Thank you SAA! At least, thanks for NOTHING! Hong Kong, wifi and twitter

Well, my journey to Hong Kong began extremely well! My friend Dawie
Spangenberg upgraded me to Business class on the 13 hour SAA flight
from Johannesburg to Hong Kong (the short two hour flight before that
was also great on SAA).

I have never flown on business class on an international flight - it
was such a treat!!! I slept well, caught up on a lot of emails and
work (there was power for my laptop), and enjoyed Dawie's company.

But, that's about where the good news ended. When we got to Hong Kong
we were met by an SAA representative who informed us that the whole
flight's luggage (excluding the SAA crew of course) had been left in
Johannesburg! Can you believe it!? Not a single bag (except those of
the pilots and hostesses) were loaded onto the flight! So, since I am
only in Hong Kong for just over two days my bags are likely to arrive
here by the time I am back in Cape Town...

So, yesterday I had to attend a number of important meetings in my
jeans, track shoes, and creased shirt... Fortunately I have learned to
pack spare underwear and a full 'travel' kit with razor, spare
deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrush in my hand luggage... I also (at
the last minute) decided to put my laptop charger in my hand luggage
(fortunately!) But I had no cell charger and no other clothes...

I don't know if anyone has ever had this before - but you can imagine
the chaos at the airport when 300 people discovered that their luggage
had been left in Johannesburg!!!

Well, at least the meetings are going well. We're preparing for next
year's Global Day of Prayer broadcast - so last night we met with the
TV folks, had meetings with local Christian leaders from the Church
and business, and some local government representatives. A number of
big ministry leaders were also present (Mark Anderson from YWAM and
Call2All, as well as Rory Alec from GodTV).

Today the meetings continue (I managed to find an 'esprit' store down
the road from the Salisbury YMCA where I am staying on the Hong Kong
waterfront and by a cheap smartish shirt and pair of black denims).
We'll also be recording the TV promos for a mainland China visit, and
get to meet the representatives from the local stadium and convention
centre.

As an aside, Hong Kong is incredible! It is a truly beautiful city
with a lot of 'buzz and activity'! Wifi is a little scarce, so
updating my blog is proving to be a little bit of a problem... But do
follow my twitter feed for more up to the hour news:

http://www.twitter.com/digitaldion

Blessings!

Dion

Comments

[Janet Reid]

Geoff's bags were lost en route CT to NY. He was there for 2 weeks at Flight Safety for lectures and simulator training. His bags went missing only to arrive back in CT (via London) the day AFTER he returned. i.e no bags for the duration of his trip!! Fortunately he also has a "stand-by" kit in his carry on bag!!!!!
C'est la vie!!!
Lv & blessings Janet

[Anonymous]

yes t happened to me about 30 years ago from paris to bangkok via rome......

thats why every time I check in my bags I make sure to stop the check in staff and get them to show me teh tag that they attach to your luggage...make sure it goes to your destination and not anywhere else.
regards geoff Hong Kong

They are abreviated so you should check what your destination code is..ie Hong Kong is HKG ..also double ask the check in staff to confirm

Thus I have never had it happen again