offerendum

Oh,first it officially was a 3 class flight (without F), so I ended in the J section. While I could handle this the flight was 3 hours late and I missed my flight in SGN and while during Chinese New Year no other flight was available I had to take a cab. Seen from now some kind of funny but definitively not an experience I would like to share again.

CGRA

IIRC plus a flat tire ?

offerendum

Yes, you remember correctly.

Duke787

Love the TR thus far! Had the pleasure of flying on the UD on a CX 747 last year.

Sadly our HKG - HND CX F earlier this year was swapped to the 77W so never had the chance to experience the CX F on the 747

puls

Bo Innovation, Hong Kong

I’m not sure where I first heard of this restaurant, but we’ve had a decent number of fine dining experience back home in San Francisco and wanted to see how it’s done outside the states, so it seemed like a no-brainer to make a reservation at Bo Innovation. I emailed the restaurant just over two months in advance and had no trouble reserving a table.

We arrived at the top of the elevator that serves as the restaurant’s entrance to a rendering of the city’s rail transit map in neon light.



We were promptly shown to our seats where we decided on the “chef menu” (as opposed to the “chef’s table menu”, which differed only by two main courses versus one) and we did one regular pairing and one reserve pairing.

We started with a couple of glasses of Champagne from Bruno Paillard.



Hot towels were compressed and then hydrated in front of us, an interesting effect.



Amuse bouche: crispy egg waffle with scallion and scallion oil.



First pairing was Dom Pérignon P2 Champagne 1998 for one of us and Wicks Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2015 for the other.




First course: “Air”, century egg, pickled young ginger.



Second course: “Caviar”, smoked quail egg, crispy taro nest.



Third course: “Oyster”, duck tongue, jelly fish, sichuan green sauce.



Second pairing was Laurent Dupatis Chablis Grand Cru “Les Preuses" 2011 for one of us and Massolino Moscato d’Asti 2011 for the other.




Fourth course: “Bamboo”, foie gras, “chu yeh ching” miso, indian lettuce stem, green apple, winter bamboo shoot.



Next pairing was only on the regular pairing track, as the reserve pairing continued with the Chablis for several more courses: Parés Baltŕ Penedčs “Electio Microcuvée” 2012.



Fifth course: “Umami”, kitimat spot prawn, har mi oil, “wok air” powder.



Another regular-pairing-only wine: Christian Collovray–Jean-Luc Terrier Pouilly-Fuissé “Vielles Vignes” 2014.



Sixth course: “Molecular” “xiao long bao”.



Seventh course: “Tomato”, “pat chun” chinese vinegar, fermented chinese olives “lam kok”, marshmallow with green onion oil.



Next pairing was Maison Roche de Bellene Clos de Vougeot “Grand Cru” 1996 for one and Kruger-Rumpf Spätburgunder “R” 2012.




Eighth course: “Wild Haida Gwaii Cod”, lotus.



Ninth course: “Brittany Blue Lobster”, “Bo” chilli sauce, charred corn, shrimp dumpling.



Tenth course / palate cleanser: “Mao Tai”, hawthorn, lemongrass, passion fruit.



Main course pairing: Château Latour “Le Pauillac de Latour” 2010 and Château Pichon Longueville Pauillac “Comtesse de Lalande” 2013.




Eleventh / main course: “Organic ‘Long Jiang’ Chicken”, “Bo” chicken rice, wood ear fungus, golden pin, shiitake mushroom, lotus leaf.





Dessert pairing: Klein Constantia Riesling “Vin de Constance” 2011 and Schlossgut Diel “Demon Riesling” 2012, a wine made exclusively for this restaurant.




Twelfth course: “No Shark Fin”, mango, coconut, shark fin squash.



Thirteenth course: “Bo Baba”, chestnut, sugar cane, imo.



Mignardises: “Eight Treasures”.





Finally, to top it all off: candy service.



The review

It’s a rare occurrence that a meal of this magnitude manages to pull off such a string of fantastic dishes and tastes. The foie gras and caviar were nice touches—and original takes on those nice touches—but other dishes like the molecular xiao long bao and the lobster and charred corn har gow created instant and indelible memories of Hong Kong for us in a single bite.

The dishes seemed a bit gimmicky at first delivery, but when all of the smoke and mirrors gives way to undeniably delicious food, the overall effect is elevated to another level.

The only really surprising parts were to see that the dress code apparently is nothing more than “at least short sleeves” and to see the chef spend our entire meal serving and drinking champagne at the bar and leaving the kitchen duties to his staff. But neither took away from one of the finest meals we’ve ever had.

belugalove

Great report! I flew JL F from ORD-NRT and CX F HND-HKG last week, and while I appreciated the nostalgia of being in 1K on the Cathay 747, my JL flight was far superior in service, seat, and especially catering, although I did find the Amour to be more palatable than the Salon. Can't wait to see the rest!

puls

Thanks for reading, Duke787!

