TToT # 3: HONG KONG ...

Carpet Burn/Shuttle Bus/Transfer

Another Qantas 

Delays - the best way to deal with them

DELAYS are inevitable. Dependent upon your personal mindset, they can either be endured or enjoyed.  After a slower start than planned and 10 or so hours in the air, we arrived at Hong Kong to learn that yes, our replacement flight was also delayed. In fact, this flight was delayed later than the one we should have been on originally. Hard to follow? Imagine how we were coping! Queue or not to queue? Sit, stand or slouch? Too many questions and not enough functioning brain matter to decide. Our decision? Imagine if you will - long snaking line, mad trolley collecting lady - people disperse like skittles for fear of retribution by this pint-sized pee-wee. With that, we returned somewhat tired, over heated and a tad over-it-all to our earlier position of carpet next to the nearest bin. NICE! Oh, what a fall from business class. 

Time to BOLT….

Lounge 

SO with the prospect of a repeated numb-bum and more carpet fluff than was becoming even for the most intrepid explorers, we decided to say Hong-Kong to it all and find the nearest Business Class Lounge. K, limping with impressive dexterity to avoid more chafing of the new shoes led the way. YES - a quick flash of some snazzy boarding pass and we were in! Sigh. I could really get used to this. With my 17th coffee today in hand, I noted the tan leather armchair and soft lighting decor.  Photo number ’99' duly taken, I took myself for a wander to find the shower facilities. Not that I was going to be diving right in but it would be rude not to check it out - right?  This corridor was extraordinary.  Polished marble, blue hues of neon lights…. sigh. Yes please.

For those of you who know me well, I am a SUCKER for lights.

Is it still SUNDAY?

So, 7:00pm and we are still somewhere in the bowels of Hong Kong airport. By now, we probably should have actually been in Shanghai but hey, what are you to do?  With that thought, the voice from above announced our flight and we had to leg it (well, for K a-leg-and-a-limp) back to Gate 511 which seemed to have been relocated even further away since our first visit there an hour ago.  Queuing - that old habit again  -to show our passes and bowled over once more by someone smaller than me. Seriously? I look behind me - no-one! I look in front - yes, a half empty shuttle bus. Gee - what is the rush? 

Tired and less tolerant but still pumped to jump aboard DragonAir 

in the bid to reach Shanghai before the ITLM begins for K. 

Yes - short bus ride. Funny sign. 

Don’t stand inside the yellow box. 

Slight hysteria rising. 

Into our next seats and - oh my god - the flight is still delayed and we cannot take off! 

Please be advised that we are in a QUEUE! I thought that I had left the Brits behind…. 

45 minutes later and TAKE OFF. 

Some in-flight entertainment with the highest number of public announcements possible. 

Are you SERIOUS?         

May just have had this ice cream with someone in mind...

But HEY- we made it…. 

TToT #1: Timing Is Everything...

So, here we are. 

A late night flurry of the ‘oh goodness, what to pack?’ type chaos followed by some distract-a-tactics of iView before finally falling to sleep at around 1:45am. 

Packing efficiently may well be considered an art.    Louis Vuitton 

“What is art?” I was recently asked as I attempted to bite delicately into a ridiculously delicious slice ofThai Toast.  After reaching for my napkin and a comprehensive response, I was simply told that it was a question that doesn't require an answer…

Nice. And a reply like this from someone who was wearing their shirt inside out. Honestly.

Anyway. Here I am.

I wake mysteriously enough 2 minutes before the dulcet ringtone of ‘crystals’ jars me from my semi consciousness. Why does that happen? One hour ’til pick up by Keith the transfer guy. 

Showered, dressed, house cleaned - yes, there are very few people who choose to clean and vacuum at 3:45am but, hey ho. 15 minutes to go before kick off and into my first coffee. 

Bag packed. Check. Padlock code known. Check. Coffee in microwave. Check.

Check the iPhone and - duh - missed call and two texts. NEW pick up time of 6:30am. Flight delayed.  Connecting flight will be missed. Nice! Thank GOD I didn’t throw away the remainder of the milk. So here we are. TIME FOR MORE COFFEE.

Perhaps slightly more than is needed and now with 1.5hrs to fill, Re-packing could be an option.

Ping. Microwave saves me from that feat.

This little bear could become seriously well travelled  (better LATE or TIMELY?)

TToT #4: S H A N G H A I ...

Swanky, Sumptuous and Seriously Sexy

Room 600

Where Hotel Living Lives It Up LARGE

OH MY GOD. Nope. Not strong enough. OMFG!  Sorry to those of you reading this entry that have may have more decorum, less grunt and are more linguistically refined  than me but IF YOU SAW this place, it would get you and your lexicon lips in a total knicker-twist too.

For me to have this reaction, bleary eyed, bloated and beyond beauty sleep - it has to be out of this world. Let me walk and talk you through it. 

