(this happened on 16th November 2010) Shanghai to Hong Kong
This was an uneventful day; we woke, washed, packed, checked out, got our limousine to the airport, checked in, passed through security and passport control and ate very average poorly served dim sum in an airport restaurant.
Tes had to buy some fridge magnets and then we flew off to Hong Kong. Just a 2 hour flight, but oddly that same time it takes to fly from Manila to Hong Kong, which gives you some perspective on the size of China.
Arrived in HK and again things were fairly routine, got the Airport Express to Hong Kong station, no queue for Taxis, straight to the Hotel – The City Garden.
Upon check-in we were given an inferior room compared to the one we had at our last stay, but worst of all it had that terrible dank damp smell you sometimes get with poorly maintained air conditioning. I went back to the front desk and complained. The receptionist was grumpy and proclaimed that it was the non-smoking floor, I told her we were on a different non-smoking floor last time and that frankly I’d rather have a smoking room compared to that smell. I then just stood there and stared at her until she miraculously found an alternative room, which took several minutes.
We won’t be staying in this hotel again in our experience it’s expensive and the service and rooms are below the standard we would expect at this price point.
Tired and weary (why is it that when you travel you do virtually nothing yet you feel so tired at the end of your jouney) we set off for our favorite little Vietnamese restaurant near the Hotel. It was very busy and we had to wait for a table. It was efficient and good as usual, but one little anecdote is that Tes ordered some Phad Thai (or whatever the Vietnamese equivalent is), these are supposed to be spicy, but as we have found, spicy meant mildly spicy, so Tes asks for “Very spicy please”… the waiter pauses and says “Wery wery spessey?”, Tes nods enthusiastically and says “Yes, very very spicy”.
OK so our meal arrives and we tuck in, Tes says it’s OK it’s not that spicy, then she changes her mind and says, “Actually, it’s very very spicy” something I have not heard Tes proclaim since I ordered her a Chicken Phal Curry in London. After a few more mouthfuls she proclaimed she could eat no more and looked quite flushed. Curious I decided to try her noodles. I scooped down a big mouthful with Tes saying “easy, easy, go easy”… then I found out why. Now I can take spicy food, I have been known to each raw chilies and whilst I’m not in Tes’s league my friends will tell you I’m no pussy when it comes to spice, but this blew my head off, my mouth was not burning it was numb, my lips were burning and I was completely flushed; it took a pint of beer and some cussing to get me back to anything approaching normal. How Tes could have eaten more than three mouthfuls is beyond me, I was amused when she admitted to the waiter that they were actually too spicy for her… he laughed somewhat satanically and removed the remaining noodles.
Off to bed.. tomorrow is another day.
Tagged: World Travel Gap Year, World Travel, Gap Year, Gap Year Holiday, China, Shanghai, Hong Kong, City Garden Hotel,
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