Day 8&9 (November 15-16) - Last Day and Flying Back to Canada

 Saturday November 15 marked the last day of my week trip to Hong Kong (or nearly a week if you consider Monday my first day in Hong Kong). We started the morning by taking the two out for a final walk. We walked for a while down the usual path before heading to the dog park. What was noticeable this time around was a cat sitting quietly on a bench near the dog park. Our Golden Retriever back in Canada would have bolted after any cats, but her two dogs just ignored it as we went our way towards the walled garden. After spending some time there, we headed back towards her house.

Since I didn't have much to pack, I left packing till this day. With a lot of empty space (since I brought just a few clothes and no souvenirs), we packed some of the heavier items she'll eventually bring back to Canada. We also took the time to tidy up her room - such as removing the portable bed I was using and throwing away unnecessary items. After packing, we headed to the vet to get some documents prepared for her male dog (reason being is explained later on in this blog post). The vet clinic was quite busy, with most people there having either cats or small dogs. Fortunately, her male dog was pretty relaxed as we waited our turn. Once that was done, we headed back home to drop off her dog.

We headed out for lunch with her parents to a nearby restaurant. This restaurant specialized in BBQ meat or Siu Mei. They were apparently also known for cooling their milk tea with a small bowl of ice, instead of putting the ice into the drink. This, as you probably guessed, is to prevent the flavors from diluting as the ice melted. The food came out quickly and so did the milk tea. Probably since there wasn't any ice inside at all, the drink was quite strong - which ,in hindsight, probably helped me later on in the day. The various BBQ meats were great and I had literally all of the different types that I would get in Canada: duck, chicken, char siu, and I believe pork sausage. Once lunch was done, we headed back to the mall we stopped by earlier in the week for her dad to pick up his glasses. 

With some other chores completed, we headed back to her place to relax for the rest of the day. I played with her female Labrador mix for most of the day, since it may be the last time I see her sadly (11 years old). I doubt I would post about this on a later day, but we had plans of bringing her 5 year old male dog to Canada for our Golden Retriever to have a friend (and more space for him to run in comparison to Hong Kong). The details are a bit blurry, but I believe I did end up taking a power nap late afternoon.

With the evening starting to set, we ordered some congee for dinner. It was a lot more than I expected, so I was pretty stuffed by the end. There was also rice crepe donuts and steamed rice noodle rolls. We also got some bubbletea from Kung Fu Tea, though maybe it was an off day, I felt the same drink I get in Canada is a lot better. With my stomach full, I headed to rest a bit more with her dogs in her room before taking a shower. My flight was scheduled for 1 AM, Sunday morning. 

When it was time to go, I said my goodbyes to her mom and her dogs. Despite not being related, her side of the family as treated me as one of them, for which I'm grateful for when I cannot speak their language, or know all of their traditions and customs. Her dad drove us to the airport. When we arrived, he parked in an area, which allowed my girlfriend to walk me to security. I hope he gets the chance to come to Canada one day so I can return the hospitality they showed me over my past two visits! As we made it to the security check point, I said my goodbyes to my girlfriend. She'll be coming back about a week later after finishing up some more stuff she needed to do 

It was about 11 PM at this time, so I headed to a Plaza Premium lounge near the gate. This lounge, being my second lounge I ever visited, was extremely crowded and humid. It reminded me of Asia in the summer, in which I started to perspire. It also made me wish that I didn't wear a long sleeve (I was worried about being too cold on the plane). I found a spot, and went around to see what they had to offer for food. Maybe it was dinner/late, so they had more of a selection in comparison to the lounge in Calgary. I got the fish ball noodle soup that was recommended to me, which turned out to be a good eat. Not wanting to end up with an upset stomach, and since I ate a lot for dinner, I didn't end up eating much. I wanted to find a different area that was cooler, so I headed to the section with armchairs and found one with a fan nearby. I watched the first episode of Alice in Borderland 3, before seeing that it was past midnight. I got up and headed to the gate.

