Hong Kong

The following post details my visit to Hong Kong - Oct 11 - 13, 2014:

October 11:

My alarm started going off at 2:50 AM, another one at 2:55 and the hotel wake-up call at 3:00....and I still didn't get up until 3:40 AM!  My goal was to leave the hotel by 4 AM...I ended up leaving by 4:25 AM...and still had plenty of time.

The taxi was rather quick - only about 15 minutes to the Ho Chi Minh City airport.  I was surprised by the amount of activity in town at 4:30 AM - many coffee cafes were packed, some vehicle traffic and some construction work.

At the airport, Cathay Pacific had a few check-in desks open.  I had not booked a 6:25 AM flight!  I had booked an 11:30 AM flight, but my original flight was removed from their schedule and I had received a re-booking notice a few weeks ago while in Europe.  I was not very happy about the change since I'm not a morning person at all!

There was a little confusion at check-in.  With the flight change, the e-ticket was never reapplied to the the new time.  So I had a reservation, but no ticket associated with it.  Luckily the agent fixed it quickly and no major issues.

Immigration was a huge pain.  There were only about 3 lanes open.  I had to wait about 20 minutes.  The security lane immediately past immigration was quite easy and no waiting.

Nothing in the airport was open at this time - no Duty free, no retail shops, nothing.  So much for spending my last bit of Vietnam Dong.

I made my way to the Cathay Pacific lounge - which was a shared lounge for many airlines.  There was an overwhelming fishy smell as they had several big pots of Pho boiling.  The hotel had made me a to-go breakfast box, so I ate some of the bread and carb items.  

The boarding pass said that boarding was at 6 AM,so I head to the gate around 5:50...and they were already boarding.  I queued up in the priority line.  Business class was quite large - about 60 seats.   The configuration was 2-2-2.  I was in the middle two.  It was only 2.5 hours, so I didn't care.  I wanted to sleep for part of the flight anyway.

I had been so excited about the Cathay Pacific experience since I had read about it for so many year.  I must say...the service was very good, but the plane and food were OK at best.  A bit disappointing.  Perhaps if it was a longer flight, later in the day.  

I fell asleep before we took off.  When I woke up, they were passing out breakfast menus.  So I pulled out my tray and sat up.  I looked at the entertainment options and ended up watching 4 episodes of Sex and the City from Season 1.  I had forgot about most of those episodes, so was very fun to watch.  

For breakfast there was a choice of two options - a Western option which was an omelette with tomatoes and cheese along with sausage and potatoes; the Eastern option was noodles with chicken.  I got the Western option.  Every tray came with bread, fruit and yogurt.

We arrived Hong Kong about 15 minutes late, but that was fine with me.  Lots of walking to immigration...and the line was crazy.  I was in line for about 25 minutes.  The checking of documents was quite easy, just so many people.  In the line, I saw maybe 3 other Caucasian people.  For a while I really questioned if I was in the correct line and hadn't entered the Hong Kong resident line by mistake.

My bag was already waiting when I got to baggage claim.  I got cash and then headed to customs which was very easy.

In the main area, there was a great tourist information stand, so I talked to them for a while about the subway and getting to the hotel given the road closures with the protests.  They gave me very good directions and suggested the three-day subway pass, which I later purchased.

I waited in line about 10 minutes to buy my train pass.  An agent suggested that I could go to the train, but I declined.  Glad I did - I never saw another option for buying tickets.

The train was about 25 minutes to the Hong Kong Station.  Here I had to transfer to the Island Line.  The Island line was one level down and I could only find an elevator and had to wait 10+ minutes in line to use the elevator....poor design!  There was line even longer to go up to the airport train.

The transfer between the Hong Kong and Central stations was quite long....at least a 7+ minute walk.  Once at Central, I missed the first train, trying to figure out which direction I needed to go.  But that put me first in line for the next train which arrived within a few minutes.

I only had to go one stop to Admiralty.  This stop put me in the middle of Pacific Place shopping mall, so I had to stroll through the mall with my bags for a little bit to get to the Conrad...but luckily never had to go outside.

