Nickbots visit SE Asia on SK, LH, EK, TG and (last but not least!) SQ

[planemad]

What a sensational TR! The attention to detail is impeccable and the wit is most disarming. Is there a Booker prize equivalent for the best TRs? I say we hand it out to Nickbot! Thanks for the LH F experience, which will remain, unfortunately, vicarious for most of us common folks.

[nickbot]

What a sensational TR! The attention to detail is impeccable and the wit is most disarming. Is there a Booker prize equivalent for the best TRs? I say we hand it out to Nickbot! Thanks for the LH F experience, which will remain, unfortunately, vicarious for most of us common folks.

Thanks to all for your positive comments taipeiflyer, rather than "GOAT", might I suggest "STOAT", namely Slowest Trip report Of All Time ?

planemad -I'd like to point out however that I am one of the common folks ! An LH F experience is certainly within one's grasp with the bare minimum of BD miles. Eighteen months ago, if someone told me I'd experience both SQ and LH F I'd have said they were mad (or could predict a lottery win!), but it's honestly achievable, even for NVFFs* like mrs nickbot and I

*Not Very Frequent Flyer

[zxcvbn]

Wow! you kill me with your placeholders nickbot! Great TR so far.!

[nickbot]

Wow! you kill me with your placeholders nickbot! Great TR so far.!

What placeholders?!?

(all placeholders have now gone!)

[Kyo]

Jolly good LH F show, old bean!

Was wanting to wait til the end of this segment before commenting...

I dare say this thread will garner the most views if all the other flight reports are bundled into this TR!

[zxcvbn]

What placeholders?!?

(all placeholders have now gone!)

I should rephrase my sentence.
Can't wait for the next part!

[DeltaFlyingProf]

Thanks for the sympathy,..all the others are bullying me to get writing hehe

Who is bullying you to get writing? Give me names and I will go take care of them!

Meanwhile, keep typing!

I would not want to have to go give you some encouragements!!!

[nickbot]

I would not want to have to go give you some encouragements!!!

That sounds like a threat Sir,...methinks you are an agent for the evil CGK

[Paint Horse]

I check in see there is a nickbot post. Excellent. I click over to check on the latest update, all of which are taking much too long to be posted, to find this exchange instead. So yes this is a threat. Get to work. May I suggest you stop sleeping until you finish? As I tell my students when they complain about assignments, sleeping is a major waste of time.

[DeltaFlyingProf]

That sounds like a threat Sir,...methinks you are an agent for the evil CGK

It is no threat, just a friendly advice!

[SuperJonJon]

I check in see there is a nickbot post. Excellent. I click over to check on the latest update, all of which are taking much too long to be posted, to find this exchange instead. So yes this is a threat. Get to work. May I suggest you stop sleeping until you finish? As I tell my students when they complain about assignments, sleeping is a major waste of time.

An angry mob armed with pitch forks seems to be gathering, nickbot! Better keep typing!

[nickbot]

HKG Part I - Arrival and Intercontinental Grand Stanford

Ok, in an attempt to keep the bloodthirsty SQTalk wolves from the door, here's the next installment of the nickbots grand Asian adventure!

mrs nickbot, at HKG arrivals



After arriving at HKG, we found the Airport Express train to be an extremely efficient way of getting into the city -our hotel was on the shuttle bus route, so all we had to do was board the train, disembark at Kowloon station and then catch the correct bus. From memory, within about an hour of landing we were in town.

Most on the forum who know me know that my hotel allegiance lies with Intercontinental group hotels (generally Holiday Inns and HIXs), and as a Platinum member I've experienced pretty good recognition at Asian HIs in the past. A couple of months before we departed, a kind SQTalker gave me a Royal Ambassador referral certificate, and after much email wrangling with the Ambassador service centre (another story, another time!), my status was confirmed under a week before departure. Because of the elevated status, and based upon recommendations of the IC in BKK, we decided to stay at three different ICs during our holiday (HKG, BKK and SIN). We were looking forward to all three, as we hadn't previouly stayed at an IC. I was, of course, looking forward to the RA benefits!

Intercontinental Grand Stanford, Hong Kong



We had chosen the Grand Stanford over the other IC in HKG purely on a cost basis -the other IC was far more expensive, and we just couldn't justify the additional cost. Many reviews say that the Grand Stanford is a little out of the way, and that the other IC is far better located -I would disagree with this point, as the hotels are only a pleasant ten minute water front walk away from each other, which should be no challenge whatsoever for even a moderately healthy adult!

