Memories of Kai Tak - SIA A380 Economy to Hong Kong and a Run to Checkerboard Hill

[jammed]

Detective work has now entered into yflyer’s TR!!! Whoa, what an interesting report, leaving some suspenseful tracking down of a piece of aviation wonder to climax the story. I have not returned to HK since 2018; friends have told me that its signature vibes were gone in the years since. So thankful for your TR which, from Happy Valley to Causeway Bay etc, suggests the busyness remains, or would you agree? Thanks for the visual flight, food and foot trails

[SQ218]

Great read as usual yflyer. Glad you manage to find the checkerboard. Wished I had to chance to fly and land into Kai Tak but have missed out.

[yflyer]

Thanks for sharing and taking us on your journey yflyer.

Thanks, StarG! Glad to be able to share some of the joys of travel here!

Detective work has now entered into yflyer’s TR!!! Whoa, what an interesting report, leaving some suspenseful tracking down of a piece of aviation wonder to climax the story. I have not returned to HK since 2018; friends have told me that its signature vibes were gone in the years since. So thankful for your TR which, from Happy Valley to Causeway Bay etc, suggests the busyness remains, or would you agree? Thanks for the visual flight, food and foot trails

Thanks, jammed, for your kind feedback, as always! It wasn't difficult to track down the Checkerboard, as it is such an iconic place, but I was actually quite surprised at how low-key a landmark it was, and how nearly invisible it had become, unless one was actively looking for it. From Kowloon Tsai Park, I could not see it at all, and even up close, at the tennis courts at the base of the hill, I could barely make it out among the trees. The HK authorities really have an opportunity to make it a historical landmark, and dare I say it, even a tourist attraction. Or maybe the locals in the area prefer to keep it as it is. There were locals on their morning walk and their exercise. They were friendly and smiled as I went past. If not for them, I might never have known it was possible to make it up there.

This was also my first return to HK since the pandemic, and at least to an outsider, it still looked pretty vibrant and busy. My friends there also said HK had changed in recent years, but it is still pretty lively and busy.

Great read as usual yflyer. Glad you manage to find the checkerboard. Wished I had to chance to fly and land into Kai Tak but have missed out.

Thanks, SQ218! Also very glad I took chance and headed out for the run! It was totally unplanned, done at the spur of the moment, when a short gap opened up in my schedule that morning! I also lament the fact that the real Kai Tak is gone, and there is no way to relive the experience. Ditto Concorde, which I never got the chance to fly. Heck, I even miss the SQ 744... which is why I write these TR's, to at least record these memories and re-read them later...