Hong Kong 2013 - Day 1

Those who follow my blog will know that I am scared of flying. So, what on earth had gotten into me, when I VOLUNTEERED to go on a business trip to Hong Kong? I certainly couldn't remember. After weeks of excitement about all the stuff I'd be doing once I had survived the long-haul flight, the fear kicked in big time when it was time to go. As the flight didn't leave until after 18:00, I was working from home in the morning. And for once I was very grateful for my boss giving me a last minute urgent task that needed to be done before I left my flat at 13:00. Otherwise I probably would have allowed myself to panic...

Anyway, when I arrived at the airport, I met the two hosts of the trip from the Hong Kong Tourism Board. And I was in for a great surprise: we had all been upgraded to business class! To be honest, at that point - having never flown business - I didn't realize just how wonderful that was! The next few hours we spent in the Cathay Pacific Business Lounge, getting to know each other (we were a group of 10 event professionals + our two hosts; with two participants from Germany/Italy about to meet us in HK). Time flew by (;-)) and soon it was time for priority boarding.

my fabulous seat and the foot rest; please also note the flowers!

It was simply amazing and made all the difference and the photos don't do it justice at all. Even the turbulence felt less bad when experienced in a horizontal position! Thanks to the weather conditions the flight time was reduced by about an hour to 'just' 10h40. The flight began with dinner - served on proper plates, with proper cutlery!

Prawns/pancetta/asparagus starter; beef/veggies/rice main; chocolate cake/fruit dessert

The grey and black 'stones' on the starter picture are salt and pepper shakers by the way. And I love the fact that my fruit was served with fork and knife. Food tasted delicious and service was incredibly nice (so much nicer than in British Airway's premium economy... just saying).

The movie and film list was also more extensive than British Airways' and had plenty of good options. I started with some episodes of the American Office, followed by Mr B Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook. Not only is Bradley very hot but so is Jennifer Lawrence (I haven't seen Hunger Games, so hadn't really noticed her before). The film is good but I thought the story was rather predictable and given the Oscars and general hype around the film, I had expected a bit more. Nevertheless, I'd recommend watching it.

While I only slept about an hour on the flight, it was still so much more comfortable to be able to lie down, underneath a proper duvet! The earplugs that came as part of a little beauty bag did unfortunately not block out the loud plane noises, so I put my ipod on instead and was relaxing to some music, occasionally drifting off.

cute little bags with all the essentials!

In addition to the 'usual' dental kit, cotton pads, socks, eye mask, and ear plugs, it also contained a night cream, a body cream and a lip balm - all by Murad. And isn't the bag just pretty?