HK Trip 2010 - 22nd to 27th Dec - Part 3

26 Dec - 'Wedding' Day

Yeah so today's the day we have to meet relative and friends to celebrate our union. We were up early again and met Papa, Mama and Sis on Hong Kong Island. Papa has an apartment at Wan Chai and Meimei used to live there in her early childhood years. So we met at a Dim Sum restaurant to meet the old neighbors. I'm surprise they still keep in touch, even though it's been so many years since they were there. We even had a walkabout to sight see the old markets Mami used to go to buy vegetables and meat. It's nice to see that the streets and the people have not changed, even though Hong Kong has modernized so much.

For lunch, Papa brought us to the famous Yung Kee Restaurant for their roast goose. Oh my goodness, how do I describe it ... I'm at a loss for words. The goose was so fragrant, I could easily have swept three bowls of rice just with the gravy. We also ordered a prawn roll which was just as tasteful. The only gripe I have of that meal was that we didn't order many dishes for a table of five. I implanted into memory the place and made it a point that we have to return here again. For sure!

We spent the rest of the day shopping again till we set off for dinner at a restaurant. I can't remember the name nor the place now. We are pretty much 'going through the motions', not in a happy way but basically doing as told. Papa organized the entire event and all Meimei and I had to do was to be there. Even Grandma, who doesn't like going out of the house, was there as well. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces but it's all good. It's most important that Papa gets to 有个交代 with friends and family *wink

27 Dec - Back to Singapore


We are on the mid afternoon flight today. Both of us have to work the next day so we couldn't bank on the last flight. We had the last chance to have the meats at the airport, which turned out pretty good. 

The only incident we had was messing up the departure time. Our luggage was literally offloaded when we got to the gate. We had to beg the stewardess to let us get onto the plane. Meimei had a bad fall while running down the ramp to the plane >.< thankfully we managed to get on ... 

Afterthoughts

This is the most fun I've had in a long long time. I wished we had the time and money to go on a longer trip. But I will put it down to solely my fault for not having a real honeymoon. Meimei was very nice about it and termed this our Honeymoon instead. Man, I really love this women. Any other lady would have made a big huge fuss about it. But not her, she thinks the best of any situation and more so of me.

On a side note we came back with a whole luggage of loot! All that shopping! We must surely do this again!

HK Trip 2010 - 22nd to 27th Dec - Part 2

24 Dec - Shopping Day

Today's all about shopping. We spent most of the day in Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui running around the shops and outlets. Specifically we went for the Esprit outlet where I bought a whole wardrobe of clothes. Hmm I think Hong Kong is where I'll be getting all my future clothes shopping done!

After a hard day of walking, we returned to the Kowloon Hotel at TST. Even though it was 9pm, the streets were still buzzing with activity. So we set out again to walk around the area. I'm pleasantly surprised that they actually close out the roads along TST for the Christmas countdown. I mean, try doing that at Orchard or Marina and you have total chaos. Interestingly the police were able to control the crowds and the traffic. I suppose they are well practiced for this since they must have been doing this every year. The main attraction were all these buildings deck out in Christmas cheer. Beautiful!

25 Dec - Hong Kong Disneyland

We were up early this morning and met Papa, Mama and Sis at a 茶餐 厅 near Prince Edward MTR station for breakfast. They were staying at the Metropark Hotel close by. Dad had something planned for the day so didn't join us for the Disneyland Trip.

We took the MTR to Sunny Bay station to transit to Disneyland. What struck me when the train came as that it was furbished totally in Disney character motifs. The windows were crafted with Mickey's iconic head and there were various little handles and nobs with Mickey's icon. Even the handle bars were in the shape of Mickey. They really go all out to immerse you in the Disney experience.

Well they really try to bring you the Disney feel and in some ways they succeeded. Though truth be told, it wasn't as grand as I thought it would be. The place was small and we were pretty much done with all the rides and sights by dinner. We stayed around to catch the night lighting and fireworks. It was raining by that time and the chilling wind was freezing. We bear through it and rushed to the trains the moment the show ended. Best thing to come out of this trip were the gifts we found for our friends and colleagues. I bought a few sets of pens for the team at office.

If I had to choose to come again, I would opt for Ocean Park versus Disneyland. There's not much else to see here. Now if this was another Disneyland like in Tokyo or California, that's a different take altogether. I'm definitely game to try those locations.

HK Trip 2010 - 22nd to 27th Dec - Part 1

This was kinda like a continuation of our wedding celebrations. Meimei's grandma wasn't able to come to Singapore for our wedding and my father-in-law couldn't invite other relatives and friends due to the limited seats for our wedding. So to make up for it, he organized a dinner in Hong Kong instead. So besides holidaying, I had a chance to meet up with all the relatives, which is definitely a nice touch to the festive season! :-)

22 Dec - Arrival

So we reach HK about noon and made a trip to see Grandma first. The rest of the day was spent visiting the markets and usual run to Honolulu for tea and egg tarts. We came back to Grandma's place for dinner after with several of the uncles as well. At night we were at the avenue of stars overlooking Hong Kong Island. And because it's the Christmas season, the lights and decor were all up on the famous HK skyline. It does give you an added festive feel to see all the bright lights. The cold weather sure helps as well hehehe.

23 Dec - Ocean Park

We were up early for breakfast at Honolulu today. You would never get tired of the food there. It's simple, but all so alluring. And again I must say, it has the best egg tart in the world, only rivaled maybe by the egg tarts at Crystal Jade Palace at Takashimaya Singapore. But yeah, Honolulu's still the best!

So anways we had our fill and went off searching for the bus rides to get to Ocean Park. I think it's the holiday season and so the queue for the tickets were quite long. I must say though people (mostly Mainland Chinese folks) were pretty well behaved and there wasn't any pushing or queue cutting. It must be the weather *grin.

Ocean Park lives up to it's name as a main theme park attraction in Hong Kong. We had a ball of a time visiting the different animal exhibits and rides. I've even taken my first cable car ride! I remember I was griping the bars the whole time and Meimei was patiently comforting me haha. No, I did not pee in my pants!

It's the most fun I had in awhile and sure is a good start to the holidays. We didn't get back to the hotel till close the midnight. By which time both of us were truly exhausted. Wow, what a day! Fun fun fun!

Showroom Kitchen

Well it's not showroom quality per se, but it's still in pristine condition after five months. It has a large floor space, though the center may be a little wasted. We initially considered an island, but due to HDB regulations that pipes cannot be concealed, we decided against having a hump through the kitchen floor just so we can have a working counter in the center.

So we kept the place plain and simple. We don't really cook much so that helped to keep it white instead of the ugly yellowish tone you would expect due to the cooking grease. I loved how the washing machine and dryer are placed. If we had to find an improvement, it will be more counter space. Preparing food at the corner between the stove and sink gets a little tight and we can't both do it at the same time due to the corner. So yah it's pretty good but if we are going to reno the space again, we are definitely going for more space. Oh and if we ever move, surely to get a place with a service yard. It's just a nice to have, we are in love with our place.