17/11/12 – Hong Kong, the Old and the New, and Harry, the Awesomest Guide Ever.

Sleep. Sleep is good. Sleep is fantastic. After last night’s late night, we welcomed sleep like any sane person would. Our day didn’t start particularly late – we woke up at 9am, and headed down for breakfast in the hotel. The hotel put out quite a nice spread, but nothing overly fancy. Still, a free breakfast is always a good way to start a day.

We then headed out to explore Hong Kong by daylight. We started by exploring Sheung Wan, our local district, which is a more traditional area of Hong Kong, as opposed to the highly business-oriented area of Central, or the upper class area of Tsim Sha Tsui. Having only seen it the night before, when all of the stalls were shut, it was a very different experience during the day. Shops lined the streets, all of them selling various dried products, including pigs stomachs, lizards, countless types of fish, and shark fins. Huge baskets filled with other Asian delicacies were there also, too numerous to describe, or even comprehend what I was looking at.

We made our way to Upper Lascar Row, also known as Cat street Market. As it was still only about 10:30 or so in the morning, most of the stalls were yet to open. What we did have a look through though was quite interesting. Lots of little knick knacks, but nothing that really jumped out as something cool to buy.

Afterwards, we headed up to Man Mo Temple, a temple that was one of the first constructions in the Sheung Wan area. Inside, hundreds of incense coils burned, filling the temple with a distinct odour that really gave the building a revered feel. The combination the soft candle lanterns and the constant stream of worshippers coming in to pay their respects really added to the atmosphere in the temple. Unfortunately, there weren’t any real signs or instructions that explained the various rituals that people were undertaking, but it was  very interesting to observe, even from a mere tourist’s perspective.

We then made our way east towards the Shelley St escalators. The escalator is the world’s longest series of outdoor escalators. It amazed me how just when you got to the top of one of the escalators and you thought you had finally reached the top, there was another one just slightly further up the walkway. It ended up taking us about a good half hour to reach the top of the escalator system. It offered a great cross section of the levels of Hong Kong island as we climbed further up the steep slopes.

Funnily enough, the escalator ends rather unceremoniously onto quite a boring and drab street – clearly this was a utility used by the local populace, and not just built as a tourist attraction. We then walked down Peel street, and dropped in to a quiet Chinese restaurant for some lunch. Inside, there were only white diners, so it was clear that it wasn’t really a “local” restaurant. The food was very tasty, but not exactly what you would describe as “cheap”. We had quite a few small meals, as opposed to one big one, which worked well as we got to taste a nice variety of different chinese dishes, including dumplings, wonton prawns, crumbed tofu and some nice stir fried vegetables.

After lunch, we headed down through the Graham Street Wet Market. As opposed to the “dry” markets we saw at the start of the day, where all of the various produce was long dead, processed, dried and otherwise preserved, the wet market was well and truly “wet”. As we walked down the short street, we saw a range of fresh produce, ranging from fruit and vegetables, flowers and various cuts of meat, right through to live seafood being prepped right in front of you. It was certainly not an experience for the squeamish – I glanced in one store, only to see a worker slice up the body of a fish, its head still breathing, severed from its body. I found this incredibly shocking to look at, and was thankful I only saw the sight for a split second before looking away. I really did feel sorry for the fish, but I can’t really scream from the rooftops about animal rights and the like, as I am a regular fish-eater, and this is probably close to the treatment the fish get in Australia, albeit in a much less public performance.

We then walked along Queen’s Road, towards the Bank of China building. One thing I noticed along Queen’s road was the interesting dichotomy between the huge store fronts selling designer handbags and clothes, and right next door to them, crammed in perpendicular alleyways, knockoff versions of the very same designer handbags and clothes, only a few steps separating them. Strange how it works like that.

Anyways, our goal was to head up to the observation deck of the Bank of China building, to see Hong Kong from a heightened perspective. The building itself is very impressive, one of the most iconic buildings in Hong Kong. Go look up a picture of Hong Kong island skyline. Now, look for the one with the illuminated zig-zags on it. Yep, that one.

Sadly, the observation deck is closed on weekends – a fact I didn’t actually acknowledge from the guide.  Oh well… We skipped to the next thing on our “to do” list. We caught one of Hong Kong’s iconic trams back towards our hotel. We managed to stand on the top deck, and I promptly hit my head on the low ceiling. I got a derisive look from a lot of the locals on the tram – clearly I was a tram newbie and should have stayed on the lower deck where there is much more headroom.

The tram slowly trundled along through the Sheung Wan area, and we decided to get out a random stop and walk back to our hotel. We had overshot our hotel by quite a distance, so the walk back was fairly tiring. Upon arrival to the hotel, we collapsed into the bed for a quick half hour rest before going out for the evening. Tonight we were going to catch up with Harry, a mate of mine that I used to work with during my Kmart days.

We met Harry in Central early in the evening. He took us firstly to a modern area of Hong Kong, to the International Finance Centre, where we had a very nice dinner of Shanhai-nese cuisine. Most of the dishes were cold, but they were surprisingly tasty. Nothing we ate was particularly outlandish, possibly with the exception of the shredded jellyfish. It was not bad – it had almost a crunchy texture to it, and the sauce it was served with suited it well. We chatted over dinner about his job in Hong Kong. He works as an architect, and with Emma studying interior design (which isn’t pillows and curtains – it’s the architecture of interior spaces), we had lots to talk about.

Our next destination for dessert was Tin Hau, to an ice cream parlour that had opened recently. According to Harry, it was fairly out of the way, but it was definitely an experience worth trying. This parlour doesn’t serve your traditional flavours of ice cream. Instead, it serves liquid-nitrogen chilled ice cream, with the flavours being derived from other food that one doesn’t usually associate with dessert. For example, I had “Hong Kong crunchy toast” flavoured ice cream. While that doesn’t sound very appealing, the savoury flavour and crunch of the toast mixed perfectly with the ice cream. Harry had “Earl Grey Tea” flavour, and Emma had “Purple Rice” flavour. All of which were very interesting in both flavour and texture.

I then mentioned to Harry that at some stage on the trip that I’d be keen to try egg waffles, a local street food dessert. And with that, he decided our next destination, a quick look into the Causeway Bay area, to get me some egg waffles.

A short subway ride later, and we were in another glitzy and glamorous section of Hong Kong. Apparently, according to Harry, this area of Hong Kong has the highest rent rates in the world. It doesn’t surprise me, with such a vast amount of designer labels. Thankfully, we found a solitary food stall left that sold the egg waffles – a far cry from the many that were here in the past, all of which had been pushed out due to skyrocketing rent.

Egg waffles are tasty. They’re like crunchy egg-sized pancakes, arranged in a net of two or three dozen miniature “eggs”. A very warm and comforting dessert. Through our continual strolling, we then found a rabbit store. Yes, a rabbit store. This store didn’t sell rabbit-themed home décor, or rabbit accessories, it sold rabbits. Yes, cute, fluffy, adorable rabbits. What’s more, at the several thousand $HKD they were charging for said rabbits, it is a safe assumption that they were in fact intended to be pets, and not to be food. I hate to say it, but after walking through the wet market earlier in the day, I had to hesitate before making that presumption.

After browsing around Causeway Bay a little more, Harry took us over the harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui, to our last destination for the night. I feel bad for not knowing the name of the building that we went in, but what was important was what was inside. At the very top, there is a fantastic bar called “Aqua”, where we drank a few cocktails, and took in the absolutely stunning views of Hong Kong island. From where we were sitting, to our left was the breathtaking view of Hong Kong island’s skyline, all lit up in a never ending light show of colours. To our right, the view of the mainland, Mong Kok, and the further outlying areas of Hong Kong. And, funnily enough, the skyscrapers reached as far as the eye could see. The only thing stopping them was the sharp mountainous terrain on the horizon. Although, I think all it will take is another economic boom for Hong Kong before they too get covered in apartment buildings.

We spent a good hour chatting away in the amazing bar, talking about everything from the good times we had at Kmart, right through to the current politics of Hong Kong and mainland China. Harry’s insights were fascinating to someone as uneducated as me on the matter.

We then caught the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong Island, and we parted ways. Harry, being the socialite that he is, had another party to go to that night. Whereas Emma and I, exhausted from our day of largely on-foot exploration of Hong Kong, retired back to our hotel room for another night of deep sleep.

I really enjoyed today. It was a great juxtaposition between the traditional ways of Hong Kong, and the ultra-modern, sleek Hong Kong that we experienced with Harry. It was fantastic to hang out with Harry. He really showed us some fantastic parts of Hong Kong which we wouldn't have seen without his guidance.even more so, it was just nice to catch up with him after not seeing him for the past ten months. I wish him all the best in his career in Hong Kong, and will definitely catch up with him again when he returns to Australia in a years’ time.

Tomorrow: Mainland Hong Kong! Mong Kok! Markets! Stuff!

16/11/12 – Brisbane to Hong Kong, and the Beginning of Something Great.

Don’t you just love it when things work? It makes life so much easier when things go according to plan. Case in point, my meticulous planning of the beginning of our trip to Asia has (so far) gone off without a hitch. As stated in the previous entry, I had a very tight connection time between my flight to Sydney and my flight to Hong Kong. But things… just… worked. Which is a nice change compared to my last international outing with Qantas, where each flight was delayed, and each time a flight was delayed, there were compounding delays connecting to other flights. Read on to see what it is like to fly when everything works effortlessly.

