9.56pm: I start my journey from Tai Wai to Lok Ma Chau by train. Heading for Sheung Shui, the train is less than half full and I find a seat easily.
10.22pm: I get off at Sheung Shui. Most of the other passengers get off with me but they are not crossing the border. I estimate there are only about 150 people heading for Lowu. One Hong Kong traveller waiting at Sheung Shui station said he regularly crosses the border at Lowu. A Taiwanese traveller who recently arrived from the airport says he wants to cross the border at Lok Ma Chau but does not know how to get there from Chek Lap Kok.
10.45pm: I spend a few minutes looking for the route 76K bus stop which should be at Sheung Shui Plaza. A KMB staff member tells me the stop is near Choi Yuen Estate in Sheung Shui. I finally get on the bus but there are fewer than 10 passengers aboard.
10.59pm: I arrive at San Tin Public Transport Interchange to catch the cross-border shuttle bus to the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang checkpoint.
11.50pm: There are 17 passengers aboard the shuttle bus. An elderly couple and the woman's younger brother say they have just finished a banquet to celebrate their grandson being one month old. The woman says in the past they would have had to leave after finishing three or four dishes, but now they can take their time to enjoy the food since they can cross the border at any time.
12.03am: I enter the immigration hall where there are five counters open to clear us. It takes less than one minute for me to go through and walk across to catch a shuttle bus to the mainland side.