Hong Kong and Singapore 2016

And continuing onto Tuesday ..

Had a bit of a sleepin on our last day - til 7:15am!

View from our hotel room

I did photo and blogging stuff then headed out for a walk around the Gardens by the Bay.

Dragonfly Lake

Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands

Supertree Grove

Supertree Grove

Supertree Grove and Marina Bay Sands

Supertree Grove

Floral clock

Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay

Singapore Flyer

Gardens by the Bay

Marina Bay Sands

Dragonfly Lake

Gardens by the Bay

Supertree Grove and Dragonfly Lake

Dragonfly Bridge

Water lilies in Gardens by the Bay

Walkway between Bayfront MRT station and Gardens by the Bay

And got some morning photos from the roof

Marina Bay Sands infinity pool

Sands SkyPark Observation Deck

Downtown Singapore from Observation Deck

Singapore from Observation Deck

Singapore from Observation Deck

Victoria Theatres

National Gallery of Singapore

The Float @ Marina Bay Grandstand

The Float @ Marina Bay Grandstand

The Durian

Sands SkyPark Observation Deck

People in the infinity pool

View of Singapore over infinity pool

Came back and got ready, then headed down to Rise for the buffet breakfast. It was a lot bigger and the hash browns were actually hot (they hadn't been anywhere else this trip), but also a lot more people so a lot more craziness. Plus I was stressing about getting everything done before we checked out.

After breakfast had a final swim in the infinity pool to have it under morning light. We watched a rainstorm come closer and got out just as it hit.

Stu and Kaz having a last swim in the infinity pool

View of Singapore and incoming storm from infinity pool

View of Singapore and incoming storm from infinity pool

View of Singapore and storm over infinity pool

Then back to the room to repack all our bags, and we managed to checkout right on 12pm.

Left our bags at the Concierge then went for a wander through the Shoppes. Stopped and had some ice tea and macarons, and wandered around for a bit. But The Shoppes is a really awful boring mall. Unless of course you're into the high end super expensive watches and handbags. Boring boring boring.

Stu with his tea and macarons at TWG Tea

I couldn't stand being there for another hour or two, so we jumped on a train and went one station to Downtown and had a bit of a wander around there. Stu stopped for coffee and I wandered, and even found an outside bit to get a view of the bay from another angle.

View out the window on the train to Downtown

Dream sign and Marina Bay

Marina Bay panorama

Marina Bay panorama

Marina Bay Sands

ArtScience Museum and Singapore Flyer

Finally headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags. Then three trains to the airport.

Singapore Air Traffic Control Tower

Had some noms and some bubbly (and a shower!) at the Qantas club before boarding. Our boarding passes must have been checked at last half a dozen times. Security was only at the boarding gate, not any earlier.

A330 for this flight - up near the back on the left. Took off to the north so no interesting views (other than the airport).

Airbus A330-200 VH-EBV at Changi Airport

Had the beef goulash for dinner.

Dinner on the plane - Slow braised smoky beef goulash with mashed potato and steamed vegetables

Watched The Walk first up which I really really enjoyed. I'd seen a documentary on it relatively recently, and this was a sort of a docu-drama. Very cool. All CGIed of course. Although even if the towers were still there, they'd have had to CGI a lot of stuff *out* of it.

Then watched The Hangover which was actually ok.

It was midnight by this point so attempted to sleep. Failed.

Thinking I had time, I put on Boyhood, but the time listed was wrong and I was still watching it right up until arrival at the gate in Sydney, so missed the end of it :(

(They turned the cabin lights on at 1:30am, and got a bit of breakfast at about 2am. Landed at 3am, which was 6am Sydney time).

Breakfast on the plane - sour cherry pastry

I was feeling about anxious about everything actually (mainly missing the end of the movie), and I thought this set off an upset belly. But in actual fact I just had an upset belly which was making me feel queasy. Stuff came out both ends which was fun. Not. Luckily all at Sydney airport and not on a plane! And felt better after that. Stu was feeling a bit delicate too.

Then our last flight to Canberra. A fairly empty Dash8 in the back row on the right. Took off from half way down 34L and were airborne by the time we passed the east-west runway. Rain and clouds all around Sydney though, so not much of a view.

Qantas Dash 8 VH-QOC at Canberra Airport

Chrissie picked us up at the airport which was lovely of her.

At home we snoozed for a couple of hours then started tackling the mess that is our house.

