The first ingredient for cooking up a Hong Kong trip is making sure you are perfectly satisfied with your airline. You also have to choose a hotel very well, since it will be your home away from home.
Having settled all that, our groupie flew on our very own pride and joy, Philippine Airlines (PAL), naturellement.
As usual, checking in at PAL’s chic Terminal 2 was a breeze. Within 15 minutes we were all seated comfortably inside PAL’s sleek Mabuhay Lounge. Earlier, moi had dashed to PAL’s tres convenient ticketing counter, the perfect place to get or change your tickets. Moi wanted to say "hello" to our palangga, PAL’s mega sales and services manager and the Centennial Airport Ticket officer, Ma. Consuelo "Nich"Abaygar. But since it was her day off, her pals took excellent care of the slight problem moi had about our seating arrangement. Before I could ask how long it would take, everything was fixed faster than a wink of an eye, palanggas.
Once inside the Lounge, moi headed straight for the tres, tres popular arroz caldo. Some how PAL’s Mabuhay Lounges serve the best! I’ve tried anywhere.
All set to relax in Hong Kong was well-liked gent, Ralph Joseph, his four children and his super nice and fun wife, Bobot J.
The one hour and 40-minute flight was perfect! We departed exactly on schedule. We even kidded the flight steward that we were sure the captain had a date in Hong Kong.
Service on board PAL’s Boeing 747-400 aircraft was fantastic, thanks to their excellently trained cabin crew. Forever smiling, they never wear a long face even under pressure.
The meal we had was a gastronomic delight as usual. All those treats, mind you, even for such a short flight, dahlings. Well, we don’t call our airline our "PAL" for nothing, n’est ce pas (as in di bala)?
Before moi could finish reading PAL’s informative in-flight mag Mabuhay, we landed at Hong Kong’s ultra modern Chep Lap Kok Airport.
Two PAL ground representatives met us and we breezed through immigration and customs in a wink of an eye. We all decided to take the lightning-fast 20-minute train ride to the central station where we boarded a taxi to rush us to our hotel.
The Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, dahlings, is one of the grandest of all hotels in Hong Kong.
Its superbly trained staff are courteous, and are always ready to serve and assist guests so they can have a truly pleasant stay.
As we were escorted from the grandioso lobby to the check-in counter, we felt the timeless elegance and grace of bygone luxurious days.
The hotel’s good-looking assistant manager, Simon Brewster checked us in. As we waited for our room numbers, the hotel’s brilliant F&B PR manager, Christine Cheong breezed in. She welcomed us with a smile that could make any modeling agency want to sign her up anytime.
We were booked at two of the gorgeous, newly renovated and ultra-modern rooms on the 34th floor. The rooms from the 29th to the 36th floors are called The Grand Club Executives Floors. They have 84 rooms and 13 suites.
As we entered our rooms, we beheld the breathtaking panoramic view of the famous Victoria Harbour and Victoria Peek.
Moi couldn’t believe how sleek the rooms looked after their "face-lift" with eye-catching wooden panels.
Soon we were off for cocktails with one of PLDT’s prime asset, Al Tengco, and his la simpatica wife, Carla T. at the Captain’s Bar of the Mandarin Oriental.
Apres a couple of Martinis, we were joined by workasonic Stargate Media Corp. president Choy Cojuangco who came with his wife, Southern beauty Marissa Echauz-C., and the super fun CEO of Dream TV, Salvador Martinez.
We had dinner at the popular Yung Kee resto at the Yung Kee Bldg. 32-40 Wellington St., close to the swinging Lau Kwai Fong district. We feasted on the best Roast Goose and the Shanghai Hairy Crab.
Guess who we bumped into at the resto? Manille’s popular Atienza famille: Mayor Lito Atienza, his nice wife Beng A., son Rep. Kim A., with vivacious Councilor Cita Astals, fun Tessie Daza, plus some other guests.
Apres a fabi dinner personally attended to by supervisors Johnny Leung and Peter Yan, we said "goodbye" and promised to definitely return on our next trip.
Back for a nightcap at the Mandarin’s Captain’s Bar, we listened to the swinging sounds of Tony Carpio and his band. Lo and behold, there she was, New York’s wonder woman, the investment banker for Private Equity and president of Globe Capital Partners, Joanne de Asis. With her were tycoons Tom Lewis, Boston’s magnum Consulting Group chairman, and Joanne’s associate, dashing Dr. Kurt Lauk, chairman of the Economic Council of the CDU. They were in Hong Kong bidding their time before joining the party of taipan Washington Sycip for a five-day cruise on China’s Yangtze River.
