I'm so proud of myself! Five years ago when my family and I went to HongKong, we were tagging along the tour group and didn't get to explore much around the island. However, this time round Sis and I managed pretty well for three nights in a row, say walking a very,very long distance along Nathan Road, and shopping and Ladies' Market as well as taking the public buses and MTR on by ourselves.
Here's the story of my journey!
First of all, on board the boat we travelled for 45 minutes to the island, waking up to a horrible sea-sickness due to the terrible motions of the mini harbour. The first picture I took of HongKong, a real depiction of their life over there. Imagine this, a normal height of flat buildings over there, which is about 30 stories to 50 stories high, all close to one another, clustered and compact in this urban city. There were exceptions of flat buildings going as high as 80 stories. Plus, the weather was still as bad as ever.
As usual we hailed a cab and he seemed to like dad a lot because he kept talking and telling dad what were the cost of living there. He told Pa that he had two "leng loi" (young, pretty daughters). *blush* Heh heh, iHappy.
I stood outside the hotel while Mom and Dad went to check-in. Did I mention they have 7-11 everywhere, like almost every corner and every street? Sometimes even more than atwo outlets in one area. Freaky! But very convenient lah, since the water is cheap and a necessity in that killer weather.
Pa will always volunteer to look for eateries, and we settled in this homely shop selling nice porridge and chee cheong fun! I love how it made me feel like I'm in those typical Hong Kong drama serials whereby the grandpa/grandma of the show will go down to this kind of shop for breakfast, no?
I bought it the moment I saw it when I got off the harbour. If you, like me, was a fan of Shinchan Crayon, you would know what I'm talking about. But hor, this thing taste awful. I only ate one, spit it out, and lef the rest to rot. I'm sorry.
Birds of the same feather flock together - this is where the phrase came about, I suppose.
If you're wondering what we were doing in KFC, that's because Sis was bugging to try either KFC and Mac. We were tired from shopping sightseeing and needed a break. I bought the curly fries and coke, yum. Plus, another good reason to rest is because it is extremely tough to find a loo in Hongkong, even if shopping centres. The tenants have their own sets of keys so not any Tom, Dick or Harry can use a "public" toilet. Purchasing some food and pretending to rest can sometimes be just a great excuse to "borrow" their toilet. Heh.
This was my dinner. I told them I wasn't that hungry. Dad and mom and sis each had their own bowls of noodles. I looked at the menu that says beef slices and it sounded yummy, but I didn't expect it to be this big. I put my finger there to show the contrast. I stuffed myself.....bloated.
On the first night we took the MTR to Ladies' Market. Mom and Dad got tired so they headed home first, while Sis and I roamed the entire stretch. Only on the second day do we realise that Ladies' Market is such a place to be conned. Let me explain. You know how on websites and brochures they advertised the location as a best shopping venue? Bullshit. The items there some of which were lousy AND overpriced, and I suffer "own-age", if you know what I mean. I was haggling with an auntie for QQ's clothes, and she totally got ahead of me by putting the product into the plastic and shoved in under my nose. In the end, bo bian I bought. Sis and I were just laughing at each other.
All the complaining aside, we found THE PLACE to shop. Goodness, it's ladies' haven.
There was no more train services so I told Sis," Let's be adventurous and try taking a 共车". Boy was it fun. I had to approach the HongKong-ers and asked them which bus to take and what was the fare. Boy was it expensive. For one stop we paid HK8.20 which is equivalent to S$1.60. But the speed was fast and it was and the waiting time was short.
The following morning, Dad signed up for yet another one-day tour so we had to wake up super early. The bus brought us to a restaurant and we had dim sum for breakfast with this bunch of elderly strangers. 0,0 They thought Mom was our eldest sister. o,o
It's one of those temple trips again. Guan Yin Ma... I've been here before, so I wasn't paying much attention... But I did touch the Fortune God that was said to bring you wealth. :P
Orh, okay.
Please do not think that I am a pervert or some sort by taking this kind of picture. I just like taking pictures of people doing their on stuffs, something along the lines of them living their own life. Eg. Typical HK uncle having a day off, chilling by the beach and washing up. You know what I mean?
I looked very shagged, due to the lack of sleep (shopped till 2am the previous night!) and err, lack of time to doll up. Hur.
I can't stand how all these kind of trips have one male photographer (often schooling and free-lancing at the same time, looking very poor thing) and then the tour guide will try to convince you to buy his photos. I warned Pa and Mom many times NOT to buy these mechandise, simply because it's not worth it. But Pa bought a ceramic plate with this photo on it, for S$38 I think. 0,0 SEEEE!
