MrDplus

Haha... That's the problem with copy+paste... I forgot to change that part... Thanks.

apodo77

Thanks. I bookmarked all your pictures as well. Great job.

Trip is not til September but can't wait.

MrDplus

My First View of the South Sea of China

During my stay in Hong Kong I didn't book a room in any fancy hotel, well, I didn't even stay at a hotel. First, because I didn't have any more miles/points. Second, because I had a free alternative. I stayed at a religious house where friends had stayed in the past.

While not a fancy accommodation, and not in the main part of the island, the place where I stayed offered a beautiful view of the South Sea of China every morning.


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 044 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 049 by desquiliano, on Flickr
Well, I won't write a detailed account of all that I did in Hong Kong. Instead I will share some pictures of the highlights.

Eating authentic Chinese food


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 077 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 078 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 081 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 083 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 2) - 146 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 2) - 147 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Victoria Peak


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 132 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 156 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Star Ferry


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 305 by desquiliano, on Flickr

The Bay


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 264 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 321 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 346 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Walking in the City


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 1) - 071 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 303 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 2) - 065 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 2) - 167 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Hard Rock Cafe

As I've mentioned in previous TRs, I collect HArd Rock Cafe guitar pins, and although I already had one from Hong Kong, I decided to stop by for a beer.


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 2) - 172 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Hong Kong 2) - 180 by desquiliano, on Flickr

sammy..uk

Great itinary and gret TR - thanks for posting - very jealous!!

MrDplus

Thank you. I think I know how you're feeling, because I had been reading TRs before I was able to afford this trip.

MrDplus

My First Walk Around the Outer Rim of a Tower 233m Above Ground

I know some people here are trying to visit every single country in this world. I'm not that ambitious, at least for now, but I still enjoy getting new stamps on my passport. That's why I decided to take a day trip to Macao.

I bought my boat tickets ahead of time. I would have wanted to go by helicopter, but that was way out of my reach. So I went with the second best option, buying tickets on TurboJet Premier Grand class.

Turbojet, the ferry company between Hong Kong and Macao, offers three classes of service. These are Economy, Super Class, and Premier Grand. Super Class and Premier Grand seem pretty much the same, although the ticket for the latter is more flexible. I think that originally Premier Grand was operated on a different ship, but now they have all ships with the same three classes. If I'm wrong and someone from HK knows better, please correct me.

I decided to do this trip on my second day in Hong Kong. I bought my tickets for the 8:00 ship out of Hong Kong, and for the 18:00 out of Macao. That meant an early rising that day, since I was supposed to retrieve my tickets no later than 1.5 hours before my trip.

I made it to the pier well ahead of time, and after having picked up my tickets I decided to have breakfast. I saw a McDonald's, and decided to eat there. In Rome McDonald's doesn't serve breakfast, so whenever I travel and find a McD's with breakfast menu, I stop by to get a muffin with sausage and egg.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 007 by desquiliano, on Flickr

After my quick breakfast, I headed to the boarding area. Unfortunately I was stopped at the check point. I didn't understand what was going on, I was just told that there wasn't going to be a Premier Grand boat, so I didn't know if that meant that I had to wait for the next one or that I would be downgraded. It was the latter, but one of the men pictured ran to the ticket counter to get money and refund me the difference in price. What a great service!


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 008 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Well, I still had access to the lounge, at least to the Super Class lounge. Although it was nothing else than a walled waiting room with sofas and some reading material.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 010 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Slightly before our departure time we were invited to board.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 011 by desquiliano, on Flickr

As soon as we got on board we were offered breakfast. I had already eaten enough, so I just ask for a bottle of water. I did take a picture of the breakfast, though, for this report.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 014 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Shortly after I fell asleep, and didn't wake up till we were arriving in Macao. After we disembarked, I went to the passport control area, and I wasn't prepared for the long lines and chaos. It looked like many boats had arrived at the same time from mainland China. It took me over half an hour to make it to the end of the line.

