Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (3)

I couldn't believe that I'm seeing a perfect clear blue skies over Hong Kong on my arrival. For many many years and days, this city has been choked with extreme haze and polluted air. Many have blamed the polluted air coming from nearby China cities like Shenzhen. For the first time, I managed to snap clear pictures of Hong Kong city skyline at the harbor. But there's an old saying about "calm before the storm". I left Hong Kong one day later on my way to San Francisco. Without everyone's notice, a huge storm had been brewing over the China Sea. It churned out such a powerful typhoon that for the first time in decades, it was labelled a Category 10 typhoon which is the highest warning that carries a mandatory citywide shutdown. Typhoon Vicente, as they called it, swept ferociously over Hong Kong and into Guangdong area, wrecking massive havoc and damage. Many flights were grounded in Hong Kong and many more were diverted away. I was flying over the North Pacific coming back to Hong Kong when the typhoon made landfall. I totally had no grasp at all over the severity of the storm when presented with just a number statement of Category 10. But a look over the weather report, it is impossible to land the plane in such bad conditions. Eventually, the plane was diverted to Seoul, Korea. Once the storm had passed, the plane finally took off again and landed safely in Hong Kong. For the next 2 days, I spent most time indoors as rain continued to fall. A good time too for me to catch up on sleep from my previous 30 hour awake-work ordeal.

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Related link: Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (2)
Related link: Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (1)