HK Day 3 The Peak

Wednesday 28th, Day 3.  Humidity: 77 degrees

Today we went to see The Peak.  It was a much anticipated visited especially after the Kylie Chan books.  Along the way we joked about the possibility of seeing dragons circling around the Chen apartment! 

From Yau Ma Tei MTR, we caught the train to Central.  It was a long and uphill walk from Central to the Peak terminal.  Not fun.  The queue for the Peak tram was quite short; trams come every 8 minutes so we didn't have long to wait.  Ant cleverly figured out we had to sit on the right hand side for the best view and he was right.

Peak Tram

The tram ride itself was uphill as well which I found uncomfortable because of the steepness of the hill.  Once we disembarked, we went through the shopping village where there were lots of traditional clothing and costume jewellery on display.  We found a stamp/ chop shop where Ant purchased one with two entwined dragons.  The chops are custom-made within 30minutes with any text and Ant opted to have his last name on it. 

Looking for Mr Chen's apartment!

Then we went to the Sky Terrace which showed breathtaking views of the whole city.  In addition to asking other tourists to take our picture, we ended up taking lots of pictures for people as well.

Peak Tower

Lunch was at Bubba Gump after a quick browse and purchase of two cups at the souvenir shop.  There was a room in the Bubba Gump restaurant decorated exactly like the Gump living-room and furnished with tables and chairs for customers.  There were lots of still shots and quotes all over the walls of the restaurant too.  Lunch was expensive and cost the equivalent of dinner at the Laurel.  The food was good though!

Bubba Gump

Bubba Gump

After picking up Anthony's chop from the souvenir shops, we caught the tram back to the Peak terminal and walked to Central Station.  We meant to go to Wan Chai too to check out some electronic shops but we were too tired to remember.  Instead, we came back to the Hotel to rest our calve muscles.

Tsim Sha Tsui promenade

At 6pm we made our way back from Yau Ma Tei MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui for the light show on the promenade.  When we left the Hotel this morning, there was a sign saying there was a Level 1 Typhoon warning.  When we returned at 5pm for a short rest, the warning had been upgraded to a Level 3.  This meant it was incredibly windy at the Promenade.  Coupled with light rain, it wasn't very nice weather to be outside.  At about 7:30pm, an announcement came over the loudspeaker at the Promenade to say the light show had been cancelled due to bad weather.  Ant and I then had to find our way back to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR which was easier said than done.  After entering the subway and walking around in both directions, we eventually found the MTR right next door!  The subway station apparently is just a bus terminal.  

Dinner was at Hot Chilli again; turns out it's not called Hot Chilli but something else in Chinese.  This is why we couldn't find the restaurant last night; because we were looking for a restaurant that didn't exist!

When we returned to the hotel we were feeling rather adventurous so decided to find the elusive pool and gym that was mentioned in the Hotel's promotional spiel but we had yet to find.  The ad said it was on level 4 and 2 but all we found was an empty floor on level 4 and the meeting room on level 2.  After following the signs in the hotel lobby, we discovered the pool and gym belonged to the YMCA attached to the back of the hotel.  It also had the ticket booth to the double decker tourist bus that we had seen driving around.  Who knew!

Tomorrow morning we plan to have more restful activities to give our poor calf muscles time to recover.

HK Day 2 Ngong Ping 360 Tour

 Today we woke up at 9am after a refreshing 8 hour sleep.



Breakfast was at Maccas.  We discovered a new dish called sausage and egg cheesy pasta twist.  It was actually a bowl of soup with a poached egg, patti, some melted cheese and pasta.  It tasted alright.

We were excited about Maccas because it meant free wireless internet! However it was only for 20min and was very very slow so we didn't bother.

After brekkie, we walked to Yau Ma Tei MTR and got on the Tsuen Wan line to Tung Chung station for the Ngong Ping.

Located on Lantau Island, we had to catch a cable car to go on this giant Buddha tour.

My Octopus card wouldn't let me through the barriers at Central and the Customer Service staff member had to swipe my card through a special machine twice.  It was a long walk between the Customer Service and the ticket barrier.

