Saturday 29 January 2011

Hong Kong

Well what can I say!! How much do I love Hong Kong, current home town of Ben's lovely Mum! Despite the eventful start we made it for our 3 week holiday!
We had tied everything up in London and were ready to go! After a weekend of snow and flight cancellations, (in which a couple of our friends flights had been cancelled), due to leave on the Monday, we assumed that Heathrow, being one of the biggest airports in the world, will have sorted itself out in time for our flight! We were wrong. Our flight was due to leave at 4:10pm. Till round 10 that Monday morning, all was set to go. The internet was not telling us our flight had been cancelled and so hopes were high. After 10 the message changed...we were suddenly told to call our airline, (Turkish Air). The flight was not showing cancelled, but it wasn't showing that it was flying out either.

With sinking hearts we made the call...busy tone. We called again, and again and again...I could repeat this line no less than 200 times and still not be able to give you any more information. Finally at 12:30, with no more information available to us, we decided we would make our way to the airport on the off chance we might make it out. Whenever our train was not underground and out of signal, we would again call Turkish Air, with no luck. Every now and then the phone would go through to a ringing tone...the anticipation would build, and we would hope for some information, only to have it ring for about 10 minutes before just hanging up on us!

Arriving at Heathrow we were rudely awakened to the reality of our situation, and given explanation as to why we had had no luck getting through to our airline...it was chaos. No one was allowed into the terminal, meaning that the crowds had amassed outside in the snow staring at the one information board...with all their luggage in tow. Ben and I squeezed our way through the crowds to get a view of the board, only to discover our flight was not even up there yet...only those flights before 4pm were showing...so close yet so far. 20 minutes we stood in the cold waiting for the board to change. Flights leaving at 4:05 began to show...

I cannot describe the feeling of absolute relief and joy I felt when our flight finally showed...minus the dreaded flashing red 'CANCELLED', but instead displaying a lovely white 'Terminal C'. I restrained myself from shouting out in joy due to the fact we were surrounded by at least a hundred people crying or stressing that they would not make it out that day...or at all...before Christmas.

Next several staff went around calling out our flight number...to which we were originally told that we were actually not on...due to the fact they had been looking for our names on the not checked-in passengers list, rather than the online check-in list. It was all secrecy as they quietly told us, as they checked off our names, that we needed to wait by the side exit door and that someone would come to open it for us in some time.

Ben and I spent the next 3 hours hiding out in one of Heathrow's airport lounges, courtesy of my bank, watching news reports on Heathrow going from bad to worse. We had promised ourselves we wouldn't celebrate till the plane was in the air...so cheers went up the minute we took off.

Now every cloud actually does have a silver lining...which for us was the 24 hour, all expenses paid stop-over in Istanbul. We had time to do some sightseeing, while eating and sleeping for free in a 4 star hotel! My kind of holiday!

Despite the rocky start, Hong Kong became one of our favourite holidays so far! Our days in Hong Kong were spent, ferrying from Island to Island, sightseeing, exploring...and much to my delight...SHOPPING! Ben had assured me before we left England, that Hong Kong had the best shopping in the world, and this being the case he released the credit card to me. Once we arrived, Mum quickly assured me 'shopping capital' was not the case at all. Despite the fact that I am not a small asian girl and sizes there aren't designed for me, I managed to make the most of my purchasing freedom, and bought pretty much anything that took my fancy and actually did fit! Not to mention the handbags and shoes!!!

We relaxed, ate yummy asian foods, I read, Mum played scrabble, Ben researched our next holiday. It was the perfect combo of chill-out time and adventure. Mum spoilt us with the perfect New Years, a trip to Macau, a stay in the Venetian, Cirque Du Soleil...which we all sat in complete amazement at the things people are able to do with their bodies...and cocktails and dancing to finish! Ben spent the whole time trying to convince me that a couple of years there earning some money would be the perfect end to our 3 years travelling...to which I finally convinced him that my biological clock would not continue ticking forever.

3 weeks went far to quickly, and before we knew it, we were back on a plane, teary-eyed, home bound.