Ewens-Downing Adventures in Asia

(By Ron) It turned out to be quite a walk from the lounge to the gate and by the time we got there, it was obvious that boarding had been in progress for a while. Not to worry–there was a separate boarding area for first class and business with a dedicated jetway. So we boarded our Boeing 747 and climbed the stairs to the second level where our seats in business class were.All we could say was “wow!”. It was a new aircraft and everything was immaculate, right down to the carpet. I lost count as to how many stewardesses there were. We sat down in roomy leather seats that reclined to beds and were immediately offered a “welcome” flute of champagne. That set the standard for the rest of the flight. Someone was always available to tend to our every need, and the stewardesses asked us often if we needed anything. The service was unlike anything else I’d experienced on any other airline.

But that was just the beginning. A short while into the flight, we were offered both a dinner menu and a drink menu which offered both wines and cocktails. We both opted for the fresh mixed “Singapore Sling”, again something I’ve not seen on other airlines. The wine list was quite impressive, too. I opted for a German Riesling with dinner, which was one of the best tasting that I can remember. Dinner was very good–we both had an oven roasted chicken breast with potato and fennel. This was a signature menu item from the San Francisco restaurant “Boulevard” and was prepared for our flight. Very tasty, and still moist and juicy, unlike most airline chicken dishes, and all served with impeccable flair. Dessert was amazing–a white custard that was like nothing we’d ever had.

I decided to try to get some ZZZ’s and Louis wanted to explore the high tech entertainment system. Bose noise canceling headphones were provided that were really great.

Off to sleep and woke up early since we were still on Pacific Time, but still about 3 hours to HKG. Breakfast was good, coffee was good, and the flight was about an hour early arriving. We were both kind of asleep as was the rest of the airport. We went through customs and only had to wait about five minutes at the carousel for our luggage, another perk for travelling business class.

Now where was the driver for the limousine to the hotel??