So pretty good holiday. It was spoilt a bit by the rainy weather in Hong Kong and the unbearable humidity in Singapore, as well as not having much of a plan for what we wanted to do. But we did do some cool stuff and eat lots of good food, so pretty good in the end.

Had a super slow start. I'd had trouble sleeping (woke up in the middle of the night and took forever to get back to sleep). Ended up sleeping in past 7am.

Spent some time getting ourselves organised, and went down for a fairly late breakfast. Then back to the room to pack up.

It was 11am before we finally got out the door.

Our destination was just across the harbour - the Marina Bay Sands. At over $600 a night we certainly weren't going to stay here more than one night, but as it was the last night of our trip we decided to splurge.

Also because it was our last night, the hotel staff let us checkin when we arrived at 12pm instead of waiting til the normal checkin at 3pm. And they gave us a late (12pm) checkout instead of the usual 11am. So lovely :)

The hotel is amazing. Even the atrium is spectacular. When you get into the room and plug your card into the power, the curtains open up and you see the amazing view. Although we missed that effect because we didn't plug it in straight away heh. The room is *huge*. The bathroom is nearly as big as our bedroom heh. Just amazing.

Kaz looking out the window in our hotel room
Photo by Stu

Bathroom

Our hotel room at Marina Bay Sands

View from our room at Marina Bay Sands

View northwest from our room

So we enjoyed the view for a bit, then headed up to the roof to have a look at the pool and the observation deck. Wow.

Bayfront Pavilion

Gardens by the Bay

Infinity pool and Singapore view

Rooftop of the Marina Bay Sands

Downtown Singapore

The Durian - Theatres on the Bay

The Merlion

Stu and Kaz on the rooftop at Marina Bay Sands
Photo by Stu

Singapore from SkyPark Observation Deck

View east from SkyPark Observation Deck

Singapore Flyer

Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay

Marina Barrage

Then we headed down the "shoppes" downstairs to find some lunch. Got some food at the food court but it was very busy and getting a seat was a challenge. We were a bit hot and frustrated by the end of it.

Marina Bay Sands atrium

Canal in the shopping mall under the hotel

Atrium in The Shoppes

Back to our room briefly.

ArtScience Museum

View from our hotel room

So we came up and had a swim in the Infinity Pool. It was super windy up the top, and then it rained, which successfully cleared out most people. But then the rain stopped and they all came back - doh!

Went back to the room. Stu chillaxed and I went out for a walk to get some photos of the building in the afternoon sun and go over the "helix" bridge. It was hot, but the breeze meant it wasn't too unpleasant.

Marina Bay Sands atrium

Looking across to Gardens by the Bay

Helix Bridge

Helix Bridge

Helix Bridge

Heilx Bridge and Marina Bay Sands

Then got ourselves ready for dinner. We went to "db Bistro" by Daniel Boulud. Had some lovely scallops for entree. Stu got a *huge* bowl of seafood, and I had a very tasty coq au vin blanc. All super yummy but there was so much food we struggled to finish it!

Appetiser at db Bistro

Rosemary skewered Diver Scallops, smoked bacon, savoy cabbage, soft polenta, hazelnut brown butter sauce

Stu's seafood dinner at db Bistro

Coq au Vin Blanc, white wine braised chicken, smoked bacon, carrots, local greens that I had for dinner

Went and watched the 8pm light show outside.

Downtown Singapore by night

Marina Bay Sands sound and light show

Marina Bay Sands sound and light show

Marina Bay Sands sound and light show

Marina Bay Sands hotel by night

Took some photos from our room at night

View from our hotel room by night

View from our hotel room by night

ArtScience Museum by night

Then had another swim at night.

Stu in the infinity pool at night

Watched the end of the 9:30pm light show from our room.

Marina Bay Sands sound and light show

Marina Bay Sands sound and light show

Then I went back to the roof to get some photos at night.

Helix Bridge and Benjamin Sheares Bridge by night

Gardens by the Bay by night

Gardens by the Bay by night

Singapore Flyer by night

Marina Bay Sands Hotel rooftop and infinity pool by night

Was about to collapse into bed when I realised I hadn't washed my hair. Doh.

So just a note about this hotel. Don't come here expecting any peace and quiet. You'd think from the price it'd mostly be business people, but unless (presumably) there's a convention on, business people don't seem to stay here (why would they, it's nowhere near the CBD). There's a *lot* of families and young people so there's a lot of noise and activity in the corridors. They make a bit of a fuss about the dress code, but since most people coming and going are using the pool, there's a lot of very casual clothing and bathrobes in the lifts heh.

