One reason I planned this trip was a Hope meeting. That got canceled. However, in the mean time, I had other meetings arranged, and Ruth also planned to visit Hong Kong from Australia, so I decided to make this trip anyway. While nothing spectacular happened, it was generally worth the trouble and the time. (I wrote this paragraph after finishing this blog entry.)
Friday 3/6/2026. Anne dropped me off at Terminal C. Last time I checked luggage the "automatic" line was very long and the 1K counters took no time. Today things were a bit different: no one at the auto line, but a wait at the 1K counters. I still picked the latter. As usual, I worry if the two bottles of wine would make it across the continent and the Pacific - spoiler alert, they did fine.
Access to the United Club was straightforward, and I grabbed some of the limited food offerings to eat before I boarded the plane. Although the terminal areas looked quite busy, the Club was reasonably quiet.
The UA2641 we took last month was delayed so much that we missed our LAX-SYD connection. Today the plane took off on time (well, wheels up at 7:06 pm against a published 6:15 pm departure), and landed ahead of schedule (9:07 pm vs 9:29 pm). The gate however was occupied by a late-departing plane, so we didn't get to it until 9:39 pm. Which mooted the entire "early arrival" thing, and I had to walk the length of Terminal 7 to get to United Club. This meant I had only little time to eat something. Indeed Preboarding had ended by the time I got to the Gate. The LAX experience was less than ideal this time: the lounge receptionist was quite impolite as she enforced the passengers' admittance eligibility - while necessary, the attitude shouldn't be "so you are trying to sneak in." The Gate agent was also unhelpful, many would re-open the preboard gate, instead he asked me to walk around to the end of Group 1. (And I hope a passenger needing assistance won't be asked to do the same.)
For both flights I was upgraded to Premium Economy after I boarded. I had an aisle seat on the EWR-LAX flight, and that worked out well. I often wondered whether a middle seat in Premium Economy is worth anything (except a better meal), and the LAX-HKG flight proved that an aisle seat in economy is better.
UA820 was delayed by about 2 hours. If you read the "official" explanations (the messages they sent or "reason for delay" in their APP) avoiding bad weather was the cited reason (not sure why they couldn't fly around it), but the announcements were (1) waiting for passengers from a late incoming flight; (2) more fuel is needed as a result of route modification - and the paperwork; and (3) because of construction at LAX, the affected runway is shorter, and the maximum takeoff weight is thus reduced; they had to offload a container to reduce the weight. (1) seems to never happen to me; and (3) someone will miss their deliveries.
The official reason given by United for the delay was "severe weather." The actual announcements we heard pointed to different reasons.
The snacks handed out mid-flight looked nothing like these.
Sunday 3/8/2026. My usual routine is to get something to eat before heading into town. This time at Ho Hung Ke. Things were very quiet. The taxi driver who took me from the Hong Kong Station to Causeway Bay said lots of people visit Shenzhen on weekends for shopping and dining, and today was no exception.
I managed to get some sleep in the afternoon. Tim and Whitney were already in the apartment when I woke up. We decided to go to Kam's Roast Goose Restaurant in South China Athletic Association for an early dinner, and just made their "last call" at 4 pm when staff would take a break before the dinner rush. The food was good, except their signature Roast Goose dish was a bit tough.
I did get something to eat at Cafe de Coral in the evening.
Meanwhile, we started the process of putting in a bid for a condo in Hoboken. (Note: ultimately we were not successful.)
Accommodation: Caroline Garden, Causeway Bay. (8 nights).
Monday 3/9/2026. Whitney suggested the "Savory French Toast" at the "Right Tea-rific" cafe in Wan Chai, about a 20-minute walk from CWB. It's a very small establishment, doing reasonably good business. But I ordered the wrong item! A sandwich instead of the French Toast. The sandwich was okay, and the people I shared the table with had the French Toast which looked a bit dry, and too big.
Afterwards I decided to visit Tai Wan Tau. Last time I tried I made a detour to Po Toi O instead. It's the same route, MTR to Hang Hau, then minibus 16 to the traffic circle at Tai Au Mun, followed by a walk of about 0.5 mile to the pebble beach. The walk is now a paved road. I skipped the village I used to visit, thinking I would stop by on the way up. The first stretch back from the beach is a bit steep, and some guy was just preparing his car to drive to work. He offered me a ride back to the rotary, and I gladly accepted, although that meant I had to skip the village I intended to visit. A minibus (103X, if memory serves) took me to Tseung Kwan O where I had something to eat before returning to CWB.
Tai Wan Tau Beach.
