Hong Kong. September 6 – 13, 2018.

The main reason for this trip is to attend a Hope International fund raising dinner in Hong Kong.  Anne and I went to Kunming to visit in January (by way of Hong Kong), and I was there in March when Christ H visited.  So this is the third trip for me.

Anne thought about but decided against coming.  Not being a fan of long flights in coach, she would rather stay behind and work on some of her ESL projects.

I was in Hong Kong late August 2017, and the airfare was around $550.  When I first checked airfares for this flight (forget when) it was a bit over $900.  So when it dropped to $722 I grabbed it (bought ticket on 8/5).  Turns out it dropped further, down to around $620 and fluctuated a bit.  Even up till a day before departure it was still that low. Should have kept the faith, although by all measures $722 is a great fare.

I bought my plane ticket on August 5.  The price dropped to $622 on August 22.

I may head back in October, so another chance to play this game of airfare roulette?  Right now the fare is $755 (mid- to late-October).

We usually pride ourselves on having only carry-on luggage, and for Hong Kong it is never an issue unless I want to bring a bottle of wine over.  For this flight I checked 2 pieces of luggage at a little over 50 lbs each.  Our friends Alan and Farina moved back to Hong Kong a couple of months ago, so I volunteered to take something back for them.  One of the suitcases they left behind weighed 70 lbs!  I couldn’t handle that, so I took something out for next trip.

9/6 Thursday.  It took a bit of maneuvering, but I managed to coax 3 pieces of luggage and a backpack from where Anne dropped me off to the luggage check area, and by doing so saved $6 (Smartcarte charge).  The check-in agent didn’t bat an eye, I guess lots of people check in heavy stuff.  An elite member evidently can check in 3 pieces, that’s over 200 lbs.

For a while I was concerned if the departure would be delayed as Flightstats showed UA998 (incoming flight from Brussels) as being diverted.  My conjecture is the plane returned to the gate at BRU to have a mechanical problem fixed, but simply departed a little over an hour late.

Since I will be on four international flights in 30 days, I decided to subscribe to a UA internet package for $69.  On this flight internet costs $30.99 (highest I have seen); I am sure I would not have sprung $31 for one flight’s worth of connection.  It was working well for a while (we are sixth hour into flight) but is now fading out a bit; we are over Greenland.  So far I have done my usual financial record keeping, and chatted in a couple of newsgroups.  (Note added about 1 hour before landing: as “warned,” service stopped for a few hours while plane was over the North Pole and most of Russia, even though the Unitedwifi site said internet was available.)

One does not expect gourmet dining in coach.  United still manages to disappoint with ever-shrinking meals.  What used to be called dinner is now lunch.

I managed to while away the time without much sleep (about an hour at most so far), between watching two movies (Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story, each over 2 hours) and the chat groups I had quite a bit to do.  Sonny in the Cornell chat group bought for me a ticket for Saturday night’s HK Philharmonic concert, and Daniel arranged to have lunch on Monday.

9/7 Friday.  Plane actually got to the gate at 6:45 pm, about 30 minutes early.  A bit unusual for this habitually tardy flight.  Alan was at customs exit when I got through, having spent 20 plus minutes waiting for luggage.  We caught up a bit while having a quite bite at Tai Hing.  Airport Express and a short taxi ride got me to Causeway Bay.

Accommodations for trip: Causeway Bay Apartment.

9/8 Saturday.  Went to bed at around 1 am, got up at 4:30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep.  It will be a rough(ish) night tonight, unless I can catch a nap in the afternoon.

Tim stopped by and we chatted a bit, then it was off to breakfast for me.  Joe Jr had asked me to buy some Disney cups and dishes for his kids, so I stopped by a couple of Japan Home Centers to pick them up.  Temperature not that back (mid 80s) but humidity gets you, I was all sweaty when I got back to the apartment.

Lunch was at a Shanghainese restaurant in the World Trade Center, with two high school classmates John and Raymond.  John and I reconnected a couple of years back, and Raymond I had not seen since 1969, when he left Hong Kong for Australia.  Lunch was two hours, and Raymond and I spent another 2+ hours over coffee to catch up.  It was amazing we had so much to talk about after all these years.

That didn’t leave me much time for my next event, and today was so humid that I felt I needed to change my shirt.  So it was a quick bowl of wonton, a shirt change back in the apartment, and to Tsim Sha Tsui via the subway.  I got to the Cultural Center to have coffee with Sonny and someone from a micro-finance NGO that works with migrant workers in Hong Kong.  Sonny got me a (basically) complimentary ticket to a Hong Kong Philharmonic concert, with Joshua Bell on the violin.  He also gave me a ride to the apartment.  It was close to 11 pm that I got back.

Joshua Bell and Jaap van Zweden at the conclusion of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.  Van Zweden will be leading both the Hong Kong and New York Philharmonic Orchestras this season.

9/9 Sunday.  Last night I got perhaps five hours of sleep.  Still not enough, but at least some improvement.  Lunch was hosted by Anna & Kenneth at the Chinese restaurant of “The Murray,” a new(ish) high-end hotel in Central.  We ordered a lot of food as Anna kept on asking for and acting on recommendations, but managed to gulp down most of it.  There is a rather large Flame of the Forest tree in front of the building which people moved before the renovations and restored afterwards, at great expense no doubt.  Anna pointed out how poorly the restaurant’s design integrated with this “center piece,” starting with a solid railing that blocked a better view of the tree.  I was told their dishes are about twice as expensive as other restaurants.