Sixth floor. Room 600. Entry room (yes, inside our hotel room) - with bar ‘fridge, coffee machine and large wooden cupboard. Door to the right and opening to the left. Errm, which way now? Okay - to the left. Opening into large bedroom with TWO QUEEN BEDS, large WRITER’S DESK (seriously, they knew that I was coming) - you know the type: heavy, dark wood with a leather in-lay and roll top with bamboo edging.

Three windows, four lamps, large cabinet housing a TV, DVD player and some sort of sound system amplifier-thing. Then another doorway off here - oh, of course; it’s a SEPARATE DRESSING ROOM! Wardrobes, safe, dressing table with mirror, another window and then a doorway into the BATHROOM. 

Okay, so entry room and dressing room back onto each other and two doors each lead into the BATHROOM. Claw foot bath, two separate basins, tall mirrors above, chaise lounge (yes, in the bathroom), TV - yes, in the bathroom mounted by the bath  of course! 

Walk in shower with rain head shower and separate shower to wash your separate bits-n-bobs, then a toilet. When closed, both doors have full length mirrors to check out your bits-n-bobs and, should you require it, there is also a full length mirror behind the toilet for when you bend and… you get the picture. 

Well, err no. Let me re-phrase.                            

No picture of that one!

SO HERE WE ARE. 

We have frequented three airports, boarded two flights, overcome three delays, covered 7,041.33 kilometres by air (just an approximation), travelled in two buses, sat in two cars, traversed one revolving door and gone up six flights in a lift and now we are in TWO MINDS. To unpack or not unpack? To sleep or not to sleep?

Decision Made: BED TIME..

And with this comes the inevitable undressing, showering and locating of pyjamas. And what better place to undress than amongst the myriad of mirrors?

As I begin to peel of the well travelled attire,  I look and then look again. Surely not?  Yes, it is true.  

I have only travelled all this way with my undies on inside out. 

I am ALL CLASS.

SHANGHAI BABY

TToT #2: The Journey...

This is where it all starts…

An uneventful ride to the airport in the back of a plush, well equipped car. Sunday papers, bottled water and an assortment of lollies only akin to an English sweet shop is the lead into a deserted Perth airport. No change there. Swiftly checked bags, passports perused and body scanner machine avoided, we were through to the Qantas Business Lounge. Muted colour palette, silently percolating coffee and slightly bemused passengers dotted around the place. 

Hong Kong is experiencing poor weather so further delays are looking a strong possibility. 

Enter plane, take first on your right and deposit carry on bag in overhead locker; first extracting the iPhone and Mac Air for unsightly novice-type behaviours during the flight. Settle back into depths of the chair. Panel of flashy lights to my left, sizeable screen on the wall in front and a foldable table. Nifty built in compartments housing perfectly padded earphones and a small backlit mirror. Not sure if I’ll be using the latter as there are only so many occasions that one would want to be reminded of the inevitable puffiness of face and blood shot eyes in any flying experiences. But, hey, I appreciate the gesture, Cathay Pacific. 

Business Class Seat 11G

The seat of choice

Good position,  a gazillion gadgets and did I mention the sheer vastness of it all?

Chance to chat more to my friend with whom I have been delicately deseeded of my travelling virginity. Don’ t worry, I am amongst friends. She is great. Cool, calm and collected. Kindle in hand, she settles back for what will be another day at the office, so to speak. Not like little ‘old’ me who, at times, forgets that I have been catapulted from a fairly sheltered upbringing in the Home Counties (thank you very much) of Blighty and landed head first in an Antipodean Adventure. From this far land, I have travelled more than ever. Unfathomable. Thank you, K. You have brought so much more into my life; laughter, long lunches, foreign affairs (sounded good) and stuff.  

Seat belt clunk-clinked, animated safety video observed (and, no, I didn’t take out my lifejacket to test it - I am a risk taker, you know). CHECK. Travelling pants re-arranged and subtly sneaked selfies amongst the sincere sobriety of BUSINESS CLASS. Oh my!

Take off completed without glitch. THANK GOD. Business class menu and wine list hand-delivered. Okay - getting a tad carried away now. Let’s blame the altitude. Seriously, this would be a great gig; writing poetic prose for airlines… Breakfast arrives more swiftly than one can possibly imagine. Crisp white linen, napkin laid, bone china and real cutlery; these guys have thought of everything. 

Forced my way through pistachio granola and apricot compote. Had to decline the mushroom fritata and stir fried noodles. Seriously, I’m going to be on this flight for a while…and I may have inadvertently over dosed on Metamucil sometime between 3:30 and 6:30 this morning. I should have just stuck to the coffee!

A Mac gives a certain sense of self when set amongst these Business Class types. Okay, so I may not be selling shares or writing up business acquisition proposals but, hey, I look the part. 

They’re not to know that I am busy tapping tireless tripe to myself and having a BLOODY good time!