MEL-SIN-PEN-xHKG-PEK & PVG-HKG-PEN-MEL

[anchew]

The seats were surprisingly spacious – much more leg room than the Country Link or V-Line trains and certainly more than Y or J on a 737. I was also lucky enough to have a spare seat next to me.

 

[anchew]

I also snuck into the ‘1[SUP]st[/SUP] class’ cabin before we departed to try out the seats, which didn't seem to have anymore leg room than '2nd class'. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to check out the ‘business class’ cabin (its highest premium cabin).

 

[anchew]

Between each carriage there are toilets, luggage storage area, hot water fountain, and a hand washing basin.









There’s also a power plug under the seat which was fantastic as I was able to watch movies on my laptop during the 5 hour journey.

 

[anchew]

Throughout the journey, an attendant pushed a trolley up the aisle with snacks and drinks for purchase. They also had a dining area at Carriage 9 where you could purchase food and drinks.





The ride was remarkably smooth. No turbulence or the wobbly feeling you get on when traveling on trains back in Australia. At the end of each cabin, they had an information screen that showed the speed that the train was traveling at. During most of the journey, we were traveling 290-310km/h. At one point of the journey, the speedometer was showing 318km/h.



At the end of the journey, the train pulled into Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station spot on 2:55pm. Remarkable.

 

[morrisjub]

I found it the same, lovely journey on the High Speed Rail. Having been on the Shinkansen, KTX and this, I would say this one was the smoothest of the three.

Never noticed the power points below the seats The only thing that ruined this trip was the smog, which just kept going on and didn't clear to about an hour out of Shanghai.

Had the same issue buying tickets but we don't speak or read Chinese, was very lucky some lady walking past could speak English and help us out, she then proceeded to go and we didn't get to thank her.

Loving the Trip Report as it is reminding me of my trips a few weeks earlier, pretty much the same. KL - Sin - PEK - PVG - KL! Looking forward to what you thought of Shanghai.

 

[richie9x]

Great trip report. Some of my favourite places. Wish I had a months vacation in Asia.

Was interesting to see a Malaysian 737, I've flown with Malaysia a bit, but never on a 737.

Well done getting an opup.

When I had to buy train tickets in China I just went to the window with the youngest person serving, in the hope that they would have the best English skills. It worked out well. I was very impressed by the trains in China - clean, comfortable, fast and on time.

Surprised that the train has a western style toilet. I thought trains (even modern ones) had squat toilets in China.

 

[anchew]

CX 367 PVG-HKG
Seats 43 D/E/G
Departure time 12:20pm
Arrival time 3:05pm

We arrived at PVG at 11am for the 2:20pm flight to HKG but were offered the 12:20pm flight, which we graciously accepted. After the departure formalities, we headed up to the lounge. This time we only received one lounge pass which meant I was only allowed one guest so my mum and cousin went window shopping instead while I had a bite in the 30 minutes I had until boarding. The lounge was actually quite small so I don’t think they missed much (but I smuggled some snacks out for them).

Boarding was 10 minutes late due to the late arrival of the operating aircraft, so I was at the gate before boarding was called and found my mum and cousin. Before long, it was time to board. They announced that passengers requiring assistance and premium passengers should board on the left side of the service counter while Y passengers to the right, which worked well.

The aircraft used for this flight was a 777-300 with one of those Y seats that recline by sliding forward. I personally quite like these seats. It seems like there’s more leg room than the usual Y seats and I found that I could cross my legs without my knees hitting the seat in front.





As the plane took off, I switched the screen to the outdoor cam. This is the first time that I’ve seen anything like this (haven’t been on an A380 yet) so was quite excited about it.



For the flight, the AVOD system didn’t seem to have any movies available which I found annoying (guess it was a short flight), but it did have a large variety of TV shows available. However, I decided to watch Grey’s Anatomy on my laptop instead.

 

[anchew]

The meal service commenced soon after the seat belt sign went out. Mum had the mince pork with rice while my cousin had the chicken with mash. When it came around to me, I wanted the chicken dish but they had run out of the chicken with mash so offered chicken with rice instead, which was yummy too. One thing I liked about the service was that the fight attendants would stroll down the aisle and collect any tray that was finished, rather than pushing the trolley down and collecting the trays all at once. By doing this, I firstly didn’t feel pressured to eat quickly, and secondly, my tray was collected the moment I was finished, which meant my tray table was then free to rest my laptop on.

Mince pork with rice:


Chicken with mash:


Chicken with rice


Overall, I found the CX service polite and professional.

 

[anchew]

CX 693 HKG-PEN
Seats 30 E/F/G
Departure time 3:20pm
Arrival time 7pm
Departure gate 61

From our hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, we caught the free Airport Express Shuttle Bus to Kowloon Station then the Airport Express Train to the airport. We left relatively early for our mid-afternoon flight, arriving at Kowloon Station at 11:15am with the plan to have lunch at Crystal Jade in the airport. The great thing about catching the train to the airport in Hong Kong is that you can check-in at the station and not have to lug your luggage to the airport. So with our boarding passes in hand and sans check-in luggage, we boarded the train at 11:30 to the airport, arriving at 11:50.





At the airport, we headed for Crystal Jade, famous for its Xiao Long Bao, before going through immigration and security. This time, like our flight PVG-HKG, we only received one lounge invitation, so I guess the reason we received two for our PEN-xHKG-PEK flights were thanks to the op-up. Therefore, I headed in search for a lounge while my mum and cousin did some duty free shopping. I felt a little guilty for only a second.

