Ewens-Downing Adventures in Asia

After spending the day with our friend Ernie, we left the splendor of the Peninsula Hotel in another Rolls Royce limo and headed out to the Hong Kong airport. Our flight was on All Nippon Airways (ANA), a Boeing 747, again in Business Class. The nose end of the plane was configured for first class seating, but the seats were sold as business. We had huge full reclining bed seats. We had our creature comforts. Little did we know that we would soon lose all concept of what comfort was.

Before we boarded in Hong Kong, the gate staff unfurled a large sheet of paper that had written text in Japanese and English warning us that there was a typhoon expected in Tokyo that evening and we might not be able to land there. Why they didn’t just cancel at that point still astounds us. But we took off on-time and settled in for about a 4 hour flight.

As we flew over Japan, there were numerous announcements over the P.A. from the pilot, sometimes with a broken English translation, sometimes not. The chief purser was one of our business class stewardesses and several times she came before the two of us and the other two non-Japanese speakers (in this case two German businessmen) and knelt down with a worried brow explaining that we might not get to Tokyo. At one point, they were talking about landing in Osaka, which is about 3 to 4 hours by train from Tokyo. But the plane forged onward toward Tokyo, only having to circle for about an hour before the pilot said he was going in for a landing. We started down and the landing gear came down, but then the pilot pulled up sharply and then announced we couldn’t land and were going to Osaka, about an hour away and that we should land there at 10:25 pm. Ron asked the purser what that meant–would we get a hotel? Again, she had a furrowed brow and said something like she didn’t know but not to worry. Of course, we thought, the airline would take care of us. We were, after all, in business class, right?

We landed in Osaka about when they said we would but then waited at the gate for an hour and 20 minutes. They kept saying that there was no ground personnel available (saying “so sorry”). Just before midnight, they let us off the plane to the jet way where ANA staff was handing out envelopes with $30,000 yen to each passenger (about $300), a danish and some orange juice. And that was it. Exhausted and confused, we plodded through to customs.

The customs agent wanted to know why Ron left the box saying where we were staying blank. He said basically that we didn’t plan on being in Osaka that night and had no idea where we were at or where we would stay. Next we claimed our luggage and went to the ANA service desk which was in complete chaos. Apparently quite a few other planes had landed in Osaka for this same reason. We seemed to be the last. So we of course had far fewer choices available to us.

There were no hotels available anywhere in Osaka, not at the airport and not in the center city (again “so sorry”). And besides, the last train for the center city had already left, so why did we want to go there, they asked? We thought maybe to get a train to where we were supposed to be? But the last train was at midnight and we were almost 45 minutes cab ride to the center city anyway.

Ron got the message loud and clear that it made no difference that we were in business class or that he has Gold status in the Star Alliance program (ANA is in with United, Luftansa, Singapore, etc). The $30,000 yen was it. (”So sorry”) They would make us a reservation the next morning for a flight to Tokyo that might or might not go because of the typhoon, and at our own expense. Because this was a weather diversion, they were through with us once the plane landed in Osaka.

We tried to consider our options, I called a Hilton in the center city where we’re staying in about 10 days. All they had was a smoking room for $400 and the executive suite for $1500 — those are in US dollars not yen. By the time we decided to try for a cab to the center city, they had sold the smoking room. At this point we had no other option but to spend what was left of the night at the airport. Oh, joy.

The airline had given out blankets and sleeping bags. While we were trying to find out what our options were other people had grabbed all the chairs in the airport and had settled in for the night. Someone had vacated one chair near an elevator so we grabbed it. While I went to the washroom Ron tried to get some sleep. But he was able to due to a repeating “bing bong” that the elevators make constantly. (So that’s why the other people left!) We finally ended up under an escalator on the floor, creating a little “cave” by barricading the entrance with our luggage. In under 24 hours we had gone from living the high life at the Peninsula to being essentially homeless people living under a staircase. Thanks typhoon X and ANA!

Somehow the morning managed to wind its way to around 5AM. As the sun rose we got in line to buy tickets with 300 other people noting that the display board still said “Questionable” as to whether the flight would go due to weather. When Ron purchased the tickets he asked the agent if we shouldn’t have just gotten rebooked to Tokyo at no charge. She said back in broken English “so sorry” that we’d need to pay and then talk to “International Services”. We finally boarded the flight, again being told that it might have to turn back to Osaka. Well, we finally did land in Tokyo but without a lot of translating of the announcements in Japanese.

We found a YCAT bus from to Yokohama, arriving about 8:30 and was told by hotel staff that a room wouldn’t be ready until 2pm. Though I was a member of their frequent stay club and guaranteed early check in we still got the “so sorry, room not ready”. We finally got taken to a room at 12:45 but it was smoking, “Oh, so sorry!” And another 20 minutes before they got us non-smoking. Ron crashed in bed no doubt dreaming of people telling him “so sorry,” not to be heard from for several hours. I jumped into the tub and took a bubble bath while admiring the view and winding-down. For the moment we were once again princes.

Above is the bathtub with the portal above it. Did I mention that we were staying at the Yokohama Royal Park hotel? It is on the highest floors of the tallest building in Japan, the Landmark Tower. Our room was on the 57th floor. My ears popped every time we went up and down in the elevator.

