Lake Baikal, Siberia on Qantas and Siberian Airlines (S7)

[RooFlyer]

The Intercon is feeling a bit tired ; still a fair few miles in it, but will need a refurb soon if it is to compete at the high end. I guess that why I got it for abt $230, no brekky.

So I had Breakfast at 'Modina', King St Wharf. $15 plus the de-caf coffee, but fab-o.

 

[RooFlyer]

10 mins after boarding was due to commence for my QF117 flight to HKG, three things happen.

1. I realise they are no where near ready to board. Only one agent at the gate.

2. Air crew arrive. Ok, we are delayed.

3. Gate announcement that it is a quick flight up today and we can't arrive early, so there will be a 30 min delay in boarding.

Fair enough, but they would have known that maybe an hour ago. The aircrew certainly knew.

Just why the fxx_ couldnt the passengers be told?

Just announced a 40 min delay. Do I have time to go back up to the Flounge?

 

[JohnM]

Yes .

 

[RooFlyer]

Being grog and calorie limited is hell.

 

[tgh]

No holiday exemption ?
Go on ..have fun.. tomorrow might not arrive….

 

[RooFlyer]

Thin end of the wedge @tgh . The more I behave now, the more latitude for letting the belt out later on. That's the theory anyway..

Oh, OK.

 

[RooFlyer]

Here was ( first) lunch

 

[JohnM]

Hmmm - well, one thing I would never have would be the last bowl with the fluffy stuff. Looks like a lot of sugar to me .

But no S & P squid? - the world's finest pre-flight snack - sacrilege! .

 

[RooFlyer]

Had it many times. Haven't had a lunch opportunity for a long time so tried the 5 spice duck ( entree size). I agree re the pavlova, but I anticipated tgh's comment so went for it!

Still waiting for the engineers to sort out the fuel issue.

 

[Denali]

Hmmm - well, one thing I would never have would be the last bowl with the fluffy stuff. ....

Fairy floss?

 

[JohnM]

Aka sugar...

 

[RooFlyer]

Further delay on board due to fuel issue. Bar service commenced. I'm still pacing myself.

 

[RooFlyer]

Aka sugar...

Just think of it as dessicated wine ....

 

[JohnM]

No...

 

[RooFlyer]

Once underway, QF117, A330 service to HKG was excellent. All female cabin crew and for me a good level of attentivness.

'Lunch' was served about an hour after take off ( so abt 5:30pm after the delay.).



Seared tuna starter was well balanced.



Crumbed pork cutlet was large and tasty, but the crumb coating was soft rather than the ideal crunchy, but that was forgivable in flight.



I stuck to water

Another hot snack was offered just prior to descent. Crew came around throughout the flight with chip and biscuit type snacks.

I watched a number of the series 'Genius' about the life of Albert Einstein, which is recommend.

We arrived about 23:15, having had the promised less than scheduled flight time.

Immigration was quick, and my bag was on the carousel when I arrived in Hall B.

So at 23:40 I called the Novotel Citigate at Lantau for their shuttle. 15 mins later and 4 calls later I was thoroughly pissed off, as at no time did anyone at the hotel answer the phone. I tried reservations ( twice), restaurant and 'other services' options - no dice.

So I had to get some cash from a ATM and then a taxi. Short ride and HKD$50 later I checked in. I'll see later why they don't answer their phones.

 

[RooFlyer]

Out of order, sorry. A330 had the Qantas 'business suite' and this was only the second time I'd experienced it.

I was in 2K, on aisle in the middle pair (1-2-1 config). This had the seat 'exposed' on the aisle; I wanted to change to an odd # which would have been more private, but it was an upgrade, only notified 2 days prior, and the Qantas web site was broken and not allowing changes for the two days prior to the flight. No biggie for a mainly day flight.

Poor pics, sorry. My seat:



Window seats:



Pretty good product. Lots of handy storage space, good access to power etc. Comfortable seat - might be a bit narrow for me in bed mode, with hard sides, although I didn't try to sleep in it.

Amenity kit was very basic only. No PJs of course.

 

[RooFlyer]

My room at the Novotel at Lantau. A good size for HKG.





Outside views. No outside noise at all - I'm on the 20th floor, 3rd from the top. That's the white cable car station in the middle.



Looking towards the airport.



A typical HKG view out the other side!

 

[drron]

Aka sugar...

But I am now in Okinawa and traditional Okinawan sweets are brown sugar.Normally 100% brown sugar.However Okinawa has the greatest percentage of people living to 100 on earth.

 

[craven morehead]

Late aboard !!

 

[Happy Dude]

I looked at doing the Trans Siberian from Beijing to Irkutsk, but ended up being too expensive unless sharing with stranger which I didn't want to do. But a great trip!

Late to the party but onboard....

The trick is to stick to the 'local' trains which are slower and stop frequently. It's the same railway lines. I wouldn't be overly keen to share o/n sleepers either. The bride and I often had 4-berth sleepers to ourselves.

Note that the Trans-Manchurian is much slower than the Trans-Siberian largely due to the border crossings. Great travelling for the time-rich though.