I have shopped, ate and slept around for 5 days...
I am back from Hong Kong! Here's the update on what happened over the past 5 days, and once again, it may sound quite narrative, so read at your own risk! This time round i have brought my PDA and keyboard along so that i can type along the way. easier and more vivid =)Day 1 (26/9/07 Wednesday): Kowloon - Lamma Island
We reached Changi Airport Terminal 1 at around 6 am; yup it was that early cos our flight is at 8.05 am CX710 Cathay Airlines. The flight was around 3.75 hours, and we reached HK airport at around 1145 h. On board, I slept, ate a meal (seafood noodle), tried to watch Monsters but was really very tired (i only slept 3hours earlier..). They gave us the centre seats sobzz and the plane was rather packed so can't shift around.
Hong Kong International Airport - quite comparable to Changi, but more complicated as the journey from the plane to the arrival hall is a long and tedious one. And gosh... the queue was damn long. The female crowd controller seemed stressed and about to collapse. Hmmm... I still prefer Changi Airport, and proud of it!
BTW, it is one day post-mooncake festival and an official public holiday in HK. How envious!
I thought Chan brothers is supposed to be quite established in tour packaging. Unfortunately, the first impression wasn't too good. The tour guide over in HK was late; he didn't even take attendance before leading us to the tour coach. It was a damn big crowd. 27 in total; of which there was a family of 11 people, a family of 3, 2 families of 4, a group of 3 friends and a couple. That shouldn't be the case rite.. the tour leader wouldn't and shouldn't be managing such a huge crowd. And there is bound to be a lot of waiting. i hate waiting for people manz.
Anyway our first destination was to travel along this Tsing Ma bridge towards our hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀, Kowloon. To be more precise, the hotel, Shamrock hotel (4 stars) is along Nathan road, just outside Jordan MTR station. Quite strategically located, but sighzzz the room was not ready when we were there!!! (Although they tried to compensate by giving us a bigger room). We got 2 rooms - 606 and 619 (can't even give us side-by-side rooms!!)
Lunch was OTOT, so we decided to walk around first before settling for some supposedly famous wanton noodle stall near the hotel. I think it is overrated. and the serving is so small! We have about 2 hours left before meeting up for dinner, so we continued to walk along nathan road which led us to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. Quite a lot of shops.. reminds me of walking along Orchard road outside Wisma and Taka.
Dinner was a highlight of the day. We took a cruise to Lamma Island 南丫岛 for some seafood. Not too bad, just a bit troublesome to spend one hour to travel to-and-fro.
It was already 8.40pm after dinner and my camera ran out of battery! We proceeded to Women's street for some window shopping for an hour, and nothing really caught my attention. It is bugis street in disguise, the difference is that the stall keeper will actually ask blatantly "want copy bags" and they have a catalogue of real stuff for u to choose - LV, gucci.. u name it, they have it...fake. We didn't really buy anything.. Back to hotel at 10pm.
this zhou sheng sheng is probably one of the richest in HK cos i have seen so many of such jewellery shops around!
Day 2 (27/9/07 Thursday): Disneyland
Woke up 7.30am and had breakfast at 8.30am. Breakfast was not included in the package so we have to fork out our own money. The tour guide offered to help us book a chinese affiliated dim sum restaurant for breakfast for 50 HKD each. The table was quite small for us though the food was satisfactory. We then set off at 10am.
We spent the whole day at Disneyland (from 1030am to 830pm)! It was actually quite big and probably can't finish touring if u were to try out all the attractions there. And must really consider the crowd and the waiting time.
HK Disneyland is divided boardly into one main street and three "land"s (adventureland, fantasyland and tomorrowland). It was so damn hot there!! We visited "the disneyland story" which showcased various characters and the creation of this place. Next we took the HK disneyland railroad which took us round disneyland at a glance. Souvenir shopping was next on the list along main street, where we bought some shirts, key chains, etc. Also took photos with Donald duck and Mickey and Minnie Mouse!
fantasyland!
Lunch time - initially wanted to try food at Tahitian Terrace which sells asian delights but it was closed for no apparent reason! Settled at Plaza Inn instead which serves cantonese cuisine. We ordered a set lunch which was quite expensve. Somemore, it took them ages to serve drinks! (in retrospect, I realized that they forgot (we forgot too) to serve the last dish of dessert!)
