Hong Kong airlines had a promotion fare from Hong Kong to Toronto for around $850 round-trip, so we decided to fly with them. I had checked Cathay and other carriers, but they were all priced above $1000. 

Our flight HX080 (HKG-YVR) left Hong Kong on time and we waited around 15 minutes on the runway before being given the go-ahead to take off. The Airbus 330 plane in economy class had a 2-4-2 arrangement and it was quite a full flight. The second segment of the flight from Vancouver to Toronto was operated by Westjet, a Canadian budget airline. 

At first I was shocked that there was no personal entertainment system, but luckily shortly after take off, the crew pushed the cabin trolley to give out iPads preloaded with movies to the passengers. The flight duration was 11 hours 15 min, so I managed to watch four movies – The Post, Coco, Present perfect and Mazerunner. The only limitation about watching it on the iPad is that the screen is smaller and not at my eye level. There was also not enough space on the tray table to place the meal tray and the iPad together. The iPad did not show any information about the route so I could not track our position of the flight. 

One hour after take off, drinks and a mixed nuts snack was served. Shortly after, lunch was served. The choice was between chicken penne pasta in tomato sauce and black pepper pork with rice. I had the pork option which tasted good and I finished it quickly. The penne option was not too bad too, except that they could put some sauce over the penne which otherwise was plain. 

After clearing the meal trays, the cabin lights were dimmed for the passengers to take a rest as the plane traversed across the Pacific Ocean. We were gaining time so the skies became dark. I managed to catch a few hours of sleep to try to get accustomed to the new time zone. 

Passengers could help themselves to snacks and some drinks out at the waiting area located near the toilets. There was even Lindt chocolate! 

About one and a half hours before landing, the cabin lights were turned on and we had breakfast. The choice was between scrambled eggs with bacon or dim sum with fried rice noodles (bee hoon). The dim sum did not look appetising and the scrambled eggs turned out to be a better choice. Both were served with a freshly heated croissant and yogurt. 

Finally, it was time for descent into Vancouver airport. We were one hour ahead of schedule and landed at 9am. The long-haul flight on Hong Kong airlines was comfortable, though the service is not as fantastic as Qatar or Singapore Airlines. With about five hours transit time, we decided to go to Vancouver downtown to explore before coming back to the airport to catch our next flight to Toronto.