Introduction
Seattle to San Jose
San Jose
San Jose to Narita
Narita to Hong Kong
Hong Kong Part 1
Hong Kong Part 2
Hong Kong Part 3
Hong Kong to Narita
Narita to Seattle
Conclusion
Tuesday 4th June 2013
If I couldn’t run this morning I was sure going to put the hotel gym to good use. I spent a solid hour in the gym doing one of my morning routines that had been slightly modified as I couldn’t even do a single shuttle run. Funnily enough I did try to get the shuttle runs going but it just was no good. My muscles were better but they were not even remotely able to get me close to anything more than a walking pace. About the best I could do was a quick walk. So I swapped out the shuttle runs with some lunges and some extra stuff. Managed to scream at myself outside a few dozen times when no one could hear me.
The workout was good and since it was still early and we had plenty of time till our first morning event, I spent it being very productive in getting a whole heap of work done while remotely logged into the computer at work and by the time I was done and cleaned out some personal emails, Jason had messaged me saying he was enjoying a quiet breakfast already. So I went down and joined him. Drinking some coffee while reading my blogs and clearing them out entirely. The day had started out pretty well.
Ahead of me that morning laid an exciting plan full of some stuff that you would never think of doing. Our first part of the morning was going to be spent doing a Dim Sum Cooking Class put on by the Peninsula, followed by a lunch in the same restaurant (possibly of what we just made) and then after lunch a hotel tour and then a chocolate class, put on by the hotel’s very own Chocolate chef.
The Dim Sum class was majorly fun, lots of photos, sillyness and plenty of questions & comments by everyone. The chefs didn’t speak english, we didn’t speak chinese so one of the head waiters was our translator. The two chefs guiding our class had been making dim sum for a number of years and we learnt how to make 2 different kinds of Shrimp dumplings. I can’t wait to get the recipes and try this again back home as it was plenty of fun. I enjoyed getting back in the kitchen (as I hadn’t done it in several days) and the Chef was super impressed by my wrapping abilities for the dumpling and I got a very big thumbs up several times and lots of “that is perfect” comments.
I was super happy to let everyone eat the dim sum as I was more there to enjoy the fun of making the dim sum and watching the whole experience of doing so. This was going to be one of the facets of one of my blog stories for the series covering these kind of things. So I was more about getting the experience than doing it for the food. Lots of photos were taken and I had the best time. After a brief restaurant & kitchen tour (the BBQ pork smelt unreal!) we headed out of the restaurant back to our rooms breifly so that we could get changed if we needed to and then it was time for lunch!
Lunch was a chinese banquet put on by the same chefs we had just left and there was lots of dim sum goodies and 7 courses of awesomeness later it was over 🙁 I got to try a few things for the first time including Snow Fungus, Lotus seeds, Red Dates, Abalone and Pigs Neck. The most amazing thing though was the Pineapple bun. An added course and the tiny little baked bun was just beyond heavenly.
After lunch it was as though we waddled around the hotel as we had all eaten so much. We got to see the main aspects of the hotels, a lot of the different facilities including the China Clipper lounge again. Numerous suites with amazing views (and pricetags) were shown to us. The prices for the rooms were astronomical but then you may pay a lot but your not getting nickel and dimed for the little things other hotels would charge for. We did get told that the rooms we were given would retail for $1100 USD a night! Mother of god!
The hotel tour finished off being taken through one of the kitchens and we were deposited in the laps of the Head Chocolatier for the hotel. 18 months ago the hotel had set up an in house Chocolate shop to help craft signature goodies that could be enjoyed by everyone who stayed at the hotel. Not the first Chocolate Room I had visited but definately the smallest. Though out of that small room came some extravagent and delicate delights. The small bite sized morsels were true gifts from above. Handmade with heaps of passion by the staff as they saw it not as a job but a way to provide others with their passion and love for chocolate.
We got a breif history of chocolate and also how chocolate is produced. Next step during the class was a chocolate tasting, getting to try the differences in percentages or origins, along with also the difference in the fillings and treats. The final part of the tasting was pairing chocolate with wine or liquors. Pearing two specific drinks (A Sparkling Red and some Armangac) with a specially designed chocolate that would help accentuae the experience and enjoyment. It was like wine/cheese pairing but on a whole other level.
Once we were finished with the Chocolate class we had a couple of hours of free time to be able to do whatever we wanted and Jason and expressed some interest in getting a similar camera strap to mine. So after a quick google it turned out that their was a Crumpler store in Hong Kong barely 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Awesome++ So with that done we went up there dodging people and cars and buses. The hawkers were out in force as usual in TST and so many times I heard the words “Copy Watch” or “Custom suit” said to me it was funny. The funniest part of the situation was that I had already gotten a suit on the last trip and his office was barely 2 blocks from my hotel, and I desperately wanted a copy watch however the best place for that was about an hour away on the MTR and I just did not have the time or chance to get out there and get one 🙁
After the Crumpler store visit (I resisted the temptation for anything as there was nothing uniquely Hong Kong in the store) we headed over to the Avenue of the Stars for the usual tourist photos. I got some tourist style photos but not the way you would expect them. I wanted them to be a little bit different and I think I got some of the ones I wanted.
