Hong Kong 2009 - Prequel

It took us a while before we decided on Hong Kong for our long overdue family trip. We were constrained by time, money and weather.

We could only afford about 5 days’ break as it was tough for my sister to apply for leave from work.

Given our current family financial status as well as the bleak economic outlook, we could not afford lavish tours.

We also preferred travelling in cooler climate.

After considering many countries in South East Asia – from Thailand (too politically unstable), Southern Vietnam (too hot), Northern Vietnam (too expensive) to Korea (too expensive and had to take too many days’ of leave), we finally narrowed down to Hong Kong.

Moreover, my sister and I wanted to split the bill for my mum’s air ticket and accommodation and present this trip as a Mother’s Day cum birthday gift to my mother. Hence, my mother’s preference overruled. After fishing for her comments, Hong Kong emerged as a preferred choice.

The next steps were to decide on the dates and the package. Working around those days that either I had to be in office for reporting requirements or my sister had to be in town for wedding dinners, we hit upon mid May. As affordability was our primary concern, we trudged the entire Chinatown looking for the best value-for-money. With all booked, we had to start planning for the trip itinerary.

Unfortunately, the H1N1 Influenza outbreak hit the news with many casualties in Mexico and US three weeks before our departure date. Subsequently, more suspected and confirmed cases inundated the news daily. The WHO and HSA scaled up the alert level by two notches within a week. Suddenly, panic struck everyone as some countries contemplated barring travelers from certain regions and even closing their doors to outsiders completely.

In the following week, there was a confirmed case in Hong Kong. We continued to monitor the situation and were prepared to cancel or postpone our trip if the situation worsened. However, it seemed that H1N1 would never be eradicated completely. Moreover, we would have to pay penalty for any cancellation and postponing, so we decided to go ahead. We were all looking forward to this trip and the situation appeared to be in control when Singapore lowered the alert level just before our departure.

Phew, what an eventful month before our trip. Hong Kong, here we come.