Hong Kong 2019 - Day 0 Travel Day

[Melbatb]

The day started in a relaxed manner. F and I had hair appointments at 9am - though even at this early hour the hairdressers was running 30 minutes late!

Hair tidied up, I nipped to the supermarket for eggs and toilet paper and then faffed about at home. My flight wasn't until 2.15 so I was in no rush.

I got changed and we left at about 12noon. J works near the airport so has worked from home so he could take me in. I had a big hug from F.

We had to go via the stables to drop F's riding boots off as she had a lesson later and would be going on her bike. There were some unexpected roadworks which delayed us by about 15 minutes but J dropped me off at about 12.45pm

I had already checked in and was only traveling with hand luggage so I went through security, got an avocado wrap and coffee from Pret and headed through passport control. I ate my wrap while waiting to board.

My first flight was on an A320 too Heathrow. I had a window seat - the flight was pretty full.

We took off 10 minutes early. I just read my kindle on board. The flight flew past and we were 20 minutes early arriving in Heathrow terminal 5.

The airport was very busy - half term I guess. I got some shampoo etc and some treats in case I was hungry on the flight.

At about 4.30pm I decided I would go to eat.

Giraffe was the restaurant of choice.

I had a lemon and mint lemonade.

I had the avocado and egg sandwich with the spicy sauce on the side and home fries.

It was very tasty. I am glad I had the sauce on the side though. It came to about £13

Although the gate wasn't showing the board did indicate that we would be departing from terminal C so I made my way over there via the underground train.

The sun was setting over the airport.

I had managed to book an aisle seat on the upper deck. There was a lot of waiting around and I eventually boarded at about 6.30pm. The flight was due to leave at 6.40...

Again the flight was full - was a surprise as tourism has been hit hard by the recent demonstrations. I had a very nice Hong Kong lady next to me.

There was a big issue with the video system. It worked for some (me included) and not for others. They tried to reboot it about 4 times, including one massive reboot but apparently some people didn't have any films all flight.

Eventually I started to watch A Star is Born (again! ). Dinner was bought round about 2 and a half hours into the flight.

I had ordered an Asian vegetarian meal. The salad and dessert were decidedly average but the curry was nice enough.

I think I saw to the end of the film but must have them nodded on and off.

The rest of the flight will be in tomorrow's installment!