Following the advice of some friends I took one of the free shuttles to the casinos. I don't like gambling, but I had been told so much about the casino area that I wanted to see it. Well, it was a disappointment. I have never been to Las Vegas, but I imagine it is pretty much like it, just big casinos all over.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 044 by desquiliano, on Flickr

After visiting a couple resorts I was already bored, so I decided to head back to the ferry terminal. From there I took a double-decker bus tour.

One of the stops, and the one I was looking forward to the most, was the famous Macao Tower. It offers different recreational activities. One of them is a walk on the outer rim of the tower 233m above the ground. I'm not into extreme sports, but I thought this was something I could do, and I did it.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 089 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 115 by desquiliano, on Flickr

There are more pictures on my Flickr account if you want to see them all. This is the link to the specific album.

After this exciting adventure I just took the double-decker again and went to downtown Macao, where I wanted to see the famous ruins of Saint Paul's Church.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 136 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 151 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 173 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 178 by desquiliano, on Flickr

After walking around for a while and having lunch I took the double-decker again. We drove by the airport and snapped a couple pictures. Then we finished the circuit at the ferry terminal.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 221 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 250 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 263 by desquiliano, on Flickr

The experience was very similar to the one in Hong Kong, although this time they did have the Premier Grand Class service.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 286 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 288 by desquiliano, on Flickr

This time I accepted the meal. It was rice with some sort of meat(?) that I couldn't eat because it was very hard. If you had any idea of what it is. please let me know.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 291 by desquiliano, on Flickr

The rest of the ride was quite enjoyable, and in about an hour we were back in Hong Kong.


Easter Break 2012 (Macau) - 292 by desquiliano, on Flickr

garykung

Based on the picture, it is Abalone (I can't believe that TurboJet serves this...).

frankxinyu

Good stuff with the report!

Hope you enjoyed asia, and make your way to Australia one day

joanek

Thanks for this! Looks like you had a fab trip.

FlyMeAwayPlease

Macau Tower reminds me of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas...what an incredible experience, added to my list of "must-dos"!

Great TR, I prefer pictoral to those with huge descriptions so I'm a fan.

Looking forward the next installment!

MrDplus

I did enjoy Asia, and in fact I'm going back in August. This time I'm going to Japan, but I'll be in the back of the bus, so no fancy service.

Australia is on my list. I have friends from Sydney, Wagga Wagga, and Perth. They're in Europe with me, but I'll most likely go visit them in 2 years, when they go back to Australia. By then I'll hopefully have enough miles to pay for another trip in F. I wouldn't mind flying QF's A380 again.

MrDplus

Thanks for your comment. I really enjoyed this trip.

MrDplus

Yes, the Macao Tower is something you have to experience if you are in the neighborhood. If I ever go back I'll probably do the SkyWalk X again.

Thanks for your comments. I hope I'll be able to publish the next installment later tonight.

MrDplus

My First Flight on a Boeing 747 (TG F)

The trip had to come to an end. After having visited Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macao, it was time to head back to Rome. This was my last day in Asia, and it was planned to be a long day.

When I booked the flights I was excited. I was going to fly on the 747 for the first time. The 747 was, along with the Concorde, one of those planes that I had been wanting to fly since had my first contact with aviation. And I was going to do it in F, in a cabin that I have seen in many photographs here on FT.

Shortly after booking, I was TG'ed. I would still fly on a 747, but with the oldest F product that TG offers. I know, it's still F, but if I was spending all my miles, I wanted something more memorable. The though of changing the route crossed my mind. In fact, I kept checking almost every day, hoping that something interesting would open up. My wish at the time was that LH would release some F space.

As time went by, and no other alternative opened, I decided to make plans for Bangkok. It was going to be a short layover, but I would have enough time to go into town and visit a couple sites before heading back to the airport. Since I travel with a Mexican passport, I had to get a visa, but that was easily done.

Once I had my visa, I wondered why not spend a few more hours in Bangkok. I only had to take an earlier flight out of HKG, so I looked for alternatives. There was nothing in F, so I would have to fly C from HKG to BKK. It was a short flight, and I was already looking into flying on an old F product, so I decided to change my reservation. So, a week before the trip, I changed my flight from HGK to this one.