From Central, we walked 10min to Hong Kong Station then hopped on to the Tung Chung Station.

We walked to Exit B3 to reach the Ngong Ping cable cars building.  There, a staff member recommended that we buy a tour package which included return cable car transfers and a guided tour of a fishing village, monastery and giant buddha via shuttle.  The cost was $250 per person as opposed to just $115 for a return cable car ticket.  We went with the tour option in the Standard car as opposed to a Crystal car with glass bottom.

And weren't we glad!  Part of her spiel for the guided tour was that we wouldn't have to wait to get on the cable cars.  If we went with just the cable car tickets, the queue was about an hour long.  There were so many people lined up; and it was only about 11:20am!  After purchasing our tickets, we went through the 'VIP' line which ran alongside the 'cable car only' line stretching miles and miles.

The cable car ride was about 25min and the view from the top was breathtaking; even though it was a very foggy day.  The cable car fits 8 seated people.

A staff member took our photo before our car left and when we arrived at the other end, staff were waiting for us with two printed pictures and two personalized key chains.  We paid $170.



On the Ngong Ping cable car



Our meeting point for the tour group and tour guide was outside Starbucks for the 12:30pm tour.

To kill time, we had lunch at subways and did some quick souvenir shopping.  Our purchases included a cute magnetic double happiness key chain.

At 12:30 we met our guide and group as scheduled, and hopped onto a nice a/c shuttle.  The fishing village (Tai O) was our first stop and we saw lots of dried fish such as fish maw (fish stomach), sea cucumber, dried oysters.  There were also fresh fish, prawns, and crab.  Inside the village, people live in stilt houses built on the ocean.  However there were normal houses outside the village itself.  We were also taken to the Museum which had relics such as opium pipes.

The guide then took us to a Taoist Monastery.  According to him, Taoism is about enjoyment of life.  Buddhism is about suffering.  He invited the group to burn incense (provided) and say a prayer.  Anthony did but I declined.  In the Monastery were statues of deities such as the God of Martial Arts - and two others which I have forgotten.  One had his middle finger out with a mini deity on the tip.

Then we had about ten minutes of free time which we spent walking around taking photo's.

We hopped back onto the tour bus at the end of the ten minutes and were driven to the area where the Buddhist Monastery and Giant Buddha was.  The guide left us after a brief tour of the Monastery so Anthony and I had a quick snack at the vegetarian restaurant nearby.

Restaurants in the area are not able to serve meat.

* There is a larger monastery being constructed just behind the current one.  It is anticipated to be finished in 2013.

I discovered (much to my horror) that the public toilets provided were squat toilets.  So I decided to hold it until after we climbed the many stairs to see the Giant Buddha.

The climb was long; we saw a monk slowly making his way up as well.  After about three steps, he would kneel and touch his forehead to the steps.  He did this until he reached the very top.  At the foot of the stairs, he knelt to pray with scriptures in his hand.  He wasn't the only one; there were many people praying as well, sans scriptures.

The giant Buddha is enormous.  You could really appreciate how gorgeous it was after catching your breath from climbing the steep 268 steps

foot of giant buddha

Buddhist Monastery

giant buddha

When we had had enough of taking photos, we made our way back down to the cable cars.  Unfortunately the line was full so it was a one hour wait.  Our fancy tour tickets didn't us into the 'express line' this time around because there was just the one line for 'standard cable car' and another for the 'crystal cable car'.  We amused ourselves; one by playing Angry Birds and another by deleting unwanted pictures from the digital.

We rode with the two talkative British girls who were behind us in the queue.  It was 60min + 25Mmin of non-stop talking so I was thankful to be rid of them when we got back to Ngong Ping train station.

From there we trained it to Mong Kok to do some outdoor shopping on Nathan Road - specifically the Ladies Market.


I also finally tried the fish balls from the little yet ubiquitous open air restaurants.  It was $12 for about 4 and they tasted ok.

Shopping at the Ladies Market is all about bargaining.  It's not something I'm good at it so Anthony and I have agreed that if I like something, I will tell him and we'll work out a price I'd like to pay, then he will speak to the seller and bargain.

