Penny’s Bay diary: a triumphant escape tempered by a lengthy wait for a shuttle to ‘freedom’ – well, two more weeks of quarantine
- Our managing editor finds it’s ‘hurry up and wait’ as departure day arrives and WhatsApp messages from staff have him worrying he’ll miss his shuttle
- What will he miss about government quarantine? Not much, though he’ll fondly remember the love-hotel bedsheets with huge pink hearts
Day 8. Liberation Day. I really want to say it’s Richie Havens singing Freedom somewhere in the back of my head, but – oh no – it’s George Michael.
After a week of isolation in this effective but grim Hong Kong internment centre, budding excitement at finally escaping the Alcatraz of quarantine is quickly and soundly defeated by slow but effective bureaucracy.
“Please get prepared by 10.00am, you will be further noticed once the transportation is ready. Please wait in the room for pick up,” says the first of a list of instructions from the Penny’s Bay WhatsApp line.
Ugh. I packed overnight. I even woke up early and got ready. Now, it’s all too familiar of the US military that I grew up around: “Hurry up and wait. Smoke’em if you got’em.”
(Public service reminder: Penny’s Bay is a non-smoking facility.)