We spent our first full day in Hong Kong taking care of ourselves. We went to a doctor today to get a remedy for our stomach issue which we believe we contracted in Buenos Aires. Chris has been suffering for almost 10 days while I’ve only had symptoms for the last week. Given that we have another month of travel, we needed to nip this in the bud. We got two different antibiotics, Cipro and Tinidazole, to combat all the common bugs. I’m confident that we’ll start feeling better soon!

Our trip insurance was extremely helpful. One phone call and they had arranged a doctor’s appointment less than a 2-minute walk away from our hotel. Our doctor, Dr. Gordon, was nice and thorough. I didn’t notice an electronic medical record system. (Think I could write off this portion of the trip as research?) This is the first trip where I purchased trip insurance and I’m glad that I did. I wouldn’t for a short trip but for a trip longer than two or three weeks, I highly recommend it.

On to some better updates…

The Grand Hyatt is a grand hotel. The staff is over-the-top helpful. The amenities in our suite are abundant. Yoga DVDs and yoga mat. Two different types of slippers. Track suits (track suits?). Free magazines like National Geographic, Business Traveler, Time, and some Asian mags. Free bottle of wine. Free bottles of water. Robes (of course). Our room view is spectacular with the lights of the main Hong Kong island lighting up the night and the active harbor dotted with boats and ferries in the morning. Our living room has a different view than the bedroom which makes for a nice change of scenery.

Living Room

Bedroom

Pretty foggy day today. Here's a view from our living room.

A view from the bedroom

Nighttime view from living room

Nighttime view from bedroom

Happy Chinese New Year!

The Grand Lounge is a concierge lounge that has complimentary breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres. I think that the drinks are free too but we cannot partake due to antibiotics. Just our luck. A lot of hotels have a concierge lounge but this hotel has the best food selection that I’ve ever seen.

Breakfast consists of scrambled eggs, hash brown patties (like McDonald’s), sausages, variety of breads, several types of cereals, soy and regular milk, cheese selection, muffins, smoked salmon, dumplings, beef consommé, berries, melons. Fresh fruit juice – Chris tried the honeydew juice and I had to try the watermelon juice. My breakfast of choice is a croissant with brie. Oh yeah!! And, a huge bowl of fruit to compensate and lessen the guilt. Chris goes for the traditional American breakfast of eggs, hash browns, toast, a little fruit, and some dumplings.

Evening hors d’oeuvres are served from 5:30 – 7:30 each night. There are always two hot options. Last night was fried shrimp and fried bean curd (both delicious). Tonight was a bbq pork pastry thing and mini vegetable samosas. Then, there’s the stuff they have every night – soup of the night, little sandwiches, cheese selection, variety of crackers and breads, crudités, fresh fruit, smoked salmon, baba ganoush, chips & dips, and so on.

If there weren’t seven different restaurants at the hotel with yummy menus to celebrate the New Year, we’d never pay for a meal in Hong Kong.

The other guests at the lounge are primarily business travelers and European tourists. Seeing the business travelers review their powerpoint presentations and strategize with colleagues at breakfast make me miss work, esp. international work. I know, I know, I know. Weird. Unnatural.

For dinner tonight, we had Italian (my choice) at Grissini.

My lovely view at dinner. Oh, yeah, the lights and stuff are cool, too.

Chris's dinner - lobster dumplings in a lobster froth

The dish that drew me to Grissini from their special New Year menu: "40 Egg Yolks" Tagliolini with butter, parmigiano reggiano, and shaved black truffles. It was rich and decadent and totally worth the spike in my cholesterol.

A couple of observations and antedotes in my first 24-hours in Hong Kong (remember, I’ve only really passed through the airport, seen some of the city by taxi, walked to the doctor office & laundry cleaners, and hung out at the hotel)

• Chris is definitely the tallest person here. One child at the airport stared at him in amazement. To see him in a crowded elevator is pretty funny.
• Chris has already mistaken another woman for me at the lounge.
• One woman said “Hi, Bill” to Chris this morning. About 10 minutes later, I saw Bill – another Caucasian male with black glasses and a shaved head.
• The ceilings in the hotel hallways are low enough for me to jump up and touch them.
• I haven’t seen one obese person yet.
• I think that those little girls from The Shining are staying at this hotel down the hall from us.

Tomorrow, we venture away from the hotel.

-kb