The last two times I visited Hong Kong were in September and November, 2019. There were lots of protests in Hong Kong in September, and I left in November with the observation that the election results were dominated by the pro-democracy parties.
The government adopted many legislations that invalidated the election results, and COVID hit. For a while it was nearly impossible to visit Hong Kong, and if one had managed to get on a flight, a hotel quarantine of 21 days awaited. A couple of months ago the Hong Kong government announcement enough relaxations to those requirements that I felt comfortable to visit. For this visit, only a self-administered RAT test, performed 24 hours before the flight to Hong Kong, would be sufficient.
For many years we took the EWR-HKG non-stop flights to get to the city. That won't be resume until June, so we had to connect through San Francisco.
3/13 Monday. Our flight to Hong Kong left Newark at 5 pm, so we had the morning to pack. We Uber'ed to the airport, and CLEAR/TSA precheck made the security process quite straightforward. One piece had to be checked in as I brought along two bottles of wine for Tim.
We were upgraded to Business (notified about a day earlier). That allowed us to use the Polaris Lounge at Newark, where we both ate some of the food on offer. During the flight, I spent most of the time reading this book on Mahler I just bought. Anne managed quite a bit of sleep.
UA395 landed at SFO Terminal G, which was convenient for our Hong Kong flight, which also left from Terminal G. With time on our hands, we ate at Mustard as it participates in the Priority Pass program, and then visited the Polaris lounge since we also got upgraded on UA877 (that we found out a few days earlier). Uncharacteristically, we didn't eat at the Polaris Lounge. I must say the Newark lounge had better selection of food.
During the 13 hour EWR-HKG flight I dozed on and off, while Anne packed away several hours. While I didn't watch one single movie or TV show on either flight, neither flight felt long.
COVID requirements as we prepared to leave for Hong Kong. Basically one has to self-administer a RAT test. There were no issues when we entered Hong Kong.
A snack at the Newark Polaris Lounge.
Dinner on board UA395 business class.
Reading a book on Mahler. What is considered verbose and unnecessarily complex sentence is praised by critics as work from an excellent wordsmith.
We grabbed a snack at Mustard in Terminal G. Even though we got a credit of $56 from Priority Pass, we still had to pay about $30 (including the tip) for this meal.
Seat 17A in UA877 Business Class.
Anne is settled in Seat 17D.
Sitting right next to this huge 777 engine. It proved to be quite noisy throughout the flight. (I had 16A on the way back, and it wasn't nearly as bad.)
Dinner on board. The fish was quite good, but the portion size was small.
Flying over Taipei.
Engine reversal at touchdown. Time stamp was 4:21 am.
3/15 Wednesday. UA877 got in around 4:20 am, even earlier than the 5 am scheduled arrival. The Airport Express won't start running until around 6 am, and no shop other than a 7-11 was open that early. There were few taxis when we got off the Hong Kong Station, and there was little traffic on the taxi ride to Causeway Bay.
Lunch was at the South China Athletic Club, with Joe T and his family, after which we visited their home, very close to where I am staying, and chatted for a bit. Joe's daughter Eden is 7 months old.
We rested for about an hour before Alyson and her boyfriend Johnson showed up at the apartment. Dinner was with them, Tim, and Whitney at the Roast Duck restaurant in SCAA.
People were waiting around at the airport for the first Airport Express train (leaving at around 6 am). We took a later one, and it was very empty.
Breakfast at Golden Zone Cafe on Jardine's Bazaar. About US$8.
Lunch at the Chinese Restaurant in South China Athletic Association with Joe T, Alex, and their baby Eden.
Dinner at Kam Center next to the bowling lanes in SCAA. It is well know for roasted goose (we had that too).
Accommodation for trip: Causeway Bay Apartment (8 nights).
3/16 Thursday. Elaine picked us up this morning. She planned to take Anne around their old haunts on the island, mainly on the western and southern end of the island. However, we started with brunch (not that such a term exists in the Chinese language) at the Wang Lam Restaurant in Shau Kei Wan. It is a very popular restaurant, with people sharing tables. The restaurant right next to it, however, was very quiet. One interesting place we stopped at was the old dairy farm, it is now a small park. We were politely asked to leave and revisit in a few months as the park is under renovation. Another place we search for was Sandy Bay which has an interesting Chinese name. We ended the day with tea and cake at the Hong Kong Country Club.
Fried fish for breakfast at Tsui Wah Restaurant in Causeway Bay.
There is a large Indonesian population in the area (most are foreign workers) so there are a few Indonesian Restaurants. Anne couldn't pass this up.
Elaine took us on a tour of "old haunts" she and Anne frequented as kids. But we started the day at this popular restaurant in Shau Kei Wan. I don't understand why it is so special, though.
Where their piano teacher lived. Elaine fired her, Anne just quit.
Outside Hong Kong University.
This University Library was closed for the day for some celebration.
The "stone path" the sisters took when they lived in Queen Mary Hospital Doctors' Quarters.
