February 14th 2010
We head back home again
We had arranged to meet Bob for breakfast as he had an early flight, and then we were going to go up the Peak. On awakening we could see nothing out of our bedroom window due to the dense fog, so we decided to abandon both ideas, and told Bob to stop by our room when he was ready to head out, and we had a few hours extra sleep. Bob came by to say goodbye, reassured us that he had his wallet, camera, passport, and the extra suitcase full of his purchases., and headed off to the airport.
We packed up our stuff and went down to the lobby where they were setting up for the dragon and lion dance, but we had to head to the airport so we missed it. We were very impressed that we were able to fit our 4 suitcases, 2 overnight bags, hand luggage and ourselves in to one taxi!
The flight back home was much shorter than flying to Dubai! The plane was very comfortable and I slept most of the way. Our layover in San Francisco was to have been quite short, but due to fog our plane was delayed for several hours, so we missed our connecting flight in Seattle, and despite my good intentions to have us home early in the evening, yet again we didn’t get home until after midnight. However, all of our luggage arrived, and that was the only delay for the whole trip, so we really had no complaints.
The cats were very happy to see us when we got home. The Cat Genie had not been a success alas, so Eileen had had to use the old litter box. We were happy to be sleeping in our own bed again, but did miss not being able to go to the Commodore Club for a quick drink before turning in. I went to sleep planning our next cruise, the Maiden Transatlantic Crossing on Queen Elizabeth next year. Can’t wait!
February 13th 2010
They make us get off the ship, but at least I get to have tea at the Peninsular
Disembarking was very easy, no long waiting around for hours in the lounges after vacating your cabin. Our group was scheduled to disembark at 8:00, and we had just got to the Chart Room at 10 to when they announced that we could leave, so off we went. Being in the Container Port has issues for disembarkation. We had to leave the ship and take the shuttle bus to the Expo Center near the airport, going in the opposite direction to where our hotel is. After the half hour ride to the expo center we got off the bus and collected our suitcases. We needed to change more money, but there was no ATM or moneychanger at the Expo Center, which seems like a bit of poor planning. With the 3 of us, and all of our suitcases, we needed 2 taxis, but luckily there were plenty of taxis available. It was about an hour’s drive to the hotel, luckily our rooms were ready, so we could just dump our stuff and head out. The Conrad Hotel isn’t in a great tourist area, but it is a beautiful hotel. Our rooms were on the 51st floor, our looked toward the peak, and Bob’s looked out over the harbor. Both were really great rooms, a good choice of hotel.
We wandered through the nearby gardens to Statue Square. Bob had wanted to check out the conservatory for 10 minutes, and we planned to meet him at the square. He then went missing for the next hour, but unlike his many missing possessions, we were eventually able to find him again. Both our first and second choice restaurants were closed for the New Year, but we found a fun place nearby, clearly only frequented by locals. They did have Coke in a can with a straw, so I was in good shape, although there was a price differential between cold and warm Coke, which was a new concept for us. I went with cold anyway. The food was delicious, although somewhat strange looking. Bob was ready for a nap, so took a taxi back to the hotel, and we arranged to meet at the Peninsular Hotel at 4:00 for tea. We wondered around and took to commuter escalators up to the top, and meandered down again in the direction of the MTR station at the bottom of the hill. It was an easy train ride to Kowloon and the Peninsular, and we were in the queue for tea by 4:00. No sign of Bob, so we decided to sit down and enjoy our tea anyway. Tea was like a dream come true. The room is so beautiful and elegant, and there was a quartet playing our favorite music. The food was standard teatime fare, but very fresh with a good variety so I was very happy! The cost was a bit over the top, but well worth it in my opinion. Just as we were about to leave, Bob arrived and had a quick cup of tea with us.
The weather had been nasty all day, but by the time we left the Peninsular it was pouring and very windy. We were able to walk through an underground passageway to a mall and found the restaurant Bob and I had eaten lunch in when we were in Hong Kong a few years ago. The food had been great, so we wanted to try it again. It was easy to find the restaurant, but when we tried to make a booking we discovered that seeing as it was the eve of the Lunar New Year everyone was eating out, and there were no tables available. Our original plan had been to eat in Kowloon and then watch the laser and music show over the harbor from across the harbor. As it was still pouring and very foggy we decided that we would not see much so we headed back to our hotel to see if we could eat in one of the restaurants there. No luck there either, but it turned out that there was a mall under the hotel. There were several interesting restaurants, and we decided to end up at a great Japanese place. We rushed back to Bob’s harbor view room after dinner to watch the laser light show, but it was too foggy and we didn’t see much as all. In usual style Bob had decorated his room, this time in honor of the New Year. Bob told us that the concierge had informed him that there would be a dragon in the lobby at 11:00, so went down in anticipation of a show, but there was nothing going on, so we decided to head off to sleep.
February 12th 2010
We arrive in Hong Kong
Having had near perfect weather the whole trip, today dawned foggy and cold. Despite delaying the inevitable, we finally accepted that we had to pack, so we got most of it done in the morning. We were lucky enough to watch us sail into Hong Kong from out balcony, but when we got closer to the harbor we went on deck to watch us dock at the container terminal. We were accompanied by spraying tug fireboats to welcome us in to the harbor, very appropriate to celebrate the arrival of Queen Mary 2. On the dock we were greeted by a troupe of drummers, and 3 performing lions. The lions were very talented, great fun to watch as we were docking!
We disembarked as soon as we could. As we were yet again docked in the container port we had to take the shuttle in to town, but it only took 20 minutes and we were in the center of Kowloon, ready to see more temples! We changed some money and headed for the MTR. There was initially some confusion about how to obtain tickets, but we soon worked out the system and we were off to the nunnery. The underground is fantastic, very clean, bright, and organized. The nunnery was very peaceful, with beautiful ponds and water lilies so we stayed there for a long time, and didn’t then have time to go to the other temple we had wanted to visit.
We took the train back to Nathan Road and jumped on the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island and wandered around there a bit before heading back to Kowloon to shop, and then go back to the ship in order to get ready for dinner.
Dinner was fantastic again, and we said our goodbyes to everyone. We were quite envious of Shirley who is staying on for the whole world cruise.
We had wanted to go back in to town to see the Temple Street Night Market, but packing still needed to be done so we finished it off and went to the Commodore Club for my final Milky Way Martini, and sadly went off to bed, wishing that a miracle would happen and we could stay on board!
