… It’s strange writing that, after so many previous trips to America (and especially Seattle) but now here I am.
I hadn’t realised that the flight from Hong Kong to Seattle would be OS insanely long – I’ve been used to Narita-Seatac, which is 8 hours, whereas Hong Kong-Seatac is 11 and a half. There was nobody in seat 60B so I could spread out a bit, but 60C seemed to snore even when awake. Still, noise cancelling headphones solve that issue.
I must have slept a bit. We landed at 9, then Immigration took the best part of an hour. This was teeth grinding at times, because I’m used to going through in less than a minute in Singapore, and worse, I have Global Entry to do the same in the US, but the first time through on an L-1 visa you can’t, apparently, use the automated machines. Perhaps it will be faster for me on the next trip.
Still, that meant there was no time waiting at the carousel for my bags. Cathay Pacific kindly gave me the option for two pieces of luggage, so I took my 40+ kilograms of stuff out to the taxi rank and was then driven at speed by a man to Fremont, where I’m staying in an Airbnb for the next two weeks.
I got in, met my host, smelt their delicious chicken soup, then after a quick word with my wife, fell asleep and woke up five hours later, which is where I am now. And so my first day begins…