The second part of the tour was to explore adventureland. We took the Jungle River Cruise (20 min wait and 10 min ride) which provides narration for 3 different languages for 3 individual cruises and u can choose which language u want. Some fake animals along the way and probably should appear fun to most children and young adults. But i must say that i am quite impressed with some of the animals which looked quite real; and burning fire on water. After this, we proceeded to take the "rafts to Tarzan's Treehouse" (0 min wait and 1 min ride), which brought us to another island that houses a treehouse.
tarzan's treehouse
After finishing with adventureland, we went to the main street haunted hotel which was very popular! We wanted to take earlier but the queue was always so long. We waited for 20 mins and the walk was around 10 mins. It was quite scary, especially when the house was very dark and u had to turn around hidden corners with hidden ghosts that spoke Cantonese (which is good cos I dun really understand whatever daunting words they exclaimed). We travelled in groups of 8 to 10 and it so happened that i was the first one in my group! There were female ghosts, zombies, etc etc, some i dun even remember what they were, except that they screamed and thumped your heart. There was one part where they placed an exit sign but there was still a long way to go! It is like a fear of impending doom.
Following this, we moved on to Tomorrowland. As the name implies, it contains the futuristic entertainment, such as UFO, flying saucers, etc. We took a couple of rides, and the first on the list was thrilling ride at Space Mountain - Ghost Galaxy. This was really fun!! something like a roller coaster ride. Probably the most adventurous ride in Disneyland. My parents didn't take this, and i was glad they didn't. We tried the Obitron, which is like those merry-go-round except that it is in the form of flying saucer. After this was the Autopia ride, which is something like the luge ride, but a smoother and easier form.
It was almost 5 pm already and we continued to Fantasyland. Apparently the crowd had dispersed and most of the wait now took around 5 mins each. The first attraction here was to walk through the sleeping beauty castle gate. We took the revolving horses, or more specifically the "Cinderalla Carousel". This is the first time i am on this (ya i am that childhood-deprived)... feels young again haha... Also went for other rides such as the "mad hatter tea cups"- where u sit in a tea cup and it will turn round and round; "dumbo the flying elephant" - similar to the flying saucer. We also walked into the "Fantasy Garden" where u can take photos with various mascots such as mickey, winnie, goofie, chip and dale. But the queues were relatively long and some mascots had decided to take a break for the day. After this, we went to watch a 3D animation at "Mickey's PhilhaMagic" and the story goes like donald duck supposed to be in a performance but somehow ended up in an adventure of his own, where he met people like the little mermaid, pinnochio, aladdin, etc. The interesting part was, other than the 3D image (which appears so real when they fly towards u, threw things at u), that they made u of your five senses! U can smell the food, u can feel water splashing at u, etc. Cool! Our last ride was "the many adventures of winie the pooh" where we sat in carriages that looked like hunny pots into a storyland.
It was around 7 pm, where the finale began. There was a major parade/possession by many floats and dancers. something like the Chingay and those in lotte world in korea. 8 pm was the grand finale where fireworks were displayed and lasted for 10 mins. Nice! Managed to capture some fantastic video clips.
ghost approaching...
We settled our dinner at a shop near our hotel. Took porridge, fishball soup, wanton soup, large intestines. Quite tasty heh.
On the whole, a tiring but fun day! both the sun and the walk are major contributors to the exhaustion. Perhaps inferior to the real one in US, but it was all worth it.
Day 3 (28/9/07 Friday): Hong Kong Tour
Woke up early today at 6.30am and checked out of Shamrock Hotel as 10 of us are going to Shenzhen 深圳 tonight. The coach took us to some restaurant at Wang Jiao 旺角 for breakfast - the usual HK dimsum style: prawn dumplings, paos, carrot cake, yam puff, bamboo shoot roll and it was very filling surprisingly.
Our first destination was Repulse Bay 浅水湾 which was around 20 minutes drive away. Situated here is a temple for us to take some photos and pray pray - pray for wealth, love, etc. Along with us was a cameraman (as usual with most tour groups, he will take some photos using his "professional camera" and also a group photo). Jackie Chan stays in one of the apartments across the bay.
see the brick-coloured building on the top? yup jackie chan stays there.
anyone getting married and longing to be loved? pray before this!
Second stop was to take a sampan around Aberdeen Fishing Village 香港仔渔村 that costs 50 HKD at our own expenses. Well dun think it is very worth it... the only interesting part that caught my eyes was Jumbo floating restaurant in the midst. Hmm they should at least let us try some sample seafood heh.
floating jumbo restaurant!! yum yum!
Third stop was at Victoria Peak which was located in Hong Kong island. Apparently people staying in this island are richer, and that includes governors and some prominent actors. Travelling to this island requires us to pass through a paying tunnel which is very expensive! Much more than our ERP... think it is around 8 sing bucks one-way. According to the tour guide, only Lydia Sum doesn't need to pay cos she is the one who officiated the opening ceremony. Hong Kong island, as compared to other islands in Hong Kong comprises more high-rise buildings and some are even on hills. The tallest building in HK is located here.
skyline view from Victoria peak.
