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It is actually happening. After 10 years of making travel videos on YouTube and probably filming over a hundred different flights, we finally got an airline to sponsor the channel. So, thank you Cafe a Pacific, one of our favorite airlines, for being the first. When Cafe Pacific reached out and they asked us to teach you about their free stopover program in Hong Kong, we were pumped for multiple reasons. First, this is a great travel hack that more people should know about. And the last time we were in Hong Kong was 2016 when we were traveling on a budget of $75 a day. So we are super excited to get to go back and experience a different side of the city.
Welcome to the RIT little bit of an upgrade. So in this video we'll be bringing you along as we fly business class from LA to Hong Kong. I haven't given me to go on a trip. Spend 48 hours in Hong Kong comparing what it's like to travel on $100 a day. It's also home to the world's cheapest Michelin star restaurant versus $1,000 a day. Okay, that was not 10, but 20 times more expensive than our meal yesterday. And then we'll head back to the airport where we'll take you inside Cathy's amazing business class lounge before finally flying to our final destination
of Beijing, China. So, for those of you who are always commenting, "We miss the old style Karen Nate travel vlog videos," this video is for you. And if you've been around since 2016 and you were one of those people that gave me a hard time for not letting Car ride the ferris wheel because it was too expensive. Are we going to ride it? No. Well, we'll have to uh see if it fits in the budget this time. It is so wild that we live in a world where you don't even use your ticket anymore. It was a good song. I am feeling so nostalgic getting on this flight. We found an incredible deal flying Cafe Pacific Business from Vietnam to New York that we flew back
and forth twice in 2018. So we probably spent 60 hours total flying Cafe Pacific Business. And then back in 2016 when we had top tier one world status. We used to specifically fly through Hong Kong just to go to those lounges and spend like 6 hours there. Welcome to our home for a very long time. Thank you. Cheers to a very exciting trip. So, we're getting lunch and then there's an all day menu that we can get whenever we want the whole flight. And then we get served breakfast on today's flight. Jackie will be showing you a video. I may give this shot a 50/50 chance of working. Lovely. Our official flight time is 15 hours and 20 minutes. And we'll see how much sleep we get. I'm not feeling tired right now at all.
Now that we're up in the air, first things first, mini kit review. I will say this is a really cute bag. It is Bunford brand, which I've never heard of, and I'm sure it's fancy. Looks like we've got the classics power charge toothbrush and toothpaste, earplugs. Here's where things get fun. Vent care mouthwash with fluoride with no added colors or dyes. Cooling body gel. M. Oh my gosh. Yum. Botanic pillow mist. Multi balm. Use as required anywhere such as lips, cuticles, elbows, and hands. Never had a lip balm that you can put other places on your body. Oh wow. That's like a lip mask. Solid minigan.
Like there is free Wi-Fi only for business class. And it actually works. because I'm able to look up the movies before I watch them. I cannot click on a movie without looking at Rotten Tomatoes store. I just like can't waste a single minute on a flight watching me. I just can't do it. I got the curried cauliflower soup and it came with garlic bread. It has real chunks of garlic on it. I could just eat a plate of garlic bread. Pira with grilled peaches looks pretty good, too. Thank you very much. We pre-ordered the veggie meal. It looks like we have a bunch of steamed vegetables with tomato tangy sauce all on a bed of couscous.
Probably the healthiest meal that I've ever had on an airplane, which I actually really appreciate. First of all, I went with the show called The Pit. I love medical dramas. So far, so good. For dessert, I asked for more garlic bread and a cheese steak paired with a French red. Ooh, full mirror. Mirror on this side. Impressive lavatory. There's so much space. We've got bougie hand wash, bougie body lotion, and bougie hydrating face mist. smells really good. So, after meal service, they turned off the cabin lights and like everyone is asleep, which is weird because it's only like 3:00 p.m. in LA, which means it's 6:00 a.m. in Hong Kong and both times are kind of a weird time to sleep.
How's your flight? I may have found my next race. It's called Four Trails in Hong Kong. I'm watching a documentary about it right now. Only 16 people have ever finished. Feels like the Barkley Marathon to Hong Kong. I'm supposed to be drinking wine and enjoying myself and instead of planning my next race. Well, it's nice to breathe some scream closer to my face. Back to my show. How beautiful is that? We just ordered a little midnight snack of fish ball soup with noodles and I'm not really sure what else, but it sounded yummy. And
it's about dinner time. Our bodies time. 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong. We have 9 hours remaining. Still awake. All right, we have a little over 8 hours until we arrive in Hong Kong. Going to get a good night of sleep. Wake up, eat breakfast. 15 and 1/2 hours later, we have landed in Hong Kong. And honestly, I'd turn around and do it all again. In all seriousness, I was not really feel like it. I gladly would have watched movies for a few more hours. is okay. I watched nine episodes in a row. I can't believe we're back. Can we just cut to 2016? Car and Nate landing in Hong Kong for the first time. Clueless. See how different we look? Got a mustache and long hair now.