Our trip began nice and early, with a 5am wake up call to get to the airport in time for our flight down to Sydney. Emma’s mother, Jen, was kind enough to give us a lift to the airport at this ungodly hour, saving us the obscene cost of a taxi to the airport.

Qantas airways flight QF8, BNE – SYD

Boeing 747-400ER VH-OEG “Parkes”

Intended Pushback: 0745
Actual Pushback: 0754

Intended Arrival: 1015

Actual Arrival: 1015

Seat: 43A

As mentioned in the previous report, one of the dangers of taking this otherwise run-of-the-mill Brisbane-Sydney flight is that this particular jet’s previous point of departure is Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Because of this, even though for passengers joining the flight at Brisbane it is a domestic sector, it departs and arrives in at the international terminals. While usually this is an inconvenience, having to clear customs and whatnot, for passengers continuing on on another international flight from Sydney, this works out very well, as you don’t have to waste a significant amount of time transferring between Sydney’s domestic and international terminals, which involves a long, but frequent bus ride across the tarmac.

Anyway, we rocked up at the international terminal for our domestic flight down to Sydney. We stood in line, and were soon helped by the lovely check in agent, Melina. Having the previous day scored an upgrade to business class on our flight out of Sydney, I couldn’t help but plead with her to see if I could get Emma in business class next to me. Sadly, it was not to be, as she informed me that it would cost several thousand dollars to upgrade her. No thanks, not for a 9 hour flight.

She did however, do everything she could to make our first flight down to Sydney and our time at Sydney airport as enjoyable and smooth as possible. Firstly, she changed our allocated seats to the very front of economy. We had a bulkhead row, which meant no leg room issues, and we were also pretty much first off of the plane for economy passengers. She then gave us express passes to clear immigration quickly, and rang up the Sydney business class lounge to get Emma an invitation into the lounge as well. She also tagged our bags with business class stickers so that they’d be first off the plane when we arrived in at Hong Kong. All in all, fantastic service and it really got me in the mood for travelling. So much so that I wrote an email to Qantas congratulating them on such an exemplary staff member.

After grabbing a super healthy breakfast of hot chips from Red Rooster, we made our way speedily through immigration, and were soon airside at Brisbane’s international terminal. We had a quick browse through the shops, but we literally had about three minutes before boarding commenced. I hurriedly took photos of all of the aircraft at their gates, and then made my way to the gate to board the aircraft.

Soon everybody was on board, and we were off on our way a mere nine minutes behind schedule. Not bad for a flight that often runs up to three hours late. Strangely enough, even though everyone has seat-back screens, the safety demonstration was done manually, with even the speech being read out by a crew member, and not pre recorded. The take-off was powerful. Very powerful. We rocketed down the runway, and after a quick turn to the right over Moreton bay, we were Sydney-bound.

This was one of Qantas’ retrofitted 747’s – it had almost the exact same in flight entertainment as their flagship product, the A380. The seats were for all intents and purposes, the same as the A380’s, and the only difference with the IFE was the handset on the 747 was a lot smaller and lacked the built in keyboard that the A380 one has.

Breakfast was soon served. For Emma, she had the gluten free option, which looked and tasted about as appetising as plastic rice-shaped pieces of cardboard. I had some form of apple danish and a small yoghurt. Much more enjoyable for this short flight.

Being such a short flight, I didn’t bother watching anything on the IFE. Instead, I switched it to the customary flight path viewer, and used the view out my window as my source of entertainment. The flight progressed quickly, and there wasn’t much in the way of views to be seen, as the first half of the flight was quite hazy, and the second half was completely covered in fluffy white clouds. Our approach into Sydney was rough and rainy. No breathtaking views of the harbour or opera house this time, sadly.

According to the customer service manager, our touchdown in Sydney was “about as smooth as it gets on a 747”. It’s nice not to bounce down the runway when you land.

We were then off the plane in a dash, and we made our way through the transfer security check, and then were quickly at Sydney International, airside. Our first and only destination today would be the Qantas business lounge. Sadly, due to the very tight connection times, we only had about 20 minutes in the lounge, but from what I experienced, it was very nice and spiffy. They were serving breakfast at the time, and it was the equivalent of a high-class hotel’s buffet breakfast. Lots of different options, including hash browns, which Emma enjoyed immensely. I had a plate of sausages, baked beans and a few pastries. Very tasty stuff. Emma had the aforementioned hash browns and some nice Greek yoghurt. The lounge also had shower facilities and very nice bathrooms, but I sadly didn’t get to use either, due to our very short stay.

