Useful Travel Websites and Apps
Stuck for some inspiration, or want some ideas planning a trip?
These sites and apps may help you find useful information to help with your next journey!
Planning Flights
Google Flights
A great resource for pricing up trips and seeing the cheapest times of the month/year to travel. You can also set alerts to receive an email when prices or availability of flights change. Also really goof for evaluating different airline prices. Filter out any airlines you don’t want to travel with, airports you don’t want to connect at, or times of the day you don’t want to depart/arrive. Incredibly useful!
Skyscanner
If you’re looking for a bargain and have specific dates in mind, search cheap flights to “everywhere” and be surprised at where you could go!
Planning UK travel
It’s worth saying first – that it’s cheaper to buy a UK rail ticket with the rail company that you are travelling on than it is to use SOME ticket engines such as National Rail or TheTrainLine. I don’t recommend using either of these sites to purchase tickets as they will be more expensive than the train operating company’s website.
If you are looking to travel with more than one TOC, I would recommend buying the tickets with the starting TOC, or use a service like TrainSplit if you are confident in doing so (and the journey doesn’t require seat reservations!) – this is explained below.
Traveline
A really detailed UK travel planner – using train, bus, coach, ferry and tram timetables to get you to your destination.
TrainSplit
A really useful website to save money by splitting tickets along the route. This can be great for long distance journeys as the website will try and find the cheapest way to get you to your destination and will issue multiple tickets for one journey as this is often cheaper than buying a direct A-B ticket.
HOWEVER. If you are travelling on a UK Train Operating Company that requires a reserved seat (eg LNER, Avanti, etc) you may be given a different reserved seat for part of your journey and may have to go and sit in that seat for that part of the journey. You also usually can only travel on the journey you have booked, and can’t break journey. Also, if there are delays or cancellations your split ticket journey may no longer work, as your train must stop at all of the stations that tickets are split at.
It is worth doing some research to see if this would be useful to you – the inflexibility of the rules can sometimes outweigh the savings!
Planning International rail travel
InterRail
Often used by backpackers, young people and the budget-conscious traveller, InterRail offers pre-paid passes to travel around the EU for a number of days. Some trains may need reservations which cost extra on top of the pass price. The website itself is also really good for planning multi-day routes around Europe – or working out how to get from London to Narvik!
You don’t need an account with them to plan a journey if this is all you’re looking to do.
Deutschlandticket
Germany is a wonderful country to explore – after the pandemic it offers a subscription service to something called the Deutschlandticket – a ticket which you buy for one month, giving you access to all public transport (just not high speed trains) across the entirety of Germany. Initially it was to encourage people to travel again, but the idea is so popular and it is so cheap, it is wonderful for visitors too.
The ticket includes all journeys on S and U bahn trains in cities, local trains across the country as long as they are not ICE, trams, buses, trolleybuses, and even the Wuppertal suspension railway, the Schwebebahn or “Danglebahn”. If you enjoy transport and will be travelling in Germany it will save you money on your transportation! UK Residents can buy the ticket subscription for 1 month and then cancel any time, using the Mo.Pla website and app, linked above.
Planning Places to Stay
Avios Hotels – or Your preferred chain of hotels
As well as having a Points strategy for airline points, it helps to have a “Frequent Customer” account with a preferred chain of hotels. You will get discounts and free nights, and used in conjuction with a credit card for the hotel chain, there will be bonuses and treats available too!
I use Avios Hotels – this is another way of spending money to gain Avios, as I am trying to earn as much as possible within the Avios ecosystem. Y
ou may prefer other hotel families – such as Mariott, Wyndham, Accor or Hilton. Some of these also have their own credit cards, with loyalty schemes and payment for stays with points, so it is worth investigating the loyalty schemes available and picking something that suits your budget and travel patterns.
At the Airport
FlightRadar24 website and app
Download this to your phone, and you can track flights coming and going, see what are the most tracked flights, and if a flight passes over you, you can stalk it! You can also track your own journey to the runway whilst on the plane, as long as there is cellular data. This is helpful if you’re waiting to take off and wondering how long it will be, or where in the queue you are.
Flighty (app for iOS)
Flight tracker and organiser app! Keep all your bookings organised in one place. You can also add friends and watch their flight journeys. It updates you when the plane status changes, the airframe changes, and keeps track of the inbound aircraft journeys before yours to keep an eye on timekeeping.
If you are on a flight with “messaging only wi-fi” it will also show you where you are in the world as well – so useful!
Turbli
Forecasts the turbulence for your flight, based on weather, wind speed and direction. This can help if you’re a nervous flier, to prepare for some turbulent times if you know when they are coming. The website also predicts flight time based on wind speed and direction, and likelihood of storms/weather on the flight path.
On the way
Video Player
If you’re on a long-haul flight (or enjoy watching something that isn’t looking out of the window!) – be sure to download something to watch. Most channels or companies have their own app or player, or you can download something like VLC player and download your own video files to a phone, tablet or laptop. Even if you have a longhaul flight with an entertainment system, it may not work, or may not have items you want to watch on it.
Downloaded Music and Podcasts
I can’t make a journey without listening to a good podcast or two, and also a playlist – full of albums and songs I would like to listen to at some point soon. Everyone has a favourite music or playlist service so no links here. I feel a journey is always better if accompanied by a wonderful and ponderous soundtrack.
A book or e-reader
Flight time or Journey time gives us all a chance to pause and immerse ourselves in another liminal world, whilst hurtling through space at speed. An ideal opportunity to get entranced by a book or story!
At your Destination
Citymapper
An excellent app to download – it makes public transport or walking around a new city so much easier. It’s available in many places, and gives step by step directions to get to places. Directions can be read out loud or into headphones, and also appear on the lock screen of your device so you know where you are and when to get off at the right stop.
Hope you found some of these useful – and use them on your next trip!
Let’s Just go… to Tokyo, part 0.5
When you arrive in the evening, but you’re not quite ready for a full day of exploration just yet…
Following on from my previous post – we’ve just arrived at Tokyo Narita, following a superb Cathay Pacific flight from Taiwan Taoyuan airport.
The experience arriving, transiting and departing Narita airport was possibly the worst experience I have had arriving in any country on any trip I have been on.
Around three aeroplanes’ worth of people were in the “non Japanese” arrival queues, and processing through all the rounds of immigration customs declarations and pre-arrival form signing took over two hours – trapped in small queues in a small area of the airport.
Whilst I was passing through immigration, the hall we were in had hoardings up – I understand the area was under construction, and at some point in the future the upgraded arrivals hall will be in operation, using e-gates and having a lot more space to process non-Japanese tourists. I hope that opens soon – the experience was not great, to say the least!
There are a whole host of options for ways to get to the centre of Tokyo from Narita Airport. The airport is around 50 miles to the east of Tokyo – so getting to Tokyo itself from Narita needs a bit of planning.
If you book in advance, you can book a Shared Taxi service with an operator like Holiday Extras or Holiday Taxis – this will cost around £30 per person.
There are several bus services, all taking around 1hr-1hr40, this is the bargain option and will only cost £7-10 – so if your budget is tight, this is the way to go. Most Low Cost Bus options will drop you at Tokyo Station, so you will still need to get from there to your hotel/hostel – but you can use a Suica card on local transportation.
