Hong Kong Travel Blog
Sunday, April 01, 2012This is going to be a long post! :)
So I flew to Hong Kong on the 22nd night and touched down at 5am in the morning the next day.
I was busy watching Justin Timberlake's In Time in the plane so I only managed to catch an hour sleep.
We reached the hotel at 6am and dumped our baggage there.
Using the hotel's computer in the lobby while the rest are checking in! :)
So for the first day, we were planning to go down to Macau. The hotel staff told us that we could either cab down to the ferry (10 mins) or to walk down to the ferry (30 mins).
We chose to walk. We wanted to explore our surroundings at the same time.
And we walked past the fire station! :)
So we managed to find our way to the ferry terminal without getting all lost and confused. Took us nearly 40 minutes to walk there!
Upon arrival, we went to get ferry tickets! :)
There was a guy standing in front of the ticket booths, selling tickets which were HKD$20 cheaper. So we bought our tickets from him! :)
And off we go!
The ferry ride took an hour and we all tried to catch up on our sleep within that short period of time.
Apparently, when we were at the customs we realized we needed the immigration card and kept the entire line waiting. Well, majority of the people entering Macau are from Mainland China so they did not require the immigration card *shrugs*
And once we reached Macau, we hopped on one of their casino's shuttle bus to get into the city area!
We own the entire bus ;)
Stopover at Wynn casino.
So it was 10am in the morning and I felt as if I've been awake for hours. We were starving and want some breakfast/lunch.
We hunt down this restaurant and had some roasted goose!
My mom loves roasted goose so much that you'll see a lot more of the roasted goose in the next few days of my Hong Kong trip.
Nothing special about the charsiew.
Mom wanted to show us the Egyptian-themed casino so she brought us there.
Pretty cool. But mom had an ulterior motive in mind. She wanted to go into the casino for a few spins.
Well, so we followed her in. And...
I was stopped for an age check .____.
But all's safe since I'm the legal one, while my brother was the one who was under-aged.
After a few spins, we continued to explore Macau.
Another casino we visited.
Another.
And another casino that apparently places real gold bar on their floor.
Don't understand why they have to flaunt their wealth.
And so after visiting these casinos, we made our way to the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, which was the main landmark of Macau.
It was a long and dreadful walk.
But along the way, I spotted something really interesting!
There was this event going on and a long line of people were queuing up.
My guess is some DIY plant thing?
I would have joined the queue if they allowed me to bring a plant on the plane back to Singapore.
Along the way, there was this shop that seemed pretty famous! :)
And we reached the town square! :)
Oh look at what I am trying to take a photo of!
This is the photo! :3
And this is for snapping a photo of me snapping :3
Ok so apparently this is a rather famous store that sells Portuguese egg tarts.
And the store claims that the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango (Boys over Flowers) filmed there and ate their egg tarts?
Didn't watch the drama so I can't be certain.
But goodness, their egg tarts were good :)
We love Portuguese egg tarts :)
And walking further down, was the ruins.
And we even climbed up at the back of the ruins!
Spot us!
Some nice Taiwanese guy helped us to take a photo!
And when we got down, it was getting windy and there was slight drizzle. But thank goodness there wasn't any heavy downpour.
And we explored the shops around there.
Mom took quite a liking to this man.
And I spotted this postcard on Arashi.
Roadside stalls! :) But we were so full so we didn't try.
Then we made our way to the Fisherman's Wharf.
Look! All our jackets are out! Apparently, it was starting to get real windy and cold.
Aladdin's fort.
Daddy doesn't have his jacket because he didn't bring one .____.
Still in fisherman's wharf. It was such a big place.
Taking a rest and enjoying our Portuguese egg tarts!
Then we walked another long distance to grab some dessert!
Black sesame paste.
Fried wanton. GOODNESS. I HAVE NOTHING BUT PRAISE FOR THEIR WANTON.
This was the best wanton I've ever tasted. It was filled entirely with prawns! No meat! All prawns!
It was delicious.
And we walked back to the casino and found a limousine waiting for us.
Well, we wished it was waiting for us.
Macao Venetian, ring a bell?
It was pretty, but felt a lot like Genting.
Pretty pretty.
A random shot of a store that I liked :3 Cerejeira has really pretty clothes (that were too pricey for me) but still pretty.
It has a lot of Japanese fashion brands inside like LIZ LISA, Dip Drops, one after another NICE CLAUP, rosebullet, TRALALA, OLIVE des OLIVE etc.
Some of the brands are actually found in Singapore! :) Like Dip Drops is in Somerset 313 (I've been there and fell in love) so I was happy to find it in Macau too.