TG603 by desquiliano, on Flickr

A 7:45 departure meant an early trip to the airport, well, to the train station in the case of HKG. I got there shortly before the check-in counters opened, so I just waited.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 001 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 002 by desquiliano, on Flickr

I was the first person in line for the TG counter. I thought it was going to be an easy thing, but then I was informed that I was never ticketed for TG603, and that I needed to talk to someone from UA, but since they hadn't opened their counter, I needed to do it by phone. I told them I didn't have a cell phone, so they tried to call, with no success.

After a while, they told me that my options where, either buying a ticket on TG603, or wait and take TG601. Regardless of the decision, I still had time, and they suggested I took the train to the airport, and deal with the agents there. So that's what I did.

At HKG I was given the same options. They told me that I had already payed for an F ticket, but TG603 didn't offer this class, so they didn't want me to take an inferior service. Anyhow, they would try to call UA again and see what happened.

After a while, I decided to fly on my original flight, although that meant spending 5 hours at HKG, instead of touring Bangkok. At least I had access to F lounges. So, I spent 5 hours in between TG F lounge and UA F lounge.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 009 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 011 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 027 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Most of the time I was by myself at the F lounge. About an hour before the flight a group came into the lounge, and while I'm not sure of this, I think he was a member of the royal family, or at least someone important. I say this because of the size of the entourage.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 039 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Anyhow, shortly before the flight I went to the gate area. I didn't get to close to the gate, since I knew I was going to have priority boarding. But then they brought in people with special needs, and after they boarded I got closer to the gate. At the time, there was a long flight for C, and a longer line for Y, so I just stood on a side. One of the people on the C line turned to me after a while and said 'Hey, you know there is a line, right?'. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't even trying to get on the plane yet, and this person wanted to make sure I didn't board before him. So I just calmly said 'I know, but I believe F goes first', to what he couldn't say anything. Just as a side not, soon after we boarded this man was loudly complaining to the FAs because one of his friends had been assigned a seat on the upper cabin, while he was still in the main C cabin.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 042 by desquiliano, on Flickr

So, going back to the flight. Just as I finished answering to the gentleman that had asked me to go to the back of the line, passengers and F were called, and since I was the only one there I boarded right away. When I made it to the cabin, the gentleman who I believe was a member of the royal family was already in his seat in F, with 2 members of his entourage. He had boarded earlier, because he needed to do it on a wheelchair.

Flight Info
Thai Airways 601
HKG - BKK
April 14, 2012 12:45
Boeing 747-400 (HS-TGA)
Seat 2A

Not too long after having boarded we were offered a drink, and champagne was my choice.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 043 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 044 by desquiliano, on Flickr

Once we were airborne I made a visit to the lavatory. When I came out I was welcomed by an interesting scene. The whole group that came with the man in F was around him, along with a FA preparing an oxygen tank. I honestly thought I was going to witness a first death on board. Fortunately it was only for him to breath normally.

Well, right after that, meal service started. And these are the pictures.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 052 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 053 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 054 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 055 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 059 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 061 by desquiliano, on Flickr

After the meal I took the time to take a picture of the cabin. I would have wanted to do it from the front as well, but I didn't do it out of respect for the other people in the cabin.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 062 by desquiliano, on Flickr

This was a short flight, and in no time we were getting ready for landing.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 064 by desquiliano, on Flickr

I couldn't believe my eyes. I had seen this airport on several TRs, and I was finally here.


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 066 by desquiliano, on Flickr


Easter Break 2012 (Bangkok) - 071 by desquiliano, on Flickr

I was the first person the get off the plane, and a girl was waiting for me at the door. She escorted me to the diplomatic line for passport control, scheduled my massage for later that evening, and then took me to the tourist board counter. That is great service!

amolkold

Haha, I'm just about to post another part of my TR that has this flight (the nighttime HKG-BKK flight in F) and I had almost the exact same thing happen to me. Seems to be a common occurrence at HKG.