Taipei airport - Cathay Lounge F section

I was given the choice of staying on board or deplaning for the duration of the layover, and as I felt like going for a walk, I opted to get off. For security reasons, I had to take all my hand luggage with me, which was a bit of a hassle. Although the F/As told me that they would stay on board for the upcoming leg down to HKG (I wouldn’t have minded a crew change), they were unable to “watch” my bags while I was off. I guess it’s more of insurance than a security concern really. Walking up the jetway, a charming CX ground attendant welcomed me, handed me a plastic transit card and let me sneak through the boarding gate into the departures area. I backtracked to the shopping concourse and walked up and down the corridors a bit before proceeding to the CX lounge, which this time was jam-packed, at least in the Business section. The First section had nobody in it, so I could use Skype on my notebook to talk to some friends back in Europe without disturbing anyone. The free WLAN in all CX lounges I’ve been to so far is definitely a big plus, and the speed was good enough for a decent VoIP connection. The lounge had a selection of fried rice, dim sum, sandwiches and cakes available, but I was not hungry at all and just had some water. At one point, a waiter approached me and asked if I’d like to have anything from the noodle bar in the Business section. I declined, but was left wondering if that was exceptional service or if the First Class section was supposed to be waitered. I’d never seen it before for sure. When boarding time approached, I was joined by some additional passengers who later joined me on the plane.


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