Elmer Blogger

Sprawling with 500,000 square meters and 1.27 kilometers from the entrance to one end of the Y - shaped concourse, Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport is among the best in the globe. Operating 24 hours a day all year long it was not so hard to explain a massive workforce of 45,000 keep the airport in operation from its launching in 1998. Dodo can attest to this. As a veteran of intercontinental flights spanning several international airports to compare. "San Francisco airport lounge is just about this size", while referring to a couple of blocks of check in counters to his left. Despite the size, we still can locate Gino over the other edge.

Gino has been raving about the trip since our household meeting last night at Jay's. "I probably won't sleep because of the beautiful flight attendants", Gino quipped, referring to the Dragon Air flight attendants. Dodo noted of this distinction among the flight attendants as a frequent flier of the airline on his trips to the mainland.

With Gino in sight, we started to take group photos as if we're leaving Hong Kong for good. With group travels, you can always feel the excitement that you'd never bother to think and say "it's too corny to take a photo behind theDeparture entrances". In a while, Jun came and the Hong Kong cast is complete. I had an almost brush with the law when I just took a small bottle of Watson's and handed to Mike my coins as if he is the cashier. Unmindful of the honest crime, I rushed back to the cashier and pay. I realized that a guard was standing in front of the store. Should I got caught, I'll spend my weekend at the Airport Police station. But that was a sign of things to come later the night.

We wasted no time and proceeded to Gate 51, somewhere at the tip of the North wing. I would love to get a piece of Burger King but later reckoned Dragon Air flight KA 906 must have some nice dinner prepared for us. In general, airline dinners aren't that good but to a hungry fellow like me, it should be alright. Before the start of the trip the guys already started the camera assault; all but me has a camera in tow. We'd take wacky shots, candid shots, group photos and photos with nonliving subjects. All for the sake of photography.

It's fascinating that more than half of the passengers in this flight are gweilos / non-Chinese. Since China opened its doors to the West it has reaped the benefits of globalization. Somehow this created more economic opportunities among the peoples in the countryside too. As a result China's economic growth is currently the highest in the world. What makes it enormous is the fact that it's home to over a billion people; almost one of every five people on earth is a Chinese. That is why companies from Europe and America have moved offices and relocated facilities to China, though this activity has been initiated a few decades back. With increasing number of people classified as middle class, China is indeed becoming a lucrative market for various products from cars to cellphones. Traditionally it has been difficult for a typical Chinese to move out of a province and settle elsewhere in the mainland, let alone go outside of China. Now, with relaxed travel restrictions and with CEPA in place with Hong Kong, mainland tourists from Guangdong province come in on a daily basis, boosting the local economy badly hit by SARS. Ironically, it was suspected that some mainland tourists may have brought the disease from southern China and wreak havoc in Hong Kong last year.

Our plane is a small airbus 320 6-seater row model. While the three guys (Jun, Mike and Gino) were on one side, Dodo is seated between the two girls. I asked to be seated on another row "to explore things". The flight was a bit delayed and experienced some turbulence along the way, owing to the fact that it's relatively small plane plying a distance of 2024 kilometers. This is an unusual experience for Dodo as he always found on-time departures and smooth journey on his past travels.

Meanwhile, I am seated next to two mainland women in their late 20s or early 30s. I was reading USA Today while they pored over fashion pages of some local daily, ocassionally conversing in their thick Beijing accent. In a while, flight meals were served. There at the back, Gino must have been observing who among those ladies serving passed his standard. I could ask him in a snap but I thought it was too rude to do so. They don't look bad, though they're not distinctive from the other flight attendants I have come across the following airlines: Air Philippines, Cebu Pacific, PAL, Thai Airways, Garuda and Cathay Pacific. Not a big deal.

