What’s a successful trip without a little mishap?! Definitely a boring story to tell. I’ll start off with my flight to Hong Kong from Cebu. I had gotten to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport four hours before my flight. Because of this, I grabbed a quick meal inside the airport at Nippon-Ramen and I proceeded to explore the airport (bought some last minute airport souvenirs!).
My named was paged overhead, which really scared me. It turns out, my seat had been moved to a window seat! This announcement was then followed by an unfortunate announcement that the flight was delayed. Normally I wouldn’t mind – but this time I did. I had a connecting flight to Los Angeles via Hong Kong, and I only had 55 minutes to get to the gate.
Well, when the plane arrived to Hong Kong, the pilot was unable to take it immediately to the bay due to the airport being extremely busy. A fun fact: Hong Kong International Airport is one of the busiest airports, not only in Asia but in the whole world. When I got off, I only had 20 minutes to get to Gate 24 for my flight to Los Angeles. After rushing through security, I made it to my gate with only 5 minutes to spare – I ran through the airport like a madwoman.
AAAAAAAAND *drum roll please* they didn’t let me board the plane because my boarding pass was denied. The airline already knew about the delay and even before my plane had arrived, they already moved passengers with the connecting flight to a different flight, which was the next day at noon. Terrified and really needing to be back in California, I pleaded with the attendant and explained that I needed to get to work and that I didn’t want to spend money for a room. Luckily enough, when these things happen, they make accommodations for you! I spent the night at the Regal Airport Hotel, with complimentary breakfast as well as a voucher for a free meal at the airport.
I didn’t get to the hotel until two in the morning after having spent an hour in line to get cleared by customs. Since I wasn’t expecting to spend the night in Hong Kong, my carry-on luggage didn’t have any spare clothing – just a items I had stuffed in that wouldn’t fit into my checked in baggages and a few feminine essentials. I solved my problem by buying a new shirt in the airport when I got back the next morning.
I get stressed out easily but in this moment, I decided to look at the brighter side of things and just enjoyed the few extra hours I got to spend in Hong Kong. And I definitely enjoyed the complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel as well as dining at Saboten again. Traumatized, I hung out really close by to the gate for my plane.
Yet again, my flight was delayed for 45 minutes. I am convinced that I am the queen of delayed flights. Three delayed flights out of five for this entire trip – how many more can I possibly take?! For the entire flight back to LA, I spent most of it snoozing, as did the people in my row. Pretty sure we had a snooze fest going on!
Sometimes, I find it hard to believe that trip was back in July. My flight back home to California was actually my first time flying solo, and I definitely got a story to tell out of it. Things I’ve learned? Have extra clothing in your carry-on, no matter what!
And to sum up my trip, I made a video. Watch in HD!
