'That's five days in Phuket?'

'Yes, please, departing on March 25th.'

'Let me see - that's a very popular package. Yes, you are lucky - there's a final vacancy for two people sharing a room with twin beds.'

'That's perfect.'

'Your names, please ... '

2. The taxi arrived exactly on time. Sindy and Lyn were waiting in the lobby of their building. They soon had their luggage in the back and were heading for the station. It was a dull, cloudy day in Hong Kong - but what did they care? They were off to blue skies and tropical beaches! The traffic was fairly light and soon they were at their destination.

3. The airport was fairly quiet. Some of them just sat in the departure lounge, while a few were having coffee. Sindy went over to the gift shop to use up some leftover baht and buy some last-minute souvenirs - spare ones for anyone she had forgotten. She chose a few nice little items and, as she was paying, she saw Lyn waving - it was time to board.

4. 'Lyn, I feel restless. All we seem to do is work.'

'Well, yes - but what do you want to do about it?'

'Let's have a holiday.'

'You mean fly off somewhere and just relax?'

'Yes, beaches and sun and swimming and buffets.'

'Sounds good. I could manage it next month.'

'Okay, I'll do some research.'

5. Sindy and Lyn were sitting at the dining table together thumbing through brochures full of lovely pictures of beaches, hotel swimming pools, palm trees and piles of colourful fruit. They had decided on Phuket in Thailand. Now they had to choose the package that suited them best. They needed to consider the dates, price and facilities.

6. The days went by very quickly. They went out on a boat, watching the brightly coloured fish swimming under its transparent bottom - and Lyn went diving. They ate delicious seafood. They watched graceful Thai dancing. They shopped in the busy market. They made new friends, and they lounged in the sun. It was wonderful.

7. The bed was piled with dresses, jeans, T-shirts, jewellery, books and jars of cosmetics. Shoes were scattered across the floor. 'We can't possibly take all this stuff for just five days,' said Lyn. They cut it down a bit, but they needed swimwear and casual clothes for the day, and something smarter if they went out at night. 'Don't forget the camera,' said Lyn.

8. Everyone recommended East Hols as a good, reliable travel agency that took good care of its customers, so Sindy went to their office in Tsim Sha Tsui at lunchtime and picked up a pile of holiday brochures to look through with Lyn at home. There were holidays in the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. Hainan was another possibility, and she had heard good things about Bali.

9. Earlier, she had left a deposit but 10 days before they were due to go, Sindy went to the office and paid the rest of the money by credit card. The travel agent gave her some vouchers, she checked them carefully, asked a couple of questions, and left the shop feeling very excited.

10. They had been told to gather by the bookstall, and as they approached it, a man with an East Hols banner came up to them. 'Hello, I'm Richard. I'm your guide for this holiday. May I just see your vouchers?' Richard ticked their names on his list, gave them stickers to wear, and inbetween welcoming other members of the group, introduced Cindy and Lyn to their fellow holidaymakers.

11. They walked down the corridor in a line. Sindy whispered to Lyn that it was a bit like being back in school. The group was still fairly quiet, as people didn't know each other very well yet. It would be very different in four days' time! There were about 40 of them. Soon they were being shown to their seats on the plane. Lyn asked for the window seat. Sindy let her have it. Younger sisters are so spoilt!

12. They paid the taxi driver, put their luggage on a trolley and went into the station. They didn't need special tickets; they just used their Octopus cards. Lynn hadn't been on the Airport Express before and she was very impressed at its speed and comfort as it carried them towards Chek Lap Kok.

Answers: 4, 8, 5, 1, 9, 7, 2, 12, 3, 11, 10, 6