I love weekends. Who doesn't?
- the luxury of hitting snooze and sleeping in and throwing on a robe for the rest of the day
- collecting fresh laid eggs from my girls
- taking time to look at the flowers
- organizing clutter!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
The Weekend through a lense
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
S'pore Day 13
Saturday 8th October
Today morning we took it slow by sleeping in a little. I had my alarm set for 9:30am but was already itching to get up at 7:30am because I'm very conscious that I have work on Monday
We had brekkie downstairs at Rendezvous Food Court; I had the clear broth while Ant had the deep fried chicken wings. And of course we had the teh.
It was a humid day like the last three days before so we popped by Maccas to get a cold Milo for me and a Sprite for Ant.
Afterwards we walked to the Thieves Market which really was a waste of time. The Thieves Market is made up of dodgy stalls selling second hand goods. We saw lots of second hand clothes, shoes and other random knick knacks.
Ant saw a pair of headphones that retails at $400; the seller was asking for sg$250. Still too pricey.
Sim Lim Electronics Mall was our next stop. Sim Lim owns two buildings spanning 5 levels selling electronics.
There are toilets on every level as well so that worked out very well for me since I need to go every 2 seconds!
Bugis Market was our next stop and it worked out perfectly; we exited Sim Lim Mall and right infront of us was one of the entrance's to Bugis Market! I bought a dress for sg$20 - that meant I was down to sg$10.
Our plan was to catch a taxi from Bugis back to the Hotel so that we could then check out at 3pm (we decided to be extravagent and fork out the sg$10/hr for a late check out). But in the end it was much easier to just walk back to the Hotel in the sweltering heat because there's never a cab when you need one is there?
I had to have another cold Milo from the same Maccas on the way back.
Back in the room we quickly showered and changed into fresh clothes. Alas that shower was wasted because we had to try flag down a cab in the hot Singaporean afternoon. The Hotel said they could not call a cab for us so it was up to us to drag our suitcases along the road trying to flag one down. 10 minutes later by the time we figured out to just ring for one, I managed to flag one down. The sun must have really affected him that day because as I was opening the door of our hard-won cab, he told me to let it go because he was booking one with the telephone operator at that moment.
Think I listened? No!
Today morning we took it slow by sleeping in a little. I had my alarm set for 9:30am but was already itching to get up at 7:30am because I'm very conscious that I have work on Monday
We had brekkie downstairs at Rendezvous Food Court; I had the clear broth while Ant had the deep fried chicken wings. And of course we had the teh.
It was a humid day like the last three days before so we popped by Maccas to get a cold Milo for me and a Sprite for Ant.
Afterwards we walked to the Thieves Market which really was a waste of time. The Thieves Market is made up of dodgy stalls selling second hand goods. We saw lots of second hand clothes, shoes and other random knick knacks.
Ant saw a pair of headphones that retails at $400; the seller was asking for sg$250. Still too pricey.
Sim Lim Electronics Mall was our next stop. Sim Lim owns two buildings spanning 5 levels selling electronics.
There are toilets on every level as well so that worked out very well for me since I need to go every 2 seconds!
Bugis Market was our next stop and it worked out perfectly; we exited Sim Lim Mall and right infront of us was one of the entrance's to Bugis Market! I bought a dress for sg$20 - that meant I was down to sg$10.
Our plan was to catch a taxi from Bugis back to the Hotel so that we could then check out at 3pm (we decided to be extravagent and fork out the sg$10/hr for a late check out). But in the end it was much easier to just walk back to the Hotel in the sweltering heat because there's never a cab when you need one is there?
I had to have another cold Milo from the same Maccas on the way back.
Back in the room we quickly showered and changed into fresh clothes. Alas that shower was wasted because we had to try flag down a cab in the hot Singaporean afternoon. The Hotel said they could not call a cab for us so it was up to us to drag our suitcases along the road trying to flag one down. 10 minutes later by the time we figured out to just ring for one, I managed to flag one down. The sun must have really affected him that day because as I was opening the door of our hard-won cab, he told me to let it go because he was booking one with the telephone operator at that moment.
Think I listened? No!
S'pore Day 12 Botanical Gardens
This morning we snoozed again. I got up at 9:30am; an hour later than planned. Ant needed some extra convincing to wake up because he was online until 5am or some other crazy hour.
Off we went to City Square Mall for breakfast. They had stopped serving breakfast at Maccas so we settled for some congee. Ant had the century egg and shredded chicken, I was adventurous and had the frog legs. Both had a raw egg cracked into the clay bowl and then congee scooped over it. My frog legs tasted like fish, but that could be because it was served with anchovies. We ordered donuts too and they were cut up into bite sized pieces; like giant croutons!
Once done, we headed to Maccas for a cup of their yummy cold Milo SG$2.60. Then we had to race to catch the Red bus. Turns out we neededn't have hurried because it pulled up about 10minutes later. Unfortunately I had forgotten the route timetable at home or we would have strolled after that big brekkie.
First stop was the Botanical Gardens because Ant wanted to see their Orchids. The gradens have a rainforest area and another area dedicated to orchids. And why not, these floweres are gorgeous! We took lots of pictures for his dad. The humidity was stifling and soon it started to drizzle. By now it was about 3pm.
We hopped on to the Red bus again and rode a few stops to Funan Digital Centre. There, we got off and waited for the Original bus to interchange to Orchard Road. Orchard Road is a prime strip of shoppping with high end shops, malls and lots of food courts. The rain was really coming down by now so we took the opportunity to have lunch in one of the malls. I had the laksa set which included a teh. Ant had a combination of noodles, minced beef and mushroom with soup on the side. We weren't sure if he was meant to mix the soup with his noodles. Altogether our meal only cost sg$10 which was unbelievably cheap. My laksa even had about 5 blanched oysters.
