On To Bali

We spent the day flying from Hong Kong to Bali. We flew to Singapore and then onto Bali. The flights were on Singapore Airline which definitely is a cut above.

On the segment from Hong Kong to Bali we watched a Tamil (Southern Indian) movie starring Kamal Haasan named: Nayakan. It is loosely based on The Godfather. If you liked the Godfather you would like this movie. It really stays with you. Available on Netflix!

A couple of thoughts about Hong Kong. It is hot and humid! It has a natural setting that is spectacular. I don’t think we have ever been anywhere where we could just stay in our room in Kowloon, look out window and be transfixed by Victoria Harbor and the view of Hong Kong and the mountains.

The people of Hong Kong were universally helpful. The city is extremely quiet, almost no honking of cars or loud noise. We loved the food. Billy feels we can get Dim Sum as good in Los Angeles, I am not so sure. I do know that we have never eaten at elegant high-end Chinese Restaurants in Los Angeles that could match the 4 Seasons or the Intercontinental. Maybe they exist but I don’t know where.

There is not a lot of the historic Hong Kong left, but you can still get a feeling for it at the outdoor markets and walking around Hollywood Road.

We took no pictures today so I simply posted some shots from the incredible dinner at the 4 Seasons. Yum! We started with Pork Ribs that had a wasabi sauce (ok this was a little fushiony, but great). That was followed by a dish we had never had before: A crab body that was stuffed with crab then deep fried. It was wonderful. It must be a Hong Kong favorite because we had it again the next night at the Intercontinental. That was followed by crispy vegetables with Cashew Nuts. Next was shrimp with vermicelli noodles. The final course was Fried Rice with Lobster. The room at the 4 Seasons is beautiful and the service was perfect. As they say worth the trip!

We exchanged our remaining Hong Kong Dollars and some US Dollars and received over 17 million Indonesian Rupiah. Their bills have a lot of zeroes!
This could get very tricky.

We arrived in Bali around 9:30. Cathy summarizes it by saying if India is Organized Chaos. Bali is dis-organized chaos. We finally got out of the airport and headed to our hotel. I generously tipped the person who brought our luggage to our room 4,000 Rupiah. He gently reminded me that that is less than 1 cent. I need to get use to this currency or I won’t get good service in the future. It is directly on the water with an outdoor bar area overlooking the white sandy beach. All of a sudden Hong Kong is fondly remembered as cool. At midnight drinking a wine by the sea we are drenched. Boy did I bring the wrong clothes. This is tee-shirt and shorts and nothing else! Our adventures begin tomorrow, hopefully with a shopping spree for more shorts, thin pants and cool shirts.