December 29, 2008
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Xmas 2008
Woke up in the Christmas eve morning and wah-lah…..Snow Fall again.. and it’s very heavy, according to the news later it’s a record snow fall in Vancouver and the first time White Christmas. across the whole Canada…for me I have to operate a flight to HongKong in the afternoon so have to get ready early. Because ot the heavy snow fall the company had arranged taxi for those who needs a ride including me….
We and the passengers boarded the flight as normal, door closed and we started to wait for our turn for de-icing the aircraft before take-off, the waiting time was 2 hours at the gate as xmas eve there were tons of flights needed to depart specaily those domestic flights and there are only limited facilities at the Vancouver International airport to perform this safety related procedures… and the the control tower will not put you on the waiting list untill you havee all the passengers onboard the flgiht…We did offereed a light snack and drinks to our beloved passengers and they were very understanding for the situation. By the time we were airborne, we were 3 hours late…not that bad..but tat meant our Xmas eve and Xmas day will be inside the aircraft…..
After over 14 hours and 28 minutes we arrived safely into HongKong and we stepped out of the aircraft just in time to say Merry Christmas i.e 5 minutes before the clock hit mid-night of the Boxing day….
On the Boxing day headed out to the city with my friend Alwin, we went to the Elements Mall it was very crowded with lots of activities, with the Highlight of a Can Can Dancing show we were a bit late therefore could only watch the show from the back….
After that we walked around the Pacific Place before going for our Boxing day dinner at Louis Steak House and the steak there is really good and the most interesting is they still prepare the Ceaser Salad dressing and toss the salad as well as preapring the dessert Baked Alaska at your table side
Operating the flight back to Vancouver on 27DEC afternoon, and what a surprise our Baggage/Cargo handling agent walked out of duty for 3 hours on that afternoon since their negotiation with thier company regarding some issues brokedown. Therefore we had to bring all our stuff and went to the Passenger Terminal directly and wait for further information around the information counter inside the restricted area
Luckily after about an hour later we were allowed to board the aircraft and the passengers came to board the flight about another 45 mins after us, by the time we left we were 2 1/2 hours late…..
Back to Vancouver on the 27DEC and went to a co-worker’s place for a xmas dinner….very tired after the flight but it’s the festive spirit which brought me the energy, as well as the food …
Comments (4)
What a whirlwind trip back and forth!! Those Christmas boxes they gave out during the Christmas flight look so good!
Looks like CX has the Christmas spirit! We were on a holiday flight on SQ a few years back and they also had decorations, Christmas dinner, etc.
Can Can dancers in HKG? How strange is that?
It’s always interesting to get a perspective of what goes on behind the scenes at airlines. I’m glad you were able to have a bit of celebration. It was also pretty good of your airline to serve drinks and snacks because of the delays.
It must be tough adjusting to the different time zones though – how do you do it?
@curry69curry - I like those xmas cookies, and looking forward to the Chinese New Year give away..Hopefully
@christao408 - I think those dancers are from Eastern European rather than France…..and it’s funny to see those audience either young or old couples, the ladies wanted to leave while their another half wanted to stay….
@ElusiveWords - we do have some guidelines to look after our passengers while the flight is delayed depends on the length and the regulation of the local airport. Regarding adjusting the jet-lag, frankly, I have totally given up, just sleep whenever I need