Hong Kong and Philippines.....a couple of words but many photos :) Sept 2015

[banger2]

Spent the last 2 weeks off to Hong Kong and Philippines.....here are some photos I thought were nice and/or topical to our forum (flying)

My ride - QF127 on VH-OJS Hamilton Island (747 of course!)


In-Seat view


Waiting for others to land prior to take off


Sometimes cloud formations and dusk lighting can be nice This is in descent into Hong Kong



With 5 photos per post...this'll be a long one!

Flight out of Sydney into Hong Kong smooth an on time

 

[banger2]

Very close to touchdown, I understand this is the bridge being constructed between Hong Kong and Macau

 

[banger2]

I love Hong Kong at night, doesn't matter how many times I go, it still amazes me!


From The Peak Tower just after Dusk


And the buildings have some great light shows. This gets the benefit of its own lighting, plus the reflections from another...


And this one gets the benefits from another without its own special lighting!


2IFC...Batman himself jumped from this building! No longer the tallest building in HKG

 

[banger2]

One more just before the sun goes down.....


Daytime view of the same


The best view in Hong Kong is from The Peak Tower. Also has my favourite restaurant, "Bubba Gump", which has great views while dining


The boring report bit...stayed in The Charterhouse in Wan Chai/Causeway Bay. Nice Lobby LOL


Messy room, an after thought to take a photo of the room for my Trip advisor report! You can almost swing a cat....


I like Charterhouse mainly because of its location....Causeway Bay is the best location for me, plus the hotel is good value.

 

[banger2]

And now to the fun bits!

Hong Kong Disneyland! Easy to get to via MTR. It is still expanding, as its not really the largest DL. New attraction due to open next year, Ironman! Stupid me, went there on a Hong Kong public holiday...so it was busy! Luckily most attractions, despite the long lines, was quite quick to get onto. Cost for the ticket isnt bad, at HKD499, about $100AUD now grrrrr


Walking down Main Street. If you look closely, you can just make out that Olaf has escaped....be freeeee Olaf LOL


Grizzly Gulch coaster. Its not scary, but great fun!


Smallworld...very sedate, but good fun all the same. This time we got a seat in the front of the boat...good for me so take clear photos

 

[banger2]

You wont get many photos of your host....but here I am with Minnie and the GF





Waited more than the recommended 40 minutes to get these.....and I had to disappoint my GF later, Mickey had an even longer wait! So we didn't get to take photos with Mickey. I thought my camera (Canon Powershot S100) photos turned out better than the professional photographers....some reason I looked better on my own camera, and my GF wasnt smiling as nicely on the professional photos either...weird

For those interested you don't have to pay additional for the photos if you don't want to. They will take some with your own camera or smartphone as well as the professional photographer ones. The photos are roughly 170HKD for an individual print including a nice folder, or about 35AUD. You also get 14days to download a digital copy included.

 

[banger2]

I love taking photos in low light, I find some of the best shots are both at dawn and dusk. You wont find many of my photos at dawn...I hate early! I'm not always successful with them in low light because I only ever use auto modes on my point and shoot camera, a Canon Powershot S100 (I never stoop so low as using a smartphone for a camera....unless I'm desperate!)

So, some Disney photos at dusk and night...

Ive managed to take 2 photos of the DL castle Im proud of in the last 10 years of visiting DL...and this is one of them. I just love the lighting, even if its not as sharp as I would like


Main street just before the 8pm parade..


I'd never seen the fountain at night...even more spectacular than daytime, especially as there is almost no-one blocking any of the view (unlike daytime)! It actually kind of looks magical!




My GF is silhouetted...

 

[banger2]

So, with only a few short days in Hong Kong, its off to The Philippines! Due to me using Cebu Pacific, no opportunity to use either QF or CX lounge this time

Interestingly, I had to book "last minute" for this one sector. PAL came in about $120USD - but had no seats on the flight I needed, Cebu Pacific (a LCC) came in a little more after the baggage and seat fee (meaning identical service standard to PAL)...but Cathay was more than double, and I couldn't justify that just for the tiny SC QF now give for OW partner flights and lounge access...price was mainly because it was a one way fare.

