Melo Villareal
I had the rare luxury of travelling from Toronto to Manila in Philippine Airline’s (PAL) Mabuhay Class on a Boeing 777-300ER airplane. The flight was supposed to be a direct flight from Toronto to Manila but since it was an Inaugural Flight, the airline management decided to take additional passengers from Vancouver maybe for cost and fuel efficiency reasons.
Philippine Airlines Boeing 777-300ER
We took off from Toronto and right from the beginning the excellent service of the flight attendants was very prominent. The Business Class of B777-300ER was modern and spacious with a lot of legroom. I heaved a sigh of relief at this, looking forward to my journey ahead. A group of well-trained flight attendants who were well versed in speaking English attended to me (Yes they are Filipinos).
Even the smallest of my requests were well received by them. One particular stewardess enquired about my well being and offered me drink, newspaper and magazines to while away my time during the flight. I did, on the occasion, note that all the in-house flight attendants were very young, not to mention well-trained.
Economy Class Seats
By this time I was rubbing my hands in glee seeing the entertainment options that the flight provided. My Mabuhay Class Boeing 777-300ER experience seemed to be getting better by the minute. The entire cabin of the Boeing 777-300ER had eX2 In-flight Entertainment system from Panasonic which gave the passengers a fully digital system from which they can have a choice from an entire library of audio and video content.
Economy Class Area
Every seat in the cabin had a touch screen personal TV with ‘goose neck’ reading lights, USB ports (Yes for gadget charging), laptop charging ports, an over sized tray table as well as a bottle holder. We could easily browse through our files or listen to music in our mp3 players through the USB ports. I could also access the AVOD (Audio/Video On Demand) feature which gave me a wide array of digital entertainment options.
Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Class
The seats in the cabin looked exquisite with their plush blue upholstery which had glints of silvery-copper threads. The whole effect was that of light reflecting on water. I was able to adjust my seat in a variety of positions.
The food provided in the flight had a selection of famous Filipino cuisines. I came to know that the in-flight menu of PAL is designed by celebrity chefs from time to time. For Appetizer, I ordered Beef Bulalo with wonton crisp and fried kang kong leaves. I was really impressed with their Bulalo, Its kinda awkward at first but I ended up ordering another serving.
Inflight Meals during the Inaugural Flight
For the Main Course, I had Pork Estofado by Chef Jessie Sincioco. Nothing too special but I liked it, it has a familiar Filipino taste that i missed for almost a week. The next morning, they served Arroz Caldo – a famous ginger flavored rice porridge with chicken. The servings is not that huge but who needs full meals? We are just practically sleeping all the time inside the aircraft.
I was told that the Boeing 777-300ER usually had a smooth landing and based on experience, Philippine Airline pilots are famous for their almost impalpable landing. Im glad I was able to experience it when the aircraft finally landed in Manila.
Mabuhay Class Inflight Meals
It was with a tinge of reluctance that I left the huge aircraft. PAL has outdone itself. The service was excellent, food quite satisfactory and better than many Asian flights and finally the ample opportunity for entertainment within the Mabuhay cabin made the long flight completely worth it.
From the attentive, extremely polite and helpful flight attendants to the modern facilities for entertainment and comfort provided in the cabin, my Mabuhay Class Boeing 777-300ER experience was truly a memorable one. My Mabuhay Class Boeing 777-300ER experience is definitely worth giving a couple more tries. I could not wait to put on the ‘goose neck’ reading lights again and seat on a Recaro CL6510 while listening to my favorite travel soundtrack.
This Toronto inaugural flight experience was sponsored by Philippine Airlines. Visit their facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/flyPAL) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/flyPAL) if you want to know more about their flight schedules and Airline updates.