My hair was short. Got short hair. Oh wow. 10 years is a long time. Brilliant. Can you believe we're back? I really can't. I'm so happy. Where are we going? Some things never change. Where? This definitely would not have fit in the 2016 budget. It is just like regular Uber. 32 bucks. There's one thing that hasn't changed since 2016, and that's that we're lost in Hong Kong. We got dropped off, and we have no idea where our hostel is. It's probably up there. Well, once we find our hotel, we've got some great food options for dinner.
Next step is get on the elevator and see if it's there. I've missed this. It has been quite the adventure trying to find our hostel. This feels like a comment that I make an old video, but the hallway smells like smoke. Where are we? I think we're here. Thank you. Go to your toilet. Perfect. No, I had no idea. The photos made it look bigger. No. Somehow this is smaller than the room we stayed in 2016. I think Hong Kong's got more expensive. Oh my gosh. And the bathroom's just about as big as
the bedroom. Can I give a full room tour? This is the bathroom. And this is the bed. And there's nowhere to open these. I kid you not. She like laughed when she saw the size of our bags and was like, "H, it's a wet bath. I did bring my shower shoes and my bag." You know, if I think about this like a capsule hotel, it's a lot more fun. Like this is not too different from the one in Tokyo that we love to stay in. You're right. Except for the fact that we have our own bathroom. Exactly. It just feels a little different for some reason.
There is AC, which is not always guaranteed. You know what I experienced on the street that I haven't felt in a long time? walking under the buildings and feeling the AC condensation. So, that was fun. Good morning. We are both jetlagged, which is why this video is starting before 7:00 a.m. Today starts the $100 experience in Hong Kong. So, last night we had to find somewhere affordable to stay, which is how we ended up in this hostel. All right, last night's room cost $45, which means we have $55 left in today's budget. Time to find some cheap breakfast and a coffee.
Yeah, we are starting the morning with a coffee and a traditional pineapple bun, which is a pastry that originated here in Hong Kong and does not have any pineapple in it. They say the outside looks like pineapple, which is maybe a bit of a stretch, but it's basically just a large bun with a huge slab of butter in the middle. It feels so soft and flaky. 10 of 10. So good. You can't put a slab of butter that big in between anything and it not be good. Surprisingly good toffee. Huge mug, hot, not instant. That's a win.
Okay, today's first activity is free minus the metro tickets to get here. So, we've made our way to the north side of the city and we are about to hike what the internet calls one of Hong Kong's most iconic trails called Lion's Rock. We've got a little over a mile and,200 ft of climbing to get to the top where we are supposed to have amazing views of the city. I'm already tired. Wow, look at all these stairs. This is my first real hike since running the Moab 240. So, good test to see if the legs still work.
Hey, one mile in. We've only gone up the entire time. It's like being on a constant stairstepper inside a rainforest. Can you see the drip of sweat coming off my nose right now? It's very humid in Hong Kong. Well, this is unexpected. Wow. I thought we were the only people on the trail this morning. I love it though. Everyone's so happy. Also, I don't think we've passed a single person on this trail that's under the age of 60 years old. And this is not an easy hike. Very impressive. We're on our hands and knees now. Just thought it was vertical before. This uh turned into a real adventure at the top.
Free adventure. We made it. Welcome to Lion's Head Rock. Feels like a real accomplishment. This is awesome. You see how nervous I am right now? [clears throat and laughter] We made it. The clouds were perfect for the hike, but uh not so good for the view. Also, for anyone who uh knows the Hong Kong skyline, there's a little hint of where we'll be going tomorrow. And then for some context of where we came from, if you can see the crane in the construction zone right down there, that is where the trail started. Absolutely incredible views up here. Nice work.
Thanks. Oh jeez. No. Cheers. This is lunch. No. Almost dropped the Snickers down. Oh my gosh, it was almost gone forever. Since the budget's a little tight today, we're having Snickers and water that we bought from 7-Eleven earlier. All right, time to head back down to the city. It is so cool that you can be in a massive city like Hong Kong. Get on the metro for a few stops and then go on an epic hike like this. I did not expect to be scared of wildlife on this hike. We have just encountered our first wild boar and it is gigantic. I feel like we can't pass.
