Hi Everyone,
Today is travel day and it's been a really long day to say the least. It's currently, as I type this, 23:02 in Hong Kong, the 19th February. We left London Heathrow at around 18:15 on the 18th February, we were severely delayed, for what reason we do not know but we managed to get through immigration, collect our luggage and check into our hotel, Hong Kong side, before 16:30. If you're not from the UK, or have never travelled to the US, you will know this is amazing timings.
Our flight was perfect, hardly no turbulence and the kids were amazing throughout the whole flight. It was about a 12 hour flight and I can't fault the kids, my daughter hardly screamed or cried and when she did it was either because she was cold or uncomfortable or hungry. It's normally hungry. The food wasn't great, we travelled in Premium Economy and it's safe to say the food was very overcooked and the kids meals were not something my kids would eat. We just wanted some plain food for the kids that they could eat, instead it was gnocchi in a tomato and vegetable sauce.
We were greeted at the arrivals hall by Billy our driver, he saw how many luggage we had and realised we wouldn't all fit in the van as well as our luggage. This meant we had to split up, @sterlingux, the children and I went into the van with Billy while my parents went on the public transport. The journey into Kowloon seemed so different as I haven't been back since 2018, a really long time ago but the landscape in the concrete jungle is beautiful. There's still so much green yet in the UK if you go to London it's hard to find the greenery anywhere.
We pulled up to the Shangri-La and I was amazed by all the Chinese New Year decorations they still had. I was worried that we were going to miss the decorations but I am so glad we haven't. We've never stayed here before but this is definitely a luxury for us, we normally rent an apartment or stay in a Holiday Inn Express. The hotel is decorated with toy dragons and ceiling decorations including the dragons in the car port and chinese lanterns in the lobby.
The kids were so spoilt as well, by one of the bell man who sorted our luggage for us, he gave them a Shangri-La Panda teddy and two dinosaur cars. Once we checked in the lady on the check in desk gave the kids a bag each which included a lanyard to hold an octopus card (Hong Kong's version of the Oyster Travelcard in London), sweets and colouring.
The room was definitely a WOW moment just because of the view! They definitely don't make hotel rooms like this anymore either. There was so much space, a sofa to sit on while you're watching the traffic on the harbour as well as down on the ground. It's really relaxing just watching the world go by when you have a coffee in your hand, a Starbucks at that too. They even had toiletries for the children which I thought was such a nice touch, we've never had that before.
We freshened up as we were all feeling groggy, in truth, the kids stank so we got them a nice hot bath. They both felt much better and by the time we finished bathing them my parents had arrived. My parents went out on their own to sort a few errands which meant it meant I had to find food for us and the kids before the light show which started at 8pm. We purposely booked these rooms at the Shangri-La so we could watch the light show in our rooms. I went to what I knew best, as I was very tired at this point, I found a Cafe de Coral for us to grab something quick as we were all hungry too. We ordered a set meal of BBQ pork and chicken with rice, which actually came with a bowl of soup too, and 1/2 a duck as well as two hot HK milk tea (which are the best). All this food only came to HK$169 which equates to roughly £16.90 (we just roughly divide by 10). We also ended up getting an ice cream as my son had been asking for one all day.
The light show was pants! Compared to previous years that I have seen it, it was rubbish. The lights were already on and all they put in extra was a few lasers and an LED saying Hong Kong. But we do have binoculars in the room so I thought I would take a few pictures through the lens.
It's safe to say that I am very tired, the kids are already asleep, and it's probably going to be another busy day tomorrow.
Until next time, stay tuned.