took advantage of SIA A380 inaugural flight to HK promotion on 9July2009 to fly peasant class last week at just S$298, tax and surcharge inclusive. must say the new economy cabin with 19" seats and 10.6" LCD is true luxury for a peasant (lucky me!) and I got upper deck aisle seat on 2-4-2 configuration to boot...
btw aerobridge is connected direct to upper deck...seems that HK airport ground staff haven't practice how to operate this and we got stuck for 1/2hr waiting for cabin door to open..price to pay for taking any flights or hotels for opening discounts but hey as long as we are safe the rest can be taken in stride...
booked myself into Royal Park, a relatively new (again cheap) hotel at Shatin, good size 24sq m room for just HKD900 for 2 nights (see photo), connected to Shatin MTR station and like 4 malls for endless shopping...read many raving reviews from other peasants and not disappointed...took A41 double decker aircon bus from airport for just HKD21 to hotel (2nd stop right in front of Royal Park Hotel) after 1 stop at Shatin bus interchange which was <5 minutes from hotel..the journey took just 40 minutes on a thursday afternoon (2.40pm - 3.20pm)-and same 40minutes from hotel to airport on saturday afternoon (1.40pm-2.20pm)..bus frequency every 20minutes..
had dinner with Brian Ho at Chao Inn (潮楼) at 1 Canton Road Tsim Sha Tsui owned by Taoheung (稻香）group which is like competitor to Maxim (美心). costs Brian a hefty HKD750..the soy goose meat was really good so was the pig stomach soup. the mid-size cold flower crab at HKD498 however was quite a disaster (c/w what I had several times at Maxim's 潮江春at Lippo Centre)-real heartache...but then the 10 floor restaurant faces the Victoria harbour and the window seats require minimum spend of HKD300pax so I guess just treat as paying for the view haha...the vista was fantastic of course though The Symphony of Light (Guiness Book of records for largest permanent display was like "don't know what it was"??)...after that a stroll along Avenue of the Stars harbourfront was quite nice...
next day I took E42 double decker aircon bus from hotel doorstep to Tung Chung cable car terminal on Lantau island next to airport - again a nice ride no jam 40minutes for HKD13.6 (must take bus more often)...there I took the 25 minutes ride by cable car crystal cabin aka glass bottom to Ngon Ping cable car terminal costing HKD157 return to see the Tian Tan Great Buddha (天坛大佛), a 32m 250 ton bronze buddha statue-largest in the world...the vistas include the vast South China Sea, the rolling grassland slopes of North Lantau Country Park, panoramic views of Hong Kong International Airport runway and planes taking off, mountainous terrain of Lantau Island, the Great Buddha Statue and the 360-degree view of the Ngong Ping Plateau..see http://www.np360.com.hk/html/eng/booking/prices.html) also see photos..
from Tung Chung I caught the MTR to Wanchai (change at HK station) and went hunting down Bo Innovation (see http://www.boinnovation.com/) address Shop 13, 2/f, J Residence 60 Johnston Road Wan Chai(Private lift entrance on 18 Ship Street) t. +852 2850 8371...
the out of the box tattooed chef Alvin's (a sometime rock and roll performer) mod restaurant was on the itinerary of Anthony Bourdain and attracted a 2 star Michelin rating in Dec 2008...I took the HKD178 set lunch (would love to go back with Lisa to try his HKD1080 degustation menu)..you get a choice of 2 innovative fusion tim sum, choice of main + a starch (which was olive fried rice) + dessert (some sorbet quite forgettable)...I took the wagyu xiaolongbao (came as a pair topped with a heap of caviar)..caviar was good, skin was good, wagyu or not, the filling was sweet however not enough sweet tasting soup with the filling which I thought should be the distinguishing feasture of xiaolongbao..instead of the foie gras pot sticker which comes with just a dash of FG in the filling, I chose the real thing - pan friend foie gras with miso sauce..this was taken with a cabbage leave wrap...quite nice really...but with HKD35 supplement meant it was HKD70 (as second timsum item was included as part of the HKD 178 set) it was a bit small (I probably try the foie gras pot sticker and the black truffle fun chiong next time)...for the main I took the sweet vinegared 24 hr pork belly confit (the taste of vinegared pork trotters which I like)...overall the HKD213+10% lunch was ok good I guess but not super value (say c/w Dozo's S$39.80 6 course lunch)...see pictures
ate some HKD19 beef inards noodle （牛杂面）along chiu chao street at Wanchai (came with a nice thick iced coffee too)..this the real tecochew stuff..see picture..
next day, before lunch with James Ho & airport, I took a stroll up 400+ steps to see the Man Fat Sze (万佛寺）or ten thousand buddha temple..a really nice walk...will do again any day...most enjoyable..see picture..
see more pictures at http://andyquak1958.spaces.live.com/default.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment