Day 1 (A whole day on Macau Island!)
Sis, Ah Kor and Brandon sent us off at the Budget Terminal where i took Tiger Airline for the first time. Its Budget terminal alright..everything inside was inferior to the other 2 terminals although it is the newest. Even the air ticket was merely a receipt like paper. After checking in and before taking off, we went to Terminal 2 for breakfast at some Hong Kong cafe like restaurant.
Me Brandon and Puss
Sis and Ah Kor
Brandon and Nicky
After a 3 hours plus flight, we finally arrived at Macau International Airport. Upon arrival, we had to look for accomodation and thankfully there were agencies counteres right there at the airport to help us with that. We settled for a cheap guest house called Florida Motel or something, which was right smack in the middle of the city area. Upon alighting from the cab at our hotel, we forgot about our lugguage in the boot, thankfully the taxi driver reminded us and so the adventure continues! After settling down in our room, it was time to tour the country! We walked down their streets in search of bubble tea and some famous portuguese egg tarts but to no avail. We finally settled for some road side noodle shop which turned out not bad at all. We spent the rest of the day walking miles all over Macau and exploring..we literally covered nearly 1/3 of the country on foot. At night, we decided to pay a visit to the casinos..something Macau is so famous for. And that turned out to be an expensive mistake. First we went to Grand Lisboa. We had limited ourselves to losing either HK500 ($100) or winning HK1000 before we walk out. We tried our luck on the dice (BIG/SMALL) and got lucky at first...only to slowly lose away all our winnings lol. We eventually left and not feeling too sad..afterall its only $50 per person.
Welcome to Macau!
The place of our first meal in Macau
We had wanton mee
A Portuguese colony for many years, many of the buildings and streets were European inspired
At St Paul's Church
After walking and walking, we ended up at Wynn Casino. We decided to come out with another HK500 each this time and try our luck at Blackjack. What a super duper huge mistake it turned out to be. We lost all of it in less than 2 minutes. The minimum bet was HK200 and we managed to play only 2 rounds each before 1 combine effort. And we lost every round...how ridiculous is that? We eventually decided to walk away dejected...i was still in shock all the way...losing $300 just like that...come to think of it...i am still in shock lol.
God damn Grand Lisboa
And God damn Wynn
Inside Grand Lisboa
A mini Las Vegas alright
We consoled ourselves by convincing ourselves that we paid for the water show
Puss against the Macau Bridge
Day 2 (From Macau to Hong Kong!)
We continued the morning of day 2 in Macau. We went out for breakfast before deciding to visit the Macau Museum and St Paul's Church ruins which was closed the day before (Its closed on Mondays). After having our fair share of fun, reading about the Macau history and eating enough egg tarts, we were off to Hong Kong!
Some ruins from St Paul's Church
Entrance to the ruins
Inside the Museum
Some magnificant view of the city from the top
Some shots from inside the museum..and yes..we deliberately posed with that woman..she didn't just happen to be in the photo
Bye bye Macau
We took their Turbo Jet ferry which took all of around an hour. We arrived at the Hong Kong Ferry Terminal and as usual went on to search for our accomodation. We ended up at this guest house in Chung King's Mansion which was super duper small but surprisingly clean and comfortable enough to live in. Chung King's Mansion is an old building right in the middle of Tsim Sha Tsui which is filled with guest houses of our kind. The ground level was filled with the kind of stores you see in Mustafa Plaza and there were lots of indians around. Not exactly the kind of accomodation i expected but at HK280 per night in HK, its reasonable alright.
Our ferry
Inside it
Welcome to Hong Kong!
Some shots of Kowloon
Yup we visited their Avenue of Stars
As planned, we threw our baggages in the room and went off exploring Hong Kong! We first explored Tsim Sha Tsui and we dropped by at Silvercord, Harbour City, Sogo and the streets around. It was shopping alright for us..it is afterall the Great Hong Kong Sale! We went walked so much we decided to have a foot reflexology there...you can imagine the satisfaction we got from that...its good! We then visited the famed Temple Street at night..we had some claypot rice there for dinner. Other than that..it was kinda boring and we didn't get anything else from there.
Temple street
The claypot rice
Just what i need! We tried the Osim U-Squeeze at some shopping mall lol
Day 3 (Hong Kong Disneyland!)