My favourite would be one after another NICE CLAUP :)
And here's the store that we bought our Portuguese egg tarts from! :)
The jugglers! :)
Another casino!
It was such a tiring day of casino hopping. We've probably covered 10 casinos that day.
We quickly head back to the ferry terminal at 8pm and bought tickets (again was HKD$20 cheaper from some agency).
We reached back Hong Kong island at 10pm, cabbed back to our hotel and had a rather late dinner at a nearby restaurant.
The next morning, we wanted some dim sum.
The hotel staff recommended Cheers restaurant, which was a stone's throw away from our hotel.
So we gave it a try!
We had so much trouble trying to read the Chinese wordings and placing our orders.
And here's what we ordered!
Century egg and beef congee! Which was delicious!
Gyoza~ mehh.
Siewmai :D :D :D Yum Yum!
Still have no idea what's that but it was yummy.
Xiao Long Bao. mehhh.
Charseow pau! It was so fluffy!!!
Hargao and some other dumpling.
Hargao :) I love hargao but these aren't the best I've tasted.
Chee cheong fan with charseow. :)
Yam balls. Didn't try cause I didn't like yam.
But apparently my brother enjoys it.
My brother's looking at me with green eyes.
And after a sumptuous breakfast, it's time to make our way to Ocean Park!
As we shared table with another group of locals, we asked for advice and they told us all the good food and best places to go. And they gave us directions to Ocean Park :)
So we had to take the MRT to Admiralty.
Buying the single journey ticket because a tourist concession wasn't worth for us.
We bought the tourist concession the last time we came to Hong Kong though!
4 adult tickets!
It was just two stops away :3
And upon arrival at Admiralty stop, we made our way to Exit B.
Before we took the stairs up, we bought our Ocean Park admission tickets from a store (which was HKD$30 cheaper). Yeah, by now you would have learnt that it is always easier buying from a third party vendor.
But we still queued up for the bus tickets.
Bus 629, here we come!
It was a 30 minutes ride because there was a traffic congestion. But we still made it!
It was noon and as you can see, my brother took off his sweater because it was too warm.
Awww the admission tickets are way too cute.
I call this a cabbage but others call him a green jellyfish.
Walking down old Hong Kong street.
We took the cable car up to Thrill Mountain first!
And we were greeted by this bird.
It's so pretty that it looked fake.
Hah. Our first ride was the rapids, which we all got slightly wet! :3
But after this, we went for the Hair Raiser, which was insanely fun.
What a faker :3 She didn't dare take the roller coaster. Haha!
The Hair Raiser was intense!
We went twice! And the second time, we sat at the front! :)
If you zoom in, you can see our shoes! HAHAHA!
I was pretty impressed that my brother dared to sit the roller coaster :) And he was the one who suggested sitting in the front seats.
Here's the video from our point of view!
Another ride we took! :3
Pretty scenery :)
And seals!
The water show was boring. I've seen better ones in Harbin.
But dolphins are adorable.
Another roller coaster, the dragon! Which was incomparable to the first one we took.
And the third, mine train.
This was boring. I was so bored that I couldn't even be bothered to scream. So I heard my brother's low sounding screams. HAHA.
And we took the submarine down to the bottom part of the park after we were done with the rides.
Meeting the mascot dolphin!
And we saw Panda!
\
They are the MOST ADORABLE CREATURE I'VE EVER SEEN.
I know the last time I went to the Harbin and I said the winter fox was the most adorable creature but the Panda was really adorable too!
It just sat there and ate non stop, though it was a rather picky eater.
The red panda was also adorable. Can't see the resemblance of it with the giant panda though.
I would love to bring a panda home :3
The spider crab! We went into the aquarium (which daddy claims to be larger than the Harbin's one). Personally, I liked the Harbin one better. *shrugs* They're about the same size.
I love dolphins :)
And penguins! :) Basically, I love animals that live in the ocean :3
Hi, I'm the hammerhead shark and that's another shark species beside me!
And by the time we finished walking the aquarium, it was close to 7pm (which was the closing time of the park!)
We quickly find a seat around the lagoon to watch the finale show WHICH WAS AWESOME. Singapore needs to learn how to make better water musicals. Add a little fire and fireworks to make it awesome :)
So after the show, we quickly rushed out of the park to make our way to the bus! Thank goodness we were seated near the exit of the park so we managed to get on the 2nd bus without much queuing. For the other least fortunate ones, they have to queue to get on the bus. Which was a really really really long queue.
So tip of the day: Remember to leave the park early so as to not be stuck in the queue for the bus!
We reach Admiralty and took the train down to Central.
Mom wants to eat her famous roast goose.