After our very brief tour of Orchard Rd, we caught the City bus to Bugis Market. The market was full as usual.
We stopped by our fresh juice shop and bought a pineapple juice and a mango juice. We ended up with two pineapple juices so Ant was not amused. The drink got slimely about half way through so we threw them away. They cost sg$1 each. On the way out of the market, we bought a soursop juice for me and a lime juice for Ant - We got what we wanted because I ordered. sg$2.50 and super delish.
Unfortunately we missed the 5:27pm bus so we had to walk back to the hotel. From Bugis to Lavender, it's a nice 20minute walk. Because it had rained a little, the temperature was tolerable too.
When we arrived at reception to get our keys for the room, the staff asked if we would be checking out. We said no, check out was tomororw (Saturday). According to their records, we had only paid up until tonight so they wanted us to pay an extra night or if we were checking out, we had to pay $5 for the cost of having the room made up. We told them we had to go to our room so that we could look through our own records on Hotel Club.
Luckily both Ant and I had printed out all our itinerary's and hotel bookings. I left my hotel booking in Melb, but Ant had a copy which clearly confirmed checking out on Saturday. The staff were apologetic after double checking it on their end.
After bumming around in the room and watching some tv, (Ant using the free wireless), we went downstairs to the Lavender Food Court. There are about 12 different food shops in the one complex and all decently priced. I had the chicken rice set which was simlar to hainanese chicken and a side dish of kai lan. Only sg$5. Ant had a huge meat platter which cost sg$16. His eyes were too big for him - his stall was one of the build-your-own dishes sort of shop where they put all the ingredients out and you choose everything you want in it.
We also bought takeaway teh to kai colo the plastic bag it comes in. And we bought dessert. Longan and lotus seed for me and grass jelly and red beans for Ant. Meh.
Now we're nice and full and watching X Factor in our room!
S'pore Day 11
Thursday 6 October
Singapore sure is hot! This morning we woke up at 8:30am and then promptly hit snooze on our respective mobile phones.
This meant our ambitious plan to be waiting for the Tourist bus at 9am didn't eventuate. Instead, we didn't get to the bus stop until 11am.
To get to the bus stop from our hotel, we had to walk to Maccas at City Square Mall, then to Mustafa Centre.
The most important meal of the day was at Maccas. We thought HK Maccas had a great brekky selection - Singapore was an eye opener! The menu included cold milo and a breakfast supreme with a patti, hot cakes, bun, turkey and hash brown. Very filling!
We were waiting for the bus at Syd Alwi Rd like the tourist map said. But the bus drove right on by and turned into the next road instead. Ant figured it was because there was road works on Syd Alwi so the driver had to turn into the next road.
The Singapore Ultimate Sightseeing Pass cost sg$33 each for a 2 day pass. It gives unlimited access to 5 tours (3 buses and 2 river) and commentary along the way of all the popular attractions. It's on a hop-on, hop-off basisso it's all about doing your own thing and then hopping back on the bus afterwards. Buses run every 30minutes.
The first bus starts at 9:30am and the last bus is at 6:3pm.
From Mustafa Centre, we caught the Red Heritage Route. The route started with H###.
Our first stop was Bugis Market. This is a shopping area in a big arcade-style building. The building spanned 3 levels and was full of ladies fashion.
Besides fashion, the ground floor had snacks and there was a fresh juice stall that we absolutely loved! We tried the soursop juice, watermelon juice and lime juice. Each cost between sg$1 - sg$1.50. All were delicious!
We didn't spend too long at Bugis Market because of our late start unfortunately. I made two purchases; a blouse sg $10 and a dress sg$31.40 for work.
Aware that a bus was due to arrive soon, we raced back to the bus stop. We had to cross a major road to get to the bus stop; while we were waiting at the lights we saw the bus approaching. Once the lights turned red, we raced across the road but the bus was already pulling away. So we flagged it down. Luckily the driver stopped to let us board, but he told us not to do it again.
Next stop was Funan Digital Centre. This mall was about 5 levels and stocked full of electronic shops. Ant had a ball salivating over the latest technology. I was bored mostly and entertained myself with the free 20minute internet kiosk. These kiosks are found one very level but half were under repair. We had lunch in the Food Court. There were 6 restaurants and they all looked yummy. I settled for one that sold Chinese herbal soup. Ant had a hot plate. We finsihed with a dessert called bo bo cha cha. Tasted ok - very sweet though and we didn't finish it.
At about 4pm we were waiting at the bus stop to go to see the Chinatown. To do this, we had to go to the depot then hop onto another bus. Unfortunatly we got on the wrong bus; instead of the Red Heritage Route, we got on the Yellow City Route. This meant we went on a whole tour of the City which wasn't all too bad, but we had intended to save it for tomororw. Getting on the wrong bus meant we had less time to spend at Chinatown once we got back onto the right bus.
After the scenic City tour, which included driving past the Singapore Botanical Gardens, Embassies and the more affluent area of Singapore, we arrived at the Suntec bus depot.
We stayed on the bus for 30min while it waited for other passengers. Our intention was to see the Merlion and then go to Chinatown and the guide recommended we stay on the Yellow City Route to see the Merlion, then hop onto the Original Tour bus from there to get to Chinatown.
the Merlion is Singapore's national icon. This creature has a lion's head and a mermaid's body. There is a huge statue of it on the bank of the ocean, spitting water, on the Fullerton promenade that we went to.
