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| nikkor 20 mm 2.8 f ⁄ 2.8 | cathay pacific the cabin |
having handed his lounge invitation to the reception attendent donut dull dull heads down the « cat walk » to the computer area he wanted to check on the progress of flight jl 17 from vancouver : the canadian kids were in the air to join him in tokyo | |
| before settling at the cabin with me to watch the late winter sunrise and early morning flight traffic donut attempted to check in by scanning his donut [ cx really ought to recognize him by now !! hehe ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
the noodle bar at cathay pacific the pier at hong kong international airport |
donut stops by another lounge to replenish his energy level on our long walk to the gate 70 we were heading to tokyo to meet up with laurie and the small canadian kids for a long weekend vacation this was the last trip of the year for me and with my relocation coming up early next year it could be the last in a while [ hopefully though the kids and i will get a chance to fly the new business class cabin before too long ] | |
| a couple more of the lounge with donut but in lieu of photographing yet another flight to japan below are some of the hotel stay there instead [ still with laurie and the kids of course ! ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
laurie at griandole park hyatt tokyo |
amex gave us a free night at a park hyatt and a two night for the price of one offer at a mandarin oriental both were set to expire and with tokyo being the only nearby city with both we decided to meet there for some holiday shopping the properties were of course amazing — we were just coming out of the subway with our suitcases and heading towards the mandarin when somehow the door lady greeted us by name !! | |
| after checking out of the m.o. we hopped onto the subway to shinjuku and checked into the park [ that sounded half glamourous no ? ] ending the three days with a haul of six sets of bath amenities hehe |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
breakfast at k'shiki mandarin oriental tokyo |
butterfly and ladybug mug mugs were the only kids who could wake up in time to join us for this breakfast it is annoying that outside your home you need to look decent for breakfast ; honestly if you have the energy to shower get dressed and fix your hair at seven in the morning on a holiday then perhaps you do not really need the « energy breakfast buffet » but the food and oh the view [ !! ] really made up for the early morning wake up call | |
| our stay came with a tasting menu also at k'shiki's and the food and the view was even better at night [ when dessert came laurie looked wistfully at the server hoping the meal did not have to end ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific lounge at narita international airport |
the third cathay pacific lounge of this trip at narita airport terminal two can you make out all six kids in this photo ? after this group photo was taken the kids split off into pairs fly and snail headed to the far end to spot planes whereas butterfly and ladybug perused a copy of the wall street journal last but not least donut showed little devil how to check flight statuses on the computers | |
| well the above was the plan anyway before laurie rushed me to head back out for some more shopping you can see in the above i made a mistake with one of the pairings [ sorry fly and snail ! ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 8 |
cathay pacific lounge at vancouver international airport |
we were surprised with an upgrade at check in on the return and to a near empty first class cabin !! if only they could let me in on this earlier — we would have brought a much larger contingent of kids and camera lenses [ sigh hehe ] an incidental note from the bump is that donut dull dull is not only the only kid to have flown all three travel classes but also now a kid who has flown all three travel classes in as many weeks | |
| eggplant of course slept well no matter where we were ; except for maybe a few seconds of confusion when he toppled to the floor during take-off [ i had forgotten to secure him to the buddy seat ; sorry ! ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific boeing 747-400 cabin |
an hour and a half after taking off the flight attendants had closed the other window shades but they let donut and drumstick dull keep theirs open when they saw how intrigued both were by the view outside from when the air bridges were pulled back at the gate to now cruising above the clouds at 38,000 ft the two stayed right by the window wanting to take in every moment | |
| departing vancouver early afternoon b-bug chases the setting sun as it heads west to hong kong meaning much of the flight is in daylight which is great for clicking away on my camera |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 5.6 |
cathay pacific boeing 747-400 cabin |
besides the more humane timing the meals on the cx 838 / 9 pairing are also a step up this pair of flights packs proper lunches and dinners versus the lighter suppers and breakfasts on the cx 888 / 9 red eyes pictured below with a glass of the cathay pacific signature chateau lynch bages is one of the two chinese lunch options « stir fried lobster served with pak choy and mushrooms » | |
| another plus for the dedicated vancouver flights i have read is that boarding cx 889 in vancouver you sometimes also lose the caviar and salmon appetizer which may be served ex new york |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 4 |
cathay pacific boeing 747-400 cabin |
we are travelling with the bear necessities as you can see eggplant fell asleep again soon after we leveled off [ he moved to sit next to me to prevent any more mishaps ] and donut slept comfortably next to eggplant too not longer after the first meal ; drumstrick however was having a tougher time with stomach troubles keeping him up again : | |
