Hong Kong Trip Part 1: Fly to Hong Kong with Hong Kong Airlines

[Introduction]

I traveled to Hong Kong for five days and four nights in the end of November for the first time in five years. While there is a lot of scenery which has been unchanged, I find out something new whenever I visit Hong Kong. In this article, I will write about flight to Hong Kong with Hong Kong Airlines as part of Day 1.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Going to Hong Kong [This article]
* Day 1: Tsim Sha Tsui
* Day 1: Tsim Sha Tsui (Light-up)
* Day 2: HKU and Kennedy Town
* Day 2: Sheung Wan and Central
* Day 2: Peak Tower and Central (Light-up)
* Day 3: Ocean Park
* Day 3: Montane Mansion, North Point and Causeway Bay
* Day 3: Causeway Bay and Wan Chai (Light-up)
* Day 4: Wong Tai Sin Temple, Nan Lian Garden and Tian Tan Buddha (Lantau Island)
* Day 4: Mong Kok, Yau Ma Tei and Jordan
* Day 4: Sky 100 and Tsim Sha Tsui (Light-up)
* Day 5: Return Home

[Travel Date]
2017.11.26-30

[Main Part]

It has been more than two weeks since I posted the previous article about Taiwan Kaohsiung trip and now I will start a new series. I traveled to Hong Kong at the end of November for the first time in five years. I have been to Hong Kong several times before and when I just flipped through a guide book about Hong Kong in a bookstore, I found several new tourist spots has been opened since I visited Hong Kong last time. So, I thought it was good time to revisit Hong Kong.

Fly to Hong Kong with Hong Kong Airlines Flight 611 (HX611)

To begin with, I moved to Narita airport by Narita Express.

I arrived at the second terminal of Narita airport.

There are several airlines, both mega carriers and LCCs, which operated their flights between Tokyo and Hong Kong and I chose Hong Kong Airlines this time.

Talking of mega carriers in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Airways is famous and I have used it before. This time, I decided to use Hong Kong Airlines, another mega carrier in Hong Kong.

I stood in line for baggage drop and there was a longer queue than I expected.

Anyway, I will go to a departure gate.

Here are some snap photos on the way to the departure gate.

I reached the departure gate. My flight is Hong Kong Airlines Flight 611 (HX611), which will depart from Narita airport at 9:05 a.m.

Now I will get aboard a plane of Hong Long Airlines for the first time.

The interior of the plane.

Seats for economy class.

In-flight meal.

Arriving at Hong Kong

I arrived at Hong Kong international airport on time around 1:30 p.m.

I will head for immigration.

Since the arrival gate seemed to be far from the immigration, I needed to use a train.

After passing the immigration, I moved to arrival lobby.

An object of “Happy Holidays”.

I dropped by “太興 (Tai Hing)” to have a light meal at the airport.

Tai Hing is a restaurant chain whose main menu is roasted meat. I ordered a combination of roasted pork and steamed chicken with rice.

There are several options to move from Hong Kong International airport to the central area of Hong Kong and I chose to use Airport Express, as it is more punctual compared to other options.

When I used Airport Express, I had bought its tickets at the airport so far. This time, I bought the round trip ticket online in advance and passed the ticket gate with QR code. If you would like to save your time as much as possible, you may thing about online tickets.

In the train.

I got off at Kowloon station and took a free shuttle bus.

I got off the bus in front of the Peninsula Hong Kong. This is where I will stay in this trip!

Just joking. Unfortunately, I can not afford to stay at the Peninsula Hong Kong. Instead, I will stay at “The Salisbury-YMCA of Hong Kong”, which is located next to the Peninsula Hong Kong.

As you may know, hotel rates in Hong Kong is very high, especially around Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀) and Central (中環) area, which are convenient for sightseeing. In these circumstances, YMCA of Hong Kong is conveniently located in Tsim Sha Tsui and its rate is relatively reasonable. Actually, when I had visited Hong Kong before, I tried to book YMCA of Hong Kong several times, but the hotel was already fully booked. This time, I was so fortunate that I was able to book YMCA of Hong Kong with reasonable price.

In the hotel lobby.

In my room.

Mineral water and welcome fruits.

View from my room. I booked a city view room, but I was able to partially see Vitoria Harbor. Perhaps, my room was upgraded, wasn’t it?

In addition, I was given several coupon tickets, including free breakfast for one time, maybe because I directly booked my accommodation via the hotel official website.

After unpacking my luggage, I will start to walk around Tsim Sha Tsui area.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about flight to Hong Kong with Hong Kong Airlines as part of Day 1 of my Hong Kong trip.

Regarding Hong Kong Airlines, it was OK for me. Since I used economy class, I was not able to expect its facilities and in-flight meal so much, but I had an impression that their service level was almost the same level with other Asian mega carriers. I guess Hong Kong Airlines’ fares between Tokyo and Hong Kong are normally less expensive than other Asian flagship airlines such as JAL, ANA and Cathay Pacific, so if you would prefer lower prices except for LCCs, Hong Kong Airlines would be a good option 🙂

In the next article, I will write about Tsim Sha Tsui as part of Day 1.

[Map]

1 Kowloon station
2 The Peninsula Hong Kong
3 The Salisbury-YMCA of Hong Kong

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