Lobby area, taken from balcony seating area



As we arrived in reception, we headed over to the Ambassador check-in desk (to the RHS of the above photograph), and from there we were escorted up to the first floor in order to check-in at the Club reception. We'd booked a harbour view club room for this stay, which was a little over our first estimate of budget, but we had heard great things about the club amenities, and for our first ever stay in HKG we definitely wanted a harbour view!

I'd previously advised the hotel by email that I was now an RA, and of our ETA, however it was apparent that none of this information had been entered into the reservations system. No big problem, I told them I was RA and they confirmed this (presumably via a link-up to PriorityClub on their system). Unfortunately, our room wasn't available at that time, so they invited us to take a seat in the lounge and brought some soft drinks over to us.

Despite the fact that we'd just come off a First Class flight, we were pretty tired and eager to get to our room for a shower and then head out to do a little sightseeing -after 45 minutes wait, I went over to the desk to see what was happening. In a very pleasant manner, I enquired when our room would be ready, mentioning that we'd just flown in and were keen to freshen up; I was told it shouldn't be too much longer, as the previous occupant had just vacated the room. I happened to have the RA T&Cs document in my bag and it states that RAs are allowed to check in at 08:00 and if the booked room isn't available then another will be allocated on a temporary basis -I mentioned that all we needed was a room to get changed and have a shower. The club receptionist had a look through her system and allocated a new room to us for our stay, so we took the keys and headed upstairs.

Club lounge, overlooking the harbour (spot mrs nickbot, looking bored whilst waiting for our room!



When we arrived at the new room, it was apparent that this was actually a downgrade from what we had initially booked -ok, there was a semi harbour view, but I just felt a little short changed (especially as RA ought to have given some form of upgrade.) We popped back down to the club reception to have a chat with them, and were advised that we could use that room to have a shower etc., then they would move us to a nicer room later on -perfect. All was dealt with in an extremely polite manner on both sides, but in some ways, as the stay progressed, I wish I'd not said anything becase every time we went into the club lounge, the reception ladies came over to us and apologised (about ten times during our stay!!)

We got changed and headed back down to the club lounge to grab a bite to eat before going sightseeing -no photographs on this occasion (more later), but I have to say, the buffet selection was excellent.

With limited time in HKG (circa 36 hours) we decided on just a few key things that we'd like to experience rather than busting a gut to see everything; on our list was the Star Ferry, the funicular railway up to the peak, and some general wandering around/window shopping. We walked over to the Tsim Sha Tsui pier, passing the other IC on the way, to start ticking items off the list!

Harbour view from the Star Ferry



Boat docking at Central pier



Hong Kong trams (didn't ride on one unfortunately)



After a little navigational help from uncle Nokia N95, we got to the Peak tram station and bought tickets to ride the funicular railway up the hill -we thought at this time that the queues were pretty awful, but it transpired that the real rush occurs in advance of sunset, so I suppose we wee lucky in only having to wait about 40 minutes. I found it a little difficult to take decent shots from the railway, as we were on the land side of the carriage, but managed this view:

Hong Kong harbour view from Peak Tram



The views over the harbour from the Peak are pretty stupendous, I'd certainly recommend this as a must-see in HKG. If we get the opportunity to visit Hong Kong again, we would definitely head up there again.

Harbour view from the Peak



nickbots plus HKG view



Once we'd seen this view, in some ways we felt like we'd "done" Hong Kong -I don't mean that we'd ticked all of the boxes with regards to sightseeing, but the Peak view alone justified our visit. We didn't want to be over tired for the evening (to see the nightly light show) and also for our onward journey the next evening, so we decided to head back to our hotel.

Arriving back at Kowloon on the Star Ferry



Sun setting over Hong Kong harbour

[nickbot]

HKG Part II - Intercontinental Grand Stanford

Once back at the hotel, we went straight to the club lounge for evening canapes. We were impressed by the selection of nibbles, but additionally by their choice of champagne (Veuve Clicquot), which was generously free-flowing. I think the evening canape reception is alone worth the premium one pays for club access at the hotel!

Bar service in the lounge (all alcoholic beverages FOC during evening canape reception) -also showing Bottles of Veuve Clicquot in their natural habitat!



Canape selection I



Canape selection II



Hot buffet area



Champagne and canapes overlooking the harbour -fantastic!



After finishing our nibbles, we graciously accepted a top-up of champagne before relinquishing our harbour view seats and heading over to the computer terminals, where we both caught up on emails etc. for a few minutes. We were intending to take our (still quite full) glasses up to our room to finish them as we got changed, but were told that the glasses couldn't be removed from the club lounge (had they been forewarned of nickbot's penchant for glasses?!?!), so we milled around for a few more minutes of sipping, but were sadly unable to finish our glasses (champagne isn't for rushing!), so they were set aside. We collected our new key from the club reception and headed up to our room.