The coke can has a season-specific message on it. This is the year of the horse.
It was a sunny and relatively warm day, so I worked up a bit of sweat.
Tim gave me shots for my knees. He had to do a radio show, and I walked to Hysan Place to have a late dinner.
Commercial versus government update: some progress made on the government project. The two sites started construction at about the same time.
Tuesday 3/10/2026. This visit is turning into a medical tour. I got injections in my knee yesterday - they went fine. This morning I went to Tim's office to have my blood drawn for a genetic test. While only a few CCs were required, it still took a while. In the afternoon I did an MRI scan for my lower back. This was my first time inside an MRI machine, it took much longer than I (for no apparent justification) expected, and I came away understanding why some people have reason to react poorly to the confinement.
Now I have small plasters in my knees and elbows, 4 all together, a first.
I did have an early lunch with Joe T at Tai Ping Koon Sheung Wan/Central. The dishes were "Portuguese Chicken" and "Fried beef noodles with Swiss sauce." A European feast. Or a comedy of cultural misunderstanding: Portuguese chicken originated in Macau, and Swiss sauce is a mis-pronunciation of "sweet sauce."
Tim's neighbor used to have a lot of shoes piled up outside the door. They got cited as being a fire hazard. This is a much cleaner look.
These orchids continue to bloom year after year.
Wednesday 3/11/2026. Went to the Peak for a walk around the Peak Path (about 2 miles). On the way back (around 3 pm) I was told there was some incident at Stubbs Road, and the bus that was leaving would be the last one (turns out service was resumed later that afternoon). Lunch was at Mak's Noodles in the Peak Galleria.
A breakfast set like this is quite typical in many cafes in Hong Kong. There is also a piece of fried spam underneath the fried fish.
A bowl of wontons at Mak's Noodles at the Peak Galleria.
The Peak Trail is about 2 miles in length. One can see different parts of Hong Kong along the trail. This is a view of Central and Kowloon across the Harbor. The tall glass building is the International Commerce Center, at 1588 ft and 118 floors Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper.
The three tall chimneys mark Lamma Island. The "pond" is Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, Hong Kong's oldest, and is still in use.
The two towers obscured by haze mark the Stonecutters' Bridge.
The Hope meeting that was one reason I came to Hong Kong was cancelled. As consolation a couple of Hope supporters invited me to dinner at the Hong Kong Cricket Club Chinese restaurant.
Lisa and Alan Fung hosted dinner at the Hong Kong Cricket Club.
Thursday 3/12/2026. After coffee with Larry K at the Hong Kong Club, I took the Mid-Levels Escalator to visit Joe T's family. He and I met up at a Fish and Chips place called "Hooked" to collect takeaway for lunch. The restaurant seems to source a lot of the fish from New Zealand. "Cod" in this case resembled more of the cod in NJ, as opposed to what is called cod in Australia. A F&C "meal" costs HK$80, but only HK$40 for students - quite a bargain in my opinion.
In Joe T's apartment for lunch.
Joe T dropped me off at the IFC Mall. I wanted to use the washroom before I head back, and ran into John L, my high school classmate. We had coffee at the Jockey Club and caught up on things a bit.
Coffee with high school classmate John L at the Jockey Club.
Ruth and Stephen arrived this evening. Their flight was originally scheduled to land at 5:50 pm, but was delayed by about 30 minutes, and they had to wait for their luggage. So it was after 8:30 pm that we sat down at Ding Tai Fung for dinner. To my surprise, that restaurant was doing great business.
Friday 3/13/2026. I caught the monthly lunch of the Cornell group, this time at the Shanghai Fraternity Club in Central. It was good to see some old friends, and meet some new ones.
Lunch of Cornellians at the Shanghai Fraternity Club.
As I was heading to the MTR station, someone called out my name ("Uncle Joe" in this case). It was Ken from Tim's radio show. We chatted for a few minutes. I am beginning to think the world is a small place.
For dinner we went to this "Art of Canton" restaurant located in Times Square Food Forum. It serves traditional and re-imagined Cantonese dishes. It was quite busy. Other restaurants on the same floor were a lot quieter.
Saturday 3/14/2026. Joe T and I met with a potential Hope supporter at 11:30 am at the Yacht Club, and I ended up staying at the facility until around 2:30 pm.
I, Edwin M and Joe T at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.
We decided to have lunch at the Club. I had the Fish & Chips, Joe the roast meats with rice.
A heron among the boats moored at the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter.
Ruth and Stephen were at Caroline Garden when I got back at around 4 pm.