Thanks to Ant's navigating skills, we found the bus stop for the Original Tour (which was not the same bus stop as the Yellow City route). We made it to the bus stop with 5minutes to spare (partly because we only spent 1minute seeing the Merlion and because the Original Tour bus was late).
Chinatown wasn't that great; it started drizzling once we got on the Original Tour bus and one stop later when we disembarked, it was pouring. So we were really sheltering under the awning of each outdoor shop. It's also when my ears started itching like they do just before I'm about to break out in hives. That concerned me but I left that to worry about later. After a quick and brief tour of the stalls, we decided to have dinner to wait the rain out.
I had the famed Singaporean spicy crab served in an egg and tomato-based sauce, some baby kai lan veggies, a seafood hot plate, deep fried chicken wings and seafood hokkien noodles. We had two cups of the yummy Singaporean tea.
We must have sat at the table for over 30min waiting for the rain to stop. To get back to the Hotel, we caught a cab. It only cost under sg$10 for the ride.
Luckily I didn't break out in hives; I only itched a little on the inside of my elbows and on my arms.
Singapore sure is hot! This morning we woke up at 8:30am and then promptly hit snooze on our respective mobile phones.
This meant our ambitious plan to be waiting for the Tourist bus at 9am didn't eventuate. Instead, we didn't get to the bus stop until 11am.
To get to the bus stop from our hotel, we had to walk to Maccas at City Square Mall, then to Mustafa Centre.
The most important meal of the day was at Maccas. We thought HK Maccas had a great brekky selection - Singapore was an eye opener! The menu included cold milo and a breakfast supreme with a patti, hot cakes, bun, turkey and hash brown. Very filling!
We were waiting for the bus at Syd Alwi Rd like the tourist map said. But the bus drove right on by and turned into the next road instead. Ant figured it was because there was road works on Syd Alwi so the driver had to turn into the next road.
The Singapore Ultimate Sightseeing Pass cost sg$33 each for a 2 day pass. It gives unlimited access to 5 tours (3 buses and 2 river) and commentary along the way of all the popular attractions. It's on a hop-on, hop-off basisso it's all about doing your own thing and then hopping back on the bus afterwards. Buses run every 30minutes.
The first bus starts at 9:30am and the last bus is at 6:3pm.
From Mustafa Centre, we caught the Red Heritage Route. The route started with H###.
Our first stop was Bugis Market. This is a shopping area in a big arcade-style building. The building spanned 3 levels and was full of ladies fashion.
Besides fashion, the ground floor had snacks and there was a fresh juice stall that we absolutely loved! We tried the soursop juice, watermelon juice and lime juice. Each cost between sg$1 - sg$1.50. All were delicious!
We didn't spend too long at Bugis Market because of our late start unfortunately. I made two purchases; a blouse sg $10 and a dress sg$31.40 for work.
Aware that a bus was due to arrive soon, we raced back to the bus stop. We had to cross a major road to get to the bus stop; while we were waiting at the lights we saw the bus approaching. Once the lights turned red, we raced across the road but the bus was already pulling away. So we flagged it down. Luckily the driver stopped to let us board, but he told us not to do it again.
Next stop was Funan Digital Centre. This mall was about 5 levels and stocked full of electronic shops. Ant had a ball salivating over the latest technology. I was bored mostly and entertained myself with the free 20minute internet kiosk. These kiosks are found one very level but half were under repair. We had lunch in the Food Court. There were 6 restaurants and they all looked yummy. I settled for one that sold Chinese herbal soup. Ant had a hot plate. We finsihed with a dessert called bo bo cha cha. Tasted ok - very sweet though and we didn't finish it.
At about 4pm we were waiting at the bus stop to go to see the Chinatown. To do this, we had to go to the depot then hop onto another bus. Unfortunatly we got on the wrong bus; instead of the Red Heritage Route, we got on the Yellow City Route. This meant we went on a whole tour of the City which wasn't all too bad, but we had intended to save it for tomororw. Getting on the wrong bus meant we had less time to spend at Chinatown once we got back onto the right bus.
After the scenic City tour, which included driving past the Singapore Botanical Gardens, Embassies and the more affluent area of Singapore, we arrived at the Suntec bus depot.
We stayed on the bus for 30min while it waited for other passengers. Our intention was to see the Merlion and then go to Chinatown and the guide recommended we stay on the Yellow City Route to see the Merlion, then hop onto the Original Tour bus from there to get to Chinatown.
the Merlion is Singapore's national icon. This creature has a lion's head and a mermaid's body. There is a huge statue of it on the bank of the ocean, spitting water, on the Fullerton promenade that we went to.
Thanks to Ant's navigating skills, we found the bus stop for the Original Tour (which was not the same bus stop as the Yellow City route). We made it to the bus stop with 5minutes to spare (partly because we only spent 1minute seeing the Merlion and because the Original Tour bus was late).
Chinatown wasn't that great; it started drizzling once we got on the Original Tour bus and one stop later when we disembarked, it was pouring. So we were really sheltering under the awning of each outdoor shop. It's also when my ears started itching like they do just before I'm about to break out in hives. That concerned me but I left that to worry about later. After a quick and brief tour of the stalls, we decided to have dinner to wait the rain out.
I had the famed Singaporean spicy crab served in an egg and tomato-based sauce, some baby kai lan veggies, a seafood hot plate, deep fried chicken wings and seafood hokkien noodles. We had two cups of the yummy Singaporean tea.