I was flying with Cathay Airways to Vancouver. They started the boarding process with their First Class and Business class passengers (from what I can see), with apparently no zones for the rest of passengers flying in Economy. Not sure when to get into line, I ended up joining the ever expanding queue. I must have been at least 150 m away from the gate check-in, but it went relatively smoothly when we started to move. However, I felt the lack of zones, made it messy as we were on the plane. There also seemed to be certain passengers with more than the allotted carry on baggage, which meant I saw a few disgruntled people complaining to one another. Luckily, I boarded relatively early, hence securing a spot for my bag right on top of me. The Asian couple sitting to my left (I had an aisle seat on the far left side of the plane), came in late, hence having to put their luggages way up near the front. With the carry-on "fiasco" going on, I was worried that we would be delayed, but we didn't leave too late. 

The flight was about 11 hours long. I wasn't feeling that tired, so I ended up finishing watching Alice in Borderland 3 on the flight. I took breaks in between episodes to rest my eyes, or play some Bloons TD6, I might have gotten about 1 hour of shut eye? Throughout the meal, we were served two meals. Food on Asian airlines, for me at least, tend to be far superior compared to North American airline food. I forgot to wear my compression socks this time around, so I tried drinking more fluids and getting up to go the bathroom more to compensate. With the flight coming to an end, I placed all my belongings back in the backpack I had tucked under the seat in front of me. 

With about 90 minutes before my flight to Calgary, I tried to make my way through immigrations and customs quickly. This was the first time this trip that I wasn't stopped by an officer as I made my way out. I thought I would be able to connect to the gate, but I had to go through security again. It was probably due to it being late in the evening. Either way, security went by quickly and I had about 30 minutes before boarding took place for the WestJet flight back to Calgary. I had a middle seat this time around, but since it was a short flight, I didn't mind at all. I just played some Bloons as we made our way back. Upon arrival, I was lucky that my dad was able to pick me up, despite it being close to 1 AM. I picked up our Golden Retriever from my parents house and headed back to my house. Being close to 2 AM, I didn't bother unpacking my luggage, rather leaving it by the door. I got him to go pee one more time in the backyard before heading back in. After showering and brushing my teeth, it was close to 3 AM. Fortunately I still had Sunday off before heading back to work Monday. 

Overall, this was my shortest trip yet. I didn't think I would top August Japan 2025, but this clips it by a couple of days. A week after (as in today), I still find it hard to believe that I was just in Asia a week ago. Besides travelling way back in 1998 and 2001, I never travelled outside of the summer months. Asia is definitely more tolerable in regards to the weather during this time around. The week in Hong Kong felt like it went by quite slowly, which is the best type of vacation in my books. I had a good mix of different days, with some being jampacked with events while others were more laid back. 

Though I think I had enough travel for 2025. One downside of having a dog (or two dogs now) is the guilt of travelling for a long period of time. I'm fortunate to have my parents watch over our Golden Retriever during that time, but I do constantly think of him during my trip. I guess one "positive" benefit, are shorter trips are typically a lot cheaper (not including air fare). Till 2026! Let's see what the future holds in store! Thank you again for taking the time to read my posts throughout the week. A special thanks to all of my long time readers from way back when I started this blog in 2011. I always mentioned coming back and blogging more regularly, but I doubt that's going to happen. 

   Not the clearest picture I have, but here's one of the lounge in Hong Kong. 

Day 7 (November 14) - Taking It Easy

 As slow as the week seemed to have gone by, it's hard to believe that Friday marked the second last day for my time in Hong Kong. Like the rest of the other days in Hong Kong, we started it off by walking her dogs. Instead of going down by the river, we opted for the dog park nearby. Luckily, there were no other dogs at the moment. The two of them had all the time they wanted to sniff around. 

