Previous Trip Notes:
A Real Round-The-World Trip – Part Two: CX 807, Take Two
A Real Round-The-World Trip – Part One: The Setup
We landed in Hong Kong at 8:30pm. By time we took hold of our luggage and cleared customs, it was close to 10:00pm. I had booked the Marriott Skycity hotel, as I thought I had remembered in being in the airport, and some of the online descriptions made it seem so; however, that is not the case. We hauled our luggage to the bus terminal to catch the free shuttle to the hotel. It pulled up within 30 seconds of getting there and was extremely convenient. It was, at most, a five-minute ride to the hotel, probably closer to 3-4 minutes. We arrived and checked into our rooms. NSPwife went to talk to the concierge about places we could get sushi or dumplings in Hong Kong. We wanted to grab a quick bite to eat, run by the promenade, and then call it a night. The concierge was disappointingly not very helpful. While it was late, they knew of only two places to eat and stated both were only mediocre quality. Great.
We planned to take the airport express, but then decided to just jump in a taxi since it was so late. We headed towards one of the restaurants the concierge had suggested, but when we got there opted to walk around and see if anything caught our eye. We made our way up to the 11th floor of a food hall building, choosing it because it seemed popular. We got seated, and were immediately presented with our hotpot, dozens of utensils, and a Chinese-only menu. We ordered by just saying “yes” to almost every question asked. This is what we got:
Hong Kong Hotpot Dinner
Hong Kong – Hotpot Dinner
Hong Kong Hotpot Dinner
Hong Kong Hotpot Dinner
Wow. It was quite a bit of food. We realized we ordered the coconut shrimp broth and regular chicken broth. While the food was only OK, the experience was quite memorable. The 5 beers for $1 was also a nice touch.
After dinner we headed quickly to the promenade:
Hong Kong Promenade
The hotel was nice, clean and convenient.
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong Standard Room
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong Room View
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong Lobby
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong Lobby Cafe
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong Lobby
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong Lobby Bar
And a pleasant surprise was that gold status (easily obtained with multiple credit cards given the Marriott/SPG merger) gave us lounge access. We all attempted to go to bed – although NSPpeanut, clearly experiencing jetlag, was a complete bundle of energy – and we were only allowed a few hours of sleep, soon to be a recurring theme of this trip. We woke up and hit the lounge:
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong – Lounge
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong – Lounge
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong – Lounge
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong – Lounge
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong – Lounge
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong – Lounge
Breakfast was excellent, and the view of the airport was great:
Marriott Skycity Hong Kong – Lounge, Airport View
After breakfast we headed to the lobby to get on the shuttle. That’s when we realized catching the shuttle the night before was not due to the quick trip, it was just luck. The shuttle only departs the hotel every twenty minutes, and we had just missed it. Instead, we jumped in a couple taxis (only a few dollar ride), and headed to the airport.
Overall a fun first night, and a prelude to the next ten days.
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