After a day of sightseeing and shopping, we decided to go back to the room to rest.

By the time we were rested up, it was 9:30pm.  Dinner was takeaway Burger King.  We couldn't remember where Hot Chilli was.

* Hot Chilli is the restaurant we innocently stumbled into when we landed on Monday.  It wasn't until we had eaten and paid that Ant discovered the restaurant's name.  It explained why we ordered the second level of 'hotness' and received extremely chilli soups.



3 More Days

Time flies.

It still hasn't sunk in yet that I'm getting married on Saturday.  Right now I'm meant to be going through the Seating Chart but I'm taking a break from it.  The Kan Family list is in my folder in Ant's car.  He's at work.  Luckily it's a small list so it's ok that I can't do it now.

Tonight we will be attending a Yam family dinner.  Most I have already met so it won't be too uncomfortable.

The favour boxes have all been built, (they were done by Catherine and Valerie before I arrived).  With the help of Leny, Joanne, Ant's Aunty Georgina and Uncle Andrew, Ant and Mr Yam, stuffed all 400 with the Suga candy and fortune cookies.  Packaging the Suga lollies was quite difficult because once we opened the 1kg bags, the lollies would start to melt from the humidity.  We had to work very fast to spoon them into the little re-sealable bags.  From there, stuffing the boxes was easy.

Right now I'm coming down with the flu.  My throat and head has been sore.  Green phlegem in the morning is not fun.

Ok back to my seating chart!

Feejee

This post is being made from...Fiji!~!

Unfortunately this trip has been shit so far.  On the plane ride I had to throw up because I was incredibly hungry and there was a bit of turbulence.  The seat belt sign was switched on which meant we couldn't move around but I absolutely had to get up to go to the loo.  So I went staggering to the loo and the hostess reprimanded me a little but softened when she saw me holding the vomit bag.  When I asked her for some water she gave me a whole bottle of Fiji Water.

And during the rest of the flight she would ask me if I was feeling better.

Landed in Fiji on Saturday morning 6:40am.  Flight was delayed due to late take off.

Because I was travelling on my Aussie passport, I had to join the 'International Passport Holders' queue at passport control which turned out to be a huge pain in the ass.  Only four counters were open for a full plane.

I was one of the last people to pick up my bag from the carousel.  I bought my duty free - two Black Labels - picked up my bag from the carousel and went through Customs.  I was asked to open my suitcase at Customs.  So I obliged and  turns out it was the wrong suitcase.  So I went back to the carousel to put it back but could not find mine.  Besides the one I had picked up, there was another one on the belt but it wasn't mine.

So the conclusion was, someone had walked off with my suitcase without realising.

I lodged a report with the airport staff who were able to do some detective work on their end in tracking the woman down.  She returned my bag the next morning which is most annoying coz it meant I had nothing for a whole day.

Then my parents landed on Monday morning and we picked them up.  Got into Suva at mid-day and I have been throwing up since.  Everything that I eat and drink.

In a nutshell, I arrived on Saturday morning and so far;

1) I threw up on the plane; due to hunger and turbulence
2) some dumb bitch walked off with my suitcase (she picked the wrong one off the conveyor belt) and  I had to wait 24hrs before she returned it to me
3) I started throwing up everything I ate and drank from Sunday afternoon for two days
4) I had to get an injection on my ass
 

You Bastard

This post will be a vent about how much I dislike my uncle and putting it in writing will ensure I will always remember this.

The bastard had the gall to demand that I pay for his boys airfare to Fiji, and then the nerve to actually tell me off for not doing it.

Way before the wedding date was set, I made it clear to him I wanted one of his boys as page boy and I was willing to pay the airfare.  I also asked him if he would attend.  He made no committment.  After the date was set, he still made no committment.  I even texted him in July asking if he was going to attend.  No reply.

My father stupidly spoke to Lucy over the weekend and said I would be paying for Peter's airfare while Oy would pay for Jackson's.  And if we weren't willing, then my father would pay both.  This is becasuse my father really wants a page boy.  The siblings and I managed to talk him out of the crazy idea and told him there is absolutely NO WAY any of us should pay their airfare. 

