Debarkation Day in Hong Kong

2019 Summer Trip to Asia

July 21, 2019 -- Hong Kong Debarkation on Voyager of the Seas

I was totally surprised by the debarkation process at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong. One word--chaotic! It was a totally different experience from our one-day stop here last December. Getting off the ship was not a problem, going through immigration was not a problem, picking up the luggage was not a problem. The problem was getting through the crowds after baggage claim and getting out of the terminal. Not sure what the actual problem was but the whole terminal hall was filled with passengers getting off the ships trying to get out (I was told that there were two ships in port.) There was no effective crowd control and people were just herding around, merging disorganized lines towards the one exit out of the terminal. That could very well be a safety hazard if anything happens. Once outside the terminal, there were long lines for buses, taxis, and transfer pick-ups. Fortunately, there were staff directly the taxi line and we were able to catch a taxi after waiting in line for about 30 minutes.

Back to beautiful Hong Kong!

Waiting for debarkation inside the theater.

After our taxi ride from Kai Tak Terminal, we arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mongkok.

A hotel which we used points for our stay. We felt like coming home with courteous staff greeting us and putting us in an upgraded room.

After settling in, we went out to find lunch and ended up at the Wo Mei Congee Shop in Jordan, MOR's favorite eatery in Hong Kong.

Delicious fried fish balls

Best congee (porridge) in Hong Kong.

Back to the hotel and rested a little before going over to my niece's new apartment nearby for a visit. It was just a short walking distance away from the Hilton Garden Inn so we enjoyed a leisurely walk and familiarized ourselves to the neighborhood. Her expensive apartment is very tiny comparing to their house in California, but satisfactory in Hong Kong standard for one person to live in. The clubhouse, on the other hand, is fancy and well-equipped. With indoor and outdoor pools, game rooms, party rooms, reading rooms, etc. 

View of Lion Rock and the surrounding neighborhood.

We could even see our hotel from there.

Hilton Garden Inn and Holiday Inn standing side by side right next to the pedestrian foot bridge.

Cordis Hotel in Mongkok

For dinner, we were taken to a hot pot restaurant on Nathan Road by JC an CeC, just a couple of blocks from our hotel, for a delicious all-you-can-eat hot pot dinner. It was a new experience for us to have this Chungking Chicken Pot and we totally enjoyed it!

A pot of delicious chicken was served first. After we enjoyed the spicy chicken, broth was poured into the pot and a regular hot pot was served.  

All the drinks and food was included and needless to say I had my favorite drink throughout this meal.

A great dinner to end our first day back in Hong Kong!

**To be continued at a later date...

Continuation of this trip here.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."    --Isaiah 9:6

Hong Kong to Taiwan

A Short Trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan April 2018

April 16, 2018 Monday 

Today we fly out from Hong Kong to Taiwan in the afternoon. It's just a short flight of about an hour or so but we still needed to check in early for this international flight. Our plan was to check-out of the hotel after breakfast, then walk up to the bus station on Nathan Road and taking the #A21 airport bus to Chek Lap Kok. Unfortunately, there's no direct transportation between the airport and the Hilton Garden Inn, so it would either be taking a taxi or the bus with a little bit of walk.

Again, breakfast was quite decent at the HGI that morning.

Breakfast with plenty of choices in both western and Chinese offerings.

The best scrambled eggs from the omelette station. Done just right, silky and smooth, Hong Kong style!

Breakfast bar

Airport Bus #A21

We have already found the bus stop for A21 on Nathan Road the previous day and knew where we needed to go. The slightly difficult part was the walk from the hotel to Nathan Road tagging our luggage along but we made it OK.

Stop for #A21 on Nathan Road, right in front of the Kwantung Bank...

...across from the Chow Tai Fok Jeweler. 

The ride took about 50 minutes and it was quite interesting looking out at the scenery as we past through the different parts of the city. We sat on the upper deck which gave us a good view and we were still able to watch our luggage downstairs through the cameras installed on the bus. It was a pleasant ride except a small group of people were talking really loud throughout the trip which ruined the quietness of a nice bus tour.

Checking in was uneventful and a swipe of my ID card got me through the Immigration process in under a minute. We found ourselves at the food court looking for some lunch before boarding our flight to Taiwan.

A good lunch of duck and chicken from Cafe de Coral.

We arrived at the Taoyuen International Airport in Taiwan on time and we were out with our luggage, through immigration etc. by 6:30. It was a long wait for the shuttle bus that would take us from the airport to the high speed rail station. The bus finally came after waiting for over 40 minutes. I went inside the ticket counter to ask about the long wait, and was told that they have cut down their services since the opening of the airport subway system. That is certainly something new for us, I suppose we will have to check that out next time. 

After the two-hour ride on the High Speed train, we met up with BIL who picked us up at the Chiayi station and off we went to the village for the night.

Chiayi and Tainan, Taiwan

April 17, 2018 Tuesday

We basically spent the day at the village so MOR can spend time with his dad. Nothing much happened but we did make our rounds in the small towns nearby just for some delicious local food that MOR craved about. 

An early lunch of milk fish at this famous restaurant. I wonder why I did not get any pictures of the food though.

A steamed rice cake for snack at another location later on that day.

These rice cakes are filled with minced pork, egg, mushrooms, etc.

It was quite delicious but this is just not my type of food.

Semi-self service counter at this eatery.

It's called "Lan" Rice Cake, a favorite eatery for locals.

(179 Zhongshan Road, Madou District, Tainan City, Taiwan)

I have read about this hot pot restaurant in the city of Chiayi which sounded interesting and I was willing to try it out. They specialize in a soup base called "rice-less porridge" which is a specialty in Foshan, southern China. I was curious as to how authentic they really are and the only way to find out was to pay them a visit.

Magic Chef Hot Pot -- 290 Ziyou Road, West District, Chiayi City, Taiwan

I was quite surprised by the designs both on the exterior and interior of this restaurant. Modern and sleek, very pretty!

Outside of the restaurant.

Entrance

Dipping sauces

Address and phone number

Interior decorations

We chose the two-flavor soup base. Spicy on the left and the 'rice-less porridge' on the right.

The porridge was too watery in my opinion, making it much less appealing. 

Some of the veggies that came with the hot pot.

Items that we ordered.

Crab and clams

slices of fish

won ton

Server helped putting the main ingredients inside the pot.

menu

Not cheap.

Directions on how to cook the food.

meat selection

Hong Kong specialties

Seafood

hand-made specialties

vegetables

various types of mushroom

miscellaneous 

It was a pleasant dining experience with good service. Considering the cost of living in Taiwan, I'd say the cost of this meal was a little on the high end. The porridge soup base did not meet my expectation which took away many points from my book. Hot pot is hot pot, all you need is fresh ingredients and a good soup base. If the soup base failed, there's only half satisfaction left. 

"For He views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens."   Job 28:24