The flight to Hong Kong was comfortable enough, spending most of the time reading. I was seated on the aisle, requested when booking due to how tall I was, and the couple I was sat with left me to read though engaged me in conversation when we were enjoying meal time. They were also on their way to the United Kingdom, though they were doing the whole trip after just a couple of hours layover in Hong Kong.

Thankfully, we were not arriving at the old Kai Tak Airport, which had one of the most dangerous approaches in the world. The new airport, simply called Hong Kong International, was a...