Once we reached our new room, we were pleased to see that we'd been allocated a much nicer room than previously -not strictly an upgrade from the Club Harbour View room we'd booked, but one with a far superior view to our "temporary" room from earlier in the day. May I present a whistle-stop tour around Chateau Nickbot:

Entrance hallway (bathroom to LHS)



Bathroom (apologies for the yellow tinge to the photograph)



Over bath shower



Minibar, TV, DVD, Fax...



Bed,...obviously!



And finally, the harbour view we so desperately wanted



Overall, the room was comfortable and we enjoyed the view, but weren't wowed by it as our first IC stay (especially with RA status). Where the hotel did shine for us, however, was in the Club lounge -one can get breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and evening drinks/canapes in the lounge, so I think overall we got good value from our stay.

After checking out the room and taking the photographs presented above, we headed out to watch the Symphony of Lights show. Let's just say, it didn't look like the photo on the link! Okay, it was impressive in the way that lights on different buildings around the harbour were coordinated to the music, but for me it was a complete non-event. I've since heard that on public holidays the show is better (with the addition of fireworks). The photograph below was about as good as it got...

Disappointing light show over Hong Kong harbour



Please don't get me wrong, I think the view of the harbour and buildings at night was spectacular in itself (requiring no gilding of the lily), but I was really expecting to be wowed by the show after quite a bit of build-up and neither mrs nickbot nor I were impressed.

After the show, we took a walk around the vicinity of the hotel looking for somewhere to eat -neither of us were particularly hungry after filling up on canapes, but we fancied a little something. Unfortunately, our first (and last for this trip!) experience of Hong Kong street food wasn't too successful, as we ended up with some pretty disgusting noodles which have thankfully been deleted from both our memory and tastebud banks! I'd add a photo, but I'm already up the the maximum of 12 for this post,...you're not missing much folks!

[nickbot]

HKG Part III - Intercontinental Grand Stanford

We had a relatively early night and slept wonderfully -we didn't intend to head over onto Hong Kong island again during our stay, preferring instead to take a walk around Kowloon and chill out beside the pool before our evening flight to Bangkok. We had a leisurely breakfast in the lounge first however.

Breakfast buffet selection I



Breakfast buffet selection II



Soft drinks selection (available all day)



The Club once again excelled itself in terms of the food on offer. I'm afraid a rare moment of shyness took over me before I could take photographs of the hot buffet selection (too many people hanging around, and not sure they would approve of me opening all of the bain maries to get the right shot!)

View from the club window to the LHS/North East-ish!



Corresponding view to the RHS/South West-ish!



After breakfast, we took a leisurely walk towards Kowloon park (again with uncle nokia's GPS assistance at times! Taking in a few sights along the way, such as the Peninsula hotel...

The Peninsula,....not quite up to IC Grand Stanford standards however



Typical Kowloon street



Olympic countdown clock in Kowloon park, 48 days to go!



On our return to the hotel, we packed our cases for the onward journey to BKK. A quick photocall of LH ducks with Hong Kong harbour in the background was called for before we vacated the room!

Mr. Quak, Mr DuckDuckpb3 and friends -told you it wasn't the last we'd see of the ducks!

[nickbot]

HKG Part IV - Intercontinental Grand Stanford

I handed our keys into the club reception desk around an hour before our check-out time (16:00) so that we could have afternoon tea in the lounge. From there, after asking if it were possible, we went up to the rooftop pool to while away the rest of the afternoon as our onward flight wasn't due to depart until 22:25. Our luggage remained in storage with the concierge, but I retained my Tumi, along with a change of clothes for both of us so that we could shower up at the poolside.

Rooftop pool



Our time at the pool was such a pleasant end to the short but sweet visit to Hong Kong -we very much enjoyed our stay, and would certainly plan to visit again if at all possible. It was nice to relax in the remains of the sunshine and feel completely unrushed -thumbs up to the hotel staff for allowing us to stay in the pool area after check-out The hotel gets a recommendation from me, and I would definitely stay again, if only for the Club lounge Yes, it's not as centrally located as the main IC HKG, but I really didn't see this as a disadvantage. Top marks, thank you IC Grand Stanford

Allowing plenty of time to get to the airport, we left the hotel at circa 19:00, retracing our steps taken only the day before (i.e. hotel hopper bus to Kowloon station, then airport express to HKG). One thing that really struck us as being highly efficient was the line-up of trolleys at the airport station, awaiting pax with heavy bags:

Mr. & Mrs. T. Rolley and extended family patiently await the next train