I'm not passing that. A local just passed by going this way and he was like, "Don't touch it. Be careful. Don't approach it. But like I feel like even if we just walked straight down the path, it would still be too close and it would think we were approaching it. Two Americans mauled by a wild boar. They had very little cash in their pockets. All right. Here we go. Yeah. Safety and numbers. Pass. Okay. Wow. We made our move. We survived. Back to the city. I was going to be sad if we missed out on lunch.
No, I'm kind of happy that happened. That was fun. Turns out that Hong Kong is home to 76 Michelin star restaurants. And you may be wondering why I'm telling you this when we're on a $100 a day budget. One of those Michelin star restaurants just happens to be the cheapest in the world. And as long as we don't go too crazy, it's going to fit in today's budget. All right, dish number one has come out. Hong Kong is the very first place I ever had a pork bun. You can call the bun. How do we eat this thing? We eat it with our hands. And that was the beginning of my list of buns. I get them every chance I get. And this restaurant is known for their baked
pork buns. Wo! Yum. This being baked is totally different than anything I've ever had before. Usually they're steamed, but the texture of the baked bun with this juicy barbecue pork on the inside. It's so fresh and hot. We ordered through the app and probably 60 seconds later, we came out of the kitchen. I cannot be happier right now. I'm glad. Look at all this food. We might have gotten a little excited and ordered too much, but that's okay. This is where I want to spend my money. So, this is some kind of red infused rice roll stuffed with crispy shrimp. This is a deep fried bean curd stuffed with shrimp and chives. This is a truffle and mushroom stuffed dumpling. And these are fried avocado watons. Wow, what a dream. We
weren't really sure what to expect on like a cheap Michelin restaurant vibe. They don't really go together. It's very cassy. Like there's no dress code whatsoever. Everything is plated beautifully as you would expect. So far, it gets a 10 out of 10 for me if I do say so myself. The mixture of textures in this is very exciting. The red rice roll around it is really slippery, but then right beneath it is a really crunchy layer. And then of course the rice and the shrimp inside have that like juicy texture. Every single dish we had was fabulous. But after eating every last bite, this red rice roll thing takes the cake.
Well, we might have gone a little overboard. No, that was the longest receipt I've ever been given at a restaurant. $26 Hong Kong dollars, which I believe means we have about $15 left in total for the rest of the day. We've just walked an hour to the harbor to save $150 on the metro. Jet lag is hitting and I can't even buy coffee. So, we actually did this last time we were here, but I think this might be one of the best budget travel hacks in Hong Kong. You can ride the Star Fairy across the harbor for about 50 instead of paying for one of the expensive sightseeing boats. It's such a cool way to see the city.
These fairies are the oldest form of transportation in Hong Kong. They started in 1888 and it feels about that old. I don't know if they're still the same fairies. I think we've timed this perfectly. It's definitely something that should be done after sunset. Okay, we've tallied it up and we have 96 Hong Kong dollars left. $96.32. And we will see if it is enough to ride the ferris wheel. Just being here feels like we've already won. I can't believe this became such a thing 10 years ago. Back in the day, we had to make a lot of decisions on where we spent our money because when our money ran out, that's when we had to quit traveling.
