Starting off the Trip, 5/3/2011. Tuesday.

Arriving in Hong Kong

I had a scary mishap during the flight. I was tired and hungry (being not eating too much at dinner) when getting on the flight. So I ate everything in sight when dinner was served at 3:30 AM ( 2 hours into the flight). I also had a glass of red wine with dinner and finished off with shot of cognac. Soon after I was ready to sleep as I was exhausted. Shortly after they cleaned the tray off the table and I was coming down with dizziness and a big cold sweat. Last thing I remember I was trying to get up and go to the toilet to wash my face but the next thing I knew I was lying on the aisle next to the toilet with Amy kept calling my name and there were at least two more flight attendants wiping my face. I had passed out and bumped my head and lay unconscious for about 5 minutes. They finally sat me up and let me used the toilet. I went back to my seat but still felt dizzy with a cold sweat. I must had passed out again for the next thing I remembered was Amy cleaning-off barf of my chest. I must had threw-up and made a mess on my shirt. The nice, young and cute stewardesses were all over me. I think there were 4 of them (Fanny, Sophie, Candy and Tracy). They all offering me air sickness bags, wet towels, water and a new pajama reserved only for the 1st class passengers. (I got to keep the pajama) I felt so embarrassed as everyone was looking as me (but I kind of like it). Finally, I threw up again all I had in my stomach and felt immediately better.

Next thing I knew, the kind flight attendants cleared out all five passengers from the whole center row and let me laid down and slept. They piled several pillows and 7 blankets to keep me warm as I was feeling chills. I slept for 4 hours with Amy at the end of the row keeping an eye on me. I got up after the siesta and felt like a million dollars. I sat up for the rest of the trip and ate a cup of noodles and breakfast before landing.

I asked the supervisor for a comment form and wrote a really nice letter to show my appreciation. As a gesture of appreciation, I also invited all the flight crews in the Economy Class (most of them were young Chinese girls) to going sailing on the bay next time they have a laid-over in SFO.

Hong Kong (香港; ) is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. Situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbor. With a land mass of 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighboring Guangdong province. (Wikipedia)

I got to HK early Tuesday morning feeling still a little groggy. With the well known HK efficiency, I was able to clear the usual obstacles in 15 minutes and got on my bus heading to our hotel in Kowloon. The minute I boarded the bus, I got a big whiff of nasty perfume coming from two elderly Western ladies sitting in front of me. The ride only took 30 minutes but the smell of that strong perfume would have last at least three more days. I then started a marathon of meetings and lunches and dinners and afternoon teas with friends and relatives for the next few days. Every day I was feeling a little more recovered from the jet lag and my throat slowly adjusting to the smog filled city of Kowloon.

One of my goal was to meet up with my sister-in-law Evelina's family. She had 2 sisters and a brother still living in HK. Her brother Man Siu (吳文瑞) in particular, was also researching and writing his family history. He is a learned man, a graduate from the famous Tsinghua University (清華大學) in China. And I would like to pick his brain on how he approached the subject. He treated us to a nice dinner and shared his writings (in Chinese) with me. I was so impressed with his writing style of great precision and humor. I could only wished my writing would be like that.

We also caught up with my nephew, Chi Keung (陳志強) whom I grew up with some fifty years ago. We have a great time talking and looking forward to our trip together to China. He had lived a hard life.