Mini-Shopping Vacation in Hong Kong in March 2012 (Enhanced Version) ~ Section 1

Welcome to the first section of my mini-shopping vacation in Hong Kong in March 2012. This will be an enhanced section of the existing report, which was written in March 2012 itself. The main focus topics that will be covered will be the in-bound journey towards Hong Kong, and the journey towards the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel.

Part 1 ~ The Opening Sequences

After spending weeks of planning on where to go to for the one-week March school break during my final year in secondary school, we decided upon a shopping vacation towards Hong Kong. I was quite excited since almost annually, we travel to Hong Kong, and I will never say 'no' to a good holiday to Hong Kong.

On the morning of Friday (9 March), all of us woke up at around 6.30 a.m. to pack up our remaining baggage in preparation for the trip towards Hong Kong. According to my mum, our itinerary for the in-bound journey towards Hong Kong would be to fly with Cathay Pacific on flight CX 736 bound for Hong Kong, which would depart Singapore Changi Airport at 10.05 a.m., and arrive at Hong Kong International Airport at 2.05 p.m..

As this would be a relatively short journey to Hong Kong, we would be flying in Economy Class; we mainly fly Business Class on flights that are longer than five hours. My mum also informed us that she had arranged for a MaxiCab to come and take us to Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 7.30 a.m. a few weeks in advance.

Upon conducting a final baggage check and having some breakfast, the MaxiCab finally showed up at our doorstep at 7.20 a.m.. The driver then got out of the cab, and offered to assist us in loading our baggage into the boot of his cab. Once all of us were on board with our baggage loaded into the cab, we finally departed the compound of our home by 7.30 a.m. for a short 25-minute run towards Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Soon enough, we finally arrived at the curbside of Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 7.55 a.m.. As my parents unloaded the baggage from the MaxiCab with the driver's kindly assistance, my brother and I went to grab a few baggage trolleys. As soon as everything was loaded on to the baggage trolleys, we went into the departures and check-in area to the Cathay Pacific Economy Class check-in counter, which was located at Row No. 1.

Cathay Pacific (Traditional Chinese: 國泰航空公司; Simplified Chinese: 国泰航空公司) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Hong Kong. The airline maintains its headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong International Airport, and offers at least 60 overseas destinations to North America, Oceania, Africa, Asia and the European Union. The airline makes use of a purely wide-body fleet of Airbus A330s, Airbus A340s, Boeing 747s and Boeing 777s.

Cathay Pacific is also one of the co-founding members of Oneworld, the world's second airline formed on 1 February 1999, together with American Airlines, British Airways and Qantas. The airline also has a fully-owned subsidiary, known as Dragonair, which mainly offers destinations within the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and certain regional destinations located within Southeast Asia itself.