Chapter 6

Departure was delayed five hours. Although there was no public notification, rumor had it that an important arrival had been delayed due to Communications failure in Samoa.

A bar fight over the result of the final try at a national Rugby test, put several customers in hospital and led to the arrest of several participants ... all wearing India National Team Rugby shirts. No mention was made or inferred as to whether or not the shirted participants were players. Rumor had it that they were very fit.

I have always marveled at the idiosyncrasies present in Airline travel. Samoa to Brisbane, Australia to Macau to eventually arrive in Punjab India.

(Similar to Bozeman, MT to St. Paul, MN to Chicago, IL to Atlanta, GA to arrive 14 hours late in Knoxville, TN.)

So we sat ... in the concourse restaurant marveling at the price of poorly cooked and served food. The chicken was inedible, the broccoli waterlogged, the mashed potatoes were instant and the salad was obviously cut with a knife ... brown edges. The waiter was surly and actually demanded a tip.

Nineteen aud EACH... 57 dollars and we couldn’t eat it. Complaints fell on deaf ears. They knew we were leaving and wouldn’t be back. Concourse security laughed.

“It is universally known that airport food sucks,” said the guard. “You should have eaten before you came or visited one of the food trucks.”

“Where are the trucks?”

“In the car park.”

Our flight was called just then.

“We don’t have time, we should have a meal onboard.”

First class boards first. First class eats better than coach. First class has better seats. First class has separate bathrooms. First class is worth every penny. Believe me. First class is great ... except ... some first class passengers can be annoying. They seem to feel that unescorted females are on board for their enjoyment. The not so subtle hints and sexual innuendo by two of the men was not welcome.

It is my understanding that men who are THAT important have private aircraft. Two of us complained. The flight attendant took our complaints to the cockpit.

It wasn’t a tussle or even a verbal assault but we took a little side flight to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, and the Brunei International Airport... “Fueling,” said the attendant...

The plane was boarded by several men in uniform and the two gentlemen were escorted off the aircraft.

The pilot apologized.

We did refuel and a few empty cabin class seats were filled by “standby” military ... some of whom had been stranded by an inflight emergency.

The remainder of our flight was peaceful. The attendant supplied pillows and blankets and the three of us caught a decent nap ... one of us needed it.

Aeroporto Internacional de Macau is just south of the Macau Taipa Ferry Terminal ... a ferry ride to Hong Kong of some 55 minutes. The ferry is of some size and we used the time to stretch. No matter how comfortable First class is, the flight is a lot of sitting.

Check into country was done in the terminal.

“Anything to declare?”

“Have you a return ticket to the country of your departure?”

“Sufficient funds to effect your evacuation should the need arise?”

“The card will do nicely, Miss Flintkote. You take responsibility for your party?”

“Welcome to Hong Kong.”

“This way, please.”

There we found an unknown woman with a sign FLINTKOTE just outside the baggage carousel. With her leathers and cap she was obviously a limo driver sent to pick us up.

“Welcome to Starship,” she said. After securing our luggage she said, “Please to follow me.”

The limo was a stretched Mercedes-Maybach S 650 Sedan.

“Oh my,” I said.

And oh so comfortable.

The partition glass silently lowered and our driver spoke:

“Live aboard is not possible in Hong Kong and its environs. While refit and repairs are in progress, JW, Cynthia and party live in lodgings supplied by the company. It is some distance. Are you hungry? Need to use facilities? Currency exchange? No?”

She put the car in gear and pulled smoothly away from the kerb and into traffic.

I was never so terrified in my life. I’d rather ride out a typhoon than ride in Hong Kong traffic.