When this was done we didn’t have much time before our big final dinner so we had to hot foot it back to the hotel if we wanted time to shower and change. Along the way I decided to make a pit stop. Earlier in the day I had made a stop at the Shanghai Tang store in TST which is their Flagship store and I was considering one of their polo shirts. Around about $100 USD, I had enough money left to be able to get one however, I just couldn’t justify it. In the end I decided I would try and get a new lens cap for one of my camera lenses that I had been putting off for several years. The generic one I had been using never stayed on and was at risk of damaging the lens half the time. So while walking past a building I knew had a very good camera store in it, I made a quick detour.
Sadly they were out of the cap I needed so I bailed out. However while speeding back to the hotel I spied another camera store and figuring “what the hell” dropped in and I was quickly served and assured they had them in stock. At first he showed me a generic one and I told him no it has to be genuine as I don’t want the same hassles again. He countered with “It cost more money”, to which i wanted to say “nooo really”. All I did was nod and say “I know” to which rather than pull a sealed one out. He proceeded to remove the exact lens that I had, and needed the cap for, off the shelf and then removed the lens cap from it. He handed me a lens cap from a brand new lens, unboxed, straight off the shelf. Who knows if I got ripped off or not but at least I know its genuine!
I made it back to the hotel with enough time to have a super quick shower and I was still rolling my sleeves as I walked into the lift down to “The Bar”. We were to have a pre dinner drink with the hotel manager in “The Bar” though I didn’t actually get to speak to him as he was being dominated by one of the other ladies who was spending all of her time speaking to him. Instead I got to spend a bit of time getting to know the head of PR. The evenings plans were to have a progressive dinner through the hotel restaurants with some signature items at each stop. First up was an entree at “The Lobby”, then a second course at “Spring Moon”. Our main course would be at “Gaddi’s” and then the finale would be at “Felix”.
We headed to the lobby for our first course and it was an amazing creation that started things off so well. After a good chat with some of the others in the group and getting to know them a little better, we headed up to Spring moon for a lobster course. An amazingly tender piece of lobster was given to us along with Honey Roasted Walnuts of Doom as I liked to call them as I just wanted to inhale them (I kind of resisted…. ok I ate a fair few, but not as many as I could have).
The great thing with a progessive dinner is you get to experience all different kinds of food but for this one we got to revisit some of the restaurants we had been to. It was great. After “Spring Moon” we headed to Gaddis and rather than get in the super slow lift, I ran up the steps. Not a good idea as even though I beat them all to the top, I sadly had screwed up my leg again. Sigh. Dinner then got an even bigger chuckle as we were informed we needed jackets. I offered that I could go back to my room and get mine if needed but I was told not to worry as they could lend me one. Though the one they lent me was a good size too small. The sleeves didn’t even reach my wrist.
The main course was the head chef at Gaddi’s favourite dish. Piegon is not something I eat all that often (if ever) and I was interested in seeing what made this his favourite dish. It was tasty and lucious and moreish in so many ways. A good dish for sure! With Gaddi’s completed we headed out of the restaurant (though I did get a few photos of me in the jacket for proof) and we headed up…. all the way up to “Felix”.
Felix is the highest restaurant in the hotel on the 28th floor. Built when the new tower was built after Kai Tak closed and the height restrictions lifted, it was not even 20 years old but you could of mistaken it for being maybe 1 or 2 years old. It was so modern and way ahead of it’s time and never been refurbished. It was penomenal. The dessert was truly a piece of art but the kicker was the view! Out one side was Kowloon, other the other Hong Kong Island. Right at that moment the sky was lighting up as a thunderstorm rolling through. Pretty amazing site! Add in the fact that the bathrooms have the most unique view from a urinal I have ever seen in my life (you pee facing out a window on the 28th floor into a urinal that looks like a bowl, and it is as though you are peeing down onto the people below). The sink was just as out there as the rest of the restaurant. One of the first ever sensor tap systems in Hong Kong it was ahead of its time for sure, but totally wacky and crazy, I had no idea where to hold my hands. I wanted to take so many photos in there but it was dark and that would of been creepy!
After Dessert we headed down to one of the hotel bars to get a brief look but couldn’t stay long as it was Comedy night and most of us wanted some sleep anyway as it was going to be an early morning for a few of us. The amazing thing about the last two days was just how much fun it had been and shown me a side of Hong Kong I had never thought I would experience. I got to MAKE dim sum in a chinese kitchen. Learn chocolate making from a Gold Medal winning chocalatier, pee on the people of Kowloon and hover above Hong Kong harbour while taking photos of the city. Truly amazing.
I packed up my stuff that night ready for the morning thinking just how lucky I was. It was going to be tough to top the last couple of days!
@bigmalx Awesome! We look forward to sharing
.@bigmalx keeps us tuned into his recent #HK Trip – Behind the scenes at #ThePeninsula #HK #ANASJC http://t.co/tM7lfkaPM3
RT @HongKongTourism: .@bigmalx keeps us tuned into his recent #HK Trip – Behind the scenes at #ThePeninsula #HK #ANASJC http://t.co/tM7lfka…