I lived in Hong Kong for over 7 years in the ’80’s but for various reasons left without ever saying goodbye.

So I’m back for the first time since then, and also post the handover. There have been many changes. The city has spread, with much of Lantau Island fully developed and now connected to the mainland via two massive span bridges.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China now. Mainland Chinese need a visa to enter and the board of directors style government is still largely in place although obviously represented by Beijing. Discrimination and tension between the “Mainlanders” and local Hong Kong Chinese is at a serious level. I think they regard them as the poor dumb country cousins who have come to steal their jobs. Many people don’t realise that Hong Kong Chinese speak a completely different language, Cantonese, to mainland Chinese, which can’t help the situation.

At the same time, there is also a feeling of nationalism and being part of the China. Hong Kong is a contradiction, but then it always has been.

Here is my what’s hot and what’s not list for Hong Kong:

HOT
- Hong Kong Disneyland
Many people complain that it is not as big as the US ones but I think that is a plus. We had a great time.

- Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel
One of the best hotels I have ever stayed in.

- Lane Crawford
Great department store for mens clothes despite the uber-cool stuck up shop assistants.

- Peak Tram
I used to catch this everyday to go to school but now it is largely a tourist attraction. The views are still spectacular from the top.

- Hong Kong International Airport
Amazing building, shops, and the Cathay Pacific lounge is awesome, complete with noodle bar and Playstation room.

- Taxis
Relatively cheap and plentiful. Bring a map with Cantonese place names though as few speak English.

- Cantonese Food
Dim sum, pigeon (yep) and seafood….mmmmm

NOT
- Smog
It is very bad.

- Pushy vain Hong Kong Chinese
Best example is they will stand in a lift preening themselves in front of the mirror and then push past you as soon as the doors open.

- Wan Chai
Red light district, expat pubs and conference hotels. Central, and LKF Hotel in particular look much more my style in retrospect.

Off to Shanghai now.

Technorati Tags: hong kong

Wow, the financial backing of private equity firms never fails to amaze me.

Yesterday, the Qantas Board decided to recommend that shareholders accept an offer for their shares from a private consortium, Airline Partners Australia (APA) consisting of Allco Equity Partners, Allco Finance Group, Macquarie Bank and offshore investors including TPG and Onex at a price of $5.60 per share.

A media release with details of the bid is available at qantas.com

Qantas management is committed to a strong future for the Group and to working with the APA partners, who have valuable expertise both in aviation and business development, to position Qantas for the future.

Under the APA proposal, Qantas will remain majority Australian-owned.

Qantas’ prospective new owners recognise that Qantas is one of the most valued brands in Australia, embodying safety and service through 86 years of private, public and government ownership.

APA has said it is committed to partnering with the current management team on existing strategies, and has endorsed the aircraft and product investment program Qantas has in place.

Whether the bid is successful will be dependent on the consortium acquiring 90 per cent of all shares in the company - a process that will take until the end of February 2007.

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I overheard a loud American discussing this website www.seatguru.com in an airport lounge. It is cool, you can get seating plans for most aircrafts for most airlines in the world, so you can figure out where you want to sit. This information should really be on the airline websites, but I’ve only ever seen this much detail on Emirates. I just wish I had seen this before I flew London-Sydney as I could have chosen a better seat.

Technorati Tags: air travel

I flew threw this airport the day it opened. I thought a few teething issues were understandable. 2 weeks later on my way back, this is still a nightmare. The problem is over 50% of the staff have never worked in an airport before. I would highly recommend avoiding this as a transit option in favour of Singapore or Hong Kong for the time being.

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This opened yesterday and I was on one of the first flights to land at what is now the largest airport in South East Asia. Just as we were coming in to land it occurred to me that the pilot had probably never landed at this airport before and so this was his first attempt! Luckily he did a good job though. This is the photo I took from the plane, which doesn’t really do it justice. It is mind blowing how big, modern and ornate it is. They basically have gone all out to try and be bigger and better than Hong Kong, Singapore and KL, all amazing airports, who are all now apparently planning to increase their capacity again.

I found some better photos from the construction phase.

It amazes me how developing nations like Thailand just get that they have to invest heavily in infrastructure. The cost must have been massive but in this case, build and they will come. There will now be more flights with more tourists and more business people than ever before coming through Bangkok. This is essential for a high growth economy. Meanwhile, back in NZ, you still can’t land 747’s at Wellington Airport, the capital.

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I’m planning to fly to Europe in a month and so am interested in what is happening with the air travel restrictions that have been put in place to restrict what passengers can take in carry-on / cabin baggage. Basically, do I have to check my MacBook with my entire life on it and trust that it will arrive safely at the other end without damage.

The clearest explanation I could find was on the BAA website. It is clearly not as bad now as it was a few weeks ago and there doesn’t seem to be any restrictions on notebook / laptop computers. I tried the FAA site in the US to begin with, not even a mention of it on their website that I could find!

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Forecast for today was terrible. The reality? Unbelievable great weather. Another day of great skiing. Now back to clearing the emails.

Skiing in the South Island of New Zealand this week, errr, I mean “board” meeting with our Creative Director. Still on the Crackberry if you need me and there is broadband here, but may not be available in the middle of the day.

My last flight between Oz and New Zealand was on Air NZ and this was nearly unbearable. To be fair I had just flown from London to Sydney, spent the day there and caught an evening flight, but it was still a tiny Airbus domestic aircraft designed for 1-2 hour flights at the most. Qantas is fantastic value in comparison. I’m right at the front at the aircraft with a spare seat next to me and have just had a decent meal with good Australian Shiraz and a Magnum ice cream for dessert. My only complaint, where is the broadband in your New Zealand Qantas Club Lounge?

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Currently sitting in Premier Economy on a refitted Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400. I was sceptical but this is pretty good, although they did have to reboot the Windows CE based in-flight entertainment system a few times to get it going! I took a photo of the boot screen.

I’ve got a power outlet for my laptop though, so I’m happy. There is an ethernet port in my seat as well but I don’t think it works yet. Once they have broadband Internet on their aircraft I’ll be even happier.

Technorati Tags: air travel