Sunday, December 7, 2008

Hong Kong - Hike & Seafood at Lamma Island

The original intention of heading to Lamma Island was to check out the sights and seafood.
Intro to Lamma
Intro to Lamma Island
At the pier
At the pier
Scenic View
Scenic View
Upon reaching the island
Upon reaching the island
I didn’t imagine that it’d turn out to be a hike! So glad that we were clad in sports shoes cos it was an uphill task to walk from one pier (YSW) to another (SKW).
YSW
YSW
SKW
SKW
Upon reaching the island, it resembled Kukup. While we made our way through the island, we snacked along the way, feasting on curry fishballs, 鸡蛋仔 and 豆腐花. 豆腐花 was featured in Moonlight resonance.
Signboard
Soya bean curd
Ever delicate dou hua
Ever delicate dou hua
It’s so good! Most delicate texture I’ve tasted! Although the filling has the taste of ginger, it was a good combination!

Soon after, we began to mount the hill. It was especially challenging on some of the slopes as they are steeper. The whole hike took about 2 – 3 hours. Quite a work out indeed! It was quite satisfying upon reaching the peak. Heh.

Seafood lunch at Tai Yuen Restaurant – we ordered a seafood set at HKD$318 for 4 persons.
Tai Yuen
Tai Yuen
Quite a spread of seafood ranging from scallop to prawns to mussels!

Fried Rice
Fried Rice
Calamari
Calamari
Scallops
Scallops
Soy Sauce Prawns
Soy Sauce Prawns
Mussels
Mussels
The Greens
The Greens
My favourite was the scallops!


It is definitely worth a go if you like to check out nature in Hong Kong! 

Friday, December 5, 2008

Hong Kong - Disneyland & Hollywood Hotel


Here is an interesting welcome!
An interesting welcome
Welcome!

There were 4 main segments within Disneyland:
Parade
Main Street
1) Main Street USA - This is the main area upon entering Disneyland! Visitors are likely to find the Disney characters within this main street. We also managed to catch Mickey's Waterworks Parade in mid noon.

Was especially entertaining to see how characters such as Alice in Wonderland sing to the Cantonese dance tune! Oh, they actually know how to speak Cantonese? Heh. The surprise element was the wet component of the parade. Showers of blessings were catered to cool the guests from the heat in August! In the evening we were treated to a fine display of fireworks...Aww...So magical.

2) Adventureland - This is for the slightly more adventurous group featuring a Jungle River Cruise and the Tarzan's treehouse. For the cruise, we had a very animated guide who quickly won the rapport from the passengers.
Animated Guide
Animated Guide
The design and thoughts put into this cruise were amazing. Worth the queue!

3) Fantasyland - 2 things that I was impressed with! Firstly, Mickey's Philhar Magic was well orchestrated and left viewers recollecting disney classics. Furthermore, the effects complemented the 3D show well, with gusts of wind, spurts of water and scents of food adding on to the surprise for viewers! Secondly, Small World was rather fascinating with displays such as Aladdin, Mermaid and the list goes on..!

Small World
Small World
We also went through some queues to take pictures with our favourite Disney characters!

4) Tomorrowland - Space Mountain was a thrilling ride (a lil similar to Panasonic in Escape theme Park way back). When I got in, I wasn't sure if I was ready. And I was definitely relieved when it was over. Astro Blasters is a cruise where all of us will attempt to shoot at targets and I managed to top the scores among the 4 of us. Ha.

Tomorrow Land
Tomorrow Land
How could we miss out on the fireworks?

We also got the chance to stay at the Hollywood Hotel (4* Disney Hotel). Guess we were really looking forward to it. The counter staff processed our check in rather quickly. We were upgraded to the (insert name) where we’d be able to view the fireworks from the comfort of the room. What’s more we were able to tune in to the sights and sounds by tuning in to one of the TV channels to enhance the viewing experience. Its way cool! Here is a peek into the room and deco.

Table setup
Table Setup
Mirror Mirror on the wall
Mirror Mirror on the Wall
TV for tuning in to Fireworks!
TV for tuning in to fireworks from the hotel
Towel in disguise
Towel in disguise
Washing area
Washing Area
Mickey Themed Soap
Mickey Themed Soap

Monday, September 22, 2008

German fare at Brotzeit

We treated ourselves to a German dinner spread @ Brotzeit (Raffles City) – with an amazingly large pork knuckle and sausages!
The knuckle - isn't it huge?
The knuckle - isn't it huge?
Salmon
Salmon
Sausages platter
Sausage Platter
Brotzeit German Bier Bar & Restaurant
252 North Bridge Road
#01-17 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: 65 6883 1534

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Hong Kong - Sights, Food and more!

Day 1 (Saturday)
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!
View from Avenue of the Stars
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:
Kimberley Hotel
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).
Snacks... Aww
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.
Mango Pomelo
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!
Dim Sum Barrel
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!
Home to the Dan Jia Ren
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.
Repulse Bay
Repulse Bay
The Peak - Visit to Mdm Tussauds Musuem myself was quite a fun experience. Was amused when the guide told us that the wax figurines are modified as the actual personalities change (for e.g. the addition of wrinkles).
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.
Charlie Brown Themed Cafe
Charlie Brown Cafe
We managed to go for the MTR rides from Day 2 onwards.
The Peak Tram
The Peak Tram
The winding queue
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!
View from the Peak
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.
LKF
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.
Island Beverley
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!

Macau Restaurant
Macau Cafe
Pineapple Chicken
Pineapple Chicken
My fav!
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.
Char Siew Noodles~
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!

Monday, October 22, 2007

San Francisco - Sights and St Regis stay

The week in the US was eye opening - from the hotel, to the scenic/touristy sights to the mega malls!
Stay at St Regis was a Wow! In the sense of the luxury one could afford. Every aspect of the hotel is very well attended to. Enjoyed the stay completely, especially with the huge bed and TV. (The only distraction is the sirens sounding in the middle of the night due to the proximity to the Fire Station. As for the mega pool, it looked almost like an exclusive, private pool. It is a pity that we did not spare sufficient time to have a dip.
St Regis - Sights!
Fisherman's Wharf - For many tourists to SF, this is a must go place. For the sights, Ghiradelli chocos and food! This was also the first time we hopped on the public transport. The entire journey was under 30 minutes. Pleasantly surprised at how warm the people could be, more of the middle aged folks. Some started to chat with one another even as more people piled onto the bus. An uncle even initiated that he could take a picture for us. Liked how open they could be, a very stark contrast to the 'stern and strict' faces we see on the trains daily. However, it will also be very awkward if someone were to start on conversation with you on the train. Ha...
Lunch at The Pier Market was cool - Managed to try the Sour Bread and teriyaki salmon. Prefer the salmon for its freshness while Sour Bread was a good try.
The Pier Market - Address
The Pier Market
Sour Bread
Sour Bread
Teriyaki Salmon
Teriyaki Salmon
Time to shop @ Union Square - We had small pockets of time to check out Union Sq. Was quite intrigued to see how large their Nike shop was. There were 7 levels in all, packed with Nike branded merchandise and loyal customers. There was a marathon that weekend, and most of the apparel were branded and customized for that event. Their marketing efforts were quite a bang as they plastered the buildings with the participants' names, set up a mega map of the route and that attracted a frenzy of people in buying more!
Participants' Names
Names of the participants!
Route for marathon
The route
Shots of the stores...!
LEVI'S
LEVI'S
French Connection
French Connection
The Disney Store
The Disney Store!
What a clock - Its time to shop!
It is time to shop!
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