Vicente wreaks his havoc

by Martin Moodie |
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Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

I’m about to depart Hong Kong International Airport, an airport I doubted I would ever reach earlier in the week as Typhoon Vicente wreaked havoc on flights into Hong Kong.

I took a cab through rush hour traffic in Shanghai on Wednesday to Hong Qiao Airport, only to be told that my Hong Kong Airlines flight was delayed till “at least” the early hours of the following day. Back to the hotel, still in rush hour traffic, feeling none too happy with life. Still,there was the considerable compensation (though next day suffering), of a dinner with my colleague Dermot Davitt, whose middle names I swear are ‘Fancy a nightcap?’

Same problem the next morning, meaning an extra day in Shanghai due to the need to produce The Moodie Report e-Zine rather than be stranded at an airport waiting for a plane. Sometimes I wonder what I have created in this brave new world of instant, digital media. It’s a terrible, unrelenting beauty at times.

Next day, with Vicente having departed Hong Kong, things would be better, right? Wrong. My early morning flight (which necessitated a 04.45 start) was delayed two hours, and then we were stuck on the runway for a further two and a half hours, apparently due to air traffic control issues.

Finally I got into Hong Kong yesterday afternoon, two days late and just in time for a meeting at the fabulous Hotel Icon where we’re holding The Moodie Report’s 10th Anniversary Charity Ball on 5 October.

I better cut this Blog short now, which was intended to be full of observations about this week’s experiences in Shanghai. That will have to wait. I don’t want to miss another flight. London – and the Olympics – beckons.

 

 [Big crowds at the Cafe de Coral at Hong Kong International Airport]

[Nuance-Watson’s Temptation fragrances & cosmetics stores have been an ever-present force at Hong Kong International Airport since it opened. From November, the baton passes to DFS as it does for the excellent Free Duty (Sky Connection) store below]