I asked an information desk in the mall about finding the Conrad.  She pointed me to a set of elevators and I thought she said Level 5.  I went to level 5 and was in the middle of the Conrad pool and several restaurants.  The lobby was on Level 3.

I went to the check-in desk and as soon as the agent looked up my reservation, I was passed off to someone else who said that my check-in will be in the Executive Lounge on the 59th floor.

I was escorted to the Executive Lounge and seated at a table with a fantastic view of the harbor.  The check-in was rather long and they offered me any drink of choice, I got a sparkling water.

When she said that my room was ready, I asked if it had a great view like from the lounge.  She said no - it is of the mountain side.  She looked and said that there was a harbor view room on the 54th floor...so she blocked it for me.  I asked to see the mountain view room.  She took me to the room on the 61st floor - it was a nice room, but the view was not as nice.  We decided I would take the harbor view room.  When we got back to the lounge, she said that a harbor view room was now available on the 59th floor, but needed about 5 more minutes.  I waited very patiently in the lounge and showed great appreciation for her taking such good care of me!

The room was nice, but not spectacular.  The view was spectacular.  I guess some compromises!

I stayed in the room for about an hour and then went down and talked to the concierge for recommendations and directions.

First up was lunch.  I found the "food court" in the Pacific Place mall...it was really a large grocery store that had a few take away food outlets.  I ate at Triple O's by White Spot...had chicken strips and fries.  Just browsing through the grocery store and the fast-food lunch - Hong Kong is very expensive!

From lunch, I walked outside and found Hong Kong Park.  It was a lovely park with numerous fountains.  

A view of several cool buildings as I walked through the park:

The park lead the way to The Peak Tram.  The Peak is the highest observation point in Hong Kong.  I was in queue for about 20 minutes just to buy a ticket and the in line about 30 minutes to actually get on the tram.  The tram ride up the mountain took about 7 minutes.  I was shocked by the pressure - we ascended so vertically that there was so much pressure of my back against the seat that I could not move forward.

Once we arrived at the top, the views were pretty spectacular...once you found them.  Exiting the tram, you're directed through a shopping area that has many floors.  I had to go up about 6 floors to get to an observation deck.  Luckily I had purchased the "full experience" ticket, so that I got access to the main observation deck that also included an audio tour.  The audio tour was actually quite good - you could select the buildings and areas for which you wanted to get history.

Tons of great pictures, but it was also quite hot in the blaring sun.  It was surprising as soon as you got in the shade, it was cool with a great breeze.  There were a few touristy type things - writing a love note to blow in the breeze and a huge 2014 display.  

As I headed back down, I had take a selfie to document the exact time I had been on "The Peak"!

I stopped in a few of the shops as I headed back down to the tram.  I bought a few keychains to add to the Christmas tree ornament collection.  The ride down was enjoyable and luckily not a very long queue line.

At the bottom of the mountain, the queue line to go to the top of the Peak was easily 3 or 4 times longer than when I went up.  The line just to buy tickets crossed the street to queue under the roadway overpass.  Those folks won't be on the peak for at least 2 hours.

I walked through the park and headed back to the hotel, checked out the menus for all of hotel restaurants and made reservations at Brassiere on Eighth for 8:30 PM.

My hotel:

With dinner settled, I went back to the room, freshened up and then headed to the Executive Lounge for wine and appetizers.  In the Conrad Lounge, they seat you and bring you your drink selection (I'm hoping that everything is complimentary!).  I had a glass of red wine, journaled a bit and enjoyed the view as the sun set.

I noticed that some folks had plates of food while others did not.  I finally figured out that the food was in a different room and was self-serve.  I got a samosa, a dumpling, a smoked salmon spread thing, a fishy thing (that I ended up not eating) and jelly-type thing that ended up being somewhat sweet.

At 8 PM, I left the lounge and went to my room to change clothes.  I started digging through my suitcase looking for my khaki pants.  I had worn them in Ho Chi Minh City one night...ugh, then I remembered that I hung them in the closet in Ho Chin Minh City to hopefully get out wrinkles and never re-packed them!  I haven't been putting anything in the closet at any hotels, so didn't even think about checking there when I checked out.  Oh well, it was a pair of khakis that made me look fat, so perhaps time to get rid of them!  Glad I have a pair of black pants too so that I have something to wear for a nicer dinner.