T-mobile provides low-speed data service while overseas.  A handy feature to have, but sometimes frustratingly slow.  50kbps doesn't quite get the job done.  For HK$48 China Mobile provides 3 Gb of service for 5 days, at (supposedly) 4G speeds.

I managed to go back to the apartment and slept for an hour, which helped greatly.

Dinner was with Alfred and Alyson in Ge Ge Fu, patterned after royalty during the Qing Dynasty.  I was happy to be able to see her, but didn’t get a lot of chance to talk.

I noticed these low-sugar mooncakes being sold at the Cafe I had breakfast, and bought one box.  Ate one (over four days) and gave away the other three.

Ge Ge Fu Restaurant has a Qing dynasty-inspired theme.  This is the elaborate table setting in the restaurant.  They also have a selection of period clothing for those who like to pose for photographs.

9/10 Monday.  Today ended being a bit longer than expected.  Went to the Hope office in Sheung Wan at about 10 am to catch up with Joe T.  I also met with Christina (whose name I forgot) and Jesse and Kevin from Hope’s LA office.  Over coffee Joe T and I caught up a bit on things.

Lunch was with Eddie and Daniel, whom I reconnected after joining a Cornell chat group.  Luk Yu Tea House has been around for a long time; I had not been there for over 30 years, but it hasn’t changed much.

Daniel, Eddie and I were at Cornell together.  I had not seen Daniel since graduation.  Turns out I also know his brother Don from high school. 

From 3 to about 6:30 pm I had to try to solve a family problem and dealt with several lawyers.  Things are now somewhat under control.

My last “meeting” ended in Admiralty, so dinner was at Café de Coral.  It was close to 9 pm when I got back to the apartment.

This dinner at Cafe de Coral cost about US$8.  Prices are reasonable if one eats as a local.

9/11 Tuesday.  Tim gave me a shot for my hurting knee.  I was then off to Festival Walk to do the usual breakfast with Alfred.  For whatever reason, I headed towards East Mongkok; to get to Festival Walk I should be heading to Kowloon Tong.  I realized my mistake as I excited the MTR station.  A few calls later, Alfred returned from Kowloon Tong and we managed to chat for an hour or so at Pacific Coffee in Grand Century Plaza.

I stopped by Hysan Place hoping to get something to eat from Pepper Lunch.  Lunch crowds in Hong Kong can be large, and there was a sign saying “Wait Time 30 minutes,” so I opted for another meal instead.

There is a lot of potatoes in this beef brisket curry dish.  The other dish is "seasonable" vegetables, nappa cabbage for today.

It was a little after 6 pm when I got to HKEX, the place Hope was going to hold the fundraising dinner.  HKEX used to be the floor of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and was turned into a conference and banquet room after manual trading was eliminated.  Some Hope supporter managed to get the facility made available to Hope, for free.  About 120 people attended, and the evening generally went well.  I ordered chicken as the main course, but was served chicken sausage instead: due to the avian flu, the supply of chicken in Hong Kong is tight.  I stuck around for a bit after the program concluded, so it was about 10:30 pm that I got back to the apartment.

 The Hong Kong Museum of Finance.  I didn't have time to get a good understanding of what message the displays were trying to send.

Edwin and I hosted the first Hope dinner in Hong Kong several years back.  It was good to reconnect.

9/12 Wednesday.  Morning spent taking care of tidying up paper work.  Several of us had a simple lunch at Pret-a-manger to debrief on the previous evening’s events.  At about 3:30 pm I met up with Nathan and Sharon (who joined later) to chat a bit before they start their next venture – going to get their Master’s degrees in London.

Dinner was with Tim and Whitney at this Shanghai Restaurant in Lee Garden II.  Many dishes were basically modern takes on some traditional Shanghainese dishes.

Many Shanghai 10's dishes are re-imagined versions of popular Shanghai dishes.  For "shrimp and tea leaves" the shells are retained (and eaten), and the tea leaves were fried.  The "smoked fish" tasted more like sweat and sour.  Solid B+!

Time to pack for an early (for me) departure tomorrow.  Typhoon Signal No. 3 has been hoisted, the outlook is it will not escalate, so it should not affect my flight.  There is one about 3 days behind that could be problematic for the city.  Of course Florence is threatening the Carolinas at the same time.

9/13 Thursday.  Woke up at 6:45 am, so I had plenty of time to get ready for the flight.  Uber cost today was about HK$103, quite a bit more than the $66 I paid in March.  Really no complaints as it worked out to about US$13.

Check in at Airport Express station was straightforward.  When the agent was telling me how to get to the UA lounge, I joked that I usually go to the Priority Pass lounge near Gate 1.  She insisted that food at the United Club was better.  Which gave me the idea – and I told her – that I would try both.

The Premium Plaza Club near Gate 1 was mobbed by travelers.  I noticed how long the food line was while standing in line for admission, so I decided to go to the one near the United departure area.  It was much better.  This was followed by a visit to the United Club.  The edge indeed goes to United, somewhat to my surprise.

Dueling breakfasts at HKG.  The winner is United.  And, yes, I ate both of them.

UA180 has a light load, in Economy Plus, so I have a row of three seats to myself.  So far so good – this is 11:20 am, about 40 minutes into the flight.

By taking advantage of United WiFi I managed to upload this blog entry while in the air (Hong Kong time 12:20 pm, about 1:40 hours into flight, at 31,000 ft.)

Plane arrived on time.  Mobile Passport and Priority Luggage tag made the immigration and customs process straightforward.  I bought a box of mooncakes, declared it, and still managed to sail through.  Anne came by to pick me up.