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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Stuck in Hong Kong Airport

I had a wonderful time in the US. It was nice to be in my own house, sleeping on my bed and doing routine things that I've done for years.
It was nice attending Cynthia's graduation and then spending Christmas with friends.
It was great to talk without thinking about the words to use.

At last, I have to make this long journey back to Asia. A trip like this typically takes at least 24 hours from door to door. My flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong took 15 hours non-stop. That's a lot of time to be on a plane. Fortunately, Cathay Pacific Airways has a very nice entertainment system in front of every seat. The service was good but not as good as Singapore Airlines, which has been voted No. 1 airline for the last 2 decades, I think. If you have to make a trip across the Pacific, forget about the US-based airlines. Their food is bad and their service is lousy. Also, the Asian countries don't have any age-discrimmination laws so the Asian-based airlines pick the best-looking flight attendants.

Unfortunately, my flight from LA to Hong Kong was delayed taking off and I missed my connecting flight to Hanoi. I ended up spending 9 hours at the Hong Kong Airport. Good thing the airline gave me a hotel room to shower and rest up. But, I still had a lot of time to walk around the airport. Below are some pictures I took while walking around.




This airport is huge. It is an airport and shopping center. It replaced the old Kai Tak airport in the early 2000s'. It is built on an island about 20 minutes by train from the city.
The picture on the left shows the waiting area for the gates.









Here is a map of HK's subway system, called MTR. It is a very clean and efficient system.












Burger or Wonton noodles?































Here are the check-in counters.

























One of the small restaurants selling local snacks.













Well....how can you not have a Starbucks. There is also a McDonald's restaurant somewhere in the airport.



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