Friday, January 15, 2010
We were in hong kong! Absolutely worth a trip =) though the hotel room is small-really small, but it was pretty clean and slept pretty well. The holiday with woeilin started off with the journey on SIA. We were both exclaiming over the good air plane meal and the joyful empty flight. Touch down was promt, and we scurried to catch a bus to the city. Reached pretty late-around 11 plus, 12am, so quickly checked in and settled in our hotel room.
*Tip no. 1:Collect all the visitor's guide and street maps of hong kong from the airport-it is definitely the way around the city.
*Tip no. 2:To you guys out there who intend to travel there,take the public bus from the airport to the city-it cost so much cheaper than the train
*Tip no. 3: Do buy bottled water there to drink-never drink from the tap though the water looks fine for consumption
First day started off with hong kong's renowned tim sum! That meal nearly killed woeilin *laughs*...we ordered quite a lot of things (wanted to try as much tim sum as possible), and i was only in charged of the trying out a little here and there~dear woeilin did a good job in helping out to finish the food =p Hong Kong's tim sum is slightly more salty than in singapore, but still-every dish is special in its own way and its way better than singapore's. We had har gao, char siew sou, chee chong fan (with meat wrapped deliciously inside), ji di zhou, some mango fried po piah, pai gu....i think thats all bahs...but it was a real filling meal.
After the very very full meal, we headed off to the hong kong pier to catch a ferry to park island to visit the attraction-noah's ark. It was hong kongers whom discovered the ark (from the bible), probably it inspired the developers to construct this tourist spot. The ark was huge.....! Couldn't even get the whole ark into one picture. The animals that were constructed were huge, and made to look as real as possible. Inside the ark, we got to look at exhibitions and history relating to noah's mission to build the ark. There were a lot of 'chinese' people...really hated it when they push and talk damn loudly thinking that its their house. The ark's location on park island was pretty ideal with the awesome scenery and quiet atmosphere-away from the city. The cool weather allowed us to enjoy both the sun and the attraction in comfort.
*Tip no. 4:Get an octopus card (hk's ezlink) to travel around. It really gives you savings and convenience. You can even board the ferry by tapping the octopus card!
We took a bus to the bottom of victoria peak from the pier to take the famous tram up the peak. It was really crowded...people (chinese) were pushing-again. Seriously, i appreciate singaporeans' culture then. We managed to get a good sat up the peak, and the tram went up on a steep steep slope (which i totally didnt expect), people can slide from one end to another if you didnt hold on well to the handle. We went up the escalators to find food-although there was the filling breakfast,i was totally famished when evening came. We decided to spluge on western food in this seafood restaurant which offered a magnificent view of the city area. My plate of spaghetti had at least ten prawns! Thats a super satisfying meal =)
After dinner, we headed to the madam tussade wax museum! Hahas..here's a picture of me and the great leader of singapore-lee kuan yew. There're quite a number of wax figures of famous people like brad pitt, angelina jolie, jay chou, beckham, and even obama! For more pictures, refer to my fb. =)
Cold~exclaims woeilin every five minutes. I think i was too excited in taking good pictures that the bitter wind didnt bother me at all. In fact, i enjoyed the cold, hard wind blowing into my face while i take pictures of the bright city beneath the peak. The security guard up there offered to help us take a picture when he saw us trying so hard to 'self take'. hahas. Its no wonder it cost a bomb to own an apartment on the peak-the view is beautiful!
*Tip no. 5: Go up to victoria peak via tram at around 5pm to enjoy the night view!
Macua! This would be the first time both of us set foot on this once portguese occupied land. We took a ferry there-and shockingly it cost approximately S$60 to and fro. The ferry ride there was about an hour. When we reached there, we got some help from the visitor's centre to get to st. paul's ruins. Boarded the public bus, and on the bus, we met a local whom helped us with paying the correct bus fare. He then start telling us more about the island-the history, the new upcoming things about the island. It was good to meet nice people along a trip. First stop was st.paul's ruins..a famous historical site. After alighting the bus, we had to walk through the beautiful brick paved streets of macau aligned with a range of shops to reach our destination. When we reached the place, couldnt stop taking pictures...the beauty of the place is really worth the trip.
Next stop, we took a free bus from the ferry terminal to venician-macau! This hotel cum casino cum shopping area was huge from the outside, and even bigger in the inside. I've never seen a casino before, and this casino is huge!!! On level one, i think there's more than 500 slot machines...which i lost 20 bucks on one. We walked around, enjoying the man made venice river and shops. Had macdonalds there-they cost about the same price as in singapore. Took the ferry back to hong kong island, and had dinner at a 'da pai dang' near our hotel. Walked around temple street for bargains, and tried their spicy fish balls-which was really really spicy!!! i threw away the whole stick of it after eating one.
*Tip no. 6: Take the free bus to any of the casinos located just outside the ferry terminal.
Lantau island! The previous trips to hong kong, i didnt manage to come to this place at all. We took the cable car-which is around 25 minutes. The view of the sea and mountains were to die for. Hong kong people are so lucky to have four seasons and all these wonderful scenery to enjoy!
This statue of the buddha is super huge! It can be seen far far away even if we were still in the cable car up the mountain.
Look how happy i am to be there...hahas. Really taking in the view and the nice cold weather. Seemed like this trip, i'm able to take more of the cooler temperature. After spending a couple of hours up the mountain, we headed off to the shopping mall with all the factory outlets!!! Shopping time~there were many good deals-got my first pair of crocs, and an espirit bag for my sister. If woeilin had more money to spare, i think she probably buy out some of the stores...lol. =)
Last day in hong kong, we went to visit to clock tower near the star ferry, and avenue of stars. Missed the time where we came here together with yihui few years back. Had some dessert at 'xu liu shan' dessert shop before we leave for the airport. The free shuttle bus took us to the kowloon mtr station where we can check in our luggage and board the train directly to the airport without hassle. That is a fantastic planning for visitors like us.
*Tip no. 7:Check in your luggage at the airport express station before heading to the airport!
Although cant bear to leave hong kong, knowing that i'll be home in singapore made me happy-in addition, we were boarding SIA back!!! My fave airline...how i wish i'll be able to fly on this each time i go overseas...=) Anyways, Home sweet home~!
what we could have been, 4:39 PM.