In some sense this is not a pleasure trip. Our main objective is to attend a “Celebrate
Hope” event scheduled for 10/30, and also to visit a couple more charitable
organizations. Anne also has some family
matter to attend to.
October 21. Yee
and HK are on the same flight with us, and suggested that we ride up
together. Anne and I had checked in
online, and got TSA pre-check, they had neither. We got through security more than 30 minutes
before they did. So pre-check helps, and
now they want to charge for it, warning us frequent flyers that we soon have to
enroll. Okay, I got that gripe in. That meant Y and HK could only stay in the
lounge for about 30 minutes before we had to go to the gate. This is a packed plane, with maybe five empty
seats (per Seat Map), and neither Anne nor I had an empty seat next to us.
Boarding was smooth, but we were late pushing off the
gate, and took off about 40 minutes behind schedule. I accept delays as part of air traffic life,
but would appreciate some explanation; I can’t imagine the pilots are so busy
up front to say something like “we have a long line of planes waiting for
takeoff, our wheels up time will be 3:55 pm.”
The other thing is they managed to make the dinner trays even smaller;
they are now about 2/3 the original size, and dessert is the ice cream they
used to serve as a mid-flight snack. I
do wonder if they will now skip that service; it wasn’t mentioned in the announcement. Of course the airfare was less than $800 per
person, so the complaint has to be with the right perspective.
I don't expect gourmet meals flying economy. Nonetheless, the meals on got on the flight (and on the return flight) were downright comedic. Good thing we brought along snacks.
Thursday October 22.
Plane arrived about 30 minutes behind schedule. Airport wasn’t particularly crowded. The Maxim Restaurant is now Tai Hing, and we
ate something there before taking a taxi to Tai Po. It was about 10 pm when we got in.
Accommodations.
Tai Po House during the trip.
The Tai Po House is a bit far from downtown Hong Kong, but is a nice quiet place to stay. This is the backyard.
Friday October 23.
Met up with Mamie, a friend from college, at Ngau Tau Kok MTR station to
head out to Media Evangelism for a meeting on their work in Nepal. We talked to ME for about two hours. Mamie, Anne, and I then looked for a place to
have lunch – many restaurants were quite crowded during lunch time. Found a small eatery and chatted for a
while. After which Anne went to her
sister’s house for some family matter, and I dropped off my phone at the HTC
Service Center. What I thought was a
cracked screen turned out to be only a cracked plastic cover, but I still left
the phone for them to fix a stuck switch.
Purchased tickets for tomorrow’s concert at City Hall, then took bus to
Country Club to meet up with others for dinner.
Saturday October 24.
Anne and I walked to Wan Tau Tong for breakfast, and brought some food
back for Ruth and Stephen. After Tim and
Whitney showed up at around 1 pm, we all headed out to Tai Po Market for an
early afternoon snack. Anne stayed
behind to work on her grant project, so we brought something back for her. Dinner was home-cooked meal. Anne and I then headed to the Cultural Center
for a Hong Kong Philharmonic concert. It
was about 11;30 pm when we got back to Tai Po.
Hong Kong Philharmonic concert.
Sunday October 25.
Morning boat ride on Tim’s boat to Stanley where Anne and Ruth picked up
some trinkets, lunch at Chung’s Restaurant in Stanley. After we got back to Tai Po, Tim and I went
for a short (3-mile) hike. Dinner at one
of Hong Kong’s many “private kitchens,” this one located in an industrial area
of the Fo Tan district.
At Stanley.
Menu at the Fo Tan Private Kitchen.
Duck stuffed with sweet rice.
Monday October 26. Spent morning in Tai Po Center so Ruth could help with some family matter. Lunch in restaurant at center. Took bus to town to have coffee with Elaine, someone we had known for more than 30 years. Anne went back to Tai Po as I stopped to have coffee with Alfred in Mongkok.
We have known Elaine since the 1980s. Happy to meet up with her in Hong Kong. This is taken at the World Trade Center in Causeway Bay. The Agnes b charges a lot for coffee, the upside is we could find seats.
Tuesday October 27.
Met up with Tony W in Admiralty to talk about the work he does in
China. Lunch at “Belgian” restaurant
Frites in Sheung Wan with Nathan and KS about Hope matters. Went to Cultural Center to buy tickets for
(yet) another concert, this time performed by the Korea National Opera. Met up with Howard, who also happens to be in
town, to go to Regal Kowloon where a group of alumni from my high school meet
on a regular basis. About 12 people, and
I recognized only a couple of them.
A group of "old boys" from my class meet up regularly. This was the first time I joined them.
Wednesday October 28.
Had dim sum in Kowloon City with Leungs.
Then met up with Anne in Sheung Wan to collect business cards we ordered
yesterday – to my chagrin there was a mistake, we decided to take them since we
didn’t want to go back. So much for the
legendary Hong Kong efficiency. Then it
was to HK Club to have tea with Anne’s sister.
Took 307 home, and brought take-out food to Tai Po house for dinner with
Ruth.
Thursday October 29.
Spent the morning preparing for talk at tomorrow’s event. Then went to Fairwood in Wan Tau Tong for a
quick lunch. Met up with an old high
school classmate at the Tai Po MTR station – his daughter had requested that I
give a talk to her students (she teaches at the same school.) Went to Hyatt Shatin to have dinner with
Howard, who went to the same high school and college as us.
Howard and his wife Ruby graduated from Cornell the same year Anne and I did. They have lived in New Jersey for about 20 years. I have only seen them in Hong Kong.
Friday October 30. After going to the Taipo MTR to have dim sum with Ruth and Stephen, Anne and I went back to the house so we can work on various “business” issues. We went to The Vine Church at a little after 6 pm, and saw that the preparation for the “Celebrate Hope” event was well underway. We chatted a bit with others after the event, and grabbed a snack before we got back to Tai Po at close to 11:30 pm.
Saturday October 31. A late lunch with Kenneth and Anna, followed by an early (light) dinner with Chris, Nathan, and Sharon. Attended the opera “Soul Mate” performed by the Korea National Opera and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
This is the new Government building in Admiralty. Somehow I missed its construction phase.
Curtain call, Soul Mate. Performance by Korea National Opera and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Sunday November 1.
Anne and I both had a few things to attend to, so we skipped the
boatride with Tim. That didn’t mean we
couldn’t find time to grab lunch in town.
After attending a concert by the Taiwan Philharmonic at the Cultural
Center, we stopped by Shatin before dinner at the “Royal Kitchen” with Tim,
Whitney, Ruth and Stephen.
Poster outside concert hall for the Taiwan Philharmonic concert. Attendance was disappointing.
Taken inside the Taipo Royal Kitchen.
Monday November 2.
Dim sum lunch with Kimmey and Windy Chan before heading off to DBS to
talk to a couple of classes. Dinner at
the seafood restaurant in Tai Po MTR station with Ruth and Stephen. Then it was back to the house to pack.
I had a chance to meet with DBS Grade 12 students.
Grade 11.
Taken in the Headmaster's Office.
Tuesday November 3.
Mr. Tsang picked us up at 8:30 for our trip to the airport. We are about 3 hours into the flight. With an empty seat next to me, I have no
complaints. (Anne is in a different row,
also with an empty seat.) They indeed
have cut down on their meal service, and now we have an option to purchase a
midflight snack.
No comments:
Post a Comment