When the two of them wanted to leave, we leashed them back up and headed back to her place. With all the major attractions/events completed over the past two days, it was nice to have it easy for the day. We waited for the rest of her family to wake up before we headed off to another district. Her mom and brother had work while her dad and us went out for breakfast nearby. I've been eating a bunch of different noodle dishes over the past week - with breakfast being a rice noodle & satay beef. I had some scrambled eggs and toast on the side. All of it was extremely good - the satay is unlike Vietnamese satay in that it wasn't as spicy. The eggs were silky smooth and the toast was flavorful. There was also some fried pork and chicken as well, which definitely made this a hearty breakfast. 

With breakfast done, we headed back to her place to relax. Her dad went out later on, while we stayed back to play with her dogs. When the afternoon hit, we went out to complete some chores of our own in the nearby shopping district. When completed, her dad came to pick us up and took us to her mom's restaurant. We arrived just before the reopened for dinner. We got a ramen to share between the two of us - a shrimp flavored soup base ramen with all the works. I had this broth two years back; I felt it was improved this time around. The shrimp wasn't overpowering the rest of the ramen, but rather blended the char siu, corn, seaweed and noodles present. We also had some fried oysters, which had the same wonderful taste. Once we finished, we headed out with intent to go back home.

But before that, we stopped by the nearby 7-11 for some ice cream. As we munched our treats, we headed to the nearest light rail station to take the train back. The light rail is very like the C-Train back home. What really tripped me up was a group of students speaking in fluent English; using the same slang that my students use back home in Calgary! I guess that's how interconnected our world is nowadays. 

Once we got off at the right station, we headed to a spot to catch a mini-bus back to her neighbourhood. That pretty much was my day! 

It looks like she's wearing a flower/plant hat!

Day 6 (November 13) - Kowloon and Hong Kong Island

 Like the past few days, we started by walking her dogs in the morning. We started a bit later than usual, but that was alright since my girlfriend planned our entire day and had everything ready. We ventured down the same path, to the same quiet area by the stream/river. Unlike last time, we went further down the path since there was still some time to kill. When we felt it was enough time, we started to head back to her place to get ready for the day. As a side note, I didn't realize it back then, but many cars around this community (especially JDM sports cars) were rocking some sort of Volk Racing wheel. I saw a bunch of TE37s, of various iterations, CE28s and ZE40s. There was even a Mugen CRZ nearby!

But back to the day - after arriving back to her place, we got ready to head down to town. Her dad was able to drop us off at the MTR station. I can't recall if this was my first time or not, but it was very reminiscent of the trains in Japan. I believe there was one transfer, before we made it into Kowloon. Our first stop was at a restaurant called PiCi. It specialized in Italian food. We arrived right when it opened, which was the right time since it was about 60-70% full in about 30 minutes. They had lunch specials, which included an appetizer, the main course and a dessert. I opted for a... cold cut appetizer with cheese, followed by a... pasta dish and a yuzu topped Panna Cotta. (I should really take pictures of the menu next time). She opted for Burrata Cheese, Tagliolini Truffle and Tiramisu (strange I can remember hers and not mine). 

As we waited, we were served a small loaf of bread. They had the traditional olive oil + balsamic vinegar for dressing. I was feeling hungry, so it wasn't nearly sufficient to whet my appetite. The appetizers came out quickly - my cold cut with cheese tasted alright, but didn't blow my mind. Once I was done, I didn't have to wait too long before getting my pasta dish. It tasted alright as well - better than Italian chain restaurants in Canada. I had to say that her Burrata Cheese and Tagliolini Truffle was miles better than what I had. Finally, the one thing I enjoyed more than hers was dessert. The Yuzu Panna Cotta was mild, but tangy. After we finished eating and paid for the bill, we headed to a nearby mall to visit. 

This is Our Place (or TOPs) mall felt catered to teens or young adults. There were various floors to check out, but we didn't spend too much time here. Our next spot was Langham Place, a more upscale mall. She had a few appointments in the office towers there. Before attending her first appointment, we explored the mall a bit. It was very grand, with a lot of floors that reminded me of TD Square/Bankers Hall here. It was odd seeing Christmas decorations, since I always travel during the summer. Instead of saying Merry Christmas, their theme was "Merry PotatoMAS". I guess they have a potato as their mascot? It was cool to see how a different country celebrates Christmas. When it was nearly time for her first appointment, we headed off to the office towers. Unlike elevators I've seen elsewhere, there's a touch screen near the base of "the hall of elevators". You punch in the floor you want to go to, and then it directs you to the elevator to go (ie: Floor 60 is Elevator B). When we entered the elevator, I noticed there were no buttons to press, besides the open, close and emergency buttons. The touch screen outside told the elevator where to go. 

