Hong Kong on the flop

On the way back home we had one more night in Hong Kong. This time, we stayed at the Mandarin Oriental. It is on Hong Kong island itself (the Peninsula is in Kowloon) and one of the other great hotels in town. We were greeted by a nice German girl at the front counter who was planning a trip to Cambodia herself. We gave her a few tips as we went up to the room.

The room was done in a very modern style. It was nicely done, but not necessarily to our taste. We wandered about the city a bit before a bath and then off to dinner.

We started with a nice coup of champagne in the bar on the top of the hotel. As we were heading up to the bar, we happened to run into the sommelier for the Pierre Garnier restaurant that is located in the hotel. We asked for a recommendation for a champagne, and he gave us great one that they import solely for their own use.

After the champagne we headed to the Peking Kitchen for Beggar’s Chicken. We had to order this in advance by at least 24 hours. We had arranged this meal before we left Hong Kong for Cambodia.

Now, Beggar’s Chicken is quite good. But for some reason they didn’t ask us to order anything else! I guess they thought “these dumb quai lohs don’t know what the heck they are doing with the Beggar’s Chicken, never mind!” But it is pretty good. You take a chicken, stuff it with some muchrooms, some meat, and then wrap it with lotus leaves. You then cover the lotus leaves with wet clay and back the darn thing. It was quite good. But we could have used some rice, or maybe baby kalian, or something or other.

The next day we headed to the central train station (we took the train rather than getting picked up by the hotel on this leg) so we could check in and hope for lucky transportation. (they have a check in counter at the train station, which is nice)

I had handed over our passports and the guy behind the counter typed our names into the computer. He then stopped, made a phone call, and handed me the phone. Now THAT can only be bad news!

The Continental Concierge told me that we really did have a confirmed seat on our flights. But if I would be interested, they would re route us through Narita (Tokyo) and get us to Houston 5 hours earlier than our original plan. Not only that, but that meant that we would avoid Newark and almost certain delays. We said “You bet!” and were told to hop to it to the airport. They had to get us on a JAL flight that was leaving an hour before our Continental flight.

We got to the airport and were met by a JAL and a Continental person. They hurried us through all the official procedures, and told us we would not be able to sit next to each other on the four hour Hong Kong to Tokyo leg. We were both in center seats, one behind the other (I was behind Doreen). But the seats were very comfortable, we had on demand video, and a pretty good Japanese meal.

We got to Narita and had to proceed briskly to a different terminal. We once again had seats in different rows, but one in front of the other. We were able to secure a trade once onboard, and that is where we are now. Doreen is sleeping, and I am not.

Hong Kong last outbound day

During our last day in Hong Kong we took the tram to The Peak and walked around the mountain. It was about an hour’s walk, and had some very spectacular views. It was very scary for me, being afraid of heights.

We had lunch at a great place called The Pearl at The Peak. It was Sunday, so they did a brunch. We started out with a beer, then a glass of champagne. We had a Seafood Platter (crab, oysters, two sorts of clams, a small conch like thing, some crabs) and then we each got the “Toasty” which was a poached egg inside a yeast roll with salmon roe on top. It was great! We also had two seared Japanese scallops on the side.

Finally, there was some sort of dessert stuff. I didn’t partake. We had a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to go with the food. It was all quite nice.
That evening we went back to the Spring Deer and had dumplings and some sort of a crispy chicken. It was all good.

The next day we checked out. It was a nice hotel with great staff. As we were leaving the clerk asked us where we were heading next. We told him we were going to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

“Cambodia!” he said. “Wow. That is exotic!”

And here I thought that Hong Kong was exotic.

a Toasty

This is a Toasty from the Peal at the Peak, a restaurant at the Peak in Hong Kong.

It is a poached egginside a toasted yeast roll that is then covered with a garlic mayonaisse and topped with salmon roe.

It was accompanied by seared Japonese scallops and a dry New Zealand SB

Delicious!

(I took this photo of a neighboring table's toasty. They were expats from the UK, Oz, and the US. more on them later)

Hong Kong Day Two

We slept rather fitfully last night, in spite of taking some Melatonin for relaxation. We both woke up about 4:00 AM, after getting to sleep about midnight. We lounged in bet until about 7:00, and then got on the road about 8:30.

We stated off by taking the Ferry (HK$2.20 each) to the Hong Kong side of the island (we are staying in Kowloon). Once there, we walked and walk for several hours. (Check out some of the photos by clicking on My Picassa Albums to the right). We saw some interesting antiques, and some interesting fake antiques.

We ate lunch at a Dim Sum place called Victoria Seafood. It was good (Hairy Crab Coral Dumplings – both steamed and fried) but not great. We took the ferry back to the hotel.

Doreen is having a spa treatment. I am reading.

Fancy dinner tonight

Asian Adventure - Hong Kong

We had the good fortune of arriving in Newark on time, en route to Hong Kong. The first flight was normal, and we arrived in Newark about two hours before our scheduled departure
.
The Newark airport was crowded at the gates. There was a family that was particularly annoying as they were trying to get on an earlier flight than they had booked. The kids were screaming, the parents were whining and yelling. Let ‘em walk.

Our flight left about an hour late, but that time was made up in transit (!). We flew on a 777, which are now beginning to show their ages. Neither my seat nor Doreen’s worked that well. They had to substitute one movie for another (The Simpsons for Harry Potter. Good for us! “Spider pig, spider pig. Does whatever a spider pig does. Weave a web? No he doesn’t. Because he is a spider pig”)

This flight flew over the North Pole and over Russia. I looked out the window while over Siberia. It was very clear, and it was very white. There was no sign of life.

When we arrived we were greeted by two little (short) women from The Peninsula. They took our claim passes and guided us to Customs. There was about a 20 minute wait there, and then we were scooted off to the hotel.

It is an excellent hotel, and we have a harbor view. Click on My Picasa Albums to the right to see some of the photos.

We went out to eat at a place called The Spring Deer and had Peking Duck. It was a very large place, and the food was great. Crispy duck skin with abundant fat. We also ordered some Baby Kai Lan with Garlic. I bet we STILL smell of garlic this morning. This is a Food City!

More later.