We then headed to our gate, and boarded the our flight to Hong Kong. For only the second time ever, I walked down the priority “Business/First” lane, and left Emma for my highly enjoyable flight ahead.

Qantas Airways flight QF127 SYD-HKG

Airbus A380-800, VH-OQC “Paul McGuinness”

Intended Pushback: 1140

Actual Pushback:  1139

Intended Arrival: 1745

Actual Arrival:

Captain: Mark Huxtable

Seat: 12K

Firstly, it is strange walking *uphill* on a jetbridge. Usually you walk down to the aircraft – I guess it just shows how massive an aircraft the A380 is. There is a great feeling when you board an aircraft, and instead of turning right and heading into economy class, you are able to turn left, and head into the premium areas. I was afraid that I was going to miss out on this silly experience, as Qantas’ business class on the A380 takes up most of the upper deck. Luckily though, I was in only the second row of business class, and the jetbridge is connected about a quarter of the way down the fuselage of the plane, meaning I got to partake in the stupid ritual of turning left, instead of right.

Wow. That’s all I can say about Qantas’ business class product. Having seen photos of it online, I thought it would be very drab and colourless, but the stylish silver and grey look of the cabin makes it feel very modern and swish. The seat is fantastic – I’m a tall guy at 195cm and even with my legs stretched fully out, I was unable to touch the seat in front of me. The seat has comfortable cushions, perfect for a long haul flight. Each window seat has several storage bins next to your armrest, which you can store your personal belongings in, as well as an overhead locker. Your entertainment screen is large, and motorised, meaning it deploys from its hidden spot in the armrest at a touch of a button. You also have a nice privacy divider between seats, too, if you choose not to socialise with your seatmate. I didn’t have a seatmate on this flight, so I didn’t really use it very much.

No more than three minutes after I first sat down in my seat, a lovely flight attendant was at my side with a glass of champagne. I don’t know what we’re celebrating exactly, but hey, free champagne is a great way to start a flight.

I continued to fiddle around with the seat until the aircraft pushed back. We slowly lumbered our way out to the runway, and we were soon airborne. Once again, the A380’s take-off wasn’t particularly powerful. It seemed to just trundle down the runway, and then at the last second go “Oh, you actually want to fly? Sure, why not.”

One of the amazing things about the A380 is how quiet it is. I’ve said this plenty of times before when in economy, and it is even more noticeable when you’re on the upper deck and at the very front of the plane. Combine this with the noise cancelling headphones that Qantas give you, and you have a near silent flight to enjoy.

Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendants came around on another drinks run, hot towel run, and a personalised welcome to each passenger. They even knew my name! That was awesome.

Then, about an hour into the flight, they took orders for lunch. This is what I had:

Entrée:

Duck and Pistachio Terrine with Spiced Apple Chutney and Watercress Salad

Main:

150 Day Old Grain Fed Sirloin with Black Vinegar Vegetables, Fragrant Rice and Chilli Sauce

Dessert:

Profiteroles Filled with Vanilla Cream, served with Fudge Sauce.

--

In a word, delicious. All of the food was a very high standard. The duck terrine was a nice starter, the beef was succulent and tasty, and the dessert while nothing particularly fancy, was very comforting. I had two (possibly three) glasses of red wine with this meal, too. I had no idea what I was drinking, but the flight attendant assured me that it was good and sufficiently fancy. I’ll take her word for it.

Over lunch, I watched an episode of “An Idiot Abroad”. Karl Pilkington, although stupid is quite hilariously profound in his observations. I decided to watch the Japan episode, to get me in the mood for the rest of our trip. It worked.

After being stuffed with food, I watched an episode of “Life’s Too Short”. I didn’t find it particularly funny, I guess that that very awkward and subtle and macabre humour isn’t for me.

One of the flight attendants then suggested that I have a drink with Emma, who was currently seated down in economy. I thought that would be a great idea, so they went down and got her, and brought her to the lounge at the front of the aircraft so we could share a drink. Yes, that’s right, this plane is so freaking huge that it has a lounge on board. Admittedly it is just two sofas and a TV, but when said two sofas and TV are 12 kilometres up in the air, it suddenly becomes a lot more impressive. Emma soon joined us, and we chatted to the other people in the lounge for about an hour. She found it to be a pleasant surprise being invited up here, and we had a nice glass of champagne to toast to our holiday ahead. We then raided the chocolate macaroons on offer, and Emma had a glass of red wine to finish off. I then walked down the spiral staircase at the rear of the plane, and took her back to economy. It was bizarre walking down a staircase and discovering that there is a whole other deck of people below you on this aircraft. Gigantic doesn’t nearly sum up the size of the A380.