The first appointment took us up to a wide open clinic. It had a wonderful view of, what I'm assuming,  was Victoria Harbour. I didn't have to wait too long before she was finished. There was about an hour before her next appointment, in a different clinic, so we went back down to the mall area to look around. When it was time, we repeated the process of going to the touch screen to pick the floor, followed by going onto the elevator the computer tells us to go. The second location wasn't as big, nor as high. It didn't matter to me since I already had a view of the scenery.

With that finished, we headed back into Kowloon to look for more snacks. We went to a place to get Napoleon tarts. It wasn't that great. Stopped buy a bubble tea shop for some milk taro tea - that was meh. We then ended up at a K11 mall. This mall had a bunch of luxury shops inside, in which we perused for a bit before heading back out to the harbor. Last time, in 2023, I was unable to go to Hong Kong Island. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to do so this time. The ferry to go across was extremely cheap - about $1 CAD. Granted, it only took about 10-15 minutes, but it was nice to see the skyscrapers scattered around the island. When we made it to the other side, we headed to the bus terminal to find a bus that will take us to Victoria Peak. Since we were first in line, waiting for the bus, we had prime seats inside. The ride itself wasn't too long; we got to see sunset as the double decker bus made its way up the mountain. There were huge condo complexes and houses with winding driveways. I can only imagine how much these places cost.

As we got to the top, we got off and went to the Sky Terrace building to walk around and take in the sights. It was a bit chilly being high up, but the views made up for it. Looking back now, it's probably one of the most beautiful night cityscapes that I've seen in my life. After walking around some more, we decided it was time to head back down to our final destination - to Central. We boarded a small mini-bus back down to near the ferry. We then walked to IFC mall, which hosted Hikiniku: a Japanese restaurant that specializes in A4 Wagyu hamburger steaks. With a reservation in hand, we didn't have to wait long when we arrived. The place was quite crowded with all sorts of people. We sat around chefs cooking the hamburger steaks. There were a variety of condiments to try with the steaks, along with unlimited rice. We both got 3 steaks each, which was more filling than I expected it to be. Really stuffed with all the food we ate, we left and headed to the MTR station to take a train back to the New Territories. 

When we arrived at our final station, her dad came to pick us up, after picking up her mom and brother from work. Overall, it was a day full of new sights and eats. Kowloon and Hong Kong Island reminded me strongly of being in Shinjuku or other busy districts in Tokyo: full of people, and seemingly most of them being tourists. The more I travel to Asia, the more I'm starting to realize I like quieter sections of the country.

Only two more days to go before I head back to Canada!

A view of Kowloon from Victoria Peak at night. 

Day 5 (November 12) - Macau!

With a long day ahead of us, we got up early to take her dogs out for an extended walk. We ended up walking by a small... river. Due to the lack of pedestrians around, we decided to let them go off leash for a while. They seemed to enjoy the freedom, as they ventured slightly ahead of us to sniff the grass growing on the side of the pavement. After walking down the stretch of road for a while, we headed back to her place to relax a bit before heading out for the day.

Like two years ago, we headed off to Macau. Going through security was immigrations was really quick, for I was able to join my girlfriend in the "HK Resident" line, instead of the visitor line. We took the same shuttle bus to Macau, though I swear it seemed a lot faster this time around. Once we arrived at Macau, we met up with her uncle that took us around two years back. We started the trip by heading to a casino to eat dim sum. Maybe I'm hungry again, but the dim sum was the best dim sum I've ever had. We went through a wide variety of dishes, ranging from your typical siu mai, har gow, and turnip cake. As a side note, the turnip cake was by far the most memorable dish for me, this time around. I was so full, that I had to sit at the table for a while. Some others went down to explore the casino for a while.

