Hong Kong Trip 16 - 19 May 2007

The long overdue HK trip itinery =)
On the whole, nothing special as ppl and things there are pretty similar to Singapore’s except the spectacular concert at Hong Kong Coliseum.

Day 1

Depart from Singapore to Hong Kong
Stayed over at Ah Di’s place as we need to wake up at 3+am to catch the flight to HK at 620am. Nearly missed the flight as we were happily surfing net viewing Michie’s bridal pics before departure, by the time we decided to head to the gate, we saw on the TV screen – GATE CLOSED. Wow got a real shock man, the next thing in our mind is RUN……. What an exciting way to start our trip

Reached HK Airport, took Airport Express to HK MTR
Purchased the 3D unlimited which includes two way airport transfer Octopus card @ HKD 300 (with HKD50 refund). The airport transfer is definitely better than Singapore’s as they really cater to tourists. There is a spacious storage space at each cabin so that tourists can keep their luggage there and enjoy the comfortable ride.


Along the way to HK MTR, we saw the tiny tiny housing units in the extremely packed estate. Housing is so expensive there, YX spent about SGD3k each month to rent a flat of 500 square feet located in Central.


Here’s the map showing how near YX’s place is near office, Lan Kwai Fong and H&M.

YX came to pick us up during her lunch hour to her apartment, being located at Mid Soho level means that we had to take either the escalator which only goes down from 8-10am and goes up thereafter till 12am or climb the stairs/ steep slope. After dumping our luggage, we went for lunch. Sad to say, I had a disappointing first meal in HK as I decided to try something special and ordered “Xia Mi Noodles” and it turned out to be Noodles with Shrimp Powder with no sight of prawns…. This costs me HKD 30.

Shopping @ Central, Prince Edward, Mongkok, Yau Ma Tei

- Central (H&M, Li Yuen Street)

After lunch, YX headed back to office while we started our shopping adventure. We went to H&M which created a big hoo ha when it was first opened this year, nothing spectacular about it as it has similar clothing as Topshop. Took us a while to look for Li Yuen Street and it is nothing but a pasar malam street which is worse than Singapore’s. Don’t really understand why it is located at Central?


- Prince Edward (Fa Yuen Street)
Took the MTR to Prince Edward Street and came across many interesting road names (Fa Yuen Street = Garden Street, Sai Yee Street = Wash Clothes Street), perhaps these streets were meant to plant flowers or wash clothes in the olden days.


We spotted Xu Liu Shan and ordered Mango dessert and Steamed egg with Hashima and Bird Nest to share, this only costs us HKD 50 (SGD 10) – so cheap.

As much as we were not hungry especially after the desserts, we bought fish balls to try. I simply loved it as it has a very “springy” or “Q” feel, regretted that I didn’t buy more.


- Mongkok (Ladies Street, Argyle Centre)

Next, we ate Smelly Tofu and Grilled Sotong. Haha we had been eating non-stop, it is really about eating and shopping in HK. Smelly Tofu doesn’t taste that bad but it has a “drain” smell as described by Ah Di.
***See how the lady covered her nose when she walked past the Smelly Tofushop.

Did some shopping at Ladies Street… If you are ever there, here’s some shopping tips if u really like the product - try reducing the cost when you think it is not reasonable as they tend to jack up the price. Ah Di bot two tops of the same kind – one cost HKD 110 at the beginning of the street and the other @ HKD 70 located at the end of the street.

- Yau Ma Tei (Temple Street)
Felt so tired after walking for the whole day and by the time we need a place to dine in, there was limited selection so we went to this restaurant which looks like those places where HK hooligans will gather and negotiate their terms prior to a fight. Met up with Di’s friend, Jean, for a while before we traveled back to the apartment to wash up.

Clubbing @ Heihei Club near Lan Kwai Fong
This club is near Lan Kwai Fong, which is recommended by Jean. I also met up with Euan, my Bournemouth colleague who got relocated to HK. It took us some time to find the place as we missed the big signboard. This place is similar to China Black where it is located on the 3rd floor of the building. Got ourselves free entry as it is their Ladies night on Wednesday. Not as packed as we expect but the place got more crowded near 1am. We went down to check out Sugar and there were only abt less than 50 clubbers there. Got ourselves a free drink before we rest for the day.

Day 2

Breakfast
Has our breakfast @ this Shanghainese restaurant along the street down YX’s apartment, ordered Xiao Long Bao, Dumpling Noodles, Sour and Spicy Noodles… Overall comment – Not Nice.

