Wednesday, December 02, 2009
First day:
Changi Airport.
its was a 3hour+ journey, and i enjoyed every moment of the flight. food served in airplanes are yeuch.. not very good tasting. but i liked the apple juice.
because i got a window seat! :D
HAHA, SH would have been really jealous, because i could take alot of cloud photos from where i was :D
ooohh... thats high, btw that's the South China Sea. and i really did take alot of cloud photos, i just don't have the time to upload them all. :(
we arrived in HK in the afternoon. from the airport, we reached the city by coach(bus).
i did not know the name of this bridge, but it was awe struck by its size. we travelled through it. there are two such bridges in this city. It's called Tsuen Wan Xi, i think...
HongKong has, like, many cities. Singapore, well, is only a city.
HK's railway system is called the MTR while SG's system is the MRT O.o
HK's citizens speak cantonese or guangdong hua while SG's citizens speak Singlish.
the exchange rate of currency is about 5 HK dollars for 1 SG dollar.
both HK and SG are in the same timezone.
port area
we checked in into a 5star hotel, L'hotel; Nina et convention centre.
we booked 2 rooms.
and that was the room my sis and I shared for the next two nights
there was free time after we checked in, so we went to Ladies Market in Mongkok
it was like a giant pasar malam down an entire street.
bought a few stuff down there, like an umbrella because my umbrella had spoilt a few months ago lol. mum bought a few t-shirts for me, a solar powered wobbly head doll like those sold in minitoons or comics connection for sis and 1 hand bag for herself, probably imitation XD.
it was a tourist hotspot. therefore, many items made in China were sold at many times higher than its original price. there was fierce touting, bargaining, deals made. the stall holders really knew how to do aggressive marketing. first they would invite you to look around their store. if an item catches your attention, they will try to sell it to you. to be able to buy an item at a cheaper price, one had to act uninterested in buying that item, or bargain. these people are veterans in their trade so it was not easy to strike a fair deal.
it was terribly smelly because the streets reeked of tobacco. there were many smokers in this area. but i guess all big cities are like that.
the L'hotel. stayed in here for 3 nights
was tired out from the standing around. that's why i seldom shop, there's no seating areas!
made myself coffee and added lots and lots of creamer. now it kinda looks like kopi with milk found in hawker centres in SG.
the view in the morning from the window was magnificent. check it out, our room was at the 69th floor.
Day 2: woke up and we all went to eat breakfast in city area. ate noodles, but i do not know the its name in cantonese
went to a park, the elderly in HK have an amusing habit of singing, dancing, doing yoga, morning exercises or playing muscical instruments in parks.
went back to hotel to rest.
this pics were taken from parent's hotel room window
before i forget to mention, we went to Disneyland that day :))
crowded crowded crowded
My ticket :)
i still enjoy watching parades. this band was awesome.
this was a kiddy ride XD, we didn't even need to steer. go-karts at Escape were way more fun :P
Cinderella's castle.
Dumbo!!!
I love Stitch, Mickey and Chip AND Dale
Space mountain was twistingly FUN.super curves at this roller coaster.
I can name them all. owl, rabbit and winnie the pooh's poor bum here.
Pooh's other half body, tigger, piglet and eeyore here.
ooh, i wish i had this, but it was only for display...
went around Disneyland collecting coin press collectibles.
watched a beautiful fireworks display at night, took a video but pardon my shaky video, i had to tiptoes and hold my phone for 10mins! video is at the bottom of post:)
overall, it was fun. its like reconnecting with an inner child-like you. where the world is so much more innocent, peaceful and warm.
Day 3:
That, above is the golden Bauhinia, famous landmark in HK. and 3 photos up was suppose to be the world's tallest building when its completed. compare its height to the skyscrapers beside it. wow.
went on a tour of the city.
the beach below is repulse bay, a popular beach with both the tourists and people living in HK.
the buildings in the background belong to the rich and famous, including Jackie Chan.
the price of living in HK is really high. One square metre of land could cost as much as a few ten thousand.
the picture of the hill aboce was suppose to resemble a dragon head. try to picture it as a dragon. pun not intended.
Temple, once again, i do not know its name. its along repulse bay. a god of fortune statue is popular there, touching it from head to toe and putting your hands in your pocket is supposedly thought to bring luck, wealth and fortune to you.
after that, we went on a sampan tour of Victoria Harbour.
nice harbour.
Heey.... Jumbo restaurant. I think One Piece has something similar to this, hmm, a floating restaurant...
went up a hill by coach to see the skyline of HK. a little hazy though, pollution caused by vehicles and smokers.
open top bus tour. super windy, its like being in a wind tunnel XD
We took the MTR to Luo Hu then went through the imigrations and everything to reach Shenzhen.
shopped around a shopping mall. mum bought 2 bags. oops, my bad. not 2 more, but 3 more handbags and 1 for my sis, so it was 4 more handbags.
yea, that's me. the air temperature was like the examination hall during O'lvls, so i wore my jacket throughout the trip.
Day 4:
went to the tourist attraction. name shown above. hardly took any pics because that place was filled with miniature attractions of china like the great wall and such. was too lazy to take pics.
the mongolian horse back fight was fun to watch. i was most fatigued at this point of the entire trip and i got a throbbing headache, maybe due to dehydration. visited shopping malls in Shenzhen city...
omgosh...shopping...again-.-
took MTR back to tsuen wan xi and reached there by 7pm. STayed in L'hotel once more :)) this time our room was on the 76th floor. view of city from window was the same, but HIGHER.
Day 5:
shopping in Tuen Men. took MTR once more. kinda like the MTR now, so similar to MRT, except that the MTR has a first class carriage with many seats. throughout the trip, I had to stand, for about 15mins to 1hr becasue there were no available seats.
dad got lost finding way in the malls. btw, it was 4 mega malls connected to each other. took MTR back to tsuen wan xi.
timing for lunch was delayed and we delayed the coach for 15 mins.
look at that mountain/ hill in the background, so beautiful...
departed the city by coach. was sad to leave but i miss SG too.
photos taken along the way to airport.
this lamp post kinda looks like a bean sprout, because the bus was shaking and so was my hand, so the photo turned out amusing.
almost forgot... the dim sum in HK is the best i've ever tasted >.<
its also affordable. about 30+ sg dollars for a full meal for a family of 4.
dim sum here costs up to 80 sg dollars for the same meal -.-
meals often consist of stir-fried long beans which were my favourite dish in this trip, steamed fish slices or fried fish, vegetables in oyster sauce, a fatty roasted duck, fatty pork and tofu.
dishes were often oily>.<>
but the dim sum was great:P, so was the noodles, and fishballs, and long beans, and ...etc
hope the next trip will be unforgettable too:D
signing off.
p.s. blur pics XP
fireworks display was really really awesome, don't you agree?
Call Of The Wild at 9:31 PM