Up to the peak, we visited Madame Tussaud wax museum and took hell lot of photos with the celebrities. Jackie Chan is probably the most real-looking one, but u will have to pay if u want to take with him. Other people include foreign and chinese stars such as Brad and Angelina, Michael Jackson, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Jay Chow (whom i can't even recognise if they didn't play his songs...) Anita Mui; political figures such as MM Lee, Deng xiaoping, Ghandi; historical figures like Hitler; sportsmen like Yao Ming and beckham. This was my second time visiting the wax museum (the first time in SG) and this one is smaller.
bruce lee!
Fourth destination was Golden Bauhinia Square 金紫荆, which i believe is HK national flower. Nothing too impressive except for a gigantic golden flower in the central square.
Next was lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Ate roasted goose and other dishes. After this we visited some jewellery factory for them to earn some profits, and for the ladies to spend some money. The next visit was to some shops selling local products but we can't be bothered to alight.
Next highlight was to visit the famous Wong Tai Sin 黄大仙 temple for more praying for blessing, followed by a walk along the Avenue of Stars 星光大道to see handprints of famous celebrities, and a figurine of Bruce Lee. For the ten of us, we hopped onto the coach which took us to the Hong Kum 红勘 railway station around 5.45pm to take a train to Shenzhen. 红勘 has one of the biggest stadium where famous celebrities have their concerts in.
the famous temple
maggie cheung's handprint
The shock began here... The train wasn't really a train. It was like the MRT in Singapore. Can u imagine carrying the luggage up the MRT and travel for 45 mins … I thought it would be something more decent, or at least more spacious for us to sit and put lugguage. But it was so damn crowded! Arrggghh if we know earlier, we would have packed something light to bring to Shenzhen for one night rather than the whole lugguage. To make matter worse, there wasn't any escalator or lift in the shenzhen station!! Maybe we shouldn’t even opt for Shenzhen in the first place...
Apparently a lot of people travelled from Shenzhen to Hong Kong for work cos it was really very packed at the station. Imagine the hassle and checking in and out so many times. Our tour guide didn't accompany us to Shenzhen, instead there was another one waiting over the other end.
Dinner was next and we have some Hekka food in a restaurant. The food was okay, but the service sucked. The waitresses actually spilled the tea and soup on two occasions!! how clumsy can that be! Checked in to Hong Feng Hotel in Shenzhen central, a four star hotel but much more spacious and comfortable.
Day 4 (29/9/07 Saturday): Shenzhen
We have another tour guide at Shenzhen. We had breakfast in the hotel itself, buffet style. Not much variety for us to choose from, mainly porridge, sausages, etc.
Our first stop was at this so-called museum, which later turned out to be some profitable visit on jewellery and jade. not my cup of tea; and i am glad my parents didn't fall for the trap.
Second stop was to explore "Window of the World", which contain 118 vivid replicas of the world's wonders, historical heritages and famous scenic sites such as the Grand Canyon, the Alps, Eiffel Tower, Pisa, the Sphinx, etc. It was scorching and my shades came in handy, but we were all perspiring like mad. We first took a carriage which brought us round this place, stopping on and off for photo taking. We also entered the Alps for some pseudo-skiing adventure and cool enjoyment physically. Also dropped by the Jurassic Park.
the name says it all.
the great falls; but small.
Lunch was next at this restaurant which served roasted goose as a speciality; followed by yet another visit to some cheena herbs-selling medicinal hall like lingzhi etc. Damn i really hated this kind of visits - all the salespeople looking at you earnestly, trying so hard to sell you their products, talking their lungs out. I am even more peeved when people (ie customers) start to be convinced by them and start buying. And that includes my parents!!
Well my parents, particularly my mum is typically the kind of person whom u can't really correct her thoughts; cos she will either forget on the next occasion, or she will start arguing and end up quarrelling. So gradually i have given up trying to justify my point of view to her. Or at least i will try till the point when i know that an argument will result.
Anyway, at the medicinal hall, there was this chinese physician offering to diagnose our problems by looking and cursory palpation. (PS- before i continue, i am not trying to say that i am against all TCM - my stand is clear, so long as it is not harmful, there is no harm trying, and that's what i told the patients too). But i detest the fact that some TCM physicians tend to make it sound that their herbs are more superior, and that western medicine can't cure the root of the problems etc etc. Well i believe in evidence-based medicine, and if u can show me some clinical trials demonstrating the effectiveness or efficacy of whatever wild grass, then i might be convinced. But that's not the case most of the times, eg in this case, the physician would say some vague problems u have (eg: u are too heaty). This worst thing was she kept asking us to buy three month supply, and when i said no money, she will say buy two month supply, and when i said really no money, she will say buy one month!!! Is that money-hungry or what… Nonetheless, i am quite impressed with the physician cum salesgirl's tougue. I tried not to be too hostile towards her anyway.
