(attempt at!) Live/semi-Live - 1st time HAL cruiser - Westerdam Hong Kong to Tokyo

[Toad]

Wow, your pictures were amazing! I am enjoying your travel  log so much. I have never been to Hong Kong before, the gardens look beautiful but the crowds seem horrifying. The food looks yummy.

[Kristal Blade]

Fabulous pictures. I loved the “square” spiral!

You have a great eye, the food pics had my mouth watering.

Im looking forward to the Disney pics and maybe one of your hotel?

[OlsSalt]

Did someone mention egg tarts? I am so all in!

Apparently the early Portuguese traders brought egg tarts to Asia. Something to look for in Lisbon too. 

 

Wonderful adventures and photos already, and you have not even gotten on board.  Glad to hear HK is still worthy for spontaneous exploring ...after reverting back to China.

[OlsSalt]

PS: Are you trying to tell us to arrive with empty suitcases when taking this cruise, instead of starting with full ones? 😜

[2inSETexas]

Hope to see you Saturday or during the trip.

 

😊

[oakridger]

@Tigerlily75 What is this fruit?  It's unfamiliar to me.

 

~Nancy

 

 

Edited February 1 by oakridger

[Nattyg1723]

10 hours ago, oakridger said:

@Tigerlily75 What is this fruit?  It's unfamiliar to me.

 

~Nancy

 

 

Not OP, but it is the aptly named "nipplefruit" 😅

[Tigerlily75]

A few photos from today - Hong Kong Disneyland - the littlest of them all! It was hard to get good pics today with the glaring sun. I don’t know what the temperature got to, but walking around Disneyland was very hot and humid. 

 

As a result we felt pretty done by 5pm, and ended up leaving at about 6.30. I never thought I’d leave before the fireworks! But with sore feet, and feeling tired, hot and sweaty, we decided to leave after just a couple more things to see and do. 

 

My conclusion for HK Disneyland is that it’s a fun day out, but it lacks the magic and wow factor of the US parks. So it’s good to go if you’re here anyway (if you like Disney parks), but it’s not a destination park. 

 

Crowd wise it was great in the morning, but by afternoon it was very very crowded, especially the new World of Frozen. There were even roped queues to get into the shops. I think WOF would definitely have the wow factor, it’s just hard to enjoy when it’s that crowded! 

 

Winners of the day ride wise were Frozen Ever After and Mystic Manor. I really loved Mystic Manor! Loser was Hyoerspace Mountain - while still fun, it just wasn’t as immersive as Anaheim, and you could see the tracks when it was supposed to be dark which kind of ruins it. The parade was exceptionally tiny too! 

 

What I loved was the celebration for Chinese New Year - Year of the Dragon. I assume there’ll be more of that at Shanghai, which I’m looking forward to! Also, Mickey speaking Cantonese was pretty fun too. 

 

I hope we can last the day in Shanghai, our driver is picking us up after the fireworks. It will be cold there though, which I much prefer over heat and humidity! 

The cute train from Sunny Bay station to Disneyland: 

 

 

 

 

 

New Year Celebrations:

 

 

 

 

World of Frozen:
 

 

Mystic Manor:

 

And the castle!

[OlsSalt]

Time travel 1000 years from now, will archeologists be sifting through  the ancient ruins of Disneylands around the world the same why they sift through relics from Byzantium?  

 

A very interesting cultural phenomenon having visited the very first Disneyland in California a year after it opened. I was even was a pre-teen member of a local Mouseketeers fan club, proudly wearing my Cinderella wrist watch in the 1950's. Our 8mm home movies show my sister and I running off with our book of tickets handed to us by our parents, with the one E-Ride option to be carefully chosen.

 

One of the biggest surprises later traveling to the four corners of the world is how ubiquitous the image of Disney characters has been, even in countries that hate American culture. Up a very remote dead end  mountain pass in Pakistan, there was Mickey and Goofy on a sign beckoning us  into a local restaurant.

