27/07/2016 – Back to Hong Kong

Back to Hong Kong ….

London Heathrow

Its been a tough couple of months working hard to help get the business back on track, its a long road but we are getting there slowly. very long days and weekends too, stress…. a little…. frustrations…… many, but the belief in the office from the 3 of us is that it is worth the hard work. From the employees, we are still proceeding along that road, and hope that everyone will get on board. Presentation, Customer Service and the willingness and enthusiasm to make a difference, that’s the way forward.

So, the Far Eastern trip is upon me, and am currently sat in Departures Heathrow Terminal 3, heading out to Dubai on Emirates EK002 and then on to Hong Kong, 3 nights with friends in HK and then fly to Taiwan. Will be going on a trip into the mountains for 3D2N

All packed and ready to start out at 05:30, drove to West Pennard to meet up with a good friend who drove me to Heathrow. dropped off at T3 unloaded my bags only to find I had left my camera in my car back at WP. Upset and of course annoyed with myself. I had cleaned it made sure everything was working, cleaned the lens and charged up the battery, and a spare. really looking forward to using the Nikon D7100 DSLR coupled with the Nikon 18-300 Lens for the stunning scenery in Taiwan. A silly mistake, but I guess it could have been worse I could have left my passport at home!

As usual every time I come to Heathrow all the charging points are full up, never enough to go round! Walking around T3 (the worst LHR Terminal) I manage to find an empty charging point and get the laptop on charge. Hundreds of people milling around looking for bargains, shopping, sleeping, chatting, reading, it really is an interesting place to just people watch, surely enough material to write a book? I wonder how many of these people are thinking the same thing, is there anyone here writing about the life of an airport terminal? It reminds me of the film  The Terminal starring Tom Hanks.

I had been watching the people sitting near to me, mostly people on their phones and tablets, some with laptops, others chatting to their children, no drama, juts people waiting to fly to all corners of the globe. An elderly lady had been struggling with the Telegraph newspaper and had all but given up trying to fold the page so she could continue reading, eventually putting it on her lap and folding here arms…………. I walked over and asked her if I could help, which I did, folded the pages so she could continue reading, it was as if a voracious appetite had been awoken as she immediately became totally absorbed again, made me smile :-)

Time passed and my laptop was recharged, and was now a good time for a coffee and a sandwich, Chai Tea latte of course and a rare beef salad and horseradish sauce sandwich, really tasty and set me up for the flight.

Time to make a move to the gate, our A380 (Emirates) was next to the Quantas A380, just pushing back ready to make its way to Australia, we would be following her to Dubai. Have travelled all my life and been lucky enough to have flown on most types of aircraft. The difference over the years in comfort, size, speed, ease of access, is staggering, and this latest aircraft the Airbus A380 has taken flying to a whole new level, if you haven’t experienced it and get the chance, take it.

Settling down to the flight to Dubai, I had chosen my seats 79A, on all legs of the journey’ I was surprised to have 3 seats to myself, that would be grand for getting a snooze!! The flight was at 2:15pm so it would be a “Daylight” flight for half, arriving into Dubai at just after midnight. The flight was uneventful, a small amount of turbulence, the food was excellent Chicken potatoes and vegetables in a pepper sauce, fruit, desert, cheese and biscuits, coffee/tea, wine all types of beverages, Emirates do have the best on board staff without doubt.

Dubai International Airport

Arriving into Dubai where we would have around 3 hours touchdown to lift off. Time for the all important Costa and Croissant!!

Hong Kong International Airport & Kowloon

The second leg to Hong Kong is the flight that I always sleep, having stayed wake, purposely, for so long, it means I arrive at destination relaxed, awake and looking forward to a wash/shave/shower at the airport before immigration and collecting bags. Immigration is well thought out and supervised, and the staff friendly and I am quickly at the carousel to collect bags. My friends are there waiting for me, smiling faces, hugs and smiles…….It is good to be back

They had driven rather than take the MTR and the drive back from the airport to Kowloon and  The Langham Hotel bought back many of the reasons why this is where I would love to live, and the reasons to keep coming back.

Checked in we had dinner booked for 7-7.30 at a beautiful restaurant on the 42nd floor in a building overlooking the harbour. Meeting up with Frieda, Hector, Hiver, Hugh Paul and of course Mum, Peggy we had a lovely evening and the food was outstanding, the highlight being the “crab” well it was huge, it weighed a lot and with it still alive and moving it was difficult to hold!! 8 courses, the conversation, the company it was a great evening, but it had also been a long day, they dropped me off at the hotel and I slumped in to bed…………… A great day and tomorrow is another day to look forward to …..