I headed down for dinner right at 8:30 and the host immediately greeted me as Mr. Kiser and showed me to a fantastic window table.  The restaurant is only on the 8th floor, so not a fantastic view, but pretty good.

From looking at the menu earlier, I knew I was getting beef!  I started with a glass of Chianti and then had the cream of mushroom soup.  The soup arrived very quickly, so I told the server that my entree should have a much longer break in between.  I wanted to have time to journal and enjoy the evening.  

The beef was quite good, but a small amount.  Cooked perfectly.  I had some French mustard on the side which was a very nice accompaniment.  The cheese gnocchi was horrible, but I ate all four of them.  They served me a complimentary dessert plate which was very tasty and had at least tastings of 5 different things.

Back to the room and to bed around 12 midnight.

October 12:

I actually woke up before my alarm this morning - around 7:30 AM with my alarm set for 8 AM.  However, I did go back to sleep.  

I finally got up around 9 AM.  I looked at e-mails, text messages, etc.  I decided that I would check out the pool.  I laid by the pool for about 30 minutes - was all in the shade.  

At 11:30, I headed up to the room, showered, dressed and then researched my plans for the day.  Decided I would take the ferry over to Kowloon, see Nathan Road and then go to the Hong Kong History Museum.  

I talked with the concierge on how best to get to the ferry - decided on the subway.  

Some wonderful flowers in the lobby - they changed everyday!

It was a rather long walk to the station, then the very short train ride and then a very long walk through other stations/malls to get to the footbridge to the Piers.  By the time I was on the ferry, it had been almost an hour, with only a few short stops in a few shops.  

A few sites along the walk:

There were some fantastic placemats in one store, but they were $35 US/placemat, so I passed.  I stopped in an Apple store to see the new iPhone 6, as I walked on to the Piers, came across an entire outdoor enterprise selling iPhone 6's out of suitcases:

The ferry ride was fun and cheap - only $3.40 HKD.  I took tons of pictures of the Kowloon side.  

It only took about 5 minutes for the ride.  Once off the ferry, I stopped at a few shops on the pier.  Then on to the clock tower - and the start of small protest group.

I walked along the boardwalk and was approached by many photographers to take my picture.  Finally I picked a guy and he took about 6 different pictures.  He had me make stupid poses for several of them and then I insisted about getting a picture of the Central area included.  Only one picture was any good, so I bought it and he printed it out.

A few shots as I walked along the boardwalk:

I walked on, staying on the boardwalk, going past the Art Museum and through the Avenue of the Stars.  

At the end of the boardwalk, I was looking at a map when a security guard came over and offered great help, even walking me to the first turn of the directions.  I was just trying to get to Nathan Road which was essentially just across the main road and to the left a few blocks.

I started walking Nathan Road - it wasn't exactly the market area I was expecting.  Lots of jewelry shops and higher end stores.  I stopped in a few - very expensive!  I found a few small alleys with shops I was expecting, but no negotiating on the price.  I bought some post cards and moved along.

It was nearing 3:30 and I was hungry.  I stopped at McDonald's and had a wonderful double cheeseburger meal.  Anytime I've needed comfort food on this trip, McDonald's has been right there...I love their international consistancy and reliability!

From lunch, I walked further north, heading towards the Hong Kong Museum of History.  With the lack of street crossings, I completely walked past it, so got to walk about 2 blocks back south on the other side of the street.  I got to the entrance and entered.  Was told I had to go buy a ticket in a different place....up to a plaza level, then almost 2 blocks to get to the ticket box office.  Then I went back to the door I had originally entered...process improvement consideration - move the ticket office to this entrance where you have tons of room.  Could eliminate 4 FTEs (and probably more for multiple shifts) that were directing me to the ticket office and back.

The museum went back 400,000,000 years to the current, so there was a lot of information!  I stayed about 3 hours between reading many of the signs and sitting through several of the films.  The first floor of the museum talked about the geological changes of the Hong Kong area for the past 400,000,000 years and how the current topography was formed.

