Alaska to Hong Kong in one day

This week we have a delightful young lady from Hong Kong staying for a few days. Again, my lack of knowledge has led to some Google searches.It is situated on China’s south coast, and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea , With a land area of 1104  sq. km, and a population of 7 million it is one of the most densely populated areas in the world .Photos below courtesy of the Internet, of Hong Kong harbour.

Below is a photo, courtesy of  the Internet , of the Oi Man Estate where Rachel lives , on the 15th floor.

In this crowded city, here  is the Hong Kong  Park. A place of greenery and quiet, amid bustle and noise.

The next photo is taken from above Ho Man Tin,  showing us the taller buildings standing out from the others.

The tallest  building in Hong Kong is the  International Commerce Centre, with  118 floors, and is 484 metres tall. This is  in the area of West  Kowloon.

We did a Google Earth trip around the streets of Hong  Kong, and I was amazed at the English wording on the shop fronts, signs and vehicles. The many buses provide excellent public transport, private cars are few, parking not readily available, and with most families  living in the high rise buildings . 

These photos courtesy of the Internet, are of Hong Kong International Airport.No wonder our  one at Palmerston North seemed very small, and the plane to take Rachel to Auckland was not very big,and now when I see these photos, am not sure if I do want to travel there, even with a lovely heartfelt invitation, and reassurance that I will not get lost, I can have wonderful shopping, electronics so very VERY cheap. Cameras,laptops, IPads, clothes, perfume, the quilting fabric shops  were not mentioned, but surely there would  be some of those as well.We will wait and see about all this.Maybe, Maybe not.

Here is  the plane waiting to go to Auckland. I do hope our lovely new friend has a better experience at Auckland International Airport than when she arrived.  Questions at Immigration that bordered on interrogation, the people  there will get a phone call from me on Monday, all they  had to do was make 3 phone calls to verify  the reason for Rachel’s visit, and we would all confirm her reasons, where she  would be visiting, her means of travel, where she would stay, and the day she would return.A single, young attractive lady from an Asian country, travelling alone, not getting a rental car, was given a truly third degree, frightening, and so long and protracted  she thought the connecting flight would go without her.I hope I can be tactful, polite, find the right words, ( Hugh has his doubts!!) and most of all, get some answers.This does not make any NZ official look good at all, and would deter anyone from coming back for another visit/holiday/ business trip by themselves. They probably did a random selection, but answers  are  needed, even if only to make sure this does not happen to another single younger lady travelling alone.Sometimes the battles we fight are not for ourselves, or even the person concerned, but for anyone else who will travel along that road at sometime in their life.










Rachel, I do hope your trip was safe, no typhoon waiting for you at home, and your family will be SO HAPPY when you arrive.

Quotation of the day  from Herbert Prochnow

“ You never have to know all the answers

 because you wont be asked all the questions”

Cheers from Jean