Annah, Corinne and I just arrived in Hong Kong, waiting on our connecting flight to Manila. Just bought 2 bottles of juices (strawberry dragonfruit FTW) to get access to this slow computer. I dread how slow internet might be when we hit SE Asia.

So not even 2 hours into the trip at JFK International in NYC: When we got to check-in, the woman checking me in immediately asked “Calvin Sun…Trinity High School?” She just so happened to be the mother of one of my classmates that I went to preschool, middle school, and high school with. We embraced and I wished her congratulations on her daughter about to get married…well anyways, small world.

However, we also ran into a snag: if you’re staying only for a short period in a “visa upon arrival” country like the Philippines, they demand to see documentation of your exit flight. Unfortunately, I forgot to print my flight out of the Phillipines to Vietnam. So as a punishment we were granted access to the first-class lounge for British Airways to print those out…and we decided to stay a little longer to pilfer some complimentary food and juices. Thanks British Airways!

And since we’re flying out on Memorial Day, the approximate wait time we experienced at check-in & security totalled to a grand total of 2 minutes. Plus chattin up that mother makes it to about maybe 8 minutes? Anyways…

THINGS WE LEARNED:

- Fly out on Memorial Day.

-Print your flight itineraries out, especially if you’re arriving in a limited “visa upon arrival” country.

-Don’t print those out, and you’ll get free access to a first-class lounge. Huzzah!

-Don’t stay too long or take too much food or else they’ll kick you out. But if you blame the slow internet and that “nobody told you”, they can’t do anything about it.

MOVIES WATCHED ON THE PLANE (if anyone cares)

1. 25th Hour – good film for those of you native New Yorkers leaving NYC for awhile, like me.

2. Sherlock Holmes

3. The Book of Eli

4. The Road – watching this back to back with “The Book of Eli” is a pretty depressing combo. Reminds me of the time I watched “Schindler’s List” and “The Pianist” back to back.- At time of posting in Hong Kong, it was 71.6 °F -

Humidity: 83% | Wind Speed: 3km/hr | Cloud Cover: mostly cloudy