Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Hong Kong/Shanghai: Tuesday

Well, I set the alarm on my mobile for 5AM. Damn! That's early. :p We packed up whatever was left that needed to be packed. We went down to check out. Luckily a taxi just pulled up in front of the hotel. Traffic was a breeze to the airport. My flight was a Cathay Pacific codeshare with Dragonair so I had to check in with Dragonair instead.

Not really meaning to ditch the folks (their flight is at around 11AM versus my 8AM flight), so I bade them adieu and bon voyage as I proceeded to go through security. Security and customs was a breeze. I found a Travelex where I exchanged most of my HK$ for Yuan. I gotta have cab fare for when I get there. I found the gate but there wasn't much in the way of seats close to the gate, so I just found a spot on the floor and sat. Time to board came around. Seat 41G. An aisle seat. some days I just don't feel like being trapped in a window seat. Just behind my row was a huge tour group. Not exactly sure if they're all from Hong Kong, although it seems that most of them spoke Cantonese. Amusing moment: While waiting for the washroom, someone didn't lock the door but when he was done ended up locking himself in. He struggled for a bit there before he managed to get out.

The flight was overall rather uneventful. I listened to my iPod for a while. They served us breakfast. We had a choice of some western fare or noodles. I opted for the noodles. There was some turbulence along the way but it wasn't too bad. The flight was pretty quick lasting just under 2 hours. I just wished the cab ride went as quickly!

After clearing customs (no problems), and retrieving my bag, I figure the best way to get to where I was going was the cab it. I really did not want to lug my baggage on the Maglev and the subway system. I found the taxi stand no problem. With the address my friend FAX'd me the other day, the taxi driver knew where I wanted to go. It was relatively smooth sailing until we hit some traffic at some point. It was stop and go primarily because there was a traffic light at this part of the road. I thinka bout about 30-45 minutes we reached our destination. The taxi ride cost just 170RMB. After I got out and another fare got into the cab, I showed the suited and name-tagged guy at the door my friend's address. He acknowledged the address, offered to carry my bag and led me to the building. There, another suited man showed me a note and an envelope with my name on it. I guess he left his key for me. After some smiling and nodding, I took the key and my bag and made my way to his apartment.

After thinking the apartment was 603 and not 608, I managed to find myself inside his place. It's a small 2 bedroom apartment. I guess it's the right size for a bachelor. His fridge reeks of bachlordom too! ;-) 2 cans of coffee, a bottle of pepsi, a bottle of Absolut. There were some leftover KFC spicy wings, which I eventually nuked and ate. He had some McD's fries sitting in the microwave as well. there was an assortment of instant noodle packs. Hmm.. I suspect he eats out a lot. But then again, I think it's relatively cheap to eat out here anyway.

In any case, I feel like a shower, but the cleaning lady is here. I'll wait until she's gone. I think my friend is suppose to be back around 6:30PM. We have a lot of catching up to do. Maybe over some food and drink.

No comments: