Hong Kong trip Sept - Oct 2004

Hong Kong is a great destination and perfect introduction to Asia and China. English is spoken almost everywhere, the city is clean, very efficient transportation. Star Ferry is a transportation, but it is also an attraction since it has the great view, for about 30 cents, 7 min ride. Very easy to get around. No group tours needed, independent touring is better in my opinion. Maybe few tours to get around and visit other islands or New Territories. Hong Kong has world class dining. Most of the time we had nice dinners. For lunches, we either grabbed snacks or sandwiches. We ate few times in Delifrance, it was OK. One time we ate in Pacific Coffee company. Hong Kong has wonderful green parks. You see in the morning people practicing Tai-Chi. As I said, we loved the city and HK people, they were very friendly, and the city has some kind of futuristic feel – the harbor, high rises, escalators, airport (this the first city we got excited about airport!!) . We loved food, shopping, parks. We did not have time to go to history museum and to surrounding islands and Macau, hopefully next time. People are very friendly, before you ask for help, somebody is already rushing to you to ask. In these times, comparing with Europe, Americans are very welcome in Asia and Hong Kong. People are really interested to talk, not only service people who expect tips. Some Chinese tourists asked us to take a picture with them ! 4 and 5* hotels are much more superior quality and service then in in Europe and North America. USD is going strong against HK dollar which makes it very economical trip. For more information, see my report http://emcoinc.com/travel/html/travelogues/HongKong.htm Hong Kong is a great destination and the perfect introduction to Asia and China. English is spoken almost everywhere, the city is clean, and there is very efficient transportation. Star Ferry is a transportation option, but it is also an attraction, since it has the great view, for about 30 cents for a seven-minute ride. The city is very easy to get around. No group tours needed; independent touring is better, in my opinion. Maybe a few tours would be helpful to get around and visit other islands or the New Territories.

Hong Kong has world-class dining. Most of the time, we had nice dinners. For lunches, we either grabbed snacks or sandwiches. We ate few times in Delifrance, and it was okay. One time, we ate in Pacific Coffee Company. Hong Kong has wonderful, green parks where you see people practicing Tai-Chi in the mornings. As I said, we loved the city and HK people; they were very friendly, and the city has some kind of futuristic feel – the harbor, high rises, escalators, airport (this the first city where we got excited about airport!!) . We loved food, shopping, and parks. We did not have time to go to the history museum and to surrounding islands and Macau, but we’ll hopefully do that next time.

People are very friendly; before you ask for help, somebody is already rushing to you to ask. In these times, compared with Europe, Americans are very welcome in Asia and Hong Kong. People are really interested to talk -- not only service people who expect tips. Some Chinese tourists asked us to take pictures with them!

Four- and five-star hotels are of superior quality and service than in Europe and North America. The USD is going strong against the HK dollar, which makes it a very economical trip.

For more information, see my report: http://emcoinc.com/travel/html/travelogues/HongKong.htm.

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Skytrain is a very efficient transportation option. Star ferry affords the best views. We did not use buses, but they are available (double deckers). Taxis are not expensive and plentiful. We bought an Octopus card for one week's transportation, and it was very convenient. In the central district, they built the longest escalators in the world. Exciting. The airport is the best in the world: friendly, easy to use, and brand new.

We had dinner in the Peninsula hotel’s Felix restaurant (reservations required in advance). The food was very good and was enough for us, though food portions might be small for some people. George had the sample menu, and I had just an appetizer and prawns for main entree. I loved the prawns -- they were much bigger than our shrimps and smaller than our lobsters. The restaurant is very chic. We had a table by the window and watched illuminated lights in the buildings in the harbor.

However, the design is so chic that it borders on the level of absurdity. It is designed by Philip Starck. When you take the elevator, it gets you in kind of a spaceship capsule. You see the hostess right away, so you cannot get lost. There are very modern decorations, including a bar table with a staircase next to it. We asked what the stairs were for -- to walk on the table? No, were told, it is a design element. I wished they would open the shades so the view would be clear, but they said that this was part of décor, and they only pulled them up for fireworks, which were on Fridays.

However, the main attraction turned out to be...the bathrooms! I've read about them before, and first thing, I decided to check out the ladies’ bathroom. The staff pointed the direction to the bathrooms. At the end of corridor, near the elevators, there were two doors. In the dim light, I did not see small plaques "f" and "m". I pushed the door (no handles) and went into male bathroom. Thank god they have attendants there pointing you in the right direction, and they instructed me to go back and use another door. Back out and press another door. Another bathroom, no attendant. Contemporary to an absurd level! Another lady comes in giggling that she went to wrong bathroom, so we start looking together for a bathroom stall! The doors to individual stalls do not look like doors, but like a wall. We found a closet and finally the stalls. By the time I got out, the attendant walked in and directed. Very modern washing area which also does not look like a washing area!!! I went back and reported to George which door he should go into and sent him to check out male bathrooms. He came back also shocked and said the view from the bathroom, where men relieve themselves, is a much better open space than from the restaurant because there are no shades. You get the feeling…use your imagination or go to Hong Kong to visit Felix restaurant.

You probably want to hear about the food – the food was excellent, very well-prepared, and the service was also excellent. Pacific Rim cuisine, prepared by a Hawaiian chef. I think it is a must dining spot for anybody in Hong Kong.

Peninsula’s Chinese restaurant was called Spring Moon. It was already too late for dim sum, so we had a regular dinner. I do not remember what we ate, but it was delicious and much better than our Chinese food in U.S.A. They had great munchies on the table, like honey-roasted pecans with sesame seeds, and there were normal bathrooms for a change! We did not have desert, but we did have tea-they had 30 different teas. They also gave us a souvenir–a jar of Xo Chili Sauce.

This is a very nice museum, and I recommend visiting it on the first day of arrival in order to understand Chinese art. This museum is a good introduction.

The museum houses some of the world's finest examples of ancient Chinese art from the Han to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Two special exhibition galleries showcase international works, keeping pace with global artistic trends.