First leg of the trip - to Hong Kong

The journey didn't get off to the best of starts. We spent two hours waiting on the tarmac at Manchester while a dent to the fuselage was checked out! So we missed our flight out of Heathrow complicating all arrangements thereafter. Ce la vie - could have been worse, some poor sods had to wait till the next day for their onward journeys. It was like being stuck in an episode of "Airport" at the airline desks, complaints galore!

The experience of flying is akin to enforced rest. A pleasant contrast to the chaos of the last few days at home. I finished reading The Life of Pi on my new Kindle (a leaving present from work). Then started Ian Bank's penultimate novel. Bliss!! 

We arrived in Hong Kong airport, marvelling at the apparent efficiency of the place - in stark contrast to Heathrow. I guess that's the benefit of starting an airport from scratch without the complications of a more organic development. Think the airport was built in the late nineties if my memory serves. Very impressive building in itself built on reclaimed land to the west of the city. 

We were wisked away from the airport in a big black merc. It was hot and still with a slight haze to the sky. Dusk was just starting to come on adding to a slightly surreal atmosphere. Our hotel is on the eastern fringe of Hong Kong island so the trip here took us through Kowloom and then through the central District of Hong Kong. It's one long highway the whole way, no traffic jams. We cruised at 80 miles an hour over several suspension bridges and through tunnels as we zig zagged from island to island. Past 50 storey residential sky scrapers lined up against the backdrop of the mountains. And then into the city itself with staggeringly high sky scrapers with company names lit up in contrast to the  dusky sky. A fantastic start to our break. 

We're resting up in the hotel now. The in house restaurants look rather expensive so we'll be going native,  sure they'll be a genuine eatery nearby.