Chapters:
1) Cheap, cheap, CHEAP! (Completed: 26th December 2008)
2) Peak, peak, PEAK! (Completed: 26th December 2008)
3) Eat, eat, EAT! (Completed: 26th December 2008)
Cheap, cheap, CHEAP!
We have been able to contact Suzanne since we arrived in Hong Kong and her mum had kindly offered to bring us around. On our second day there, her mum had decided to bring us to shop for cheap yet genuine branded goods. As the place was quite a distance away from the city area, we had to wake up early in order not to be late. Another reason why we woke up early was to try the Hong Kong dim sum for breakfast.
I brought them to the same restaurant that I went 4 years back for yum cha. The restaurant was just a stone throw away from our hotel. The food there was still as good, if not better. The most memorable dish I would say is the Custard Bun. When you peel open the skin of the bun, the custard would squirt and gush out of the skin. Oh my char siew bao! It’s so heavenly lah! And also, the food in Hong Kong is dirt cheap. In total, each of us just payed 12 bucks each for the food and that meal lasted us till late at night. We didn’t have a proper meal for the rest of the day.
On the stairs to the restaurant
Bustling with people
Ordering food. Don’t you think Adel looks like Xiao S in this photo?
FIRST round of order
Food paradise
After breakfast, we went to take a bus to meet Suzanne. As per Adel, we were suppose to meet her at the airport. Therefore, we went to take an airport shuttle bus at 8 bucks each. When we reached the airport, Benn called Suzanne and we realised we were supposed to meet her SOMEWHERE near the airport at Tung Chung. Wow, we effectively wasted 8 bucks on that stupid bus ride which took us an hour. From the airport, we then took a public bus to Tung Chung which was 15 minutes away from the airport.
On the bus to the airport
At the departure hall of the airport
Giant starfish
Reminding us that we would have to be back here in 3 more days 
The shopping mall that Suzanne’s mum brought us to was Citygate. All the shops in that mall were outlet stores which meant that all the shops there sold off season branded stuff. From Nike to Esprit, from Ralph Lauren to Levis. You name it they have it. And all these store have discounts up to 80%! Damn fierce can! People in Hong Kong are so lucky. Why can’t we have something like that, a shopping mall dedicated to selling off season stuff, in Singapore? This is so unfair! Anyway, don’t have to worry about it being off season. The fashion in Hong Kong is ahead of Singapore by 6 months. So all the things we bought there would be just nice for use in Singapore.
The girls and the guys had split shopping so Benn, Jeremy and I went to shop on our own. I bought two shirts from Esprit at 20 bucks each; The other guys got more returns. I wanted to get a pair of shoes from Giordano Concepts but they ran out of sizes.
In the Esprit store
The shopping mall
Christmas decorations in the mall
As you can see. there’s also Puma on the left
Taking a break: Double sundae and McFlurry from MacDonalds. The sundaes in Hong Kong even come with peanuts!
The guys and the girls met up again for high-tea and Suzanne’s mum treated us to dim sum. Coincidentally, the restaurant that she brought us to was the same as the one we went to for breakfast. At that point of time, I was still bloated from the breakfast we had but her mum was so nice that I didn’t have the heart to turn her down. In the end, I still ate a bit but there were still a lot of leftovers. Her good intentions ended up as takeaway for the next day’s breakfast. The bill ended up to be around 100 bucks Singapore dollars. So guilty.
Dim sum time!
Us with Suzanne and her family
Peak, peak, PEAK!
After high-tea, we went to catch the MTR to Central to visit the Victoria Peak. One thing very interesting about their MTR is that they have retail shops inside the restricted area, the area after you enter the faregates. So much for no eating and drinking on the trains eh? The train ride was short enough although we were very far away from Central (Imagine travelling from Jurong East to City Hall). We took less than 2o minutes in total for the trip. SMRT and SBStransit should seriously learn from them. I prefer the trains we have in Singapore as the colours are more pleasing to the eys but I kinda like the idea of having 5 doors on each side as oppose to 4 in Singapore for quicker boarding.
Our tickets
Retail shops INSIDE an MTR station
The train
The LED display map; old to Hong Kong but new to Singapore
Nice scenary
Finally we reached the station
The Central MTR station was huge. It was just like our Raffles Place station but on a larger scale. There were like 395832 exits and the layout was rather confusing. We went to seek help from the control station and we made our way out.
I like this photo. Everyone seemed to be in their own world.
Us again
Everyone in Hong Kong was so considerate. They would never fail to keep right, left in our context, when on the escalator.