Another approx 6am wakeup. The bed here is a lot more comfortable. Pillows ok. Worst thing is temperature control. Too hot with the doona on, too cold with it off.

Got up and had breakfast at the executive lounge. Not quite as fancy as the Hong Kong hotel, but perfectly adequate.

Breakfast bar at the hotel

So then we headed out. Into the hot wet blanket that is Singapore air.

First stop was the Raffles Hotel to get a photo of it in the morning sun. Except as soon as I took my camera out it instantly fogged up :( Next time I'll need to give my camera a good long hug to warm it up before heading out.

Raffles Hotel

Raffles Hotel

Then a long slow walk to the Singapore Flyer.

Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation and Raffles City

Park under Benjamin Sheares Flyover

This place hates pedestrians. Apparently nobody walks here. At least not outside. Every other intersection you're redirected to the other side of the road or to an overpass or underpass. Now I'd be happy to walk through malls and passageways *if* once you got into them you could get out again. Malls are completely evil - once you get into them it's impossible to find your way out again. Super frustrating.

After much weeping and gnashing of teeth (ok maybe just an awful lot of sweating) we made it to the Flyer. $33 each. Which would be fine. Except. People. I hate people at the best of times, but when you're sweaty and exhausted from a whole hour of being in Singapore heat I was ready to murder people. Especially those super annoying ones with the selfie sticks who don't just take the odd selfie to show they've been somewhere, but dozens and dozens of them. Get over yourselves people!!!!  Hate.

We had ok weather for the ride. It had been a bit sunny earlier, but had clouded over by the time we got there. Not thick cloud so it wasn't too bad.

Singapore Flyer

Singapore Flyer sign

One of the capsules of the Singapore Flyer

Marina Bay Street Circuit for Formula 1 racing

Marina Bay Street Circuit for Formula 1 racing

View south to Gardens by the Bay

View south to Gardens by the Bay

Marina Barrage

Marina Barrage

Moet and Chandon capsule at the top of the Singapore Flyer

View northeast to National Stadium

Singapore buildings looking northwest from the Singapore Flyer

The Float @ Marina Bay Grandstand

The Float @ Marina Bay Grandstand

View south to Gardens by the Bay

View south to Gardens by the Bay

View southwest towards Marina Bay Sands and Singapore city

View southwest towards Singapore city

View west

Marina Bay Sands

Sands Expo and Convention Centre and ArtScience Museum

Top of Marina Bay Sands

View west to the Durian and National Gallery

The Durian - Theatres on the Bay

Fullerton Hotel

Looking into the Singapore Flyer structure

View southwest to Marina Bay Sands and Singapore city

Looking into the Singapore Flyer structure

Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay

Looking into the Singapore Flyer structure

Looking into the Singapore Flyer structure

Afterwards stopped for another drink so we could decide what to do next. Decided to find the nearest MRT station and head to Chinatown where we were meeting Kit's friend (and our former neighbour) Audrey for lunch. We didn't have very clear instructions (the ticketmaster booth) so it took us probably fifteen minutes of wandering around, including through dreaded malls, to try and find it.

Trying to find the MRT station

Once again this city hates pedestrians

No durians!

Once we found the meeting spot, we still had about fifteen minutes, so walked up through the street markets and even through a Tintin shop!

Looking down Pagoda Street

So Audrey found us and we went to have lunch in a big indoor food court place. Had some "chicken rice" which is rice with some chicken. I thought chicken rice might have had the chicken mixed through it somehow.

Chicken rice

Stu, Audrey and Kaz
Photo by Stu

It was also good to chat to Audrey. I'm not sure if we'd met before or not. She lived behind us for a year or so about five years ago, so we probably saw her in passing. We chatted about Singapore and travel and of course Kit ;)

After lunch (it was probably nearly 3pm by this point and some rainstorms had passed through) we trained it back to the hotel with the idea that we'd go for a swim. Except the rain closed in and didn't go away again. So I spent a few hours in the hotel extremely frustrated. Bored in the room, but not able to go out without getting soaking wet (from either rain or sweat) and/or hit by lightning.

Pool in the roof of Bras Basah MRT station

Pool of the Carlton Hotel

Carlton Hotel, Singapore (this was our building, our room was on the other side)

Had drinks and food at the hotel then spent more boredom time before giving up and going to bed.