[2inSETexas]

On 2/1/2024 at 1:54 AM, OlsSalt said:

Did someone mention egg tarts? I am so all in!

Apparently the early Portuguese traders brought egg tarts to Asia. Something to look for in Lisbon too. 

 

Wonderful adventures and photos already, and you have not even gotten on board.  Glad to hear HK is still worthy for spontaneous exploring ...after reverting back to China.

The tarts here (at least at our hotel in HK) are good, but not as good as in Lisbon.
 

We are in HK just for two nights before joining the cruise, but we spent 10 days here back in 2017 including Disney. The daughter of a good friend worked at Disney and was “very close” to one of the face characters. My wife enjoyed the experience in HK as her first trip to Asia. I had been here before on business trips. 

 

This stay is just for acclimating to the new time zones.

[USN59-79]

 

Thanks, I am enjoying this for a number of reasons.  First, we were first on the Westerdam in 2004, when she was new.  Then in 2015 for a short Alaska cruise, then 43 days in Asia in 2019, in 2020 when we were dumped in Cambodia (actually a great cruise) and 42 days Japan to Seattle in 2023.  We like the ship, but are wondering how it is now because we are considering the 1 September 2024 cruise Seattle to Seattle via Asia.  The other reason is your experiences in Hong Kong and China now that China controls HK.  I was thinking of avoiding them for political reasons, but starting to realize that the good people that were there before are still there, the same stores and restaurants are still there, so maybe not too much has changed.

Ray

[Tigerlily75]

28 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

 

Thanks, I am enjoying this for a number of reasons.  First, we were first on the Westerdam in 2004, when she was new.  Then in 2015 for a short Alaska cruise, then 43 days in Asia in 2019, in 2020 when we were dumped in Cambodia (actually a great cruise) and 42 days Japan to Seattle in 2023.  We like the ship, but are wondering how it is now because we are considering the 1 September 2024 cruise Seattle to Seattle via Asia.  The other reason is your experiences in Hong Kong and China now that China controls HK.  I was thinking of avoiding them for political reasons, but starting to realize that the good people that were there before are still there, the same stores and restaurants are still there, so maybe not too much has changed.

Ray

That’s an extensive history on the Westerdam, I’m so looking forward to boarding! 

 

As a tourist there’s certainly no noticeable difference here in HK. As you said the good people are all still here, the shops are the same, and the transport, the sights, and even the heavy British influence is all still here. Google and Facebook etc all work with no restrictions. There are government warnings out for the new broad security laws both here and in the mainland, but no one is being snatched off the streets. I think it’s more of a concern for people for people who might work in “tricky” fields, like journalism or international relations government type jobs, doing some type of business on their trips. Then I would think twice. But there’s been no feeling of concern as an everyday tourist going out and about doing everyday tourist things. If I never watched the news I honestly wouldn’t know anything had changed. 

 

[Tigerlily75]

7 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Time travel 1000 years from now, will archeologists be sifting through  the ancient ruins of Disneylands around the world the same why they sift through relics from Byzantium?  

 

A very interesting cultural phenomenon having visited the very first Disneyland in California a year after it opened. I was even was a pre-teen member of a local Mouseketeers fan club, proudly wearing my Cinderella wrist watch in the 1950's. Our 8mm home movies show my sister and I running off with our book of tickets handed to us by our parents, with the one E-Ride option to be carefully chosen.

 

One of the biggest surprises later traveling to the four corners of the world is how ubiquitous the image of Disney characters has been, even in countries that hate American culture. Up a very remote dead end  mountain pass in Pakistan, there was Mickey and Goofy on a sign beckoning us  into a local restaurant.

I would have loved to have seen Disneyland in the beginning! As a child I always wanted to visit, but I lived so far away and my family didn’t have the means (and probably not the desire!). So it seemed an impossible dream in a far away land. It really felt so magical when I finally got to go as an adult. 

[Tigerlily75]

On 1/31/2024 at 11:18 PM, Toad said:

Wow, your pictures were amazing! I am enjoying your travel  log so much. I have never been to Hong Kong before, the gardens look beautiful but the crowds seem horrifying. The food looks yummy.

