Shenzhen and Macau Trip Report
May 5, 2015 to May 12, 2015
ORD-HKG > EK Y, ORD-DXB EK236 (777-300ER), DXB-HKG EK382 (A380)
HKG-ORD > CX F, HKG-ORD CX806 (777-300ER)
Hotel: Grand Hyatt Shenzhen, 15,000 Points per Night
Hotel: Conrad Macao, Cotai Central, 40,000 Points per Night
Another trip report from a not so random trip. If you don’t care about flights skip to the third paragraph.
Note: While I try to remember everything some info here might be bit off, I don't take notes while on vacation so can't remember every precise detail.
So this trip all started back in October when OneTravel had an Emirates price glitch for tickets from the USA to Asia for around $350. Being myself and all I decided to book one for after the semester ended which was May. I booked to Hong Kong. Also, being myself I didn’t book any hotels, or any other flights till about 2 days before. Finally two days before I was thinking Shanghai, Thailand, etc, but in the end I didn’t want to take any other flights so just decided at Shenzhen (3 nights) and Macau (2 nights).
For flying 14 hours in coach on Emirates it wasn’t all that bad. The plane was half empty so I had a whole row, or ghetto upgrade as some like to call. I had enough pillows, blankets, and movies and had a great flight. I would do it again if the price was right ;-). Upon landing in Dubai I had about an 9-hour layover, from 7pm to 4am. After landing I cleared customs, left my bags by the left luggage counter, costing 20 AED for up to 12 hours, per bag. I then took the metro to the Mall of the Emirates for about two hours, and then took the metro again to the Dubai Mall for about an hour or two. The malls are big, not just big but huge. I must have seen the same shop about 2 to 3 times in each mall. Finally I took a taxi back to the Airport from the Dubai Mall. All in all, I had no issues in Dubai, interesting city, and I hope to go back again for more than just a day.
Back in DXB I had about 3 hours, I got my bags and went through passport control and security. No issues again. Israeli stamps and visas. I then went to the Emirates Business Class lounge (thanks to an EK status match) and chilled there for the next two hours. Prepackaged muffins, ice cream, and drinks were enough to keep me going. Finally I boarded the flight to HKG and once again had no issues on the plane. A interesting thought of their A380’s, since Y is the whole first floor it gives you plenty of space to walk around with.
Finally. The real trip report.
Shenzhen
I landed in HKG on Thursday afternoon, I will skip most of the HKG airport info since there are enough reports out there. From HKG to the Grand Hyatt Shenzhen I took a shared van that cost me around 200 HKD. They drove us across the border and straight to the hotel. Upon getting to the hotel I was just wowed. The hotel lobby is interesting, going up to the third floor to check in was just ok, but I ended up with the corner deluxe room which was just awesome (thanks @EMCC). Having that and club access was fun and magnificent. The lounge is big and has the standard breakfast items. Just a note: for breakfast they make you eggs outside in the lounge, if you bring your own pan then you shouldn’t have any issues and can have eggs every morning. The hotel location is also great, its right next to the Mix-C mall and only a few minutes drive to most locations, use UBER, SUPER cheap.
Friday I went out to the electronics market. That thing is just HUGE. Don’t think a couple blocks or a building or two, think a whole neighborhood. There are at least 5 four story building and a bunch more building all selling electronics. Keep in mind 99.99 percent of the things they are selling is fakes and mostly looking to sell to wholesalers not regular people. I spent about 6, 7 hours there and could have spent more. I would go back there again, and again, and again. I wouldn’t really buy anything electronic but maybe some other stuff. For example, I got a bunch of SIM card adapters that sell on eBay for $1 or $1.50, I got them for around 7 cents. Can’t beat that.
Friday night and Saturday I went to the Chabad Luo Hu. It is about a 5-10 minute walk from the Grand Hyatt and about three quarters of the walk can be through the Mix-C mall so you have air conditioning. The Chabad was great. Good food, good crowd, good atmosphere. Simple and satisfying. On Saturday night I just chilled by the Penthouse Bar and got some interesting drinks. H/T to the Bar Tender who was quite something. While up there I was also playing a guessing game of who was from Apple, Google, etc. I got one right, the Apple employee.
On Sunday I went to the Commercial City shipping, also known as, Copy Mall. I had a few requests for wallets and cufflinks so had to pick them up. As usually, know what to look for on the product and price so you don’t buy a terrible copy and don’t get ripped off. At first they bought me a idiots wallet and right when they gave it to me I threw it on the ground. The next one they bought me looked like an exact replica and perfect copy.
Around noon I took a taxi over to the ferry terminal for my ferry over to Macau. The taxi ride was about one hour and the ferry was about an hour as well. There is no need to get to the ferry terminal until about 30 minutes before the departure time. I ended up purchasing the “first” class ticket as it was about 60 CNY more. For an hour ride, why not. The ferry ride was uneventful, they gave us a drink of our choice then let us be. Interesting note: There was free Wi-Fi on the boat.
Macau
After docking in Macau I cleared customs and got on the free shuttle bus to the hotel. Each hotel, hotel area has their own shuttle. For the Conrad, they share with the Holiday Inn and Sheraton who are in the same complex. Again, an uneventful and quick ride.
Walking into the Conrad was something else. Just a note: the Holiday Inn, Sheraton, and Conrad all share the same lobby main floor area, or more precisely, they all have different entrance ways but once you get past the lobby that’s it. The Conrad now is something else, the staff there was amazing. Being a Hilton Gold member I was taken up to the lounge and checked in over there. I was given a City View King Corner Suite. The suite was four rooms, a living room, TV room, bed room, and bathroom, each room had its own TV. It was quite something, never had a room like it before. The lounge had the hotel also was quite something. They had specialty drinks on order which were interesting and other random foods which I couldn’t taste. All I had was the drinks and fruits and vegetables.
Macau is a Vegas like town, so expect to hop into a casino while there one way or another. I ended up coming out ahead, not a lot but at least I wasn’t down. Unfortunately there isn’t really anything kosher there, I had to resort to chocolates, wafers, and chips that I found in a store in the mall.
Finally all said and done, like all trips, this one has to come to and end so I can begin the next one, or the next journey in life. However, not so quick, before my flight home I decided to have some fun and see availability in Cathay First for my flight home. Luck was on my side and there was one seat in CX F, now how can I turn that down. I called AA and booked it using 67.5k miles for a 14.5 hour flight in CX F. For trip reports on the lounge google “The Wing CX HKG” or for the plane google CX F 777-300. Don’t need to write about something that is online many times already. I will note: I called the lounge when I booked the ticket (about 24 hours before the flight) and had them get a kosher meal for me in the lounge. When I got to the lounge, The Wing, they had it ready and warmed up. Best decision to ditch my packed EK Y flight the way home. Great early birthday present to myself.
Not that all is said and done. What a weekend!! But watching the sunset in an F seat, enjoying a Haagen-Dazs and sipping blue label is one of the best ways to fly.
Thank you for reading. If you made it through the whole thing I am quite surprised. Until next time, continue exploring.