Another 6am wakeup.

Got ourselves organised, then breakfast as usual.

Out the door at 8:45. Train to Hong Kong where we did the In-Town Checkin so didn't need to cart our bags on the airport train.

Inside Hong Kong airport

Went through security, then had a drink, then headed to the plane.

It was a very full flight. Fullest I've ever seen a Cathay Pacific flight. I should have picked our seats weeks ago, but didn't, and only did it at the web checkin in the morning. They'd given me a window seat nearish the front, but too close to the wing for my liking, and they hadn't allocated Stu a seat at all yet. So I changed them both. There were no seats together, but luckily we could both get window seats up the back, so that was pretty good.

Belly cam of the plane

Takeoff was to the east, but Hong Kong was covered in cloud, so nothing to see there.

Lunch was a very nice chicken dish - the chicken was lovely and tender.

Lunch on the plane

I watched Pixels first up, which was of course completely ridiculous, but a bit of fun.

Then a documentary - The Secret World of Lego - about the company and designers which was interesting.

We flew over Vietnam - lots of fires :(

Coastline of Vietnam near Bai Xep

Coastline of Vietnam near Tuy Hoa

Fires in the mountains in Vietnam

Then saw Singapore from the air before landing from the south.

Changi Airport

Ships in the Singapore Strait

Ships in the Singapore Strait

View of Changi Airport from the plane

Getting through immigration at Singapore took what seemed like ages - about half an hour. And both my phones refused to connect to the airport wifi :( So that was all hot and frustrating. We took so long that instead of getting our bags from the carousel, they'd taken them off and left them next to it, so it was all a bit of chaos.

Kinetic Rain sculpture at Changi Airport

Then it was out to find money (easy enough), phone sims (Singapore Recommends didn't have them and no 7-Elevens in sight), train cards (Singapore Recommends had sold out). So that was all a bit fail. Got the train card at the airport station, $12 with $7 credit on them. Asked if that would cover the trip to the city - she said yes.

So two trains into town. Getting off, turns out the fare from the airport is like $1.30. Sydney please pay attention!!!

Everything here is in four languages. Except when it's too hard, they just go with English.

The heat and humidity here is like a blanket. At hot, wet blanket. I really think I'm going to die here.

But we did find a big mall (Raffles City) to walk through which saved walking a city block outside.

Carlton Hotel, Singapore

Checkin at the hotel was easy enough (although they only gave us one room key, and you can't use the room power without it, but you can't use the lift without it either - not very practical if one person wants to go out and the other wants to stay in the room - so went and got another key).

Our room at the Carlton Hotel

Our room at the Carlton Hotel

View from our room at the hotel

USB charger points, power and light switches

View from our room at the hotel

National Museum of Singapore

View of the pool from the lift lobby of our hotel

View from the lift lobby of our hotel

St Andrews Church

Top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel

For dinner we just went to the executive club lounge and had a couple of drinks and some snackages.

Went to a 7-Eleven across the road to get some sims, but they'd sold out :(

Then I decided to walk down to the waterfront to have a look at the Marina Bay Sands light show. The walk down was a little frustrating in places - seems this place is not too well designed for pedestrians - presumably of course unless you know all the underground and in-mall ways to go. At one point I found myself in this underground walkway, that had a gallery inside it! You could never do that in Australia - it'd get destroyed by vandals instantly.

Walkway under Esplanade Drive

Finally got to the waterfront and saw the Merlion and the light show which was quite pretty.

Light and Water Show at Marina Bay Sands

Singapore Flyer by night

Light and Water Show at Marina Bay Sands

The Durian, and Singapore buildings by night

Light and Water Show at Marina Bay Sands

Light and Water Show at Marina Bay Sands

Light and Water Show at Marina Bay Sands

The Fullerton Hotel and Singapore skyline by night

Merlion by night

Merlion by night

Esplanade Bridge by night

Merlion and Singapore skyline by night

Sinapore Flyer, Art Science Museum and Marina Bay Sands by night

Sculpture at Marina Bay waterfront

Lighted trees at Marina Bay waterfront

The Fullerton Hotel by night

Back to the hotel to shower and crash.

Anderson Bridge by night

Anderson Bridge by night

Esplanade Drive bridge by night

Victoria Theatre and Victoria Memorial Hall

National Gallery of Singapore

Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation

Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation

Carlton Hotel, Singapore

Also. Why do old people take so damned long to go to the toilet?

