After seeing the total jam outside our hotel the night before, we were playing it very safe with timings to the airport. This meant we decided to catch the 6am shuttle just to be sure. Of course this meant that we actually got dropped off by 6:20, loads of time with the flight at 10:10. Jakarta is the first airport I've been to where people and all their luggage are scanned as soon as you walk through the doors and before check-in. We were flying Garuda again and this is their home turf. There was a separate section for business check in and also to go through security and again to get through immigration which was nice. The lounge is very conveniently situated just past immigration and right next to the gate we had to leave from. Bonus!
The lounge was huge, one side was more set up for food and we needed breakfast so we settled there for an hour or two and then changed to the other side where we could look straight at our gate and see when they started boarding people. Very convenient!
There weren't many people booked in business on our flight. A grand total of five. I was the only female. Food was beautiful again and I particularly liked amberella juice. It's a signature juice for Garuda. Jono thought it was horrible so he stuck to champagne and chardonnay.
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| amuse bouche |
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| starter |
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| main courses |
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| desert |
The plane was the same 332 that we flew into Jakarta on but on this one everything worked, no screen or controller issues. Jono watched my two recommendations from our last flight ( hidden figures and Young Sheldon) and liked them both and I tried Collateral Beauty (loads of great actors) followed by The first Grader ( true story about an 84 year old going to primary school in Kenya). Both good films.
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| view as we came into Hong Kong from the plane |
After our public transport success in Sydney we were keen to use it in Hong Kong. Jono queued up at the train ticket desk to get an Octopus card for each of us ( there are various types, we went for the standard adult one rather than the "sold" tourist one) only to reach the front to find you could only buy them with cash, of which we had none. We toddled off to HSBC and then queued up again. We opted to put more money on the cards, they come loaded with $100 on them plus you need to pay a $50 deposit that you get back (well you get back $41, so most of it comes back) we went for $250 loaded plus the deposit. This sounds like loads of money but was less than £60 for both of us. Any balance left on the cards is refunded when they are returned as well.
The express MTR train platform is right in front of where we bought the tickets and the trains are every 12 minutes. We just rolled right on for the 24 minute journey to central on Hong Kong Island. When we got off we just tapped our octopus cards on the ticket barrier and it automatically deducts the correct fare.
At Central we used the lift to transfer to the Island line where we were going, just 3 stops to Causeway bay. The MTR is so easy to use, the maps inside the trains have lights that are lit to show you where you are, which direction you're travelling in and even which side of the carriage the doors will open on.
We hit our first problems at Causeway bay. All of them caused by us! First we didn't notice the signs posted everywhere saying people with luggage or prams should use the lift. No, with our 3 large suitcases,guitar and two rucksacks, we rode the escalators! One of the cases fell onto Jono who fell on to the other case and all of which fell on the lady behind him. It was like watching dominoes. I was a few steps ahead and had to run down and pick up the first bag and then haul on Jono. By this time my bag had reached the top and promptly fell over so I was tripping on it as Jono, the other two suitcases and the lady also arrived at the top. We apologised as profusely as you can when someone is rapidly walking away from you. We have since found where the lifts are so we won't make the same mistake going back.
Then we had to go through the ticket barrier and I got stuck with my suitcase. Again, observation lacking, I hadn't seen that there was a wide gate for luggage/pushchairs etc. I couldn't then go through the wide barrier because I'd already tapped my Octopus card. Some kind people pointed out a hidden away office where they gave me a temporary card which let me out the wide gate. Meanwhile Jono who HAD got out successfully couldn't see where I was (and we both stuck out a head taller that most others around) and had left the tube station, mildly panicking that he'd lost me and was trying to call my (still in aeroplane mode) phone. There are lots of exits to the MTR stations, thankfully we had already discussed needing to use exit F or we might have been separated for a long time. This is where I discovered that the last few flights up were not escalators but stairs. It was not fun humping the suitcase up to the top and I'm sure it was less fun for Jono with 2 suitcases to manoeuvre! Of course the lift would have delivered us straight to ground level!
We got reunited and set off to find the hotel. Of course we started walking the wrong way and had to back track but it wasn't too long before we got to Lanson Place Hotel.
This place is very very nice. Hong Kong rooms are generally very small. We had a compact kitchen as well as bedroom and spacious bathroom. It's a serviced apartment and included breakfast Monday to Friday served in a very comfortable lounge area on the first floor. It also has a self service launderette on the second floor with the gym. The concierge showed us up to our room on the 19th floor, explained a few things, showed us the free mobile phone complete with international and local calls and internet access when outside the hotel and gave us some restaurant recommendations. It was so nice to unpack properly. We haven't done that since Bowentown back at the beginning of January!
Time to call Matt! We were so lucky to find my brother in law was flying in from New Zealand on the same day we were coming to Hong Kong AND that his hotel was just the previous MTR stop away at Wan Chai. Matt headed over and we went out to dinner together. In HK you have to look up. Many of the restaurants and shops are not on the ground floor. They might be on the 8th or 10th. Signs in doorways tell you what is where but it means it's easy not to realise what you are passing. We looked at a couple of places on the first and second floors of a building but decided the prices were too high. I'm glad we did, as we turned another corner we stumbled across the Michelin starred Din Tai Fung. I knew it was close but had heard the queues could be really long. Today we were in luck. No queue. We were shown straight to a table. Every table is given a time slot of 90 minutes to eat without exception from the time you are seated. Selections from the menu get written on a piece of paper which the hostess checked with us. The food can arrive in any order and as it is ready. The final bill was $570 for all 3 of us including dessert and beers ( £52.78). At less that £18 each this is cheaper than most normal restaurants in the UK let alone one with a Michelin star.
We left and opted to walk with Mat back towards Wan Chai. It's about a 30 minute walk which gave us a chance to see Hong Kong lit up at night and for Matt to point out 298 Hennessey Road which is a big computer shop spread over 4 floors but which at ground level is just an escalator.
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| Hong Kong at night |
Matt showed us some of the walkways that cross the main streets and allow pedestrians to get around easily. One of these runs through a private building with marble floors and rich decorations.
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| walkway through a private building |
We stopped at Frites for a drink and chat before making arrangements to meet up the next morning and successfully navigating our way back to Lanson place ourselves.
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