| drumstick while blessed with an enviable petit body [ the smallest of all the kids ] unfortunately also has a ferocious appetite and when he sees other kids eating he cannot help but indulge and over eat |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
departure gate 1 at hong kong international airport |
three days after returning from the tokyo office donut was back with me at the departure gates we were vancouver bound for a week off after four months of heavy duty office work ; tagging along this time was drumstick dull dull [ this was his first flight in thirty months after bouts with over eating and hospitalizations — more on this perhaps later ] as well as the ever asleep yet eye catching eggplant mug mug | |
| having been so long since his last long haul flight donut et al are standing in line to be the first to board which leaves me enjoying by myself the new cabin lounge for the second time this week |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 16 mm fisheye f ⁄ 4 |
pineapple dull dull and work out kids at my hong kong office |
the workout kids offered to help with some of my office work while we are on holiday in vancouver workout dull dull and workout mug mug picked up some basic spreadsheet skills while they were with me in sydney a year ago let us see if they will do a good job hehe ; behind them in my chair is pineapple boss dull dull supervising with him constantly napping he may be the best kind of supervisor ! | |
| and back on the plane donut dull dull and drumstick dull dull were turning their attention to the menu eggplant mug mug us of course sleeping perfectly soundly whether sitting up or lying down on board b-hue |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 14 mm d f ⁄ 8 |
downtown vancouver in the distance from cypress mountain |
the cx 838 arrival time of one pm gives me three hours for a relaxing drive up north before heading back to the mainland at five to pick laurie up from his office for a nice dinner at trafalgars the day then closes with a glass [ or three ] of wine and a sleeping pill [ or three ] for a corrected body clock the next morning and office stress literally thousands of miles away — good luck workout kids ! | |
| tell you something — while setting up the above shots i accidentally dropped and stepped on snail he had to be bandaged up that night and he did not speak to me for a week afterwards [ kiss snail ga ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific the cabin at hong kong international airport |
donut dusted off his back pack and joined me for our first flight in four months !! in the intervening time cathay has launched the haneda service which we were trying today and the new lounge above workout dull dull also came along as he heard the lounge has a healthful juice bar hehe ; once on board though he stayed in the bag as we were flying to the two full days of meetings in [ cr ] y class | |
| three more photos this morning — in the middle one donut dull dull is admiring the views to haneda [ sure it may be the smallest window on asia world city liveryed b-kpf but he loves it just fine ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 16 mm fisheye f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific boeing 747-400 at vancouver international airport |
even though in the photo you can only see his back as donut dull dull made his way to door 1 of b-hue you can be sure his face was to the brim with excitement [ and maybe a little sunburnt — the air bridge is a long walk for a small kid ] after four days hanging out with the canadian kids he was now heading home on his first day time long haul flight that means thirteen hours awake to explore the aircraft to his heart's content !! | |
| who can resist the eye-fetching queen of the sky ? donut asked me if he could leave the lounge early to head to the gate and admire the aircraft taking us home this afternoon before boarding |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 16 mm fisheye f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific boeing 747-400 upper deck cabin |
donut dull dull and my mum sat next to each other in 81 / 82 k ; these were hand-picked by donutthe upper deck is a no-brainer : beds are 6 inches longer than on the main deck and there are no bassinet positions up here rear toilets and a maligned window on the front left are important reasons for picking this first seat on the right but the key one for donut though — the seat is flight deck and pilot rest seat adjacent ! | |
| as he strolled around donut caught the eyes of one of the flight crew who extended to him a cockpit tour [ it made his day — and he thought the buttons at his seat were tough to keep track of ! ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 24-85 mm d f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific boeing 747-400 cabin |
this bed time photo of the b-hox cabin was taken by laurie and is easily my favorite from the flight whereas my cabin photos are becoming quite formulaic he has a knack of taking awesome ones without really trying it was disappointing though that we did not manage good shots of the first meal as it was served after sun down [ the balik salmon and caviar really deserves to be naturally lit ] but i suppose we can just use this as an excuse to fly again | |
| the canadian kids look all energetic and excited here partly because it's only the middle of the afternoon when cx 838 departs but also because after a year and a half the jumbo is back on this route !! |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 24-85 mm d f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific boeing 747-400 cabin and in flight meal |
a hearty breakfast to celebrate the return ad interim of the jumbo service to vancouver it was indeed quite nice to be sitting in the nose on a long haul flight again — if only for a couple of seasons before their anticipated deployment back again to europe ; fly dull dull is also loading up on energy as he will be assisting in the landing [ with his antenna resembling the spirit of ecstacy we have dubbed him our resident rolls royce engine ] | |
