Day 2 - Arrival (Sunday)

I blame my love of flying on my real first true girlfriend. Jennifer worked for United and would often use one of her companion tickets to take us to far off distant places for near nothing. It was from her I fell in love with this magical contraption of gizmos which would lift 200 people into the sky, hearing the whirl of an airplane engine, the views of the night sky that can only be witnessed from 40,000 feet in the sky. Ever since then if I had to pick my one happy place it’d be on a plane, destination not really important.

It’s always a great sign when you get your airline ticket upgraded to first class. Granted it was just from SD to Seattle but a welcome treat all the same. On the way up I was able to talk to a pilot that was headed to Seattle then would be flying to Amsterdam. Originally he was scheduled to go to Paris but a last minute swap the day before, before the terrorist attacks on the city, and was recounting how fortunate he felt to be doing this other run today.

It was a surreal but very cool vision to see near my departure gate a seafood café, sushi, and burger options. I loved watching the people and seeing which nationality went to which food option.

Prior to this trip my longest flight was somewhere in the 6 hour range. The Seattle to Hong Kong is 14. Thankfully I was able to get past the first 7 hours without any problem. Hour 8 I started getting cabin fever. Thank goodness for the free in-seat entertainment system. At about this time we’re over the north east mountains of Russia. It’s a surreal sight to see all the mountain peaks covered in deep white snow.

There’s an new smell in Hong Kong I’ve never inhaled before. It’s this musky, perfumed, sweat smell. If you’re thinking that doesn’t sound appealing you’d be correct. Don’t get me wrong it’s not putrid or anything just, um different. In the airport every sign is in Chinese and English. If you're unfamiliar with the Chinese language you'll have no problem getting around and past customs.

Subway train from arrival gate to Customs	Arrival subway station on bottom, departure area on higher floors	4-story escalator to get you to Customs
More English-friendly signs directing you around the airport	Honolulu has ABC stores, Hong Kong has 7/11's	Let's see if they let me in

Getting from the plane to Customs to baggage claim is a breeze (maybe 40 minutes in total).  Next, get some money from an ATM machine (don’t mess with bringing US dollars just get HK dollars here), purchase a subway card (“Octopus card”) for $150HKD (roughly $20USD), shuttle to the hotel.

Arrival area, post-customs

Cool picture here

Cool picture here

I thought rooms in New York City were small. Oh no, those are mansions compared to HK rooms. They're tight because land is so expensive. The room I've got is large by HK standards but nice. It's the view that made me pick it over other nearby hotels.

Small but perfect situated room

Amazing night view from room

The 8pm light show

It's now 9pm. Flight landed at roughly 6:50pm. I've been up now over 24 hours. Time to try to get some sleep. I don't want to be crazy jet lagged for the morning.