Hong Kong
Original plan was a full day in Hong Kong, then another night, then leave the following morning... but with the last-minute change to add another mileage run to the schedule, this became a bit of an abbreviated trip. Still a full day in Hong Kong, with obligatory stop to Jenny Bakery for more butter cookies (line didn't form quite as early today, but they still have a long line!), a nice run around the waterfront to prep myself for the day's eating, and then the excellent pork chop rice and pineapple bun at Bolton Cafe.
There's supposedly some excellent pork chop rice around, but I found Bolton Cafe to be both convenient and tasty. Chee Kei is only two blocks away, and is another solid spot for won ton noodles. Not quite as alkaline in the noodles as some of their more popular competitors, Chee Kei is excellent. Slightly further away is Hashtag B's Tsim Sha Tsui location, one of many modern purveyors of dan tat - was not a fan of their napoleon dan tat, which is the fancy croissant crust and too much vanilla for me. Their traditional dan tat was more my style, although I think in the end I would go elsewhere.
Original plan was to find clay pot rice or something else for dinner, but ended up so full after lunch that I decided to skip dinner and head straight to the airport when the evening rolled around.
Had ample time to appreciate all the holiday decor, particularly on the arrivals level, while also finding out that most of the restaurants outside of the secure area were absolutely packed. Decided to cross into the secure area and find food-- not terribly hungry, but with my flight back home not leaving until nearly 11pm, food at some point was probably not the worst idea. Tasty Wuntun and Congee Shop and most of the restaurants in the secure area had normal-sized crowds, and while the beef chow fun isn't the best, that and the dried shrimp cheung fun did the job (and were more than ample portions, could have skipped the cheung fun).
Wandering the terminal before flight, ran into the crew-- and found some familiar faces, with Purser Rajneeta working UA 821 back to LAX tonight. They must have had something going on for the holidays because she and her crew were in full-on photo mode, taking photo after photo before departure. And the flight itself was pretty smooth. No upgrades this time around, edible enough chicken in premium economy, a rather decent pre-arrival meal (chicken sausage, eggs, breakfast potatoes, tomato), and a great crew, what more could you ask for? (well, except for an upgrade to business class...).