Review of Cathay Pacific flight from Chicago to Hong Kong in First

Refer to links below for previous legs of the journey:
1st leg – YYZ-ORD
Woke up to an automated text message at 4am that the CX flight was delayed from 15:30 to 16:25 – yay, back to sleep. Woke up later in the morning and headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
American portions are awesome. Eggs benny for me and a Western omelette for her.

We eventually left the hotel around 1.45pm and hopped on the shuttle back to the airport. The driver dropped us off first at Terminal 5.

Mrs.I wanted the honour of checking us in today and I reminded her that we are checking in all the way to Singapore. As we walked in the First Class check-in line, a wandering CX agent approached us …
Agent: “Flying Business Class?”
Mrs.I: “No, First Class”
Agent *big smile*: “Where to?”
Mrs.I: “Hong Kong”
Me: *internally facepalming*
Agent *motioning us to the check-in desk*: “My colleague will help you.”
Me *whispering in Mrs.I’s ear*: “…… you had one job ….”
Mrs.I: “I know, sorry!”
Mrs.I informed the check-in agent we were flying to Singapore and we were handed our boarding passes and lounge invites in no time. Asked if we would like an escort but turned it down. TSA passport/BP checks and security was quick except for the issue where my watch went missing even though it was in my bag. Went back to the security check point and found that the watch was sitting in a small accessories bowl. Was really pissed that someone removed it from my bag and didn’t say anything which led me to believe someone rifled through my belongings.

Since we had time to kill, we took a walk around the concourse towards M1 and then back to M15 to check out the plane.

As we go to M15, CX had just landed and was taxi-ing to the gate.
Lovely Lufthy heading out.

With our wonderful bird pulling into her gate.

Headed back to the BA First Class lounge for a pick me up. We were welcomed in, provided the wifi password and informed that a boarding announcement would be made when it was time. Nothing has changed in the lounge except for the placement on the food station which was now in the middle versus the corner.

So many scribbles.

A CX agent came around T-45 minutes to departure and quietly announced to individual CX passengers that boarding had started. We made our way back to the gate and found this line for F, J and other elites. I walked up front and asked an agent if this was the F line. She checked our boarding passes and cut us to the front. Woot.

Boarded through 2L where we were escorted to our seats.

On this flight, we would be taken care of by Yollie, Grace and Hiromi and I believe Yollie was the Chief Purser. We were welcomed on board and asked what we would like to drink – roll out the champers please. I sat with Mrs.I during boarding and the drinks were poured at 1A.

Let’s blast through the menu, shall we?

With the ever unchanging drinks list.

Whoever wrote this description really kills me. Must have a serious nose and palate to smell/taste all that.

I was requested to move back to my seat for the safety demo and obliged.

Trusty GoPro filming the taxi and takeoff sequence.

Buh bye Chi-town.

More champers and warm nuts was delivered after the seat belt sign went off.

Hiromi let us know that service was dine on demand and we could request anything anytime. We opted to start right away and she took our orders. To start, the caviar as always because its caviar and the hand written notes.

Mrs.I went next with the international selection and started with the Lobster salad. The lobster meat was tender and delicious while the rest was garbage.

Since I went with the Chinese option, Hiromi started me off with the cold plate. Excellent tangy flavour and a good hit of spice from the red chillies.

While we waited for the next course, I took a moment to stretch and take a pic.

The soup and main course were served together.
Chinese main course was delicious.

With Mrs.I choice of the sea bass being equally good.

My soup had a weird after taste and I avoided it after a few sips.

Mrs/I's truffle potato leek soup was excellent and I greedily decided to have half.

We both skipped the cheese course and chose the same dessert – Blueberry bread and butter pudding. So … damn … good.

After lunch, we requested to have our beds made while we changed into PJs. I waited for Mrs.I to finish changing and in the mean time, I took a timelapse video of Hiromi changing the seat into a bed. We started to chat and she asked where I was from and I indicated Toronto. She was surprised and asked why we didnt choose the CX flight from TO to which I answered that there is no F service. I asked her how long her layover was and she indicated 3 days but the usual layover is 2 days for CX crew flying to ORD.

In a historical first, I slept for 8 hours straight and woke up 2 hours out of Hong Kong.

Yollie and Hiromi saw me come out of the washroom after freshening up and asked if I would like something to eat.
Started off with a plate of fruit. Started off with a plate of fruit. As Yollie was serving me, she made small conversation and indicated that Hiromi told her that we were from Canada and it was interesting we were flying from ORD. Her next comment was priceless: "You must really love CX First Class service if you are willing to pay so much" LOL.

And finished with the stir fry beef which was juicy and tender.

Thirty minutes before landing, the captain came on and advised us that we were in a 20 minute holding pattern and would come on again to let us know when we got clearance. Twenty minutes later, we were given the go ahead and began preparations for landing.

It was only then that I noticed no flowers.

We would have a 4 hour transit, so no rush.

Safe touch down and 10 minutes of taxi brought up to gate 1.

The crew thanked us for flying and we were first off the plane.