Send me the pillow

I’m unsure if you may agree with me here, but when on a flight, it’s much better to be fast asleep. That way you don’t miss out on your rest hours, plus you feel fresh to go through the day post landing. Of course, I’m talking about those 3+ hours of flying.
Usually, in my case, as soon as the flight takes off and the excitement is done with, my head drops down and my eyes get droopy, in no time I’m fast asleep. This is applicable to a 40 min flight too. My flight routine goes something like this : get seated, wait for take-off, fall asleep, wake up for whatever snack/ meal, fall asleep back (it’s like magic), and wake up just before landing. Perfect.

This time while flying to #HongKong my eyes behaved in a complete different fashion. They just refused to stay shut! This was even more strange considering I had a freaking tiring day at work and got onto this flight at about 1am! It also didn’t help that the seat was really narrow and the tray table was really really small!

The flight from Mumbai to HongKong was about 6 hours or so, and I had no intention of staying up all night through this one. Also, if you read my previous post, you’d know that from the airport I was to head directly to #ngongping360 and was to spend my entire day there. Just couldn’t afford to be sleepy on Day 1 in HongKong, now could I? Honestly as a traveller, I’m 100% against wasting any of my International time. After all of my previous trips Abroad, I assure you my day starts at 7:30am and ends only in the wee hours of the next day. There’s only exploring and so much more exploring to do.

So here I was, wide awake like an owl. The things I did to fall asleep are daft (think Mr Bean). I tried counting sheep, I tried watching some absolutely sad stuff on the screen in front of me, I tried counting the number of people I could see awake, I reclined the seat back and forth, I even called for another blanket to keep me warm and cozy. Somewhere in the midst of all this I reminisced my Singapore trip and wondered if this one would be anything like it. Then I thought of sleeping masks too, but wasn’t ready to ruin my pretty eye shadow like that. I have the super power of ruining things / lives, trust me.

Finally the universe heard me. The angelic air hostess came around serving beverages. 3 glasses of red wine did the trick! One-after-the-other straight! I didn’t even realise when I was in deep slumber. Directly woke up to the Pilot’s announcement just before landing.

What are your flight experiences like? Do you prefer catching up on your sleep too? Or read? Or watch a movie? Or make conversation with that stranger seated next to you? Tell me all of those things you think of while on a flight. I’m really keen to know.

I’ll post more about my trip in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you may find and follow me on Instagram.

See you around.

Warm regards,
The Silent Hummer
Franchua D’Souza

It’s the climb

Hong Kong!

It was never on my mind. 7 years back when H&M wasn’t in India, someone had mentioned to me about how shopping was affordable at H&M in #HongKong, I wondered if I’d ever be lucky to get a chance at either, H&M or Hongkong. Years later, the Universe conspired for both to happen 🙂

Having been to other South East Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand & Bali over the last couple of years, I knew that this was going to be an interesting country too. With some prior research, some tourist reviews online and personal advice from people, the go-to list was ready. It did take some alcohol / coffee to understand the maps too.

If you’re travelling to Hong Kong and have a whole list of places to visit within a week, you better get started right from the Airport. The best way to start your HK trip is by visiting the beautiful Ngong Ping Village at Lantau Island. Don’t fret looking at Google maps, it’ll show you it’s 2 hours away by the MTR, you don’t need to take that. It’s just about 20mins away by bus S1 from the airport. Oh and worry not about all that luggage you’ve been travelling with because the team at Ngong Ping 360 will make it convenient by letting you drop off the luggage at a counter so that you can enjoy the rest of your time without it. Your luggage will be safe, just hold on to those tags they give you.

There are a couple of highlights about this place.

1. The crystal glass cable car ride to the island.

This is apparently the world’s longest cable car ride that takes about 25-30mins to finish a distance of 5.7kms. The view is super scenic while passing through all that greenery around you. You can also spot the Airport runway and actually see planes land and take off from time to time.

2. The Big Buddha statue (Tian Tan Buddha). You must be prepared to climb 268 steps to see it up front.

3. The beautiful Ngong Ping Piazza

 

4. The wisdom path.

5. Walking with Buddha : An interesting 20min video about Buddha’s life

6. A theatrical act by some great performers with an inspiring message (they even have a few dialogues in English besides having subtitles on a screen)

7. A fun 4D ariel ride that will take you through Ngong ping.

9. Po Lin Monastery

The weather was beautiful when I visited Ngong Ping 360 in Lantau Island , in fact it even rained for some time. The view from the Big Buddha is to watch out for. There are a number of restaurants that serve Chinese / Western food so you won’t be hungry for sure. You may also check out some of the stores for souvenirs if you’re not comfortable with street shopping.

To cover all of this you require a good 5 hours, so plan your day accordingly. It’s definitely worth it.

Have you visited this place? Or plan on visiting ? Let me know in the comments below.

If you’re keen on knowing more about my Hong Kong escapade, I strongly suggest you follow my Instagram page.

Instagram handle : franchuadsouza

Stay tuned for more about my trip.

 

Lots of love,

The Silent Hummer.
Franchua D’Souza