Thursday, June 25, 2009

First time to Hong Kong!
 [Korean Air] KE 613 ICN-HKG (Seoul/Incheon->Hong Kong) trip report
 [대한항공] KE 613 서울/인천->홍콩 탑승기

KE 613 ICN-HKG (Seoul/Incheon->Hong Kong)
DEP ICN 13:05 26 JUN 2009
ARR HKG 14:10 26 JUN 2009
Flight Duration: 4:05
Aircraft: A330-300

I scheduled in a quick 4-day trip to Hong Kong from Seoul during my 3-month stay in Korea.  I had never been to Hong Kong, so I was surely excited for this trip. The trip was a round trip flight through Korean Air, outbound KE 613 and inbound KE 614, both with A330-300.  Korean Air was in the process of retrofitting their planes with seats with AVOD system at that time, but my plane did not have AVOD system in them unfortunately. Regardless, I was excited at the fact that I was visiting Hong Kong for the first time!
 
 
홍콩에 처음으로 가게 되었습니다. 3박 4일로 짧고 굵게 다녀오기로 결심하였습니다. 대한항공으로 왕복편 이였구요, 출국은 KE 613 로, 귀국은 KE 614로 하게 되었습니다. 두 편 둘다 A330-300 기종이였고 AVOD 시스템은 그때는 없었습니다.
 
My flight's boarding was due to start at 12:35. I got here more than an hour earlier!
저의 비행기는 게이트 26번에서 12시 반쯤 탑승을 시작할 예정이었습니다.

Blue Korean planes everywhere.

It's a Korean Air heaven indeed in here.

Two jumbos behind my plane to Hong Kong.

A busy day here in ICN for Korean Air!


My boarding pass I chose to seat at the left window today, hoping to catch some views of Hong Kong before landing.

Some food court scenes near my gate.

Boarding time came and passengers were showing up.

I love this feeling of walking to my plane.

My seat, 36A.

As you can see, no TVs on seat yet (as of 2010, Korean Air installed TVs on all wide-bodies)

This scene would be hard to see nowadays. Today Korean Air has AVODs on most international flights.

To the left was a Frankfurt-bound B747-400

Our plane was right behind a Munich-bound Lufthansa A340.

The Lufthansa flight taking off.
 
And at around 13:20, our plane took off toward the south.

Flight route map on projector screen.

It was my first time aboard A330. The wing looked graceful on this plane.

Passing Jeju Island on the left.

The flight attendants started serving lunch around 1 hour after take-off..

The choice was chicken, fish, or Bibimbap. I chose the Bibimbap. A dessert ice cream followed.

After 3hours and 30 minutes of flight, the plane was descending into Hong Kong airspace.

Unfortunately, the plane landed from the west side of the Chek Lap Kok Airport Island, meaning I missed the whole city view of Hong Kong. Oh well, the weather was probably not good enough for me to see the city from the sky anyways.

It was raining due to typhoon effects

First time in Hong Kong! I'm thrilled!

The A330, now changed to KE 614 about to head back to Seoul/Incheon.

The scenes of busy Hong Kong Airport.

To immigrations customs I go!

My friend came to pick me up. He and I boarded the Airport Express MTR to Hong Kong Island.


This is a killer view from my friend's apartment.

The fancy Cantonese-style lobster dinner that night.

At the Victoria Peak.

Somewhere near Causeway Bay Times Square.

My 2nd day in Hong Kong was when the world found out about Michael Jackson's death.

The tasty dim sums I had for brunch.

Circular Escalators in Times Square.

From Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Heading over to Macau with friends!
 
Turbojet was a pleasant experience even with turbulent waters.

In Macau, the street signs are in Portuguese, Chinese, and English, since it used to be a Portuguese colony. We headed over to take the public transit for Ruinas de Sao Paulo.

The Macau View from Ruinas de Sao Paulo


 
 
 
 
 
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