My first trip report SYD-NRT-SVO-MMK-SVO-PAR-surface sectors-BCN-SVO-HKG-SYD

[TonyHancock]

Welcome home!

Looking forward to the rest of the report!

Cheers

TH

 

[drron]

have enjoyed the TR.lots of different info.dont worry though i have been home a month tomorrow and my TR isn't finished.Tis the nature of the beast.

 

[sergeyvzn]

so - SU595 SVO-HKG on A330-300, seat 25A
this flight is from Terminal F (former Terminal 2), the monster of the Soviet era, dark, narrow corridors, lack of amenities, hot and suffocating. The airport is busy upgrading the terminal, you can see work going everywhere but it does not help when it is +28C inside (the airconditioning is not working, there are apology signs everywhere) and passengers are allowed to smoke inside!!! I was horrified to see these little smoking stations everywhere and people lighting up, as a result the cigarette smoke blanket the whole departures area and make waiting for your flight simply unbearable. I went upstairs to a corner bar (lazy service, very high prices and very unattractive food offering), bought myself a sandwich and two bottles of water ($3AUD for a half litre bottle, I love Russian airport prices, they are all for oligarchs, I suppose ) and started typing away on my laptop. The check in had been easy, I had got my preallocated 25A, passing through passport control took 30 seconds and there I was inhaling cigarette smoke I hate
View attachment 3131
the A330 is ready for boarding

View attachment 3132
that what Terminal F looks like inside - the wall on the right hides some urgent upgrade work being carried out

View attachment 3133\
guess what these two guys on the left (near the counter) are doing? They are smoking!


View attachment 3134
finally boarding my SU595

boarding was slightly late, at 7.40 instead of 7.30 for the 8.15 pm flight. Lots of Chinese passengers with a sprinkling of Russians and Europeans from different countries - while I was waiting to board, I head a family talk Finnish so they must've been transiting SVO going to HKG from HEL. Why on earth would you do that if there is a direct AY flight linking HEL with HKG? Aeroflot must be offering really low prices for Europeans travelling to Asia

got on the plane, took my 25A, a pillow, blanket was waiting on the seat. No amenity kit. SU used to have a pretty blue bag with an eye mask and slippers in economy but it went the same way QF's socks went from their amenity kits

Take off slightly late, the same 10 mins, taking a right turn, seeing Moscow on my left for a couple of minutes and then it's all forest, forest, forest, forest...until you hit Altay mountains.

The plane was brand new, everything is shiny and working. The inflight entertainment system worked fine, a good selection of Western and Russian movies, games, TV shows and music. I watched 3 Russian movies in Russian thinking it would be a long while before I will be able to do it again. The screen is quite a bit larger than the one you see on QF's A330 but this is probably the only visible difference, the layout in economy is the same standard 2-4-2 and 2-2-2 in business. Refreshment served about 30 mins into the flight, then a dinner 30 mins later - chicken or fish or beef (3 choices, not bad I thought), I had fish with steamed veges again, not bad at all, washed away with some Italian white - it was free again, how nice SU stopped charging 5 euros for it


IFE screens


SU A330-300 economy - all bright orange, including their cabin crew uniforms


Business is 2-2-2



2.5 hours before reaching Hong Kong a hot breakfast was served, either an Asian version of some sort or pancakes with jam, I opted for the pancakes, really nice. We were flying over mainland China somewhere, could not see much as the shades were down, I lifted mine but could not see anything other than thick cloud and was shooed straight away by a vigilant blond Russian flight attendant

Landed on time into a dark grey cloud and rain in Hong Kong, a quick train trip to the main terminal from the satellite where we parked, I cleared immigration (a longish queue for about 25 mins), picked my luggage off the beld (my bag was already waiting for me) and off I was to the Airport Express station to catch it to Central.

 

[sergeyvzn]

oops

something happened with 4 photos I posted, they have disappeared. Still working it out, I'd better re-post, hadn't I


passengers boarding SU595 to Hong Kong


the two men on the left are smoking!!! it's legal!!!



terminal upgrade work being carried out behind the wall on the left


A330-300 waiting by the gate

 

