the flt from jfk to seoul was 13 hours 20 minutes at 550 MPH at 38000 feet. the plane just glides. 2 hours in seoul and we returned to the same plane for the 4 hour 5 min flt to HK. all smooth. luggage was slow at 30 min.

taxi into the city with NO traffice was 375 HK$.

flopped into bed about 1AM. small but comfortable room with fab full view of victoria harbour. the jw marriott upgraded us to this full harbour view room with club privledges.

sleeping pills for K and me and we arose well rested and anxious to get moving in HK. we can't remember when we were here last but it was perhaps 1998. WOW have things changed. way more people, traffic and buildings.

after breakfast in the marriott cafe we headed out thru pacific place to the hong kong park--lovely, serene and well tended. our goal was the peak tram. waited for perhaps 5 minutes. roamed the peak building at the top, taking pics, etc before returning to central again. view was quite decent with just some haze. yesterday we were told there was no view.

we took a taxi to the peddler building for some shopping...naught.. the building is now a glitzy, dark, fancy abacrombie shop. K had her picture taken with a shirtless mussled young model. a taxi from there to the united center for dim sum on the 4th floor of this bldg at the metropole restaurant... 400$. delicious.

next we took the street tram for perhaps 1.5 hours and decided it was boring so reveresed direction and returned to our hotel. the girls went to the mall and i went to the room where i typed a lovely entry to fodors only to have it lost... so you get this less "lovely" one.

more tomorrow after spending time with Cicerone.

fare to peak 31$

Glad you made it, Bob and K. Thanks for the report on the A380. We're flying 'the big whale' in January, on our return from Bangkok holidays, but in first class on Thai, to FRA. Looking forward to it.

Hong Kong sounds as terrific as the last time I was there, a year ago July. But I like staying on Kowloon.

Happy shopping, happy travels, and lots of great food!!!

Bob- you should type your trip reports in Word and then paste them into Fodors. That way Fodors can't loose your reports.

Bob, I just 'shared' a short video of a barge practice down the CP on my FB page. My dear Thai friend, Nok, (you did not meet her yet) posted it. She is scoping out places for us to watch a practice on the 25th, I think.

Shame about the Pedder building they had some nice little stores and a lovely Shanghi Tang on the group floor if i remeber rightly!
Glad you made it safetly.

Glad to hear you made it all in one piece and thanks for the info on the Korean Air flight. Too bad about losing the report into fodors cyberspace....I HATE when that happens. We leave this morning to catch up to you folks flying on Korean Air.....our first time flying KE and anxious to see how they are.

Nice to hear the Marriott's in Asia go all out in their club rooms. You know where I'll be in Shanghai ;). We've been to several Asian SPG properties that went only half way and were disappointing and of course to those fab clubs at the Asian Hyatt's,lol. See you soon!

Aloha!

Sounds like you are having a great time! I'm glad to hear about the JW in Hong Kong. We have all those Marriott points to spend...

i was so mad that i lost that piece yesterday that i considered not posted at all. that is why the post was so brief and lacked details. i have recovered from my funk today and will pick things up from sat. AM

the plan for today is another good breakfast followed by a leisurely AM. Cicerone has graciously offered to lead us around for the better part of the afternoon. we are very anxious to meet Nancy and to hear her tales of life here in HK and perhaps other places she has lived in the world. few supply fodorites with better and more comprehensive info on the asia forum than does she. the sad part it is always 100% accurate and useful so we are never able to challenge her on anything.. haha.

the view this AM from my desk on the 26th floor of the jw marriott is of one cruise ship leaving its berth in kowloon and another slightly larger one arriving in its place.
there are a few dredging boats here and there and of course the star ferries scooting back and forth.

there is one large animated electronic sign on the kowloon side which is very colorful and constantly changing. it is as wide as the building and perhaps 3 stories high. the colors are vibrant.
from our side window we look directly up Hennessey Rd, past the Lippo bldgs and multi-leveled road ways. to the right we have a 3/4 view of the convention ctr with its spacship design. construction is on goibg at ground level and in future years i fear the view of the harbour will be reduced.

i should note that the tram passing the hotel is a real bargain at 1.30 HK per ride---a huge bargain if you are in no hurry. we sat up top (covered) and there was good air circulation and visability.

last night a number of the buildings on the island side of HK had constantly changing color decorations. i suspect this is part of the light show which we hope to observe sunday night from kowloon.

i will never forget the huge xmas and new years bldg lights from previous trips when tens of bldgs had animated scenes and other lighting.

time for breakfast

We were in HK during the Christmas light display and were totally amazed at how intricate the light displays were. It's one of those unforgettable HK memories.

Looking forward to your report on your afternoon with Cicerone. She was pretty much my primary "advisor" on our first trip to India. Many have followed since then. Give her my thanks and regards...

I would call the convention center more like 2 space ships over lapping. Pat and I are off to the tea musuem for an hour or so, before we meet Cicerone.

Our tram ride was only $1.10 HK for seniors. such a barging ...Boston MTA should learn a lesson about managing.

the above post is from karen

The tea museum is lovely. Obviously your day is already planned out, but the vegetarian tea house right next to the tea museum services great vegetarian dim sum, in a very cute setting.

as i8 sit here the girls have gone over to the park to the tea museum.

another ship has just arrived from star cruises... it looks like a carnival ship with tons of painting on its side. its saturday so i suppose it is cruise change-over day.

bon voyage P&L, i'm sure you will love korean. B&O enjoy your flts too and carol upfront as usual.

i'm taking a poll..how many people think hanuman now has an english accent after about 2 weeks in the UK?

Bookmarking. Looking forward to more!

just simply a fab day today with cicerone. she is charming and tons of fun to be with... too tired tonight...details tomorrow.

Rest up! Sounds like you are enjoying Hong Kong.