Kuromi exhibition in the station
Free internet kiosk in the station. Something which we agreed wouldn’t work in Singapore unanimously. With kiasu Singaporeans around, I won’t be surprise if there was a queue behind the terminals if it were to happen in Singapore.
Christmas decorations and tonnes of human in the station
Once we came out of the station, we were at yet another city park. In this park, there were some statues and old buildings. From there, we tried to figure out the way to the peak without a map so we ended walking quite a fair bit. Initially, we approached a Caucasian lady at the bus stop whom offered to bring us there on bus. We chatted with her while waiting for the bus to arrive. She was indeed a very nice lady. However, it was only later that we realised that she thought we wanted to go to Victoria PARK which was totally different from Victoria PEAK. Lucky, we realised the miscommunication before we boarded the bus. She showed us the way there and we left her for the peak.
Along the way, we asked directions from a lot of people. With the help from the different people we came across, we made it to the Peak Tram station.
I have no idea what this building was
A statue
The CBD of Hong Kong
The Peak Tram station
We bought the tickets to the tram which cost us 6 bucks Singapore dollars. From there, we waited for the tram which brought us up to the peak. There were only two tram plying on this route which was why we waited for a while.
This was my first time taking the tram. The other time I came, I took a tour bus up. Taking the tram was indeed a very interesting experience. At one point of time, the tram was so steep that I could not even sit upright. As we went higher, we could feel our ears pop too.
Lots of tourists
While waiting
Entering the station
Train approaching
The logo on the tram
Inside the tram
The ride up
Only 2 seconds
By the time we reached the peak, it was already 7pm, 2 hours behind schedule. I intended to go up to the peak at around 5 ish so that we can catch both the day and night view of the city. However, we didn’t miss out anything. The sky was so foggy that we could not see much. Plus, quite a lot of buildings did not turn on the neon lights so the view was not as spectacular as what I expected it to be.
The weather up there was freezing. However, we still continued the ‘tradition’ of eating ice cream on the peak. We shared a three scoop gelato which tasted very weird. I ate only three mouthful and passed it to the rest.
Christmas decorations at the peak
Shops at the peak
Outside the ice cream shop
Peak Tower
Disappointing night view
We didn’t stayed there for very long as there was nothing much to see or to do. We came down and walked to the ferry terminal. We took a ferry back to Tsimshatsui for the light show.
The station
Going down
Madness jam
Fun shot
Missed the traffic light
The ferry terminal
Pier 7
The light show sort of started while we were on the ferry. It was literally a light show. They just showed us a few beam of lights and that’s it. How wonderful.
On the ferry
The light show on the background
Eat, eat, EAT!
Once we reached the mainland, we saw a group of photographers taking photographs of a moving train. I didn’t find anything special about the train but I just joined in the fun with my amateur digital camera. There was this girl distributing flyers on Toys ‘r’ Us which got Adel piqued. Therefore, we went to Toys ‘r’ Us to have some fun!
The Toys ‘r’ Us we went to happen to be the largest in Hong Kong. We found lots of interesting stuff and had fun playing the free video game. At the same time, Adel bought an Uno Stacko for her friend. After that, we went over to the Avenue of the Stars to take some photo.
Do you find anything special about this train?
Toys ‘r’ Us
So cute! The entrance I mean
Outside the Space Museum
Avenue of the Stars
Directors-to-be
Chio can!
More christmas decorations
We walked to Granville Road for some shopping after that. On the way, we saw a store that sells Hong Kong street food and we stopped for a snack. In Hong Kong, there are numerous roadside store selling finger foods. It is like their version of the Old Chang Kee. The things they sell range from curry fish ball to fried pig intestine. All of which were very delicious! If you have the guts to venture out, try their street food!
Granville Road is like our Bugis Street+Hereen+Cineleisure. It is where most of the youngsters go for shopping. The things they sell range from street wear to sports wear. So there would definitely be something that you will like. I didn’t buy much though, just a Nike bottle and some shirts.
Street food is the best
A mosque in Hong Kong
Nice shopping mall
A pub for dads I guess?
We slept quite late that night as did some serious shopping. After shopping, we walked back to our hotel. That’s all for Day 2 I guess.
****
For complete photos, please visit:
HK Trip 2008 – Day 2 (Part 1): http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54747&l=946c5&id=640492303
HK Trip 2008 – Day 2 (Part 2): http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54749&l=48704&id=640492303
HK Trip 2008 – Day 2 (Part 3): http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54752&l=6910f&id=640492303
HK Trip 2008 – Day 2 (Part 4): http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54755&l=46b97&id=640492303