Upon returning to my seat, I just had to try out the “bed” feature. Yes, that’s right, the seat converts into a completely lie-flat seat, and is cushioned enough to act like a very comfortable bed. And it is very comfortable indeed. Unfortunately, I tried for about an hour to get to sleep, but with all of the sugar and alcohol in my system, I was unable to sleep in any way shape or form. It was good to actually try out. I’ve never laid down 12 kilometres up in the air, and at least now I can say that I have.

By this stage, we were flying over Indonesia, and once again the flight path and window provided the perfect in flight entertainment. I set my seat to some form of cradle-relax-mode-thingy, and stared out one of the three windows devoted to my seat. Did I mention the chair has a massage function as well? Yep, it has a goddamn massage function! Best. Flight. Evar!

After a few hours of daydreaming (and writing this trip report), I headed back downstairs to see Emma again. I brought her another delicious chocolate macaroon, which she seemed to really enjoy.  We talked for a little bit, and then she showed me her seat, the excellent 80K (which I pre-selected for her). As I’ve mentioned in the past, when travelling in economy on Qantas’ A380, this is by far the best seat in economy. It has the legroom of business class, and is an excellent choice for those who like a window seat, but also like to get up frequently, as you don’t have to disturb passengers to leave the seat.

When I returned to my seat, it was time for more meals. Yes, MOAR MEALS. This time, it was a light, pre-arrival snack. I chose to have the Chorizo Roll with Caramelised Onion and Rocket. It was served nice and warm, straight from the oven, and the bread was nice and tasty, and the chorizo was packed with flavour. The perfect snack before landing.

I then filled out my immigration form, and sat back and enjoyed the last hour or so in my fancy pants business class seat, staring out over the South China Sea. As I was busy doing nothing but relaxing, Marc, the customer service manager, brought someone very special up to business class for me. I was surprised and overjoyed when I saw Emma there.

Marc said “Hello, look who I found. Your girlfriend can sit with you for the rest of the flight. She can stay in business for the landing.” I was really, really happy to get to share the experience with Emma, even if it was just for an hour or so. Marc even got us each another glass of champagne each to enjoy together.

Then, out of nowhere, another attendant, Katrina, brought Emma her own amenity kit to make her feel even more spoilt. We then had a lovely chat with her about our upcoming holiday and the most awesome bits of Japan that we were looking forward to. A really nice level of personal customer service.

As a final treat before landing, I asked one of the friendly flight attendants if it would be alright if I could see the cockpit on my disembarking from the aircraft. A few minutes later, she returned and informed me that that would be no issue. I would have to wait until the passengers have left, but if I were happy to do that, then it would be no problem at all.

Sadly, like our approach into Sydney earlier in the day, there were no awesome views of Hong Kong on our approach. All we saw was clouds until about two minutes before landing.

When we were on the ground, Emma and I then got to not only look at the cockpit and chat to the pilots, which was fascinating, but we also got to look at Qantas’ prestigious first class section. It looked amazing, but I knew that I’d absolutely never be able to afford it. Oh well, it was interesting to sit in the seat, only if just for a minute.

So, is Business class worth the price? If you are a very high income earner, or you fly frequently enough to upgrade a lot, then yes, it is worth the price. For someone like me though? A person who goes on one, maybe two international trips a year? I simply couldn’t justify the ~$4000 return trip ticket price.

That being said though, the next time I have enough points to upgrade to business class, I will in a heartbeat. The pre-flight benefits are awesome, the on-board service is fantastic and genuine, the food is delicious, and the seat. My GOD, the seat! This was the most comfortable flight I’ve ever been on, easily. I just wish that it was longer… I could happily do LAX – Melbourne in one of these seats, and not feel the slightest bit of discomfort.

Alright, now after nearly THREE THOUSAND words on flights, I suppose you’re wondering if I’m ever actually going to talk about Hong Kong? Well yes, here we go.

Immigration and customs were painless enough, customs especially, which was basically walking through the exit, with no checks whatsoever. We then bought an octopus card each (Hong Kong’s public transport card), and then got on the airport express to the city.

Half an hour later, and we were in the middle of bustling Hong Kong station. We headed above ground for a little bit, and discovered just how crazy-pants busy Hong Kong is. Dazed and quite tired after our long day, we stumbled our way into Central Station, where we then caught another local train to Sheung Wan.

One long and confusing walk to our hotel later, and we were finally at Hong Kong, safe and sound. We then got changed out of our travelling clothes (I dressed up all smart-like for the business class flight, as did Emma in case she got upgraded), and into something more comfortable. We had one goal in mind for tonight, and an excellent way to start our adventure in Hong Kong – the Star Ferry across Hong Kong Harbour, to see the Hong Kong skyline.

