Introduction

Today I start the long journey back to Europe. I have a car reserved to take me to the airport at 16h45, three hours before my scheduled departure time to Taipei.

Check-in

I arrive at the airport, where another representative of the Peninsula is already expecting me. He takes my luggage and escorts me to the EVA Air counters, which are located on row E. He places ny suitcase on the belt, checks the locks and then confirms to me that my suitcase is properly locked. From there he takes me to the entrance to security on the north side, explaining that it is closer from there to the Singapore Airlines lounge.

He waits for me to pass through the checkpoint and then wishes me a safe journey. Thank you very much! There does not appear to be a separate checkpoint for Business Class passengers. But it makes no difference, really, because the queues are moving quickly. Behind security is immigration. As I have a biometric passport, I‘m eligible to use the e-gates, which work effortlessly.

Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge

The Singapore Airlines lounge is located near gate 5. You really can‘t miss it. I think they‘re expanding it, as part of the lounge is currently boarded up.

The lounge is busy when I arrive, but not crowded. I guess it would be a nice enough lounge, if it weren‘t for the fact that it has no windows at all.

There is a decently sized buffet with hot and cold dishes. However, I only stay in the lounge for about twenty minutes. It‘s not that I don‘t know how to occupy myself, but it just seems such a waste to sit here while I could be outside shamelessly ogling some gorgeous looking aircraft. I think it‘s time to go do some spotting…

Hong Kong airport makes Harrods look like some shoddy little department store. Literally all the big brands can be found here. Some of them, like Chanel, even have multiple locations throughout the terminal. But that‘s not what I‘m here for…

The first thing I see is this elegant Air France A 350-900.

A bit further down, the Air New Zealand flight is being prepared for its return home.

Fortunately, the departure gate for my flight is announced before the flight arrives from Taipei. So I head for gate B 31 and park myself by the window to watch the aircraft taxiing in.

Boarding

Boarding starts on time. There are separate queues for passengers in different boarding zones. The funkiest thing of all is that this is the first time in my life using face recognition. I stand in front of the camera. My seat and name pop up next to the photo, and the gates open. How cool is that?

The Cabin & Seat

The cabin is identical to that of the outbound from Vienna to Bangkok, except that I‘m seated on the aisle today.

The aisle seats aren‘t bad either, actually. They have a good amount of storage space. The main difference being that there is no privacy screen.

The Service & Crew

There‘s another poem and a piece of chocolate sitting on the food and drinks menus when I reach my seat. There is no vanity kit, but there are slippers, despite the flight time of only seventy minutes. The cabin crew come to introduce themselves and take my orders for a welcome drink and the meal service. I follow their suggestion and ask for the dragonfruit juice, which is served a short while later with a hot towel.

The Meal

Before the landing gear even leaves the ground, the smell of hot food starts wafting through the cabin. The Asian airlines really but the European carriers to shame. A hot meal on a flight of less than two hours is already unheard of. But to also offer pssengers a choice of hotmeal is unthinkable.

The starter is smoked duck and nuts in a fruit jelly. I don‘t try this one.

The dessert is a yuzu cheesecake, which I only try a spoon of. It‘s good, but very rich!

And of course there‘s plenty of garlic bread from the breadbasket.

The main course is shrimps with noodles. The noodles are fine, but the shrimps are covered in a slimy, gelatinous goo, so hard pass on those too.

To drink I‘m given one of their mocktails, which I didn‘t order. I think something got lost in translation there. But the crew are great. They apologize and bring me a glass of still water.

Much to my surprise, by the time they come to clear away the tray, there‘s still enough time for coffee.

Arrival in Taipei

Eventually, we start out descent. One thing that always strikes me about Taiwan is how dark it is. When you approach during the night, there are hardly any street lights, except for those of Taipei off in the distance.

We touch down and taxi to out stand. And much to my surprise and pleasure, we eventually come to a stop on a remote stand. It‘s a shame that the busses have parked so close though, because the -10 is a big aircraft, and getting a decent shot in one frame is rather difficult.

Transfer

A bus takes us to the terminal building. I head one floor up and follow the signs for transfer passengers.

Transfer security is a bit of a farce because passengers are expected to remove liquids from their bags, unless it‘s water. But nobody‘s checking anyway. At least the process is quick. I now have ninety minutes before my onward connection starts boarding.