Not even an exhaustingly busy day in Hong Kong followed by a fun night at the markets with several adult beverages was enough to keep us in bed long; we were back up and ready for more adventure early on Tuesday morning. This was our last morning in Hong Kong, and we needed to be at the Hong Kong International Airport by 1:00PM to catch our flight to Thailand. We decided to keep with our Western roots and settled on McDonald’s for breakfast, as it was right around the corner from our hotel. This wasn’t any old Mickey D’s, though! Self-ordering kiosks and a conveyor belt system to move orders between the first and second floors made this fast food joint function like a well-oiled machine – quite the departure from what we were used to back home. Following a quick breakfast we walked down the Tsim Sha Tui promenade along the harbour to the Avenue of Stars. Touted as Hong Kong’s most popular tourist attraction, the Avenue of Stars honor’s celebrities of Hong Kong’s film industry. It was neat, but not something you MUST do during your time in Hong Kong, in my opinion, particularly if you’re pressed for time. We basically found the Bruce Lee statue, snapped a picture and selfie, and moved on. It was fun to see local Hongkongers out in the morning practicing Tai Chi in many of the public gather spaces spread throughout the city. From there we walked back to the Star Ferry for another ride on the iconic vessel. For me, once wasn’t enough when it came to feeling the waves and cool breeze of Victoria Harbour. We rode the ferry across the harbour and back, Emily enjoyed some more lemon tea, and we saw a funny vending machine offering corn (yes, ears of corn in a vending machine).
After everything that we’d seen and done in Hong Kong, we still had a couple of hours to kill before we needed to head to the airport. While walking The Golden Mile (Nathan Road), we marveled at all of the high-end shopping and fashion-forward trends. Most notable, authentic Rolex stores on almost every block in the area. Our feet were aching following two days of near nonstop walking, so we decided to sit down for a much-needed foot massage. Be sure to plan ahead, as most massage parlors open at 11:00AM and can be quite busy. We were lucky enough to find a tenth floor business (most of the massage spas in Tsim Sha Tui are located in high-rise business buildings) that opened at 10:00AM and had open chairs for us. We each booked a 60 minute foot, neck, and shoulder massage. These massages were not for the meek, though! But the hurts-so-good feeling of the deep tissue massage made us feel like we were walking on clouds, at least temporarily. We paid HK$200 each, which is about $25 USD, a fair price for the quality of the massage. After our massages, we hurried back to our hotel, picked up our luggage (which the hotel conveniently allowed us to keep locked away following our check out earlier in the morning), and boarded the MTR. We caught the Airport Express at the Tsing Yi stop which conveniently and comfortably took us back to Hong Kong International in plenty of time to check in, pass through security screening, and arrive at our gate.
Flight from Hong Kong to Phuket
Hong Kong International Airport is among the world’s busiest airports, but don’t let that fool you; it’s actually easy to navigate and security clearance was a breeze. Just be sure to save the immigration landing card slip from when you entered the country as you must present it again. We flew Cathay Dragon, a regional subset of Cathay Pacific, from Hong Kong to Phuket. To our surprise, the roughly 3 hour flight included a full meal and was very tolerable. We were met in Phuket by long lines at the immigration check point but were still ready to leave the airport by 7:00PM. We had prearranged pickup by our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Kamala Beach, in an air conditioned Mercedes Benz for a little more than $65 USD total. The ride from the airport to most hotels in Phuket is about an hour, and the last thing we wanted was an uncomfortable taxi ride after our flight. That being said, hailing a taxi from the airport would have been no inconvenience, as there are plenty of drivers waiting for customers. Upon arrival to our hotel, we checked in, ordered room service, took a quick dip in our private pool, then went to bed. We had an eventful Wednesday to look forward to!
