Hong Kong for my Birthday

My second trip to Hong Kong was to celebrate my birthday and to show my girlfriend a city I knew she’d love. It only came about due to a fare sale from United that allowed me to get a fare and use my miles for her.

Being her first time to Asia I wanted to show her a bit of a good time. So I went a little overboard with the Hotel at the Conrad and also scored a lucky hit with the YMCA for the night of arrival. These two places took care of our five nights and allowed us to live a little.

We used the time in town to just be together and to experience what we could. I had a suit and several shirts made. We went shopping for her at many of the stores and markets. Bought small things from street vendors. Even did a couple cultural items like the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery.

Although looking back on it we spent most of our time just being and it sometimes feels like we didn’t do anything at all. So of course, this is the best trip I’ve ever taken.

Quick Tips:

There are many things to keep in mind when coming to Hong Kong. It, like so many cities, can be very expensive or quite affordable depending on how you do it. You can spend thousands on dinner or just a couple dollars. You can stay cheaply or very expensively. So do not get discouraged. Many fine people on travel sites will help you willingly find the things you want.

The most important thing any traveler to Hong Kong needs is an Octopus Card. This will allow you to buy things at area stores. It works as your transit pass for all the MTRs, Star Ferry, and trams. Even the Airport Express.

Do not attempt to see and do everything your first trip. This is a place where so many cheap flights come that you really can come back again. Do whatever you want with your day and be happy. That will give you the best trip.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around this city is actually a combination of services. The Airport Express is a very easy and efficient way to get to the city. Once in town you can take the MTR which is a bit pricey compared to the other modes. Also available are the double deck trams for about cents per ride. You pay for those when you EXIT. Get on at the back. Exit at the front. And of course there is the Star Ferry. You can ride that very cheaply also.

But I suggest you get out and walk as much of town as you can. It is great to see neighborhoods change. People and markets. Ah the wonders of the city.

The Conrad hotel in Hong Kong is a place I continue to return to. On my second trip to Hong Kong, I returned for my birthday with my girlfriend, it was her first time to Hong Kong. I wanted to show her a good time so I went for the Conrad. Conrad Hilton is the only Hilton property in town. This is a fantastic hotel to stay with its 5-star rating, which is just a slight step below full on luxury brands.

At a price of approximately $500 US per night I was also able to extend our stay cheaply by using Hilton Honors points for most of the nights.

The hotel itself is located above Pacific Place shopping center at the Admiralty stop of the MTR. Surrounded by the Shangri La and the JW Marriott it is a 61-story building with stunning harbor views. The rooms have just recently been through a renovation and all include DVD and new TVs, comfortable king beds with full turndown service, and a working desk with pay per day Internet access. The bathrooms are well appointed with your standards of high end. Double sinks, stand-alone shower and large Jacuzzi tubs and separate toilets.

My only experience has been staying on the executive floors in ocean view rooms (harbor view) and must say that the service has been incredible. For my birthday I received a special treat, a piece of cake with a card signed by the entire executive floor staff. A very nice and personal touch.

What a surprise this place was. We were arriving about midnight from Narita and I did not want to waste 40,000 points at the Conrad on eight hours of sleep. So I booked the Harbor View room at the YMCA Salisbury for $130USD. Luckily, this place is in Hong Kong—actually Kowloon next to the Peninsula Hotel—and as such will usually upgrade those that pay a higher rate. We ended up in a wonderful Harbor View Executive Suite. This gave us a large living room with two sofas and a large bay window and TV. The bedroom had a quite comfortable king bed but I will say we could have slept on anything after spending around 21 hours in a plane before this. The bathroom was fairly basic although the tub/shower was larger than most hotels'.

We did not use any of the other offerings at this hotel as, in the morning, we went to the Conrad and checked in about 9am, but the room itself was so fantastic I would attempt to stay here again every time I come in from Japan late at night.

It is a corner suite with an –88 series room number where the living room is in one of the rounded towers and the bedroom behind it. Both have a view of Hong Kong Island about the HSBC and IFC area. If you stay here in the evening you also get a good view of the harbor light show that goes on at 8pm each night.

They are only one block from one of the TST entrances to the MTR and walking distance to the Star Ferry.

In short, this is a hotel I was very surprised by and like more than I ever thought I would.

Our trip out to the Po Lin Monastery was on our last full day of the trip. We got up and had breakfast in the lounge and then headed out. After about a 45 minute ride on the MTR we were at the station to transfer to the bus. No one told us it would be another near hour ride to the monastery. That was one of two shocks from this excursion. So over the mountain we go at a painfully slow pace on roads that sometimes made me wonder if we would be the last ever to pass. Winding and slowing. Climbing and descending. Talking to each other and silently watching out the window. It was a total unknown to us the ride would be so long.

Finally we arrived here. After getting off the bus and walking the low grounds a bit we bought our museum passes for what I think I remember to be about $6 US total and did the climb. I was amazed that most others were just doing the climb and not the museum. The museum was only a little bit of money and at the time we didn’t know that the lunch in the monastery was to be so substantial and it still felt like as tourists we should pay. Fair enough that this was before we found out the Buddha was from 1993.

This was disappointment number two in the day. They play it up like its an ancient statue built long ago and it is truly a new tourist attraction. But I am still glad I went to see it. When we finished the climb up all those stairs, we were rewarded with the views and the better part of being inside the weather. Because it is on the mountain top the clouds and weather are right there. And in many pictures you can see the weather. This was a very cool experience.

The museum inside is nothing terribly great but was worth walking though and reading. Really folks, if you made the journey out here do everything. It was in here that we learned of its young age and also many construction facts.

Back down the stairs and we explored the monastery grounds. This was quite an interesting experience although I constantly felt like I should not be taking pictures. When there were signs I did not but felt like I shouldn’t anywhere. But this was a feeling and nothing imposed by anyone.

The lunch includes your choice of two main dishes with either rice or noodles. it is a substantial lunch which covers the entrance to the museum inside the Buddha.

The mid-levels escalator is a little misleading in its boast. They claim to be the world’s largest outdoor escalator. And it is. But it is not one escalator. It is a long combination of many. That said at over 800 meters in total length it is something I have done both trips and have a hunch I will when I return again.

Although they officially start at Des Voeux Road I have always gotten on at Queens Road. You will ride from there across many escalators and a few moving walkways while ascending all the way up to Conduit in the Mid-Levels. The first non smoking bar in Hong Kong used to be under here. But it seems it did not survive. An Irish place that went non smoking when Ireland did in 2004. When I came back on this trip it was gone. We looked and looked. But instead there are many good places to grab a drink or a snack or lunch along the route. It has become a tourist site in its own right so the places along it can be a little touristy. But go on in. Have a drink. Enjoy the experience.

They are free to everyone and now carry twice the number of people per day than they were planned for. Only in operation since the early 90s this is quite impressive and a bit worrying. How do they expand?

Running down hill from 6am to 10am they then close and turn upward from 1030am to midnight. So make sure you time it to where you get the benefit of going the direction you need. There are stairs alongside of it. But you really won’t want to climb them the whole of the way. The elevation gain is over 130 meters in this 800 meter run.