Taxis are available – however be prepared to pay £100-150 to get to a hotel in Tokyo…
There are also several train options:
- Commuter trains on the Keisei or JR Sobu Lines – take around 100 mins, around £7
- JR Narita Express – 2 trains an hour, takes around 1hr, £15
- Keisei Skyliner express, 3-4 trains an hour, 36 mins to Nippori, 41 mins to Ueno, £12
I decided to go for the Skyliner – it was quick and was cheaper than the Narita Express. It was also a Sunday evening, and at this time there was only one Narita Express train per hour, and two Skyliners.
I asked for assistance from a tourist guide when buying the ticket. For the Skyliner, you need to reserve a seat on a train, and there was a little delay as the first train in 20 mins from my arrival already had all seats booked.
The very kind guide showed me how to book a window seat ticket, on the train in 40 minutes, and then how to get downstairs to the platforms.
Everything is very straightforwards on the platform – as it shows you what carriage and what door opens where – and you go and stand by the door where your seat is. Superb!
After a few minutes, the Skyliner showed up into the platform, around 10 minutes before departure. I loved how on-time everything was!
The train left perfectly on time, with a few very confused passengers who somehow hadn’t made it to their booked seat and were standing in the aisle – all foreigners. We started to zoom through the darkness, and I noticed that on the screen at the front of the carriage (behind the driver) we sometimes had a broadcast of a camera at the front of the train!
I got off the train successfully at Nippori, and changed platforms over to the Yamanote line. WOO! My first time on the Yamanote line, the Japanese equivalent of the Circle line (yet also mostly outside… so maybe the London Overground?).
The next step was trying to find my hotel from Akihabara station. It didn’t look too far a walk – however, I wasn’t very good at actually leaving the station, and managed to find the Chuo-Sobu line instead of the exit.
An English-speaking family approached me – they were looking to go to Yodobashi Camera just next to the station. Whilst we could see the building – I wasn’t able to find an exit for them – and they ended up heading to the Chuo-Sobu line as well.. Nooo!
I took a lucky lift and then made my way to the nearest exit – using Welcome Suica Mobile to pay for the journey on my phone, using contactless. It also luckily turned out to be the exit I needed for the hotel!
The hotel was about 5 mins walk from the exit, over some amazing and wonderful street crossings, which featured the “Pi-Yo” bird sound on the pedestrian “go” – I loved hearing this all over Tokyo.
The hotel welcomed me in, I dropped my bags and wanted to get a quick dinner. I saw there was a branch of Sushiro just around the corner from my hotel – so I went there! It was just me, so I skipped the queue for a booth and ate at the counter instead.
Ordering is done by the big screen in front – which can speak to you in many languages! Hot tea and water are free, and you have all the wasabi, ginger and sauces you need – along wih chopsticks. Water and tea cups were available a short distance away.
The screen keeps a track of your order, and the sushi arrives at your little station soon after. The menu is huge and varied, with lots of traditional nigiri sushi to western style and fusion. There is also soba noodle, ramen, rice bowls and tempura available, and lots of interesting drinks and desserts – I went for the melon soda and a few plates of different and yummy nigiri, tempura and maki.
Paying for the meal – you tell the screen you are leaving, and you scan a QR code and pay at the machine near the exit – so simple! The meal I had was 8 plates, and came to around 3100 yen – around £14.50. A bargain for the quality of rice and fish. And this is not high society swish sushi – it is day to day and absolutely delicious!
I wandered back to the hotel, sleepy, happy and in search of Konbini in the local area – I wanted to try some of the interesting food!
That would have to wait to another day though. For now – sleep – and then wake up tomorrow and enjoy the day!
Before my First Time in Tokyo
I had wondered about going to Japan since I was small.
There used to be an animated series, Mysterious Cities of Gold, about a rag-tag group of explorers in South America – which I found out was made in Japan.
In the 1990s as I was growing up, there was a big wave of futurism, with interest in futuristic gadgets, many of which were made in Japan or the idea was Japanese. With the advent of the internet, it was possible to talk to people from all countries around the world, and learn more from normal people about how their life is.
Asian inspired cuisine and fusion cooking took off in the 1980s and 90s with chefs keen to bring a taste of East Asia back to the UK. Chain restaurant Wagamama opened in 1992, and brought canteen style of dining into the UK restaurant scene, where you sat around long tables, often with others close by.
Sushi and Sashimi made its way to the West and was popularised for the first time – with the chain Yo! Sushi opening its first conveyor belt sushi shop in Poland Street in Soho in 1997. Before this time, Japanese food was only found in very specific restaurants in large cities.
London has the Japan Centre – which opened its doors in a small premises in Soho in 1976, as a community hub, selling foods, goods, and books, all imported to the UK. By 1993 the centre was hugely popular so opened a huge shop on Piccadilly, accessible by some glittery mirrored escalators. This sold books, goods, cooking equipment, cooking ingredients and fresh Japanese food of all kinds. The Japan Centre has now expanded again, featuring a food hall and kitchen with lots of space to eat, on Panton Street near Leicester Square, and a new expanded store, Ichiban, in Westfield White City.
The event Hyper Japan, held at various exhibiton centres over the years, nailed down the popularity of discovering Japanese culture, customs, foods and ways of living.
I was enthralled by the futurism, the sushi, some of the anime, and upon finding out more about Japanese culture, I was enthralled by the notion of actually going to Japan – although from someone of a lower working class background, this was probably not going to be possible in my lifetime.
Or is it?
I got into playing around with points and Avios and realised that Japan may be a lot closer than I initially thought it would be.
I came up with a plan. I had a lot of unknowns – I’d not flown that far before, and wasn’t sure how I would be able to cope with jet lag, or being on the opposite side of the world to all my friends and family.
My plan was – I’d try my first long-haul flight in a very long time, to Singapore, to see how I did with that. Singapore is far – but it also had a lot of availability of Avios flights, and I figured I would try out Economy to start off with and see how that went – I had saved up around 50,000 Avios at that time, and an off-peak return to Singapore in Economy was £300 plus 40,000 Avios.
Singapore is also quite a good jumping-off point into Asia – I didn’t need to learn a new language to get by, and I could experiment with going there and seeing how things are, trying new local foods, and then perhaps going to Japan in another trip another time after that – depending on how that trip went.
There was a lot of learning for me on that trip – mainly that I don’t sleep well unless I am flat on my side, so trying to sleep in Economy was not fun, especially not with a child kicking you all night – also that it took me around 5 days to get used to being in a different time zone so far away – and that therefore going on a 6 day holiday there, really wasn’t the best idea!
I also learned what I felt like as a person whilst being very jet lagged, in another place where I know no-one, and pretty much alone to discover a new (and super warm and humid!) city. I’d done some small trips alone before, but not something so far away…
This was all very good practice for future trips – Asia 2025 and then finally, getting to go to Japan in January 2026.
It had been a long time coming, but I had forty-odd years to prepare myself for going somewhere I always wanted to be.
Nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there, though. Nothing at all.
Cathay Pacific TPE-NRT, B777-300
The time had come to leave wonderful Taipei (I will be back!) and go on to my next destination, Japan, for the first time.
There are many carriers that operate flights over this route – I chose to go with Cathay Pacific as they gave a great experience the last time I flew with them, and I was also looking to credit some points and Avios to my OneWorld accounts. EVA air are in Star Alliance, so I wasn’t able to credit anything from my previous flight to OneWorld to earn Tier Points and Avios!
