As part of my journey from Singapore to Vancouver, I stopped over at Hong Kong Airport, the hub of Cathay Pacific, with my onward journey to Vancouver, Canada being on CX856 A350 Business Class.
As a Business Class passenger, I had free access to all of Cathay Pacific JCL lounges in Hong Kong Airport (there is a total of 6 in the airport, with 2 specifically catered for First Class passengers of Cathay Pacific). Since I was unable to enjoy its lounge service the last time I took its Business Class to Osaka, Japan, I thought I would try to make up for it by visiting 2 lounges on this trip!
Lounge Hopping – Cathay Pacific’s The Pier
Interestingly, directions on how to get to The Pier was scarce – the most descriptive one I found was on a forum. The forummer said that the entrance to The Pier (airline lounges are located either one level below or above the departure floor) was between Gate 64 and 65.
Having walked a crazy distance from the security screening, which was all the way at the entrance of the transit area, I was fatigued from lack of sleep. When I saw the sign pointing to the entrance of The Pier, I went straight down the escalator, only to be told I was at the wrong “The Pier”.
I had unwittingly barged into the lounge meant for First Class passengers. This entrance was just before Gate 64 and I had to walk slightly further to get to the right escalator for The Pier.
Damn embarrassing!
I finally found the lounge for Cathay Pacific Business Class passengers right in between Gate 64 and 65. The atmosphere, before I even stepped in, was “more lively” than the tranquility at the First Class lounge.
However, as I walked down the long and narrow lounge, the activity died down, eventually ending at a dimly-lit resting area filled with beds. The material of the bed was similar to the textile used on the economy class seats. Somehow, I don’t feel they were very clean, despite looking darn huge and comfy.
In the end, I breezed through the resting area and decided to explore the rest of the lounge.
Cleaning up at the Shower Rooms
Right before the sleeping pods was the shower area – it was where I took the chance to clean myself up, since the next time I could settle down would be a good 18 hours later!
The compact space had every amenity – sink for wash up, separate shower stall to keep the rest of the area dry, a toilet, hooks for clothes and rack for bags and luggage.
Unfortunately, there was no area for one to sit down – which would be good after shower, when I needed to dry my feet. Hanging clothes onto the clothes hook also required some dexterity. Oh, and there was no floor rug outside of the shower stall, which meant that I still wet the rest of the shower room lol
The fragrance of the toiletries more than made up of the lack of space. It was especially refreshing to smell good after an uncomfortable red-eye!
Chillaxing at the Teahouse
One of the ways the airline managed to keep the resting area quiet was how they used the shower area, which was a low-usage area, as a buffer. This was further cushioned with a “tranquil” tea room.
Like the usual bars, there was a “bartender” behind the counter, though she took orders and prepared pots of tea for customers. After choosing Chamomile from the wide range of tea available, I took some cookies and settled at one of the coffee tables around the area.
Passengers are darn pragmatic – having tea is not something value for money, so the area was always quiet. At any one time, there was only about 2 other groups of people with me.
The area was done up in the theme of bamboo and the seats, unlike the rest of the area, was pure wooden (i.e. without cushions). It was as though the designer meant this place to be only used by people who are really interested in having tea!
Chinese Food Bar
Just one partition away was the section that housed Cathay Pacific lounge’s signature Noodle Bar. The bar only opened at 6am, but us early birds could pre-order our noodles first. My Wanton Noodles didn’t taste as fabulous as the one I had at Cathay Pacific’s lounge at Changi Airport Terminal 4, or at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. It was as though the black face of the chef had infected the noodles with negativity.
There were also other hot food choices like fried vermicelli and steamed chives dumplings. The vermicelli had dried out (not to a rubber band state, but to a wire-y state) and the dumplings were not so appetising.
Western Food and Bar Zones
The sections nearest to the entrance were the Bar Zone and the Western Food Zone. I was not interested in having alcohol, so I never bothered to explore it. Similarly, the food served at the Western Food section were some pizza and pastry – not so enticing for someone like me who’s going to eat Western food for another year!
Slow Zone
Up until the Noodle Bar section, the zones shared the space with the Slow Zone that ran parallel to the dining area. This was an area decked out with chairs, couches, sofas and work tables – meant for people who just wanted to rest for a while, but not intending to pig out.
The best thing about this zone was that it looked out to the apron directly, right into the nose of aircrafts parked outside!
