I arrive at 06:30am in HKG 19 May on a RTW via CX889 from JFK, then leave on CX731 at 16:10 same day to BAH. Business Class. I will still have 1-2 flights available to me on the DOWE3 ticket, so ... aside from the obvious need for shower and rest, and staying in The Wing, are there any other things I could do? Not much in the airport, I know. Is it worth taking the train into HK? Or would it be better to try to find a short flight somewhere and just rack up the tier points/miles and become even more a zombie? Would appreciate your thoughts...

Miles you can earn anytime, but Hong Kong is worth enjoying all the time. While I have spent plenty of time at The Wing (love the noodle bar), I highly recoomend taking the train into the city and treating yourself to some great dim sum, and catching the Star Ferry over to Kowloon and snacking on some egg custard tarts while strolling around. But before you do that, you might visit the Shanghai Tang store in Central. I find it always interesting and a great place to shop for someone at home or for yourself. You can go crazy trying to do too much such as the Victoria Tram ride, but I find just walking around to be the best way to spend a few hours.

If you've never been to HKG, you MUST go to the city. Take the star ferry to the Kowloon side, and just look at the skyline. I could easily kill more than 8 hours just doing that.

Walk up Nathan Street while you're in Kowloon.

It's too bad you're not there for an overnight -- the views of HKG at night are absolutely stunning.

A link to an organized bus tour leaving from HKG Airport.
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...an_61072.jhtml

Heck, I had an extra two hours to spare at CLK and went into HKG for 2 hours last weekend (and I'm there every 6-12 months anyway).

The airport express train takes only 23 minutes from CLK to Central and only 20 minutes from CLK to Kowloon. Trains run every 10 minutes or so. Buy a SAME-DAY RETURN ticket which costs the same as as a one-way ticket. HKD80 to Kowloon and HKD90 to Central. Critical difference is that from the Central station, you can actually walk out into the "city" whereas from Kowloon station, you definitely have to take one of the shuttle buses.

What I would suggest is the following. Buy a same day return tix to Central but get off at Kowloon station, take a shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn Golden Mile, the Hyatt, or the Jordan MTR station if you want to take a nice long stroll down (south) Nathan Road.

Have dim sum or breakfast/lunch at a hotel restaurant (unless you speak Cantonese, going into one of those cavernous restaurants will be a challenge but the food will be pretty good). Take a look at some eyewear at the many optical shops. Haggle down the price. Reach the southern end of Nathan Road and walk towards the HK Science Museum and Cultural Center Complex (maybe check out an exhibit). From there, there is a nice promenade with a view across the harbor of Hong Kong Island. That's assuming of course that the haze and pollution don't wipe out the view. Oh yeah, it's going to be hot and humid already in May, so wear light natural fabrics. Shorts and sandals are fine for casual wear in HKG (although you may feel uncomfortable if you want to visit some of the upscale boutiques across the harbor in Central).

After taking a stroll/walk along the promenade, make your way over to the Star Ferry terminal. Take the ferry to Wanchai for about HKD2.30. Ferry should take about 10 minutes to cross and another 10 minutes max wait. From Wanchai, you can walk or take the tram (HKD1.50 or HKD2.00) and slowly make your way toward the airport train station in Central (the station is called Hong Kong Station and is accessible from the Exchange Square complex of buildings or via the Central MTR station), passing by the major architectural landmarks in HKG such as the Cheung Kong Building, the Bank of China Building, and the HK Shanghai Bank Building. If you were short on time, you could take the ferry from Kowloon to Central directly and then take a 5-10 minute walk to Hong Kong Station. Very easy overall.

Major shopping complexes on the Kowloon side include Harbour City/Ocean Terminal (next to the Star Ferry Terminus), while two other big ones are Pacific Place in Admiralty/HKG (also next to the Conrad Hotel) and the Landmark Building in Central/HKG. Upscale boutiques in all three. Mass merchants in the first two as well.

As per Randy's suggestion, Shanghai Tang has several locations, including its flagship on Pedder Street in Central (there's also one at the airport and in NYC).

Don't forget about Victoria Peak...A MUST see...Great views.

Victoria Peak is cool. Why not get a suit and some shirts made?

In 8 hours??? Come on, I know they're fast, but not THAT fast!

For suits, you'd have to swing back thru for your final fitting and to pick them up (or they could mail them).

But, shirts they can just mail, and the value is tremendous.

Is there access to the other side of the island, where the very large Buddha is on the mountain? A great vegetarian lunch by the monestary is part of the tour of the complex. It was excellent. I have been wondering if the airport has changed the island. It was so peaceful and laid back and undeveloped, when I was there 3 years ago. That island is certainly a place for new major resort hotels to be developed. Especially now that there is access other then ferries.

Or if you are pressed for time and don't wanna head into the city, you can visit the Reuters Internet lounge on level 7 and post on flyertalk! (like I am doing right now!).