Thank you! Mong Kok is particularly crowded, but the rest of Hong Kong is fine. I think at least at one point, the small area of Mong Kok was the most densely populated place on the planet. Or maybe just one of them. But even with the heavy crowds, it feels very safe here. 

[Tigerlily75]

On 1/31/2024 at 11:30 PM, Kristal Blade said:

Fabulous pictures. I loved the “square” spiral!

You have a great eye, the food pics had my mouth watering.

Im looking forward to the Disney pics and maybe one of your hotel?

Here are some of the hotel - Eaton HK. It has bars and restaurants etc, I’ll try and get some pictures of them, we haven’t spent much time exploring the hotel. But here’s our room and breakfast. I had thought I’d booked a room with two twin beds, but this category of room (Signature Eaton) doesn’t have that option, so I messed up there. But for 4 nights it doesn’t really matter. It’s in a good location, a 4 minute walk from Jordan MTR station.

Oh wait, I’ve just typed this on my iPad and the photos are on my phone! I’ll switch and put them in the next post: 

 

[Tigerlily75]

Ok, some hotel photos: 
 

Also, there’s an Asian section for breakfast we only discovered after finishing eating yesterday. I wondered where people were getting noodles from! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tigerlily75]

On 2/1/2024 at 2:53 AM, 2inSETexas said:

Hope to see you Saturday or during the trip.

 

😊

I look forward to meeting you! Have a great cruise. 

[Tigerlily75]

We are having a very slow morning here in Hong Kong. We decided last night not to set any alarms and take the day as it comes. My daughter is still asleep at 10am, so we’ll miss the hotel breakfast which is fine, so many good places to eat in HK, so little time!
 

We might head to Australia Dairy Company, a famous cha chaan teng known for its peak Hong Kong efficiency. If you’ve seen the “soup ***” episode of Seinfeld, it’s a bit like that! I’m still unsure of the connection to Australia, perhaps the dairy really does come from Australia. Then I think we’ll head over to Central (and take the Star Ferry!). At some point, I want to head back to Sneaker Street in Mong Kok, since I decided I want a particular pair of sneakers I saw there after all .. 

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks for the hotel pics, Tigerlily,

We stayed in the Eaton Hotel in Shanghai and ended up in an executive room, with an enormous bath, about the size of a king size bed! We tried it out but the fill rate was too slow to get the water at a nice temperature. But it’s a fun holiday memory.

Enjoy your day, get shopping!

[Tigerlily75]

I love this. Found at Jordan MTR station. It plays music, I’m assuming so visually impaired people can find it, and it has a map of the station in braille. 

 

[Tigerlily75]

After our late start we headed to Australia Dairy Co, famous for its previously mentioned efficiency, and incredible scrambled eggs. 
 

 

You’ll queue, but it doesn’t take long, and then you’ll share a table with strangers.

 

 

 

We ordered the lunch set with ham. Do not be fooled by appearances, it’s delicious. Those scrambled eggs really are the best you’ll ever eat, and the macaroni soup is pretty good too. 
 

We followed up with Steamed Milk Pudding, also delicious!
 

 

Edited February 2 by Tigerlily75

[Tigerlily75]

We found this cute little shop called Bunkaya Zakatten, selling a mix of vintage & new items as well as things of their own design: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tigerlily75]

They make rings out of old coins: 

 

 

My daughter bought one: 

 

 

Our little haul today:

 

 

 

We went back to sneaker street and I got these: 

 

 

We found the very popular Mobile Softee truck right outside the store: 

 

 

It was meant to be: 

 

[Tigerlily75]

Dinner tonight was at the michelin starred Yat Lok. This was another efficiency place - you eat, you leave! Hong Kong roasted meats are something else, We had crispy pork and, for the first time, roasted goose. It was so good! 
 

 

 

 

 

[Kristal Blade]

Well done, you got your “sneakers”. Goretex and vibram soles elevates them to hiking shoes in my opinion!