby photos. I have stopped doing that because that would be weird. My children are now adults and funny if I would bring their underwear when I travel.
A few days before my flight, I received an envelope with photos of my son’s graduation. It’s here with me. This photo means a lot to my family. This represents baby steps to a new beginning for Nyke.
I also brought home our family photo from Disneyland.
My hand carry luggage was heavy because of my laptop.
My husband didn’t like the daytime departure of CX because he wasn’t able to sleep well daw because it was still araw outside although the windows were closed. Maybe it was psychological because he knew it was still bright outside.
I went to sleep as soon as the plane took-off. I didn’t eat lunch anymore because I was still full from eating at the lounge.
The one pushing the cheese cart was a Filipina flight attendant. When I took a photo of the cart, she asked “Do you have a blog?” She volunteered to take the photo of the food cart herself. She told me she likes reading blogs. When I told her the name of my blog is Oh My Buhay, she said “talaga ha Oh my buhay, pero you travel and ……..”.
Maybe Oh my buhay sounded pathetic to her kaya that was her opinion.
A Chinese stewardess asked me if I wanted any of these desserts, I made kirong, and I said thank you.
After sleeping for 4 hours, I woke up and watched a movie. I got hungry and the flight attendant served me hot wanton noodles soup.
I finished two movies and still it was a long way to go.
I got hungry again, ang takaw ko. They served me cheese burger naman this time. It was good. After an hour I asked for snacks again. I got some chips and caramel popcorn.
I watched another movie, I think two more.
The pilots were so quiet. They only spoke to the passengers before taking off and none was heard from them since. When the plane was shaking, no one tried to explain why, like “hello guys, this is your captain speaking, we’re flying over the sea of Japan and this bumps are normal over here”. I took Bonamine, my refuge in times of nervousness and ano pa ang nangyari, I fell asleep while the plane was shaking, hindi naman sobra ang uga pero talagang nerbyosa lang ako.
We were served breakfast, two hours before landing. But actually dapat dinner.
I made the mistake of choosing salmon. I didn’t like it.
I said goodbye to cheesecake.
It was a good flight. The weather was fine although there were a few bumps which made me nervous. “Oh Lord I don’t want to die yet, I want to attend my daughter’s wedding if/when she gets married, my son still needs me,…..and so on.” Sa nerbyos ko ang dami kong natawag na santo at ang dami kong nadasal in just two seconds, call that speed praying.
Cathay Pacific’s service has always been good and my recent flight experience included. The flight attendants were courteous and attentive. The seats were comfortable and spacious. Food was good and there was a wide selection of western movies.
Arrived in HK on February 10 feeling so inip, sleepy, relieved and eager to go home. One and a half hours till my next flight.
