All the way home again May 3 to 8
May 3 & 4 Little Kingshill to Hong Kong
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A very quiet day, packing, eating, finishing work and watching sport on TV. The rugby match we were watching - European Cup semi-final between Cardiff and Leicester -went to extra time and then penalties. I had to work hard to drag Malcolm away from the denouement so that he could run me to the airport.
The roads were clear so we made good time, check-in was very quiet and I had been given my upgrade - but in a centre seat as no aisle seats were available. Immigration was equally quiet, the only delays being occasioned by the lady in front of me who had half a gold mine hanging from her neck and her wrists, all of which had to be removed. Even then, she set off all the alarms. The end result of all of this was that I was air side less than an hour after leaving Little Kingshill. Terminal 1 is a huge improvement after years of having to use Terminal 3.
The search for dinner took me to Est!, one of a chain which I have used in the real world. The mozzarella and tomato salad looked really good.
The spaghetti with meat balls and freshly grated Parmesan tasted good and the glass of montepulciano was quite drinkable. Heathrow catering is looking up.
Having nothing better to do, I explored some shops and found a very cheap bar of chocolate, bought it and ate it. Not having done anything like this for several months, my taste buds appear to have lost interest in such things. A valuable lesson, perhaps.
The plane pushed off exactly on time, I survived my centre seat and enjoyed a very good and distinctly hot Thai prawn curry. Perhaps the best dish I have ever eaten on a plane. We experienced a few bumps but nothing serious, made good time and landed about 50 minutes early.
Hong Kong airport was full of people wearing masks. As the UK authorities say that masks are as good as useless, someone here has got it wrong! I had to fill in a health declaration form and there were temperature detectors in evidence.
I passed through Immigration with only a 12 minute delay, collected my
bag and was on the train speeding into the city at about the time that
the plane should have landed. I attempted a few more photos out of the
window, this time of the port facilities on one of the harbour inlets.
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There was a 10 minute wait for the shuttle bus but there wasn't much traffic so we reached the hotel in about 10 minutes and I was checked-in to my room by 17.30, less than two hours after the plane touched down.
After a quick shower and change, I was up, running and ready to face the world in less than half an hour. The Devil's Advocate offered instant temptation but I resisted this and passed by on the other side.
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I then had to go a long way in the wrong direction because there were lots of police and camera crews camped on the pavement completely blocking it.
Watching the TV news a couple of hours later suggests that they were outside a hotel in which 300 people have been quarantined because one of the guests supposedly has swine flu. Just hope no one here has it! I joined some of the locals in taking a photo of all the fun.
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The local branch of Fortress didn't have the lens that I wanted so I fear that I will return to New Zealand without one. The Southorn Playground was very busy, with a game of soccer being watched by quite a lot of people and lots more people playing basketball. I searched Wan Chai Computer Centre for various things, including my lens. I found some of what I wanted and will return to purchase when I have done some exchange rate calculations. The lens, however, was nowhere to be seen. |
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