Day 5 Beijing- Hong Kong First- Macau
We had a flight leaving Beijing at 13:30, so we packed early and went to the silk market for some last minute shopping and to buy a new suitcase for all our shmonzes. We took a regular cab to the airport. We arrived at 12:00 and I checked in, by the air China business class counter. While my wife went to get some Haagen Dazs, I asked the air china ticket desk for a upgrade from business to first. By the time i booked the flights, it was a 2 cabin flight, but they changed it to a 3 cabin flight. I explained them, that I paid for the entire trip with first class miles and they should really upgrade me, if available. Even through they really didn't have to, after flashing my BMI *gold card, they upgraded me. We had to clear immigration in Beijing, since Hong Kong is considered International. Again, the airport is very big. There was a train taking us to the other lounge and by the time we were there we had 5 mins. The air china first class lounge was nice and big, I liked the fresh squeezed orange juice. We had one of these electric cars bring us to the gate. They charged 10 RMB for it, it wasn't free like Shanghai. We again had to take a bus to the air china 777. First class was quite disappointing. For a ride to Hong Kong ( 3 hours ) it was ok, but traveling international for 12 hours in first with seats that are not a full flat bed is not what one expects. Service was good, we got a Bangkok airways kosher meal. It was eatable, but a normal airlines economy food beats it. We landed in Hong Kong at 16:30. The good part is, they have a ferry leaving every hour to Macau. If you buy tickets an hour before, you just have to give them your luggage tags from the flight and they pick them up and put it on the ferry. We didnt even have to go through immigration in Hong Kong, its like being in transit. I bought 2 premium class tickets for the ferry. It was about 600 HKD for 2 people, the economy class would have been 500 HKD, since we were over the economy luggage allowance. We boarded the 18:00 ferry and left 10 min late. Premium tickets are not very different from the normal ones. We were able to sit on the second floor and had free drinks. Economy was quite full, so it was worth the extra 13 dollars. Arrival in macau was very smooth, we once again had to clear immigration. Our hotel had a one way pick up included in the rate and send three people to pick us up. one to shlep the suitcases, one to hold the umbrella and another to drive the mercedes S500. The ride was 15 min. but I didnt mind, what a stunning car, there were more buttons then in a cockpit. massage function.......
We arrived at the Venetian hotel macau. What a stunning hotel, its huge and one can see its luxury everywhere. Check in was very fast. They gave us a rialto suite. The room was huge, 2000 square feet. A big living room, bedroom and bathroom. Unreal. We spend the rest of the evening walking around the hotel, its build like venice, with bridges, rivers and gondolas. Yes, I did gamble as well, but luck was not on my side that night. I called for a guy to warm up our meals we had from Dinis, the guy new exactly what kosher was and told me not to worry, he will leave it double wrapped.
Prices
cab to the airport 115 RMB
ferry 600 RMB
rialto suite 1900 HKD (60 days advance paid booking 20% discount)
Day 6 Friday
We spend the morning walking around in the hotel and seeing it from the outside. For a guy, that has never been to Las Vegas, very impressing. At 13:00 we took the hotel shuttle bus to Macau ferry station for a ride to Hong Kong Kowloon. There is a station closer to the venetian, but there the ferry only goes to Hong Kong. I didnt want to take a star ferry to Kowloon after that, so I decided to try this. Price was about the same and we took the premium class again. It was a ferry from a different company, but basically the same. I must say, something that was very helpful: the exit is at the first floor, so premium passengers could be the last guys to get off, since we are coming from the second floor. On both ferries the staff blocked the entrance for economy passengers until all from the second floor left. The ride to Hong Kong was about 1 hour. We took a cab to our hotel, the intercontinental grand standford. The hotel upgraded us to a stunning harbour view suite on the top floor. That was amazing , since we were able to leave the lights on in the living room for shabbes. We went out to get some drinks before shabbes and made sure we knew were the shul building was ( 5 min walk from the hotel ) After that we had 3 hours to kill before shabbes, so I went for a nice swim in the pool on the roof.
Shabbes
We decided to spend shabbes in Kehilat Zion in Kowloon. Its a sefardi shul located in a shopping center. They had about 250 people for the davening and the meal. There was a big textile fair across the border that week, so 95% were sefardi. I heard in advance, that the meals are very good, but good is not fair. The meal was unreal, they had 250 people and could have served some basics, they dont even charge, but no. First course was gefilte fish, marinated salmon and three different type of sushi. For the main course, they gave 7 different types of meat, one better then the other. They had so much and this for 250 people, I must say an amazing chessed. The atmosphere was also very nice with singing and dvar toires. The food beat any 5* hotel in jerusalem, that includes the citadel, plaza, Inbal or Ramada.
Shachris was 9:00 followed by shabbes lunch. Again the food was superb. Minche was followed by Seuda Shlishit, mariv and Havdala. Shabbes was an amazing experience, we got to meet a lot of nice people and have to thank Rabbi moded for his amazing work. Moze Shabbes we went to the ladies market. Its the best market in the Hong Kong area, open until 11 PM. Its in Kowloon and a lot of fun as well.