Apres a great breakfast the next day at the impressive Executive Lounge and dashing to the Kowloon side for some window shopping, we had a date with Grand Hyatt’s attractive F&B asset, Christine C., who gave us a grand tour of Hong Kong’s magnificent Grand Hyatt.
We first breezed around the lobby then went up to the Tiffin Lounge. We delighted in afternoon tea as a quartet played soothing music. The biscuits, sandwiches and sweets were enough to make us forget about having dinner.
Then we went to the Parisian-style tres chic Champagne Bar. Here you can find the chic-est of personas – especially during the cocktail hours – sipping champagne and other drinks while a pianist plays on a grand piano.
Beside the Champagne Bar is the fabi Grand Ballroom where many of the grandest affairs are held, dahlings. Next stop was moi fave Italian resto in Hong Kong, the hotel’s fabi Grissini, where you can indulge in the finest authentic Milanese cuisine. At the resto’s rear is the superbly interiored private dining room where the best of Hong Kong society and top local and international businessmen hold private lunches or dinners.
We then breezed through the super elegant One Harbour Road, the hotel’s eye-catching split-level Cantonese resto. Breezing through the place, we could feel the splendor of a taipan’s home. The food is divine, the cutlery elegant, and the service great.
Next stop was my fave hangout, the tres elegant Regency Club. Here, way up in the 30th and 31st floors, you can get a breathtaking view of Victoria Harbour. The Club’s 80 seats are definitely luxurious. You can also enjoy a continental buffet breakfast and endless evening cocktail drinks with deluxe yummy canapés, coffee and tea throughout the day, all on a complimentary basis.
At the Regency Club, you can also do business, hold meetings and have a private office which has wood columns; rich black and tan leather upholstery which complements the hotel’s art deco style; antique writing desks; plus a cozy library lounge with a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books.
There is also, naturellement, the Grand Café with its fun yet relaxed ambience with the stunning Harbour view as backdrop.
And lastly, for late night partying, there is the upscale JJ’s, a tres unique multi-themed night club. It features a live band on the second level and dancing on the first level.
Taking a breather at the Tiffin Lounge, Christine C. explained to us, "In June 1999, in celebration of Grand Hyatt Hong Kong’s 10th anniversary, we redesigned all the guest rooms to meet the constantly changing needs of the new millennium traveler."
The hotel’s new generation manager, dashing Robert Barker (who was appointed to his new post by Hyatt Int’l. Corp. president Bernard Chorengel) said, "Our objective was to create rooms perfectly suited to the needs of the discriminating business traveler." Prior to his appointment, Robert B. was the GM of Hyatt Regency Osaka. He graduated with high honors from England’s renowned Blackpool Hotel School.
Amiable and brilliant marketing director Ananya Narayan succeeded the stunningly gorgeous Corina Yotoko Chorengel.
World-class architect and interior designer John Morford was responsible for the redesigning of the rooms. He also designed the renowned Park Hyatt, Tokyo.
That night, we had dinner at Nicholinis, the Conrad Hotel’s famed Italian resto. There the Tengcos and moi met up with Ilocos Norte Gov. Bongbong Marcos and his wife, brilliant lawyer Lisa Araneta-M. They had just spent a fantastic week at Singapore’s Sentosa Island with their three cutie-pie sons. We enjoyed a great dinner with stimulating conversation and excellent wine.
We also caught up with Hong Kong’s new guards, popular banker and lawyer, Aaron Chiu and his wife, a gorgeous new lawyer herself, Audrey Puckett-Chiu.
Apres four glorious days of just chilling out and taking it easy, we jetted back home in PAL where the affable crew pampered us no end. That was really cool, dahlings.
For those still not in the know, PAL now jets off to Taipan, Jakarta, Vietnam, Bangkok and Shanghai, thanks to the airline’s super success with satisfied passengers.
Remember, dahlings, the Chinese New Year is just around the corner (it falls on Feb. 12). What better place to stay in than at the distinctly elegant Grand Hyatt Hotel while enjoying the festivities in Hong Kong?
For inquiries or reservations, do call tel. nos. (852) 2588 1234; telefax (852) 2802 0677; or e-mail at info@grandhyatt.com.hk or www.hongkong.hyatt.com.
See you all, palanggas.