After catching a train across to Tsim Sha Tsui, we had a wander down the highly posh streets of this district – every high-class name brand had a store here – Chanel, Tiffany’s, Louis Vutton. They were all here. What’s more, they appeared to be their flagship stores for the Asia region. They were all massively impressive – so much so that it puts New York’s 5^th Avenue to shame.

We then made our way down to the ferry, and paid the ridiculously cheap travel fee of HKD$2.50 ($0.30 AUD) for the opportunity to see the best view of Hong Kong’s skyline. Even on the fairly hazy and rainy night that was tonight, it was a true sight to behold – something that I won’t forget in a hurry.

By this stage, it was getting late, with Emma and I having been awake for somewhere in the region of 20 hours. And myself, running on only 4 hours sleep from the previous night, too, were definitely feeling the effects. We staggered in to a “Circle K”, basically a 7-Eleven, and bought some microwave meals to eat back at the hotel. A short walk later, and we were back at the hotel. Our first warning sign as to the quality of said meals should have been the price. At HKD$15 ($2AUD), they were very very cheap. They also tasted very very cheap. Mine was some form of chicken, pork and sausage on rice. While I wasn’t expecting a gourmet experience from this microwave meal, it was particularly bad. The chicken had so many bones in it that I’m pretty sure they put the carcass of said chicken through a mulcher before cooking it and whacking it on top of some tasteless rice. Oh well, the experience, while unpleasant, was certainly humorous to us in our sleep-deprived delirium.

Speaking of which, it’s now almost 1am here. That means it’s 3am in Brisbane, and that means that I’ve gone without sleep for 22 hours. I'm running on like 4 hours sleep from the past 48. Time to stop typing and start sleepialglakent.................2329)))))))))))d.ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Tomorrow: Exploring Hong Kong Island! Meeting with Harry!

15/11/12 - Preparation begins, Excitement builds.

So yeah, like my usual self, I completely dropped the ball on the whole "finish the previous trip blog" thing.

I can sum up the rest of my trip quite easily:

New York was a fantastic blur of sights, sounds and colours. It is such a cutlurally rich city that you could spend an entire lifetime there and not see everything it has to offer. Down every street, there's something new and exciting to explore. I can't recommend going there enough.

Is that an excuse for me not finishing my blog? Nope. But, I'm not dwelling on the past. Hopefully with this next trip, I'll update it much more regularly, and have the energy at the end of each day of travel to tell you everything that happened. Here's hoping. No promises though.

So where am I off to this time? Hong Kong, Seoul, and then heaps and heaps of places all over Japan. I'm going to be away for 26 days - my longest trip yet. I'm taking my darling girlfriend with me, too. And I can't freaking wait.

Moving forward to tonight - I'm sitting on Emma's couch, waiting for her to finalise all of her packing. Our flight down to Sydney leaves at the crack of dawn tomorrow (well, not really, but 6:45am is still bloody early), and a lot is riding on this flight being on time. We have a 90 minute connection time at Sydney airport to get our next flight. You may think that that is a lot of time, but for people who have connected between flights before, you know that that shorter amount of time will require the use of roller skates. Possibly rocket-powered ones at that.

Compound this with the fact that our flight to *get* us to Sydney is coming all the way from Dallas-Fort Worth in the USA (the 6th longest distance flight in the world). It is a route susceptible to heavy headwinds, and the aircraft that they use is only *just* capable of flying that distance. If it has to refuel along the way in either Nadi, Auckland or Noumea, we can pretty much kiss our connection goodbye.

"So what's so important about this connection? Surely Qantas have more than one flight a day to Hong Kong?" I hear you ask. Well, for starters, the flight is on Qantas' A380 - their flagship product. And I'm a sucker to get on an A380 flight when I can. What's more, I've spent all of my frequent flyer points and I've upgraded to business class for the flight. Being a very tall person, this is a fantastic opportunity for me to have a very enjoyable flight. Throw into that restaurant-quality food, unlimited booze and a seat that turns into a bed, and you can see why I'm keen to make this connection. So let's pray to the Qantas gods, the god who controls headwinds (Poseidon?) and the god that makes sure that planes don't go technical in Brisbane (I'm assuming that will be the Tourism Minister of some sorts), that everything goes according to plan.


Hopefully by this time tomorrow, I'll be blogging about my amazing flight, and my first evening in Hong Kong with my darling Emma. Stay tuned, and fingers crossed!

10/12/11 - 13/12/11 New York, and stuff that has happened.

10/12/11 - MAAAAAH, SAMWENYA BAGA BEEDUDUDAAH

So much like yesterday, today started quite late. I seem to be getting into a good habit of this…

Firstly, Emma came over to my hotel and we went to check out a local Flea Market in the Hell’s Kitchen district. Emma picked up some very nice clothes and jewellery, while I stood there, offering supportive commentary on her purchases. My legs also began to freeze solid.

