Daily log of HK quarantine starts now.

Day 0 – Monday, August 30th 2021

I received a text message on the day before I was to fly out to be at the airport 5 hours before my flight to get my documents checked. 5 hours! Isn’t that more of a risk of catching covid? And as in my previous post mentioned, I also received an email to upload my documents.

Took a cab to Heathrow Terminal 5, and was looking for the toilet, but noticed that my flight was already checking in because of the document checks. I had everything printed thankfully so it was pretty much a checklist for BA. They ask you once before you queue. They even ask if you have an HK ID card. Perplexed? Yes, I was too. Then you have to go through the same process with the document check at a kiosk before the bag drop.

After all the checks, your boarding pass is given to you. Then you do your bag drop, and then it’s the security check… one would be surprised I had three phones on me. One work, one personl and one for HK usage… now the long wait before boarding begins – that means knit, eat and wait.

Before you even board, British Airways recheck your documents. SIGH. I can hear a lot of moaning from some people… the most complained about part is the Certificate of Accreditation. Yep. It’s because the labs don’t actually email you this part as probably most of the world don’t care, so you have to find it.

My flight was practically empty…

Food wasn’t bad but portion size was too small. The first picture shows a very oily aubergine bake covered with some cheese. There was a small bowl of cous cous with I think some creamy houmous.

Lunch was nice but only half a sandwich? That’s just terrible for the amount you pay for the flight!

Motion sickness tablets also worked! I’m glad I took them….

Day 1 – Tuesday, August 31st 2021

After landing, they ask you to wait before you get off the plane. Once you disembark from the plane, you then travel using the short train service to the Departure Lounge, which is entirely closed off and now used as the testing ground and waiting area for all arrivals into HK.

Then starts the checks (writing in point form… it’s just long, and I don’t recommend this to anyone who plans to travel in and out of HK. And if you’re totally unfit – don’t even bother! It’s a lot of walking to and throw):

• Checks for Health Declaration Form and QR code – make sure to get this done before you fly
• Collect bottle for swabbing and lanyard, which will have a barcode on it – you must wear this
• Swabbing is done by medical staff – they are so gentle with the swabbing, the person I had spoke English, she didn’t realise I spoke Cantonese. Hahahah.
• Hand swab in to the next station
• Walk to the next area for documentation checks – all the stuff done pre-boarding at the UK airport
• You’re given your health declaration form (hardcopy) with all the policies for you to read, and handed a booklet
• Then it’s another long walk to the waiting area. Hand in your form, and they give you a seat number which will be written on the lanyard given to you.
• Sit and wait with the given snacks (I didn’t get a sandwich – I should have done)

3 hours later... My results came back negative. They hand back the health declaration form to you with the result written on there… Here I thought they were supposed to give you a bluetooth wristband for a team somewhere in HK to monitor so that you don’t go outside of your hotel room. I didn’t get one! No-one did. STRANGE…. I checked the news, but there was nothing to say it wasn’t happening…

• Go to the next area where you travel back to the arrivals area.
• Go through immigration with your ID – they didn’t even ask me any questions even though I was gone for more than 36 months!! I guess even if they ask, the answer will be because of the pandemic, and I assume there isn’t any point in asking. ¬_¬” I think someone higher up should have said that before I decided to go on this trip. But nevermind.
• Next was to collect luggage, then onto the quarantine hotel registration. You again hand in your health declaration form again (just keep it out as you need to use it again until you get to the hotel), and they’ll add a sticker onto the lanyard that you’ve been wearing the whole time plus a tag for your luggage. Then you wait in your designated quarantine hotel queue until the mini bus comes.
• It wasn’t a long wait… and before you get onto the mini bus, they spray your luggage (I’m guessing antibacterial stuff is used).

After a short ride from the airport, I checked into the hotel. They give you a load of information at the desk, forms to sign, check your HKID too and a saliva kit to be done and collected on Day 3, some freebies are given, and I had to pay a deposit of HK$1000 (I forgot HK hotels do this) – it’s in case of any damages made.

I wondered if they were going to give any food, and they did… Thanks quarantine hotel!

Finally time to unpack. If you saw the room right now, it looks like a mess. I feel like I’m Miss Pinky just pouring out my stuff all over for the duration of my stay. ^_^ (but what happens if I have coronavirus…? Hmmm… maybe I should put some stuff back into my luggage… or not).

Wi-Fi at the hotel is rubbish, but thankfully I bought an e-SIM which I’m currently using now as a Wi-Fi hotspot on a new phone, that supports e-SIM. I recommend using Three HK – DIY Prepaid Plan. Get the Local package with 100GB local data.

If you don’t have the latest devices or not sure about e-SIMs, then purchase a data sim from HKTV Mall. It might take a couple of days to get you, but it will be worth it… Otherwise, check with your hotel and see if they have anything special to offer.

Time to sleep after a long two days.

End of a Day 0 and Day 1.