We dedicated day 3 to Hong Kong Disneyland. This is only the 2nd Disneyland that i've been to and i must say that it is quite a disappointment compared to the California one. Firstly, its really small and there were no exciting rides for big boys like us. Mickey Mouse and all the other Disney characters spoke in Cantonese which was weird at first but i got used to it after awhile.
Yup the train has been specially designed for Disney
Inside the train
Welcome to Hong Kong Disneyland!
Captured and stuck at PirateLand
We had lunch at the Corner Cafe there
Tarzan's Treehouse was a waste of time
There is a water street parade twice everyday
The Golden Mickey musical show was what made the money worth it
Oh the adventure of Lion King show wasn't that bad too
We had the most fun at Buzz Lightyear's adventure ride
Us at TomorrowLand
Their "Most exciting" ride..which was tame
He's Mother Puss alright
Good riddance Hong Kong Disneyland!
Back to the shopping malls where we belong!
We left Disneyland in the early evening and we headed for Mongkok..also in Kowloon. We went to this 18 floors shopping mall there called the Langham Place. I love this spanking new shopping complex for its bright cosmopolitan feel and exciting buys. Oh and ride the escalators, its Hong Kong's longest indoor ones. As usual, we shopped and bought lots of stuff. And don't miss out the I.T stores that they have there...its like the Club 21 that we have here in Singapore..just that it has a lot more brands..and the clothings were pretty nice too. I am also impressed with the helpfulness, enthusiasm and politeness of the staffs there. It helps that most of them were great lookers too! Lol. I can really live in Hong Kong...every 5 girls that walked past were decent looking...and in Hong Kong..you rarely see overweight people around...amazing but true.
Day 4 (And over to Hong Kong Island!)
3 day in Hong Kong and we decided to explore Hong Kong Island. We took the MTR and alighted at Central. This is the island where you find some of the tallest skyscrapers in Hong Kong, the famous trams and the peak.
Some shots of Hong Kong Island
The tram!
Me on the tram!
Ironic isn't it?
We first spent some time walking around Central where we visited malls like the IFC mall, Landmark and Pacific Place. Then we decided to follow this 8 days DISCOVER HONG KONG guidebook from my sister. The book recommended this dim sum place called Lin Heung and we eventually found the place although the directions given by the book wasn't too accurate. It was weird at first because the place was filled with old people and we were actually undoubtedly the youngest people there at that time. Its has actually been around for around 70 years and the place is famous for being crowded, chaotic and jam-packed with jostling waiters and newspaper-toting locals. It was really crowded there and people had to share tables and so did we. We weren't knowledgable on Hong Kong's unique Yum Cha culinary cultures and was fortunately enough to have the help and guidance from a friendly uncle who sat beside us. It was a great experience eating there although we didn't really get to try out all their food because it was too crowded and we got too impatient.
Lin Heung
A shot of the waiter
The Chee Cheong Fun at Lin Heung
Bustling life along the streets of Hong Kong
Random shots along the streets
Next we went down to the famous egg tart store call Tai Cheong which was also featured in the book. It was just down the next street from Lin Heung and the egg tarts there were apparently so good that the former British Governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten's made a special trip there in 1999 to enjoy the smooth, creamy, piping-hot tarts. We bought 4 tarts at one go and it does taste special although i had better liking for portuguese egg tarts. Oh and if you do go there, go in the morning before the snaking queues form.
Welcome to Tai Cheong!
From there, we went to the Central to Mid-Levels Escalator. Its actually the longest outdoor covered escalator system on the globe. Its actually pretty famous and you must know it. It stretches a whopping 800m over some 20 sections. There were lots of restaurants, bars and shops throughout and you can actually hop off the escalator and indulge in some good food. And thats precisely what we did, we saw a Krispy Kremes Donut outlet and rushed into it. Its some famous donut outlet and its kinda surprising why they don't have it here in Singapore considering Singaporeans are willing to queue 1-2 hours for donuts here. If you know me well enough, you would have guessed that I chose the chocolate flavoured one they have there. The taste was unique..although i definitely won't queue up just to eat it.
Escalator ride
Me outside Krispy Kremes
Our donuts!