We then headed to get some pizza at a local pizza joint. They have some fantastic deals on pizza in New York – I got two slices of cheese pizza and a can of drink for $2.75. I challenge anybody to find a deal that good in Australia!

Then, we headed back to the room to drop off Emma’s haul of shopping, and then we continued on to East Village to an indie video game store. I had a great look around, and they stocked a large range of first and second hand games from all generations. This was a pretty fantastic store. You could find copies of the original Legend of Zelda, right next to Playstation 3’s signed by Hideo Kojima. It was an amazing mix and was really fun to look around. What’s better is that their prices for new games were the same as all the big shops, so I felt good that I was supporting an independent business by buying through them.

Emma then had a look around some of the clothing shops in the district, including “Fabulous Fanny’s”, a place I visited last time. She seemed to be all shopped out though, so we only had a quick look. We then headed to a Japanese restaurant for an early dinner. To be quite honest, the food was fairly disappointing. Nothing special about it, and Emma’s udon soup was quite salty. Now that I remember, I was meant to get a soup with my meal, too, and I didn’t get it! OUTRAGE!

We then headed back to the room, and on to Broadway to see another show. Tonight, we were seeing one of the most famous productions currently showing on Broadway – “The Lion King”. From what I had heard about it, I was certainly looking forward to it.

To be honest, I don’t 100% know what to think of it. At time of writing, it has been over 24 hours since I saw it. From an artistic point of view, the costumes were breathtaking, and the mechanics behind them was very clever. Entertainment-wise, I think it was a bad thing that I recently watched “The Lion King” at the cinema. It was fresh in my mind, and as such, I had certain expectations towards the play. Not only in things like how musical numbers are sung, but also the script and delivery of particular lines. The difference between what occurs on stage and what you are used to in the film does cause a jarring effect.

I also found that the elaborate costumes seemed to detract from the “humanity” of the performances. That combined with the fact that two of the main characters change actors halfway through the performance (with the progression of time and Simba/Nala’s from child to adulthood), it made me not really care much for the characters in the film.

As an art piece, it is fantastic. As an entertainment piece, there are much better options available on Broadway at the moment. It is definitely a show that you should see if you are in New York – providing you can afford the $150 admission price.

I then headed back with Emma, Jen (Emma’s Mum), and her troupe of highschoolers back to their hotel. After they went to their rooms, Emma, Jen and I had a quiet drink in the hotel lobby. A nice end to a very fun day.

11/12/11

Today started with a trip to Emma’s hotel. It was Jen and her school girl’s last day in New York, and they were going to spend the morning at Central Park, and the Museum of Modern art.

After a tasty breakfast at Smith’s restaurant (just over the road from their hotel), we got ready to head out and see Central Park. This meant catching the subway north to Columbus Circle. While this usually is a very easy task, when you have eleven other people all requiring a ticket with you, it quickly becomes a serious mission to get stuff done.

Eventually, we got on the subway, and made our way to Columbus Circle. After exiting the subway station, we had a look through the markets nearby. They had a good mix of merchandise, and most of it seemed to be independently made.

After a good bit of browsing, we headed off for a wander through Central Park. As we were on a strict time limit, I was careful not to wander too far into the park, and instead stuck to the southern end of the park. It was a good experience to share with Jen and her school kids, as they were yet to visit Central Park on their trip – something that is an essential part of any visit to New York.

We then headed down through 5^th Avenue, looking at the Apple Store, FAO Schwarz and Tiffany’s. All the girls loved seeing Tiffany’s, as apparently it was the store from the opening scene of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. I should really watch some more classic films…

Sadly, we had ran out of time and were now not going to be able to get to the Museum of Modern Art. Instead, we had to high-tail it out of there and make our way back to Times Square. So, we took on the Subway again and went through the same epic ticket-buying shenanigans as last time.

After arriving back at Times Square, the girls got a coffee from Starbucks, which took eleven times longer than usual. Because of this, Jen was quickly running out of time before their bus to the airport departed, so they all had to make a beeline for their hotel and get their bags for the long journey home.

After all of this, Emma and I were buggered, so we headed back to my hotel for a nap.

In the evening, we had been invited to dinner at Ben Cheah’s house. For reference, Ben Cheah is a Sound Designer that I contacted in the leadup to this trip in hopes of meeting with him and other colleagues he has worked with throughout his career.

We decided to bring cupcakes and flowers to the dinner, so we first headed to Rockefeller Plaza to get cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. What they say about Rockefeller plaza at Christmas time couldn’t be more true – stay away from the area if you can, as it is more packed than a Japanese subway train during peak hour. We sunk a good half hour into trying make our way through the crowds, and in the end decided to just jump on the subway and get to Ben’s house as quick as we could.

