Bill&Theresa: Day 2--19-DEC--Lounge, Lounge, Lounge....

OK, for those paying attention, yes, we “skipped” the 18^th as a “day”. We got up on Saturday, napped, but stayed up until Sunday night (11:30PM), so I’m going with Day 2 being Monday.

Merry Christmas Cathay Pacific! Nice Wreath!

First, a quick wrap up on last night. Our flight from Seoul (Incheon) to Hong Kong was nice, notwithstanding it being on an Airbus A330-300. The seats were pretty standard, just a double by the window. No complaints. I was amused by the wreath!! It was plastic, like something you might find in a cheap store, or in the 70s, but it looked nice. I did want to ask if they had the burn certs on it, as I suspected it would not pass the burn or smoke release standards for commercial aircraft.

We woke up this morning like 6 or 7AM, a good 3 hours before our alarm, but mostly well rested. When we checked in last night, they put us on the “Executive” level (because they were sold out of King beds on the lower floors), so we meandered over to the Executive Lounge, and acted like we belonged. Free breakfast! We had a very nice lounging meal, then went back to the room and Theresa took a nap, while I lounged with a book. She’s getting a lot of those on this trip so far, but lest anyone think ill, she rarely naps aside from vacation! We packed up and headed back to the Terminal and, well, found the Cathay Business Class lounge. It was difficult, because there are 4 to choose from, but we had an “admission” pass, so I presume we can’t check them all out (I know…cry me a river!). We committed to the one they call “Wings”. They had some food in one place, more food in another place, a noodle bar, a coffee bar (with desserts), and such. We got a couple bowls of noodle soup with a thick peanut sauce, a few Dim Sum (steamed bite sized dumplings stuffed with various meats and vegetables), and a beer.

Kind of hard to look out the windows!

Our third flight was an A340-300 (for those who care). And to Mr. Airbus (You know who you are…ATM), we were 30 minutes late departing the gate. The seats on this airplane are like diagonal pods. I had my back to the window, and couldn’t really look out of it. And they sort of felt like coffins. We could sort of see each other, but couldn’t really talk. For the meal service, Theresa had their “tea service” (don’t ask me…) and I had the beef and noodle soup. Mine was good!! Tea? I don’t get it! Cathay offers Johnny Walker Gold as one of their "spirits". "Sure, I'll have some 'Gold'!"

On approach, I was trying to turn around and see things. I did spot our hotel for the night…as it is rather identifiable. After landing, I tried to see the various airlines and planes. I spotted a Singapore Airlines A350 (less than a year for that airplane, and it was my first sighting for an A350. In Sydney in 2007, I spotted my first A380; also in its first year of operation, and also in Singapore’s livery!

Peek A Boo!!

Cheap noodles and expensive Scotch!

That's a LOT of ships!! But why is one going the wrong way?

A350! (sorry, bad picture quality...I barely got it)

Our room on the 47th floor.

We landed in Singapore, and cleared Immigration and Customs, got our bags, caught a cab, checked in, and were in our room just about 60 minutes later! We are staying at the Marina Bay Sands, which has three towers, and a large ship shaped deck on the top (connecting the three towers). On that deck is a swimming pool (largest roof top pool in the world). So, we got to our room on the 47^th floor, and found a balcony. Cool!! Then we went up to the deck, and walked around checking out the views. Nice! Then we changed into our swim suits, and headed back up for the pool…it was raining! And the rain was cold. The water wasn’t bad, but felt cold at first. The views were neat, but with the rain, we just could not get any good pix. But, we figured we’ll come back tomorrow morning. So, we called it a day.