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HK 2024: Gloomy
posted : Saturday, May 25, 2024
Day by day reports are here!
Flight to HK was on SQ. Was actually pretty excited about it because in my mind I got it at a really decent price, at about $300. My basis for comparison is always with my flight to go home which, at its best, is about $350 for a two hour flight. So anything cheaper and with a longer flight duration is always a good deal. Flight on a Saturday morning, enough to be able to spend half a day-ish in HK while not crazy early enough such that I arrive as a zombie so that was a good balance.  I love this dish, just fried bee hoon with pork belly slices but those were the star, melt in mouth kind of tender In the week leading up to the trip there have actually been reports out of HK and Guangzhou of poor weather forecast and GZ even had floods, which led to me putting more thoughts into packing, such as bringing an umbrella along lol, packing more pairs of socks and even a spare pair of shoes, and pondering if I needed to have more indoor options for my plans. So it wasn’t a surprise that gloomy ominous clouds greeted me as we descend to HK.  See the clouds. No autogate option so had to suck it up and queue, but cleared immigration within about half an hour and heart sank a bit when I collected my luggage - it was misshaped possibly because it wasn’t very full to begin with and the material is more of a malleable (? I forgot all my materials description already) kind so all I had to do was to open it and knock it back in shape. It’s a free one anyway oh well. Bought an Airport Express ticket from Pelago prior and it was really fuss free, didn’t need ticket to board and only needed to scan QR code when exiting and the ride was a breezy 30min one to Hong Kong Station. It’s maybe on the expensive side but oh well I think I’ve lived long enough to be able to afford minor luxuries like this over say, one hour bus rides with standing space only.  Onboard Airport Express From Hong Kong station it’s 7-8 stops to my first accommodation of the trip at 北角. Thankfully rain had stopped because I was imagining hailing a cab to take me from the MTR station to the hotel which would have been a 3 minute walk, because the idea of wheeling my luggage with an umbrella on one hand sounded a bit daunting. Checked in at Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour, tried my luck to upgrade to a room with better view (harbour view) by flexing my Cantonese (which I had practiced in my head for a while lol), partial success coz while I managed to get it, it was a room with twin beds instead of my original selection of a king bed, but it didn’t matter much coz I just pushed both beds together and slept fine. So overall it’s a win.  First mall I see after exiting station Video never works but let’s try again.  Gloomy Lazed in room for a bit before heading out. There wasn’t much on my rough agenda actually, just Temple Street night market and checking out the night scene at the Tsim Sha Tsui area.  Heading out  First street name board that tickles me  打卡. Milky  Night scene  Temple Street back gate (coz front gate too congested)  Night market  The food street portion But as it turns out, there’s very little to see - I was especially disappointed with the street food portion. So rummaged through my list, Kai Kai Dessert was in the vicinity so decided to check it out and not surprisingly greeted my a long queue. Got a queue number, got bored while waiting coz the numbers aren’t really moving, so googled and found a KFC branch two streets away so figured I’ll go tapao KFC (which is now my tradition for every trip) and I should be back in time for my number at the rate they’re going. Tadaa! I didn’t get back in time and missed by almost 10 numbers, checked with staff and was told to retake queue number, well I ain’t waiting again so another day Kai Kai.  Next time then.  Mandatory KFC meal  Rooftop bar  View from rooftop bar Managed to make my first day eventful, let’s see what the rest of the trip holds!
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