Nice enough observation deck at the satellite terminal in HKG, I must admit I was kinda miffed it was populated by smokers, but I should have known it would have been...



So with approx 10840km under my belt, I arrived in Manila. (Don't ask why the extra 2300km, immigration issues meant I had to make an extra return trip to MNL on my arrival to HKG.)

 

[banger2]

Don't worry...plenty ore photos to come!

So 2 places on the itinerary this time were Angeles (if anyone knows Pattaya in Thailand, this is kind of a smaller version)...I've been to PI over the last 10 years, and never been to Angeles. The 2nd place Ive been to briefly is Tagaytay. Due to the late night flight, no photos of the journey from HKG to PI....so onto the destination...

Travel to Angeles from Manila is about 2 hours on a bus. There is an airport at Angeles, being the ex-US air force base of Clark. So Clark is the de-facto common name for Angeles's close by airport. The schedules to Clark are fairly limited, so I chose to fly into MNL. The bus ride isn't so bad, it costs about 170 pesos, about $6AUD. Now after spending stupid amounts on travel in Hong Kong, that's chicken feed! There are no taxis at the bus terminal at 230am in the morning...so a trike it was. Now I'm not the smallest bloke in the world...and at that hour getting in and out of these things is quite challenging at such an early hour! Arriving 2 days early to the hotel, and at 3am, I found the staff outstanding and quick to alter my booking! Queens hotel...not the cheapest, but huge rooms compared to HKG, very clean and right on the doorstep of Walking street. If you want more information on what Walking street is...google it (Thailand or Philippines). But put your bible in the bottom drawer first

Not many photos, and I forgot to take one of the hotel......

Walking street Entrance


One of my favourite Gogo's in Pattaya "Champagne", but sadly not much here


Never being to Angeles, my GF family decided to take us all to this interesting restaurant. Interesting in the way they serve the food.....on the table with no plates, or cutlery! The whole family with dinner spread out on the table. Actually was good fun


Beer....helping ugly people have $ex since 1862 No? How about...Alcohol....I only drink to make you more interesting


Lets go drinking my GF brother said...OK says I...and we turn up to this place, huge, and it has 4 blokes (gay) talking and singing in local language on stage, looking like the ugliest ladyboys youve ever seen in your life! Everyone else is laughing at their jokes and some of their sets but me coz I don't understand! Take a photo says my GF, and me doing this (no flash!!! wtf) catches the eye of one of the performers who starts talking to me, but I didnt have a clue he was talking to me until my GF sister yells out Sydney! Apparently Sydney is a very important place...at least that I understood, coz it was in English! Order me another drink!

 

[banger2]

Some funnies....

Send more tourist, the last ones were yummy


A toilet where the man is allowed to peek?


For all those who love to fish....NO fishing boating YES skinny dipping!




After a few days in Angeles, 2 bus trips to Tagaytay via Manila.

Tagaytay overlooks Taal Lake and Taal volcano. Mercifully, Tagaytay, like Baguio north of Manila, is much cooler than most of Philippines. After the 1.5Hr bus ride up to Tagaytay (about 600m above Manila) we late afternoon around dusk. We set out to find the cheapest room we could! And we found one The Tagaytay Pink Hotel is 1000 pesos per night (about 33AUD)!

Here it is.... I think the name now is obvious


The view from our balcony...

 

[banger2]

What I didn't mention is that my GF is very family and friend orientated...so her best friend and her cousin tagged along of course! Lucky me!

They have obviously been here before...as we all piled into and onto a trike (you've all seen the Asian family of 5 on a motorbike right? Well this is the same but 5 people in/on a motorbike with sidecar) and journeyed a short distance to Sky Ranch! A small fun-park overlooking the lake and volcano, something I certainly didn't expect to see in The Philippines. But my GF says the ride safety in the Philippines is not like that in Hong Kong, ie Disneyland VS Sky Ranch Entrance at just 50 peso ($1.50AUD) is reasonable...

