Hong Kong: Arrival

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Left the house around 6AM and got to the Centennial Airport 8AM. After checking in our baggages, Jon and I bought sandwiches from Deli France and ate our late breakfast while we waited for the announcement that we could board the plane. Left Metro Manila 10AM and got to Hong Kong International Airport at 12:00 noon.

Milette arrived the day before and just gave me written instructions on how to get to the Marriott from the airport. She told me to take the Airport express to IFC station then take a taxi from there.

To ride the Airport express, i need tickets which is bought from a vendo machine. I realized that I should have requested for smaller bills at the bank as the machine wouldn't take my HK$1000 bill. I didn't want to use the HK$100 I had because I think I'd have a harder time getting change for the Hk$1000 from the taxi driver. Jon and I found a machine exchanging US dollars for HK Dollars and fed it US$50 just so we could have smaller HK$ to feed into the ticket machine. Jon and I were discussing what kind of ticket to buy when a very helpful local approached and thought we didn't know what to do and started pointing to the ticket machine and speaking what I think must be Cantonese. She would be the first of very helpful Cantonese speaking people we would encounter. He he he.

As we were buying the tickets, we found out that there's no such station labeled as IFC, but figured out Milette must be referring to the Hong Kong station. The airport is located in Lantau island and it took almost an hour to get from there to Hong Kong station (which is in Hong Kong island).

Milette instructed me to take a taxi to the JW Marriott Hotel, but my senses told me there might be a better way. We asked around and were told there is a free shuttle service from the station to the Marriott hotel. That saved me taxi fare plus the additional payment drivers expect to get per luggage (I was told I may end up paying more for the luggage than for the fare, he he). Downside ofcourse was we had to wait for the shuttle, whereas taxis were readily available. As we boarded the shuttle, I found out that locals know the hotel as "JW" and not "Marriott".

Checked into the hotel around 2PM. Milette told me Friday that she wanted to visit Disneyland and that she'll meet us at the hotel when we arrive so that we could proceed to Disneyland right after we checked in. What was waiting for me though was another set of written instructions left by Milette ... who I assumed was having a blast shopping that she didn't think she could make the trip to Disneyland. She shouldn't have bothered leaving me instructions on how to get to Disneyland though, as that was one thing I made sure to etch in my mind even before leaving the Philippines. Ha ha ha!

Before we were shown to the elevator and given our keys, the receptionist realized there was another envelope left for me ... this time by BNP Paribas, and it contained the schedule for the 2-day workshop. What I was thinking then was: "What fun, I'm getting around a foreign country relying on written instructions given by installment - it's like Amazing Race without the Race".

Once we got out luggages to our room and decided who gets what bed, we rushed out to get to Disneyland so that we can make the most of the hours left.