December 23rd came in with the promise of the start of our Hong Kong adventure. As our flight didn't leave until 6:20 p.m., we had some time for some adventures here in Thailand before we left.
First, the email for the cruise vouchers did not arrive prior to leaving the house. While I assumed that we could easily find a place to print it easily in the modern city of Hong Kong, I would later learn the extend of my naivety.
The kids spent part of the afternoon playing in the pool. Tim and I heard screaming and went out toinvestigate. Nalin was holding her mouth and screaming. She was playing with a stick and managed to cut the little membrane between your tongue and the bottom of your mouth. A quick trip to the emergency room confirmed that she was okay.
The flight on Emirates Air was a very pleasant surprise. We had some concerns about the quality given that it was a discount airline, but those were soon dispelled. The plane was nice, and the staff very friendly. Each seat had its own video entertainment system, complete with a wide selection of movies, TV shows, video games and music. The flight was not very crowded, and right before we took off the flight attendants asked Tim of she and the girls would like to spread out. Emirates also gave each child a bag with a puppet, a sleeping mask, a color activity books and a colored pencil set.
Allow me to digress from my tale for a moment and discuss flight attendants. More specifically, I have noticed a big difference between American and Asian flight attendants. Tim and I have both noticed that in general, the American flight attendants are much less friendly and more strict than their Asian counterparts.
The most obvious way you see this is with how they both handle kids. With a lot of American flight attendants, it seems like kids are a bit of a bother. This was especially noticeable when the kids were smaller and had a difficult time sitting in their seats for long periods. The Asian flight attendants would always dote on the kids, sometimes even giving them candy from their own personal supply.
I also noticed that the American flight attendants on the long overseas flights were often older than those from the far east. My guess is that this is seniority based, as the international destinations may be more desirable for flight attendants, so the more senior ones in the U.S. get first preference. In a lot of Asian countries, most of the flight attendants are young and usually attractive women. Places like Thailand are not so concerned with age or gender discrimination.
One thing that bugged me a bit about Emirates was that about 30 minutes before the flight landed, they went through and collected the blankets and headphones from the cabin. Fortunately I had an extra set of headphones that allowed me to finish watching the latest installment of Harry Potter. But come on, why rip the blanket of some sleeping senior to save some time on clean up.
We landed in Hong Kong after about 2.5 hours, and easily cleared customs and immigration.
Our friend had someone meet us at the airport and take us to her flat. It was only a twenty minute bus ride, and it stopped right in front of our building.
To be continued....
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