Feb 22, 2020 - Hong Kong airport

First leg of the trip was good. The plane was less than half full due to the virus. We were able to move seats and had plenty of leg room and being at the window in front of the wing I got a great view. Very little cloud cover the whole trip so I saw lots below us. Now we have 5 hours to hang around waiting for the next leg of the journey. never seen Hong Kong airport this empty!!

Feb 3, 2020 - Hong Kong wrap up

Sunday, February 2 Another day of my semi-quarantine! I enjoyed a good night’s sleep, and a nice morning in the room. Along about noon, I headed out for lunch and a visit to the Man Mo Temple. The bar I found for lunch was western-ish. I had chicken nachos! I am determined to get something Asian tomorrow (and I found a place later in the day). The temple is a short walk along Hollywood Road. This part of the road is dominated by Asian antiques and jade. Not all were open on Sunday, but the windows I saw were beautiful, and I’m sure beyond...

Feb 1, 2020 - Hong Kong

Friday, January 31 The last day, and we will be at sea. For the first time I have a list with things to get done, mostly final things for my days before flying home. After the unsuccessful attempts to change my flight home, I checked the CDC website and talked to is closed, not letting anyone in from China. The risk is quite low if you take reasonable measures and are careful with hand washing and watching where you go and avoiding crowds. I plan on checking in to my hotel and just relaxing with a few outings now and then before heading...

Nov 13, 2019 - Beijing (In Transit)

@@@@@@@ KAPOORS ON THE ROAD When we were booking our flights home from the Balkan region, we were using points we’d accumulated so that we could fly in comfort. We’ve done enough flying in economy during our many travels and now we don’t really want to travel long distances anymore in cramped quarters. Thank goodness for the advent of premium economy as an option, though we opt for business class flight rewards when we can find them. Because we were booking almost a year in advance, we were able to find great tickets but only out of...

Jul 19, 2019 - A relaxing day

Today we chose to use as a rest day. We have been traveling nonstop now for 13 days and need to take a breather. Besides, Jean was a little sick last night but felt better in the morning. We slept in late and went to breakfast at 9:00. The buffet was excellent with both an omelette station and a noodle station. The buffet was so extensive that they had a map of the buffet on an easel. I had an egg Benedict, hash browns, sausage, and stir-fried chicken, plus pancakes. We relaxed in the room until it was time to go for our 11:00 am massage....

Jul 18, 2019 - Shanghai City Tour

Today was a hot 90 degree day in Shanghai. We are doing a city tour and transferring to another hotel in downtown Shanghai. We went down to breakfast at the Toy Story Hotel around 7:30. I had another nice multicultural breakfast. Then we returned to the room to finish packing. At 8:30 we went to the lobby to checkout and wait for Kyle to pick us up for our city tour of Shanghai. Kyle arrived at 9:00. We loaded the luggage in the Buick van (GM has a Buick plant in China, as does Ford and others, so you see a lot of "American" brand names on...

Jul 17, 2019 - Shanghai Disneyland

Today was an all Disney day! The weather was sunny, hot and humid. At 7:00 we went down to breakfast located on the first floor of the hotel. They had quite a spread for Chinese, Japanese and Western tastes. I had an eclectic mix myself. It was too far to return to the room, so we just used the rest rooms near the restaurant before heading to the park. The park is open early if you stay onsite. You may go from 6:30 to 8:30 before the park opens to the general public at 8:30. For the early birds, you use the Disney Town entrance. The Disney...

Jul 16, 2019 - Travel Day & Disneyland

Today is a travel day to Shanghai, China. We went down to breakfast about 7:00, then returned to the room to relax before going down to the lobby at 8:00 to checkout and wait for our transfer to the airport. He showed at 8:15 for our wet on/off ride to the airport. The weather has been good the whole time in South Korea. The days have been mild in the mid 70s to low 80s. It has been mostly sunny, with a couple of cloudy days. The only rain we encountered was on the drive back to Seoul and on the ride to the airport. At the airport it seemed...

Apr 21, 2019 - All The Tea In China

The Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware proved to be another free and interesting look into the culture of Hong Kong.With the history of over 170 years, the Flagstaff House originally served as the office and residence of the Commander of the British Forces in Hong Kong. Now, the various rooms house wall panels describing species of tea plants, methods of tea processing and tea drinking traditions. However, the greater portion of floorspace is (as expected) given over to the exhibition of tea pots, bowls and cups. From humble clay vessels to...

Apr 17, 2019 - A Night At The Races - Hong Kong Jockey Club

Despite the long day on Lantau Island we didn’t want to miss our next “must do”. So, we hopped on the metro to make our way down to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, otherwise known as Happy Valley. Surrounded by a wall of skyscrapers in the heart of the city, it’s likely a lovely green space to overlook from a chic condo by day. That makes is a pretty exciting setting when the surrounding towers are lit up at night. Aside from the gambling and the racing, Happy Valley is very much a social affair. As well as a few restaurants, kiosk-style beer...

Apr 17, 2019 - Lantau Island Big Buddha & Monastary

It was nice to wake up in a familiar hotel, and once again the iClub assigned us a room with a great view of the bay. We also had an interesting view of some fellows strapping together bamboo scaffolding on a job site across the street. Duncan monitored them closely and we were both pleased to see they wore proper sit harnesses and were tethered to bolts in the concrete. It would have been even better if their tools were tethered too. After that show we made our way to the Central Piers to catch the ferry to Mui Wo, which is on Lantau...

Apr 9, 2019 - Hong Kong in 4

Quick (Relatively !) 4 hour flight from Singapore to Hong Kong. I hope the seat I get on the next flight is better than the one to Hong Kong - the flight attendants eventually gave me two blankets to cover the bare metal rods protruding thru the seat 'cushion' directly into my 'backside'. Not the most comfortable hump to sit on but luckily for only 4 hours - no way would 12 1/2 hours be tolerable. Spent a couple hours in the lounge in Hong Kong which is relaxing, more quiet that the terminal, comfortable seating, and good food for free;...