That same night Lucy got Jackson to ring to ask me to pay for his and Peter's airfare.

On the next day, Lucy came over with the boys.  I told him we would NOT be paying for his boys airfare, the best we could do was 1 child, 1 way.  He said that wasn't good enough.  I told him that was final, was he still coming?  No reply.  He just sat on the couch watching tv.

Then yesterday he actually called Anthony and asked, nay yelled, the insane question, "Am I invited to the wedding?".  Not only that, he asked who was paying for his boys.  Ant put him in his place by saying, 'we offered to pay for 1 boy; how did boy turn into boys?'

Then he rang me while I was still at work.  He was yelling about how my father said we would pay for his boys and now we're changing our story.  Naturally I yelled back - people were staring as I made my way to a private room.

The offer was made to you in July with no response; you can't ring us 3 weeks before the wedding and expect us to pay when fares are so high now you bastard!

I asked him what kind of uncle he was to take advantage of his niece this way. Why should I have to pay for your kids airfare when everyone else is coming from overseas and paying their own way.

He then said he wanted me to book his and Yen's tickets and that he would pay me back.  So I did that.  He came to pick up the tickets last night and made some excuse about having to pay me in instalments because of the $1000 per day limit on eftpos withdrawals.  I told him I expect the money by Friday 9th before I leave because I have to pay off my credit card.  Otherwise I will cancel the ticket.  Because I would rather lose the cancellation fee than the the au$2000+

While he was over he also tried to get Peter to ask me to pay for their tickets. 

What a bastard.

Tea Ceremony

Firstly, I am happy to say my hives has finally disappeared.  It started on Thursday night and I stopped taking my meds last night Monday.  That's 4 days I had the hives!  Apparantly it gets worse each time you have it.  Makes sense; I had it last year in July and it only lasted 2 days.  Now 4.  So the next one might be 6.  Bloody fantastic.

What am I allergic to?  I would love to find out!

On the planning side of things, Ant got his mum in a state by mentioning that my family wanted to be included in the tea ceremony.

The Yams have already planned that we will serve tea to 12 couples from his side, and my parents.  So a total of 13.

My aunty Lily however had assumed all this while that I was serving tea to her and my cousins.  So my dad wanted me to ask Ant to ask his parents how they felt about it.  It would only be 5 couples including my parents, and they were willing to do it at Novotel just before the reception.

Ant objected due to the time constraints.  So I said to forget about it.  But he still raised it in his mum.  It's a big deal that he wants to serve tea to my parents.

So they have talked about it and the decision is no, we can't allocate time for my side to be served tea.  So my dad has decided that he doesn't need to be served tea either.  There's no point if it is just him and mum.

Below is an excerpt I found on The Knot which would describe ideally my type of tea ceremony in serve to both sets ofparents

Personally I feel tradition is great but is not always applicable with the times so it should be modified to what makes sense.

Hello Spring

Yesterday was the first day of Spring, how exciting!

It also coincides with my new pair of prescription sunnies and specs from Spec Savers.  They're forever having specials to get you to buy two pairs so even though I didn't need another pair of specs, I still got one anyway!

That reminds me that I'll need to organise my contacts when I'm in Fiji.

Last night I broke out in hives.  It wasn't unexpected.  Before I break out my ears will turn bright red and itch like crazy.  Then just before I'm ready for bed, I will start breaking out.

My bright red and itchy ears started yesterday after lunch.  And it can't have been an allergy to lunch because it was Vindaloo from the cafeteria which I eat quite often.

Luckily it wasn't as bad as last year - this year I still had the meds from last time so it wasn't a sleepless night and feeling sorry for myself.

Nope, this time I took a Loratadine, which is an antihistamine, slapped on my Celestone M ointment (which had expired in June of this year), and off to sleep I went.

I'm still breaking out in hives, but it's very minor.  Unfortunately my ears are starting to itch again. 

Time to pop into the Chemist downstairs for a fresh tube of ointment I think.