For the first time in several days, I am wheeling my own bag.  Oh, how pedestrian.  No porters or bellhops are in our midst. Well, at least not until we arrive at the Futian Shangri-La in Shenzhen.  Actually I find it quite nice to sort of be on my own again. If you count on your own as being with 3 other writers and 2 public relations people. Okay, not so much.

We hop the clean and efficient train to the border and enter a very modern building.  We are stamped out of Hong Kong and ride across the river on escalators making our crossing onto the mainland.  With very little fuss, we are stamped in and are on our way. Welcome to the ‘real’ China, well, as real as ultra-modern and young Shenzhen can feel.  Since Hong Kong is still its own unique area (considered a SAR – Special Administrative Region), there is no need for a VISA. But crossing into Shenzhen, just about thirty minute train ride to the north, is the real deal.

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Eating and traveling. Traveling and Eating. The more I travel, the more I learn about food, the more I love to eat. I love everything about it – the background on where it came from, the smells, the preparations, and of course the flavors rolling around in my mouth.  It’s been an ongoing learning process for years now as my taste buds and waistline continue to battle it out.

When I’ve traveled on a budget I’ve had to let go of the idea of being able to try lots of ‘hip’ restaurants or pricey ‘in’ places and just enjoy cheap street food eats which, as I’ve mentioned are often even more tasty and authentic.

But this visit to Hong Kong was completely different. I was being treated to some of the best food around – even going on what was dubbed a “Culinary Journey” at the Island Shangri-La Hong Kong.  Or what I like to call the best restaurant crawl…ever.  We indulged in seven different courses at the hotel’s six different restaurants in one night – starting with flutes of Veuve Clicquot and an amuse bouche in the lobby bar and ending with dessert and live music at the Lobster Bar and Grill with amazing morsels of sushi, savory dim sum, succulent rack of lamb, and fresh seafood, in between.

Between the eating and drinking with every course, it was a decadent night to say the least. I loved every course – and by the end I was stuffed, sated, and sleepy.  I loved the fact that all I had to do is take the elevator up fifty floors or so to my plush room and climb into my thick king-sized bed and doze into a fat and happy slumber.

Renowned as the culinary capital of Asia, Hong Kong has more than 11,000 restaurants, according to the Tourism Board.  Many of these offer some of the best Cantonese and regional Chinese food in the world.  Local must-try dishes are dim sum (tasty Chinese ‘tapas’ or ‘snacks’ including dumplings served steamed in bamboo baskets) and amazingly fresh seafood.

Disclosure:  My trip to Hong Kong was provided by the folks at Cathay Pacific & Shangri-La Hotels.  All views, writing, and photos are my own.

I’ve now had the good fortune of visiting Hong Kong two different times and experiencing it two very different ways. The first was during my ‘round the world’ trip as a ‘flashpacker’ of sorts.  I was on a budget since I was traveling for a few years and not making much income.  I recently returned to the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ as a guest of Cathay Pacific Airlines and Shangri-La Hotels, and oh, was it quite a different experience.

So what’s better – traveling on a budget ‘lower’ to the ground or living the ‘high’ life of luxury?
Let me break it down for you here.

Arrival

Budget LL:  I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport and after schlepping my luggage through customs, I found the public, double-decker city bus into the city.  I was dropped off somewhere along busy, crowded Nathan Road in Kowloon.  Sweaty and tired, I walked around and found my tiny, somewhat inconspicuous hotel.

Lux LL:  I arrived at Hong Kong International, grabbed my bag off of the luggage carousel and was greeted by ‘happy men in red coats’ from the Shangri-La hotel with warm smiles and…a luggage cart.  The rest of my small group and I were whisked into plush, air-conditioned Mercedes cars and chauffeured to the Shangri-La Hotel on Hong Kong Island.  I don’t think I ever picked up my luggage again the entire time there.

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Hong Kong fascinates me as a city of old a new. Soaring skyscrapers sit adjacent to centuries’ old temples and medicine shops. This coastal city offers a full-on assault of sounds, sights and smells. A simple stroll down busy Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui is invigorating and ends with the spectacular and unrivaled view across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island.

Disclosure:  My flight to Hong Kong and my stay were provided by the folks at Cathay Pacific & Shangri-La Hotels.  All views, writing, and photos are my own.

So I wasn’t able to get business class as expected on my flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong on my first ever flight on world-renowned airline, Cathay Pacific.   I got FIRST Class! Holy rice balls!

Wow, the life of Richie-rich – I was whisked through security in about 2 minutes thanks to the ‘fast track’ line for us ‘privileged’ flyers.  Then I took an elevator up to their fancy-schmancy business class lounge where all kinds of nibbles and beverages were on offer.  If I wanted some fresh squeezed juice, it was available. How about some dumplings and noodles? Check. Or a glass of wine to even out any pre-flight jitters? Cheers.  How could I ever hang out at the gate with the rest of the riff-raff? Oh please. How gauche.

Seriously, I felt a bit out of place. Will someone soon reveal my true identity?  Will they kick me out knowing I’m just a poser, a budget travel gal who rode here on the icky subway? Ew.  When will the jig be up?

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