We must have sat at the table for over 30min waiting for the rain to stop. To get back to the Hotel, we caught a cab. It only cost under sg$10 for the ride.
Luckily I didn't break out in hives; I only itched a little on the inside of my elbows and on my arms.
 |
| lunch at Funan Centre |
 |
| the Merlion |
 |
| deed fried chicken wings & mango salad |
S'pore Day 10
Wednesday 5 October
At the crazy hour of 2:30am, we woke up and checked out of the Citygate Hotel, Hong Kong.
The gentleman at reception was quite surprised to see us, but he was veryhelpful and called a cab for us.
The taxi ride was fast; the driver was going at least 110km on the 30min trip. It cost us close to hk$200 only.
Ant and I marvelled at how there were still so many people out on the streets and in restaurants at 3am. Crazy.
HK airport is a maze; we had to check-in at T2 and then board at T1. Our flight was at 6:05am so we had to be at the boarding gate by 5:45am. The problem is, security at Passport Control would not let us enter because the secure area did not officially open until 6am. We didn't really care but some passengers kicked up a fuss which saw us going through to our boarding gate on time.
We managed to get quite a bit of sleep on the plane; well I know I did. We touched down at Changi Airport at around 11am and went through the motions of clearing Customs who didn't seem concerned that we had food and just waved us through. After exchanging our money (we were sad that the Singapore dollar is almost on par with the Australian - sg$1 = au$1.2), buying a sim card and visiting the Information Centre, we sat down to eat and was introduced to our first cup of yummy Singaporean tea.
Tea is called teh here. It's brewed and made with both evaporated milk and condensed milk. It's absolutely delicious.
We also discovered food in Singapore is very cheap. My bowl of laksa only cost sg$3.90. Admittedly it only had noodles, 4 slices of fish cake, and three big cubes of tofu.
While at the food shop, the money exchange guy came running up to us and heaved a big sigh of relief. Apparantly he had charged us the Malaysian exchange rate for the conversion of our HK dollars to Singaporean. This meant we had to give back about sg$150. Bummer!
The humidity hit us when we exited the airport. We caught the taxi to our hotel, Hotel 81 Lavender, which only cost sg$13.90.
Check-in at Hotel 81 is at 2pm but we got here at about 12pm. The clerk was nice enough to let us check in early without us having to even ask. Both Ant and I were curious about our room. Would it be nice? Or would it be terrible like the reviews on trip advisor had stated? The lobby was quite nice, despite it being small. Perhaps the room would be nice too?
The room was small; it fits a double bed with very threadbare sheets. The sheets also have little rips in them strangely. The mattress is wrapped in leather which is great in terms of cleanliness. Not great when you're trying to sleep though because the sheets tend to slide over the leather. The towels are also very thin and threadbare. There are no hand or face towels. There was also dust and hair everywhere; it looked like this room hadn't been occupied in a while.
The bathroom is just one big space with a sink, toilet and hand-held shower head. There is no curtain separating the shower head from the toilet which means the whole bathroom will get soaked after a shower. Personally I don't mind this too much but it does get annoying having to step on a wet floor when I need to pop into the bathroom to wash my hands after one of us has had a shower and there's water everywhere.
There isn't much space in the room. Besides a double bed, there is a little table with mirror on the wall. There is no wardrobe but four hooks on the wall. We booked the superior room so luckily we have a big window and window ledge where our suitcases immediately went. There isn't enough space on the floor to walk through otherwise. The standard room actually does not have a window. Lucky we were very thorough with our research and paid the extra sg$10!
After a quick tour of the room, we went out to discover our neighbourhood. We went to City Square Mall which is an eco mall.
We also went to Mustafa Centre which Ant came to when he was in Singapore with his family. It's a big department store with at least 4 levels selling everything and anything. We bought some snacks like kit kat for Ant and booja for me. Unfortunatley the hotel room does not have a hotel room so we couldn't get juice and milk like we did at City View.
We also went to the markets which sold lots of sari's and coconuts. It cost me sg$2 for a coconut and tasted quite different from the Fiji ones. Weird different.
Lunch was at Mohammads; a restaurant that Ant and his family ate at when they were here. He was incredibly excited that it was still standing. The food was ok.
We came back to our room before it got dark and hung around setting up our stuff.
Dinner was downstairs; next to the hotel is a Food court called Rendezvous Food Court. There are about 5 food shops in a big cafeteria-style indoor building. We had fried chicken wings, mango salad, tea and
Despite us being awake since 2:30am that morning, we stayed up until almost midnight. Because Ant asked about internet at reception and was told we had free access so naturally he was online all night.
HK Day 9 Wan Chai
Tues 4th October, Day 9
Because we like to do things at the last hour, Ant and I scheduled our Hunt for the Nine Wall Dragon for our last day in HK. After some online resarch that
morning, we found some information that said it was in Wan Chai. We called concierge to check and was asked whether it was a tourist attraction or a restaurant. After I confirmed restaurant, concierge conferred with his fellow concierges and regretfully told me no one had heard of this wall.
After a congee breakfast, we want to Wan Chai nonetheless. The search was futile; there was some construction works going on in the area where we thought the Nine Wall Dragon to be. It was quite disappointing.
But funnily enough, we took a different path back to the Wan Chai train station and came upon...the Wan Chai Computer Centre that we had visited Typhoon Nesat forced all the shops to close! Ant had a good time browsing, while I just wanted to have a pee.
Afterwards, we went next door to Maccas to have a cup of tea and sweet potato pie. Apple pie for Ant.
