Frankfurt Rhein - Main

We began the long walk to the concourse C, where our flight to HKG was departing. This time, we followed the signs through the main terminal and passed the immigration checkpoint at the C concourse.
From immigration it is quite a hike to the security checkpoint. There, a separate elite line was available, but the elite lines were longer than the lines for Economy Class Passengers and so we used the empty Economy lines instead. We then headed to the checkpoint, where only Business and First Class Passengers as well as Star Gold Passengers had access. There are a separate First Class / Hon Lounge, a Senator / Star Gold and two Business Class / Frequent Traveler Lounges. The Business Class Lounges have direct boarding gates while the Senator Lounge is between both Business Class Lounges. If boarding time had come, the connecting doors between the Senator and Frequent Traveler Lounge are opened and the passengers of the Senator Lounge are allowed into the other lounge for boarding. I had experienced this in February and I still like this concept. We took a seat in the rear part of the lounge close to gate C 16.

We enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine and chatted a bit about our upcoming trip to Hong Kong and especially the advantages of being a frequent traveler and having the perks of things like lounge access and priority boarding. We have been together in HKG back in 1996 11 month before the handover to China, arriving at Kai Tak, which was my first international trip. Now, 14 years later, we are traveling again, but this time in Business Class. For my colleague, it was the second time in Hong Kong, for me, it is returning to one of my favorite spots in Asia.

The food offerings were okay, I think they have improved a bit since my last stay back in February, but two bottles of the sparkling wine were empty and had not been replaced. However, the service seems to be attentive and at least the dirty plates and glasses were cleared away quickly. Time passed quickly and the flight to Beijing was boarding around 16:30, so quite a few passengers left the lounge. Finally at 17:05 the boarding call for the flight to Hong Kong was made and we were on our way to the gate. It seems the most people from the Business Class and from Economy Class had already boarded the plane, as they were no lines in the FTL lounge. I am not sure, if it is really an advantage for Star Gold passengers if they board after the most passengers in Economy Class were already on board. Anyway, I was traveling in Business Class and therefore did not really care about passengers in the back of the plane and space in the overhead bins was not an issue, since I had checked my big luggage.

We passed the boarding gate boarded and took the escalator down to the jetbridge. We took the Business Class / First Class jetbridge and were on our way to the plane. Some passengers were queuing in the jetbridge, but the lines moved quickly and soon we were on our way into the plane.

10. November 2009
FRA - HKG
[Frankfurt Rhein-Main – Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok]
LH 738 (Lufthansa); Boeing 747-400 (D-ABVO / 'Mühlheim an der Ruhr')
Gate C 15
17:35 – 11:15 [effective 17:55 – 11:24]
Business Class
Seat 01 C

As we entered the plane, we were greeted by a flight attendant. I stored my belongings and the belongings of my colleague into the overhead compartment and my jacket was stored by a flight attendant in the closet.

The flight was full, at least in Business and Economy Class, not sure about First Class.
The captain came on the intercom and informed us, that there had to be done some cargo load which would need a couple of minutes before we were finally able to push back.

As boarding was completed the crew began to offer pre departure drinks while push back was prepared. Pre departure drinks where a choice of water, orange juice, apple juice or champagne. The safety video was shown while we were still at the gate. My colleague took a glass of orange juice while I took a glass of champagne.

We were pushed back 20 minutes late at 17:55 and taxied from the concourse C towards “Starbahn” West. We let a Syrian Plane pass and finally it was our turn. 21 Minutes after we pushed back the captain powered the engines and we accelerate and finally left the runway and climbed into the dark sky at 18:16.

We climbed and climbed and it was nearly 35 minutes after we took off before the fasten seat belt signs were switched off. As usual after take off a hot towel service was done. A few minutes later the tables were laid with linen and a beverage round started and offered also a packet of nuts. I choose a Campari Orange since my favorite cocktail, the Lufthansa Cocktail, was not available any more. I learned that they did not cater it anymore since the demand was very low. That is really pity, since I prefer to mix it with sparkling wine or champagne and then it really tasted good and was not that sweet.

Menus were distributed after the aperitif service and I had a quick look at the menus. (click on icon for menu)

The offerings were good and due to the autumn time goose was served in addition to the dishes prepared by Jean-Georges Klein from Restaurant L'Arnsbourg in Baerenthal / France and Max Yan, master chef of the Shangri-La China World Hotel in Beijing. There was another beverage round done before the meal service started and while my colleague stayed with the 2006 Quinta do Gradil red wine from Portugal I changed to a glass of sparkling wine, LH was serving Jacquart Brut Mosaique in Business Class.