Since this is now our third time to Hong Kong, and it's possible we won't be here for a while, I decided it was time to visit Disneyland.

Slept til 6am again. Breakfast much the same.

Bought my Disneyland ticket at the hotel which saved me the stress of buying it at Hong Kong station or at the park (although given the complete lack of queues at the park it would have been fine to buy it there).

Then trained it out. Took about an hour from door to door.

Disneyland MTR train

The park opens at 10:30am at this time of year, but when I arrived right on 10:30, people were already in the park walking around. I don't know if they just let people into the shops in advance but just don't let them on the rides?? Who knows.

Disneyland Hong Kong entrance

Disneyland manhole cover

Fountain at the entrance to Disneyland

Main Building at Disneyland with a train in front of it

So went over to Space Mountain first to get in a couple of rides. But Space Mountain has a singles line (win!!) so I knew that wasn't going to be a problem later.

Entrance to Tomorrowland

Space Mountain

Then over to Grizzly Gulch to have a ride on the runaway mining cart roller coaster. There's no big dips, but it has a couple of surprises in it which makes it quite fun. Ended up having three rides in a row - one at the back, one at the front and one in the middle.

Train crossing the bridge at the entrance to Grizzly Gulch

Mystic Manor

Then I just wandered around the park, going on things as I went.

The other super fun ride was RC Racer, which is kinda like the Pirate Ship ride on steroids. Zero G fun! Had a couple of goes on that early on, and one as the last ride of the day.

Entrance to Toy Story Land

Toy Soldier Parachute Drop

RC Racer from Toy Soldier Parachute Drop

RC Racer

Walkway in Toy Story Land

I actually chose to go on a rainy day. I know right. But as locals seem to hate the cold weather, I figured the rain might keep even more of them away. And this seemed to be true. I barely noticed the crowds. Part of it was the singles lines, but generally I didn't have to wait too long to get on things. I even wondered at one point if I'd have everything done by like 4pm. There were a couple of things I didn't go on because of queues (eg the teacups and Dumbo), but easily could have waited the 20 minutes or so if I'd felt like it.

Entrance to Fantasyland

Rapunzel's tower in Fairy Tale Forest

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Broom and buckets in Fantasy Garden

Mad Hatter Tea Cups

Entrance to It's a Small World

It's a Small World

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

On the It's a Small World boat ride

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Entrance to Adventureland

Selfie sticks are not allowed!

Tarzan's Treehouse

Leopard in Tarzan's Treehouse

On the Jungle River Cruise

Steaming poles in Adventureland

Autopia

Main Street

Toy Story Zeotrope in Art of Animation

Looking west down Main Street from the main building

Disneyland City Hall

Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars ride

In the end I stayed til 19:00. I did a quick race around the park to get photos of it all by night - it's sooooo pretty at night! But I didn't stay for the parade.

Tarzan's Treehouse

Walkway in Toy Story Land by night

Cinderella Carousel by night

It's a Small World by night

It's a Small World by night

Space Mountain by night

Entrance to Tomorrowland by night

Sleeping Beauty's Castle by night

Sleeping Beauty's Castle by night

Main Street by night

Main building by night

I did enjoy the roller coasters, there just wasn't enough of them. And getting to see It's a Small World when it said on the website it was closed was pretty special. But seeing the place at night was probably actually the highlight. So all up quite a good day. And it only rained a little bit.

Fountain at the entrance to Disneyland

Thankyou for Visiting

On the Disneyland MTR train

Came back to the hotel, and we went to the Scottish Restaurant for dinner (don't judge us), but also got some skewers from meat on a stick place next to the station.

(Blogging on the same day for a change!)

Best sleep in so far - 6:50am!

Also! Sun!!

View from the hotel pool floor

View from the hotel pool floor

View from the hotel pool floor

View from the hotel pool floor

View from the hotel pool floor

Pool at the hotel

Pool at the hotel

Got ready just a little bit earlier, but then we tried to find the laundry man we went to last time, but he was gone, so called Chris and he recommended another laundry so we went to that instead - and it worked out a lot cheaper - only $61HKD for our bag of washing. So it was about 9:45 before we managed to get to the station. And of course that meant we missed the 10am ferry, so took our time and caught the 10:45 ferry.

