We had arranged our flight so that we arrived in Hong Kong during the day – unfortunately the only such flight was a red-eye, arriving at 7:45 in the morning.  Since we knew we’d have to wait before the hotel that we’d booked would let us check in, we hung out at the airport for a while.  It turns out that HK airport is really useful!  There is fast internet there (we uploaded hundreds of photos), a post office (for sending our souvenirs and gifts home), food and air conditioning.  We ended up spending a few hours that morning just getting organized and relaxing.

View On The Bus

Afterwards, we took a city bus to downtown where we found our hotel with only a little trouble (imagine a small sign underneath construction scaffolding in an area with hundreds of small signs) and laid our bags down.  The hotel was just what we wanted – a room with air-con in a great location and relatively cheap.  What we hadn’t expected was the size!

Trying to fit in the bed

This was the smallest room and the smallest “double” bed we’d yet encountered.  Not much extra space for anything!  But it didn’t matter because we had everything we needed.  We set our bags down and rested some more – our sleep on the plane had been far less than what we needed – and came out in the late afternoon hungry and ready for adventure.

City Scene

What we found was high tea at the Peninsula Hotel, an old hotel in prime real estate that’s been serving high tea for ages – it was once the happening place for politicians, movie stars, and anyone else famous that passed through HK.  We felt a little under-dressed in our travel clothes but took in the whole experience.  Which was to say, we ate a lot of food!

The Peninsula

The Menu

There was tea (of course) – hazel loved her Darjeeling and I had standard breakfast tea.  Hazel’s was better.  But then we tried to tackle the 3-layer tower of tasties.  About halfway through we both realized that it would be a tough job!  Everything was delicious.

About To Enjoy Tasties

Afterwards we went farther down town and thought we’d take the boat across the channel over to Hong Kong Island proper.  It was said to have a great view with lights displayed from all the skyscrapers on the other side.  We got down by the water and saw some lanterns hung on display for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, but along the way we stumbled upon a sign for the HK Philharmonic, advertising a Rachmaninov “Gala” (Simon Trpčeski playing Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 2) that night.  Actually – it started in 5 minutes!  We decided to screw the boat and literally run in to the ticket booth.  They had tickets (balcony seats for $10 USD each) and encouraged us to run the rest of the way up.  Since this was a serious concert, we’d be locked out for the whole concerto and only be able to listen to the second number if we didn’t make it in time!

Mid-Autumn Lanterns

Fortune was with us and we sat down with a few minutes to spare in a great balcony seat.  It was a little bit behind the stage but we could literally look down at the sheet music of the players, and see the soloist at his piano quite well.  We snuck a photo before the music started:

Philharmonic From Above

The concert was wonderful!  It was nearly flawless and the acoustics of that little concert hall were stunning.  The only downside to being behind the stage is that sometimes the soloist is hard to hear during a big ensemble section.  We couldn’t complain and went home really happy at our accidental philharmonic experience!