Approximately seventy minutes after take off the meal service finally started with the first course.

The meal service was done from the cart. The first course came with the tray, which included the cutlery as well as the lettuce. I went for Iceberg Lettuce Roll filled with poached Strips of Poulard, while my colleague went with the mixed Lettuce. I went with the 2007 Columbia Valley Chardonnay for the first course. A selection of bread and rolls were also offered with the first course. The first course was okay, perhaps a bit of the small side but otherwise quite okay.

The trays were collected before the main course was served. This time I opted for the Fried Strips of Beef while my colleague took the Herb crusted fried Cod. She still drank the red wine while I opted for another glass of Chardonnay; however my colleague and the flight attendants convinced me to give the German Riesling 2008 Ipshöfer Kronsberg Silvaner Spätlese a try and so I got a glass of Riesling which was topped as I told the flight attendant that the Riesling was going quite well with the main course. She looked at my colleague and both smiled … . The main course was also okay, it could have been a bit spicier fore my taste and the sweet sour sauce was not really the best. I asked for a roll to accompany the main course which was brought soon after I have asked for it.

The plates of the main course were collected and soon the cheese or fruit salad followed. I opted for the fruit salad, while my colleague took the selection of cheese. The fruit salad was okay, nothing really special and I assume the three slices of cheese were nothing special, too. I finished my white wine before I started with the fruit salad. A tea and coffee as well as port wine or Baileys were offered along with some slices of cake later. My colleague skipped the cake.

Soon later the linen were collected and I folded the table away and used the bathroom. My colleague called it a night after she had filled the immigration and health declaration, while I decided to put some work into my trip report. Duty free items were offered after meal service and soon later the cabin lights were dimmed.

The crew offered orange juice and water during the flight. The most passengers seems so sleep during the flight. The remaining flight time was nearly 7 hours as the lights were dimmed.

I worked for approximately three hours, doing some reports for my homepage, replying to mails for my small business which I run beside my regular job and writing this trip report. The crew offered orange and apple juice as well as water during the night. In addition a bottle of water was available at the desk in front of the middle seat.

The most passengers had switched the reading lights off and it was only me and two or three other passengers who were reading, working or watching a movie at this time. I did not plug my laptop in the power outlet and after it ran out of power, I decided to stop working and try to relax a bit. We had only three hours to go and I slept for an hour or so.

App. 1:45 h before scheduled touch down there was another hot towel service and soon later the beverage and breakfast service started after the tray tables were laid with linen again.

Time to have a quick look at the menue again (click on icon for menu)

I went for the scrambled egg and ordered tea for breakfast, while my colleague choose the cold dish. A selection of bread, rolls, croissant and pastries were also offered for breakfast. In addition to tea and coffee, orange juice was also offered for breakfast.

The breakfast service was done a bit in a hurry in my impression and there was only one refill of tea or coffee done. Personally, I would have preferred a refill of orange juice and maybe a third cup of tea. The service was done by other crew members than the dinner service.

During breakfast, my colleague and I chatted about travel, the different airlines and my experiences with them and what we wanted to see in Hong Kong and when to meet her pen friend with her family. Trays were collected after a really long time.

The breakfast service was by far the worse service on this flight and the flight attendants were not as good as there counterparts doing the dinner service. Anyway, the crew began to prepare the cabin for arrival and handed out the jackets. We flew over Macao and the Chinese Sea before we made some turns and flew over Hong Kong an approached Chek Lap Kok where we touched down around 11:17.

We taxied quite a bit before we finally reached our gate. Both jetbridges were used and so we could disembark quite fast. We headed for the stop of the shuttle train to the main terminal where we joined the long lines for immigration. It took app. 15 minutes before it finally was our turn. While I was through in a rush, my colleague got her passport printed wrongly by the immigration officer and so she had to wait 15 minutes before the issues was solved. She was not told the reason, why she was taken aside. I really think that should not be the case and could have been solved in a better way.

I waited for her and the only good thing about this incident, our luggage was already on the belt and we could pass customs quite fast. We bought a ticket for the airport express and boarded the train waiting for the 23 minutes ride to Kowloon Station, where we changed in the shuttle bus for the Grand Stanford Hotel, at which we unfortunately arrived later than expected.

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