Looking back on this experience we can laugh about it. But at the time we were exhausted and completely vexed by the circumstances that were totally beyond our control. As they say in Japan, “cho utoshi.” So irritating! This event simply gave us a low point to go up from! After all, it couldn’t get any worse. (grin)

At any time of the day the Hong Kong skyline is impressive and wondrous. Throughout our stay at the Peninsula I took many photos of it during day and night. I quickly realized that to do the night photos at all well I would need a tripod. Then I realized that even pushing the button of the camera would produce some image blur during these long night exposures. So we ventured out and found a remote firing cord for my digital SLR. I was in business.

I was lucky enough to be shooting night shots of the harbor from our room at the Peninsula Hotel when the Hong Kong harbor came alive with this light show. Apparently they do it “for the tourists” nightly. But we had never seen it until this night. A sound track is broadcast to all the hotels and around the harbor. All of the buildings, lasers and spotlights come to life, pulsing and modulating, all while staying in time with the music. It is quite a choreographed show rivaling something you might see at a Disney park.

Aside from the fact that I was shooting through a double-pane window, the photos turned out pretty nice for this first time light show photographer. Unfortunately Ron had decided to go to the hotel pool to relax while I took the nighttime skyline photos. When he returned I told him about the light show he had missed.

We got back from Stanley in time to have afternoon tea at the Peninsula. Being that the hotel came from British origins, naturally they would have a proper English tea each afternoon. We had seen people having tea in the lobby restaurant. I was looking forward to it. Years ago we had tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. We wanted to continue the tradition at another famous world hotel.

After being seated we each ordered our selections of tea. I had an Earl Grey while Ron had the Darjeeling. It was fun to see the tea served with all the pomp and circumstance. They used little coseys on the pots to protect our fingers from the heat. In no time the three-tiered tray of snacks arrived. Per tradition we ate from the top-up. The first tier had butter scones. The second, finger sandwiches. And the third the sweets. It was nice to take some time out from the running around to just enjoy the ambiance of the Peninsula. While we ate and drank a live trio of piano, cello and drums played Beatles tunes from a balcony above. It was sublime.

Another big tourist draw is the Stanley Market. Stanley is a little coastal city on the south side of Hong Kong island. We had heard about a huge flea market kind of open market there. A bus that stopped near the hotel took us right to the market. We boarded the double-decker bus and sat up top with four Australian women who were also going to Stanley. Soon we were weaving our way through downtown and then the outskirts of town.

The bus led us over a mountain pass to a two lane road that followed the coast. We did not think such a big bus could make such a route. But it did. Being that we were on the top deck of the bus we often got a scare as a tree branch whacked into the window in front of us. We passed by numerous beach towns with hotels and guest houses.

Upon arriving at Stanley we started our walk through the Market. Immediately we felt like we had been duped. This wasn’t an interesting open market like we had encountered in the back streets of Macau. After browsing three or four shops that all had the same tourist-oriented wares it started feeling like Fisherman’s Wharf again. I was hoping to find some treasures to take home a souvenirs. But unfortunately there were none to be found. We made our way down the coastal street to a pier at one end of the town. I wouldn’t leave empty handed. All the world is my photography subject. The scenery was fantastic.

We happened upon a little dim sum restaurant that looked promising. Though it was in the basement of a building, the decor made up for it. The dining room was decorated in a mystic Chinese theme. The food was excellent. We had an interesting selection of dim sum followed by some tea to give us the energy to walk some more back to the bus stop. In no time we were back on the bus bound for downtown Hong Kong again.

The previous night Ron and I had dinner at the Peninsula. Our package included dinner for two at one of their many restaurants. We chose the Cantonese Chinese style restaurant, Spring Moon. The food was interesting but it wasn’t very spicy. In a word, it was a bit bland. We thought they might be dumbing-down the cuisine for the tourists. So on our second night we wanted some good spicy food. In our Hong Kong guide book Ron found a restaurant that fit the bill. The Red Pepper got rave reviews and was in an area we could get to easily. We hopped on the subway for spicy-town in the Causeway Bay area.

At first we weren’t sure we could find the restaurant. But then Ron spied their neon sign. Oh, yeah, this was it. We walked-in and instantly got ushered to a table. Our waiter was jovial and fun. He helped us pick a nice selection of dishes. The first course was the soup. It wasn’t described as such, but this was hot and sour; really hot! Most hot and sour is a brown color. This one was red with hot oil. After the first couple spoonfuls our sinuses snapped to attention. Our waiter brought over a box of tissue so we could dab ourselves. I declined having a second bowl of soup. But the wait staff seemed upset that we wouldn’t finish the soup. We told them to leave it for later.

The next few courses weren’t at all as spicy. But each held new textures and spice combinations for us to enjoy. In the middle of eating our food the waiter came and asked if we wanted more soup. We declined and said we were too full. He said OK, grumbled something and took away the rest of the soup. Perhaps we offended the cook by not finishing everything. Regardless the mission was a success. We got our spicy Chinese food. After leaving the restaurant we happened by Hong Kong’s own Times Square. They have a penchant for creating their own versions of famous world locations.