Dim Sum & Sky Suites

January 29, 2013
Hong Kong

We slept in a little today, which was nice. We grabbed a small snack for breakfast in the executive lounge before meeting Mom and Dad at 11:45AM to head out for dim sum at Din Tai Fung. Ben had read a bit about the place and it had also been recommended to him by his parents. It was delicious. I’m not sure if it was better than the best meal in the Maldives but it was definitely up there. We had all kinds of chicken, beef and pork buns along with kale, spinach and really good egg fried rice. Just thinking about it makes me want to eat there again, NOW.





Ben and l left Mom and Dad with plans to meet up with them again for more shopping after they had checked out of their room. We stopped by SOGO again to make sure they didn’t get any more of a specific toy we wanted. They hadn’t. Next we went back to our hotel to finish packing. We then checked out and took our checked bags to the central train station where we were able to check in for our flight and leave off our bags.

At 4PM we met up with Mom and Dad to explore the mall beneath our hotel. Ben checked out his favorite suit shop, Mom and I enjoyed a random housewares store and then Ben saw another ad for “moon luggage”. We then found the Zero Halliburton shop. Ben, Dad and I had fun investigating all of the luggage while Mom discovered a little stuffed toy for JT.


This is the window that made Ben straight up giddy. 

By the time we finished shopping it was nearing 6PM. I had spotted a hoop on Ben and my cab ride to central station earlier in the day and I wanted to see if I could find it. After 10 minutes or so walking outside I found the court. The only problem was the way onto it was not obvious. There were security signs all around it and very obvious video cameras. Mom and Dad weren’t up for what they knew could turn into a long exploration but Ben decided he wanted to tag along as I took off on my adventure. After a solid 30 minutes of running up stairs, over overpasses and through apartment complexes, I still couldn’t find the correct way in. This hoop has a lot of potential for a great shot. I will definitely need to investigate this place further prior to my next trip to HK.


I didn't get a hoop shot but Ben took this nice picture of the Lippo Center. 

We said bye to Mom and Dad who were off to the airport early. We then went to one final local store looking for the toy we wanted... and we found it! The shop “Log-on” aka City Super was actually pretty cool. I wish we would have had more time to investigate it.

Our final stop in HK was an attempt to get one final hoop shot with the lasers coming off the buildings. I said attempt, because unfortunately, that’s all it was. For some reason even though it was a beautiful night in HK, it seems as though the laser show was cancelled. I was pretty bummed because the picture had a good chance of being an iconic photo in the sense that HK’s laser show is known worldwide. I guess I’ll just have to take this as one more sign that I’m supposed to go back to HK.


The International Commerce Center disappointingly does NOT have lasers coming out of it. 


At least we got a beautiful full moon to enjoy over the water on the way back to the metro. 

After picking our carryon bags up at the hotel we took our final cab ride of the trip to central station to take the train out to the airport. Within 20 minutes of boarding we were there. Customs and security were both very quick. Before we knew it we had found Mom and Dad in the lounge. Dad was glowing with excitement because he was about to experience the highlight of his trip.

The plan for this whole adventure started when Singapore Airlines dumped a bunch of its premium inventory into United’s system in July. I was able to book my parents almost exclusively in Singapore’s First Class. After the flights were booked SIN changed the aircraft from HK - SFO to an Airbus 380. This meant that my parents would be flying in Singapore’s Sky Suites, which is basically the equivalent of a dream come true for my Dad. Historically these seats were only available for purchase at the bargain price of $25,000 a seat. Ben and I were “only” able to book business class (typically $10,000) but I was still quite excited since I’d never been on an A380 or experienced Singapore’s business class on a three class plane.

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We are now on board and all I can say is this plane is ridiculous. Only 21 of the 60 business class seats are full, so I feel like I have the run of the place. Ben and I are seated in row 24, which is upstairs. We have the middle two seats but the window seats on each side are empty, so we have the freedom to bounce around if we want. The service has been fantastic. I’ve made friends with Felicia who seems to be basically my own personal flight attendant. The purser did me a favor and helped my parents turn on their in flight phones so that we could enjoy seat to seat calling during the flight. I needed the purser to help me with this because commoners in business class are not allowed anywhere near the suites, even if their parents are in them. I think the best way to share this experience is through pictures.


Part of the business class cabin. Note that the flight attendants are actually smiling and there is artwork. 


You rarely board a flight hoping it will be longer than 11 hours and 33 minutes. This is one of those times. 


The dinner appetizer. 


The main dinner course. 


I talked to my parents on the in-flight phone system. 


I enjoyed that the remote listed the length of the program I was watching, along with the current time stamp of where I was in the program. 


You know your plane seat is awesome if it has a "do not disturb" botton. 


We made it. 


The flight attendant refused to let me take my own bag downstairs. 

After landing the purser of the flight allowed Ben and me to go and see Mom and Dad and the suites. If our experience was ridiculous in business, I don’t have words for what their’s must have been like in the suites. The suites are like having your own room on a cruise ship. Below are just a few of my Dad’s photos.













































Since we dinked around on the plane for a while after it landed, the customs line was HUGE by the time we made it there. This was no problem for Ben and me because we have Global Access. We used the kiosks and made it through in five minutes. Within another five minutes we had all the bags on carts. We then waited for 45 minutes for Mom and Dad to clear customs. We are now at the Double Tree SFO for one last hotel sleep before journeying home to Eugene in the morning.

All in it was a fantastic trip. If there are two takeaways, they are this: Save your points for Hilton and United. Cash them in for the Conrad Rangali Island and premium classes on Singapore Airlines. I feel truly blessed to now have another amazing trip under my belt... and I’m already looking forward to the next one!

