My wife and I married on a Saturday and left first thing 9:00 a.m. the next day on our Honeymoon. This report will likely take me a while to write as I want to incorporate restaurant reviews as well as hotel reviews into the report.
Below is a summary of the trip and my planned reports:
JFK-HKG- CX F- Hong Kong Day 1
- Hotel- Ritz Carlton Hong Kong
- Restaurant- Tin Lung Heen
- Hong Kong Day 2
- Explore Hong Kong- Victoria Peak
- Restaurant- Dim Sum Library
- Restaurant- Spring Moon
HKG-BKK- CX J- Airport Lounge- Cathay Pacific Pier
- Bangkok Day 3
- Hotel- The Siam
- Tailors
- Wife- Cotton House
- Me- Rajawongse Tailor
- Dinner at the The Siam
- Bangkok Day 4
- Explore Bangkok
- Restaurant- Nara Thai Cuisine
- Bangkok Day 5
- Explore Bangkok
- Restaurant- Gaggan
BKK-HKT- Thai Airways J- Airport Lounge, Thai Royal Silk Lounge
- Phuket Days 6-10
- Hotel Amanpuri
- Diving- Similan Islands
- Aman I excursion to Phang Nga Bay
HKT-CNX- Bangkok Airways Economy- Airport Lounge- Bangkok Airways Lounge
- Chiang Mai Day 10
- Hotel- Anantara Chiang Mai
- Explore Chiang Mai
- Restaurant- Baanrai Yarmyen Thai Cuisine
- Chiang Mai Day 11
- Explore Chiang Mai
- Spa at Anantara
- Dinner at The Service 1921
Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai- Car Service - Chiang Rai Day 12-13
- Hotel- The Four Seasons Tented Camp
- ELEPHANTS!
Chiang Rai-BKK Thai Smile Economy- Bangkok Day 14
- Hotel- The Peninsula
- Dinner- Suhring
BKK-TYO- JAL J- Airport Lounge- Sakura Lounge Bangkok
- Tokyo Day 15-18
- Hotel- Ritz Carlton Tokyo
- Restaurant- Afuri Ramen in Ebisu
- Day Trip- Nikko
- Restaurant- L'Effervescence
- Day Trip Kawagoe
- Restaurant- Sushi Harutaka
- Explore Tokyo/shopping
- Restaurant- Ukatei Omotesando
- Asaba Ryokan Day 19
- Tokyo Day 20
- Hotel- Aman Tokyo
- Afternoon tea, spa, and pool
- Restaurant- Ryugin
TYO-JFK- JAL F- Airport Lounge- JAL Sakura Lounge First Class
FIN
We used our AS miles to book all our flights, which includes CX F from JFK to HKG, CX J (plane was changed last minute, with no F) from HKG-BKK. We then booked J on Thai Air from BKK-Phuket, Bangkok Air Economy from Phuket to Chiang Mai, Thai Smile from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, JAL J from BKK-TYO, and JAL F from TYO-JFK. Our trip began in style by flying CX F to Hong Kong from JFK. Overall, the flight was smooth and the amount of room was impressive, but as will be discussed later, I think JAL F blows CX F out of the water. I found the CX seat a little worn and the IFE system dated. Service was great in the sense that the stewards traveled by constantly to make sure we were comfortable, but it lacked the warmth we received from JAL, or the notice that we were on our Honeymoon. I will say that CX pajamas were the best plane pajamas we have received. Food was good but not as unique or interesting as JAL’s. Menu and pics of food below. I can never sleep on a plane, regardless of how comfortable or how long the flight is, so for 16 hours I ate, drank, and watched a ton of movies.
We landed in Hong Kong and took the train system straight to the Ritz Carlton where we spent two nights. Arrival was fairly easy and straightforward as the RC is located directly on the subway line that connects with the airport. Total travel time from airport to RC was about an hour. A lot has been spoken on this forum about the RC’s location (Kowloon side), and how it is not very central to the city. We honestly loved this. The views from our room were incredible, and it was never difficult to make our way to the central area (either subway or car).
We arrived to an incredibly warm greeting by the RC staff. We booked the Harbor view club room, and as the pictures can attest, it was incredible. I highly recommend when staying at an RC to book a club room because of the value you get for it. Upon arrival, we were escorted to the club room on the 116 floor to check in, wherein we were wished a Happy Honeymoon, plied with booze, and offered to either enjoy afternoon tea at the club, or go straight to our room. The choice was obvious.
Following a very nice afternoon tea spread, we were taken to our room on the 108 floor, where we were pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of wine, some cake, and a Happy Honeymoon sign waiting for us. The RC concierge had reached out to me to try to get some pictures of us from our wedding to decorate the room, but unfortunately, our photographer did not have them ready. Regardless, this was a very thoughtful gesture and it made is feel special. The room was very large by Asian hotel standards (and even some Western), decorated with ornate patterns, and lacquer finishes. The bed was either the comfiest bed in the world, or I had reached delirious levels of lack of sleep, but the moment we landed on it we took a 6 hour nap.
We awoke in the evening with a reminder call and some coffee in our room and made our way to Tin Lung Heen downstairs, where we had a reservation waiting. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and is predominately an elevated Cantonese tasting menu. We were still mostly full from our plane ride, so we opted for the Michelin Degustation Menu, which is a little lighter (and slightly cheaper) than the other option. The restaurant continues the lavish ornate theme, with gold and lacquer accentuated by large fire pits scattered throughout, and large floor to ceiling windows that give a magnificent view of the city.
The dishes were mostly a hit, with the Iberian pork and wagyu being the star. However, I am not a fan of abalone, and mostly cringe every time I see it served. I think it is a texture thing but I just cannot stand the chewiness. In retrospect I should I have mentioned this early on, but oh well. We opted for the wine pairings as well, and for the most part each option complimented the courses well, except for the main dish. For the wagyu pairing, the sommelier served us two glasses of red: a full-bodied dry Bordeaux, and a fruitier option. Both were meant to pair off with the earthiness of the shitake mushrooms and richness of the beef, and you were supposed to switch off between the wines to accentuate the different flavors. Perhaps our palates haven’t reached that level of haute cuisine critique necessary to do this, but we found that the mix of wines just created a hot mess of flavors for us, and made the courses taste worse, not better. There was simply too much going on in each of the wines and the dish for us to be able to enjoy both wines and the meat correctly. While dining, we spoke with our waiter, and informed him that we had some food goals while we were in Hong Kong. We wanted to sample Peking duck (we have had it in NYC but we wanted to compare), and we wanted some good dim sum. For Peking duck, he suggested we make a reservation at Spring Moon at the Peninsula Hotel, and for dim sum, he gave us a few suggestions including Dim Sum library, which I recalled another flyertalk member suggesting. He offered to talk to our concierge about making reservations for both, and we agreed to go to Dim Sum Library for lunch and Spring Moon for dinner the next day.