Hong Kong: The Flight

I am in Hong Kong! I'm using the internet at my hostel now - everything went quite smoothly on my trip.

Nancy, Chris and Anna dropped me off at Caledonian Road Station on the Piccadilly Line so that I'd have a direct train to the airport. This worked very well - the train took a while (1 hr) but brought me right to Terminal 5.

Terminal 5 is the new British Airways terminal, and it was very impressive looking. Possibly the nicest airport terminal I've ever been in, with the possible exception of Kuala Lumpur. Check in and security were a breeze (took a total of 5 minutes), and soon I was inside security with plenty of time to eat dinner. I ate at Wagamama, which is a British noodle chain - I had some sort of udon noodle stir fry, which was fine but nothing special - but better than typical airport food. At the table next to me I observed 3 Chinese businessmen trying to figure out the menu - they spoke no English, but luckily one of the waitresses had limited Chinese. It was interesting to watch them figure it all out, since they were clearly familiar with most of the foods themselves, but not with the format of the menu or the restaurant processes.

My flight boarded on-time, and I observed before we even boarded that there weren't enough people to fill a 747. I was right - the plane was probably less than 1/2 full. Not only did I have a seat with extra legroom (emergency exit), but I also had the entire row to myself - only drawback was that my seat's screen and tray table popped up from the armrest, so that meant I couldn't lie flat across my aisle like other people could. But it was still really really nice to have all this space...in fact, I switched between different seats.

I had ordered the Hindu meal for myself, and sure enough, the flight attendant brought it out to me - he looked a bit confused at first that I was getting a Hindu meal, but he didn't say anything. For dinner, the main dish was: Fried chicken pieces, some grayish/green peas and mashed potatoes! I thought this was pretty funny - definitely not very special, but not bad either. On the side were some more Indian-type things: raita, lime pickle, a side of onion/lentil salad (this was good)....but I was kinda bummed about the main dish.

I managed to sleep for about 4-5 hours, and also watched Zoolander and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. They kept the lights off on the plane, and all the windows shut, to allow people to sleep up until 2 hrs before landing - I thought this was a bit ridiculous because in Hong Kong it was already late afternoon when we landed!

Breakfast was better: Some Indian flat bread, a spicy paneer curry, and some spiced potatoes. Definitely more Indian in style and quite good. I am pretty sure this was the same as the Asian Veg option, so I might just go that route next time.

Arrival in Hong Kong was great - views coming in were nice, landing went well, customs and baggage claim were a breeze - no questions asked. It was sunny and 82 degrees when I got outside, and I quickly caught my double decker bus into Kowloon. I got the top front seat, which provided more great views of the city as we drove in - especially crossing the bridge from Lantau into Kowloon.

My hostel seems pretty good - not very cheap at HK240 per night, but I have my own room and bathroom w/ AC - though it's very small! Free internet though, so that's good. And Willa is staying in a hostel just 4 floors above mine while she is here this week!

After checking in, I went to go to the ATM and explore. Walking around, I couldn't stop smiling - this place is HUGE and bustling, with amazing food and a million people everywhere. And I haven't even traveled more than 5 blocks from my hostel. I ate dinner at a restaurant where I had a claypot w/ rice and chinese sausage - very good. Then I roamed around a bit more - saw lots of fresh fruit, which I'll probably buy some of tomorrow - fresh durian, jackfruit, rambutan, lychee, mangoes, mangosteen, plums, cherries, oranges, papaya, etc....and again, this was just in a small market in my neighborhood, not even in an official produce market. So there will be lots to see.

I think that's about all for now....hopefully next post I'll be able to add some pictures too but i still need to figure out how that works. Goodnight from Hong Kong!