After a fairly long hiatus from writing where I lazily leveraged off Ms. Buddha’s experience, I’m back and ready with a huge amount of material, and what better than to start in my favourite country in the world, Japan.
After having the incredible fortune of visiting so many countries with who I deemed to be my soulmate (Ms Buddha) over the years, Japan still takes the cake, and for Easter, I (after a few drinks) booked Ms Buddha and I on an EVA air flight from Hong Kong to Osaka because it I just wanted to try EVA Air’s business class and also the EVA air lounge in Taipei (to make comparison with the Cathay Lounge)
The odd thing about this flight was that the flight departed Hong Kong at 8am, which meant that in town check-in was a bit of a stretch. So instead, I took the liberty of booking a BlackLane for our transit to the Airport. The best thing about BlackLane is the UX on the website, and the ride was very good. (In an S-Class!)
Check-in was incredibly smooth at the business counter and we were offered access to Star Alliance lounges – I wanted to try to Singapore Lounge, but they weren’t opened until later, so instead we made our way to the Virgin Lounge.
The Lounge itself was pretty much empty, and the food offering for breakfast was pretty sparse (just a simple sandwich or a simple dim sum) – I went for the dim sum because I’m just not a very healthy person while on trips (apart from the daily run) – the taste was not great, but it was “okay” – the important thing is that it wasn’t too salty.
There weren’t any boarding call (which was fine because we were diligent anyway), and given that the lounge was empty, frankly, I found it quite comfortable, which compared to the Cathay lounges nowadays, was actually quite refreshing, even when the food wasn’t exactly “Top Notch” – the staff on duty looking after the orders was also a bit shy, but I have to give him a big thanks for trying (I think he was new).
Overall, comfy lounge, food selection really could’ve been better for breakfast, although, given that they don’t see a lot of traffic, I can understand (having a buffet would be a massive waste of food).
Buddha Explores 