Once we were ready to leave, we headed to see my girlfriend's grandma at her nursing home. I vaguely recall what she looked like two years back. She seemed to be in good spirits, which is always nice to see! After spending some time there, we headed to, what I believe is called Coloane Village. It has a strong Portuguese influence. Of course, we had to stop by Lord Stow's to get some Portuguese tarts! After spending a few hours exploring and relaxing, it was time for dinner.

I don't recall the name of the restaurant, but I was surprised by the seemingly lack of Cantonese speaking staff. Majority of the staff members spoke English, with some having basic Cantonese. The food seemed to be Portuguese inspired, though I didn't feel it was anything special. I did get my chance "to shine" since I mostly spoke English to the servers when we needed things. With dinner out of the way, it was time to head back to the station. 

Going through immigrations again was quick due to my girlfriend being a HK resident. Surprisingly to me, I thought these lines would be more congested than the visitor lines. Once we got through, we boarded the shuttle back to Hong Kong. It was starting to rain ever so slightly as we arrived back in Hong Kong. I wanted to walk her dogs when we arrived back, but it was too wet.

There's always tomorrow!

Scenic monument near Lord Stow's.

Day 4 (November 11) - Simple Day Around Town

 Due to jetlag, I ended up waking up a lot earlier than usual. Once my girlfriend got up, we took her dogs to the nearby dog park/walled garden for a sniff walk. Due to it still being before 8 AM (and a school day/work day for others), there was no one here. Her two dogs had time to casually stroll around, sniffing the place. After a while, we headed back to her place and got dressed. Her parents were up, and thus we headed out for breakfast.

We stopped by the commercial district (I believe it was the commercial district) and found a restaurant to eat breakfast. I got an instant noodle dish, topped with a piece of lettuce. For sides, I had eggs, sausages and a pineapple bun filled with butter. The pineapple bun was the star of the show, for it was extremely crispy and the pat of butter made the centre creamy. After breakfast, we headed to a nearby mall to stop by an optometry centre.

Her dad needed a pair of glasses. As we were waiting, I got the chance to check out the store. Unlike optometry centres in Canada, it seemed like all the sample glasses had anti-reflective lenses built in. It was a nice touch, for I feel it gave potential clients an idea of what these glasses would look like when you get them. Once her dad was able to get his eyes checked, and glasses ordered, we headed off to complete some more chores.

Once everything was done, we were going to head to another district. However, due to the traffic jam, and with my girlfriend having an appointment in a few hours, her dad dropped us off at a train station so we could head back to the district we started from. With a bit of time to spare, we stopped by a Hot Star, a chain that specializes in Taiwanese fried chicken. Instead of getting chicken though, we got some sweet potatoes coated in the same seasoning they use for their chicken. It was so good that I regret not getting another batch. We then entered another mall for her appointment, but before that, stopped by a small candy store inside for some snacks. The mall itself reminded me of the New Horizon Mall we have here in Calgary - it was filled with small stores. Once we found the spot for her appointment, she sat down and got her nails done. I was able to sit and watch throughout the hour long procedure. It vaguely reminded me of detailing my own car, in that what seems to be a straightforward and quick process actually has a lot of steps involved. With her freshly done nails, it was time to head back home.

But of course, grab a snack (egg waffles filled with egg yolk) at Mammy Pancake. We were fortunate enough to get a ride from her dad, in which we stopped by a BYD dealership nearby. I never seen a BYD car before, so it was neat to see the SUVs they had on the show floor. We even got free water bottles as we strolled around the different cars. Once we saw enough, we headed back home.