Tip for anyone travelling to Taoyuan Airport from Taipei – the Taoyuan Airport Metro can be accessed via Taipei Main station, but also from Beimen station on the green line of the Taipei metro. The interchange from Beimen is quite a bit easier – just down a long corridor – than interchanging at Taipei Main station.
The Taoyuan metro takes longer to arrive at the Airport during early mornings and at weekends, so be sure to check out the timetable and plan your route in advance, if you have an early flight. It may work out to be more reliable to take a taxi.
This metro was a blue metro – meaning it stopped at more stations than the express purple metro – but that only started up later in the day. It was also heaving, as at this time of the day there was only one train every 20 minutes!
I checked in at the airport, dropped my bag, and made my way via Fasttrack checkin to the Cathay Pacific lounge, located in Terminal 1.
The lounge is large. As you come in, there is a spacious and well-designed noodle bar, serving food at all times of the day. You can also order food to be brought to your table in the more relaxed seating area, there’s no need to eat in the formal area.
There are various work pods designed for taking calls and working in. However, I try one of these out to find that there is no power available – I do like to recharge my devices before a flight, so this is somewhat frustrating for me. I moved further into the lounge to a relaxed area, but where there were plenty of power sockets for use.
There are also plentiful non-alcoholic selections of juices, soft drinks and teas.
I ordered some breakfast before the flight – albeit a mini breakfast, of dan dan noodles and one portion of pork xiaolongbao… however I didn’t realise this just meant one dumpling! Next time I might order a couple more – it was very tasty and full of soupy yum!
You also really can’t fault the Cathay Dan Dan noodle experience – I will always get a bowl if in a Cathay Pacific lounge!
The flight was soon called and I walked off to embark.
Some pre-information about this flight. I booked around 3 months in advance, and I had the flight tracked on Google Flights. Every so often, the flight would be taken off sale, and then put back on again a few days later. When I booked my seat, there were already no window seats left, and the Business cabin was full about two weeks after I booked.
At the time of flying (and a couple of weeks before), mainland Chinese carriers were having their flights from mainland China to Japan cancelled as there was a rise in political tensions between the two countries, and China did not want its citizens to be tourists in Japan. Therefore many people were rebooking their trips via Hong Kong or via Taiwan. I wasn’t sure if the flight was going ahead at some points, due to the numer of times it ws taken off sale, but this could have been because of Chinese people rebooking?
I am not sure – however, I was not 100% sure this flight would go ahead, and was somewhat happy when boarding was commencing, as the flight was more likely to be departing if we were told to get on it!
Cathay Pacific have a lot of new aeroplanes, but this flight was definitely not going to be using one of them! This is a 2-2-2 layout Business Class cabin on the Boeing 777-300.
As soon as I was seated, I was given some orange juice and the menu to look at.
And despite not having a window seat, I was still able to enjoy the window view across the way!
We took off and made our way north-east towards Tokyo, flying along the southern side of Japan, with floaty clouds alongside us most of the way.
From the menu above, I chose the pork option, which arrived fairly soon after takeoff, with excellent and careful service – every time I hav flown with Cathay, the service is friendly and lovely!
I said no to the bread, as this was already an ample lunch – wow! The ginger pork was brilliant, the rice fluffy, the veggies perfectly cooked, and the two starter dishes were tasty and a great accompaniment to the meal. However… next… a trolley service for dessert arrived!
This was a fun addition. I went for some ice cream, because why would you not have an ice cream when on the plane!
The plane finished lunch, and all items were tidied away. There was free Wifi to all in business class, so I used this to catch up on some emails and life admin whilst away. Friends back home were starting to wake up, so it was nice to catch them too.
I relaxed into the journey and set the chair to recline a little. A few moments later, an announcement was made – to look at the windows on the left hand side of the plane, to see something wonderful! A small commotion happened…
Mount Fuji!!!
I even sit here writing this piece now, with a tear in my eye.
I did not think that seeing Fuji-san would be possible on this trip. Not even just casually out of the window on the approaching plane. But there it was. Making its presence known, rising from between the clouds, with a shroud of cloud behind. It’s something I had dreamed of seeing. This is now real. It is real. I am here.
Welcome to Japan – here is one of our icons!
I blubbed unashamedly through the next few minutes, the lady in the window seat was looking out of the window too, and watching as we passed the peak. It seems much of the cabin was also peering out to the left, looking towards Fuji. I am so glad that this was mentioned to us, otherwise I’d have been oblivious.
And now in and down into a slighly hazy Narita late afternoon.
I remember thinking… Narita airport – hmm. I could have chosen to fly into Haneda but wanted to try Narita and see what it was like. I really enjoyed this sign – making our way into the arrivals hall.
HOWEVER
It was around 3 hours’ time from the plane landing, to actually leaving Narita airport. I really did not like the experience of this, waiting in a queue, in a very warm and small room, with the queue snaking around and around and around, with lots of cameras on everyone all the time…
Here is what caused all of that time to be lost.
- slight delay in processing luggage for my flight – 10 mins
- approx queue of 600 people waiting to be temperature scanned – 30 mins
- same queue to then go through initial customs declaration – 25 mins
- same queue to then go through passport control – 30 mins
- same queue to then go through the end customs declaration – 20 mins
- same queue to arrive at Narita Rail station, and to try and understand how to purchase a ticket to get to the city…45 mins
One of the main delays was that the Skyliner service to Nippori/Ueno would not allow you to purchase a ticket without a seat reservation. The next train with one seat free on it was in 45 minutes after I arrived at Narita, so I had to wait for that. The platforms were busy, but I was enjoying watching the efficiency of all the trains coming and going.
I was then on my way to my hotel. I really did not rate the experience of arriving at Narita – I am aware it’s Haneda’s older and smaller cousin – and in the future, would possibly try and use Haneda airport only – to try and avoid the very long and frustrating entrance procedure being kept in a small area with hundreds of others…
Let’s Just Go… to Taipei, Part 3
I’ve just had my first wonderful but rainy day in Taipei, exploring this excellent city.
I do love exploring the areas near cities and travelling into suburbia – I am also fascinated by public transport around the world, and love travelling on different transport systems as much as possible – whether that be metro or tube, bus, cable-car, tram, train, or any other public transport that might be in operation. I also love getting away from the city for a while and trying to see some nature. Taiwan has a lot of amazing natural areas, close to Taipei, and I set out to find some!
My hotel in the centre of the city was already on the red Tamsui-Xinyi line, so I hopped on this line to Hongshulin, towards the north-east of Taipei. Similar to the London Underground, the MRT zooms above ground, out into some of the Taipei suburbs, and snakes its way through between office blocks and housing blocks.
In a few minutes, the suburbs glide into more mountainous views, and plants, hills and rocks join the view.
Once at Hongshulin I took the Danhai Light Rail tram through to Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf – where you can see the river meet the sea.
The sea landscape was breathtaking, as was the little mini wander around the area.
After having a good wander about, it was time to go back to the centre of town for some activities I planned for the evening. On the journey back, some of the tram seats were already taken…
Back onto the MTR now, I must say that the pubic transport everywhere I went in Taiwan was exceptionally clean. Sometimes busy, but well-packed and a very efficient system.
