GETTING THERE
Not brimming with excitement facing a 15 ½ hour flight from Toronto to Hong Kong with a two-hour layover waiting for a 3 ½ hour flight to Singapore.
The outboard flight and connecting flights to Singapore on Cathay Pacific one of the three best airlines in world as awarded in by Skytrax in 2025.
Dingy Airbus 350 plane with lavatories from prehistoric era and a less than cheerful cabin colour.
Have bulkhead seats in Economy with adequate but not overly generous legroom. Warning though to our left a baby change station in the family seats. Hoping the screeching baby and poop smells are at a minimum.
As the flight departs at noon a good part of the trip will be in daylight but oh no after lunch the cabin is dimmed to the pitch-black status illuminated by entertainment screens. Trapped in darkness like in a Joseph Conrad novel “Darkness at Noon”.
Holy Moses low life economy class passengers receive a menu with a choice and unlike my Air Canada Euro flights from Toronto the menu is far more interesting than Air Canada’s chicken and pasta and unlike Air Canada they do not run out of that cheap and cheerful chicken as it is not on the menu.
I choose a “Crispy Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce” as a main but replace “crispy” with “soggy”. Started with “Turkey and a Seven Grains Salad”. The turkey is sliced processed sandwich meat. My God. Would they endure sandwich meat in Business Class! Wine, Rolf Binder Shiraz, in a paper cup. Delicious “Betsy” lager brewed exclusively for Cathay Pacific.
The dinner dish is shrimp in rice, actually there are even visible shrimp! Tasty.
Movie selection has a slight Chinese and Korean element to it. Watched “Trapped” a quasi-Chinese Mad Max film and a Hong Kong caper film “Smashing Frank” then an Italian film “Napoli New York”. Three movies watched and six hours remaining. I can’t read in the oppressive pitch-black flying prison I am in. Poor audio selection.
Arrive at Hong Kong’s massive airport and then off to Singapore. Dinner is chicken and rice in gravy. My stomach turns. The fruit salad is long past its prime and the miniscule wisp of lettuce has turned brown.
Take a prearranged car at Singapore airport to Shangri-La Hotel and collapse.
Made it but what shape am I in?
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