Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur to Bangladesh to Bali

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Hong Kong

On the road again with my 18-year-old son Andrew.

Arrived tonight in Hong Kong. The new international airport doesn't have the excitement of the old Kai Tak airport on Hong Kong harbor.

That was a single 3,390 metre-long runway made from reclaimed land on the north side of Kowloon harbor stretching out into the water. Planes flew in low over buildings avoiding mountains for a heart-stopping landing.

We're staying at the Novatel Hong Kong Citygate. Over our budget at $1111 HK (US$143) but it's right near the airport.

We're taking a roundabout route to Bangladesh using Air Asia....but you save a lot of money with that airline. You book online through their web site.

For example, we're flying from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur (the Air Asia hub) and then to Dhaka and back to KL...and ultimately from KL back to Hong Kong. The cheapest fare from Hong Kong to Dhaka on, say, Jet Airways or Dragonair (Cathay Pacific) is at least $800 U.S. and $900 to $1000 direct. Air Asia's fare from HK to KL return is $177 and KL to Dhaka return is $247 for a total of $424....or 50%!l(MISSING)ess.

You need to stop over in HK and KL, but if you have the time both are great cities to visit.

We fly out on Air Asia tomorrow at 11:35 a.m. so it's a lot easier than finding a place in the city and working our way out tomorrow morning. It's also the cheapest of the luxury hotels around the airport. (Notice two trends in my writing: giving the price of everything; and being a cheapskate).

It was a long flight but we just have one night here so we took the Airport Express Train to Kowloon.

I have a long history with Hong Kong. I did my last two years of high school here at Hong Kong International School when my father was posted here as an IBM executive.

There is no greater feeling of nostalgia or "yearning for the past" for me than standing near the Star Ferry terminal and looking out over Hong Kong harbour.

I'm not one to look back at the past and wish it were so again...but the memory of the young George Clayton, my late father, in his prime working in what was then the tallest building in Hong Kong for the biggest company in the world, and me a 16-year-old high school student living large on the other side of the world is almost too much to bear.

I've been here over the years with my wife, son and oldest daughter and it never changes.

You can't go home again, but the feeling of time standing still here for me is almost surreal.

The Starbucks nearby the Star Ferry terminal is new, and a great place to sit and watch the action....but the touts offering to take you to a tailor haven't changed in 30 years!

Nathan Road in Kowloon is the main shopping street and great for bargains

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