Then we caught the train back to Yau Ma Tei and from there went to the Ladies Market. By now I was well and truly bored of seeing the same stalls over and over but Ant was still excitedly dashing around looking for his gadget stuff. My only silver lining at Ladies Market was the coconut juice stand I had become addicted to.
Each time we went to Ladies Market - which was practically every second day - I would buy a cup of chilled coconut juice from the stand. It was a blended drink made from ice, a big piece of firm coconut flesh, evaporated milk and coconut cream. Delicious! It was hk$15 = au$2.
We wanted to go to Hot Chilli considering it was our last night and make the 8pm laser show at Tsim Sha Tsui promenade. The laser show is put on by all the tall buildings in the area and is a big attraction.
Ant preferred to eat at Ladies Market so we settled for Burger King which was nearby. Technically I just wanted to use their toilet after the coconut drink. The memory of what I saw in that toilet cubicle will haunt me forever.......a piece of stinky excrement on the floor infront of the toilet bowl. It was the only cubicle in use and there was a queue. I had no choice..............
I was so traumatised that I couldn't talk throughout our meal at Burger King. I could eat, I just couldn't talk.
Because we had bought things, we took a short walk to the Hotel to drop them off.
Then we hurried around the corner to the train station to catch the train to the promenade. The ticket machine caused Ant some frustration because after he had waited in queue for ages, it stopped working when it was his turn.
We were buying single-trip tickets at the station machines because the money on our pre-paid Octopus card had run out that morning. The minimum credit we could pre-load on it was hk$50. We figured there was no point. (I think we forgot we could get a full refund for the un-used credit from the Service Centre - one which was located at the airport too).
We made it to the promenade while the laser show was in progress. The highlight of my night was not the show, but sitting on the Starbucks deck afterwards with gorgeous views of HK's sky scrapers enjoying a latte with my feet on Ant's lap and the ocean wind blowing my hair everywhere.
HK Day 8 Star Ferry
Monday 3rd October, Day 8
As much as we tried not to, we slept in again. Curse the snooze button!
Brunch was at KFC. We had to share a Zinger burger meal and wicked wings. There were lots of school kids around as well which made me quite envious.
How come kids in HK can leave the school compound during lunch time but we couldn't in Fiji??
Today we planned to go on the Star Ferry for a round trip of HK Island. To do that, we had to catch the train to Tsim Sha Tsui promenade to the Ferry Terminal. We bought a round-trip ticket for a really decent price of hk$60 each for the one hour tour complete with commentary.
As chance would have it, Monday was the coolest day out of the 7 sweltering hot days we'd been there. Needless to say we were caught off guard - Ant was wearing a climalite T shirt while I had on a short and very thin dress. Because we had just missed a ferry, we had to wait an hour for the next one. To entertain ourselves, we went to Harbour City Mall located on the promenade. It was a fancy and very grand looking immaculate on the inside. It was also cold.
We did lots of browing at the sports shops - I was mostly trailing behind Ant and rubbing up against jackets to get warmer. I had a bit of luck too because we found a Dermalogica kiosk in the mall! Dermalogica is the skin care brand that I've been using in the lead up to the wedding and I feel it's done a good job,although it's quite drying on my skin which means I need to slather on the moisturiser. I bought a huge tub of cleanser to replenish my dwindling supply.
We stopped at Pizza Hut for food, ordering from their set menu which included a beverage each, a soup each, a pasta dish and a pizza. We finished every bite because the servings were small and most importantly, delicious! It cost hk$246 which is au$34.
We were waiting at the Star Ferry dock with 10minutes to spare. A ferry pulled in and after the passengers disembarked, we were told to embark. Ant and I tried to push away on board so that we could sit right on the bow of the ship; think that Titanic moment with whatshername and whatshisname saying they could fly. Yes, that part of the ship. Unfortunately, we got outpushed. It's HK afterall.
Our spot wasn't too bad; we were seating behind the first row. Eventually the cold winds drove the first row away so Ant gleefully took their seat.
We sat there from that vantage point freezing our asses off. It drizzled, but Ant would not give up his hard-earned seat. Luckily other passengers were idiots too so we all sat there and got drizzled on for a little while.
By the time we finally got off the ship, it was getting dark. So we caught the train back to Yau Ma Tei and back to our Hotel.
After resting up, we got into some warmer clothes and went out to Ladies Market. Instead of a proper dinner, we bought lots of fried fishballs and waffles from the outdoor vendors.
Which wasn't a very good idea because that night after we had returned to the room and showered, I was starving. I was in my nightie so Ant said I had to change out of it first so that we could go around the corner to KFC. My nightie passes for a day dress, so I refused. But he still refused to because I had showered and was going to 'pick up all sorts of disgusting stuff and bring it back to bed' when I went outside.
We couldn't come to a compromise so I went to bed hungry that night.
As much as we tried not to, we slept in again. Curse the snooze button!
Brunch was at KFC. We had to share a Zinger burger meal and wicked wings. There were lots of school kids around as well which made me quite envious.
How come kids in HK can leave the school compound during lunch time but we couldn't in Fiji??
Today we planned to go on the Star Ferry for a round trip of HK Island. To do that, we had to catch the train to Tsim Sha Tsui promenade to the Ferry Terminal. We bought a round-trip ticket for a really decent price of hk$60 each for the one hour tour complete with commentary.
As chance would have it, Monday was the coolest day out of the 7 sweltering hot days we'd been there. Needless to say we were caught off guard - Ant was wearing a climalite T shirt while I had on a short and very thin dress. Because we had just missed a ferry, we had to wait an hour for the next one. To entertain ourselves, we went to Harbour City Mall located on the promenade. It was a fancy and very grand looking immaculate on the inside. It was also cold.
