Missed flight

Missed my flight, from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur. Got to airport and didn't have a printed out copy of my India Visa so they wouldn't let me check in. Seems like a ridiculous reason not to check me in. Oh well, re-booked another flight with Singapore Airlines, the upside is that I have a layover in Changi Airport.

Aloha!

Day 1. Arrived into Honolulu airport without too much trouble, as in no delayed flight, no missing luggage just a little tired. Despite the rain and cool weather my first impression is that people here are super friendly and people aren't terribly worried about the Novel Coronavirus. 9:00 am, I get to the hotel and drop off my luggage and prepare to busy myself for 6 hours until I can check it at 3 pm. I decide that it would be a day of O'ahu sightseeing before the others arrive. With the hotel being situated near Waikiki Beach, I walk down to the famous strip and grab myself a Poke and some Masubi. The rain starts to fall and I decide it's time to find some indoor refuge. 11:30 am, UBER out to the Pearl Harbour memorial. 1:00 pm, UBER back to the main strip for lunch at Piggy Smalls, amazing Banh mi! 2:00 pm session of Bad Boys 3, I fall asleep during the movie. 4:30 pm check into hotel. 6:00 pm gym session. 8:00 pm dinner over at Herringbone. 11:00 pm. I pass out.

Day 2. I kit up and go for a 9 km run along the canal up and around Diamond Head. Unfortunately, I did not bring any cash so will have to explore the national park another day. Today is a little more relaxed, sightseeing, shopping around the main area of Waikiki. Pick up a Hawaiian Shirt for the arrival drinks. Sam and Irene arrive and we grab dinner at Morimoto. Despite the reunion, everybody is knackered and we retired early.

Day 3. Back up to Diamond Head for the national park hike and then the afternoon spent on Waikiki Beach. Finally made it to Leonardo's for a Malasada (Read. I ate five). Arrival drinks at Rumfire and then late night Dominos Pizza.

Day 4. Wake up late and jump on the bus out to Lualoa Ranch. Lauloa Ranch is approximately one hour away from Waikiki and is a picturesque valley surrounded by jagged cliffs more famously known as the film location for Jumanji and Jurassic Park. The couple have temporarily setup a marquee and brought in port-a-loos for the wedding ceremony, it's an absolutely stunning location. The group of people at this wedding is a combination of friends from Sydney and Hong Kong. It's a collection of fun, familiar faces. The ceremony is short and punchy (due to the fact that the celebrant accidentally skipped straight to the I do's before the vows) and the party continues into the early evening. 10 pm a bus takes us back to Waikiki Haus Supper Club before we leave for watch Sunset in the Presidential Suite of the Hyatt Regency. 7 am I head back to hotel and pack. 8:30 am, I catch an UBER to the airport. Exhausted. What a fun trip!

Ramenhead

Finally got over to Narita, one extra stamp in the passport and a sneaky ramen in Terminal 1; Tomita Ramen. 5 hour layover until the next flight. Not particularly looking forward to this flight, 6 hours overnight is an awkward amount of time.

Relief!

Dismissed

CNY Precautions: The year of the Rat

So turns out there's some mystery virus going through the Mainland. The fear in Hong Kong is real, albeit perhaps unwarranted but it's still too early to say. Masks are a hot commodity, as are anti bacterial wipes, as well as food supplies. 95% of people in Hong Kong are wearing some type of mask, ranging from medical masks, to dust masks.

I managed to procure a box of masks (which I have not been wearing).

Setting up

Water, check. Electricity, check. Gas, check. Internet, check. Wifi, Check. In that order, over the course of 3 days. I'm still waiting for blinds to be installed and my furniture to arrive. New apartment. Here we go.

Farewell Gardenview Gardens

After 8 solid years, it's time to say goodbye. Call it poor timing but I have to hand the keys back on  Friday, which means annual leave. Four days ago, I still had not secured a home. I did have a contingent. It involved packing all my belongings save a suitcase into temporary storage and then moving into a rock bottom hotel. One of my colleagues was living in a "Hotel" near work for 200 HKD a night, that works out to be roughly 6000 HKD/month. Which, assuming fresh towels and daily house keeping is a bargain for Hong Kong. 

Fortunately I managed to view and find an apartment 3 days ago, sign the lease and pay the deposit 2 days ago, receive the keys 1 day ago and finally, move out of my old apartment and into my new apartment today. Couple of points here: I have accumulated a lot of stuff over the last 8 years. Pretty sad to be leaving this neighbourhood. Very excited to be moving into a new area. I pay 2000 HKD to some movers, say farewell to the concierge and leave Grandview Gardens.