October 7, 2018

October 7, 2018

Well, here we are a couple of hours into our long flight (Vancouver to Hong Kong).  We’ve been served a meal, as much complimentary Baileys in coffee as we want (Gail has opted for Crown Royal instead and both her and Darlene had wine with their meal as well!), and all four of us have settled into our respective movies.  Thanks to Becky we made it to the Penticton airport in plenty of time for the short one (one hour) flight from there to Vancouver.  We even had time to hit the drive through at Timmy’s as we knew it would be a long time before we had a taste of that iconic Canadiana again!

We marvelled at the touchdown of our little plane on the runway in Vancouver....it was as though we were still in the air the touch was so light and gentle.  We took it as the first sign that the stars were all aligned in our favour.  It didn’t take long for the second sign to appear either.  Within moments of landing and starting the long trek from domestic gates to our international one Lynda was able to commandeer a lady driving a cart.  Before we knew what hit us we were piled into the cart and beeping our way through the masses milling in the hallways of YVR.  The third sign that we were in for a seamless trip showed up when our zone 4 boarding line up was the shortest of them all!  Although it is possible that the rest of zone 4 was behind the back of zone 5’s line and that we (thanks to Lynda once again) pushed our way past them all to the actual zone 4 line up. As a result we were able to board our plane and find plenty of space in the overhead bins right above our seats for all of our luggage.  You may think that isn’t a big deal but trust me....it is!  All four of us have aisle seats 39C & D (across the aisle from one another) and 40C & D (right behind the other two).  How perfect!  We can get out any time we’d like, we can stretch our legs into the aisle, and we can all turn toward the aisle and have a conversation that is inclusive of us all.

We were settled in, buckled up, and ready for the attendants to make their final check before take off when all hell broke loose and all of the signs for a smooth trip went out the window!  The man in seat 43B (yes, just 3 rows behind us) started yelling at the man in 43E.  It was something about who should get to use the space in the overhead bins.  To fast forward just a little....3 flight attendants arrived to diffuse the situation but Mr 43B was having none of it and he just continued to escalate!  We started to plot as to how this growing conflict might be used to our advantage in obtaining complimentary first class seats but Damn!....we’re likely not close enough to him to make it work!  It didn’t take long for one of the flight attendants to decide that they needed to bring security into the conversation.  Given our proximity to the action we were able to hear and see everything in detail!  We know that the pilot telling the rest of the plane that the reason we were delayed in departure was due to baggage area issues was at best only a half truth, we knew that Mr 43B might be removed from the plane if he didn’t settle down, we knew that Mr 43B might also be charged $50,000 for delaying the plane and never allowed on another Air Canada flight ever again!  Oh the drama of it all was informing us that perhaps we weren’t in for a smooth trip, as we’d first thought, but that for sure the coming weeks would be full of adventure!

In the end, Mr 43B decided to continue the escalation by throwing garbage at the flight attendants and was subsequently asked to leave the plane.  We all clapped at his departure but at the same time we were saddened by the fact that we were now at least a full hour late leaving YVR and to make matters even worse....a storm had come up over the ocean that would delay our arrival by at least an additional hour!  Our 13 hour flight had just become a 15 hour journey!  We are all hoping our car and driver in Hong Kong checks our flight status and/or waits for us at the airport!  The man next to Lynda is hoping the pilot will put pedal to the metal and make up some lost time as he has a train to catch and he cannot miss his connection.

It’s only 5 pm Canada time but already people are beginning to snuggle down under their blankets here on the plane.  The crew have turned the lights down low and I’m guessing they’d be happy to see us all go to sleep for a few hours.  Hmmmm....I see that the rest of my group has already obliged on that front!  LOL.   Wow!  We are just a few hours into our SEA adventure and already I managed to type a full page.  I’d say this blog is going to turn into another veritable book!

Till later,

Darlorlynga

Oct. 8th

We’ve arrived in Hong Kong and it is now 9:30 pm on the 8th.  I’m the only one of us that is still awake and truth be told....I’m not long from falling into bed too!  

The rest of our flight passed calmly compared to the craziness that preceded it with that guy that had to be removed.  Although there was another “first” for me on the flight.  The flight crew came on the speaker about 4 or 5 hours into our flight asking if there were any doctors or nurses on the flight as they had a passenger in need of attention.  In conversation with one of the attendants later in the flight we learned that the passenger who’d been in need of attention was happily sleeping somewhere on the plane.  I must admit that it sure planted the seed in my mind that I might need to be “sick” on these long flights so they give me a place to lay down.  LOL!  Either that or buy a first class ticket I guess.  In truth, our flight wasn’t too bad and given that it was almost 15 hours on the plane....that’s really saying something.  The crew kept the planes’ temperature quite cool which was wonderful!  So often they keep flights overly hot and for me that is a recipe for trouble.  The heat just exacerbates my restless legs which makes for flights that are almost unbearable.  When the on board temperature is cooler and there is room to get up and walk around and the crew doesn’t mind you hanging around the periphery of their staff room at the back of the plane....the time passes soooo much more quickly!

Our arrival at Hong Kong airport was pretty uneventful.  We walked about a million miles to get to the immigration and customs counters.  From there it was a short walk to meeting hall B where Winston (our driver) met us.  We had another little hike to get to where the car was parked and an hour later we were pulling up in front of our hotel, the South China Hotel right in the heart of the old city of Hong Kong.

Every night at 8 pm there is a light show on the face of the buildings in old Hong Kong across the harbour from Kowloon.  We were lucky enough to be in traffic right at 8 pm so got to see a little of it from the car.  We also got to see the ICC Building (International Commerce Centre).  It is the tallest building in Hong Kong, is 100 stories high, and is the 7th tallest building in the world!  Even though the Hong Kong skyline is pretty impressive the ICC really does stand out as something to remember!

My intention is to sleep for the next 12 hours or so and my bed is calling so.....till next time....

Darlorlynga