Our Dayz in the Pearl of the Orient

The first day in Hong Kong was tiring. The flight in was already uncomfortable cos the guy in front of me thought he's flying first class and reclined his chair so much that I didn't have much space to move about. Then while the attendant was going around giving out coffee, some of it spilled & got onto my jeans cos the table was slanted and the coffee was hot, mind u. My thigh was slightly scalded and the remainder of the flight got more uncomfortable.

Day 1
Reached Hong Kong in the early afternoon and the weather was quite ok. It wasn't as cold as I thot. But we had to wait for the remaining people who arranged their tour through mindef and that took up some time.

By the time we reached the hotel, it was early evening. Then we realised that the whole group of them is staying at the same Panda Hotel. That got me uncomfortable. Dun ask me why cos I dunno. I just didn't like the idea. So we checked in & were given a twin room. As the hotel was full, there wasn't a king room for us to change to. So we made do with the twin room by combining the two beds together. The hotel is average & the previous one we stayed in is better. This one is just passable.

Just to side-track a little. There was this couple we saw at the airport in SG and I'm just wondering wat their relationship is. The gal is exactly the kinda person that I'll NVR be frens with cos she's so shallow. The entire time she was just talking about shopping and that her main objective in going to Hong Kong was to get a pair of sunglasses and that she hopes hk wouldn't disappoint her. -faint-

The guy was just listening to her quietly and was a little shy and came across as someone who lacks confidence. Dunno why but he was just so cordial. And the thing is, he was using the gal's mum's luggage. And when I say luggage, I mean LUGGAGE! It's the big, hard type that u bring to Europe when u're gonna be there for a month. Perhaps suitcase will be a better word to use. I dun understand why 2 persons need to bring 2 of that on top of 2 hand luggages. Are they migrating there or wat?! Anyway, the gal was wearing some ugly, pink track suit & it was so bad that even hubby (who isn't the kpo type) noticed and remembered her. So back to the relationship. The guy gave ppl the kinda feeling tat he was going after the gal and is just being shy and coy. And the gal was just being clueless abt it. Hubby and I were just discussing about their relationship over dim sum breakfast on day 2 & I thot I'll blog it down.

K, back to the trip. We went out to Tsim Sha Tsui after we deposited our bags and hit the night markets. The whole night was just eating & shopping & eating & shopping. The first thing we ate was the very thing that I come to hk to eat: fried pig's intestines (za da chang) & pig's blood (zhu hong). It's just so delicious & I dun understand why SG dun hv such simple delicacies. Then we walked ard the night market & chance upon smelly tofu (chou tofu). So we ate tt too.

Then we continued our journey ard the night markets & saw the same auntie who sold the hp slings to us the last time we were in hk. But this time round we decided to give it a miss. Then we went to hv dinner at one of the roadside stalls (dai pai tong). Nothing special abt the dishes & I must say they're quite ex. After tt we decided to go back to the hotel but not without first going thru a lot of unnecessary distance cos we got lost. Sigh...

Day 2
Went for tim sum breakfast & as mentioned, hubby & I spoke abt the couple with the questionable relationship. Dim sum was nice, especially the steamed rice with pork ribs & chicken feet. Almost every table ordered that dish & I must say the popularity is well-deserved. It reminded us of the instant food we bought from 7-Eleven the last time we were in hk and we had tt for dinner in our room while watching the final match of World Cup 2006. Tat shows what interesting and delicious instant meals hk have. Something that SG can improve on. After breakfast, we went to Macau and the whole place was packed with Mainland Chinese. Getting through custom took us a while. Pity I can't take any photos. There were just soooooo many ppl!!!

So we got pass custom and was wondering how we should start our tour when this trishaw-rider came up to us and offered us some deals. We took up one that will take us to the town area and instantly felt like a tourist. Well, that's what we are but it felt funny. It's like we became one of those ang mohs that we see riding trishaw back home.

But this guy is not bad. As we went along, he took the trouble to point out certain things to us and offered to stop and take photos for us. I was expecting the ride to be one of those that will start and not stop till we reached our destination.

Macau is really a casino city. There's basically nothing much except casinos, casinos and casinos. We went to the Ruins of St. Paul's which is like THE place to go if you ever visit Macau. So we did that and again went through the throng of ppl before we reached the place.