Day 8 Sunday Turkish First Hong Kong-Istanbul First class suite
We got up quite early and checked out from the hotel already. I deposited our luggage for storage in the hotel, since we would pick it up at night before our flight. We walked 5 min. along the avenue of the stars to the star ferry terminal and took a quick 5 min ride across the harbor. Our plan was to take a cab to the tram station to get to the peak. At the ferry station, there was a tourbus, that had a stop by the tram station, so we took that. The bus was a nice open double decker and drove for 45 min through Hong Kong before dropping us off at the tram station. There was a wait time of more then a hour to get tickets for the tram, so we decided to skip it and take a cab from there to the peak. 10 min later we on the peak and the views were stunning. We paid a small amount to stand on the observation deck for some amazing pictures. In the mall on the peak they have a spa, called the wonderfishspa. You put your feet in a big pool full of fish and they chew on your skin and eat all the dead skin away. We did it for 20 min, was quite an experience. We took a cab ride to the bottom and he dropped us off in middle of town. I have to say, there was nothing amazing and shopping was quite expensive, so we crossed back to Kowloon and spend some time at the ladies market again. We made sure to get back to Hong Kong at 18-00 as in the jewish center they have a bbq every sunday night for dinner. It was really great, there was such a big selection incl. sushi, salads, deserts. We crossed back to the Kowloon side and were on the avenue of the stars at 20-00. Every night 8 o'clock, they make a big laser show along the Hong Kong harbor with music. Its an amazing laser and light show from tall buildings and lasts 15 min. We hurried back to our hotel, picked up our luggage and rushed with a cab to the airport. We got there about 1 hour before our flight and checked in at the turkish first class counter. They escorted us to a lounge and I took a quick shower after a long day. I dont even know which lounge it was and the showers were nothing compared to Zurich, but for the 15 min. we had it was ok. We were one of last guys to board the turkish 777 plane to Istanbul. There is a separate entrance for first class, so we really felt like we were the only people on the flight. We had the whole first row for ourselves, in the second row two people were sitting. The plane has been described in other posts already, in short: you have a real suite with proper beds, able to close your door. The seat was the most comfortable ever and I had a huge flat screen tv in front of me. This is for sure the real deal to travel. Service was very good and the crew spoke perfect english. I skipped the meal, being full from the BBQ and had a good nights sleep after a movie. Its just amazing, changing in to PJs, lying under proper blankets and watching a movie oh a huge flat screen tv in your own little room. (the 21 year chivaz was very welcome)
prices
star ferry tickets 3 HKD
tourbus 35 HKD
BBQ 300 HKD
cab to the airport 120 UKD
hotel 1700 HKD
Day 9
Breakfast on the flight was decent, from Hermolis. I asked them to bring me the supper and packed alot of stuff for our day in istanbul. We landed 05.30 am and were greeted by a lady at the door of the plane, that will escort us in the airport. Her electric car took us to passport controll. Our luggage was tagged to Zurich, so we were able to skip that. I dropped our handluggage by the storage area and only took a small bag with some food along. Our escort then showed us were our mercedes from turkish airlines was waiting for us, to take us to town. I asked him to drop us of at the center by the blue mosque. Here was the problem, it was only 6.15 am. Everything, was closed. We didnt bring our coat along, since the sun was not yet out, it was really cold. There was no restaurant open and my wife was not to happy ;-) We saw a tram passing by and jumped on the next one for a hour ride to keep us warm and also got to see the town for 1 dollar. I called the local chabad rabbi and asked to pray by him, since i didnt want to put tefilin in middle of istanbul and at the airport it was to early. We took a cab to his house. Its not a proper chabad house like in other places around the world, they have two apartments in a normal house. From there we took a cab to Topaki palace. Its a big palace right next to the blue mosque and has some stunning view of istanbul. we were able to rent headphones and get a tour without a guide like this. From there we walked over to the blue mosque, I didnt go inside but however much one can appreciate such a building, it was very nice and big. My wife wanted to check out the Bazar, thats the market in istanbul. We walked through these little alleys and streets for an hour but after shopping in China all other places seem like a rip off. Our connection flight to Zurich was only in 3 hours, but traveling so much in a week got to us and we could not bother walking around anymore. We took a cab to the airport and spend 2 hours in the turkish airways lounge. It was nothing special but it had free wifi, some nice chairs and my (must do) shower. Our flight to Zurich left on time, it was a small A320 in business class. Normal seats, with the middle one blocked in business. Quite a change from the 777 suite. We were so tired, that sleeping was no problem. 3 hours later we landed in Zuerich. Swiss customs made sure to extend our trip for another hour, as they opened all our suitcases. B''h i was careful and put all fake watches in my jacket pocket in advance, so they were left sorting through all the fake clothing. swiss law only lets them confiscate products of companies that requested it and paid for this. So they had to check every brand in their computer, if such a request was made. I felt quite bad, after one hour they were not able to find anything to take away from us and had to let us go.
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The trip was amazing, we got to see a lot and I really feel we saw the basics in every city, that would interest us. We didnt go to every museum and temple, but that was fine. Turkish airways is a must do, if you fly in F. Thanks to damaxer91 for all the help he gave me in planning this trip. Please feel free to ask me for any info you might need. I hope you enjoyed reading this long trip report. My english is not the best, so please ignore the mistakes.