We did lots of browing at the sports shops - I was mostly trailing behind Ant and rubbing up against jackets to get warmer. I had a bit of luck too because we found a Dermalogica kiosk in the mall! Dermalogica is the skin care brand that I've been using in the lead up to the wedding and I feel it's done a good job,although it's quite drying on my skin which means I need to slather on the moisturiser. I bought a huge tub of cleanser to replenish my dwindling supply.
We stopped at Pizza Hut for food, ordering from their set menu which included a beverage each, a soup each, a pasta dish and a pizza. We finished every bite because the servings were small and most importantly, delicious! It cost hk$246 which is au$34.
We were waiting at the Star Ferry dock with 10minutes to spare. A ferry pulled in and after the passengers disembarked, we were told to embark. Ant and I tried to push away on board so that we could sit right on the bow of the ship; think that Titanic moment with whatshername and whatshisname saying they could fly. Yes, that part of the ship. Unfortunately, we got outpushed. It's HK afterall.
Our spot wasn't too bad; we were seating behind the first row. Eventually the cold winds drove the first row away so Ant gleefully took their seat.
We sat there from that vantage point freezing our asses off. It drizzled, but Ant would not give up his hard-earned seat. Luckily other passengers were idiots too so we all sat there and got drizzled on for a little while.
By the time we finally got off the ship, it was getting dark. So we caught the train back to Yau Ma Tei and back to our Hotel.
After resting up, we got into some warmer clothes and went out to Ladies Market. Instead of a proper dinner, we bought lots of fried fishballs and waffles from the outdoor vendors.
Which wasn't a very good idea because that night after we had returned to the room and showered, I was starving. I was in my nightie so Ant said I had to change out of it first so that we could go around the corner to KFC. My nightie passes for a day dress, so I refused. But he still refused to because I had showered and was going to 'pick up all sorts of disgusting stuff and bring it back to bed' when I went outside.
We couldn't come to a compromise so I went to bed hungry that night.
Teh Tarik
While in Singapore, Ant and I discovered teh tarik. What is teh? It’s tea!
But it’s tea with a difference. It’s frothy and much much creamier.
According to Wikipedia;
Our first sip was at Changi Airport where we had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant selling typical Singaporean dishes like Laksa, curry, etc. Our meal came in a set, which included teh.
After that first sip of yummy goodness, our obsession with teh began. We had to have it morning, lunch and dinner.
Feeling adventurous, we tried the teh halia (ginger) and the masala teh. Ok admittedly we ordered those accidentally but it was still yum!
I’m back in Melbourne now and all I can think about is teh.
 |
| TakeAway teh; A yummy cup of frothy teh; Teh being 'pulled' |
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
HK Day 7 Stanley Market
 |
| Stanley Market |
 |
| congee breakfast |
 |
| Mila's Spanish Restaurant (Stanley) |
 |
| T in Hau Temple (Stanley) |
 |
| view from Stanley pier |
 |
| dinner at Ladies Market |
Sunday 2nd October
This morning we woke up late again. Housekeeping woke us up and Ant answered the door in a very groggy state. She didn't need to be told to come back later after looking at his expression.
After taking our time in getting ready while discussing where we wanted to go, we decided on Stanley Market. According to our tourist guide, there are three different ways to get to Stanly and each involved a train and a bus. We went with the one where we had to train it to Tsim Sha Tsui and then catch the 973 bus from Canton Road. It involved less walking.
Before leaving the Hotel, we popped by Concierge to ask about the House of Dancing Water show on Macau Island. Tickets cost $1,800 for Zone A (premium) seating and the ticket price included return hotel transfers, return ferry ride, lunch and a tour of Macau. Concierge gave us the bad news that HK was again on Typhoon alert. It was only Category 1 but he recommended that we not go to Macau because we may be stranded there if it went to a higher category. Disappointing.
The public transport system in HK is very efficient; we didn't have to wait more than five minutes to catch both the train and then the bus. The bus ride took close to an hour. It wasn't too bad thought because for $14.60 we got to see quite a few areas. We also drove past Ocean Park! Stanley is located on the promenade next to the ocean so was a very scenic ride. We saw Repulse Bay beach and Deep Water beach. The area definitely has an up-market feel. However bargaining is still allowed at stalls. We arrived at about 2pm and strolled along the shops along with the rest of the tourists; it was a miserable day because it was raining since morning. I had forgotten the umbrella on the bus and remembered after we had disembarked. Luckily the door was still open so Ant jumped back on to retrieve it. Good thing too or we would have gotten soaked.
At 3:30pm we decided to have lunch at Milas which happened to have a Spanish Buffet between 3 to 5pm. It's an interesting buffet style because besides the food on display, they also provided a menu listing about six dishes that are made to order. These were appetizer sized meals which were presented beautifully albeit in small portions. Not knowing how small the portions were, we only ordered three dishes to share because we didn't want to look greedy. But we were generous with the food on display. Well at least I was. The buffet price only included tea and coffee. So we ordered a cup of tea at the start. And then we ordered another cup towards the end. When the bill came, we found they had charged us for the second cups because only the first cup was included!
After lunch we decided to leave because it was going to get dark soon. We hopped on to the bus with some very loud Philippinas and two Australian couples. Ant's ipod was a very welcome alternative to listening to their chatter.
We got off the bus at Admiralty and caught the train back to the hotel. After re-packing, we went to Ladies Market because Ant wanted his Adidas ipad case. We walked through the long line of stalls twice but could not find the stall.