I took the Metro to Beimen station on the green Songshan-Xindian line, and went for a wander around Dihua Old Street – one of the oldest shopping streets in Taiwan, with a lot of the original 1850s architecture and shop fronts well preserved. The shops mainly sell dried goods with a few street food carts around. It’s a vibrant and busy area, with a large temple in the street and people paying their respects and lighting incense outside in the street.
I am using a “biscuit” lens for the following pictures – it’s a fixed f/11 50mm lens with no capability to focus – a small toy camera lens fills the frame, and the rest of the lens is in the shape of an Oreo biscuit! It produces dreamy-quality pictures, all a little out of focus, but a little vintage looking and colourful.
The light started to fade, so here is more Dihua St with a more wide-open aperture!
It was a superb wander, but I was starting to feel hungry – so over to Raohe Night Market, a few steps away from Songshan Metro station, for some fresh food. And what a brilliant selection was on offer here – anything and everything!
It’s a very popular and incredibly chaotic market. However, there is organisation, in that you walk on the right-hand side of the market and everyone walks in the same direction. The stalls on the left-hand side, you will see when you’re on the way back.
If you need a repreieve from the market madness, as it is incredibly busy, Rainbow Bridge is not far away – you can take your hot food here and eat with a view of the river!
Raohe Night Market was a treat for all the senses – so much going on, so much delicious food to try, and so many different stalls offering completely different food and drinks from all around Asia.
Let’s Just Go… to Taipei, part 2
I’ve woken up in the Regent Hotel Taipei, from a travel day yesterday. It took a while to sleep last night, so I woke up late, and am in danger of missing the hotel breakfast!
This would work out to be a total crime – because the hotel breakfast is *AMAZING*.
Thankfully I throw on some basic clothes and pop downstairs. I need a coffee more than anything – and some kind of food along with it. I am very much not disappointed…
As soon as I sit down, I am brought some piping hot fresh coffee (or tea!) from the waiters, and told that the breakfast area would be closing in 20 minutes. That was still plenty of time. The buffet is an amazing pan-Asian breakfast. On the island to the left in this picture there are Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese items – preserved black bean salad, seaweed, radish kimchi and cabbage kimchi, lotus root, tamago rolled omelette, runner-bean salad, fried tofu, dried tofu, silken tofu in pea sauce… the list was endless. I also picked up some fresh soy milk. On the right-hand side of the picture above, was a more Chinese breakfast, with dough sticks, soy milk, congee, soups, steamed and fried rice of all kinds, curries, freshly made omelettes and pancakes, rice wrapped in banana leaf, and a small selection of dim sum – har gao prawn in crystal wrap, sui mai pork and prawn in wonton wrapper, char siu bao, and some mushroom shaped buns containing just-sweet black sesame paste. What an absolute feast!
There was a hot drink station further on, next door was cold juices and milks, cereal, an entire fruit station for smoothies, smoothie bowls and açai bowls, with breads and some Western items at the entrance – and a huge pastry selection, including ice creams! It was an amazing variety, and I’m sure anyone from anywhere in the world could find something to eat there – no matter their breakfast of choice.
I was supercharged for the day, which was really needed. Before I left on this trip, a cold had been threatening to begin – I managed to avoid the worst of it – however on this day I was feeling very under the weather and needed to visit the pharmacy to see if they had anything to assist in getting rid of the cold and cough I was starting to develop.
I’d also seen that the travel pack of foaming face wash I love had disintegrated whilst on the plane – so I wanted to get some more of a similar cleanser. So this morning was going to be more travel-admin related, finding a pharmacy for cold/cough medicine, finding a similar face cleanser and also potentially looking at some skincare – as it’s way cheaper in Asia than it is in the UK!
Taiwan is also the home of bubble tea, and has a massive range of teas in general, so I decided to add finding a lovely tea shop into the mix.
Upon leaving the hotel I found myself already in a very shopping district – Zhongshan has so much in one small area. There was such an abundance of crazy cute characters everywhere, with posters for cute character events and pop-ups all over the place. This whale perched on top of the MRT entrance was also lovely!
Without walking too far, I found myself at Hechalou tea and felt in the mood for a peach iced black tea – which was refreshing and scrumptious – also totally customisable in what you would like with it – I just had ice and 0% sugar and no boba or toppings. There was a Teletubbies x Hechalou collab going on at the time, which meant that I got a Dipsy cup seal and had to pop the straw into Dipsy’s face. I missed the usual aerial-spot on his face and made him look even more alien. Whoops.
I found a branch of the wonderful Japanese pharmacy, Matsumoto KiYoshi nearby – I had shopped there in Hong Kong before, and had a good look around, finding some good things to help with my possible impending cold/cough – and the best selection of Japanese flavoured Toothpastes I have ever seen.
Most UK toothpaste is a variation on Mint flavour – I sent this picture home to a lot of friends, who found this an entertaining discovery, and then I came back later to pick them up the flavour of toothpaste they were looking for.
Who doesn’t want their teeth to sparkle with fresh Peach Leaves?
I’d just got back to the hotel after a good walk and mooch about, and was imbibing some vitamins and anti-cold medicine, when my phone – and it sounded like everyone else’s phone too – started going noisy and buzzy…
I was super concerned about this – these sorts of things only happen if there is an incident going on, so I opened up Translate…
Yeep. Well, that’s not good. I wasn’t sure what had happened but it made sense to stay put where I was for a while – back at the hote.
However, a curious brain is always looking for answers to all kinds of questions, and a few minutes of furtive googling later…
What I had really neglected to look at in the translation was the word “drill” at the start. There was no marauding attack going on nearby and no safety concern – the government were just testing out the alert system to make sure it worked! Phew. I also didn’t receive an alert in English on my phone – just Chinese – so I felt fairly lucky to be near the phone to have screenshot the warning message, to be able to translate it.
The afternoon/evening’s activity was a walking and food tour, starting a good few MTR stops from me, so I set out for the adventure!
I LOVE taking a walking tour when away – either a history, architecture or a walking food/market tour. They are so interesting and you get to meet fellow people travelling around, as well as meeting local residents and getting to know more about the place they live through their own eyes. The guides are always enthusiastic, kind, chatty, and ready to answer any questions you might have about the country or city you are visiting.
I usually use Viator, Get Your Guide or Klook to look up different kinds of tours or guides in the local area. Many offer a huge range of activities or tickets – from a private guided tour of a city/area for the whole day from a few hundred pounds, to a short guided tour of a castle for an hour for £10 – there’s a whole range of prices and a whole range of different activities!
Today’s tour was a history, culture and food with the wonderful Skyler who has traveled around the world herself and does a wonderful job explaining Taiwanese history and culture. I’ve booked a small group tour, when I’ve done these before, there have been 3-12 others on the tour – today is just me and an American man called Matt – that’s it!
Our first stop in Shida Road is a branch of an amazing skewers shop called Jiao Tang Feng – similar to Yakitori in Japanese cuisine – you pick what skewers you would like from the huge fridge at the front of the shop…
The shop will then grill your chosen skewers over hot coals, and give them back to you on a plate a few minutes afterwards! As you can see, all manner of foods are available – lots of meats, tofu and vegetables and combo skewers. There is a small seating area at this branch – others have more space to sit.