Katy

Peaks, Hoops & High Tea

January 28, 2013
Hong Kong

After a quick breakfast Ben and I met up with Yi-Chen and my parents to head over to Victoria’s Peak. The Peak was just a short walk from our hotel. We rode the tram up to the Peak some 1800 feet above Hong Kong. The views were as pretty as I remember from my visit with Joe. The top, however, had been significantly remodeled with more retail and restaurants. The five of us took a short stroll before Yi-Chen and I went back down on the tram. Dad, Mom and Ben stayed at the Peak to take a two mile walk. Yi-Chen needed to pick up some jewels for work before catching a flight to Taipei and I wanted to do some hoop hunting. The plan was for me to meet back up with my parents and Ben for high-tea at the Peninsula Hotel at 3PM.


The Bank of China Tower on our walk to the tram. 






The view riding up the tram. 


One of the many walking paths at the top of the tram. 


Hong Kong City in the foreground and Kowloon in the background. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my trek throughout the city. I made it to three of the four hoops I had hoped to find. At “Blake’s Garden” I met a very nice kid named “Kevin”. He was an 18 year-old from Guangzhou, China who was studying in Hong Kong to take his SATs in hopes of getting into UCLA or UCSB. It was clear he loved the game of basketball. David Stern would have loved him. We spoke about the NBA for a bit and his affinity for the league was palpable. Stern would have been proud as the NBA’s marketing is clearly working. Kevin told me “The NBA is where amazing happens.”


My new buddy Kevin on the Blake Garden basketball courts. 

I made it to the Peninsula right on time. I couldn’t find Mom, Dad or Ben so I decided to get in line for a table. At 3:10PM I inquired with a waitress for the internet password. I sent an email to the three late folks and let them know I was in line. When 3:30PM rolled around I started to get a little nervous. Not nervous that something was wrong but that they had a table and I didn’t see them or that they were waiting in a different part of the hotel. I asked the lady in front of me in line if she wouldn’t mind holding my spot while I looked for my family for a few minutes. She obliged and I hustled to make sure they weren’t hiding at a table or upstairs. I didn’t see them, so I returned to the line. I was given a table at 3:40PM. At 3:50PM Mom, Dad and Ben finally walked in the door. I was relieved that they were fine and that I didn’t screw up the plan. I was also thankful that Joyce kept me company texting while I waited for the gang.

High-tea was thoroughly enjoyable once it finally started. Joe and I had done it last time. I remember the tea being good and the food being awesome. This time around my feelings were similar. The food may have been especially delicious since I was tired and hungry from running around to my hoops.


The lobby of the Peninsula Hotel. 


The delicious tea sandwiches. 

After tea Ben and I went to find the one other hoop I wanted to see, while Mom and Dad went to the flower market. We made plans to meet back at the Peninsula at 6:50PM. Ben and I had a nice stroll along the water and I was able to get a decent shot or two. Mom and Dad bought some fake flowers for an upcoming wedding Mom is doing. They also came back with stories of how EVERY stall in the market looked exactly the same.

Ben and my Dad wanted to see the light show on the harbor. We debated from which side we wanted to watch it. Mom and Dad had seen it from their room on the Hong Kong side, so we decided to stay on the Kowloon side to look back at Hong Kong. Mom and Dad confirmed that was the right choice. There are more bigger buildings on the HK side, so seeing it lit up was more entertaining. All in the show was probably worth seeing but it wasn’t life changing. As Ben would and probably did say, “It was okay.”







On our way back to the metro station we popped in a SOGO to look for the toy we wanted. It didn't have a toy department in this store. It did, however, have this sign. Evidently staircases are scary.



Our next stop was Tai Yuen Street which was supposed be a toy street. Unfortunately by the time we showed up at 10 minutes to nine most of the shops were closed or closing. It also didn’t appear like they had the models Ben wanted to see. We had seen a store the night before that Ben wanted to explore. Our next stop then became the store from the previous night.

I impressed even myself, which we all know is hard to do, by finding the store Ben wanted to see without a single wrong turn. We had walked by the store at the conclusion of our Night Market stop the previous night. Once in the store Ben and Dad had fun looking at all the models. Ben announced he was finished looking and my mom followed up with, “Are you sure there isn’t anything you want?” Ben said, “They don’t have any space stuff, so no.” I then asked what specific kind of space stuff he wanted. He wanted a shuttle or something similar, which I couldn’t believe this store didn’t have. I asked him if he was sure he had looked thoroughly. I wasn’t trying to be a jerk I just couldn’t believe they didn’t have any. He said he looked thoroughly. I said they had to have one. I then decided to ask the shop keeper. It took him roughly 10 seconds to show me the Shuttle Endeavor and some type of satellite. I didn’t get to see Ben’s reaction to the fact that they had “space stuff” but I wish I had. He decided he didn’t want to buy them as they would take a long time to build. This made me chuckle since we were in a mode kit shop. Needless to say we left the shop empty handed.

After our toy hunt we were all pretty hungry. We wanted some quick comfort food. Ben and I both thought burgers sounded good, so we decided to have McD’s. The burgers were good and we again had fun laughing at the soft hard yummy love.

After dinner Ben and I left the folks. I wanted to see what one of my daytime hoops looked like at night. We rode the subway to closest stop and then went for a 10 minute or so walk. Unfortunately we got there a couple minutes before 11PM when many of the lights on buildings are turned off. Some of the shots had the potential to be pretty neat, especially if the lasers from the light show were coming out of them, so I decided I would come back tomorrow night to try and capture that.

We’re now back at the hotel and wiped out after another action packed day.

Until tomorrow,
Katy

Metro Ad of the Day:


I love this ad. Only in Asia would the scrawny smart kid be the one used to advertise a baby formula.