Dinner was at a restaurant behind one of the stalls. I had a yummy hot pot wontons with rice and hotpot bbq chicken in noodles for Ant with spicy deep fried wings to share. And iced tea. It's the most popular drink here.
On the way back to the Hotel we saw that our nearest Foreign Exchange offered a decent rate of 7.3. So Ant changed the last of our Australian dollars. We learnt today that you can also bargain for better exchange rates! It was by accident; we had asked for the rate at a foreign exchange and as we were walking away, the lady offered us a better rate. Still too low for us unfortunately. But we learnt a lesson: you can even bargain for better rates at a HK foreign exchange!
HK Day 6 Jardine's Bazaar, WTC
Saturday 1st October
This morning we woke up quite late at about 10:30am.
Housekeeping came knocking on our door while we were lazing in bed and Ant had to tell her to come back later. He got me to ring concierge to ask if the shops would be open because today is Hong Kong's National Day. To celebrate, there would be fireworks on the promenade at 9pm which according to Ant cost $37 million. Concierge confirmed yes, all shops were open.
We wanted to go on the Big Bus tour so went donw to the YMCA ticketing office (located at the back of the hotel building). The big bus parks outside the YMCA at night so it was a fair enough assumption on my part that the tickets were sold at the YMCA ticketing counter. However when I enquired the cost, the lady behind the counter gave me a blank stare. When I asked if this was where I could purchase tickets for the bus, she said no.
So off we went to ask concierge who said tickets could be purchased from the office at Star Ferry where the bus departed from. It was quite out of the way so we decided to put it off.
After a quick brunch at Maccas, we decided to go to Sogo at Admiralty. We also went to the World Trade Centre. The shops were all very up-market so it was more looking than buying. I did find it interesting that at Sogo (which is quite similar to our Myer), I went to the Estee Lauder counter and asked for the dream cover foundation. After describing it to the saleslady, she said it was not available in HK yet. Shame.
 |
Times Square |
 |
HK World Trade Centre |
 |
| WTC Starbucks |
After all that walking in the super fancy and hi tech buildings, we went to the only place we could afford in the whole building; Starbucks. There we had a comfy rest.
We also went to the HK Library. The building spanned an amazing 10 levels, complete with clear-glass lift. The interior was very grand and looked more like an expensive shopping centre.
We also went to the HK Library. The building spanned an amazing 10 levels, complete with clear-glass lift. The interior was very grand and looked more like an expensive shopping centre.
 |
| Jardine's Bazaar |
It was about 5pm by now so we went back to the Hotel. I bought two packets of yummy egg rolls from Maxim Bakery in the Yau Ma Tei train station.
The day before I had bought one too.
We also bought a skewer of spicy fish balls from the shop outside the station. Our second one since being here. It's very popular among the locals and the six balls are quite filling and cheap. It's also very delicious! Back in the room, we finished off the salami purchased on Wednesday from City Super in IFC mall. We also bought internet for 24 hrs at a cost of $100.
After setting up his downloads and whatever else Ant does online, We went back to Temple Street market for some browsing. We had been keeping an eye out for good exchange rates all day but could not find anything better than a 7.
We returned to the hotel at about 10:30pm. The stalls usually start packing up at 11:30pm and officially closes at midnight.
At 11:30pm, I was feeling quite hungry. We'd only had one meal that day and snacks in the arvo. So in our pj's, we went to KFC which is located around the corner from the Hotel. Their menu is definitely more extensive than the Australian one; they have a fancy range of wicked wings. Besides the original hot and spicy, they also have a seaweed one and a chilli and garlic one. We wanted to try the 6 pack which gave two of each. But the man behind the counter gave us six of the hot and spicy only. Ant didn't like his attitude - I said it was probably because he was Mr Big Man on Campus (he was the Manager on Duty). With our KFC in hand, we also popped by Circle K for snacks. I picked up a peanut butter bun in a sealed pack (this was literally a peanut butter bun). The bun didn't taste very fresh but the peanut butter was delicious, as peanut butter normally is. Ant chose a strawberry biscuit thing but he wasn't very impressed with it.
I went to bed immediately afterwards with a content tummy.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
HK Day 5 Ocean Park
Friday 30th, Day 4. Humidity: 88 degrees
Today we went to Ocean Park!
Ant is scratching his bum hole as I type; it's very distracting.
Back to Ocean Park - To get to Ocean Park, we had to catch the train to Admiralty then hop onto Bus 629. The Park is made up of two little islands connected via either an underground train or cable car. We rode the underground train to get from the first to the second island, and then rode the cable car to get back. It's amazing the construction work that has gone into making a hilly island a theme park of that magnitude, while still maintaining the natural fauna.
We spent quite a while there - we saw enclosures with asian animals (panda, red panda, some exotic looking birds) and saw amazing demonstrations with jelly fishes, dolphins and seals. We arrived at about 11:30am and didn't leave until 4:30, straight after the dolphin show.
After popping back to the hotel, we went and exchanged some currency. We've only got about hk$500 from what we started with. It's thanks to Aunty Georgina and Uncle Andrew that we had so much Canadian and American dollars to last us the first 3 days. The exchange rate was 7.2. After a bit of walking around we found two more foreign exchange places that offered better rates.
With our full wallets, we went off to Temple Street night market. I bought some little purchases like a bracelet, a ring holder and two sets of Japanese wooden dolls. My haggling skills are getting much better - I no longer feel bad because I've seen other people doing it too! I also tried a coconut which tasted quite different from the Fiji one. It looked different too because it was all shaven and fit into my hand quite nicely.
