Hong Kong/Bangkok Culinary Adventure

Trip Overview

When the idea came across my desk to head to Hong Kong for the Wine and Dine Festival, I was sold! Then, I sat through a webinar only to discover the trip included a seat upgrade, a 3 day attractions pass, and VIP access to the festival. If that wasn’t enough, the trip also includes dining at 2 Michelin star restaurants (Bo Innovation and Demon Celebrity) owned by Alvin Leung, judge on Masterchef Canada. Alvin will be at our dinners and on our last evening will be accompanying us to Lei Yeu Mun, a seafood village where we pick out our meal at a vendor stand and they bring our selection to a restaurant where it is cooked for us. Sea to table!

Let me focus on Hong Kong for now, because the slam dunk add-on to this trip is 5 days in Bangkok, Thailand. More on that segment later.

My buddy Yordie, hadn’t been away in a while, so I asked her to join me. Within days we were booked.

Toronto to Hong Kong

Let me fast forward to travel day. Yordie organized the Uber to the airport and check-in was a breeze. The Toronto>Vancouver flight uneventful. We had a short layover in Vancouver and before we knew it we were onboard a 787-9 heading to Hong Kong. I don’t sleep on planes so the 13 hour flight was a smidge tedious. I stood and stretched every hour, drank jasmine tea and tried to keep myself occupied with movies and games. We were both going squirrelly after 5 hours.

Finally, we arrived in Hong Kong and made it through customs to collect our luggage. My first observation was how organized everybody was. No yelling, people were respectful, and for a major airport, it was peaceful.

Where oh Where Has Your Luggage Gone

At luggage carousel #8, passengers surrounded it and stood quietly while bags passed slowly by. My bag came off after about 10 minutes. We were down to about 20 sad bags looking for their rightful owners but unfortunately none belonged to Yordie. Her suitcase, as we discovered, was still in Vancouver! Oh no!

Off to the baggage enquiry counter. They were so sweet and helped Yordie put in her lost luggage ticket. Her suitcase would be delivered tomorrow.

Part of our package is private transfer to the hotel. We were to meet up with 6 others, but because we were delayed, they went ahead to the hotel. Why hold them up. Scott, our driver waited for us and we sat back and enjoyed a relaxing drive to the New World Millenium Hong Kong Hotel in East Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

Dinner on the Town

Dropping our bags, we headed out to the MTR station to purchase an Octopus card. It is used for everything including groceries and public transit. Surprisingly, after all the food we were served on our flights, we were hungry. We found this cute dim sum restaurant where we had something gelatinous with shrimp, pork buns and pork balls and tea. Delicious! Dinner for two was just under 20 $CDN. Dim sum means “touch the heart”. I know it touched my heart and belly! Yum!

Pre-trip, Yordie had been practicing using chopsticks and quickly realized more practice was required. We giggled over that.

Heading back to the hotel, we nearly escaped getting hit by cars by cars that drive on the left side of the road. Back to the room, it was time to get ready for bed. Fortunately, Yordie and I can wear similar sizes, so she borrowed a nite shirt and a sun dress for tomorrow.

Time for some shut-eye.