The next floor discussed the early settlers and the four colonies of people that developed the area.  The last sections of the exhibit explained the Opium Wars between China and Great Britain, which lead to the 99 year lease of Hong Kong to Great Britain.  The 3 year and 8 month occupation by Japan during WWII was also covered.

Overall an incredible overview of Hong Kong history and a much better appreciation for all that has been achieved during so much struggle.

From the museum, I walked back towards the harbor on Nathan St.  It was around 6:30 and dark at this point, so all of the neon lights were aglow.  I took several pictures. 

There was a Sheraton near the harbor and I thought that the light show was at 7:30...what a great idea - have a drink in their top floor lounge and watch the light show.  Now just if they have a top floor lounge!  I went in to explore and sure enough, they had a lounge on the 18th floor.  At first I was annoyed by the table the hostess gave me, but ended up being one of the best ones.  However, unfortunately the overhead lights created glare on all of my pictures of the light show on Hong Kong Island.  I enjoyed a glass of Malbec and nibbled on some free snacks for about 1.5 hours...The show started at 8, so was there 7 - 8:30 PM.

This was the best of all the light show pictures that I took:

After the light show and letting the boardwalk clear out, then I went to the boardwalk.  I wanted to get several night-time pictures of the skyline.  

I also got another "professional" picture taken - negotiated the same price as the afternoon and had him take it of the key skyline area, not the center.

An Asian family of four asked me to take their picture, so I took several.  I ended up seeing them for the next 45 minutes - walking to the ferry, waiting for the ferry, on the ferry, walking towards the subway, on the subway, etc.  We laughed several times about continuing to see each other.

I took the ferry back across the harbor.  I had selected the same side of the boat as I had ridden over, thinking that it would have to turn around....wrong, the boat goes in both directions, with no designated front and back.  I ended up moving - luckily only a few folks on the boat.  I lowered the window to get good pics.

It was another very long walk through the Hong Kong and Central stations.  Hong Kong and Central stations not being connected by subway seems to be one of the worst travel hassles of Hong Kong.

When back at the Armitally station, it was about 9:30 PM.  I was hungry and had read about the wine bar in the JW Marriott which is next door to my hotel.  I stopped in to see and stayed for a glass of Chianti along with fried calamari.  The calamari was all rings and was the thickest slices of rings that I've ever had...plus the breading was pretty thick.  No cocktail sauce available - only lemons and tartar sauce.  They had a secondary bar - Reidel Q88 which had higher end wines and all served in Reidel stemware...I passed on that experience, plus there was no one in that bar.  Sunday seems to be a quiet night in Hong Kong.

After leaving the JW Marriott, then I headed to the Conrad, stopping in the lobby for another glass of wine.  I got a great corner table with great view of the lower skyline.  I journaled and shut down the bar at 11:45...the live entertainment performs every night except Sundays, so was a little quite.

Back to room and bed...off to bed around 12:15.

October 13:

Today I slept until around 9 AM, waking up to the fantastic views of Hong Kong.  I ended up staying in bed and looked at iPad until 10:30 - e-mails, Facebook, etc.

I finally headed out to explore around 12 noon, after getting directions from the concierge as well as buying 10 stamps.  I went to the Central Station and started walking around the Queen's Road area, including several alleys of shops.  I bought post cards, a shoe bag and a set of placemats.  The alleys were so interesting - the main streets were polished, nice and had very legitament businesses.  However, in the alleys, the "businesses" were make-shift shacks or just stands, tables, a sheet, etc.  I'm assuming most of the transactions were illegal in some way.  The experience just has a dirty feel to it - both literally and figuratively.

My goal for this area was to ride the mid-tier escalators.  These are the longest series of escalators in the world.  It connects multiple streets that run parallel around a mountain side.  I would consider them more like the people movers in airports rather than escalators (there are no "steps")...but the escalators are just arranged in a very vertical position - so it is best if you hold on to the railing.  There is an escalator that covers the distance between each road...then there is an "intersection" where you could exit to go down steps to that street or continue on to the next escalator.  As I rode up the first few escalators, I realized that there was not an accompanying down escalator...they were only going up.  So if I continued on the full length, which was well over 0.5 mile, then I'd be walking steps back down.  I got off at the next interchange and explored Hollywood Blvd (I rode about 5 of them, so got the idea and experience).  I had read about this street and really wanted to see it...many antique stores and restaurants.