Dinner was at a very dodgy looking roadside restaurant. It consisted of chilli crab (very very small crab), beef noodles and snail. Yes, snail. Anthony insisted. And he ate the whole plate too. I've noticed restaurants are very competitive here where they hire people to hand out flyers on the streets close to dinner time. The restaurant staff are almost aggressive in trying to get you in. I paused briefly to glance at the menu board infront of a restaurant and was promptly mobbed by two staff members!
Ant bought an ipad2 from an electronic shop on the way back to the Hotel. We spent about 30minutes in that shop while he ensured he wasn't being swindled. Good thing he is so thorough.
I've worked up an appetite by doing our laundry in the bathroom cubicle. Packing 3 t shirts and 3 pairs of shorts sounded like a good idea to allow for more shopping. But when you consider it's a 9 night trip in incredibly humid weather, 3 t shirts and 3 pairs of shorts means you're constantly having to wash them. What was Ant doing the whole time? Playing with his new toy of course!
Today we went to Ocean Park!
Ant is scratching his bum hole as I type; it's very distracting.
Back to Ocean Park - To get to Ocean Park, we had to catch the train to Admiralty then hop onto Bus 629. The Park is made up of two little islands connected via either an underground train or cable car. We rode the underground train to get from the first to the second island, and then rode the cable car to get back. It's amazing the construction work that has gone into making a hilly island a theme park of that magnitude, while still maintaining the natural fauna.
 |
| Ocean Park |
 |
| giant crab |
 |
| cable car |
 |
| Ocean Park dolphin show |
 |
| coral |
After popping back to the hotel, we went and exchanged some currency. We've only got about hk$500 from what we started with. It's thanks to Aunty Georgina and Uncle Andrew that we had so much Canadian and American dollars to last us the first 3 days. The exchange rate was 7.2. After a bit of walking around we found two more foreign exchange places that offered better rates.
 |
| dinner: snail + prawns |
Dinner was at a very dodgy looking roadside restaurant. It consisted of chilli crab (very very small crab), beef noodles and snail. Yes, snail. Anthony insisted. And he ate the whole plate too. I've noticed restaurants are very competitive here where they hire people to hand out flyers on the streets close to dinner time. The restaurant staff are almost aggressive in trying to get you in. I paused briefly to glance at the menu board infront of a restaurant and was promptly mobbed by two staff members!
Ant bought an ipad2 from an electronic shop on the way back to the Hotel. We spent about 30minutes in that shop while he ensured he wasn't being swindled. Good thing he is so thorough.
I've worked up an appetite by doing our laundry in the bathroom cubicle. Packing 3 t shirts and 3 pairs of shorts sounded like a good idea to allow for more shopping. But when you consider it's a 9 night trip in incredibly humid weather, 3 t shirts and 3 pairs of shorts means you're constantly having to wash them. What was Ant doing the whole time? Playing with his new toy of course!
HK Day 4 Typhoon Nesat
Thursday 29th, Day 4. Humidity: 90 degrees
This morning we took it slow by sleeping in until 10am. It was a well deserved late wake-up after all the shopping and sightseeing from the last three days! It was still raining and very windy outside and we discovered the Typhoon warning had been raised from a Level 3 to a Level 8.
 |
| view from Hotel room |
 |
| Hennessy Rd exit! |
At Wan Chai, the computer shop was right next to the MTR exit so that saved us a bit of walking! On the way to the computer store exit, I noticed the Hennessy Road exit and just had to take a picture!
Most of the shops in the three level computer shop were shut. There were quite a few tourists shopping for a bargain though. In one of the shops, a salesman was showing an alarm system to a pair of Australian men and explaining the hi tech functions. Then he moved on to a watch. One of the tourists asked,'Oh and what fancy function does this watch do? Will it cook my dinner?' Turns out the watch had a spy cam built in.
Lunch was next door at Maccas and we took our time there eating, people watching and using the free 20 minutes wi fi! The menu is more extensive than the Australian one and included a sweet potato pie which we absolutely had to try! I thought it was quite yum but Anthony didn't like it very much.
 |
| sweet potato pie |
After lunch we decided to go for a short stroll to see what was in the area. It was drizzling so I bought a $38 small umbrella from a K shop (like a 7 Eleven) but in the short time I came out of the shop, the rain had eased.
Deciding not to waste the day, we made our way back to Wan Chai MTR to go to IFC Mall in Central. After initially getting quite lost once we exited the station at Central, we finally found the IFC Mall in the opposite direction we'd taken! Besides noting that most of the shops in the mall were closed, we always so how clean it was. There was a supermarket called City Super inside so I decided to go inside for a browse while Anthony was watching tv on one of the many that were mounted on the walls. The supermarket was very nice and of course, clean. Their range was quite extensive and there were many families and couples doing their grocery shopping. We also bought our dinner from there which was noodles, sashimi, salami and some califlower and mushrooms from the deli.
From Central MTR, we then had to catch the Tung Chung train to Lai King. From Lai King, we interchanged by catching the Tsuen Wan line to get to Yau Ma Tei.
It is now 7pm, about 2 hours since we got back to the Hotel. Anthony has been sleeping for almost the entire two hours. He has forgotten that we planned to walk to Mong Kok tonight to see if the Ladies Market was still happening.
** Ant woke up so we ate quickly and went out to the Ladies Market. There were no stalls. However two fruit stalls had items on display so we bought.......kavika! They were huge ones and while juicy, are not as sweet as the Fiji ones.
 |
| kavika |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)