A Zipless Airport
Twice on our trip, Hong Kong Airport provided unexpected convenience. Â (I wish we’d expected the conveniences, but they worked out well anyway.)
When we arrived from Seoul a week ago, we found that since we wanted to go to Macau, we could head straight to the Ferry Transfer Desk before immigration.  We gave them our baggage claim checks, and they hunted down our bags and transferred them directly to the ferry.  We were able to get on a bus to the ferry without officially entering Hong Kong.  Of course, when we arrived in Macau, we officially entered Macau.
Earlier today (Hong Kong time), we went to the Kowloon Airport Express station where the plan was that I would go to the airport for my flight back, and Ray would accompany me to deal with all the luggage. Â It turned out this wasn’t necessary: Â at the Airport Express stations, there are actual airline check-in counters. Â I checked my bags and got my boarding pass. Â Ray didn’t have to go to the airport early. Â (If we’d expected this, we could have checked his bag at the same time.)
One of the tourist spots we could have gone to is on Lantau Island near the airport. Â It’s a gigantic sitting Buddha, which is now easy to get to via a subway line next to but separate from the Airport Express, and a cable car. Â I was able to see it as we took off.
I’m home now. Â I’ll do as much as I can before I collapse from exhaustion, which hopefully will happen about the time it gets dark. Â Voice mail, mail, e-mail, making sure the fragile objects didn’t break, etc. Â And perhaps even upgrading my iPhone software.
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