I had time to lay around for a while before it was time for dinner. We went to some sort of Chinese restaurant that specialized in a certain type of chicken. We started with a appetizer of squid, which was not chewy, like most squid I've had in the past. There was some sort of bread crumb like seasoning that was extremely tasty, but extremely salty. Then the main course arrived - two roasted/bbq chicken. Unlike North America, the heads were still attached, which I think make it look more complete. The skin was crispy, as if I was eating Peking duck instead of chicken. The meat underneath was extremely tender as well. A very hearty chicken, and perhaps one of my favorite chicken dishes ever. Once we were done with the main meal, we had two more appetizers: one was, I believe, shrimp & cashews with leek. The other one was potatoes and beef. Both extremely good! As I was starting to feel quite full, we had one more plate of fried rice. I'm not sure what was in it, but it had a delicate flavor that I usually don't associate with friend rice. Feeling quite stuffed now, I had a bit of room for dessert. It was some sort of ginger milk pudding. The sugar and spiciness from the ginger was an interesting mix that warmed me up. I should mention, that despite being in a covered tent, we were technically eating outside. I believe it was around 20 degrees Celsius, but it was starting to feel a bit chilly. 

With dinner completed, we headed back home. It was time to walk her dogs, but she was busy with some tasks she needed to complete. I ended up walking them with her dad instead. He showed me a route that I wasn't familiar with, which allowed me to see another section of her neighborhood. Despite it being somewhat late, I felt relatively safe walking at night in Hong Kong. After coming back, I took a shower and crashed. Jetlag was hitting me hard.

Despite staying in one district mostly, and not seeing touristy things, it was a very productive day. Productive, yet relaxing at the same time. 

Her neighborhood had a mixture of condo units and homes. It's definitely a different sight in comparison to the neighborhoods we have here in Calgary. 
 

Day 3 (November 10) - Off to Hong Kong!

 Due to sleeping early the night, I did end up waking up just before 1 AM. I ended up getting out to brush my teeth and headed back to my room. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I turned on my iPad and continued watching the drama I was watching for a few hours. When it was around 4:00, I got out of my room to head to my luggage against the side wall. I had a flight at 8 AM to catch, so I got changed and checked out by around 4:45 AM.

There was a long line of individuals in front of me, waiting for the shuttle to take us back to Terminal 2. I was one of the last few to make it onto the crowded bus. After arriving at the airport, I headed to security to see if I could go through since my girlfriend checked me into my HK Express flight. Security wouldn't be open for about another two hours. With time to spare, I explored the airport some more, since I've never been to Terminal 2 before. If I'm not mistaken, I believe we stopped at Terminal 3 to Okinawa back in 2017. After exploring for a while, I headed to the 7-11 on the 4th floor to grab a quick breakfast. Since it was quite early, there was no one waiting at 7-11. I got a rice ball, a salad, a mandarin & whip cream sandwich, and a fibre juice. There were some chairs nearby the convenience store, so I ended up sitting there to eat breakfast. Once I was done eating, I headed back to 7-11 to grab a few snacks to bring to Hong Kong. With about an hour to go still, I decided to explore other sections of Terminal 2.

By around 6:40, I decided to go back to security to line up. There was a relatively long line, so I joined at the back of the line. I was told that HK Express was extremely strict with their carry-on weight policy - no more than 7 kg. I was wondering at this time, since I already checked in online, how they were going to check the weight of my bag (I checked it at the airport on a scale, with my bag coming in at 5ish kg). With a bunch of other travelers having a luggage tag stated it was "Cabin Approved" from HK Express, I decided to head back to the check-in desk myself to ask. It was relatively quick, and when I managed to get my luggage tag, I asked my question about checking in online and going straight to security. The answer I pretty much got was that I could do that, but if I'm interpreting this correctly, they will check my luggage at the gate. 

I went back to wait at the ever increasing line. Japan is ever so punctual with time; the security gates opened exactly at 7 AM. It took probably around 5 minutes to go through security, but with boarding apparently starting at 7:10, I hurried to the gate. I was blessed with a seat close to the front ($20 fee for sitting that close), which meant that I didn't have to travel too far down the Airbus Neo 321 when we boarded. There was no one sitting behind me for around 6 rows, but I couldn't recline my seat at all. However, the seats were quite comfortable, and better yet, there was no one sitting in the middle seat. I had the window seat while there was another traveler sitting at the aisle seat.