WOW...this looked promising....


View down to Taal Lake and volcano


Not really encouraging as half the lights are out already, and this place looks modern and new for The Philippines!


Due to minimal exciting rides, and my GF warning, we only braved the Pirate ship...but it is the lame one, doesn't go all the way around


And of course....what do girls want to do after a hard days play? Eat! And talk....and giggle...and OMG the selfies grrrrrrr

Bulalo (apparently Tagaytay is famous for it)....like a beef knuckle in broth...and some BBQ pork...and don't forget the rice!

 

[get me outta here]

Thanks Banger, great photos and thanks for taking the time and effort - I enjoyed seeing some other places not (yet)visited.

 

[robd]

An interesting report and great photos. Thanks for posting.

 

[banger2]

Thanks Banger, great photos and thanks for taking the time and effort - I enjoyed seeing some other places not (yet)visited.

An interesting report and great photos. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the nice comments. Ill be adding the last little bit soon, with a couple of photos of the fantastic new QF HKG lounge

 

[banger2]

OK..the last little bit and more photos...yay!

So virtually the last bit of the non aviation trip to be reported is Taal Lake and volcano. The Philippines is one country that has had more than its fair share of regular natural disasters. Regular typhoons do plenty of damage year by year, and in the fairly recent past they have had devastating earthquakes and volcano eruptions. Coincidentally, the US left its bases like Clark in PI around the same time volcano Mt Pinatubo erupted. I mention this as whilst Taal Volcano hasn't "erupted" recently (last magma flows between 1966-1977), it is still active and last significant eruption was 1911 where it killed many people.

There are many places to view this area, and touts will hassle you at all of them to take you on a boat ride to the volcano across the lake. It wasn't expensive, at about 1900 peso (assuming for the 4 of us) which is about $70AUD. I was time poor on this day so I didn't accept. One of the many vantage points above the lake is Picnic Grove. Like much tourist infrastructure of this type in PI its quite run down, its glory days are certainly behind it sadly. It has some activities such as horse riding, it has good sized picnic gazebos and it does have a small zip-line, but I'm not sure I would trust it. There are stores to buy foods and souvenirs, and the prices of the t-shirts were surprisingly reasonable. The entrance fee is only 50 peso per person, so about $1.70AUD

The stairs leading down to the picnic areas...even though Tagaytay is less hot than Manila, its still warm and humid...so many stairs for a fat bloke like me!


And what you come for...the view of lake and volcano! The lake and volcano "cones" have changed over time with eruptions of course, you can see one of the cones on the right




A cable suspension bridge on the walking "trail". Of course almost everyone who walks across it who is young of heart jumps up and down on it.....


The only photo I took of the zip-line included my companions! So it really wasn't a photo of the zip-line, but there it is...one dual line there and one back. The zip-line actually has 2 features, one the usual individual or dual harness type and the other a cab style seating 8 people. Some very brave Filipino ladies (8) tried the cab whilst I was there

 

[banger2]

So the last few days of my trip were enjoyed in Makati and Pasay (Manila). Not much to see there really of much interest...unless you like malls and traffic, or bars and nightclubs? OK and Jollibee...the Filipino Maccas...I loooooove Jollibee

Incredibly, I found a smaller hotel room than that of Hong Kong! The Red Planet in Makati is excellent value at around 1600 peso per night (about $55AUD)...but the room is the smallest I have experienced...it is recently renovated and very clean, so more than acceptable!

Red Planet Makati, cheap, clean, and no room for cat swinging!


I've been somewhat critical of Manila's Terminal 3. Just look at the awning in the departures pickup area....it covers the walkway, but not the exit doors! WTF??? Took about 10 years to open after it was actually constructed, I still say its quite a basic terminal by modern standards, but the Cathay Lounge....what a step up from the old T1 lounge...its fantastic! And also to be fair, the checkin and processes are much quicker in T3 than the ancient T1. And no more terminal fee paid on exit and no departure card...wow...I'm impressed but surprised! Filipino's "love" their procedure and red tape...but they just eliminated some!


