airport incident

My real last day in Hong Kong was an early morning trip to the airport. And if I was keen to believe in luck, I'd say what a seemingly unlucky trip it was.
I woke up early and decided to take the bus. Both because it is cheaper and offers a better view than the airport express train. It was 5 in the morning and I put a HK$100 bill into the bus money slot. Then I remember HK isnt like Korea, no change. From a HK$23 trip up to the same price as the train. Oops. I went up to the top deck on this double decker bus, and watch Hong Kong slip past. I'm still glad I took the bus instead. Some of the views almost defy words. We were on a highway just as the sun was almost awake, but not yet in the sky. The sun was still below the horizon but its impending arrival had turned the black sky to a deep vivid blue. At about that moment we took a long lazy curve onto a massive bridge over hong kong bay. The thousands of cargo boats glittered below, coming and going. And then we were gone, tropical trees rushed passed the window.
I got to the airport and the staff were helping people use the self-check-in machine. (Yes I thought it was weird to have help doing something I was supposed to do myself to save time.) The lady scans my passport and asks me her routine questions. She seems to get worried when I say no to "Do you have an onward ticket for after your arrival in Japan?" She points to the main desk and tells me to talk to her manager. Her manager curtly tells me they cant let me on the airplane with a oneway ticket. I tell her that if thats true they should have told me before they let me come to Hong Kong. She tells me to buy another ticket, I tell her I didnt bring enough money with me. She says that if I dont have an onward ticket she wont let me on the airplane. (If you're lost, she means even though I bought a roundtrip ticket from Japan, if I dont have another ticket to exit Japan at a later date after I get there, then she wont let me on the plane.) She tells me if I wont buy another ticket she cant help me and I will have to go home. I point out I dont have a home in Hong Kong and dont even have enough money in my pocket to stay in Hong Kong so she is dooming me to being homeless in Hong Kong. She says "I'm sorry sir, I cant help you." and walks off. Ouch. I decide to wait in the normal line. Its slow. I get to the counter and the lady prints out my ticket and is just about to hand it to me when something beeps on her computer. She asks me the question. I suddenly remember the round trip boat ticket I bought in Korea to Japan. She says it doesnt count if I dont have a ticket with me. She writes "void" on my ticket. I only have 30 minutes until boarding. I get noisy. They ignore me. I get very noisy. (For those of you wondering what "very noisy" means, I refused to leave the line. I stood infront of other customers, telling them "I'm sorry, I need to talk to her." and then repeated "I must have a ticket. I am the customer. I bought a ticket you must give it to me." to which I was told many times "I cant help you sir" to which I repeated my mantra over and over again. I know thats not nice, but being homeless in Hong Kong wasnt a good option.) Anyway, to make a long story short, I sign something, let them call some of my friends in Japan, and they let me get in a special staff door and run to my plane as the final call rings. Almost a big problem, with a happy end. (Incidently, the electricity was bad in the airplane I got on to, all the lights flickered and went off several times during the flight. I remember thinking I would be the most unlucky person in the world if I had forced me way onto a flight that crashed.)