arrival
The previous time I had flown with Thai Airlines was when I went to Myanmar about 3 years ago. On that flight, the crew were evidently on the last leg of a long tour: service and food was decidedly sub-standard, I was disappointed with the drop in standards and it was with some reluctance that I booked with Thai again this time. I’m happy to say my fears were not realised. The aircraft was new and spacious, the crew were bright and cheerful and the food was great, The last leg from Bangkok to Hong Kong only took a couple of hours, and it went quickly, The decent into Hong Kong was through thick cloud and we only broke through at about 1000 ft, I was quite relieved to see the sea beneath us at a decent distance away. The only other t5ime I had flown in to Hong Kong was when the old airport was still running: some may remember the way the aircraft seemed to have to drop down between the high-rise buildings just a few feet (it seemed) away from the wing tips, Things are a lot less hazardous these days, I’m pleased to report’
In spite of the thousands of passengers pouring into the Customs entry zone. inside 25mins I was processed and walking out, anxiously scanning for a familiar face in the crowd’ (Rob’s mobile had refused to work in Hong Kong and so our plans of doing a ;here I am, where are you?’ routine didn’t get off the ground. Nevertheless. as I walked out, in walked Rob, polishing off a container of noodles as he came,
So all was well, and we walked outside to a waiting double-Decker bus which took us 
rig
ht to our doorstep in downtown Kowloon.
I’ll tell you about these ‘digs’ another time. For now its enough to say they are clean and tidy and on the top (14th) floor of a very busy block. Seething with money-changers , food outlets and restaurants on the lower 3 floors, then a rabbit warren of rooms above.
Weather has been wet. windy and cool and it was decidedly nippy when we all walked down to the waterfront last evening and watched the Light Display. Hong Kong is an incredible array of high rise apartment blocks and Commercial sky scrapers. Maybe not on a New York scale, but to see these towering buildings crammed together with al;most no space between them was an amazing sight. At l\\night of course these buildings become a series of twinkling tablets,and the commercial buildings add more color with their many huge neon signs. Viewing HK Island from across the water was thus a very pretty sight, but to add to the spectacle, for a period each evening some of the buildings put on an extra show. with laser beams piercing the night sky, and strobe lighting bathing some built.dings in bands of varying colours. It was a good show and the attached pics do not do it justice
But now for a couple of intriguing human encounters. The first was the young lady who checked my passport. She was wearing (is that the term?) fingernail extensions. They were very long, white. with square tips, This to me was strange enough, but what really intrigued was the little band of diamonds across each nail at the junction point between real and false’
The second event was the crowd that gathered around our tribe when we were down on the waterfront. As Rachael has said in her blogs. once one person breaks the ice and asks or points the question ‘are these all yours? a crowd gathers, chattering excitedly among themselves, then being photographed with the kids etc, Its a real circus, which the kids endure quite stoically 
kiwijoe