From there, we took a bus to the Peak Tram station where decided to pay the famous Peak a visit! (2nd time for me!) This time i visited Madam Tussaud and took a whole lot of photos! Other than that, the nice sceneries and envying those who live at condos around there, there wasn't much shopping or anything else to do there.
Us at the Peak tram Station
The Peak Tram
Fantastic view from above
Nope that's not a prostitute..that's Cher
Prince Williams!
Mummy Princess Diana
Ermm...cabaret performer me
Elle MacPherson!
With Cecilia Cheung
Martin Lawrence!
A king for the day
Mel Gibson!
Hey hello Bush how do you do
Nelson Mandela lah!
Hugh Grant!
Australian Prime Minister John Howard!
Ayumi!
You know what i mean
Pavarotti..apparently some famous italian opera singer
Salut!
Picasso or something
Hello Gandhi
Sun Yat-Sen lah!
Young Mozart here
Haha he's cute..Jiang Zemin lah!
I've no idea who are in the painting with me
I'm out of the picture now
Ah Mao Ze Tong
His name is Bae Yong Jun right?
Our hero!
Anita Yuen!
Yup..Hong Kong's most famous man
KO Puss
I got laughed at by many on lookers for this
David Beckham! He looks really ugly here though
Puss looks satisfied getting 2nd place...i obviously don't haha
Some Yokozuna
There lah Tiger
Rock and roll
The beatles!
Teresa Teng!
Wooh! My crotch clutching idol!
I'm a lucky man!
003 me
We then went back down to Central where we had dinner at this place call Lan Fong Yuen as recommended by the book again. They are actually famous for their pantyhose tea and pork buns. We tried the pork buns and noodles and gave the pantyhose tea a miss haha. Its authentic alright...a nice meal apart from the usuals that i eat.
The food at Lan Fong Yuen!
After dinner, we took the famous star ferry back to Kowloon and tried to coincide our ride with their symphony of lights which happens everyday at 8pm. It was boring though...complete with Chi-Na music. We then visited Granville Road famous for their factory outlet clothes. We found nothing special there though and we ended yet another tedious day in HK.
The Star Ferry. The ride cost a mere HK2.20!
Us on the Star Ferry
The fantastic view of Hong Kong Island from inside
Day 5 (Off to Stanley!)
Decided to visit Stanley which is off the south of Hong Kong Island. We took a bus from hell there, the bus driver was kinda crazy, he maneuvered his double decker bus around the curvy road there as if he was driving some rally race car. On our way there, we past by Repulse Bay, the famous beach in Hong Kong. It also happens to be the place where Jackie Chan's residence is located. Apparently, you can easily spot his house because his house is isolated from the rest of the houses and it is red in colour. We did see one house with red rooftop and white body though, but we couldn't be sure if thats the house.
When we finally arrived safely at Stanley, we went straight to Stanley Market, famous for being a souvenir-hunter's paradise. We were obviously bored there, luckily the trip wasn't wasted because of its nice sea surroundings. It was the typhoon period when we got there. The sea was choppy and the wind was strong.
Arrival at Stanley Market!
In Stanley Market
I love the wind!
The choppy waters
From Stanley Market, we walked over to the Murray House. This colonnaded building has a story to tell. Built in Central in 1844 for the British army, it was dismantled stone by stone in 1982 only to be re-assembled in the exact same form in its present location Stanley. It now houses the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and thats precisely where we went. The Museum has an ancient gallery where you can find exhibitions of the various era of ships used decades and centuries ago. And then there's the modern gallery where there are the models of big tankers that we use nowadays, there are also some interactive games you can play here which was pretty fun.
Murray House
Along Murray House
Inside the Maritime Museum
Exhibits inside the ancient gallery
The modern gallery
Having fun with the interactive tanker driving game
Our walk around the museum was cut short when a staff apologetically told us that a huge typhoon was approaching and they were going to close the museum. Rather than panic like Puss did, i was on the other hand pretty excited. Am i going to experience the first typhoon of my life? Hong Kong measure the typhoons using this tropical cyclone warning signals. On that day, it was pretty high..a signal 8 to be exact. According to Puss, it was actually the first time in 3 years that a signal 8 warning has been hoisted. And if the signal is 8 or above, everyone is required to go home regardless whether you're at work, at school or whatever. And so we did, we went home like everyone did. You can imagine the crowd on public transports that day, everybody were rushing home. Shops put musking tapes on their windows and closed for the day. All these add to my excitment, i was actually looking forward to experiencing the typhoon. So in the end when it didn't happen, i was actually kinda both disappointed and relieved at the same time. Spent the rest of the day in our rooms where Puss slept while i watched some movies on his laptop.