We visited Splenidid China next, or better known as 小人国 the world's largest miniature theme park featuring over 80 well known scenic spots and historical sites of China, including 紫禁城, great wall of china, etc. We also watched 3 cultural shows, which were 1) some folk dance in an aircon theatre which i fell asleep; 2) show at turf ground which protrays a war with soldiers running about in horses and performing some stunts. Impressive! 3) a chinese folk cultural show in a bigger auditorium, but the seats are very close to one another... kinda claustrophobic. This show was very entertaining too, which incorporates and makes full use of the lightings, clothings and music for the amazing effects. The stage is also specially constructed with moving platforms and hidden fountains.
Splendid China
horse about to jump over fire.
One of the best cultural shows that i have seen so far. and what are those two heads doing there?!
Dinner at another restaurant which is actually a branch of the one we had for lunch. But this time got cereal crabs and drunken prawns! Quite delicious. We then proceeded back to the train station to return back to Hong Kong. Another shock - the tour guide didn't provide us with the boarding pass to HK and we had to fill up at the train station itself! So poorly organised and expected us to pay them tips... Checked back in at Shamrock room 916.
My concluding statement regarding my one-day tour in Shenzhen - well urbanised, peppered with scenic attractions and some persistent beggars. Probably not too safe to travel alone if you dun look street-wise enough.
Day 5 (30/9/07 Sunday): Singapore
Checked out hotel at 9.15am after waking up at 8am. We have the whole day to ourselves today as our flight was at 8pm. We first had breakfast at this renowned eating place called xiang gang zai, which has a lot of other branches as we later found out. We ate their specialty dish which is fishball horfun. Quite nice, especially when i like eating fishball to begin with.
We took the MTR from Jordan station to 旺角 2 stops away. Cost 4 HKD, comparable to Singapore. This is supposed to be one of the favourite spots for shoppers, and the woman street is located here as well. We walked and shopped along the various streets, from Nathan road to other junctional streets. Nothing much actually, although somehow i feel that we didn't really explore this area well enough. Stopped by MacDonald for a pee break cum rest and ate their sundae and yam pie. Finally brought some shirts along the way, and they have special offers as it is China's national day! In fact, they have one week of holiday... how good is that!!
We walked along Nathan Street towards You Ma Ding MTR station. Yup it is actually walkable from station to station. Stopped by a famous desert stall 许留山 for a rest and some cooling pomelo sago with coconut ice-cream. Continued walking and soon we were back in Jordan MTR station.
We eventually stopped by a Chinese restaurant for lunch at around 2 pm. It is something like Crystal Jade, except that it is cheaper. So like what i always ordered in Crystal Jade, i had some pig intestine porridge. Contuned to shop for what it was worth and walk towards Jian Sha Jui station. Finally bought some bread for us to eat in airport in case we are hungry. Met up with the rest at the hotel lobby at 5pm and took the bus back to HK airport.
Another shock began - first, the tour guide was late, and next, all our seats in the plane are jumbled up!! In fact, right now as i was typing this on the plane, i am sitting beside somebody else from the tour group whom i have never spoken to before! Anyway being the friendly me, we managed to make some small talk lah..
Took CX715 back and had some gross pepper fish rice on board. Reached Singapore at around 11.33pm. Home sweet home at about 1 am. Damn tiring… I missed my bed.
need to show some food in this paradise! 1) famous hong kong zai fishball soup. they called fish ball "fish egg".
2) famous dessert! xu liu shan
The Aftermath.
I can’t really say that I have enjoyed this trip to the fullest, due to the following reasons:
1) It seems incomplete. I dun think I have fully explored the significant areas of HK yet. Should have visited Central 中环 if time permits.
2) The tour guide from HK Freedom tour agency was quite jia lat… firstly he was late for a couple of occasions; secondly he gave us haphazard seating arrangement on the plane; thirdly he earned quite a lot of profit from us yet didn’t fulfill his terms of reference and job scope; fourthly he didn’t give us the boarding pass on our way back to HK from Shenzhen. Though he does know the background of HK quite well, which is a must for all tour guides anyway.
3) I haven’t bought and eaten enough!!
4) The climate was not really suitable.
So I believe a backpacking trip or free-and-easy one will solve problems 1-3. If I were to give feedback, I will give Chan Brothers a D. They shouldn’t overlook the details, and should ensure that their sister tour agency in HK/Shenzhen to be efficient and effective too.
Nonetheless, it’s the time spent together with the whole family that counts, although there were some minor squabbles along the way. Money wise, I have lost count of how much I have spent in total, but definitely a deficit from my September pay sighz.
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