Skyler chooses wisely for Matt and I – we each have a Beancurd Skin skewer and a Beef and Tomato skewer. The Beancurd skin has been marinaded in a spicy BBQ sauce and is dusted with pepper and chilli – it’s so tasty, juicy and a little crispy on the outside. The Beef and Tomato skewers are incredibly thinly sliced beef wrapping some baby tomatoes which explode when you bite into the skewer. The beef is superbly cooked – crispy but also squishy, and dusted with cumin and pepper. It’s absolutely delicious and the tomatoes are some of the most tomatoey ones I have ever tasted. This is going to be an excellent tour.
We take a walk around the University area and are looking at lots of buildings, and make our way into a more touristy and markety area around Jinhua St and Yongkang St. The rain has started!
We wander over to close to Yongkang Park and visit Fucheng Tainan Steam Shrimp Meatball – which isn’t listed on google maps. We try some pork rice and the famous meatballs, which I forgot to take a picture of – but this place is a welcome repreieve from the rain, the hot food is superbly tasty, and Skyler explains about the differences in regional cuisine – this is a more Southern Taiwanese style of food, and the pork rice is more of an emergency meal – made with all of the offcuts, remnants and fat from the pork – imbuing flavour into the rice, without using any expensive meat. It – and the meatballs wrapped in thin dough – are absolutely delicious.
We wander further around and find the main outlet of Shi Yun Taiwanese Fried Chicken store.
This shop has been here since 1984, selling amazing quality Taiwanese Fried Chicken – and also fried anything else you see in this picture – tofu, sausages, chicken necks and feet, thin chicken escalopes, veggies, corn, King Oyster mushrooms, cabbage, beans, meat patties, offal… you name it, they have it and will fry it!
You can choose anything and it will come back to you freshly fried in a few minutes, in a paper bag, with superb seasonings – you can choose how spicy you want it. We went for some popcorn style chicken – small fried chicken meat, fried in spiced flour and with Taiwanese Basil – very similar to Holy/Thai basil, and went for Taiwanese Spicy which is around medium-spice – a little chilli kick but not overpowering and just perfectly tasty.
The chicken was piping hot, crunchy and crispy, but succulent and perfectly cooked meat inside. We strolled further around the market, looking at the stalls, and then made our way over somewhere else for some super interesting dessert – or just a break in the savoury eats!
We popped into a tiny but super friendly cafe called Little Tiger cafe. They serve coffee, tea and drinks but also Ai-Yu Jelly desserts.
Ai-Yu Jelly? This is a yummy delicacy from this part of the world. If you take a small bag of AI Yu (Creeping Fig plant) seeds, soak it in water, and rub the bag of seeds together for a few minutes, a yellowish jelly-like substance emerges from the seeds. If you put this in the fridge for a few hours it sets – this is ai-yu jelly! It’s very cooling and refreshing and is served with ginger, lemon or fruit tea or syrup as a dessert soup – sometimes with peach tree gum too.
The cafe also doubles as a studio/shop for the owner’s needle-felted crafts which are odd and cute – and a bg selection of needle-felted landscapes, all framed!
Next up was something to drink – some milk bubble tea from Jinfa Jia (進發家) tea shop – super reasonably priced and amazingly tasty!
We then crossed the road to watch an amazingly fresh scallion pancake being made – Tian Jin Onion Pancake stall was for us!
The pancake dough is stored in a large bakery tray, and then pulled and stretched out, fried on the hotplate, into a flat and stuffable wrap – we had an Egg and Taiwanese Basil pancake, which was crunchy, tasty, oniony, eggy and a savoury snack delight!
The last stop was at Vigor Kobo for a really lovely fresh cup of hot tea and tasting a range of Pineapple cakes.
There are SO many different kinds of pineapple cake available, and Vigor Kobo sells them all. We have traditional, traditional with chewy pineapple, chocolate, taro, salted egg, egg yolk with mullet roe, and pineapple and banana cake. My favourite is the egg yolk with mullet roe pineapple cake – it’s salty, sweet, and just delicious with the fresh tea!
The tour ends and we all make our separate ways home. Taipei at night is such a vibe.
And then as I wandered back to the MTR, I happened upon Taipei 101 in the shiny rain-soaked pavements, as a cyclist swept by. What a glorious sight!
Now back to the hotel, a few snaps of the area before bed…
Taipei at night, after a rain shower, is a true vibe!
Let’s Just Go… to Taipei – part 1
A beautiful city with all you need just on the doorstep
I’ve arrived in Taoyuan airport from Hong Kong International Airport, and the skies are murky and rainy.
I’ve booked a hotel in the centre of town for my stay here, in the Zhongshan district, and so take the Taoyuan Airport metro to Taipei Central station. I take out some New Taiwan Dollars from an ATM at the airport to ensure I have cash, just in case – and also buy and top up an EasyCard at the airport.
The EasyCard can be used for transport but also for paying for goods at shops and restaurants – much like the Octopus in Hong Kong. You can also buy EasyCards that are loaded into a range of small toys, household appliances, plastic bananas and so on… As I’m only here for a few days, the credit card sized EasyCard will do!
Taoyuan airport is airy and modern, and I float through it very quickly. Out into the main terminal, the train to Taipei Main station is clearly marked, so I walk there. The metro seems to operate every 15 minutes or so, and the train I step onto is already busy but is due to leave very shortly. I find the only seat left on the train, and sit down – next to a window. We pulse through tunnels and are soon speeding along outside, along a metro line, but only stopping at a few of the stations on the way.
The first thing that strikes me about this country is – just like Hong Kong – how many roads, railways and infrastructure are created to be seamless, and are perched on bridges over gorges, forests and nature below.
The train makes a couple of intermittent stops, and some passengers disembark. It’s the start of early commuter time though, so it’s not going to be a quiet journey!
We arrive at Taipei Main Station on time and the very full train empties onto the plaform. The area we arrive into is just for the Taoyuan MRT but is breathtaking – even though a good few layers underground, there are pops of light and colour every so often up to street level. It’s a great place to arrive!
There are lots of lifts and escalators everywhere, making it easy for someone with wheelie bags to travel around. I take the long corridoors down to the main subterranean concourse of Taipei Main station, to access the red Tamsui-Xinyi line, and go one stop north, to Zhongshan.
I get totally confused by the maps at the station and end up taking the passenger exit to the West – I really needed the one to the East. I walk the wrong way for a good few minutes, realise my mistake, and then walk back in the correct direction. The road is busy, the city seems very well organised at this point with everything designed in blocks and roads perpendicular to each other. The road crossings have time countdowns at big intersections. I look around and see many western store names, as I am staying in a fairly shopping-y area.
It feels like an age to get from the MRT to the hotel – mainly because of my walking error – but I arrive, check in, drop bags, and settle for a little while.
I am staying in the Regent Taipei – mainly picked as it was close to the MRT, in an interesting district, and looked like an interesting place to stay. Lots of the reviews were good!
I’ve been allocated one of the Japanese rooms on the high floors – I have also lucked out and got a suite. The bedroom area is close to the windows, and features slatted blinds to close instead of curtains. There’s a futon, a small table and sitting area, and a bathroom containing separate shower, Japanese Bath and Japanese toilet – I am so excited for the Japanese bathroom experience, a Japanese toilet is such a wonderful thing :)
After the day of travelling – in the early morning, I left Macao – I was tired, and wanted to pick up dinner somewhere close to the hotel. There was an absolute abundance of options, but the thing I felt like most, was sushi!