[sergeyvzn]

the last one

I arrived at the hotel (Langham Place in Mongkok, Kowloon) at 11.30 to find out that no room was available for me until 15.00 which is their check-in hour. I understand that but I had requested an early check-in a long long long time ago, namely in September last year when I made the booking and explained I would be coming from a long flight after a shorter but still 4 hour flight, would be very tired and could they please do something. Being 5 star I imagined they would find a room for a tired traveller but I was wrong. The hotel is fabulous, don't get me wrong, the service is quite good but they either did not want to help me or thought I was not important enough. All their check in staff was able to offer was to store my luggage and for me to go to their fitness centre and freshen up there. I politely declined and said I'd go sightseeing instead - a bit mistake on my side as I was hit by a worst jet lag ever almost immediately I parked my backside on a seat in a noodle bar inside the Langham Place shopping mall (the hotel is a part of it and sits on top of the Mongkok MTR station, very convenient), I thought I'd die. Walked out, took MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui to have a walk along the promenade and felt even worse, in fact I had to sit down for a while as I thought I'd collapse. Considering I did not sleep on the SVO_HKG leg at all and that Moscow had already been a 2 hours time zone shift from Barcelona, I was very brave...by the way, the check in guy took my mobile number and said he'd call me as soon as a room was ready. You could probably guess that no phone call was ever made to tell me the good news so I just dragged my body along the promenade taking a few pictures of the beautiful skyline on Hong Kong island...finally it was 2.45 pm, time to go back to the hotel.

Room 3517 on the 35th floor with a spectacular panorama of Kowloon was just fantastic, I immediately forgot all about waiting for 3.5 hours, I was so glad to be there and park my weary body on the widest king size bed I'd ever slept on (actually, the second widest, the first widest was in Sofitel Moorea but this is another story)...sleep sleep sleep

the very nice bed and a bathroom behind a glass wall


the very nice bathroom with a marble bath and a separate rain shower on the right


and a very wide flat screen TV (a coffee machine supplied as well, the white spot in the drawer)


anyway, after a shower and a 3 hour sleep I woke up and decided to do a bit more sightseeing as I felt much better. Went to Tsim Sha Tsui to take a few photos of the skyline and the laser show, then caught a Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island


Hong Kong Island skyline in a very thick cloud



then caught the tram to Victoria Peak, went up the viewing platform on the top of the terrace and saw exactly nothing - all covered in fog and thick cloud, I could not see my right hand, what a disappointment. Too many people to get back on the tram so I caught a cab to Central instead, they are plentiful and so cheap in Hong Kong.
Ordered some chocolates to my room (some very interesting flavours you don't get back home, like green tea jelly or beetroom jam), watched some TV and then peacefully drifted into sleep. Woke up at 11 am the next morning, headed downstairs to the main restaurant for breakfast and figured out I had quite a few hours before my late check out at 6 pm (50% of their nightly rate applies but that's fine, my flight was not until 9 pm) so more sightseeing was due. Went to Lantau Island to do a cable car trip to the giant Buddha statue - ****, that was scary! 25 minutes in a tiny little cabin swaying, a very strong wind, thick cloud again, you are suspended VERY high up in the air, I felt a little bit uncomfortable looking down but the wonderful view of the airport on my left made up for the fear I had!




a few hours later I was back to the hotel, had a lie down for an hour or two and then it was time to go to the airport.

Not much to report about my QF128 home - I was still jet lagged, had a nice 70A with lots of extra space on my left where I had my stuff like pillow and blanket, could not eat anything really, could not sleep either, so three more movies. It was nice to be home as the 747-400 felt like home, the service was good, actually I can't really say anything was not up to the level of service and quality of inflight product that we like about Qantas, all was great ...I felt a little bit better by the time breakfast was served so I did have it, chose the scrambled eggs option.
7.45 am and I was leaving the plane - home, sweet home. My partner picked me up, got me home by 9 am and guess what I did - right, took a shower and went to bed

I was back to work on Monday morning feeling fine..it was good to catch up with colleagues and friends and tell everyone about the trip

but guess what - another big trip is about to hit the planning stage, we are flying to Vietnam in February via KL, the tickets have already been bought (remember that great deal Malaysian Airlines had a couple of months ago) - we scored a $590 return to Vietnam, flying into Hanoi and returning from Ho Chi Mihn City. We are going to spend 16 days in the country and see as much as we can including a trip to Con Dao islands in the south so now I'm about to look up Vietnam Airlines internal flights for Hanoi- Hue and Hoi An - Ho Chi Mihn sectors and also Air Mekong flights to Con Dao...how very exciting! And more Sky Team airline flights for me that will help my FF points account with Aeroflot

well, that's if I'm afraid. Hope I haven't bored you too much and if you have any questions about anything you might want to know about travelling in Russia etc - just ask

 

[serfty]

Thanks for the report, could really sense your HKG tiredness toward the end.

I have enjoyed it.