Yung Kee Restaurant! They supposedly have the best roast goose.
Mom kept saying that every time she comes to Hong Kong, she wanted to give it a try but was turned off by the long queue. So she was determined to have it this time.
We were sent to the waiting room. So we left daddy waiting in the room as a representative while we went to the nearby SaSa for a quick shop. Things guys do for the one they love.
When we returned, daddy's all seated :)
So here's what we ate.
A pathetic plate of century egg?
And here comes the main attraction! :D The roast goose!
Look at how happy my mom was.
It cost us HKD$250~ which was SGD$50.
The lemon chicken cost the same. *rolls eyes* My grandmother can cook better lemon chicken than them.
My verdict is that if you're just ordering roast goose, it's ok. But don't bother ordering other dishes unless money is spilling out of your pockets.
The restaurant was just next to Lan Kwai Fong, the drinking street of Hong Kong.
And it just so happened that there was some Rugby Fest going on that night and costume party. Everyone's dressed up in weird costumes.
There was Waldos. Find them!
And it was so crowded.
Everyone's partying and drinking away. It's mostly filled with Westerns though.
A blurred shot but hey it's still cool :)
"San Miguel x LKF Rugby Fest", the banner read.
Where's Waldo?
Mom managed to catch a rugby ball along the way? I have no idea how she caught it. One moment her hands were empty, the next there was a ball in her hands.
She passed the ball to my brother who was attacked by some stranger :3
Yay to rugby! :)
Sneaking a shot behind the police :)
Buying our train tickets back to MongKok.
As if we aren't tired and worn out enough, we went to Mong Kok for a quick walk. It was past 10pm then. I loved how they have so much night life while in Singapore, you just can't find anything to do after 10pm.
There were so many street performers, shops and food to snack along. We ended up at Sai Yeong Choi Street :)
And there was an ice-cream truck! Which we bought ice-creams from.
The weather was cold by the way. But you know my family, we love ice-cream when it's freezing. Harbin trip was a clear example.
And buying squid from a stall down Sai Yeong Choi Street (I think). We always return back to this stall. The last time we were in Hong Kong, we also patronized the same stall!
Yay for hot piping squid in a cold weather! :)
Mom likes to take unglam photos of me eating. But who cares :)
Afterwhich, we strolled along Ladies' Street before everyone started closing their stalls. It was past midnight by then.
So we walked back to our hotel from Mong Kok (craziest idea ever). We were so tired out. And our hotel was pretty far (about 1 1/2 train stop away).
The next morning, we decided to walk along wet market to look for a place for breakfast! What a genius place to look for cooked food, right?
And at the end of the street, we found a place to have our breakfast!
Nothing fancy, just a normal place to eat.
I ordered the udon noodles with "turkey" and mushroom. I didn't expect the turkey to be ham. But the mushrooms were super delicious! I've never tasted such tasty mushrooms before.
Daddy wanted to eat instant noodles. LOL.
Mom's fried beehoon.
As we shared table with another old lady, she was kind enough to tell us that we should order more food because it was not enough. So she recommended this bun.
Which was yummy!
She also recommended the almond milk which we each ordered a cup. She was saying how it was really good for our bodies. How kind of her, right?
Not only that, she also told us that one of our orders came with a free coffee and we needed to order it or else we won't get the drink.
So here's daddy's daily dosage of coffee.
I can't emphasize how kind the Hong Kong people have been to us. Every time we shared a table with a stranger, they would recommend all the good food nearby and tell us so many tips.
After breakfast, we continued walking down the Nathan Road.
In Miramar Shopping Centre.
And a pizza store somewhere nearby!
Their pizzas are huge!
A little more shopping till we're tired.
We decided to cab back to the hotel for a rest at 3pm.
We spent the time initially left aside for the nine precious boys in my life in the hotel resting. I know they are probably as disappointed as I am with the failure of their Asia Tour so I won't harp on it! :)
I would have went for the w-inds. screening at 3pm though, if only I bought their DVD (which came with a voucher) earlier. Though I always thought it was sold out. I know I gave w-inds. up for another group that disappointed me so that's what I get.
It was really tiring to walk all around Hong Kong for three days straight.
After re-energizing, we decided it's time to go out for another walk!
This time we explored the Man's Street and Temple Street in the night.
We wanted to try the seafood restaurant the old lady recommended us but it was too early.
And I was starving so we found a wanton noodle store.
Soya bean milk :)
My brother's happy to be able to drink it.
And so we order two plates of noodles! One dry and one soup.
I love their wantons. Not as good as the one in Macau but still yummy.
Singapore needs to have such good wanton noodles too.