We took off on time. Fatigue was starting to kick in, but I wanted to stay up. My girlfriend had it planned out so I would be sitting on the right side of the plane. In about 30-40 minutes, Mount Fuji would be in view for me to see and take pictures. I haven't seen the volcano covered in snow for years, so it was a sight to behold. The flight attendants took pictures themselves of the volcano as we passed by. Soon after, I dozed off for about an hour. After waking up, and with 3 hours left, I ended up watching more dramas and playing BloonsTD6. It's been a while, but it's an addicting game.

Nearing HKG, I swapped out my physical sim for a HK sim that I got from my girlfriend (in retrospect, I should have converted my Canadian physical sim into an e-sim). I saw the entrance to the underwater tunnel leading to Macau (I believe that's what it was), before we landed at the airport. I got off, went through immigrations relatively quickly, despite the line being extremely long. Unlike going to Japan, there was no online form to fill out. As I was making my way to the exit, I got stopped by security. The security guard asked, in Cantonese, where I was heading back. I only understand a bit of Cantonese, but I definitely cannot answer back. I just mentioned that my girlfriend was here to pick me up, as I handed him my passport to see. Once satisfied, he wished me a good day and I headed off. After some time, I finally found my girlfriend waiting for me. We headed outside to a section of the airport where her dad was waiting to drive us. It's been a while since I last saw him, but he looked exactly the same. They bought me lunch, a sandwich with some eggs. I munched away, while sipping lemon tea.

After 20-30 minutes, we finally made it back to their place. I was enthusiastically greeted by her two dogs. Her younger male looked the exact same, while her senior female dog shed weight! After the greetings, I headed over to her room to do some minor cleaning, setting up my foldable bed for the week, and taking a shower. Afterwards, I ended up taking a nap. I don't recall how long I really napped, but after getting up, my girlfriend and I took a minibus to a commercial district near her place to grab a bite to eat. 

We ended up going to Tam Jai Sam Gor, a chain restaurant that specializes in Yunnan-style rice noodles. For those of you familiar with Yunshang Rice Noodle or Dagu, I believe they're the exact same style. There was a dinner set: a bowl of noodles, two chicken wings and a drink. I can't recall the price, but it was quite a bit cheaper than what you can get in Canada. Feeling full, we headed to a nearby bakery to grab some bread before heading back to her place.

Upon arrival, I was feeling tired again, so I went to bed at around 7-8 PM.

A day to relax, but much needed!

Not sure what island this is, but it was close to Hong Kong International Airport. 

Day 1&2 (November 8&9) - Overnight Stay in Japan!

 It's a first for me in that we have a week long Fall Break at my school. Last year, it was 2 days for the students (PD day was on the Tuesday after Remembrance Day). With a full week off, and great travel benefits, my girlfriend and I decided to book a trip to Asia back in September. She managed to get time off earlier, so she ended up going a week before I did. I was anxiously waiting for the break to start a few weeks back for I never travelled in autumn before.

After the last day of classes, and after dinner with some friends that Friday night, I headed home late for a restless sleep. Saturday morning came, and I started the day by teaching English to my regular student from China. I was tired from the lack of sleep, but the excitement kept me fully awake. After doing a ritual final clean before flying, I put Ollie into the car and headed off to my parent's house. I was fortunate to get a ride to the airport this time around.