First Flight in 2004

The trip is going to take about close to three hours and I found it difficult to take a nap nor relax. The aisle seat I was located seemed not to serve the purpose I wanted. With ocassional restless passengers wanting to move across the cabin, I feel like I am lying in an hospital ward. Audio entertainment is conspicuously invisible so I'd rather stare at the ceiling and figure out where the spotlights fall as this French-made aircraft creates the gentle midair gush at an altitude of 35,000 feet. Meanwhile, the guys at the back are having wandering eyes on the flight attendants as inflight meals are served. I do not know if what we saw impressed us in terms of the lofty expectations brought about by Dodo's earlier comments. To me, Kieve does not look bad, though she's typically a Hong Kong girl who are identified as possessing slim to skinny bodies. We had sumptous dinner of either beef or roasted chicken on top of rice, noodles and fruits for dessert. Apart from Cathay Pacific, this is one of the best I had; I was frustrated in the food I got from Thai airways last year. Taking this dinner diminishes any thought of that big Burger King bite at Chek Lap Kok.

Overhearing the conversations of Dodo and Melissa, attempting to take a nap for the fifth time, reading the newspaper's hostage taking at beslan article, glancing on the window are all that surround me in the past forty five minutes. In a little while, the American flight captain apologizes for the second time about the flight delay and promised to bring us to Beijing before 10 in the evening.

Truly the promise became a reality as I can see the bright lights of Beijing from my seat. I was wondering what the temperature outside at the moment. Even with my small backpack, I managed to bring a piece of cool weather clothing. It did not take too long before we disembarked. Melissa and I were ahead and by the time we're in the middle of the escalator, the rest of the guys took their first Beijing pose. Anyway I'd like to go ahead and settle myself somewhere.

While Melissa went ahead I found myself in front of a lady immigration officer. After a minute waiting at the counter I can see Dodo and Gino emerging outside the counter. I can sense there is something wrong when the officer called another officer passing by and showed my passport to the latter. Then the second officer approached me and led me somewhere near their office. She asked why my passport has broken photo edges. I was dumbfounded and began to think they were suspecting me of altering my passport. They approached another officer and asked my credit card for identification. Logically I thought my Hong Kong ID was the best thing I could show but when they got hold of it, it seemed as if they saw a Hong Kong identification card only for the first time. One even tried to mangle it, as I was trying to get hold of it. At this time, I was mimicking as an arrested terrorist suspect, with hands chained. I did not feel worried, partly because these officers were not asking me anything, despite their inability to speak English. Later, with no concrete set of questions to ask, I was let go.

The adventure in Beijing has definitely come underway even if we have not started our itinerary. Three hours ago in Hong Kong, I accidentally pulled out a watson's water Out of the convenient store's outlet at the airport, even passing through the security guard's attention. Avoiding a real theft charge I immediately paid for my honest mistake.

Beijing's airport needs a major overhaul despite its decent look and generally clean surrounding. I have no knowledge as to whether a mammoth airport is being build in time for the Olympics in 2008. We see taxi peddlers and special tour operators all over the place. It's almost 11 and we're not yet deciding on how much to pay to the driver now we have come out of the baggage claim area, we were met by tour operators and taxi dispatchers, similar type of people you see in Manila. As Dodo is relatively more familiar with the place and with Melissa's researches and inquiries it was best to look after suitable cabs on our own; peddlers often charge unreasonably high markups.

We then found ourselves choosing a 400 RMB van and a "cheaper"one were have yet to see. After deliberations and influenced by our tired bodies, we felt it was practical to cut costs than to avail of a a great adventure, than to feel comfortable and get the cheaper one.

Beijing nights have been cooler than expected. Looking at the map guide, mercury rises in between 19 - 27C in a typical September day. I was seated in front of the van making the most of the mildly cool air in the middle of a near empty speedway running at 90 kph. After 30 minutes we reached Novotel Xingiao hotel right at the center of Dong Jiao Min in Beijing. I am anxious to hit bed.

And while Melissa is negotiating the rooms, the also sleepy attendant told us to wait in a fashionable Beijing accent. It was half past 12. And we need to meet a tour guide at 8am later in the morning. Once I settled the room with Gino, we get to see a view of the Dongmen Hospital and the wide street across a subway station. Watching CCTV for a moment, I noticed and realized the televisions in China are controlled by the state communist party. I have always heard that any news bringing negative impression of China will immediately disappear before the TV screen. What a shame for a country trying to open up its doors on its neighbors whose citizens are enjoying much more freedom.

Anyway it's 1am and Gino is arranging his things. I called it a day.