The much awaited Hong Kong (HK) Trip is finally here, after 2 delays and a cancellation due to Typhoon Nuri. Apparently, we were told that it was a Signal 9 on Friday. Well, wasted a day of leave staying home and waiting for SQ to cancel the flight we were bound for.
Due to the delay, SQ arranged additional flights for all the customers and we decided to board the one at 8am the next day. We kind of expected that it may take some time as there were large numbers of customers affected by the delay on Friday. Little did we realize that there were 5 passengers who checked in their luggage and decided not to board. The crew spent close to another hour removing the luggages of that 5 passengers. The flight managed to take off at 10am. The ride to HK was quite a smooth one and we were on course till we approached the HK airport. We were not able to land due to the heavy traffic. Someone from our travel agency later told us that in such circumstance, the plane would hover around that area until it is low on fuel. In all, we took a grand 7 hours to travel from SG to HK.
But I was filled with a deep sense of relief to see that the weather was perfectly fine and one could not have imagined that the typhoon struck HK the day before.
By
the time we arrived at the hotel, it was close to 5pm. We decided to
check out Sogo and Avenue of the Stars in the evening. The lights show
in the Avenue of the ars was quite fascinating, just that I spend most
of the time figuring out the best configuration for my digital cam.
Although the settings were not optimal, the sights were still rather
captivating!
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| View from Avenue of the Stars |
After which, we returned to the hotel before we headed out again. Here's how the hotel looks like at night:
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| Kimberly Hotel |
At
Mong Kok, BZ managed to buy quite a number of items such as T-shirts,
belts etc while we were absorbed with the sights and snacks (Curry Fish
Balls and Grilled Squid).
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| Snacks...Awww! |
My
dream of checking out Xu Liu Shan was also realized on Day 1! I ordered
Yang Zhi Jin Lao and that was really a strong dose of mango. And it
ended of the night on sugar high.
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| Mango Pomelo |
Day 2 (Sunday)
We started this day early with the 1/2 Day City
Tour by Ann's Travel. I must say that they were quite good in making
the necessary arrangements for us throughout our stay. The stops
arranged were
1)
Dim Sum Breakfast @ Foo Lum - Interestingly, there is also a Foo Lum
Eatery opposite my office in Spore. They are likely to be Cantonese
then! Over breakfast, there was a giant mass of dim sum. The rest of the
tour folks are also from Spore and they are actually colleagues.
Because of the typhoon, they were only able to spend 2D1N in HK. What a
pity!
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| Dim Sum Barrel |
2)
Photo taking at Golden Bauhinia Square - This is to mark the return of
Hong Kong to China in 1997.This was the site where the photographer
arranged to take the photos for us. We thought that photo taking would
not mean we've to buy them and that we would have the option to purchase
it at the end of the trip. We were quite surprised that they were
developed by the end of the trip and it was 150HKD per pax! Initially we
wanted to refuse it, but we decided we should end it off on a good
note, and leave it for keepsake. Ha...
3) Jumbo Kingdom @ Aberdeen - Its the place for seafood on a boat. The guide indicated that it could cost up to HKD300 - 500 dollars per pax!
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| Home to the Dan Jia Ren |
We also went on a boat ride to see the homes of the earliest group of people who arrived in HK.
4)
Repulse Bay - Checked out the sea side but we did not really get to
enjoy it cos it started to pour after a while. Interestingly, the rain
only lasted for under 10 minutes. And that was the only rain we
experienced throughout the entire stay in HK.
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| Repulse Bay |
At
the end of the trip, we met up with ZR to head to Charlie Brown Theme
Cafe at TST. Quite a nice place for photo taking and a light meal!~
Personally found the mooncakes to be really cute and delicate.
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| Charlie Brown Cafe |
We managed to go for the MTR rides from Day 2 onwards.
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| The Peak Tram |
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| Check out the queue! |
In
the evening, we made our way to the Peak to catch the night view. As
we've yet to try the tram, we thought we should do it... but we did not
expect to wait for more than an hour for it. And it was really very
crowded and stuffy. When we finally got to the Peak, it was a relief!
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| View from the Peak |
After
coming down from the Peak, we took a bus to LKF. As we were there on a
Sunday evening, there really wasn't any serious partying going on. And
like what a friend shared, LKF is really quite small. We settled for
drinks at Green Bar before heading back to the hotel to rest.
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| Bar George |
What a long day!
Day 3 (Monday)
Day 4 (Tuesday)
We
had Dim Sum at Maxin (City Hall). Overall, the food is much better than the ones we had at Foo Lum.
We shopped at Island Beverley before heading back to the hotel with mooncakes, goodies and Lao Po Bing.
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| Island Beverley |
In
the evening, we shopped again at Mong Kok and made our way to Modern Toilet for dinner. This is a theme restaurant featuring the washroom!
Unique concept originating from Taiwan.
But the food was only so so. After which, it was more shopping at Argyle Center!
Because of the extensive shopping, we had so much to pack that we ended packing at about 3am.Day 5 (Wednesday)
Lorraine recommended Macau Café
for the food and so it was for breakfast on the last day! The Bo Luo
Bao was nothing short of fabulous. The nicest one I tasted during the
treat. The other breakfast items were good as well!
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| Macau Cafe |
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| Pineapple Chicken |
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| My fav! |
As
we had some time, we broke into pairs for some last minute shopping. BZ
and I took the MTR from Tsim Sha Tsui to Tung Chung. Quite refreshing
to see the seas and the mountains. At Tung Chung, we managed to do some
last minute shopping. Would probably be shocking when the bill comes.
BZ and I had a meal
at Yuen Ji, the eatery that is opposite the hotel. And it was local
food once more – Char Siew Noodles, Fish Porridge & Bo Luo Bao.
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| Char Siew Noodles |
We awaited for the bus to pick us up for the airport.
While we were on the bus, we all fell asleep as we were simply too tired. Managed to buy some food back from Krispy
Kreme + Xu Liu Shan. We were very happy with the service rendered by SQ
on the return flight. It was on time, food was good. And the plus point
was there were no children running around.
Would like to visit HK again, for the food and sight seeing!