Thanks for your perspective, belugalove! I have a JL F daytime flight coming up next spring on LAX-NRT, so I'm hoping to get the proper comparison.

puls

Hong Kong Airport Terminal 2

After a couple of transfers on the MTR, the Airport Express dropped us off at Airport Station, where Terminal 1 is on one side and Terminal 2 is on the other. (Clever!)

The entrance to Terminal 2 is, might I say, a bit grander than I’ve come to expect back in the states.



Fearing crazy lines to check in for this low-cost carrier flight, we arrived with plenty of time to spare; the line we ended up in included all of two people in front of us.



Since we had prepaid for everything, checking in was a pretty standard affair that only took a couple of minutes tops and we were on our way to the train. Passport control and security were extremely quick and courteous, just like our other experiences getting into and out of Hong Kong.




Not only were we checking in at Terminal 2, but we were also departing from the new remote concourse’s 200-series gates, so we had another train ride before we found our destination.




The downside of the remote concourse is that it doesn’t have any lounges yet. They’re under construction. So we stopped for a bowl of macaroni and beef soup with fried eggs on top (Is this a real dish in Hong Kong or was somebody pulling a fast one?) and milk tea and made our way to the gate.

puls

AirAsia 236, Hong Kong (HKG)–Kota Kinabalu (BKI)
September 2nd, 2016
9:55 am–12:55 pm
Airbus A320 9M-AJX
Seats 14E/F (Exit row middle/window)

The size of gate facilities might have been just a little overkill for the size of the plane parked there.




Everybody lined up in an orderly fashion to board, as seems to be standard procedure in Hong Kong.



We had prebooked the exit row, which had the tightest pitch of any exit row I’ve encountered but was still more than comfortable enough.




The plane pushed back about ten minutes late.

Planes on taxi included this Jet Airways 332.



Cebu Pacific 320 (with sharklets!)



Air Astana 752.



Thai Airways 333.



Cathay Pacific 77W and Dragonair 320.



After the pilot (with this strong American accent) maneuvered the plane into the sky in a wholly unremarkable fashion, I took a look at the inflight menu, which was really attractively done.

















Based on the reviews I read, I had pre-booked meals, one nasi lemak and one mee goreng. Due to some vagaries of the booking/upsell/bundling process, we also ended up with pocket pies and two waters apiece, and this definitely earned us a look of “Ugh, look at these Americans” from the flight attendants.







The didn’t look quite like they were advertised, but they did taste way better than anything I’ve had in economy in the Western Hemisphere recently.

After that, a couple hours of quiet time. AirAsia has wifi and streaming in-flight entertainment, but I wasn’t feeling interested enough in watching anything to pay up.

On descent into Kota Kinabalu, the flight attendants announced they would be fumigating the cabin.



First view of Borneo.



After landing, we taxied to Kota Kinabalu’s main Terminal 1, as the low-cost Terminal 2 is officially defunct. We dawdled a bit on the way to passport control and found ourselves at the end of a rather long line, but another half hour later we were welcomed to “Sabah and West Malaysia”.



We bought a prepaid taxi voucher at the taxi counter, a system that seems to work very well; we had no worries about exact change or unlicensed vehicles. At 30 ringgit, it was still some three times as expensive as an UberX, but there was no wait.

Fifteen minutes later, we were at our hotel.

The review

Our expectations were pretty low, and AirAsia easily exceeded them. This was the “worst” flight of the trip, but the rest of them were in first class, and there was nothing wrong with it at all. The food was great for the price (13 ringgit is less than four US dollars per meal) and the service was, um, better than United.

All told, this was far and away a better option than any option with a connection somewhere on a full-service carrier.

puls

Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu

As a longtime SPG loyalist and a fan of Le Méridien in particular, this was an obvious choice. I booked two separate stays bookending the mountain trek.

Our arrival at the front entrance of the hotel was greeted by a pair of eager porters happy to bring our bags into the lobby for us.





We walked to the front desk, where we checked in and found out about our upgrade from the sea view room I’d booked to the “newly-renovated deluxe vista room”. It was also “SPG appreciation week”, and as an additional perk, we got… two lollipops. No joke.



Anyway, the room was, indeed, newly renovated, if a little incongruously furnished.






The ocean view was pretty spectacular, too.



It was a shame, then, that the renovations had been done somewhat poorly: the wifi didn’t work in our first room, and in the second room, the bathroom hadn’t quite been finished, with fixtures installed haphazardly and the shower leaking water all over the floor.




Since the prices in Kota Kinabalu are about a third of what they are in Hong Kong, we sprang for the elaborate buffet breakfast every day. It featured a fantastic variety of dishes, both international and local.









The review

This hotel wasn’t without its quirks and problems, but it was really nice overall. The location was super central, the breakfast was great, and the service was top notch. There are other options in Kota Kinabalu, to be sure, but I’d see no reason not to stay here again.

puls

Trek up Mount Kinabalu

After a bit of Googling, we booked the three day/two night deluxe private room package from Amazing Borneo which was totally all-inclusive. The adventure began with a prompt pickup from our hotel just after noon. This big bus brought just five of us up to the mountain.