It had already started clouding over by then too. But it was still a nice ferry ride out to Peng Chau. There's not a lot to see and do on the island. We did go on the "northern" walk around the edge and middle of the northern half of the island. We debated doing the "southern" walk as well but we were a bit tired (had already done 10000 steps!) so didn't. Hacked a few portals then caught the ferry back to Central.

Sea Success arriving

Hong Kong Island buildings

Kowloon buildings

Hong Kong Island buildings

Welcome to Peng Chau sign

Tin Hau Temple, Peng Chau

Tin Hau Temple, Peng Chau

Kam Fa Temple, Peng Chau

Kam Peng Estate - we got stuck in this trying to make our way north

Tai Lei island

Pier at Tai Lei island

Boats in the harbour

Pier at Tai Lei island

Beach on Tai Lei island

Beach on Peng Chau island

Beach on Peng Chau island

Beach on Peng Chau island

Beach on Peng Chau island

Looking east towards Hong Kong

Jackfruit growing on Peng Chau

Farm on Peng Chau

Beach on eastern side of Peng Chau

Looking east towards Hong Kong

Pagoda on Peng Chau

Peng Chau Ferry Pier

Kowloon buildings and Discovery Bay 19

Hong Kong Island buildings

Our ferry back from Peng Chau - Sea Splash

At Central we walked up to go to Dim Sum Square.. CRISPY PORK BUNS!!!! So awesome. Also some turnip cakes and beef and parsley rice rolls.

Pan-fried turnip cakes at Dim Sum Square

Minced beef and parsley steamed rice rolls

Crispy pork buns!!

Then caught a tram back to the hotel, arriving around 4pm.

Des Voeux Road Central

Des Voeux Road Central

Des Voeux Road Central

Trams on Yee Wo Street

On the way to the laundry to pick up our clothes, Stu started getting a migraine. So back to the hotel to dose him up on painkillers, and I washed some underwear. Another nice thing about this hotel - even though they don't have a guest laundry - they have big bathroom sinks, with plugs, and a retractable clothes line in the shower. Epic win!

Then I met up with Chris and Anne and Bronte and Marg and we went to Din Tai Fung for dinner. Got some shrimp xiao long bao, some mushroom dumplings, some spicy shrimp dumplings, a noodle with peanut sauce dish, some greens and some wonton soup. All delicious.

Dinner at Din Tai Fung

Headed back to Chris and Anne's, and we went up to the roof and saw the Symphony of Lights from their rooftop - just lovely. Then borrowed some lightweight pants off Anne, because I stoopidly forgot my own lightweight long pants - and I wanted them for Singapore evenings. So that was good.

Walkway in Victoria Park

Symphony of Lights from Chris and Anne's building

Symphony of Lights from Chris and Anne's building

Then picked up some snackages for the sweetie's dinner and back to the hotel.

Much better sleep - slept til nearly 6am!

Another rainy morning, another morning lacking motivation. But at least we had a plan.

We did start with watching the finish of the Hong Kong marathon, which we could see from our hotel room. So that delayed us a little.

Hong Kong Marathon in Causeway Bay

Hong Kong Marathon finish line in Causeway Bay

Runner 20947 finishing the marathon

Bag collection point for the marathon

By the time we'd had breakfast we didn't get out the door until 11am :(

We took a train (well actually four trains - and we went east from Tin Hau to avoid the worst of the post-race crowds) up to Sha Tin, and had a bit of a wander through the New Town Plaza. Well actually it was a long walk around trying to find the Starbucks there. Hrmm.

Then a wander down to the river and along to the Hong Kong Heritage museum. Had a little bit of a wander around there.

Lek Yuen Bridge

Lek Yuen Bridge

Lek Yuen Bridge

Hong Kong Heritage Museum

Opera replica stage

Opera costumes

Opera costumes

Opera costumes

Colony Armorial Bearings

Sha Tin in the 1930s

Sha Tin in the 1970s

Sha Tin in the 2000s

Cloisonne vase, reunification gift from Beijing

Sha Tin Park

Sha Tin Park

Tortoise in Sha Tin Park

Waterfall in Sha Tin Park

Sha Tin Park

Then back to the plaza to find some lunch (it was about 3pm at this point). Ended up at a Japanese place which was quite nice.

