HONG KONG TRIP 2009 - DAY 4

This is day 4. My flight back to Singapore was at 1600 hrs. My arranged transport from my hotel to the airport was 1310 hrs.

I spent all morning looking for a Dim Sum place. One cannot call a HKG trip complete before having dim sum or as the locals call it - yam cha (drink tea). Finding the place proved to be a greater challenge than I had thought. I assumed it was easy to locate one, as easy as it would be to locate a Mc Donalds in the USA. I was wrong. I spent more than an hour looking for one. and finally found one.

I deliberately picked non of those dim sum dishes which I would usually order in Singapore or in Perth. The choices I made turned out just fine. Delicious.

You might be wondering why - after all this talk about dim sum - there are no pictures. Well that is because I have decided not to behave like a tourist that morning. I just wanted to relax with my newspapers and my dim sum and my tea. For all of of 60 mins, I blended in perfectly as a Hong Konger.
~~~

~~~
The above picture is the one I took of the departure hall of Hong Kong Airport Terminal 1. It won the best airport award and I can see why. As much as I love Changi, this airport is every bit as impressive, maybe more.

Anyways, I got kicked off my 1600 hrs flight. The flight was full. I was told to try again at 1740hrs. In the mean while, I went to grab myself some lunch and a cup of tea. No point being upset. I thought it was a blessing in disguise. I got to eat one more meal in HKG!! Woohoooo. I wasted no time. I took the Roasted Pork and Duck combo.

It was lip-smackingly good.

Again. No Pics. My Tummy overwhelmed my desire to chronicle this trip.

I ended the meal with chinese tea. Very nice. It helps cleanse the oil. I noticed the words on the cup. It says "thank you" . I felt, in some sort of karma-ic way, HKG was thanking me for visiting its shores. But I felt I was the one that ought to say thank you.

It was an enjoyable trip. HKG is truly a place to eat and shop and eat and shop.... then rest..... then eat and shop and eat and shop some more.

I felt 4 days was good enough. Any more and it would be a drag. But People who visit HKG with family or Girlfriends may need more time. Afterall, for the most part I was zipping in and out of shopping centres. I cleared one mega mall from top to bottom in 20 mins flat, no kidding. I took a lift up to the top floor. made my loops and found myself at the bottom in 20mins.

Do not be mistaken, that was my pace. I did not rush at all this enitre trip. I did not buy much. Did not see many thing that I like. Most of my purchases are for other people. What I lacked in shopping I made up for in eating. WoooHOoooo HKG is a foodie wonderland.

Get that malaysian food out of my face... someone should school those crazy Lan Kwai Fong restauranteurs

Finally. This is the last picture I took for this trip. I was on a travelator heading towards my gate for boarding. (Yes I got on the next flight)

Oh and incidentally, The last retail shop that I saw was also a STARBUCKS in the transit lounge. Gee Whiz man. This is HKG! Throw away that mocha latte and start drinking ice milk tea you!!!!

