Yesterday it was my birthday.
I hung one more year on the line.
I should be depressed,
My life’s a mess,
But I’m having a good time.

I’ve been loving and loving and loving.
I’m exhausted from loving so well.
I should go to bed,
But a voice in my head says,
Oh, what the hell!

Have a Good Time by Paul Simon.

Introduction

I’ve had a number of hobbying trips in the past 18 months, three to Bangkok (with a quick 2 days in Pattaya) and two each to Frankfurt and San Jose, CR. For overall enjoyment (girls, food, hotel, value) my number 1 choice is Bangkok, so when planning a memorable 40th birthday, I decided to make Bangkok the centerpiece. I’ve also read a lot of good reviews in the past year on Angeles City, so I decided to give that a shot as well. And for something just a little different (and appealing to my preference for large cities) I threw Hong Kong into the mix. I remained fairly disciplined this trip in taking daily notes – had I not, many details would have been forgotten. I also took quite a few photos, of the ladies and of the venues. I’m happy to be documenting this trip – it surpassed all of my other trips in terms of enjoyment. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did writing it.

Preparation

Note: The Exchange rate used in this report is as follows:

Hong Kong Dollars: 7.7/$1
Philippine Peso: 55/$1
Thai Baht: 39/$1

I purchased my ticket 3 months in advance directly on www.continental.com, leaving New York on Friday January 16th @ 12:15pm and returning on Sunday, January 25, leaving Hong Kong at 12:15pm. There are many ways to get to Asia, and after analyzing them all, I decided to try Continental’s non-stop service from Newark to Hong Kong, a 16-hour flight. The upgradeable fare was $965 including all fees. I cashed in 50,000 miles and was upgraded at ticketing to BusinessFirst Class. It’s nice having seat 2D three months in advance, not having to worry about clearing a waitlist or anything. For my money – that flight was a steal.

Then sometime in November, Sandman inboxed me and asked if I’d like to hook up with him in Angeles City and Pattaya. He was going to be there around the same time as me, so things started to take shape. I decided to start my trip in AC, and booked a one-way fare on www.airgorilla.com on Cebu Pacific for $152, leaving Hong Kong @ 7:40pm on Saturday, January 17 and arriving in Manila @ 9:30pm.

I booked the family deluxe room at the Orchid Inn www.orchid-inn.com @ $50 a night for three nights, Jan 17, 18, 19. I also arranged for an airport pick-up with Orchid Inn for 1600 Pesos ($29)

The flight prices I found for Manila - Bangkok and then Bangkok - Hong Kong were outrageous, about $400 each way! So I decided to roll the dice, based on the advice of several board members who buy their intra-Asia air tickets once in Asia. The Orchid Inn does travel bookings through a desk in the lobby. They were able to book me on Thai Air for both segments for $390 total. Not the exact times I wanted, but it was half the price.

Then for my Bangkok trip I booked a Solitaire Suite (with Jacuzzi) @ $90 per night at the President Solitaire www.presidentsolitaire.com. They also had airport pickup, which I thought was included, but turned out to be 750 baht ($19.20).

Since I had never been in Hong Kong, I wanted a room with a view of the harbor. In researching hotels in Hong Kong, I found the prices to be comparable to New York, which is quite high. I was going to book the night at the Peninsula and the cheapest harbor view room I could find was $400 per night. Then I found this gem on www.hoteltravel.com – a website that specializes in discount hotel bookings in South East Asia and Australia: the YMCA Salisbury Hotel in Kowloon. Everything was perfect - the price, the view, the location. The only thing that made me hesitate was the name. The YMCA's I know are not places I would want to stay at. And that song by the Village People doesn't help either. But as you'll read in the Hong Kong section of my report, the hotel was outstanding and is probably the most valuable piece of property the YMCA owns.

