Sort of Back to China But on My Own

It's been a blur. But I was good on the first flight from London City to Amsterdam; I didn't take an alcoholic drink that was offered before take-off although others did. Even though it was my first experience in business class. However, the smallish plane hanging from its wings did wobble a bit too much for my liking and as soon as the on-board services arrived I did have a small white wine (it was by now after midday).

Well business class did not get me into the KLM lounge, but I was able to go to the Priority Pass one, not before having spent EUR150 on fags and perfume for my niece-in-law Chuan Chuan, though fair enough, she spent so much time with Leilei and Xixi last year, and she is gutted they aren’t coming this year.

I got to the gate earlier than necessary but needn’t have worried as I was ushered on, hanging my jacket and placing my hand luggage in a wardrobe right in the nose of the 747/400. It was a semi-double-decker, with the pilot above and behind us. I suppose if we were to crash into a mountain we’d be the first to die, but then that mightn’t be a concern. It certainly wasn’t a concern when I was offered a glass of champagne, and it really was a glass! (I didn’t care if the champagne was real).

I don’t want to recall the luxuries too much, as I’ll possibly not have the chance again, but the noise-cancelling headphones, being plied with drinks, the food, were just the precursor to the most important thing when you know you’re going to be in meetings 18 hours after you take off...fully reclining seats at the touch of a button. I normally like to watch a film or two before trying to sleep but I barely got through the second half of The Imitation Game before the nice lady came and asked me if I would like anything. “Er, may I have a cognac please?” was my reaction, and before I’d finished my sentence I had one waiting for me. I felt a little bit like Mr Benn, except my costume was my drink, or my drink was my costume. Either way I remember starting to watch something mildly intellectual about Steven Hawking and the last thing I knew I woke up to a turned off screen. Normally at this time I check the time and realise there are still seven hours to go and curse my lack of sleep. But I noticed on the screen off the chap next to me that there were under two hours of the 11+hour journey to go. Result! I’d slept the best part of seven hours on an aeroplane. Oh please let this happen again.

At Hong Kong I changed my clothes in the loo and felt quite refreshed as I got the train and tube to near my hotel. I was nearly lost but asked the old man in the reception of some building how to get to my hotel. He looked at me quizzically for half a second while I asked him if he spoke Mandarin, then broke out into a lovely smile as he explained I needed to go down the escalator then cross the road. It almost seemed to have made his day to be able to speak to someone to break the monotony of his job.

At the hotel I dumped my stuff off and met my client. He said he'd not found anywhere that sells a pint of beer but somehow I'd sniffed one out on the way to the hotel. We went there for a couple of pints and a bite to eat before I realised the sleep in the plane was not enough to be ready for tomorrow, so I went for a quick siesta. On waking, it seemed the thought of being away from the family for two weeks suddenly hit me and I video-chatted them via WeChat. It felt a lot better knowing you can do that. Tan also sent me a nice picture that will become my phone's new background for a couple of weeks at least.

Will miss these exins!

One of the best things about this hotel is the free smartphone they give you for the duration of your stay. Not only is it free to call nine countries around the world (including mobiles in the UK), but you can use it as a hotspot therefore meaning you can use your own phone/laptop online for free, unlimited. They have a potential returning customer here (Dorsett Mongkok Hotel, Kowloon).

I feared being up till 4am but a couple more beers and a travel sickness tablet later and I just made it to the end of a particularly thrilling match where we beat Chelsea 3-0 at home! It could have been more. I'm hoping being a City fan this year will be better than last - so far it certainly is!