I was at the Hong Kong airport departing for Singapore last Sunday, and had what I would call a "strenuous experience".
When we checked in our luggage at the Kowloon station to take the airport express, I thought it was a genius idea since we didn't have to drag our stuff around and had spare time to shop at Elements, a new shopping mall just above the station. Incidentally, if you have epicurean taste, that is a choice destination. All your favourite designers will be there, and there is lots of SPACE to ramble along without literally rubbing shoulders with the locals. And there is a indoor skating rink too! If you're up for some sport before a flight, that is.
After indulging in some moments of window shopping, we made off in good time for the airport. Looking at our boarding pass, which did not indicate the Gate, we noticed that penciled on the slip was "T1". We were instructed to head for T1 despite departure information indicating Terminal 2.
We thought we would have our pre-flight dinner inside the boarding area. Obediently, we made our way to the departure dates, a little bewildered. There was a North and South entrance and we weren't informed. The LCD screen indicated Terminal 2. We decided that the 'system' was more reliable than the human factor, and went off in that direction. On the way, we popped by "Customer Service" only to realize that the staff was even more clueless than us. And spoke dismally little English or Mandarin. She had absolutely no idea what was happening.
Our minutes were flying past so we were in quite a hurry. After getting through the gates, we saw alas.....a loooooonnnng snaking queue at the Immigration and then at Security. Never mind that. A long corridor led us to a TRAIN STATION! Duh....we had to take a TRAIN to get to the waiting area!
The hubby said it was gate 42 so we took a train to that stop. Just to make sure, we double checked. When I looked at the board, I gave him an incredulous look. It was gate 522! Not 42! He had made a mistake with the flight number! Horrors!!!!
I glanced at my watch. 15 minutes to go....and a long way from the wretched gate. We were going to miss the flight. So I gathered up my bag and took off in my 3 inch boots, sweeping past irate passengers on the travellators. The gate numbers went past me...42...38....34...23...21...16...then finally at the end of the road, 522 was finally in sight. I was panting for air, beads of perspiration dribbling down my forehead, face as black as hell at the idiotic mistake the hubby made, and over having to miss my dinner. Over the intercom, the impassive voice announced "Final Call for Flight ...". My legs were giving way by now as I had ran over one kilometer in 15 minutes.
We had to go down an escalator, only to find ANOTHER BUS! Thankfully that was the last leg of my wild goose chase. We made it in the nick of time. You can imagine that I only had unkind words for my sheepish-looking hubby, who tried to apologize to my stone-walled demeanor. Thinking back, it was quite hilarious...I pictured myself as the brash Chinese woman tornado ravaging everyone in my path screaming "EXCUSE ME EXCUSE ME!" on the travellators.
Ironically, we were back at Terminal 1. Where we started off. Wished they had some signage to clue passengers like us in on their very 'sophisticated' system.
If you ever took the Kowloon airport express service, please, head straight to T1, despite all signs indicating otherwise. Otherwise, you are in for an airport tour.
