Disneyland! The day D was most excited for! Our route and the time taken was pretty much a replica of the previous day, except we got out at Sunny Bay and took the special MTR rail to Disneyland – the one which had Mickey Mouse handles as D had been excitedly mentioning since the day before. We had booked our tickets earlier – directly on the site, because for a change the deal was better than Klook. (lunch was included) D had done her research well, and we hurried through Main Street soon as the park opened directly to Hyperspace Mountain in Tomorrowland. This was all Star Wars, so I had nothing to complain about. D isn’t really a fan of rides, but she held up very well and actually enjoyed it. The next ride we went on was Grizzly Gulch, mine cars and this time, unlike the dark tunnel of the previous ride, we could actually see what was happening. I quite liked this one. Mystic Manor was next, and I really liked this too, it had a magical innocence to it. After we got out, we got lucky with a small line and D got her main wish – a photo with Mickey and Minnie!
Category: Asia
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Néih hóu Hong Kong! (Day 2)
We got up at around 7.30 with an aim to leave the hotel in an hour and a half. The standard Continental breakfast at Xi was absolutely good enough to begin the day. Mandy at the reception promised to help us follow up on the lost baggage. Ngong Ping was the plan for most of the day. The journey including MTR transfers and the walk took less than an hour. Might have been lesser if we’d known about the passage directly from the Tung Chung MTR to the cable car. We’d bought tickets for a guided tour via Klook and could therefore bypass the queue. If you reach early, you could probably wait in the queue a bit and buy. The instructions were clear and after a short wait, we boarded the crystal cabin- this one has a glass bottom – a real one which is cleaned after each trip. D remained poker faced and refused to comment on her previous experience with such things. The views from the cable car were spectacular – we could catch the giant bridge to Kowloon that was under construction, the airport, and as we neared the Ngong Ping end (20 mins) the Tian Tan Buddha (aka the Big Buddha).
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Néih hóu Hong Kong! (Day 1)
My introduction to Hong Kong beyond just a name was thanks to James Clavell and Noble House. But that was more than a decade and a half back. As we were making the arrangements for the trip, I finished reading Flood of Fire, the final book in Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy. It makes references to many real life characters, one of whom is William Jardine, of Jardine Matheson & Co., most eminent among Hong Kong business conglomerates from the time of the First Opium War to this day. The final pages of the book deal with the auction of land lots in Hong Kong, and the origin of what is now one of the most important nerve centres of the system of the world. Reminded me of the Amitav Ghosh book connection during our Penang trip in 2014, and set up the trip very well.
We ditched Meru for Uber this time and it did turn out cheaper. Surprisingly Malaysian Airlines had worked out better than Air Asia in terms of time and cost, and given the chances of adventure with the former(!), we took the midnight flight to Kuala Lumpur, which was delayed. We just about made the second flight and finally reached Hong Kong almost an hour later than scheduled. The good news was that we weren’t lost in transit, the bad news was that one of our bags was – the one with the clothes for the first couple of days! The delay also meant that our special lunch plan was sabotaged. We made peace with that, and after getting the currency exchanged, proceeded to make the first and most important transaction – the Airport Express Octopus Card. The Octopus is a payment card with tentacles everywhere – restaurants, transport, shopping and so on. We chose this particular card because our plans included a lot of MTR (mass transit rail, not South Indian dishes!) but you could buy a card of lesser value and use buses, trams etc too.
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Turkish Baat 10 : Istanbul and The End
Continued from Days 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Day 10
We were supposed to leave only at 11 from the hotel, but we woke up early because…shopping! In addition to the more famous Grand and Spice markets, there is also one near the Blue Mosque called Arasta Bazaar. The internet had some good things to say about it. It was very close to the hotel, and we reached by 9. The shops were just beginning to open. It is smaller than the other two. We found some super cushion covers, but otherwise, it actually seemed pricier than the other markets.
We bid goodbye to the hotel by 11, and this time, reached the airport in just an hour! After doner kababs for lunch, we did some duty free shopping and boarded the flight. The flight to Doha had no in-flight entertainment and I had to restrain myself from finishing the book I had brought! The flight was a bit delayed and we had to make a run for the connecting flight! We were warned by the Istanbul duty-free salesman that they might not let the liquor through, thankfully spirits dampening didn’t happen. (more…)
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Turkish Baat 9 : Back in Istanbul
Continued from Days 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Day 9
Since it was going to be our last night in Turkey, we began searching for a restaurant with a view and found Olive. We asked the Sokulla Pasa reception to book a table for dinner. After breakfast, we were picked up, at 8.20 but then spent the next hour roaming around the hotel picking up and dropping people! Finally, at around 10, we landed up at the first palace in our itinerary – Dolmabahçe Palace. This was the residence of the Ottoman Sultans after Topkapi Palace. We were told that after the then Sultan visited Europe and saw the residences of his counterparts, he felt that his current residence lacked style. Despite not really having the money, he took loans, taxed his subjects and got this built. Now, this ‘little’ home built on EMI is valued at $1.5 bn. I wondered if a Gates or Zuck could pick it up!
No photos are allowed inside the palace, but you know… 😀 The place is insanely garish and really looks rich! After the Ottoman sultans were exiled, this was used as a presidential guesthouse for visiting dignitaries and Ataturk, when he dropped in from Ankara. To be noted that this was where he died. I wondered whether the sultans had put a hex on him. (more…)