The mad rush home
We were pissed
The view from our room haha
We had dinner at Spaghetti House before calling it a day
Day 6 (Back to Causeway Bay for some shopping)
Because the original plan to do some shopping at Causeway Bay was disrupted by the typhoon, we went back there this day. The stores there were kinda similiar but Puss did manage to find some things to buy. Midway through the day, Puss's friend Remy met us there. He was also there on holiday together with his aunties. We continued walking around causeway bay before we met up with Remy's former JC classmate who is working in HK. We then had dinner at this eatery along the streets.
Shopping!
Streets in Causeway Bay
Puss and Remy
After dinner, we ran out place to go so we decided to visit Langham Place a second time. You know what..this must be one of the most uneventful days...i have nothing else to type lol.
Langham Place
Inside Langham Place
The door to our guest house
Shots at our Motel's lift lobby
Day 7 (From Hong Kong to Shenzhen!)
After 5 days in Hong Kong, it was time to say good bye. We took the KCR train from Tsim Sha Tsui which brings back direct to Shenzhen. The ride was about 45 mins to 1 hour long, on the way there, we saw some of the rest of Hong Kong which includes many industrial areas, schools and rural areas..somewhat like Singapore if you ask me.
Saying goodbye
The train ride to Shenzhen
Upon arrival at Shenzhen, we walked out the railway station and saw this Railway Station Hotel and decided to stay there. It was 3 stars and much much better than the Chungking Mansion guest house that we had of course..and its cheaper too! We came here with no plans or objectives..i guess we just wanted to find some cheap stuff and get a cheap massage haha.
Arrival in Shenzhen!
Our hotel
Our hotel corridor
Our room
Shangri-La in Shenzhen
Some shot of Shenzhen
To tell you the truth, i didn't feel very safe in Shenzhen...and i didn't really like the place. Everything of the place turned me off..including the dirty looking money that they have.
Had a lousy dim sum meal there
We followed the lonely planet guidebook Puss borrowed from the library and took their metro train and ended up at some shopping mall recommended by the book. The mall was modern, clean and big. The place was super empty...and there were interesting replica boutiques all around haha. Imagine an Armany boutique in a shopping mall like this...yes i didn't spell wrongly..its Armany not Armani.
On the metro
Oh they use tokens here instead of cards
Thats Armany for you
A food court in the mall
The mall
From there, we visited Dongmen..also featured in the guidebook. It was super crowded there..the place is well known for its small shops and markets. But again..we didn't feel safe there and decided to cut our visit short. Puss even got lured by some pirated dvd sellers to some secluded corner...we eventually did buy 2 DVDs at a very cheap price..but the experience wasn't good...they looked as if they wanted to rob us..
Dongmen
We back to our hotel area where we a massage at this massage place call Jian Fu Mei at Luo He Shopping Centre..also recommended by Lonely Planet. Nearly got scared out of our guts when we realised after our massage that they don't accept card payments. We had to dig out wallet and thank God..we had the exact amount of cash in our wallets that was needed for the massage. The massage there is really cheap as compared to Singapore..but you have to tip the masseuse and its actually all these tips that adds up to the cost. The massage robbed us of all our cash...and the story shall continue the next day.
The place around our hotel..Luo He Shopping Centre
Day 8 (The last day!)
Woke up early this day because we wanted to check the timing for our transport back to Macau. To our dismay, there was only 1 ferry timing that we can take to catch our flight. We walked a long way just to find a bank to exchange our Singapore Currency into RMB so that we have some cash to take the bus to the ferry terminal.
Back to Macau!
In the end, the ferry was delayed by nearly 1 hour...not that we were in a hurry though..we were just feeling tired already then and we just wanted to go back home.
There's nothing much to say for the rest of the day except that we took the flight back home, my nice sister came over to fetch us and we had supper at Jalan Kayu before going back home.
The airport
In the airport
Our plane
A nice end to a nice holiday...looking forward to the next!
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