Day 1 - Travel from Dulles to Hong Kong

February 19 - 20, 2010

Winnie greets us at the airport

The VT EMBA Dominion Cohort begain their international residency very early in the morning on Friday, February 19th. We met at Washington Dulles airport at 6:30am and gathered by the United counter before heading to our gate. Dr. Jacobina and Karime greeted us and ensured all students were accounted for. After a very long day of travel from Washington Dulles to Chicago (where we were delayed 3 hours) and then to Hong Kong, we landed in the Hong Kong airport at 9pm and met our travel guide, Winnie Chung, at the airport. She accompanied us on a 45 minute drive to the Shangri-Lai hotel in Kowloon. On the way to the airport we passed a shipping port with several crates. It was interesting to see such a large port and all of the crates full of products that ship out of Hong Kong. Winnie also pointed out that we passed Hong Kong Disney Land, which is Disney's smallest theme park...although we could not see the park

from our bus.

Lobby of the Shangri-Lai Hotel

Once we arrived at the hotel we were all very impressed with the Hong Kong skyline and the hotel accommodations. The Shangri-Lai is a gorgeous hotel located in Kowloon, just a block from the harbour. I was very impressed with the hotel lobby and the hotel rooms were just as nice! Most impressive were the hotel staff, they were very accommodating, extremely pleasant and helpful to our large group of 20 people. As soon as we arrived, the hotel staff greeted us and checked each of us in immediately. They also provided a welcome package of Hong Kong tourist information.

Team 3 at McLovin's Restaurant & Bar

After we checked in a few of us went out around the hotel in Kowloon for some dinner and drinks. I was amazed at the city and the beautiful skyline from across the Victoria Harbor. I was also surprised to find how the restaurants and bars were very Americanized with menus you would find at US bars and bands that were singing US music. We visited McLovin’s and Sticky Fingers and enjoyed the music and night life.