Taipei has an abundance of everything, so there was no difficulty in finding good sushi. Just across from my hotel is Sushi Express, Linsen Branch – a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, with plenty of sushi already on the belt to eat – which really hit the spot!
The fish and rice was fresh and tasty with items being made by the sushi chefs at the start of the conveyor. You could order items off the menu to be made by hand and delivered to you – or just pick from the selection on the conveyor belt.
Like most conveyor sushi restaurants, there was free hot tea (green and black at this branch), free cold water, little bowls for soy sauce and wasabi, and as much pickled ginger as you can grab – the ginger tub was on the conveyor belt!
I had a couple of cups of green tea and seven plates of sushi, including salmon sashimi, fatty tuna nigiri, a delicious tuna salad with mooli radish, a hand-roll and some grilled kobe beef with mushrooms and mustard. which added up to $312 NTD – this is just over £7 – an absolute bargain for the quality of sushi on offer.
I took a little wander around the area and stumbled back to the hotel (literally – the pavements are not very flat!) and saw my first FamilyMart. I also loved how the scooters are all parked up, in their little parking area, all neatly!
I laid down on the futon with a scrambled and jetlaggy brain, briefly checked in with friends (as they are awake at this point!) and fell asleep almost immediately after putting the phone down. Thank you for a first lovely day, Taiwan – there will be lots more fun tomorrow!
EVA Air B787-9 Business Class HKG-TPE
A short-haul flight operated by a longer-haul plane, in a lot of comfort!
I’ve woken up early in Macao, and need to get back to Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to catch my next flight.
I take some breakfast in the hotel – finding a Pastel de Nata along with a Pineapple Bun, and some steamed sticky rice and veggie dumplings. Very filling!
I’m soon off to HKIA on the bus – the reverse of the journey taken in the previous post; I am quickly at the border crossing, checking my checked bag through to Taipei, where I will next see it. My AirTags confirm it has boarded the bus with me.
The journey takes no time at all – in fact I am back in HKIA very quickly, managing to get a seat on an earlier coach than initially planned. Being early is much better than being late!
WIth an Eva Air Business Class ticket, I am allowed admission to the SilverKris Business Lounge in Terminal 1 at HKIA. It’s still faily early when I enter – the lounge is long and thin, with business-style work pods going down one long side and more relaxed seating in the main area.
I set up in one of the work pods, as I aim to get some photo uploads done and catch up with my Photo-A-Day challenge group.
The supplies at the Lounge are plentiful. A bar with bartender for alcoholic drinks, some cola and sparkling soft drinks and waters, and a great selection of iced teas – as well as hot teas, coffees and some juice.
The food is topped up regularly – I pick up some fried gyoza, steamed har gau, sticky taro buns and some hot chicken in curry sauce. There’s a lot more to choose from – some western bread, cheese, meats, salads, toast, cakes and muffins, and the small hot Asian food selection. Various items are added and removed during my stay in the lounge – it’s more breakfasty when I arrive and lunchy when I finish, but I don’t want to have much food here – just a top up before getting on the plane.
The iced tea selection was excellent with four different kinds in cans – the green and oolong teas here were both wonderful, I also had a hot Jasmine green tea before closing the laptop and heading off to the plane.
The toilets were also lovely – everything very clean, excellent Japanese toilets, warm woody colours, nice scents and some really soothing hand cream!
The flight was nearly ready for boarding so I walked down to the gate – by which time the lounge was nearly full!
HKIA was starting preparations for Chinese New Year and some decorations had already gone up in the halls – I wonder what it looked like later on when celebrations began!
It was not long to wait before boarding was called.
The gates at HKIA are a thing of beauty. As well as listing the flight number and airline for the flight clearly and in large letters, you can see the weather conditions at your destination, a lovely animated picture of the conditions, and also the codeshares with other airlines, including their tail liveries! It’s just so much nicer and more informative than gates at many other airports.
Upon trying to board, I wasn’t able to – as I am not a Chinese, HK or Taiwanese citizen I don’t have my face biometrically saved in my passport. I was taken to one side whilst this process was done. I also wasn’t flying home straight away from Taiwan so the gate agents wanted to see proof of my onward flights just so I wouldn’t be denied entry to Taiwan. All the info was shared, my face was scanned and added to the passport data, and I boarded rather much later than everyone else in Business Class!
A cold water and hot towel delivery followed. Pushback was on-time. The cabin crew were attentive yet apologetic – as there would be no available hot drinks on the flight due to the time the flight was going to take – so I couldn’t try some of the teas they had on offer.
The entire experience was very welcoming – fairly shortly after this picture was taken, I was given some slippers for the duration of the flight – they were on the higher end of the hotel slipper range, really comfy, fit all sizes and slightly open-toed at the end, but also warm!
The cabin itself felt square, with all the suites having squared off headrests and swuare consoles, yet spacious. If I’d have had more information I would have picked a different seat that was somewhat closer to the window, but that is my personal preference – I love a window seat.
I didn’t get to turn the seat into flatbed mode, but it looked as if there would be a large foot cubby and the seat would be really comfy for all sleepers with a good amount of space.
The layout seemed quite open but also private – there is a mini screen to the side of passengers’ heads so you cannot see others in the same row. Passengers in front and behind also can’t see in as the console in front is quite high.
Seat setting modes
Takeoff was smooth, apart from a fellow passnger dropped a *lot* of things upon rising into the sky, which made quite a noise and startled a few people! I am not sure what was dropped but it made a heavy clunk.
I didn’t try out the entertainment on offer but there were some branded headphones which looked decent and sturdy. The flight map was excellent and useful, despite the flight only being very short!
The windows were pre-set to DEEP BLUE mode, as the sun was shining on one side of the plane. Some of my fellow passengers wanted to nap on the flight.
I pre-booked a meal on this service, which was to be of Asian style but low Gluten.
I was given a seafood paté salad – which would have been nice, however most of the contents of the bowl was still frozen – and pork steaks with potatoes, crushed roasted tomato sauce, yellow courgettes, asparagus and broccoli. For dessert was a small red bean paste cake over chestnut puree jelly. The cabin crew checked to see if I was low gluten or no gluten, and offered a gluten containing bread on finding out i was low-gluten – but the meal here was quite substantial so I didn’t want bread too! It was more of a western style meal than Asian, but was still good quality food and a tasty main, a bit of a shame about the starter being frozen, though.
The crew were very proactive clearing items away quickly and the cabin was clean and ready for descent into Taiwan Taoyuan airport (serving Taipei).
There were a lot of very cute informational videos shown on our descent about what you can and cannot bring into Taiwan, such as restrictions on meat products, vapes, batteries, and organic matter.
These were all animated videos with various different cute characters telling you what is banned and what you will need to throw away at the border if you attempt to cross with various banned items, it was very interesting to see the amount of cute characters being used to depict quite serious situations!
This sick bag instruction was so welcoming as well. We should always be careful and treasure the resources that we have without trying to use more!
I was on the right of the plane and could see Taiwan coming up close as we descended. It looked like a wonderfully varied landscape – lots of farming, some arid areas, some lush forests and green fields, and lots of hills, valleys and mountains.
We landed straight into Taoyuan airport after a 1:10 flight, with a superbly smooth landing amidst the driving rain.