At around 4:30 pm Tim came by to pick us up to go to the Hopewell Center and the new(ish) Hopewell Hotel. We had an early dinner at Ship Kee.
A couple of dishes at Ship Kee: Beef brisket in broth, and baked salted chicken.
I did the Link Road walk to work off some calories afterwards.
Sunday 3/15/2026. Today is my last full day in Hong Kong.
Tim took his boat from Aberdeen to West Kowloon. He had found a place to dock inside the typhoon shelter among all the working boats that are moored there. At a slow speed of about 10 knots the trip took about an hour.
Tim discovered one can dock inside the Typhoon Shelter in West Kowloon. The calm water there makes getting on and off the boat relatively easy.
We had lunch at the Palace Museum. I had visited the museum a couple of times but never noticed the restaurant. It provides great views, and has some interesting takes on dim sum - some work better than others. Alyson and Johnson joined us; it was great to see them.
Lunch at the fancy Chinese restaurant inside the museum.
Prices are reasonable (at least not outrageous) for dim sum.
Johnson and Alyson joined us for the day (lunch and dinner anyway).
I had a coffee appointment with Arthur that afternoon. The trip from the museum to Happy Valley was made a bit easier with the ferry that runs between West Kowloon and Central - a trip that takes 8 minutes. One could take a tram from Central to Happy Valley, but it was quicker to take the subway to Causeway Bay, and then catch the tram from there to Happy Valley. From boarding the ferry to the tram stop took less than one hour.
View of West Kowloon from ferry. The two towers are the stays of the Stonecutters' Bridge.
Ferry terminal on Hong Kong Island.
Dinner was at Regal Hotel's Chinese Restaurant, again with Alyson and Johnson. The food was good, and the restaurant was quite busy. We spent a couple of hours there.
Dishes at Regal Hotel Chinese Restaurant.
The United APP shows there are 29 booked business passengers for 48 seats, but the seat map shows only one empty seat (actually per the seat map there is only one empty seat). We shall see tomorrow.
Monday 3/16/206. Today was a travel day.
My usual plan is to take an Uber to the Hong Kong Station, and then the airport express. Total cost less than HK$180. I chatted with Tim a bit too long, and by the time I was ready to leave, traffic to HK Station was a bit backed up. I decided to take an Uber instead. By 'strategically' taking the Western Tunnel the trip took about 40 minutes. The cost was HK$400, which the driver thought was about $80 higher than usual, probably due to congestion pricing.
I stopped by the Kyra Lounge for breakfast. This used to be the Chase Sapphire Lounge, and frankly didn't look that different. I have no idea why Chase shut it down; it was their first Chase lounge, and the only one not located in the US.
Quick breakfast at Kyra Lounge at HKG.
The seat map vs booked issue was settled in favor of the seat map. 2 were upgraded to premium economy, one to Polaris. But the numbers booked were 18/21 and 30/48. With an aisle seat, and a relatively short flight time of 12-plus hours, it was a reasonable trip. I didn't sleep much, and watched a lot of TV.
Going by this I should have a good chance of being upgraded to Polaris.
This was closer to the truth. This discrepancy seems to happen quite often.
UA153 didn't get to the gate until 9:37 am (schedule 9:05 am), and I was to connect to UA2127 leaving at 10:50 am. It was a long walk from the gate to customs; but customs was straightforward, just a camera - I didn't even have to show my passport. I then made the mistake of waiting for the terminal connection bus; none showed up during the 15 or so minutes I waited for it (with lots of others), although many empty employee buses went by. I decided to walk (at a brisk pace). Touchless ID was quick, so I made it to gate 74 with 20 minutes to spare. Boarding had mostly completed, there was still luggage space for both my carryon and backpack (I had an exit row seat). The gate agent was somewhat surprised that I showed up when I did: the APP said it would take 77 minutes to connect.
At 9:52 am I was still at the Tom Bradley Terminal. I didn't start walking towards Terminal 7 until around 10:15 am. Made it, though. No time to stop at the United Club for breakfast.
For some reason my seat was reassigned to 42A (it was originally 44F). A bit tight, but being right behind an aircraft door, it was okay.
There was threat of severe weather in NJ - indeed United offered free rebooking - which never materialized. The flight was relatively smooth. However, we had to wait for our gate to become available, so Anne had to stop by a rest area on her way to pick me up for a few minutes. (Arrival scheduled for 6:42pm, landed at 7:04pm, gate 7:34 pm.) This waiting for gate business seems to happen a lot lately. In the big scheme of things, it was no big deal. Nonetheless still a stress point.
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