My first picture of my Hong Kong trip was decidedly unexciting. Afforded a window seat, I became fascinated as the de-icing machine sprayed some kind of mist over the airplane.
Based on conversations with friends, I allowed myself some hope that the amenities would be better than I’m used to on other flights. It was a true direct flight (no refueling), but 15 hours is still a long time.
The seats were surprisingly comfortable, and I noticed they had “shaved” off some of the underseat storage to provide more leg room. First class is dramatically better than first class on domestic flights; they sit “on an angle”, which gives them extra space to prop up their legs and sleep at a nice recline!
One convenience that took me by surprise, was that Cathay provided long socks to each passenger. Rather ugly beige ones at that. I didn’t understand the purpose at first or even what they were (“why do I need pantyhose?!” was my first thought). The lady next to me had to explain, as she ditched her heels and put on socks of her own instead.
The entertainment unit installed in each back seat was high resolution and well supplied with a variety of shows and movies. I didn’t make much use of it on the way to Hong Kong (slept off a huge sleep debt instead), but on the way back watched a few shows. I noted with some amusement a couple quirks, however. The 24-hour clock doesn’t roll over past midnight properly (e.g. it would read 25:31), and each unit is an independent Linux operating system. How do I know the latter fact? My unit (contrary to every other unit I could see) spontaneously rebooted.
That bootup screen warmed my geeky silicon heart. 
I’m not sure if the food on Cathay Pacific is better on Air Canada, but I mostly enjoyed the food. I tried to select the foods that were most different from what I could get on domestic flights.
The stir-fry dish was a bit different, and reasonably good.
The congee I received for breakfast before landing in HKG was a delightlful treat.
The pasta on my way back was completely unmemorable.
My favourite Cathay Pacific food, though, were the instant noodles!
Overall, flying Cathay was good, and certainly better than any domestic flight I’ve taken. I don’t know if the service/food was markedly better than the competition, though; Air Canada probably ups the offering on international flights? From talking to various people, apparently the next airline to try is Singapore Airlines! In the meantime, however, I’d definitely fly Cathay again. If only they would have more sales… and heaven help me, if they could’ve done something about the kicking kid behind me that was cooperating with the stereophonic crying kids to my left and right on the flight home, they would’ve had me for life! 