And finally, design acknowledgement of how important modern devices needing USB charging are! Nice touch hiding it away in the side table desk drawer.


Unfortunately photo ops from T3 are challenging from the gate areas due to the window and building design. But in the CX lounge, certainly runway and taxiway is fine, but gate action not so. My ride back to Hong Kong Boeing 777 B-KQU. I love B777, its probably my favourite aircraft behind the 767...which leaves me now little opportunity to travel on either on my normal routes / airline choices.


My assigned seating in PE. I was surprised there was only 5 passengers, including me, in PE on this flight. Flight was delayed 30 minutes, but other than that a fine ride, being about 1 hr 50 minutes from MNL to HKG. I think in all the CX flights I've taken, this was the first non Aussie/Yank or English pilot! I think he was of Chinese origin, very well spoken English (and this is just a comment...there is no meaning behind it other than I expect Cathay has to source all of its pilots outside of HKG, as I doubt there is much private aviation in HKG to create local commercial airlines pilots).

 

[banger2]

Last photos.....all aviation! This lot from NAIA (Manila)

Pretty good legroom in PE on CX 777 in a 2-4-2 config


From my seat, pretty sure this is a Philippine Air force Hercules


Waiting to line up for takeoff....a Philippine Airlines Airbus A320 metres from the runway start


And even closer, I love this shot, a Cebu Pacific A330. I think they only have 6 of these type, they mostly operate the A320 series and some ATRs. I wonder if they have the densest A330 config with an all economy A330 at 436 seats?


See ya Manila!

 

[banger2]

Arrival in Hong Kong. I love this airport. Its just so easy, its huge...and plenty of help around. They are currently constructing another terminal mid field, and I understand the go ahead for 1 or 2 new runways has all but been given, to take it from 2 currently. Add that to the road bridge currently being constructed from near to HKIA to Macau....the new MTR link to Ocean Park (I love Ocean Park), they don't seem to mess around with upgrading transport infrastructure in HKG!

Just taxi-ing off the runway on arrival...


A distant shot of the new terminal being constructed.


From the new Qantas HKG lounge, the covered view of my ride back to Sydney QF128 Boeing 747 VH-OEE "Nullabor", just arriving as QF127. I haven't been on one of the ER's for ages!


Nice dusk view from the lounge...

 

[banger2]

And the final entry!

The lounge itself..WOW! What a terrific update from Qantas. Its huge compared to the old lounge, being above the location of the old one.

I arrived on a transfer flight, and there were no signs to the lounge so had to ask where it was! Its just after immigration....before the food court area.

Anyway, its modern, very classy I think, I love the elevated location and very well lit area. Nice seating with relaxation, work and dining seating available. Normal bar arrangements with 2 self service and one served bar. Wifi wasn't terribly strong but worked mostly OK.....and finally incorporated in almost every seating location, power point and USB power! Although, with my tablet, the usual cable wouldn't play nice and charge properly, whereas everywhere else I've tried it (cars. planes, wall warts etc) it works fine. Staff were fantastic....regularly offering drinks or light meals.

And what about the exit...for my flight it was virtually step out of the lounge to the gate. I suspect that is usually only for QF128, likely the MEL and BNE flights have a short walk to their normal gates.

So however they pulled it off.....for me....WOW! 9.9/10...loss of 0.1 for the sign-age

Photos are a little disappointing, some fuzzy and out of focus...some just weren't presentable



Power/USB/table...great!


Even individual chairs had power and USB


The self service bar


So thats all folks. 11 days, 2 countries (excluding home!), 3 airports (including home!), 6 flight segments over approx. 19300km, with 4 airlines on 3 aircraft types using 2 foreign lounges, and a partridge in a pear tree! I loved it!

 

[docjames]

Nice TR, thanks for sharing. great pics.

Love to know about the "immigration issues" - sounds painful.