After arriving at the airport, I immediately went through security and headed to the Aspire lounge. I got the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card back in the summer for the 0% foreign exchange fee. I also wanted to try out lounges, and this card came with 6 complimentary ones for an annual fee of $150 CAD. I guess I overhyped myself up with airport lounges, for they didn't seem all to special, besides complimentary food being provided to customers. It was also quite busy. I found a place to sit, left my carry on, and headed to grab some bite-sized food to eat. After about an hour or so, I headed over to another location of the lounge, since I wanted to watch some pre-loaded dramas on my iPad. After completing an episode, it was time to head to the gate and wait to board my flight.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get an upgraded seat to premium economy, but I ended up with an aisle seat in a group of middle seats. I was sitting, with what seemed to be a bunch of five university students (if I were to guess... 2nd years since the guy sitting beside me in the middle seat was doing Organic Chemistry review). Maybe I've been spoiled with premium economy, but these economy seats seemed extremely narrow. I was literally touching elbows with the student, and he was quite small himself. And this is with me leaning slightly over to the side. To make matters worse, there were two babies crying throughout the flight in close proximity to myself. One of them was shrieking throughout the entire flight, making it nigh impossible to sleep. Fortunately, my AirPods do a good job with cancelling out as much of the crying as possible. I ended up watching some more episodes of my drama on my iPad before switching over to watching Doctor X: The Final Movie (I think that's the full title) on the entertainment screen in front of me. A good end to a long lasting series! 

After what seemed an eternity, we finally made it to Japan. It was quite cloudy, with impending rain in a short bit of time. I got off, headed off to immigration and customs. Unlike previous times, I had no check-in luggage with me. Perhaps this was the reason why I was stopped before exiting the luggage area, with a security guard asking me what my plans were for Japan. After telling him that I was only in Japan for a day, before heading off to my next location, he asked to see my passport and let me go soon after. 

I found the shuttle bus that would take me to terminal 2. It was quiet inside, with a group of three Americans travelling on the bus. I was eavesdropping on their conversation as we made our way to the terminal. Two of them were lavishing the third, on how it was her third time in the country, making her an expert. I silently laughed to myself, for this was my 9th time to Japan (1998, 2001, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023, Aug 2025, and Nov 2025). I did stop myself thinking how other people probably went more, or for those of them that did less travel than me, were much more knowledgeable of locations/customs/language. After humbling myself, I continued to look forward, as we finally approached Terminal 2. I got off, and headed inside the terminal to look for something to eat. I found their 4th floor dining and shopping experience, and got myself some takoyaki. After eating and exploring for a bit, I headed back to the bus stops, and looked for a shuttle that will take me to my accommodations for the night: Sora no Yu. 

Sora no Yu is a capsule hotel with an onsen attached to it. It's like Rox, but on steroids in my opinion. It was a relatively straight forward check in process, in which I headed to the capsule hotel location first to drop off my luggage. Unfortunately, I didn't read carefully, for I had troubles entering the capsule room only to find out, it was the Woman's capsules room... Luckily, no one was nearby, so I quickly scampered to the male room a meters down. The room had a lot of capsule rooms (I'm guessing at least 60 men's capsules), but it was well labelled. I managed to find my room, in which I chucked whatever I needed and headed off to the side to lock up my carry-on bag. Perhaps I'm being biased, but I felt quite safe leaving my carry-on bag attached to a thin bike lock cable (or whatever they're called). I headed to the changing room, which was located up a floor, to start relaxing in the onsen.

After washing myself, I stepped to their outside onsen. It was located on the rooftop of the hotel, with a magnificent view. Despite it being cold, the onsen was hot enough, making it quite relaxing and being able to stay inside longer than usual. Since the hotel was close to the airport, you can actually see planes quite close up. After spending a good 15 minutes or so, I headed back to the changing room to change into the shirt and shorts they lend to all guests. I was probably up for nearly 24 hours at this point (and it didn't help that I didn't sleep much on Friday), so I crashed out in my room. There were many other amenities to try out (stone sauna, regular sauna, massage chairs, manga library, the various different onsens, etc), but I ended up sleeping for a few hours, only to wake up at around 10 PM remembering that I didn't brush my teeth yet. With fatiguing sitting back in again, I ended up falling back to sleep.

That's it for the first night! 

A shot from inside my capsule room. It was relatively roomy for me (5'8"). For more pictures and information of this place, check out this link: https://soranoyu.com/en/

I would definitely come back here again, either before returning from Japan, or even during arriving in Japan.