Mileage Running: October 2026: Part 2: Days 3/4

Mileage Running

Oct 2026, part 2: Days 3/4: HKG again

Gnocchi was overcooked and dry.

Veggie empanandas and chicken with rice and mushrooms. Meh.

Pre-arrival, chicken and shrimp congee.

Fluffy clouds.

UA 820 operated by N25982, 15hr 28 min flight time, 7,823 miles (Flightaware), 7,286 miles (IFE), 7,260 miles (great circle).

Underwater tunnel, part of the bridge from Hong Kong to Macau.

Newly opened terminal 2 at HKG.

N25982 operating as UA 820, arrived in Hong Kong.

Luk Yu Tea House in Central. Menu.

Menu.

They realized I am useless American and gave me picture menu.

They realized I am useless American and gave me English menu. Inside.

Inside.

The spread.

Har gow are excellent.

Shu mai are good. Right size.

Not sure what this was. Thought I had ordered ha cheung fun.

Pai gut. Decent.

Shrimp ball?

They gave me a literal dish towel after to wipe.

Paste de nata at Santa Nata. Menu.

Menu.

Santa Nata explaining what they are.

Creative use of the space to provide some seating.

Tea with milk and a pastel de nata.

Very creamy, not quite as sweet as expected.

Got in line 30 minutes early for Jenny Bakery to beat most of the line.

Line right at 10:00am is painful but moves fast.

Arcade/e-sports at HKG.

N26996, ready to head to LAX.

Terminal 1 is still very impressive.

Boarding.

Menu on today's UA 153, HKG-LAX.

Taking off from Hong Kong International Airport.

Ma Wan and the Tsing Ma Bridge at right/center.

Beautiful day over Hong Kong.

Kowloon in the foreground, Victoria Harbor and Hong Kong Island in the background.

Same appetizers as Friday's HKG-LAX.

Pre-order only roast duck was not good, but to its credit, was much better than it was two weeks ago.

Ice cream sundae.

Saddest snack cart.

United branded pot holders are new?

Pre-arrival shrimp congee is consistent.

13hr 2min flight time, 7,650 miles (Flightaware), 7,266 miles (IFE), 7,260 miles (great circle).

Delta's Team USA livery at LAX, N531DN, Airbus A350-900.

Even if United 820 hadn't left ~90 minutes late due to being unexpectedly overweight, I still would have skipped dinner. Trying to keep on Pacific Time meant that sleeping right after departure-- be it the scheduled 11:45pm or the ~1:15am actual-- was the way to go. Woke up halfway through the flight and went for the mid-flight tapas instead of the cup noodle or cheese plate. Veggie empanadas were okay, chicken and mushrooms were meh, both were still better than the gnocchi, which ended up overcooked and dry. Did a bunch of work, then enjoyed the pre-arrival meal, this time a chicken and shrimp congee, along with a bunch of fluffy clouds and a beautiful landing.

Nearly 15.5 hours flight time this time meant a bit of a later arrival than planned in to Hong Kong, which meant my one real layover of the trip was a bit shorter than planned. This actually worked out fairly well as the original scheduled arrival is so early, not many restaurants are open.

First stop of the day was in Central, at Luk Yu Tea House. Excellent as expected for one of the OG places, they took pity on me after realizing I was American with the English menu, and, maybe no surprise, pricing for dim sum now in Hong Kong is getting up to the same price as it is in the USA. Har gow, shu mai, and two kinds of shrimp dumpling all very good; the pai gut (pork spareribs) were a bit different than I'm used to, but still tasty. Have to say I thought I was ordering a har cheung fun instead of a third type of dumpling, so I wonder what got missed in translation.

A quick walk to the second stop, Santa Nata, for what I had expected would be a Portuguese-style, rather sweet pastel de nata. Instead I found they did a very creamy, but not too-sweet, pastel de nata; clearly they adjusted their recipe to closer fit Asian palates. Combined with the early hour meant that their tiny bit of seating was available, and it was actually a nice stop for a dan tat and some (non-sweet) milk tea.

Third and final stop of the layover was Jenny Bakery in nearby Sheung Wan. 30 minutes early allows you to beat most of the line, and they are so efficient that within 5 minutes of opening, I had my cookies. Upon exiting-- despite how fast they handle orders-- they had an even more massive line outside.

Back to the airport right after Jenny Bakery, mostly to ensure I had ample time to make sure I was able to get in a shower before the final flight of the mileage run, UA 153 back to LAX. United is nothing if not consistent, although the pre-order meal of roast duck was vastly better this time around. Still not good compared to what you can get at the average corner BBQ store in Hong Kong, but for United, well, I will take improvement.

Pretty ordinary return flight, bit more northerly of a routing than expected, the usual shrimp congee, and then an early arrival to LAX. Saw Delta's Team USA livery Airbus A350-900 on arrival to LAX, which was a nice way to wrap up the mileage run.