HONG KONG TRIP 2009 - DAY 3

~~~
Started my day early. Went out and about in Kowloon. Walked all the way to Tsim Sha Tsui. I did not take any pictures. Really, they were all very much alike. That took me half a day. I went back to the hotel at 2pm and watched TV till 5pm.

After the short interlude, I caught the free bus transit service the hotel provided to the AVENUE OF THE STARS. Similar to that in Hollywood, only not as long. It was a just by the pier and it was an excellent location to take pictures of the HKG skyline. Too bad it was a little misty.

Made my way to the pier to catch the ferry ride to HKG island. (CBD). It was nice, I enjoy boat rides.
~~~

~~~
I decided to follow through with what I had though of yesterday. I wanted to visit Lan Kwai Fong at night and have a meal there. Just for boasting rights. I reached about 7.30pm that evening. It was crowded but not as crowded as it would be after 11pm. That is the norm for this watering hole.

I had my meal in one of the chinese restaurants. Again, shunning all non-HKG cuisine.
I ate a very basic HKG dish. Fried rice with chicken and salted fish + the ever staple milk tea. It was very good.
~~~

~~~
I made my way back to the pier. Took a picture of the VERY LAGE Louis Vutton boutique. The size of the boutique definately tells you how invested LVMH is in the HKG market. Those tai tais sure love their LVs. They spit at fakes and cast slightly intimidating sidelong glances at those who carry fakes. (just kidding...not!)

There is a very long direct path to the pier from the CBD. with clear signs along the way. The clock tower is the facade of the pier. There were many new developments along the pier. I guess given a few more years the HKG skyline will change again with yet another domineering sky scrapper.

At the Tsim Sha Tsui end. I took the free ride back to the hotel. From there I went to the Kowloon street markets again to experience it at night.
~~~

~~~
It was after all my last night in HKG. My fear of diarrhea was unfounded. The rule of thumb is to eat food that was pipping hot. I had prepared pills should there be any tummy upsets. But really, the truth of the matter was, it is my last night in HKG and I was going to pig out! CONSEQUENCES LATER! I had deep fried big intestines (pig) and a bowl of mixed innards (cow). I had more stuff but just could not be bothered to take any more pictures.
There was no aftermath. My stomach can take these bold cuisines. During my trip I often wondered if God made a few errors in his design of the human form

1. Why did we not have more than one stomachs.
2. Why could we not digest food faster.
   

But I did so very appreciate that HE gave us tastebuds and a sense of smell and adventure.
~~~

HONG KONG TRIP 2009 - DAY 2

~~~

2nd Day. Woke up early. Did not sleep well. Turned on the TV. The news was on. I did not understand half of what the guy was saying (in Cantonese). I finally dragged myself to the toilet to wash up and begin my day. Left the room at 10am and headed to THE PEAK.

The hotel actually had free transport to many tourist places but I decided to do it as the locals would, to get a feel of how they go about their daily lives. So I picked public transport to commute. Also the hotel gave some food discount vouchers. I did not use any because I wanted to eat what the regular Joe on the streets ate as well. I am pretty sure they did not have a western breakfast buffet everyday.
~~~

~~~
Along the way to the MTR (Hong Kong's train system), I saw a stark contrast between the rich and the poor. The poor who obviously had to take public transport pays a reasonable price for the service and the rich who can afford cars had to pay astronomical prices for parking. HKD$20 per hour for parking. That's about SGD$4 per hour.