Here's the place we had our wanton noodle :3 "King of Wanton"
Clearly the boys shop too.
We walked along the streets up to Mong Kok again, passing the fortune tellers.
And we went back to the stall we had our squids the day before.
I remembered telling them I want to eat the squid and my brother responded me asking me how I could think about eating when it smelt like drain around here. I laughed at him and told him it was the smell of smelly tofu. Haha.
So he said he wanted to try the smelly tofu.
And we tried the fried squid too. Look at how happy mom was.
And of course we also had our squid that we ate yesterday too.
And we chanced upon this stall which had a rather large crowd around it. So we decided to give it a try.
The man posed for a photo for me but I didn't manage to capture it in time :(
Chocolate banana!
Whoa, daddy in his jacket :3 A rare sight!
And we walked around till it was around 10pm before cabbing back to our hotel vicinity for dinner.
Some seafood restaurant which had a television for each table. Cool or what?
Pekking duck.
It was so good!
So that basically sums up our entire Hong Kong trip.
Oh wait, and we went back to Cheers Restaurant the next day before flying off for a last Dim Sum meal.
We tried new food :)
And yup, that ends up the Hong Kong trip.
Oh and I saw an Arashi shop in a shopping center but it was closed (probably because it was too late in the night). Pretty surprised Arashi's so popular :3
Well, I learnt that when it comes to buying tickets (theme park or ferry), it's always cheaper to buy from other sources instead of the official booth.
Pretty scenery :)
And seals!
The water show was boring. I've seen better ones in Harbin.
But dolphins are adorable.
Another roller coaster, the dragon! Which was incomparable to the first one we took.
And the third, mine train.
This was boring. I was so bored that I couldn't even be bothered to scream. So I heard my brother's low sounding screams. HAHA.
And we took the submarine down to the bottom part of the park after we were done with the rides.
Meeting the mascot dolphin!
And we saw Panda!
\They are the MOST ADORABLE CREATURE I'VE EVER SEEN.
I know the last time I went to the Harbin and I said the winter fox was the most adorable creature but the Panda was really adorable too!
It just sat there and ate non stop, though it was a rather picky eater.
The red panda was also adorable. Can't see the resemblance of it with the giant panda though.
I would love to bring a panda home :3
The spider crab! We went into the aquarium (which daddy claims to be larger than the Harbin's one). Personally, I liked the Harbin one better. *shrugs* They're about the same size.
I love dolphins :)
And penguins! :) Basically, I love animals that live in the ocean :3
Hi, I'm the hammerhead shark and that's another shark species beside me!
And by the time we finished walking the aquarium, it was close to 7pm (which was the closing time of the park!)
We quickly find a seat around the lagoon to watch the finale show WHICH WAS AWESOME. Singapore needs to learn how to make better water musicals. Add a little fire and fireworks to make it awesome :)
So after the show, we quickly rushed out of the park to make our way to the bus! Thank goodness we were seated near the exit of the park so we managed to get on the 2nd bus without much queuing. For the other least fortunate ones, they have to queue to get on the bus. Which was a really really really long queue.
So tip of the day: Remember to leave the park early so as to not be stuck in the queue for the bus!
We reach Admiralty and took the train down to Central.
Mom wants to eat her famous roast goose.
Yung Kee Restaurant! They supposedly have the best roast goose.
Mom kept saying that every time she comes to Hong Kong, she wanted to give it a try but was turned off by the long queue. So she was determined to have it this time.
We were sent to the waiting room. So we left daddy waiting in the room as a representative while we went to the nearby SaSa for a quick shop. Things guys do for the one they love.
When we returned, daddy's all seated :)
So here's what we ate.
A pathetic plate of century egg?
And here comes the main attraction! :D The roast goose!
Look at how happy my mom was.
It cost us HKD$250~ which was SGD$50.
The lemon chicken cost the same. *rolls eyes* My grandmother can cook better lemon chicken than them.
My verdict is that if you're just ordering roast goose, it's ok. But don't bother ordering other dishes unless money is spilling out of your pockets.
The restaurant was just next to Lan Kwai Fong, the drinking street of Hong Kong.
And it just so happened that there was some Rugby Fest going on that night and costume party. Everyone's dressed up in weird costumes.
There was Waldos. Find them!
And it was so crowded.
Everyone's partying and drinking away. It's mostly filled with Westerns though.
A blurred shot but hey it's still cool :)
"San Miguel x LKF Rugby Fest", the banner read.
Where's Waldo?
Mom managed to catch a rugby ball along the way? I have no idea how she caught it. One moment her hands were empty, the next there was a ball in her hands.