Finally, as gifts for the girls, I purchased a dozen cheap make-up kits (on deep sale at Century 21 - a New York discount dept. store) ranging in price from $5.00 - $7.50, and a dozen Whitman Samplers @ $4.99 each. I knew I bought the right make-up kits and got a great deal when our receptionist, a big-haired girl from Staten Island wanted to buy one off of me. (I gave it to her for free).

Getting There

I stopped in the office to make sure everything on my desk was taken care of. Plus, that one hour spent in the office meant I wouldn't be charged a vacation day for Friday. I get three weeks a year and try to make every day count. With my two bags in tow, I walked the two blocks in the frigid cold to the World Trade Center Path Station, which re-opened in November after being closed for 2 years. I took the Path ($1.50) to Newark's Penn Station (about 20 minutes) and then took a taxi ($13.00 + tip) to Terminal C at Newark Liberty International (about 10 minutes). It was 10:30am when I checked in at the BusinessFirst counter and 10 minutes later I was through security and in the President's lounge, downing the first of three pre-boarding Bloody Marys. The excitement was starting to build.

I boarded the plane at 11:40am, and took my seat in 2D. Continental flies a 777-200 to Hong Kong, right now, the longest non-stop flight in the business (16 hours, 8,040 miles). The BusinessFirst section is 8 rows of 2-2-2. There is a galley between rows 5 and 6. The rear section is usually not full, but you're right in from of Economy and usually in the first row of Economy are the crying babies in bassinets, so my advice is to get as close to the pilot as possible. I also like the middle section because you and your seatmate are both on the aisle, which means no one is climbing over anyone, especially when you are reclined in the 170 degree 6.5 ft sleeper seat. I settled in for the long flight and got ready for take-off.

Because of traffic, we took off almost an hour late. My connecting flight to Manila left at 7:40pm, and now we would land around 6:15pm instead of 5:15pm. I still had a cushion, but not much. The flight was uneventful. The individual entertainment system was great, a lot of movies and shows and games to choose from. The food was very good too, and the flight attendants were very professional and courteous. And I was able to get a decent amount of sleep. All in all, a perfect flight.

Just before landing, the FA handed out immigration/SARS/customs forms. I was told that because I was a connecting passenger, I only needed to fill out the SARS form. This was totally false information. When arriving in Hong Kong WITH CHECKED BAGGAGE you must clear immigration/customs and you technically "exit" the airport. To make your connecting flight, you must "re-enter" the airport. Passing through immigration and collecting my bag took 30 minutes. I arrived at the Cebu Pacific counter at 6:50pm and there they questioned me (very politely) about why I only had a one-way ticket to Manila. I explained that I had a reservation for Manila - Bangkok - Hong Kong and an E-ticket for Hong Kong to Newark. They actually walked over to the Continental counter to verify that my E-ticket was valid. That and my Expedia.com reservation print- outs showing Manila - Bangkok - Hong Kong were enough to satisfy them. I was at the gate at 7:20pm and boarded the plane, which actually took-off 10 minutes early at 7:30pm.

The plane was an old 757, about half full. I sat next to a three-year old girl who let me know that the arm rest we shared was clearly hers. The quick, two-hour flight was pleasant, and the crew very nice. They played a corny game with the passengers, asking people to raise up various objects (shoes, passports, wallet) and the winners got these nice Cebu Pacific bags. It was a fun flight.

Clearing customs/immigration was a breeze. According to the emailed instructions from the Orchid Inn, there would be someone holding an Orchid Inn/Swagman sign in the arrival hall. If I didn't see the sign, I was to cross the road and go to the meeting point, which had signs like A,B,C then D,F,G,H. I was to stand under the letter "W". As soon as I got to the "W" Rey approached me, introduced himself and took my bags. We walked to his car in the parking lot. It was 10:00pm when he turned the key to his Toyota Corolla. Traffic was moderate as we drove the 60k from Manila to Angeles City. I dozed off in the car during the ride and it was 11:45pm when we pulled in front of the Orchid Inn. My week-long birthday party was about to begin.