First, considering that I had around 2 hours before boarding, I decided to check out the Cabin near gate 23 but it was chockers. I had a quick look around then decided to go to the Pier First Class Lounge again, which was also a lot closer to my gate and a lot less busy.

At exactly 2:55pm (the boarding time on the boarding pass), I headed out of the lounge and walked the 10 odd steps to my gate. To my surprise, there were no line and it was in the final stages of boarding. I was able to walk straight onto the plane and quickly found my seat in the first row of Y. My mum and cousin were already there and I coped an earful about how worried they were that I would miss the flight… blah blah blah. They obviously aren’t frequent flyers – it was still 3pm at that time and there were people still boarding.

The plane was an older style A330 regional product with a looping IFE - the same type of aircraft as our previous PEN-HKG flight. I was seated in 30E (one of the 4 centre seats) with someone sitting to my left and my cousin to my right. The two window seats in row 30 were empty so when the seatbelt sign went out, I quickly moved and made myself comfortable there. The remainder of the flight was a non-event. We were offered drinks and nuts first, before the meal service commenced. For this flight though, I found the flight attendant serving me particularly friendly and attentive – his delivery of the service was excellent, even though it was a Y product. I can’t really put my finger on what it was but after the flight, I thought to myself – I really enjoyed that flight, only if the QF service was this good.

30E:


Empty seats:


30H:

 

[anchew]

Pics of the meals

Fish:


Chicken:

 

[Carlous Moochous]

Good trip reports mate - look forward to hearing all about your trip when you get back

 

[anchew]

MH 677 PEN-SIN
Seats 16A/B
Departure time scheduled 3:15pm actual 4:10pm
Arrival time scheduled 4:35pm actual 5:45pm
Gate 9

The flight was quite uneventful, except for the hour or so delay. So instead, here's some pretty pictures.

A sign in the departure area. Maybe QF should consider something similar in their domestic terminals?


Legroom - similar to the Y 737s that we're familiar with.


View of the cabin from my seat.


14 A/F emergency row seat with enormous legroom I was referring to in my previous MH TR.


View from my window on approach to SIN.

 

[anchew]

Packaging of the meals.


Fish with black bean sauce.


Curry chicken.

 

[drron]

A really good read and pics.
Just one suggestion-as a WP you are allowed to take a guest into the Flounges.When I fly with mrsdrron on CX her lounge invite always says first,mine business but she generously allows me to tag along with her.
You would of course have to choose between your mum and cousin!

 

[anchew]

A really good read and pics.
Just one suggestion-as a WP you are allowed to take a guest into the Flounges.When I fly with mrsdrron on CX her lounge invite always says first,mine business but she generously allows me to tag along with her.
You would of course have to choose between your mum and cousin!

That was the dilemma! I couldn't choose so it was neither. They wanted to go shopping anyway.

 

[anchew]

JQ 8 SIN-MEL
Seats 1A/B
Departure time 8:35pm
Arrival time 7:20am
Departure gate D32

So after 4 weeks overseas, it's time to head home. Check-in was a breeze with priority check-in and in no time, we were in the QF First Lounge. This was actually my first time in the SIN QF F Lounge - I've been to the J lounge many times before. Although it was smaller than the J lounge, it seemed to cope this evening. As we entered the lounge, QF 6 to SYD was being called for boarding so there were plenty of seats when we arrived. The food selection in the F lounge was certainly better than the J lounge and I particularly liked the ice-cream... yum.

At exactly 8:05, boarding was called, but they didn't call JQ 8 but the equivalent QF code share flight number. If I didn't pay attention, I would have totally missed the announcement. One wired thing about the lounge is that there were no monitors so I went to the front desk to check if it was indeed my flight being called.

Well... the walk to the gate was one long walk - I think it took us a good 10mins. By the time we reached the boarding gate, the departure lounge was cleared, which meant we were able to quickly clear security and board the plane in no time at all. Like our flight MEL-SIN on JQ 7 a month ago, an amenity kit, a blanket and water were waiting for us on our seats. Once we were settled into our seats, our dinner orders were taken - beef stew, sweet and sour fish, or vegetable udon noodles. However, no pre-flight drinks were offered - I guess we missed it due to our lateness.

Udon noodles:


Sweet & sour Fish:


It seemed it was a Malaysian cabin crew serving us in the J cabin on this flight and I found them to be wonderful. They were very polite and professional. Meals were served soon after take-off and trays were quickly removed. At around 2 and a half hours into the flight (which seemed quite late), desserts were offered to those who were still awake - apple pie or cheese & crackers.

Apple pie:


After dessert, I decided to try and get some sleep. To make myself more comfortable, I used my carry-on as a footrest which was quite comfy and was able to get a few of hours sleep but was awaken by the smell of croissants wafting through the cabin around 90 minute prior to arrival. A cabin crew saw me wake up and offered me breakfast, which I graciously accepted.

Improvised foot rest:


Breakfast:


We arrived into MEL early at around 7:05am. I cleared immigration in less than 10 minutes through Smartgate and my mum, who didn't have a chip passport, followed behind around 5 minutes afterwards. But then we had to wait for the baggage carrousel to start and our bags to arrive. Once we picked up our bags and cleared quarantine with some food to be declared, we were out of there by 7:50 - 45 minutes all up.

The End