While eating halfway, the whole pail of soya bean milk spilled all over the floor. Poor us had to lift up our legs and finished the meal.

Tung Chung (Citygate Outlet Mall)
Went Citygate Outlet mall where there are Adidas, Quiksilver, Esprit, Timberland, Nike, etc. We saw Mickey and the Carribbeans along the way as this MTR line also leads to HK Disneyland. We tot we could get some stuffs there but Least expected, there isnt much for us to buy as it is either stock from previous season’s or with limited sizes.

Sightseeing (The Peak, Madam Tussauds Museum)
Bought the combo ticket @ HKD220 which allowed us to take the tram ride to The Peak and Madam Tussauds Museum. The ride was steep, it is about 45degrees upwards.

We spent only about 10 mins at The Peak as there is nothing extremely interesting other than the view from the top and headed off to the Museum.

Took a lot of silly pics with those wax – kissed Aaron Kwok, played piano for Jay Chou, hugged Beckham, etc. Guess who?????

From the top (Clockwise) – Bruce Lee, Cecilia Cheung before pregnancy, Michelle Yeoh, Brad Pitt, Ayumi Hamasaki, ???? (I forgot her name)

From the top (Clockwise) – Twins, Late Zhang Guorong, Late Princess Diana, MM Lee

Avenue of Stars along Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade
Made a trip down to Harbourfront to catch the Avenue of Stars – the buildings will light up at 8pm everyday to create a glittery galaxy effect. Those Japanese tourists made it so spectacular as they will shout “Wow” or “Kirei Na” each time a building lit up. Haha

Shopping @ TST (Granville Road, HarbourCity)
Granville Road is known to be a popular shopping area but me and Di didn’t feel so… Reason being those shops were located on the second floor and it can only be accessed via staircase along dark alley which we were not aware of. So, we spent most of the time walking around aimlessly and thinking that there must be something wrong with those ppl’s recommendations. Wasted trip =(

Sweet Dynasty
To make our trip to TST more worthwhile, we went in search of Sweet Dynasty which has physical presences mainly in Japan. This place is decorated in gold which reminds me of those ancient palace. I ordered almond paste with beancurd and some dim sum to share.

Day 3

Shopping @ Wanchai, Causeway Bay

Wanchai (Toys Street)
Went Wanchai Toys Street in search of BE’s long-wanted toy – Xiao Lu Bao… Yeah!!! Finally managed to find it for him as we didn’t see it in Singapore and Japan.

Causeway Bay (Jardine Bazaar, Times Square, Garden Road)
Next, we went Causeway Bay. The first thing we did was to look for Edison Chan’s shop – Juice. It is located at this quiet lane on the second floor with many bricks teddy on its display. The things sold @ Causeway Bay are mainly local designer stuffs which we didn’t feel that it is worth it for the design and material or maybe bcoz we are so used to purchasing those cheap stuffs in Bangkok.

Sammi Concert
See my earlier blog to view the videos for her concert. Here’s a pic to show how big Hong Kong Coliseum is. You will get to see those paparazzis, about 10-20 cameras, taking pics of those artistes who came for Sammi’s concert.


After the concert, we saw ppl selling Sammi’s concert close up pictures with CD Rom which costs only HKD60. We were so excited and wanted to buy but it got snapped up before we could. Felt so sad but at least I got to take a pic of it.


Day 4

Back to Singapore
Before departing to take the airport express, we bot the yummy Krispy Kreme. In total, I got myself 3.5 dozens. A lot of ppl especially those ppl at the check in counter must be thinking that I am crazy to buy so many donuts back home. Haha YX will feel worse as she bot 6 dozens. Anyway, I think this tastes nicer than Donut Factory. How come there is no ppl bringing Krispy Kreme into Singapore?? (Maybe the reason is bcoz it is costly - a mio for each franchise and required to open more than one outlet)

Finally we got to eat nice nice food – Dim Sum at the airport. It was the nicest meal I had in HK, but due to time constraint, didn’t really have much time to enjoy the food slowly.

By the time we checked in, we were left with 20 mins and we dashed to the local delicacies store to grab some lao po bing and Disney store for souvenirs. Sweet Zozo got me the pen on the left while I got myself those on the right for my wedding =)

Dont you think the right one (Chip/ Dale?) looks like BE??? hahahaha

Again, we almost couldnt make it for the flight as we only boarded 5 mins before departure.

Home Sweet Home...................... I love Singapore!