This was the favourite part of my day, they brought us to Nyong Ping 360 Cable Car (tell me by the name of it you didn't think it would rotate 360 degrees?) ! It didn't spin like I thought it would be. :(
The view was fantastic! The ventilation was still stuffy despite it's open grilles.
The ride took quite a while but we enjoyed the view. There wasn't much people that day, since it wasnt school holidays or anything (thank goodness!).
At the other end of the cable car trip, I bought souvenirs (so cute I can't resist) and Mom bought a nice bag (but it stinks).
People at work. :) Pa always have these kind of adorabl expressions, before he started turning the phone camera around and take photos of himself. =,=
This is the Buddha statue that appeared in the HK movie, do you know?!! We can choose to walk over there, but then I've decided to leave it till the next time I'm there. Hur.
Initially I told Pa I wanted to try a dessert shop that was located along the stretch, but then I have no idea why we ended up in this bubble tea shop, that sells AWESOME bubble tea.
"Jasmine milk tea w/pearls please!"
香港果然是个吃东西、买东西、吃东西、买东西、吃东西、买东西的地方！So true that I couldnt resist buying my first *coughs* branded *coughs* item, a pair of jeans that I love... hee.
An Indonesian baby whom Sis and I played with. :D
Do you not think that the tour guides are always sales-driven, pushing you to give them tips and buy stuffs from shops that they can extract commission from? On a side note, he looks uncannily like Kam Fung, but with broken and weird HK accent.
Also, he brought us to my detested place - the trap of jewelry factory outlet. And this time they said the place was co-owned by Jackie Chan. 0,0
Our final destination of the day was Victoria Harbour at night. Since we've already seen the laser performance before, we decided not to wait till 8pm. By the way, the show is aired every night, sponsered by the advertisers.
We also took the train to Tsim Sha Tsui, but figured that the stuffs there were more less the same, and we were dying to shop at The Haven again. So we rushed. Heh.
The shopping venue is called Argyle Center, it's located near the MTR station, and looks like the mini version of FEP, with lots of great steals for both male and female consumers.
We had dinner at one of the most famous fast food outlets in HK, named 大家乐. We all loved the variety of foods, the convenience of ordering and self-collection, as well as the yummy food. The downside to it was that it is freaking difficult to find a seat because it's always packed! We ate these for three times in HK, even at the airport. Haha. Pa likes it a lot.
Again, after dinner Sis and I headed for our shopping trip. But because we only found out this fantastic plce too late, mosts of my money had been spent and I'm left with little to spare. I was having such a hard time deciding which dresses to buy and which accessories to let go. :(
The sunset view when we were leaving Hongkong.
I've decided to separate the HK Disneyland day on a separate entry! ^^v
Here's the story of my journey!
First of all, on board the boat we travelled for 45 minutes to the island, waking up to a horrible sea-sickness due to the terrible motions of the mini harbour. The first picture I took of HongKong, a real depiction of their life over there. Imagine this, a normal height of flat buildings over there, which is about 30 stories to 50 stories high, all close to one another, clustered and compact in this urban city. There were exceptions of flat buildings going as high as 80 stories. Plus, the weather was still as bad as ever.
All the complaining aside, we found THE PLACE to shop. Goodness, it's ladies' haven.
There was no more train services so I told Sis," Let's be adventurous and try taking a 共车". Boy was it fun. I had to approach the HongKong-ers and asked them which bus to take and what was the fare. Boy was it expensive. For one stop we paid HK8.20 which is equivalent to S$1.60. But the speed was fast and it was and the waiting time was short.
Orh, okay.
Please do not think that I am a pervert or some sort by taking this kind of picture. I just like taking pictures of people doing their on stuffs, something along the lines of them living their own life. Eg. Typical HK uncle having a day off, chilling by the beach and washing up. You know what I mean?
The view was fantastic! The ventilation was still stuffy despite it's open grilles.
"Jasmine milk tea w/pearls please!"
Do you not think that the tour guides are always sales-driven, pushing you to give them tips and buy stuffs from shops that they can extract commission from? On a side note, he looks uncannily like Kam Fung, but with broken and weird HK accent.
Also, he brought us to my detested place - the trap of jewelry factory outlet. And this time they said the place was co-owned by Jackie Chan. 0,0
The shopping venue is called Argyle Center, it's located near the MTR station, and looks like the mini version of FEP, with lots of great steals for both male and female consumers.
I've decided to separate the HK Disneyland day on a separate entry! ^^v
xoxo
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