She passed the ball to my brother who was attacked by some stranger :3
Yay to rugby! :)
Sneaking a shot behind the police :)
Buying our train tickets back to MongKok.
As if we aren't tired and worn out enough, we went to Mong Kok for a quick walk. It was past 10pm then. I loved how they have so much night life while in Singapore, you just can't find anything to do after 10pm.
There were so many street performers, shops and food to snack along. We ended up at Sai Yeong Choi Street :)
And there was an ice-cream truck! Which we bought ice-creams from.
The weather was cold by the way. But you know my family, we love ice-cream when it's freezing. Harbin trip was a clear example.
And buying squid from a stall down Sai Yeong Choi Street (I think). We always return back to this stall. The last time we were in Hong Kong, we also patronized the same stall!
Yay for hot piping squid in a cold weather! :)
Mom likes to take unglam photos of me eating. But who cares :)
Afterwhich, we strolled along Ladies' Street before everyone started closing their stalls. It was past midnight by then.
So we walked back to our hotel from Mong Kok (craziest idea ever). We were so tired out. And our hotel was pretty far (about 1 1/2 train stop away).
The next morning, we decided to walk along wet market to look for a place for breakfast! What a genius place to look for cooked food, right?
And at the end of the street, we found a place to have our breakfast!
Nothing fancy, just a normal place to eat.
I ordered the udon noodles with "turkey" and mushroom. I didn't expect the turkey to be ham. But the mushrooms were super delicious! I've never tasted such tasty mushrooms before.
Daddy wanted to eat instant noodles. LOL.
Mom's fried beehoon.
As we shared table with another old lady, she was kind enough to tell us that we should order more food because it was not enough. So she recommended this bun.
Which was yummy!
She also recommended the almond milk which we each ordered a cup. She was saying how it was really good for our bodies. How kind of her, right?
Not only that, she also told us that one of our orders came with a free coffee and we needed to order it or else we won't get the drink.
So here's daddy's daily dosage of coffee.
I can't emphasize how kind the Hong Kong people have been to us. Every time we shared a table with a stranger, they would recommend all the good food nearby and tell us so many tips.
After breakfast, we continued walking down the Nathan Road.
In Miramar Shopping Centre.
And a pizza store somewhere nearby!
Their pizzas are huge!
A little more shopping till we're tired.
We decided to cab back to the hotel for a rest at 3pm.
We spent the time initially left aside for the nine precious boys in my life in the hotel resting. I know they are probably as disappointed as I am with the failure of their Asia Tour so I won't harp on it! :)
I would have went for the w-inds. screening at 3pm though, if only I bought their DVD (which came with a voucher) earlier. Though I always thought it was sold out. I know I gave w-inds. up for another group that disappointed me so that's what I get.
It was really tiring to walk all around Hong Kong for three days straight.
After re-energizing, we decided it's time to go out for another walk!
This time we explored the Man's Street and Temple Street in the night.
We wanted to try the seafood restaurant the old lady recommended us but it was too early.
And I was starving so we found a wanton noodle store.
Soya bean milk :)
My brother's happy to be able to drink it.
And so we order two plates of noodles! One dry and one soup.
I love their wantons. Not as good as the one in Macau but still yummy.
Singapore needs to have such good wanton noodles too.
Here's the place we had our wanton noodle :3 "King of Wanton"
Clearly the boys shop too.
We walked along the streets up to Mong Kok again, passing the fortune tellers.
And we went back to the stall we had our squids the day before.
I remembered telling them I want to eat the squid and my brother responded me asking me how I could think about eating when it smelt like drain around here. I laughed at him and told him it was the smell of smelly tofu. Haha.
So he said he wanted to try the smelly tofu.
And we tried the fried squid too. Look at how happy mom was.
And of course we also had our squid that we ate yesterday too.
And we chanced upon this stall which had a rather large crowd around it. So we decided to give it a try.
The man posed for a photo for me but I didn't manage to capture it in time :(
Chocolate banana!
Whoa, daddy in his jacket :3 A rare sight!
And we walked around till it was around 10pm before cabbing back to our hotel vicinity for dinner.
Some seafood restaurant which had a television for each table. Cool or what?
Pekking duck.
It was so good!
So that basically sums up our entire Hong Kong trip.
Oh wait, and we went back to Cheers Restaurant the next day before flying off for a last Dim Sum meal.
We tried new food :)
And yup, that ends up the Hong Kong trip.
Oh and I saw an Arashi shop in a shopping center but it was closed (probably because it was too late in the night). Pretty surprised Arashi's so popular :3
Well, I learnt that when it comes to buying tickets (theme park or ferry), it's always cheaper to buy from other sources instead of the official booth.
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