The primary reason for the trip is to have meetings with
Hope International, an organization we have supported for several years. Joe T was appointed to the Hong Kong office
recently, so his boss Chris H wanted to spend a couple of days with him, and
asked me to come along.
Monday March 19.
Anne dropped me off at the airport.
She couldn’t go because today is the start of her teaching duties at
Brookdale. She isn’t a fan of these long
flights, and had done two round trips so far this year.
Terminal C at Newark Airport now has so many eateries that there isn't much anymore of a gate area where one can simply set. As long as the airfares are reasonable, I am okay.
Flight UA179 left the gate on time, but took a good 30
minutes to get airborne. So instead of
getting to Hong Kong 30 minutes early, we will be on time – unless the plane
had to circle around a bit due to traffic or weather. With an empty middle seat next to me, I
should be able to get some sleep later (it’s now about 10:40 pm NJ time);
that’s the hope anyway.
Tuesday March 20.
I did get some sleep (maybe three hours?) on the plane. After getting something to eat at Tai Hing, I
took the Airport Express and a taxi to get to Causeway Bay. Everything went smoothly. Chris H showed up a bit after midnight. He would be staying at the apartment during
his Hong Kong visit.
Accommodations during trip: CWB Apartment
Wednesday March 21 and Thursday March 22. These were two long working days which
started early and ended late. We had a
series of meetings with current and potential clients, and had dinner at La Parole
in Sheung Wan and Lei Garden in North Point.
There was this couple that sat at the same table as I at the last Hope
HK banquet, and we all forgot about each other (I recognized him afterwards
from photo taken the year before.)
Chris, Joe T, myself, and Nathan having coffee at NOC Coffee in Sai Ying Pun.
A small gathering of friends of Hope International at La Parole in Sheung Wan.
Friday March 23.
Chris wanted to get to the airport early to try an earlier flight, so I
woke up early to see him off at 6:30 am.
I then wandered around the area until 7, when the restaurants
opened. After stopping at Tim’s clinic
to take care of a couple of things, I went to Tom Lee Music to buy a ticket for
this Sunday’s concert.
Having sometime on my hands, I jumped on the Central to
Peng Chau ferry, walked around a bit, and came back.
The fast ferry that took me from Central to Cheung Chau Island.
Cheung Chau is more crowded than I remember, but one can still get nice photos of the island.
Saturday March 24.
The day was spent having three meals.
First it was dim sum breakfast with Alfred at Moko, formerly known as
Grand Century Plaza. With a good bus and
MTR connection the trip to Mongkok East took perhaps only 20 minutes. Then I took the MTR to Yuen Long to have
lunch with Joe T. It was at the Le Grand
Pokka Café in Yoho Mall (what’s with these names, Moko, Yoho) by the MTR
station. It was close to 4:30 pm when we
stopped talking. I have taken bus 64K
from Yuen Long to Tai Po before, it was pretty quick, and the bus didn’t take
nearly that many stops (could be as high as 52 per Google.) Joe T suggested 264R, which took about 30
minutes, with about half of that time in local traffic – bus did local pickups
and drop offs, and non-stop from Yuen Long to Tai Wai. Tim picked Alfred and I up from the Taipo MTR. We and Rachel had dinner at Royal China
Aquagarden. Last time I went it was
quite busy; quiet tonight, wonder if the drop in stock market had anything to
do with it.
Three brothers. We actually had a much livelier discussion than this photo might suggest.
This "clam dish" at the Royal China Aquagarden Restaurant has the insides of sea cucumbers as one of its ingredients. Ugh.
Very small grouper.
Sunday March 25.
After taking care of some paperwork, I went to have lunch. Crowds come out on Sunday, especially on a
nice day such as today (the whole week has been pleasant.) Bought Joe Jr a couple of T-shirts before
heading back to apartment. Tried but
failed to take a nap. While City Hall is
quite close, it takes longer than expected to get to because MTR stations are
some distance off at both ends. I caught
Bus 5B as it showed up when I exited the apartment. Today traffic was better, and I managed to
get to City Hall with a couple of minutes to bear. Today is the last day of the 47th
HK Arts Festival, on tab was a performance by the Estonian National Symphony
Orchestra and Estonian National Male Choir.
Dinner was at a Thai restaurant in Lee Theatre with Nathan and Sharon,
we mostly talked about museums and textiles, and their plans for further
studies. When we said goodbye at 9:30
pm, I noticed these requests to buy Uniqlo for the grandkids. Nowadays I don’t do as well with time
pressure (place closes at 10,) but managed to get something for every grandkid,
or so I hope. The dinner was vegetarian,
and I didn’t eat much starch, so I went to a nearby McDonald’s to have a
hamburger. (Many cafes were closed at
10, a bit to my surprise.)
Estonia National Symphony Orchestra and National Male Choir at Hong Kong City Hall, conducted by Leif Segestam.
It’s now trying to pack everything so I will have only
carryons tomorrow.
Monday March 26.
Today was the first time I ever used Uber in Hong Kong. At around 8 am there were not that many cars
available, and I ended waiting for around 15 minutes. Otherwise it was an uneventful trip out to
the airport.
Alyson just passed her medical school finals, and was on
a trip to Taipei. I tried to look for
her in vain at the departure gate of her flight. For us there are a lot of lounge options in
HKG: Star Alliance lounges and Priority Pass lounges. There was a Singapore
Airlines Kris Lounge nearby the Taipei gate, so I stopped by to grab a breakfast. By the time I got to the UA gate people were
already lined up. It was a full flight,
boarding was held up for a while to get a wheel-chaired passenger to his
seat. With this TRTL pillow I seemed to
be able to get some sleep, and if so it was well worth the $30.
Speaking of the flight, our departure was delayed by
around 30 minutes because of airport congestion. In my opinion they should try to let these
long flights out first so as not to create more stress more the aggravated
passengers. And we had to wait upon
arrival for an available gate; on this I assume United has some control over.
Anne picked me up.
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