Asia - 2017 - Days 1 - 3

Asia – 2017 – Days 1 – 3

We boarded the American Airlines flight to Dallas at Bloomington right on time and had an uneventful flight to Dallas.

At Dallas, because we had First Class tickets (purchased on points), we were able to use the Admiral’s Club and relaxed and ate snacks in their lounge for the couple of hours before boarding for Hong Kong.

It s hard to put into words how great it is to fly when you are in your own little cubicle with a seat that went all the way flat, a large pillow, a great heavy, warm blanket and a 17” television screen with a Bose headset and also with all kinds of movies!!  WOW was that ever the way to fly for the 16 hour flight to Hong Kong.  On top of it all, each person had their own overhead storage bin to store their suitcase and anything else you wanted out of the way.

The first thing we did after taking off was to put on the pajamas that they gave us - much more comfortable than the clothes we were wearing.  They even gave us slippers and socks.  We changed in the largest bathrooms that we have ever seen on an airplane.

We first had snacks and almost anything you wanted to drink.  Then dinner, more snacks, later on sliders and finally a brunch just before we landed!!   On top of it all, they constantly had really good food snacks and an open bar set out in the prep area that we could just walk up and take anytime.

Basically I watched television like I do in bed, all comfortable, under the covers and just relaxing.   No way we would ever purchase these kinds of tickets, but was it ever a great flight.   Our flight ended up a little less than 16 hours and covered 8,500 miles.  I don’t think that people who can afford to fly like this do not understand the reality of coach flight!!  

After going through Customs and getting our bags, we rode the Airport Express Service rapid train into the city, a 24 minute ride and then transferred to a free shuttle bus to the hotel.

From when we landed to when we checked in, it was only 2 hours, which we thought was great.

We are staying at a JW Marriott and everything is very nice.  The room isn’t the largest we have ever had with Marriott, but it is very, very nice.  You even have to push buttons to open the drapes on the windows.

After unpacking we headed for the Subway, which is a 3 minute walk underground from the basement of the hotel and we took the subway to The Temple Street Night Market. 

The Market was huge, running blocks and blocks including many side streets.  We ate a fried shrimp dish in the middle of the market, finished the market and walked back to the subway and the Marriott and called it a night.

Day 3 – We were able to sleep until 8:00am as our tour didn’t start until 11:00am.  So we first went up to the lounge and they had a great breakfast of both Asian and Western food.

Then we took the subway about 30 minutes, had to walk a couple of blocks and made it to the tour starting point.  The tour was a free walking tour of the city and while it lasted 3 hours, it wasn’t very good, but we did learn a little, had a good Mango drink and ate some street food.

After the tour, we went to the 108^th  floor of the tallest building in Hong Kong and the 5^th tallest in the world for some great views of the city.

Next we took a taxi to the Ladies Market which was a huge street market, selling all kinds of treasures you just had to have.  Barb’s only purchase was some neat Christmas cards.

Then we went to a food market and outside of that market we went to a Chinese restaurant where even though they had an English menu, I don’t think anyone in the restaurant could understand English.  We had a good noodle dish and then since it was raining lightly, we took a cab and subway back to the hotel.

We are 13 hours ahead of Bloomington and this should be a great trip; however,  just found out that the Cubs lost- but anyway, it has been a great start to our trip.

Also good news in that they are not blocking Google and Gmail so I can post the blog, pictures and videos.  Enjoy - we did!!

Night from Hong Kong.

Menu

Her P. J.'s

Just relaxing

Barb's Dinner

Brunch, including Baileys

The middle of the Market

Add Dinner from this very freash selection

Walls of Goldfish

Our dinner - noodles and beef and veggies

This is how you pick out your fish dinner on a daily basis!!