Dairy Farm used to raise cows at this location. Now some sort of event center. It is under renovation, we were politely asked to revisit in a few months.
The geotag says this is at the Admiralty MTR station. Don't remember seeing it on prior visits.
3/17 Friday. We ended up doing three "meals" in succession. First was lunch at the Sorabol Korean Restaurant in Lee Theatre with Kam and Susanna. They have stayed in Hong Kong for the last couple of months looking for serving opportunities. That was followed by coffee/tea and scones at the Mandarin Oriental with Nathan and Sharon. We took a taxi to the Country Club to have dinner with Larry and Elaine. Driver Joe drove us back to Causeway Bay.
Lunch with Kam and Susanna. We have known them since the 80s.
Dinner at Country Club with Larry and Elaine.
3/18 Saturday. The Western Kowloon Culture District is relatively new (perhaps opened just before the pandemic), and we were told of the museum M+. It was very quiet when we got there at around 11 am. The museum collection was difficult to pinpoint, but one might say it concentrates on modern Asian art. The location, by the harbor, is certainly great. We spent over one hour in the exhibits. Only frustrating experience was I needed to check in my small backpack (for a fee, even though it was minimal), while people could carry in large tote bags. The reason: my backpack has these straps, the tote bags have "only" handles.
Breakfast at Glee Cafe, also on Jardine's Bazaar.
Outside the newly opened M+ Museum in the Western Kowloon Cultural District.
Buildings near the Hong Kong MTR Station, as see from the Third Floor (?) Garden at M+.
A nice view of the Hong Kong Island skyline from the area.
Interesting series of paintings on how one arrives at "abstraction." Now which end does one start?
Then we have these installations that pass as art.
This reminds me of the "Spoon Display" at the Seccesson Building in Vienna.
The area offers a shuttle bus which we took to get to the "Western Harbour Tunnel" bus stop area. Anne took bus #968 back to Causeway Bay, while I visited the HK Heritage Discovery Center, located in Kowloon Park. Until the end of the month they have an exhibit on the Sanxingdui and Jinsha excavations. These Sichuan excavations were dated from AD1700-AD1200 and AD1200-AD500, from the late neolithic to bronze ages. There was a guide providing commentaries on various displays, and I learned a few things.
Someone in a WhatsApp group I belong to suggested a visit to the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Center located in TST. This is before China was unified by Emperor Qin.
The Chinese (although technically Jin Sha wasn't part of China then) did its share of human sacrifice.
Most of Hong Kong's history is in the pottery shards people dig up during construction of new buildings.
I ate a "small snack" of chicken (actually half a chicken) after I got back to Causeway Bay. Anne joined me for dinner at a Japanese restaurant a bit later.
Snack of "half a chicken" at Cafe de Coral.
I often forget to take pictures during the trip. This is the meal I had for dinner, after the snack. Don Don Tei is the name of the restaurant. Donburi means rice, and tei evidently means pagoda.
I walked the Caroline Hill Road loop after we got back.
3/19 Sunday. A short taxi ride took us to the Aberdeen Marina Club where we met up with Kenneth and Anna. They took us on their boat to Lamma Island, where we met up with Whitney and Tim. The six of us had dinner at Rainbow Restaurant. We started at about 11:20 am, and didn't end until a bit before two. Kenneth and Anna returned from the US about 10 days ago. We then had coffee "next door" before Anne and I caught the Rainbow ferry to TST, getting off at the pier right next to the Cultural Center. We had some time before the 5 pm concert, so had coffee at the Starbucks nearby.
On Kenneth's Boat to Lamma Island.
Familiar seaside restaurant (Rainbow) on Lamma Island.
Lobster Thermidor, Lamma Island style.
We took the complimentary service offered to Rainbow Restaurant guests to TST. Star Ferry boats are not as common as they were when I was growing up in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong hosts this Arts Festival every year (this is the 51st, and not sure what they did during the pandemic). It ended yesterday, but the Bamberg Symphony played an extra concert. On the way back we had dinner at Ho Hung Kee in Hysan Place, and then walked back to Causeway Bay.
The Hong Kong Arts Festival concluded yesterday. Bamberg Symphony had an afternoon concert.
There were quite a few empty seats at this event. It was a great concert.
Most picture I took are of meals that we ate. This is dinner at Ho Hung Kee in Hysan Place.
3/20 Monday. Anne went with Elaine to take care of some family business in the morning, and then they toured Hong Kong some more. My day started with lunch with Larry at the Hong Kong Club, followed by visits to his favorite market Oliver's.
Shan is in the same "Alfred Wong" project that I am in, and we met for coffee at Tai Kwun, built on the former Victoria Gaol (Prison). We chatted for a while, and he gave me some additional perspective on how the "common folk" are reacting to the new policies that are in place, and how it's difficult to steer a course in the current environment. Evidently over 300,000 people have left during the last three years. The net migration figure, however, is quite a bit smaller (perhaps around 70,000 over three years) as there is an influx of new immigrants to offset those who leave.
I was a bit late getting to our dinner appointment at the Country Club: I had to wait for a taxi, and the area around exchange square was a bit congested. Dinner was Kenneth, Elaine, Anne, and their spouses. We had good conversations. It was after 9 pm that we were done.
The sisters spent the morning together. Apparently to check out more restaurants. They look happy.
Who wouldn't be?
How many places did they visit?
Larry and I had lunch at the Hong Kong Club. This was taken in Prince's Building.
This part of Pottinger Street is called "Stone Pebble Street." Quite a walk to get to where I needed to be.
Tai Kwun is the old Police Station and Victoria Prison. Now a museum with restaurants nearby.
Dinner at Hong Kong Country Club.
3/21 Tuesday. Larry and I again met for lunch at the HK Club, this time in the Members' Bar. Anne went to Li Yuen East and West Streets to buy some small gifts for the grandchildren. We met up with Joe Tang at the SCAA again for coffee late in the afternoon. Dinner was at Lane's Bistro.
What we had for dinner at Lane Bistro in Causeway Bay.
3/22 Wednesday. Hong Kong Sinfonietta Orchestra sponsored a conducting competition in 2018, and five years later, will hold the second one this week. Today is the first round (of 16 young conductors under age 35, selected from about 200 applicants). Curious as to how these events go, we went and sat through one hour, seeing four candidates. It was then off to lunch at Hysan Place (Pepper Lunch).
The 2nd Hong Kong Conducting Competition. We stayed for an hour.
Lunch at Pepper Lunch in Hysan Place.
There was a huge fire in 1918 at the Race Track that killed over 600 people, there is a memorial next to the Hong Kong Stadium. I decided to climb the 230 steps (188 from the actual start of the "trail") to visit. After over a hundred years there is still this haunting feeling to the place.
Race Course Fire Memorial. A fire in 1918 claimed more than 600 victims.
What isn't clear from this is if this is a memorial, or is this also a cemetery.
Hong Kong Stadium as seen from the memorial.
Dinner was at a cafe on Jardine's Bazaar ("Glee" Cafe). It was then time to pack up for tomorrow's departure.
3/23 Thursday. We used Uber to get to the HK Airport Station. The driver used to own a small import/export business; he had to shut it down as he couldn't possible compete with the likes of Tao Bao and Amazon. There is a sadness to the resignation in his voice, as he had very limited options.
I was unable to get my boarding pass when I checked in on line (Anne's went okay) and got to experience post-pandemic travel in Hong Kong. First, the city check-in center was closed, so it was on the Airport Express to the Airport. United used to have a separate check-in counter for 1K and above flyers, today there was only "Premier" and "regular." The lines were equally long. To be fair, the wait was about 15 minutes. Then I found out why I couldn't get my boarding pass, not only did I not get Pre-Check, I was selected for the dreaded "SSSS!" Well, today wasn't my day.
There used to be multiple choices of airport lounges I could go to: United, other Star Alliance airlines, and Premium Plaza. Both the United and Air New Zealand lounges were closed, the only one available was a new Chase Sapphire Reserved lounge, which both United and Priority Pass uses. This CSR lounge is by Gate 40 (a shuttle ride away) while we were going to leave at Gate 5 (a first for United Airlines for me). Priority Pass also offers meals at Putien, a new Singapore fast-food restaurant. So we went for it, although I didn't eat much.
While at the gate, I found out Anne got upgraded. When we tried to board, the agent asked us to wait, as I would have a good chance to get upgraded as well. Not only did I get upgraded, the new boarding pass had pre-check on it, and no more "SSSS." And the SFO-EWR boarding pass came on line, with pre-check on it.
We had the same crew that came over with us. Being practically a day flight (12:20 pm, 12 hour flight), neither Anne nor I got much sleep. Using MPC to get through immigration and customs was simple enough, and with CLEAR and Pre-Check we went through domestic security in a few minutes - although it was a long walk from Terminal G to the check point.
At Airport check-in I was handed this boarding pass. No pre-check, and the dreaded SSSS marking.
At the gate, however, I got this new boarding pass. TSA PRE, no SSSS, and a business class upgrade.
Anne promptly took advantage of the comfortable seat.
Dinner was good.
Faster than the speed of sound. The 181 mph tailwind helped.
No "low-carb" option for breakfast.
We couldn't resist the Priority Pass deal at Yankee Pier, so ordered breakfast, which we asked to "convert" to takeout as boarding was to start at 10:25 am (for an 11:15 am flight). Boarding was delayed by at least 20 minutes, and the flight took off an hour late. We could have enjoyed eating at the restaurant, but had cold omelet and fish tacos instead.
For this leg we didn't get upgraded, and had bulkhead seats. It was generally okay. After landing at EWR, we decided we would eat a light meal (sandwiches from CIBO Express) and then Uber'd home.