Ballet performance in the open air auditorium

Nice Japanese lunch we had

I wanted to get more $2 lightning cables, and Stu needed a new luggage tag (his previous one had gotten ripped off on the way over), so we stopped in Sham Shui Po on the way back. I found what I was looking for straight away in the Golden Computer Arcade (which was super crowded), and even found a USB light that does very nicely as a keyboard light for when I'm doing stuff in the dark (my $300 lappy doesn't have keyboard lighting). Got two cables and the light for $8AUD. Then went to Apliu Street to find luggage tags, although I think we would have had better luck at the ladies' market or the Temple Street market. We did find something in the end though for about $3.

The sun came out!

Then headed back to the hotel. We picked up some beer on the way back and I did go out for some more snacks and we just had a quiet night in. Saw the Symphony of Lights, although from here you don't really see much. But there was nothing on tv worth watching so we ended up going to bed really early.

View from our hotel room

View from our hotel room

USB light for my laptop

Symphony of Lights from our hotel room

Symphony of Lights from our hotel room

Symphony of Lights from our hotel room

After waking up at 4am the first morning, this time slept through til 5am!

Spent the dark hours blogging and doing photo and gps stuff. Eventually Stu got up and we went down for breakfast. We didn't really have a plan for the day which is always dangerous. We struggle to find a good balance when travelling. Stu is happy to take things slowly, but I feel like a caged animal just sitting in a hotel room. The other problem is the rain. I might have gone for a wander by myself, but anything I'd normally want to do requires no rain. So I ended up in a pretty bad frame of mind before we'd even gotten out the door. Which was at 10am again.

Pool in the hotel

View from the hotel pool level

View from the hotel pool level

View from the hotel pool level

Stu did come up with a plan for the day though. We took the MTR all the way out to Kennedy Town. We wandered down to the waterfront (nothing much to see except grey) and around the park.

Happy seats

Inside a Hong Kong MTR train

Green Island

Kennedy Town waterfront

Buildings at Kennedy Town

Kennedy Town waterfront

AGA-200 Acetylene Gas Operated Lantern

Pacman sign

Then we hopped on a tram at the Kennedy Town terminus and rode it alllllll the way along the island to the North Point terminus. This was actually quite fun, and we had the top front window seats the whole way. Took forever though heh.

Interior of the tram upper deck

Catchick St

Des Voeux Road West

Des Voeux Road West

Des Voeux Road West

Western Market building

Des Voeux Road Central

Des Voeux Road Central

Chater Road
Photo by Stu

Queensway

Queensway

Another tram
Photo by Stu

Hennessy Road

Hennessy Road

Looking into the tram in front

Johnston Road

Another tram

Johnston Road

Hennessy Road

Yee Wo Street

Yee Wo Street

Kaz on the tram
Photo by Stu

Causeway Road

King's Road

Chun Yeung Street

Chun Yeung Street

Our tram at North Point

At North Point we had a bit of a wander through the markets, and even found a bakery to get a pineapple bun. It wasn't as fresh as the one we had last year though.

Pineapple bun!

Then things started to fall apart a bit. Stu wanted to go see a movie, which was fine, except it meant we had time pressure. We thought we'd maybe get some lunch first. We went to find Din Tai Fung, but missed where it was so had to backtrack. And it was crowded anyway. And Stu accidentally trod on my achilles tendon so I was in pain. That bad frame of mind came back. We decided to go get the tickets and just find something to eat around the cinema. Except we only had half an hour left at this point, and didn't want to go into any of the restaurants in case they took too long. So thought we'd go outside. Except there were no food places around. Eventually found one but couldn't get any service so we ended up getting a sandwich from 7-Eleven. Yay. I was grumpy which made Stu grumpy so it was just bad all around :(

Olympic stairs at Causeway Bay

Yee Wo Street

Pearl City Mansion shopping centre entrance

Anyway, we went to see The Big Short, about a few groups of fund managers who bet on the housing market crash in 2007-2008. It was really interesting and quite well done.

It was 5pm now, which actually turns out to be a really good time to go to Din Tai Fung - no queues! So we got a few different sorts of dumplings.

Xiao long bao

Stu at Din Tai Fung

Then we walked back to the hotel. It was only about 6pm now. I messaged @Chrispycon and later (after watching a bit of tv) we met up with Chris and Anne and her sister Marg, had an over-priced drink at Guay, then came back to the hotel.

Wednesday night was so hot and disgusting I barely slept.

Thursday morning up at 6am to get ready to leave at 7am.

