Hong Kong and Singapore

11-16 January 2006

I met many friends from FlyerTalk in Singapore for some great seafood and an early jump on airline elite qualifying for next year; on the way I spent a day in Hong Kong, a place I'd never been before.

Above: view from the Singapore Airlines lounge at SFO

Left: view of the gate before leaving for NRT

Right: Onboard the 747 SFO-NRT.

The sun was setting as I landed in Tokyo and waited for my flight to Hong Kong.

I met up with Greg in Tokyo...

...and we flew on to Hong Kong.

Left: morning view from Hong Kong Island across to the mainland.

We rode the tram up Victoria Peak, as all good tourists must.

Paved hillsides. Better than erosion, I guess.

We ate dim sum at city hall...

...and rode the ferry across to the mainland.

There's a lot of shopping and general crowdedness on Nathan Road.

Left: The world seen through the distorting lens of advertising.

Below: view of the Hong Kong airport from the Red Carpet Club

We arrived in Singapore late at night and went straight to our hotels.

Above: my room in the Conrad Hotel

Right: Getting fitted for custom suits and shirts

We drank Singapore Slings at the Raffles Hotel - it's a very sweet, fruity, tourist drink, which wasn't a surprise at all.

Don't jaywalk! Or you'll get a fine.

Right: Street in Little India, with government housing blocks in the background

Singapore has a reputation for being squeaky clean - but not everything is that way. This underground lobby between several malls and subway stations appeared to have a small population of homeless people and plenty of litter. The crowds were gone early Sunday morning except for a few people sleeping.

Views from the Conrad lounge

Saturday night we enjoyed a big seafood dinner. Click here to see more pictures.

On Sunday night we went to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo.

There was a short show with some of the animals.