There isn't much to do at Macau if you're not there to gamble. The place is just so filled with casinos and any other destinations pales in comparisons. Took some photos of the various casinos but I'm just too lazy to upload all of them. Saw the Venetians but am not too impressed by it.

Can't really find any Portuguese restaurant and we ended up having a late lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, which wasn't half bad.

And since Fisherman's Wharf is connected to Tang City, we went and took a look. Nothing much to see there cos the place was shut off and so we just took some photos outside.

Then we went back to the main island of HK and since we are already at HK Island, we went to the peak. Nothing much there except that the shopping mall that they were building the last time we were there is now completed. But other than that, there's nothing much to see or do there. We went for dinner and walked into a fine-dining restaurant. We wanted to have a simple meal cos we had late lunch and wasn't really hungry. But this restaurant was 'hidden' behind another door and once we pushed open the door, the whole area there belongs to the restaurant and the hostess came up to us and asked if we wanted a table for 2. We were caught off-guard and before we knew it, we were seated at a corner of the restaurant (cos we didn't have any reservation) and the menu staring at us. So we had a good meal instead of a simple one and that cost us more than HK$1k.

Then we went back to Woman Street but there isn't much to buy already cos it was already quite late and the stalls are closing. So we went back to the hotel.

Day 3

Woke up slightly later and went around looking for roast goose rice for brunch but we couldn't find any in the vicinity of our hotel?! So we went to eat at some foodcourt instead.

Then it's time to pack up and leave for our cruise. The agency is damn screwed up. Can u imagine no representative came to pick us up?! The coach drivers were also lost. Cos there was a couple staying in another hotel but going for the same cruise and one of the coaches was supposed to make a detour and pick them up and that caused some confusion. Anyway, we got that sorted out after a lot of unhappiness and that sorta spoiled the day.

So we reached the cruise and checked in and SURPRISE! The room is even better than the hotel room.

But the food didn't leave much to be desired. I think our staff cafeteria food taste nicer. Anyway, the cruise is boring with nothing to do and nothing to eat. Everywhere looked damn sad, even the casino. And since it's winter, we can't stay out for too long cos it's freaking cold. And the sea was rough and I suffered from a mild bout of sea-sickness. Decided to sleep it off and had an early night. But well, not before Liverpool lost to Man U by a goal. Sad....

Day 4

Checked into Panda Hotel again the next day and by then, we are quite sian of the main island already. Luckily we still have not been to Ocean Park. So that's where we spent most of the day. The Ocean Park that I saw on those HK drama serials always looked so big with a lot of things to do. But being there myself, it's really quite a disappointment. We went for a few rides and although the place is big, it's more catered for children and the rides ain't too scary.

So we left Ocean Park in the afternoon and did more shopping again. Then we finally saw roast geese and bought roast goose rice back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner, we did one last round of shopping at Temple Street and Woman Street cos we still have abt HK$2k left. We didn't really spend a lot and have quite a lot of money left. In the beginning we were afraid we will overspend and so didn't buy anything. Now that we have so much money left, we went on a shopping spree and bought quite a few stuff.

Our luggage almost couldn't contain the stuff we bought. Especially Bello's present! Bell, you better like the present or I'll kill you!!!!

Day 5

Last day in HK and to be frank, I dun think I can stay another day here. I'll bore to death. Unless we have more time and we can go to the other islands. Otherwise, I'll just be bored to death being on the main island. So we went for breakfast of youtiao with porridge and fried beehoon and then back to the hotel to prepare for check-out and our flight home.

The flight back was also cocked up. We requested for window seats and the guy at the airport check-in took a long time to assign our seats cos the tickets were all pre-assigned and the flight was full. So he finally managed to change our seats and when we looked at the tickets, we realised he gave us 2 window seats. So we're supposedly seating one behind the other, when all we wanted was ONE window seat. We thought we were speaking common lamguage but apparently it was quite difficult for that guy to understand and we were speaking in cantonese!!!! -faint-

When we boarded the plane, guess wat. We were sitting in the middle aisle and it wasn't even an aisle seat. We were seated one behind the other, in the middle!!!! Which part of that seat look like a window seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dun believe this! Luckily there was a Chinese student who is occupying the aisle seat next to hubby and was willing to change seats with me. So the remainder of the flight went smoothly and we are finally back home. I have never been home-sick before. Not even when I went to the States for my degree. But this time round, it just felt so damn good to be home! Home sweet home!!!