Night Landing in Hong Kong: Captivated in the Cockpit of a 747
Those were the days - definitely wouldn’t happen today! Issue #24
Those were the days - definitely wouldn’t happen today! Issue #24
I had just finished a gruelling month of intensive summer school study to make up for my very poor grades in my second year of High School when my Dad announced that we were going on a trip to further my studies.
This was a different kind of study; it was to start learning about the family business and why Dad spent so much of his time overseas. Our family business depended on manufacturing in Japan and three of the Four Asian Countries known as the Tigers. Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. We were not visiting the fourth Tiger, Singapore this time.
Wow, was I a happy camper; time away and spending it with Dad, whom I rarely saw growing up.
Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea that summer.
I had to renew my passport and get visas and some shots for travel, as did Scott. He was a year older than me and was paid $20 per hour to drive me to LA and Visa offices to get everything we needed. I am choosing to blurt out $20 an hour here because I was only paid $1.50 per hour to do hard labor at the warehouse. Anyway!
All packed, passports and visas in hand, off we went; 100% of the journey was on PAN AM Airways, as Dad was such an important customer to both Pan Am and Cathay Pacific. We were treated so well on these flights, and since Dad knew so many of the Stewardesses and the Airline Pilots, I got to experience once-in-a-lifetime events.
There were two landings, for sure, that I recall. The most memorable was sitting in the fourth jump seat in the cockpit of the 747 Pan Am flight into Hong Kong airport landing at night. OMG! The most awesome visual I had ever experienced.
The lights, the ocean, and the Apartments were so close to the wings of the plane; it was so well known it used to be called the laundry flight and was, in a way, scary but also a feeling of peace when we landed.
The wingtips came inches away from the hanging clotheslines outside on the balconies. Seeing the night runway lit up is forever implanted in my memory, we had an amazing landing, a beautiful experience that today would never ever happen on a commercial flight. Maybe on a private jet.
Dad would always open his hard briefcase and give little gifts to the stewardesses, something different each time. They loved him for his kindness and treated him extra special. Even the many different Captains would come out and spend time with him on the journeys. It was amazing to see the respect paid to him.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong was our first stop; for me, it was amazing every single minute. The love I gained for that city was beyond words. The kindness the locals treated you with is something I shall not forget.
Everyone spoke perfect English and most were educated in English schools, which I did not know until my Dad shared some history with me. I was always told there are two types of education:
1) through books and schools
2) through travel
I began to see why travel suited me for a greater education. I loved it. Oh, and it loved me too, much better than school and homework, for sure.
Dad had a showroom in H.K. and had appointments with customers. I got a chance to meet and greet his customers and also his bankers. I started to see the relationships he had and I was learning more each day.
Hong Kong food was the best, the city was buzzing all day and night long. The lights, the sounds, the people watching. Shops of every kind are everywhere. I felt like I could live there with no worries, but that was back in the mid-70s, and it is a different city today.
ifOnlyi… I always remembered to be kind, honest, giving and thoughtful. Keeping my word most of all, where would I have gone in my life journeys?
….ifOnlyi…. short stories are published chronologically, and follow my life growing up in California from 4 years old. If you’ve just found me the stories will come together when you start reading from….Issue #1
good 🙃🙃🙃🤗🤗🤗😘😘😘😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