A really good flight. I was disappointed not to be able to try any of the speciality tea, and a little disapponted that the starter was not defrosted, however the cabin was very comfy, service was excellent and I had everything I needed for a short time in the air. I’d definitely recommend EVA Air for long-haul flight too – if this was how they are on longer flights, I look forward to flying with them again!
Now off and into Taipei for more adventures…
Flight Track of BR868, 21 Jan 2026
Fourteen Hours in Macao
How to transit from HKIA without passing Hong Kong Immigration – and back again
This post is a continuation from my previous post about the BA A350 flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong.
I had looked up a few weeks before my trip, what the easiest way to get to Macao from HKIA was – and saw that there was a very convenient bus that takes you over a very long bridge. The bus system is set up so that you don’t need to pass immigration in HK and can transfer our to Macao using the SkyBridge area of HKIA – the immigration is only then when you arrive in Macao – a much easier way of doing things!
I registered with the website, and paid for the bus ticket – which was promptly refunded as Macao is currently offering this bus and immigration service for free… amazing! Here are some of the instructions sent to me via confirming the ticket:
All I had to do was show up at the Bus Transfer desk in Transfer area E2 by following signs to this area, located just before passport control. From my arrival gate this was clearly marked and very easy to find (Thanks HKIA).
I presented my passport, was given a ticket, and was told that someone would collect my baggage from the carousel, bring it with them to the bus, and I just had to wait in the waiting area until closer to the bus departure time as I’d missed the 15:15 bus by about two minutes – frustrating!
The small area to wait in was carpeted much like Singapore Changi airport – psychedelic and fun! Unfortunately the USB-A chargers built into seats here were not working. I spent a little time catching up with friends and family on my phone – although it was only 6am UK time. There wasn’t much to see around either, but I took a walk to stretch my legs. and make the time pass more quickly. The immigration counters were also not busy at all at this time.
At bang-on 16:00 we were called forwards to go into the SkyPier – which involved scanning the ticket and passport and then proceeding down some escalators to the transit area, which would take us out of the main airport and to the SkyPier terminal. Some buses to Mainland China also took the same route, as well as to Macao.
There was a short wait for the SkyPier transfer, which took us to a separate area in another terminal at HKIA, the SkyPier itself. This has facilities for a large number of people to take different buses and coaches out to China and Macao.
At this point, I collected my checked-in luggage from the SkyPier carousel – which appeared there magically, and with a new tag on – I did not have to do anything! The staff must have collected this from the main luggage carousel and then directed it here somehow – or perhaps it was automated? I’m not sure – it was nice to see it had safely made it from London though!
I waited around 15 minutes for the bus to be ready and then we all boarded. Although it was a fairly small coach, there was plenty of space – with around 1 person per 2 seats (other than families sat together). Most people on the bus were not tourists!
We left dead on time at 16:30 and made our way around the windy roads of the boundary crossing facilities, to access the HK-Zhuhai-Macao bridge (HZMB) – a bit of an architectural wonder!
This bridge is 34 miles long, and is currently the longest sea crossing in the world! It features various artificial islands, bridge sections, tunnel sections, and really amazing views. Lots more facts and information are on its Wikipedia Page, but it really is an engineering marvel!
The weather was getting greyer and hazy – and after around 30 mins on the bridge and tunnels, the skyscrapers of Macao came into view!
The coach then reached the boundary facilities in Macao, where we all passed through a large building, reunited with luggage, passed through immigration very quickly and then out into transit facilities.
By this point it was starting to get dark. I had withdrawn a few Macanese Patacas at the ATM to pay for items in Macao, and had looked at the local bus times – it was due to take over an hour and a half for a bus to get me to the hotel I had booked, and the bus was coming in 30 minutes – so I took a taxi, which only took around 15 minutes, and was absolutely worth it for around £10 only including a 20% tip!
I booked a room at the Artyzen Grand Lapa hotel – it is situated in more of a local area, but closer to casinos than to the historic areas of the island. I checked in, plopped my bags down, and took a 10 min rest on the bed to reset and relax – this was the first time I had stopped travelling for a rather large number of hours.
By this point it was reaching 18:30 local time, and I really only had a few hours to wander around the city and explore. I booked a flight out of HKIA at 13:30 the next day, but hadn’t really understood how long the bus and immigration process would take – so I planned to be out of the hotel at 8am the next morning to get to HKIA at around 10:30, in plenty of time for my departure.
That only left one evening in Macao to explore – so I better get my skates on.
Looking at a map, Macao looks tiny. However, it really isn’t.
The region is made of three areas – Macao Peninsula, Taipa, and Coloane, which are connected by large road bridges over the sea between them. In recent years, land has been reclaimed from the sea between Taipa and Coloane islands, and called Cotai – this recent development has a huge strip, potentially akin to Las Vegas, with many casinos and entertainment venues in the area. Historically, Macao was a Portuguese colony, established in the late 1550s, and became a Special Administrative Region of China (like Hong Kong) in 1999.
I was very intrigued by the mix of Portuguese, European and Chinese heritage so wanted to look around and get a feel for the place. Most tourists come here from China and the main attractions are the huge mega-casinos and resorts, I am not a gambling person so am less interested in the casino side – more in the what life is like there side!
The main road I was staying on is also host of the Macao Grand Prix – a street circuit used for various formulae of racing across motorbikes and supercars! The finishing straight is this part of the road – the white and black building on the left of the road is where the winners park their vehicles!
The mix of Portuguese and European culture along with Chinese culture is really, really interesting and comes across everywhere, even in street furniture and architecture. I enjoyed the little parks, wide avenues, and lush green planting.
I was very desperate to find a bakery selling Pasteis de Nata, however as it was late in the evening, most bakeries were closed, or had sold out for the day.
The scents of walking around this area were so intriguing… deep broth flavours, meaty barbecue scents, grilled vegetables and skewers on the street, and beautiful scents from the bushes and trees mixed in with the sweetness of buns, fresh bakery goods, pineapple tarts and tea.
It was so heady and a treat for the senses just to wander around and sniff the air – and sample things from local shops!
This wander for around 2-3 hours was taking me through the southern area of Macao peninsula – most roads south of the Avenida do Dr Rodrigo Rodriguez. So, I did not have time this time, to even visit the tip of the historical area, up the hill and North on the peninsula. This was also disappointing – as I had thought that one afternoon and evening might have been plenty of time to discover Macao – but it definitely wasn’t anything near enough with the few hours I had in the evening.
Oh well – it just means I need to return to find out what these areas are like – and probably stay closer to there next time, too.
Back to the hotel for sleep it was, and then the reverse journey in the morning with a taxi from the hotel to Macao immigration, along the HZMB and back to the Airport for my next flight in this trip, detailed in this post.
BA A350-1000 Club Suites Review
My first long-haul experience with British Airways in Club Suites
I booked this trip 7 months before the flight day, and was very much anticipating my next long haul trip. Time counted down, the day had come, and I travelled over to Heathrow Airport with bags in tow, ready for my trip over to Hong Kong and beyond!
British Airways flights mainly depart from Terminal 5 at London Heathrow – with a smattering of Iberia flights too – with only a few BA flights departing from Terminal 3. I made my way over to Terminal 5 to check in my luggage, to the large check-in desk array at the North end of the terminal – where there is a dedicated Business Class check-in area.