Two hours of amazing scenery brought us to the front gate of Kinabalu National Park.





We promptly checked in to our accommodations for the first night, the luxurious Liwagu Suite No. 1. We didn’t really know what to expect, from power to running and/or hot water to anything else, and what we got was… really nice. A one-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom loft suite with a big television and a comfy bed.










A total of four meals came from the main restaurant at the park headquarters, which was nothing to write home about. But then again, we didn’t come all this way for the cuisine.





Without much to do after dark, we called it an early night to get up and have breakfast before setting out on the main event: the climb up the mountain. 8:30 am saw us getting our climb badges, meeting our guide, and getting a ride to the start of the climb at Timpohon Gate, elevation 1866 meters or 6122 feet.




For the next six hours, we went up, up, and up some more, alternating among clear skies and fog and rain on an endless staircase.







Every kilometer or so, we had a chance to stop at a pondok or rest hut. Due to the sheer number of people climbing the mountain every day, these huts all have running water and flush toilets, even out here on the mountain.



Lunch.



After about seven hours on the mountain, of which maybe half was spent moving, we made it to the guesthouse at Laban Rata, elevation 3273 meters or 10738 feet.

It was a little too busy to take many discreet photos, but if you want an idea, DanielW included several in his trip report from the same place a few months ago.



I did, however, capture the sunset over the mountain.



Our “private heated room” was indeed private and heated, though the best feature had to be its exclusive supply of hot water in the shower. All of the building’s hot water is produced on site, and while there’s theoretically an equal allotment for everybody, having your own tank means not having to call dibs or running the risk of somebody else using it all up before you have a chance to shower.

At 2 am the next morning, it was time for some motivation and some headlamps as we continued upwards!







About half of the remaining path was more stairs before the last hour or so gave way to bare granite with an anchored rope to follow. We made it to the summit (elevation 4095 meters or 13435 feet) just a few minutes before the sunrise, which was—dare I say—one of those moments that makes traveling a third of the way around the world and then trekking for two days all seem worth it.



Of course, then we had to climb back down the mountain. On the one hand, gravity is working with you instead of against you, but on the other, it’s a lot more wear on the joints and after six and a half miles (not to mention the two and a half miles up right before it) we were sore in places we didn’t even know existed.




After a quick meal at the park headquarters restaurant, it was a two hour van ride back to Kota Kinabalu and an extremely nice shower back at Le Méridien.

Overall: one of the peak experiences (ha!) of my life. Probably one of the easier ultras to summit in the world (it’s the 20th-most-prominent peak) thanks to the well-traveled trail and lack of climbing skill necessary.

kevincrumbs

This was the most authentic HK thing you ate (or at least took a photograph of). I took an American GF to Hong Kong ages ago and this sort of thing was the food she disliked most. Anyway, for more on that style of food, Wikipedia's entry on Cha Chaan Teng (essentially Hong Kong diners) is decent.

Also, I like the combination of Bo Innovation and Air Asia

puls

Thanks for the info, kevincrumbs! I skipped taking photos of the rest of our meals, which struck me as more authentically Hong Kong.

I think in hindsight, I can say the food at Bo Innovation was better than the food on AirAsia.

puls

Ferries Kota Kinabalu–Labuan–Brunei

As I mentioned in the introduction, we decided to make the 100-mile trip down to Brunei by sea instead of by air just for a change of pace. It was significantly cheaper, but that’s not to say either option was particularly expensive; the two-leg boat ride was 63 ringgit ($16) per person, while the direct flight generally runs about 285 ringgit ($70) even as a last-minute refundable ticket.

We arrived at the Jesselton Point ferry terminal in Kota Kinabalu around 7 am for the 8 am boat. Purchasing tickets was relatively easy and boarding was right on time after a cursory passport check by the authorities.




The boat itself had clearly seen better days: even though seats were assigned, people were sitting wherever they wanted, mostly in the few seats that didn’t have large holes in the upholstery or a broken recline mechanism.



It was about a three-and-a-half hour ride, and the water was relatively smooth. The boat was extraordinarily air-conditioned and a single television up front playing a bootleg DVD with a ridiculously violent military movie for onboard entertainment.

Arrival at Labuan.



After a short layover where we got a light lunch and a small bucket of iced coffee, we went through passport control to exit Malaysia and boarded the second boat, which was slightly smaller but also slightly nicer.




An hour later, we arrived at the Muara ferry terminal in Brunei, whence we used the very limited cash we got from changing our last ringgit (no ATM at the terminal!) to board this minibus for a 45-minute ride into Bandar Seri Begawan.



The review

Next time I think I’ll fly.

offerendum

Generally I prefer ferries over planes. But I agree, it doesn't look too great.