Hong Kong and back again, a journey in VA J

[Drakecula]

Sounds like you are having a great time. You'll need to come home for a rest!
PS - you play quidditch? I just looked it up and it seems Australia has a very good team.

Not any more, I did for about 18 months, but finished up last year. It was fun though. And yes the Australian team is very good.

 

[Drakecula]

Day two involved lots more walking, my calves are protesting today, but their reward will be even more walking. Too much to explore!

Thankfully the weather held out and even if it wasn't sunny, it was at least dry. So we decided to head up to Victoria Peak via the tram. I'd heard that it was popular and often with big lines, but we weren't waiting long so I guess we got lucky. The tram goes up at a steep angle!! But the view!!!

After the Peak, we wandered (more like climbed, the streets are steep and hilly near the tram) over to the zoological gardens to have a looksee. There were some aviaries and some enclosures with monkeys, lemurs, oranghutans and the like.

Then on to find the escalators in Central. It's a series of escalators that you can ride up and save your legs. I think it's the longest escalator chain in the world. Maybe, don't quote me on that. Anyway we didn't get it from the bottom, but we rode it up a little way, then it's stairs all the way down. I think in the evening they switch the escalator's direction.

From there we caught the MTR a few stops over to Causeway Bay to have a look at their version of Times Square. I'd also heard of a Harry Potter museum/shop in the area, so we explored and found that too.

I also wanted to take MrD to a VR game thing, but there wasn't anything on that floor of the building. I quick google told me they had moved to a place which was closer to our hotel, so we're going to try another day.

But we had time to kill before the evening light show, so I said let's take the Star Ferry over to Tsim Sha Tsui and find a good spot. The ferry trip was short, but it was still long enough for me to feel woozy (I get seasick pretty bad). I think more time was spent at the arriving dock lining up the ferry so they could lower the gangplank. Very rocky. But, that being said, a great way to see the Harbour.

Seemed like everyone else had the same idea of getting in early but we found a good spot and waited. The light and music show starts at 8pm every night (I think) and goes for about 10-15 mins. It was pretty neat.

 

[Drakecula]

I've just discovered the no more than 10 images per post rule...

 

[love_the_life]

You must have been lucky with the tram. Last time I was there I gave up as the queue was just toooooo long.

 

[serfty]

I take the tram up, then get an upper deck front row seat on a no 15 bus from the Peak back to Central.

 

[Drakecula]

Today was an Ocean Park adventure! I decided on Ocean Park over Disneyland since we have previously done Disney World in Orlando. Ocean Park is half amusement park with roller coasters and other rides, and half marine park/zoo. Kinda Seaworld, but with land animals too.

Didn't bother with waiting in lines for rides, too hot and we were quite happy wandering around looking at the animal exhibits. The park is split in two, and a cable car connects the two sides. More great views. I was very excited to see a giant panda in real life as I'm not sure I've ever seen one before (other than photos).

As I'm writing this the rain has started. It was nice and clear today, but perhaps tomorrow it'll be rainy again like our first day. Not that a little rain will stop the fun.

 

[Drakecula]

I've missed a day, but it was mostly walking around exploring and shopping. We enjoyed looking through floors of stuff at various shops. Found a Harry Potter cafe, and stopped in for a butterbeer. Finished off the day by getting some souvenirs at Temple St Market. We had fun haggling, and scored ourselves some off brand Lego! I knew exactly what it was, and figured it would be worth the super cheap price, as the real Lego set is worth hundreds. It'll probably be close enough.

This morning after checking out, we stored our bags at the hotel and headed over to the convention centre for the Hong Kong Book Fair! Now I love books, so this was awesome, even if most of the books weren't in English. It was fun just wandering through, and there were a few stands of English books so I had a good browse. Limited myself to just one, as I really didn't want to lug kilos of books back home.

Currently in whatever the Hong Kong Airlines lounge is, as that's what VA J passengers get an invite to. It's very light and airy with bird sounds. Nice and quiet. Good food too, but I'm just having a few nibbles as I know I'll get a big dinner on the plane. Boarding soon!

 

[love_the_life]

Enjoy the flight home. And hope Earl is happy to see you. Did you buy him a present?

 

[Drakecula]

Enjoy the flight home. And hope Earl is happy to see you. Did you buy him a present?

No present for Earl, but he was happy to see us. As was T our labrador. I think while he had fun with the other dogs at the kennel, he was happy to come home.

 

[Drakecula]

Okay so flight home. I was much more awake than the flight out (which left about nearly 1am) so remembered to take photos. A busier cabin on the way home, I think only one seat was free, while on the way to Hong Kong there was only four of us all up. Coincidentally, the gentleman across from MrD on our flight out was again across from MrD on the way home. He'd been in Hong Kong for a conference.

My stomach was more agreeable to dinner this time and I devoured a chicken noodle starter before I realised I should have taken a photo. It was delicious. I had the pork fillet for mains, which I didn't finish despite it being tasty, and some ice cream for dessert. I was then more than ready for bed.

I really liked the lie flat seats in the pod, it was like being wrapped up in a cocoon. Oh and you have your own noise cancelling head phones which are great. I slept pretty well, but the flight was too short! I wanted to keep sleeping but we were woken by breakfast at about 330am. I nibbled at the brekkie, I was more sleepy than hungry. Only a minor thing but the croissant was very hard which wasn't great.

Alas for our connecting flight back to Canberra we were in Y, but it is such a short trip it didn't matter. I napped most of the way home.

I would very gladly fly J with VA again, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for good deals like the one we used for this trip.

It makes me look forward to our grand plan of cashing in all our points for a J RTW trip with SQ/Star Alliance. But yes, I think for any future holidays I'll be trying to get in J where I can.

 

[love_the_life]

No present for Earl, but he was happy to see us. As was T our labrador. I think while he had fun with the other dogs at the kennel, he was happy to come home.

Didn’t know there was another four-legs. Labs are lovely dogs.

Happy bargain hunting!

 

[LadyC]

Great TR - thanks for posting. Inspiring me to return to HK

 

[RooFlyer]

I've been to HKG umpteen times, but you've shown me a few new things to do - thanks!

 

[Tassieoptom]

Thanks for the trip report, fun to read, gives me motivation to write another one myself for an upcoming trip.

 

[kermatu]

Nice TR. Thanks for posting.

 

[JohnK]

Very nice trip report.

 

[Straubs]

Love trip reports from other J newbies - it certainly is lovely to feel special and to actually rest on a flight. Thanks for the HK report!