We're living on like $40 a day right now. We had saved up $35,000 to go travel for a year back in 2016. So, every dollar was important. And I don't think you actually wanted to ride this. I do think, yeah, if we had all the money in the world, it would have been fun. But I think I asked you cuz I knew you would say no. Are we going to ride it? No. This will be too expensive. The internet took it out of context. I got a lot of hate for not letting Cara ride the Ferris wheel. And we get comments probably daily that are like, "Cara deserves to ride." So, we're going to ride the ferris
wheel. We can't afford the private ride, but we can share a car with somebody. iPhone camera. You did pretty good. It's the end of an era. Can't believe we closed this chapter down. Wow. Best 15 minutes of my entire life. We did get to go around three times. Such a good value. In all seriousness, we spent the majority of that ride just talking about how 2016, Karen and Nate would not have been able to fathom everything that's happened in our life over the last 10 years. We were such little babies and just a month into this year-long trip, having no idea what was to come. If you would have tried to tell us that
10 years later we would still be traveling, we're about to have the day we are tomorrow. YouTube is our full-time job. And we're filming a video sponsored by Cafe A Pacific. That still kind of blows my mind. We're so grateful. Like just being here has been actually like emotional in a good way. Just I don't know. Coming back to the same place is totally different people is really special. Feeling very nostalgic and grateful. And um thank you for watching these videos and making it possible. I'm going to go get a snack with my last few dollars. We've got like $6 left, so we probably have enough for another Snickers, a metro ride back to our
hotel, and maybe a water. We'll see you in the morning. Good morning. Thank you. Since we have $1,000 in the budget today. Oh, wow. Oh, that's a good bed. Welcome to the Ritz. Little bit of an upgrade. Let me give you a quick tour. I kid you not, the bathroom alone is bigger than the hostel we just came from. And bonus points, our toilet and our shower are separate. The best part about this room is this view we have of Hong Kong. We're on the 107th floor, towering over all of Hong Kong. It's insane. And we can even see the tiny little ferris wheel we rode last night. So just for a little context, that is
the Star Ferry that we rode last night. And then we took it across the harbor there to the ferris wheel. When it gets dark tonight, this view is going to be so epic. So this room should have cost $580 per night. But we have the American Express Platinum card, which gives you a $300 hotel credit every 6 months, which we applied to this room. So the grand total was $280. And when we checked in, we learned that this hotel is home to the highest indoor pool in the entire world, which is just a few floors above us. So, that is where we're going to start the morning. This is way too relaxing for my day two jet lag. We might not make it out of the hotel.
Okay, I think we both could have stayed at the hotel all day and been completely happy. But because this is our splurge day, I have booked us a reflexology appointment, which is a big deal here in Hong Kong. From what I understand, it's kind of like a foot massage, but it's also a form of ancient Chinese medicine that dates back to the 2n century BC. So, they use pressure points in your foot to align your whole body and make you feel better. I think going to a relaxed city vibes. Why not get short? Well, you wore pants that could be pushed up. Oh, fun. Wa. That was insane. So much more than a foot massage.
Yeah. 10 of 10. I would not have thought I liked the karate chop thing, but that was nice. Yeah. I got pulled every which way. My back popped like 10 times. That was crazy. I love this place. Relax City. I like this so much more than like getting in paper underwear and laying on a table. So much better. Someone just came up and told Nate he needs a pedicure. So, we've just signed up for a pedicure. In fairness, I am exactly two weeks out from running the Mil 240. So, I do have some pretty gross blisters.
This is the gnarliest your feet have ever looked. They were immediately like so good. I think that should be a required first stop when coming to Hong Kong. Get off that long flight. come straight and get a reflexology experience. That was way more than just a massage. Wow. So, for dinner tonight, we have come to another restaurant on the Michelin Guide. And even though this one doesn't have a star, it will probably be 10 times more expensive than where we ate yesterday. It's called Yuan, and it is Hong Kong's first. There's quite a few qualifiers here. Modern Chinese vegetarian fine dining restaurant. We have the option to get the 8 course or the 12 course tasting menu. And of course, splurging.
We're splurging. And all we've eaten is French fries. So, there's no ordering. You just get what's on the tasting menu, which takes a lot of the pressure off. Right now, we have our welcome juice. It's a blend of pineapple, carrot, and pear. And I guess technically our first dish is Oh, it's the Emoo B. Apple and sweetened vinegar in a little ice cream cone thingy. Cheers to the beginning of a culinary journey to cleanse the palette. And the presentation is already off to a great start. Like this came in a bowl of beans. And I feel like that's what sets Michart is like, how creative can we be with the presentation? I think she noticed I was
a little cold cuz I was sitting like this. There's AC on in here. And she [clears throat] brought me a scarf. Course number three. Are we already at three? Yeah, that was the welcome drinking moose b. Okay, you're going to get tired of me saying it's delicious. We're going to spare you on our full review of all 20 plates, but it went as you would expect. It sounds so crispy. I have no idea what this is.
My whole tongue. It's all tingly. I feel like this has the potential to be the star of the night. Really, really good. It's like licking a bubble bath, but it tastes like ginger. Okay, that was not 10, but 20 times more expensive than our meal yesterday. Yesterday felt like a much better value, but I will say that was a fun probably once in a lifetime experience. Here we go for our last stop of the day. We are back at the rifts at the Ozone Bar, which is the highest bar in the entire world that also has a DJ. We're overlooking all of Hong Kong and we will see you tomorrow at the airport.