The Economy check-in is towards the middle of the terminal, with First class check in at the South end of the terminal.
My bag was dropped with the very friendly check-in agent who said she had never been to Hong Kong before, but was looking forward to going some time, and I made my way through Fast-Track security.
Very recently, Heathrow completed it’s upgrades at Terminal 5 – so now all of the scanning machines are the new type, which means you can leave your liquids and laptops in your bag whilst they are all scanned – and liquids can now be up to 2 litres in size. It really helps NOT having to open up bags, put everything in different trays for separate scanning and so on – a big time-saver!
I was quickly through to the departures area, and made my way to the South Lounge at London Heathrow. You can read more about the Departure Lounges at London Heathrow here. I charged up my devices, downloaded some articles on PressReader, and had a glass of the daily smoothie and some water, also topping up my water bottle to the flight.
I tend to get super dehydrated on long-haul flights so always try and drink water regularly – even if it means more trips to the loo!
My gate was called, as Bus Gate A10, and I made my way down to get on the bus over to the remote stand. I had used Flighty app to track the plane that was assigned to my flight, and saw it landed and parked up on a remote stand. Sometimes, planes do move around the airfield, but this time it hadn’t, and was still on a stand close to Terminal 3 at Heathrow.
I boarded as the last off the bus, taking some time to take some photos – when do you ever get to be that close to an aeroplane usually!
I put my rucksack and coat above me, I found a very thick and plump pillow along with bedding set (blanket and mattress protector) in the seat already, and very soon I was offered a choice of champagne or orange juice as a pre-departure drink, and offered menus to read through – my order would be picked up just before takeoff.
Please note, I have blurred faces of some passengers and crew so they are not identifiable.
The suite was really comfy, the seat must be kept upright for takeoff and landing and you must wear a 3-point safety belt (similar to a car!) for takeoff and landing, although in the night and upon lowering the seat to bed mode, you can use one safety belt only.
To the right of the seat is the door, which can be closed once the aircraft is in the air, but must be stowed in case of emergency on takeoff and landing. To the left there are three cabinets – one at around eye height, containing a small Amenity Kit and 500ml water bottle. My headphones are resting on the 2nd shallow cabinet, which can hold headphones, and shallow items, and the menu is on top of the 3rd cabinet, which is fairly deep and contains a universal plug socket, 2x USB-A charging points, and can hold a couple of bottles of water and deeper items.
The screen is a fairly fast responsive touch-screen, with a handheld mini screen and remote tucked away in the larger 3rd cabinet. This can show the interactive map at any time, even whilst playing media on the main screen. Sadly BA have not fitted the in-plane cameras so you can’t see a view below or above the plane – but you can view the position on the moving map, which sometimes has facts about the takeoff and destination cities.
I was then approached to take my dinner and breakfast order – menus below. Any drinks were available to order with the meal, which was nice, as I did fancy a chamomile tea to help me drift off to sleep! What would you order?
Boarding was complete, and it was soon time to take off, which was a little delayed – we were parked a fair distance from the runway. Upon taking off, the A350 was speedy but efficient and the noise inside the cabin was minimal – a really recommended aeroplane to fly on!
Within a few minutes we were climbing steadily and over Europe – with big fluffy clouds getting smaller below, and my home already hundreds of miles away.
Service started around 50 minutes into the flight – whilst I was enjoying watching some Glastonbury highlights on the entertainment system – with a hot towel and a round of drinks.
Then, around 20 mins later, the starters were served. I chose the smoked salmon and avocado dish, as I felt like something cool and fresh to start with – the dish was incredibly tasty and did not disappoint!
The salmon was absolutely delicious and complemented very well with the creamy avocado and light pepper cream – the rolls were also warm and tasty with the butter melting straight into them. The romesco salad was also superbly tasty with the charred vegetables – a solid and very filling start to the meal!
The main course was still tasty but definitely not as tasty as the starter for me – the beef being a little tough, the broccoli very well-cooked and falling apart, the oyster sauce brought the dish together a little more, but the dish was overall somewhat tasteless – and a little disappointing, considering how good the starter had been.
Unfortunately at this point, I was very full and did not even attempt to try a dessert – it would have made the journey very uncomfortable!
The crew however were really pleased to be on this flight and very positive. Nothing was too much trouble, at any point in the flight – including helping me out when the person sitting in front of me took my seat bedding from where it had been stowed above my seat, and refused to use his own – they superbly asked him very kindly to pass back the unused bedding kit that was in his pod (and he was attempting to take home with him…)
Once the bedding had been secured, it was then time to get some rest. BA provide you with a seat-cover and blanket for the journey, along with a very fluffy pillow. The pillow and blanket are brilliant – the pillow is large, fluffy and supportive, and the blanket is warm, light yet very temperature regulating and generous in size. I am a very wriggly sleeper and unfortunately couldn’t get the seat-cover to stay on the seat itself during the more horizontal parts of the flight. The seat itself is made of sturdy and durable material but I somehow managed to friction-burn my elbow whilst getting comfy to sleep – mainly as the seat cover didn’t stay on!
The atmosphere was also very drying – I left a bottle of water near me for sipping whilst awake between sleep segments, and this was finished by the morning. I tend to drink a lot of water normally, but being on the flight felt like lots of moisture was being removed from my skin and
I took a trip to the bathroom to brush teeth before sleep. I am usually a disturbed sleeper on a plane, and really enjoy opening the window-blind to take some sleepy shots of a dazzling world below, in a country I have never been to before. However this flight, I tried my utmost to sleep and rest – I could then spend the evening discovering more about my next location.
A few woozy hours followed, some sleep was had, lots of rest was taken, and I awoke around three hours before landing at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) as the aeroplane inhabitants were being prepared for waking and breakfast.
Our window blinds were allowed to be cracked open a little, as by this point it was light outside – around 12 midday Hong Kong time. A quick wakening bathroom trip and a wet-wipe wash was useful at this point – I also brought some very minty toothpaste which definitely helped to awaken my senses!
It was then time for breakfast – I had chosen the vegetarian option the night before.
This was just the breakfast starter – if there is such a thing! I very much enjoyed the lime wedge to squeeze over the fruit – it felt very much refreshing on such a long flight.
In its wonderful location knowledge, my phone says that this breakfast was taken over Sichuan province in China, near to the city of Chengdu! If that is the case, I would have expected a little more chilli and spice… sadly lacking this time :)
Plates were collected and we were soon 30 minutes from landing, sweeping in to Hong Kong landing towards the East, with a superb view of the mountaneous islands, and coming in over the HK-Macao-Zhuhai bridge – more on that in another post, but it is the world’s longest bridge, at just over 34 miles!
This approach to HKIA is particulaly beautiful if the weather is playing ball – as you get to see the blue hues of the sparkly South China sea and various remote and mountainous islands on the way. Some of them even line up very well with the window…
And with a small plonk, we were now landed at HKIA, taxiing to gate, and telephone data returned, devices chirped into action and we were once again on solid ground. I prepared for the next part of my trip by downloading some directions, whilst on the plane…
Here’s my flight track for the flight – taking a little longer than in previous years, as Russian airspace is closed to European airlines, so a large diversion South is required:
Altogether, a great, comfortable experience, with very positive and helpful crew, who felt energised and happy to be doing their job – and a comfy seat from which to watch the journey happen.
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Let's Just Go 