Index
Days 1/2: Flying
Day 3a: HKG-BKK inaugural
Day 3b: BKK-HKG
Day 3c: HKG-SGN inaugural
Day 4: Vietnam
Day 5: SGN-HKG-HND
Day 6: NRT-ROR inaugural
Day 7: ROR-NRT inaugural
Southeast Asia
Not quite a run through the (long) transit area at Suvarnabhumi Airport, a slight hassle with boarding passes for a couple of us, then back through security and back to the departure gates for our return to Hong Kong for second half of today's double-header inaugural. Scott ended up on Thai Airways, which is why he's absent from these pictures, as most of us instead had booked Emirates, taking advantage of a relatively uncommon fifth freedom flight, plus a rare opportunity to fly Emirates business class at a relatively affordable price.
The Emirates lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport is quite nice, spacious as befitting a lounge that has to serve an Airbus A380's worth of passengers, with ceilings open to the terminal's full height, much like the United Club at Hong Kong International Airport. Unlike United, tho, food at the Emirates lounge is very good, and the showers had no wait, at least for those seeking a shower.
Not too long after was boarding, conveniently at the gate right next to the lounge. While most of the group ended up in business class on EK 384, a few of us, by luck or by the somewhat unexpected appearance of very affordable cash buy-up offer, ended up in first class. I'm not sure how @laxtoluxury convinced United to put her and the film crew in Emirates first class, but they were there too-- way fun, although with the privacy of the fully enclosed suites in EK F, it was actually hard to see much of the filming. Somewhere in there was some very nice slippers, a printed menu that felt closer to a book than any in-flight menu should be, an at-seat minibar I didn't even have time to partake from, and some bedding for a nap I was not going to get time to take.
As one of the few airlines operating the Airbus A380, and one of even few airlines with a shower installed onboard, I juuust managed to squeeze in a shower on the flight. It is kind of a gimmick, the water timer is aggresive and apparently runs even if you have the water flow stopped (which I did not expect...), but a five minute shower at 30,000 feet was indeed a unique experience. This left just enough time for meal service and a quick trip to the bar before arrival; Emirates uses proper silver for the caviar and apparently stocks plenty (I heard four servings for each passenger, but with so little time I only had one serving), a tasty smoked salmon and cheese appetizer (among many choices), and then the one fail of the meal, an overly salty chicken and rice. They were out of everything else for mains, and honestly they stuff you with so much other food, I wasn't complaining. Had to had a glass of Dom Perignon 2015 to go with the chocolate cake for dessert, more chocolates appeared, and holy cow it was a lot.
Had just enough time to run to the bar at the back of the plane before landing, said hi to Mark, Phil, Amanda, and others congregrated there, and took a few photos; clearly plenty of other business class and first class passengers were, like us, on this flight and taking full advantage of the novelty. Like the first class suite itself, the bar had plenty of style but also felt a tad bit overdone, as befits Emirates, and a tad bit dated-- just like the big screen in the first class suite, which was ample in size but clearly a few years old.
The experience was indeed over the top, and while it's hard to say anything other than a seat with a seatbelt is needed for such a short flight, as a one-off it was worth it.