~~~

~~~
This was what I ate for breakfast on the 2nd day in Hong Kong. Glutinous Rice with ice milk tea. The rice had stuffing inside which made up of a braised chicken wing, Chinese sausage and chestnuts and mushrooms. I was only when I started eating did I realize how much was inside but I voted to fill my tummy first instead of taking another picture and by the time I was full there was nothing much to take a picture of. I do not think a wrinkled lotus leaf and half a cup of ice would be very appealing. So you'll just have to trust my word on what's within the glutinous rice.
~~~

~~~
Along the way to the peak, I saw 2 sky scrappers which were ever so present in Hong Kong TVB drama serials. Before that day, I had only seen them in those serials. Now that I am standing 30 feet from these 2 imposing structures, I feel a sense of awe. The single building is the BANK OF CHINA TOWER, and the twin buildings are called LIPPO TOWER and PEREGRINE TOWER.
~~~

~~~
I took a tram up to THE PEAK. It was not hard to find the place. Just follow the throngs of tourist that are headed to the same place. I paid a little bit more to go up to the observation tower.

The journey up to THE PEAK was a very steep one. At some stages, the level of incline was more than 45 degrees. The amazing thing was, there are about 3 stops along the way before the tram reaches THE PEAK, and people who live at residences surrounding THE PEAK were alighting and boarding at these stops as if they were a regular public transport.

The view of HongKong city from the observation deck was breathtaking. No wonder property around that area would cost more than a pretty penny.

I only bought a one way ticket up THE PEAK because I had wanted to try taking a bus through the long and winding path down THE PEAK. The ride - how shall I put it - left me gasping. I did not really know where to alight. I just decided to stop where I saw crowds gathering. And that place turned out to be the west side of the Hong Kong CBD.
~~~

~~~
There is a stark contrast in the HKG urban landscape. Imagine, the above pictures were taken just 30 mins (walk) away from the Lippo Tower. These old, untouched buildings add a depth of character to Hong Kong's Jungle of Urban skyscrappers.
~~~

~~~
As I carry on walking, I chanced upon yet another famous HKG landmark - LAN KWAI FONG. It is a popular watering hole for HKG's who and who. I did not linger too long there, I was just passing through. But if time permits I would come here again during the night, that's when one can soak up a totally different atmosphere. I just hope that amongst the many many neon signs, there would not be an extra one on my back which screams "tourist alert". I am trying to blend in you see. It works out fine until I speak. My cantonese isn't exactly comprehenable, much less colliqual.
~~~

~~~
From the far west of the CBD, I took an old school bus tram to the fas east of the CBD - Causeway Bay. It was one of my journey highlights because once again, I only see these trams on TV and in movies. Now that I am actually in one, I'm happy, it feels that I am part of HKG's rich history, even if it is for a fleeting moment.

I was famished by the time I reached Causeway Bay. I had the noodles above. Throughout my entire holiday, I decided NOT to have any fast food or NON HKG food. i.e. no Mac Dees, No KFC, No italian, No Mexican, No Malaysian (for crying out loud) ... You get the drift. I did not fly to HKG to eat Malaysian food you know what I mean. I am making my meals count. And the noodles above was DA BOMB.
~~~

~~~
I walked a few hours in Causeway Bay after Lunch. My legs was about to break. I decided it was time to head on back to the hotel.

I made my way to the MTR. It was quite a walk down to the train. Most of HKG's train system is underground. The trains are fast, clean and the frequency is good. Even though the population density is much higher than Singapore, not once did I feel like I was in a sardine can.

I headed back to the hotel. Collapsed on my extra bed. (I requested for a queen but they only had 2 singles available So I crashed my sweaty self on the unused bed and saved the clean bed for my nightly slumber.) I took a pic of the night scene outside my room window. It was deceptively calm. As soon as I took the shot, I heard horns blaring, vehicles moving... HKG never sleeps.

I decided to rest a while before taking a short walk around the block. I finished off my day with a dessert. Xiu Liu Shan seems to me like a Starbucks of HKG. It is almost on every corner and in every shopping center in Kowloon. It serves desserts. I had a mango something something.

By the way. I had a fever that night. I was so exhasted and I think a little dehydrated. I popped in 2 panadol extras. Downed heaps of water and headed to bed. I was alright by morning.
~~~

HONG KONG TRIP 2009 - DAY 1

~~~
So here I am. My first step onto Hong Kong soil in at least 2 decades.
I know the flight is about 3 1/2 hours but it felt shorter than that. Perhaps that is why Hong Kong is such a popular tourist destination for Singaporeans.

~~~
~~~
I noticed that the Hong Kong authorities made it rather easy to head on to Macau for it's casinos. One does not have to clear immigration, exit the sirport and head to the ferries that brings you to Macau. One can head on to the Ferry Terminals that Brings you to Macau, and clear immigration there before boarding. All within walking distance. And if you were too lazy to walk, just hop onto an airport buggy for HKD$50 per person.
~~~

~~~
I was not in the least bit surprised to see that the very first retail shop I spotted in Hong Kong was a Starbucks. If this retail giant had their way, perhaps cutomers can check in their baggage and receive their boarding passes at STARBUCKS while ordering their Americanos. How's that for fantasy.
~~~
~~~
This is the scene outside my hotel. Metropark Hotel Kowloon. It only dawned on me as I am writing this blog entry that I never did take a picture of the hotel's facade. I wonder why?
The area was perfect for tourist. It is within walking distance of all the major street markets and BEST of all, it was a neighbourhood that was full of pet stores. Cats Cats Cats Dogs Dog Dogs Cats Cats of all sorts. It was heaven!
~~~

~~~
This picture was taken from my hotel room. I see YWCA across the street. The rooms in this hotel is pretty big by Hong Kong standards. Clean too. For about SGD$140 a night, I think it is pretty okay. I would not mind staying there again.
~~~