Sunday, May 28, 2006
Promise Land for CCAI Families
It's Monday morning in Hong Kong, happy Memorial Day to all!
Everyone knows that my friends Sonia, Hugh, Cindy and Jimmy are heading to China in the next two weeks to pick up their precious girls---well you should know I've been braggin' about them for months!!
I'm emailing back and forth with Sonia during my business trip to Asia and when I land in Hong Kong I email her for her CCAI family hotel location in Hong Kong. I tell her I'll walk or take a cab over and take pictures of the hotel. Hell, I can't sleep past 5 AM I may as well do something useful.
So off I go downstairs to ask where the Regal Kowloon is located, the girl looks at me a bit funny and says it's across Moody Street. She and I are still having a language problem so I ask her to draw me a map, she smiles and pulls out a piece of paper and draws my hotel and the Regal Hotel, IT'S RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET I CAN SEE IT FROM MY HOTEL ROOM WINDOW. No way, Hong Kong is a big city what are the chances of my being right across the street, I guess they are pretty darned good.
This story gets even better, y'all know I work for Outback Steakhouse and the reason I'm in HK is that we are opening a new restaurant next Monday (June 5th) and guess where it is? That was an easy one, it's right across the street from the Regal Hotel Kowloon...you guys are coming 1/2 way around the world for your authentic Chinese experience and you are going to see a brand spanking new Outback Steakhouse out your hotel window. You're going to see an Outback and a Starbucks and a nice 7-11!!! Don't worry, there are tons of great Chinese stores and restaurants in the area too but we Western places/people do stand out.
Well, the good news, if you get tired of Chinese food you can just stroll across the street for a Bloomin' Onion or a Burger--we are even going to be open for lunch :) :)
A few random tips for traveling to Hong Kong:
- Don't forget your plug adaptor (or get one from the desk)
- You'll also need a currency transformer from the hotel if you want to run any of your small appliances, curlers, etc. I speak from experience when I tell you don't think 220V, well, maybe if I just plug my curlers in for a couple of seconds (1/2 time) it'll work. It will NOT work, your curlers will smoke, your room will smell and you will have to purchase a new set. Trust me, I pulled this bonehead move in both Asia & Brazil when I started traveling I spent a fortune on new hair gadgets.
- Also, never plug your computer or camera charger into the currency convertor, that's also very bad. Your chargers should be equipped with built in convertor (it'll say 110/220 V on the back).
- One last not so positive tip, keep your purse/wallet close to you, this city is very Westernized and that means pick pockets running around. It's certainly no worse than an average city in the US but just watch your stuff. If you want to buy some things just put a few HK$ in your pocket and use those for your purchases.
- Don't buy the cute Chinese baby outfits from the local stores in HK, they are 2x more than the street markets and probably 3x more than the provinces. I know, I know, you'll be tempted but just suck it up and wait a few days :)
CCAI folks, you'll love your hotel and the beautiful city of Hong Kong I promise. I wish you all safe and speedy travels.
| posted by Julie at 9:17 PM
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M3 had this to say:
Thanks for the great tips! I just know I'm going to be in a hurry and forget and burn up a few appliances while I'm there. Hopefully I won't damage the vital blogging equipment like camera and laptop...! ;-)
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Sonia had this to say:
Julie, you are the best!!! These are such great tips ~ thanks for taking the time to post pics of where we'll be calling home for a few nights. Have a safe trip back to the states(:
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Cindy Bennett, CTA had this to say:
wow, very cool, Julie! hey, friday the 9th will be our first night in Hong Kong. any suggestions for a restaurant close to our hotel that would make a nice birthday dinner?