| as the owner of his own chain of clothing stores [ you have you heard of coccinelle haven't you ? ] ladybug mug mug wakes up stylishly to a cup of hong kong milk tea as the sun rises behind the shades the three other kids also help themselves to some healthful food before the afternoon arrival |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 24-85 mm d f ⁄ 4 |
stairs to cathay pacific the wing at hong kong international airport |
the small canadian kids drop by hong kong to pick up donut for our spring break in japan here they are — the six small kids making their way up the stair case to the upper level of the cathay pacific lounge they look very happy together travelling together ; perhaps they were sharing the latest gossips from the playground [ donut just started kindergarten and little devil will start soon too ] | |
| some in flight photos from hong kong to sapporo ; this was the first time donut was in a 777-200 and he could not wait to walk all around the aircraft and bringing his best friend little devil with him [ little devil is not that into planes himself but he always listens to what donut has to say ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 24-85 mm d f ⁄ 4 |
cathay pacific boeing 777-200 cabin |
the youngest of the six kids coming with us to sapporo and tokyo gathered amongst themselves to catch up [ two months had passed since they last got together though donut see snail and little devil every now and then on the webcam ] incidentally did you notice the new lens ? it was meant to help me disinure myself from the wide angles and capture cabin shots from a different perspective | |
| and it was a spectacular failure ; there was a brief venture into 70 mm territory in the street photo below but thank goodness the zoom has a 24 mm semi wide [ and at f / 2.8 ] for me to fall back on |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 24-85 mm d f ⁄ 2.8 |
laurie on jr hokkaido train to new chitose airport |
posing for a photo as we headed back to the airport for an early domestic flight after a day and a half of fresh seafood and open air daiyokujou in sapporo we turned to tokyo for some serious shopping laurie originally suggested this routing so we could fly on japan airlines [ my first time — flight attendants bow before taking their seats !! ] but this open jaw itinerary actually works quite well as we enjoy different activities in each city | |
| the obligatory shots of the kids and their in flight meals ; ladybug is rather adventurous with his beverages he wakes up to a sip of strong coffee after trying a little bit of the [ surprisingly excellent ] cab sav |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 24-85 mm d f ⁄ 4 |
laurie and me outside louis vuitton ginza |
here is a photo of laurie taking a nap by a busy crosswalk walking around the various department stores and not buying anything can be exhausting !! this was taken on a final shopping dash before our flight home and it would been another disappointing trek if not for stumbling across the century old eatery below in a ginza back street | |
| some photos from rengatei where we had the most phenomenal tonkatsu and curry we've ever tasted [ hong kong big dull dull sang numerous prayers for his friends who may now be in our stomachs ] |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific boeing 777-300 er cabin |
donut dull dull running over the supper choices tonight to vancouver with fishball mug mug a fledgeling himself not long ago donut took good care of his elder brother who was travelling on his first long haul flight incidentally credit goes to our in flight service manager who suggested this setup when he saw me troubled by the dismal lighting the winter departure of 1 am for an evening arrival kept the cabin in total darkness almost the entire time | |
| some photos in and out of b-kpc who was taking me and the two small kids to vancouver this evening the two on the right show off the cabin mood lightings at seat 11 a during boarding and take off |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
cathay pacific boeing 777-300 er mini cabin |
there was a twenty second window to capture this photo of the serene mini compartment the flight attendants had just switched on the cabin lights [ for the second meal service about two hours from vancouver ] ten seconds before this shot was taken the cabin was pitch black as everyone slept ; and ten seconds after people were already up stretching and lining up for the bathrooms and basically ruining my photos | |
| some photos of donut taking fishball by the departure and arrival lounges ; incidentally the showers and very large towels at the arrival are great for cleaning dirty suitcases before rolling them on home |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 35 mm 2.0 d f ⁄ 8 |
boeing 747-8 freighters at paine field airport |
my wide angle primes made me look somewhat inadequate at the observation deck still with some heavy cropping this photo of the boeing 501 heavy experimental managed to turn out okay [ fly dull dull shuddered when he heard the poor ge engines going through the numerous taxi tests ] it was also good to know my lenses work at f numbers other than wide open | |
| on sunday the new plane needed some rest [ his maiden flight scheduled for the next day ] and so did we we stopped by the cheesecake factory for a leisurely sunday brunch before hitting nordstorm |
| nikon d700 + nikkor 20 mm 2.8 d f ⁄ 2.8 |
laurie on our morning drive to seattle |
hehe — ice water is the only item he is allowed to consume at this particular restaurant we stopped at everett to catch a glimpse of the new boeing planes before continuing to bellevue for some new year shopping see's candies [ my mum craves them ] in the states are at not even a quarter of their prices in hong kong and together with clothes at the outlets and blu-rays at costco they already pay for the hotel stay | |
| naturally neither donut dull dull nor fishball mug mug are big fans of tasteless tap water with ice either spot them by their preferred beverages as they await the return home on the one-world liveryed b-kpl |
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