The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
May 12 - Sights Along the Road
On the way to the airport we many different modes of transportation, including more motocabs than I recall anywhere elso on the trip. We also saw some curious sort of Army activity on top of a huge gravel pile out by the airport highway. I think the gravel will eventually be laid down to put a paved surface on the minefield we just drove over to get this far!
It took us longer than I expected, but when we finally arrived, I was glad to see that at least Guilin was a (certified) civilized airport! It was hard to say goodbye to Marv and Miao after all out adventures, but it is really just "adieu" -- they will be back home in Spokane in a month or so, perhaps with Miao's son. I wish them luck in the inevitable wrestling match with US Immigration authorities.
The new Hong Kong airport was an incredible surprise! We didn't see much of it when we arrived, but on the return we discovered that it is really as much an upper end indoor mall as an airport -- Bulgari, Tiffany, Boss, Fendi, etc -- and I suspect these are the real things, not the knock-offs we saw everywhere else in China!
This was the first time I had seen a free-standing champagne, caviar and seafood bar like this anywhere, let alone in a public airport. Caviar House & Prunier is a bold move and one that seemed to work. They were quiet when I took this photo around 6:00pm but were doing some good business as we walked past at 10:00pm to catch our flight. The Lost City of Snacks won't win any awards for high end dining, but it should get something just for having a great name that leaps out and grabs your attention! There were dozens of other restaurants in the airport, many of them table service, but we were just too tired to check them out. I'll have to save that report for the next trip.
© 2008 Restaurant Doctor
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