Fountain at Canberra Airport

Breakfast at Qantas Club

Our first flight from Canberra to Sydney was on a Dash 8. Had a seat near the back on the left so had a great view of Canberra in the early morning sun. It was cloudy over much of New South Wales though. Approached the airport from the south-west, but then flew right over it, swung right to come in from the south. Got to see my house which was pretty cool.

Qantas Dash-8 400 VH-QOM at Canberra Airport

Canberra from the plane

Breakfast snack on the plane

South western Sydney

Bankstown Aerodrome

Kogarah

Southern Sydney

Sydney Airport

Sydney Airport

Eastern Suburbs

Kurnell

Kurnell

Shadow of our plane over Botany Bay

In Sydney went and caught the "tarmac tour" bus, aka the international transfer bus around to the international terminal. Immigration in Sydney is now a lot more automated now - you scan your passport, have your photo taken, then drop your departing card in a box. The machines didn't like Stu though, so he had to go see a human heh. Had some nibblies in the Qantas club before boarding.

Qantas Boeing 737-800 VH-VXQ at Sydney Airport

Stu and brunch in the Qantas Club

The second flight was on an A380. We hadn't been on an A380 since our honeymoon in 2008, and we'd never been on a Qantas one. The entertainment systems are a bit better than other Qantas planes. Heaps of movies and tv to choose from. And I think there's even a tiny bit more leg room - Stu's knees weren't touching the chair in front!

Qantas Airbus A380-300 VH-OQF at Sydney Airport

Kaz and Stu ready to depart

View out the window of the Qantas Airbus A380 VH-OQF

Leg room in economy

USB port and network port on the A380 in economy

Old Air Traffic Control Tower at Sydney Airport

Qantas domestic terminals at Sydney Airport

Inner west Sydney

Sydney city

Gladesville Bridge

Diamantina River

Northern coast of Australia

Northern coast of Australia

Lunch on the plane was slow cooked beef cheek which was actually pretty good. Dinner (a snack really) was a mini burger and mini hot dog.

Slow roasted beef cheeks in a smoky barbecue sauce with baked carrots, broccoli and corn salsa, that I had for lunch

Mini beef burger and mini hot dog that I had for dinner

During the flight I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was good, but too long. Then I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel which was quirky and fun, but filled with quite jarring language and violence. Just seemed really out of place for that style of movie. Next I watched Funny Face which was ok but a bit silly. Finally watched a documentary by Kal Penn on crime data, and another one on binge drinking.

We did a couple of big holding pattern loops approaching Hong Kong before landing from the west.

Clouds at sunset near Hong Kong

Clouds at sunset near Hong Kong

Holding loops near Hong Kong

Tail cam of the A380 showing the terminal in Hong Kong

Since I've never been on the flight deck of an A380, I asked the crew if I could go say hi. Qantas staff are always so lovely and they happily let me go up and have a look :) The flight deck is actually fairly spacious and super high tech with so many little computer screens! Only the pilot was still up there and he asked if I wanted to sit in the pilot's seat, so I did, and he took some photos :):):) Soooo cool :)

Flight deck of Qantas Airbus A380-300 VH-OQF at Hong Kong Airport

Flight deck of Qantas Airbus A380-300 VH-OQF at Hong Kong Airport

Kaz at the controls of the Qantas Airbus A380-300 VH-OQF at Hong Kong Airport

Coming through immigration was pretty quick. Got pissed off at people that crowd around the baggage carousels so you can't actually get at your bag - one of my pet peeves. Then out through customs.

Went to a 7-Eleven to get some sims, but they had sold out, so went to a 1010 store. Got some snackages at Delifrance. Then topped up our Octopus cards and hopped on a train into the city, with a transfer to the Island Line and a short walk (around roadworks) to the hotel.

Snackages at Delifrance

The hotel is quite lovely (for the price it oughta be!). We have a view of Victoria Park and some of Kowloon. There's plenty of power points, the desk is wood so I don't need a mouse mat, there's even two usb ports next to the bed (one side only) for charging things!  We can have up to four devices on the wifi, and there's a physical network port as well (with cable provided!) It does however seem to be the only hotel in history that doesn't have a shaver plug in the bathroom - where I was going to see if plugging in a night light would work. Fortunately there's enough light from the city to see where you're going in the dark.

Our room at the Metropark Hotel, Causeway Bay

Our room at the Metropark Hotel, Causeway Bay

View from our room at the hotel

View from our room at the hotel

We were pretty tired when we got in (it had just gone midnight Canberra time) so pretty much just crashed into bed.