The Subway journey took us out to Brooklyn, to a wonderful neighbourhood full of old red brick houses. For the Aussies reading this – picture Sesame Street, but minus all of the Muppets.

Meeting with Ben was fantastic. Him and his wife, Megan, made us feel very welcome, and the advice that he offered me was tremendously insightful. It was also very cool to hear who he has worked with over his career. He has either worked with or knows personally three out of four of my top favourite Sound Designers – Gary Rydstrom, Richard King and Christopher Boyes. I just wish that he told me this sooner as I would have loved to have met some of them in Los Angeles when I was there. Still, it is my fault for not mentioning them to him in previous emails. Ben was also kind enough to give me some of his books on sound for film – some excellent reading material for my future career.

For dinner, we had a delicious roast chicken, and some very nice wine to go with it. Probably my favourite meal of the trip, and Emma and I both agreed that the night as a whole was the highlight of the trip so far.

12/12/11

Like many days on this holiday, this one started quite late. I suppose that this is a side effect of a holiday – the whole relaxing thing, but I think so far I’ve only had one day in New York where I’ve left the room before 11am.

Our first goal was breakfast, which by now was moreso lunch. We decided to catch the subway to north Manhattan, up to Harlem. We had read about (and seen on Masterchef) a restaurant called “Sylvia’s”. It is famous for its “Soul Food”, a type of food that has its origins in the southern states. Sylvia’s is a restaurant that maintains the tradition of this particular type of food.

I had the fried chicken, with a side of collard greens and macaroni and cheese. The food was fairly “monoflavoursome” – each dish had a single flavour to it. The macaroni and cheese was very cheesy, the chicken was salty, and the collard greens were very sweet. This wasn’t detrimental to the food, as each dish did the flavour very well. The food was also very fattening, but I doubt that I would be eating it on a regular basis, anyway. What I really liked about the restaurant was the kindness of the staff – they were all so friendly, treating you like family. You definitely did feel very welcome, as if you were eating in their house.

Afterwards, we headed back on the subway down to Central Park, and went for a long walk across it from the west to the east side. On the way, we did some major squirrel spotting – we even through acorns at them for them to eat. We got some great photos, and some great looks from the locals, wondering why on earth we were taking photos of what they consider to be vermin.

We then took a bus down to FAO Schwarz, and had another quick look through this fantastic toy store. I found a massive Gummy Bear in their candy section – it was a good 20cm tall, and weighed at least a couple of kilos. It puzzled me how someone could ever eat a whole one of these.

That evening, we met up with two friends of ours from Australia, Steff and Ben (a different Ben to the one I met yesterday). It was quite surreal meeting up with our mates on the other side of the world, but it was still really cool to share travel stories. Naturally, we went to the most awesome restaurant for dinner – Bubba Gump’s. Once again, I had the gigantic pile of shrimp. Delicious as always. We also tried out some of their alcoholic drinks, but to be honest, we weren’t sure if they actually put any alcohol in them…

After dinner, we went to see “Avenue Q”. Yes, I saw this play last time I came to New York. Yes, it was just as awesome as I remembered. After seeing other Broadway plays on this trip, it is obvious to me that it isn’t the most technical of plays, but it more than makes up with it in its clever writing and “did that just really happen” moments. I’m not sure if I’ll see it again, but it was definitely still very enjoyable.

Afterwards, we went to have drinks at a bar called the “Sky Room”, right next to our hotel. Unfortunately, it was closed, or had a private event on, or something. Therefore, we had to go to our far less exciting hotel bar. We all ordered a fancy drink, except for Ben, who ordered water. He was given a fancy bottle of water when he wanted tap water, but it was more funny that annoying. The bottle of water only was $2 anyways, so it wasn’t a major deal.

Then, after chatting for a few hours, Ben and Steff had to head back to their hotel, as they had to catch their flight home the next day. It was great fun to meet up with them on the other side of the world.

13/12/11

Today we did pretty much sweet f-all. All of these late nights caught up with Emma and I, so we spent most of the day chilling in the hotel.

When we did go out, we went to the Empire State Building. We tried “Chipotle” Mexican for a late lunch, and then went up to the observation deck. We got there just on sunset, so we got to see the city transition from daytime to twilight. Very pretty views, and strangely, no lines either. Most of the time the average wait time to go to the observation deck is three hours, so we definitely lucked out.

We then had a look around a clothing store, H&M, and then headed back to the room for some takeaway dinner. I had delicious $1 slices of pizza and Emma had some tasty Indian food.

Now I’m going to go back to watching TV. Kthx.