All right, we are about to check in for our flight, but thankfully the Hong Kong experience doesn't end once you get to the airport. And I realize how that could sound like really cheesy and probably like something Cath wanted us to say in an ad read. And you would be fair to assume that except for the fact that we have intentionally flown through this airport multiple times and gotten here hours early just to experience the lounge. This time we only have an hour and a half until our flight boards. We had three different cafe lounges to choose from. The wing, the bridge, but we've decided to spend the next 3 hours at the pier. Hopefully, we'll be back one day. The pier. So, the pier is home to a new bar. I
cannot think of anything better right now. I actually think this lounge is the first time we've ever had dinner. And I'm not kidding when I say I've never had any sins that compare to this. Don't know why. They know what they're doing here. I apologize in advance for how not polite this is going to look. Just because I remember we had dandan noodles at the Michelin restaurant last night and these are better. We didn't mean for this video to be a food tour of Hong Kong, but I think that's basically what we filmed. Eating has definitely been the highlight of this trip.
Can I eat you? Of course. What are we missing? What else should we try in the lounge? Spices. Ooh. Put some chili in the noodles and egg. You don't have to tell me twice. I'll do that for my second. Welcome. Enjoy. Thank you. You have not been to Hong Kong until you've eaten your weight and don't I'm really not kidding when I say this is better than anything we've had in the city. We should have just stayed at the airport. Okay, we don't have time nor do I need a shower, but a quick peek inside the private shower rooms. Place for your luggage, sink with amenities, private toilet, and huge waterfall shower. So, I
would say our three favorite cuisines in the world consist of Mexican, Asian, and Italian. And the other main food station that they have here in the lounge, they call the Little Italy Corner. So, they have two of our three favorite food categories in this lounge. Just couldn't resist. Life be any better right now? As usual, we enjoyed the lounge a little too long, and it is time to make a very brisk walk to our gate. We uh should go back to our old ways and start getting to the airport 8 hours early. We did squeeze in another bowl of dand after the pizza.
Today we're flying to Beijing. Nice front. But with Cafe Pacific, you can fly to over 100 destinations in China and Asia from their hub in Hong Kong. And their flight schedules make connecting super convenient. For example, today we had eight different direct flights to choose from between Hong Kong and Beijing. champagne. Thank you. All right, this is home sweet home for the next 3 hours to Beijing. Remember earlier when I said I don't know how this day could get any better? It just did. They have the pit. I can finish season 1.
Sorry, we're in a pretty intense surgery. I've lost count how many meals I've had today, but I'm about to eat this Indian curry. For those of you who aren't vegetarian, Cafe Pacific serves Chinese classics on this flight from Hong Kong to Beijing, which is a rotating selection of the eight great cuisines of the Chinese mainland, complete with a Chinese wine or tea pairing. Matcha ice cream. It's like having a matcha latte ice cream. Welcome to Beijing. For your safety, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the seat bel has been turned off. Thank you. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you.
Thank you for a great flight, guys. We are back. We've only been in China for 12 hours, and that was almost 12 years ago. Had a 12-hour layover here in Beijing well before we started the YouTube channel, but we hired a guide during our layover to take us to the Great Wall, and that was about all we saw of China. And now we're here again. We're spending 3 weeks here and we have the most epic itinerary planned. Let's just give you a sneak peek of what's coming up here in China. Ticklish. I'm so ticklish. We have had the most beautiful colorful spread of vegetables and we haven't had the same thing twice. And it is just stunning in every direction that you look. This is epic.
My legs are actually shaking right now. I can only imagine how Charlie feels. here. How cool is this? You can walk under the falls. Why is it so much faster? We're going to be here in Beijing. We're going to be in Shanghai for the Christmas markets. Am I allowed to say that? And then we're traveling to so many other places in this country. When I started researching what videos we should film here, I had a list of 20. We had to narrow it down. But it is going to be absolutely fascinating. Wo! What is happening?
I can't my button my seat was moving. You got to quit laughing. I can't stop. You're going to wake everybody else up. Since we have $1,000 in the budget today. Oh, we didn't go anywhere. We're stuck. That didn't work. Jumping in a hurry. Guard. card. Oh no. Oh, we're going down. Oh shoot. My pictures are so ugly. I can't figure out how to make it look good. Do we have any idea what course we're on? No. What plate this is? No. While swoop hot. So, I know we just ate a bunch of Asian food, but there's a Quit moving your mouth. It throws me off. It has eyes and the eyes blink. It's a robot street cleaner.
I feel like one day in the future people are going to laugh at videos like this and we're like, "Wow, a robot." I don't want to be like the American that has no idea what they're doing. We definitely are that. My phone. Oh, someone just walked by and was peeking over this person. It's a good thing I ran 240 mi before we came here. What about me running on adrenaline, baby?
