I have arrived safe and soundly in the paradise of shopping and eating. My flight was one of many "firsts." Can you believe I didn't sleep at all during the 13 hour+ flight? It was either all the liquids I was drinking, the caffeine from three cups of Chinese tea, or me getting up to walk around the cabin quite a few times, OR, perhaps my body was trying to adjust so that I would sleep according to HK's time zone when I arrived. Ironically, I'm still not asleep and its 7:30am Edmonton/10:30pm HK time. This flight felt ridiculously long though. At one point, I got so sick of sitting and watching movies that I just stood up and stretched with nothing else to do.

Another firsts was that it was my first flight to HK with the cabin crew all quite mature and older. My best guest were that all the flight attendants could've been my grandparents' age-Asian and Caucasian, what's with that? I guess I'm just more accustomed to seeing more youthful young ladies who look flawless despite the long flight, but I did find those older flight attendants quite amusing, they were all funny in their own way and spoke Chinglish to me at times. The Caucasian ones also had a trick up their sleeve, some of them knew perfect Mandarin!

Lastly, another SHOCKING first was that this Chinese man FAINTED and the flight attendants had to announce for a volunteer medical professional three hours before we landed. And, they just had to place him diagonally behind where Ann and I was sitting. It was quite a sight to see all these people surrounding him and wondering if he was okay. He looked so ill and wouldn't eat or drink anything. Fortunately, he did get better so thank God for that volunteer doctor for stepping up, it really made me appreciate those who choose to go down the medical route (they're needed even when you least expect it).

So what's next? A good night rest and a day of exploration tomorrow!