 

I started back towards the Mid-Tier escalators and then explored the various streets as I headed back down - on foot.  I ended up going through many very local markets:

Seafood that was still alive:

Meat getting chopped right on the streets:

Some unique looking vegetables:

And flowers:

I was getting quite hungry and noticed a place with a line outside...must be pretty good, so I got in line to investigate as I waited.  The line didn't take long, maybe 10 minutes.  I quickly realized this was the restaurant that a co-worker Khanh had recommended.  It is the cheapest Michelin Starred restaurant in the world - Tim Ho Wan.  The place is quite small with about 8 or 10 tables.  You sit at the tables with complete strangers - especially when you're a party of one.  My table had 8 people - a group of 4 from the US and then 4 singles including me.  The other three singles were all locals on their lunch break.  There is only one option - a cup of noodles with wonderful broth and you decide which of 3 toppings for your soup...or all 3.  I selected all three - fish ball, sliced beef and a shrimp dumpling.  Surprisingly, I think the fish ball was my favorite of the three.  Initially I thought it was a little bland.  Then I saw how the other people were eating it - there were 5 sauces on the table along with a few powder spices.  You float an extra spoon in your bowl and make a mixture with the sauces and powders to add the spice - you then dip each bit of noddle or toppings into the sauce mixture.  By the end I was a pro!

Of course the line was gone by the time I was done with lunch:

After lunch I headed back to the Queen's Road area, shopped a bit more...considered buying a phone cover for the iPhone 6 that I've yet to buy, but passed.

I took the subway to Causeway Bay station to explore Times Square.  I just assumed that Times Square was an area and it is listed in all of the guide books.  However, it was just a huge shopping mall with very expensive store.  I need to better research destinations next time!

I walked to Jardine's Crescent - another outdoor market area.  I finally found a comb to replace the one I lost in South America.  I had bought 3 other combs since and never liked them.  This one was perfect!

The more that I walked around this area, I stumbled unexpectedly into a protest area unexpectedly and took lots of picture.  The demonstrations were very peaceful and not many people.  An older local person asked me what I thought of "all this" as he waved at the blocked streets, the blankets on the road, etc.  I said it was quite interesting, not wanting to say too much in either direction.  He just laughed..yes,  interesting.

I continued on and walked around SOHO shopping center which was in the blocked road area.  I now understand the frustration of the shop owners in these areas.  If you knew that these areas were blocked, I certainly wouldn't be coming out to shop here.

Back on the subway to go back to the hotel.  I heard a subway announcement that made me laugh and was perfect based on the observations I've had of the folks in Hong Kong - especially the teens and twenty-year olds.  The announcement essentially said - Pay attention, don't look at just your mobile phones.  The people here are constantly looking at their phones - at FB, for texts, watching videos, all while walking down the street, on the escalator, on the metro, etc.  It is really annoying.

Back at the hotel, I headed to the Executive Lounge with my iPad, post cards, addresses and stamps.  I had brought pre-printed address labels so that I could easily send post cards, but I had yet to send the first one...so Hong Kong was going to be it.  I wrote out 10 cards.

I had wine and wonderful appetizers while writing the cards as well as in my journal.

I took the cards down to the concierge to mail and asked about dinner at the Italian restaurant in the hotel - Nicholini's.  It was around 9 PM and thought I should eat.  The concierge called for reservations and I headed immediately there.  The restaurant was pretty empty.  I started with Beef Tartare and then had Spinach Ravioli along with a glass of Chianti.

Dinner was good and quite expensive - most restaurants and most things in Hong Kong are very expensive.  After dinner, I headed down to the lobby lounge, sat at the bar for a glass of wine and enjoyed the live music.  I also texted with mom.  Ultimately two girls from Russia sat down right next to me...there were tons of other seats open at the bar.  They talked non-stop...and were so annoyed with the slow service.  As soon as I finished my glass of wine, I happily left them.

Off to bed around 12 midnight.