I chose a lounger looking out to the apron and took a snooze – the overnight flight and the food coma was inducing me into lalaland.
I must say that leather couch was real comfortable for a short snooze. I had a great nap despite the sun shining onto my face!
Lounge Hopping – The Bridge
Waking up refreshed, I saw that I still had some time, so I decided to pop by another Cathay Pacific lounge – The Bridge.
The Bridge was halfway between the main immigration area and The Pier. In fact, it was right at the intersection near Gate 35/36, where the terminal split into 2 finger piers in the shape of a “Y”.
After going down the escalator, I was greeted by the impressive looking reception. On the left, one could access the shower facilities. The greeter, however, directed me to the right, where the main dining section of the lounge was. I mentioned just now The Bridge was at the intersection where the terminal split 3-way. The entrance escalator and the 2 sections of the lounge each occupied the end of the terminals that merged at the reception, the latter of which was backed by a massive wall that spanned the full length between the 2 sections.
The Bridge had a silent bustle to it – It was crowded, yet there was no market-like noise found in the Plaza Premium lounges.
There was a contemporary vibe to the interior design of the lounge, in contrast with the earthy, elegant tone of The Pier.
Eating at The Bridge
Similar to The Pier, the section of the lounge facing the apron was the designated slow zone, while the interior was carved out for the dining section. The selection of food was identical to The Pier. There were only cafe-like seats that made me feel like I was in IKEA. The weirdest part was how they cordoned off the dining section with translucent, black glass wall.
In the morning, the slow zone was bathed in sunlight, but that light barely made it into the dining section, which made for a rather dark eating experience. For the record, I had Scrambled Egg, Sauteed Mushroom, Chicken Sausage, Char Siew Bun, Chives Dumplings (yes, I belonged to the group who had to eat something to make the experience worthwhile!).
Beyond the dining section, there was a long bar and a lounge for watching TV. Both were interestingly empty when I was there.
However, as I was really behind in time, I just sat at the TV lounge for a short while to soak in the ambience, before I scooted off to Gate 30 to catch my flight!
Transfer at Hong Kong International Airport
My previous post about the first part of my journey from Singapore to Vancouver, Canada, via Hong Kong, ended with the arrival at Hong Kong Airport. Before I could enjoy Cathay Pacific lounges, I had to get myself from the arrival transit area into departure transit area, where all the lounges could be accessed.
Hong Kong International Airport’s system is similar to Changi Airport Terminal 4’s system: the arrival and departure passengers were segregated into 2 different levels to keep each zone “sterile”. This meant that transfer passengers like me had to:
- Obtain onward boarding pass at the transfer desks (if they had not gotten it before they boarded their earlier flights), which were located at the nexus of the finger piers of the sprawling complex
- Clear the security screening, which was conveniently located beside the transfer desks
- Breathe the air of departure transit as though I was just about to board a new flight
Hong Kong, despite reeling from the impact of its first protest in the airport, was still bustling with life in the early morning (I’m speaking about 5am in the morning).
That said, the security screening was well staffed and I cleared it in about 10 minutes even though the screening area was packed with transfer passengers.
That left me with more than 3 hours for my lounge hopping! However, the screening was located after the departure immigration checkpoint, which was a long way to even The Bridge, which was at the nexus of the finger piers.
Of course, one can settle at The Wing or The Deck, which were at Gate 1 and Gate 6 respectively. As I described in another of my post exploring Premium Plaza lounges in Hong Kong Airport, the area after immigration was simply bursting with people. On the contrary, it was more peaceful over at Gate 35, where even the open areas like the food hall, had more manageable crowds.
Therefore, I highly recommend anyone looking to experience any of Cathay Pacific lounge (especially for the first time) to take that extra 5 minute to go to The Bridge (Gate 35) or The Pier (Gate 64)!
Look Out for the Next Part of My Journey from Singapore to Vancouver!
My trip from Singapore to Vancouver was a massive journey, and this post about my Cathay Pacific lounge hopping experience is just a short interlude of the entire journey.
If you had not done so, check out my earlier blog post for the Singapore to Hong Kong hop! Follow up with my 12-hour virgin experience on Cathay Pacific’s A350 Long Haul Business Class, as well as my wanderlust when Sing in Can first arrived in Vancouver!
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Till then, sing while you can!
Editor’s Note: This article was first posted on Sing in Can blog in 2019. It is now re-posted with edits on Live.Life.Love as SiC has closed down.
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