Family Escapade to HKG 14 - 18 Oct 2008

Oh my!! I am just so lazy to blog... i guess i must be still in my holiday mood.. refusing to lift my fat fingers to type. Well, i think i will give a brief summary of the trip, even though i am dyin to share all my thoughts during the trip. keke

Day 1 - 14 Oct
Darn! The flight was at 6.40am, and hence we gotta book a maxi cab for 7 of us, pick up point at our office, to proceed to T1, at 4am! Had BK for brekkie, but all were either too excited or it's just too early to fill our tummies with bacons and all.

Board plane, reached HKIA at 10.25am, as expected. Great job, Jetstar! Met Skyline, our driver at HKG. He's Leah's colleague's bf, and charged us a special rate of HKD$1150 for 5 hrs disposal. Since the Giant Buddha at Ngong Ping is at the same Lautau Island, as HKIA, it made sense to visit there first.

We had a lambasted time, taking lotsa pics at NgongPing. Am so glad i brought along the DSLR. There is indeed a vast difference btw a DSLR and digicam! Took cable car across to the Giant Buddha, toured around, goofed with our cam, and returned back to point one.

Headed to Citygate for lunch, and shopped ard. Most major brands have their "factory outlets" nested there. From Timberland to Giordano, Esprit to Le Sauda, Adidas and Nike etc... Hehehe, i bought 2 incredibly cute baby shoes for Gwen (yup, my new daughter's name!) At less than $20 per pair!!! What a steal!!!! Bro got a pair of Nike at S$60+..hehehe...

At 4pm, Skyline came by to pick us to check into our hotel. What a boo-boo!! We were supposed to go Metropark Mongkok, but he sent us to Metropark Kowloon, which is also in Mongkok... kekeke.. finally, we managed to check in by 6pm, and by then, we were tired and famished, again! Popped to the nearest Cha Chan Teng to eat, and then proceeded to Fa Yuen Street (Flower Garden Street). That is a stretch of night market and whoohooooo.... i have absolutely NO IDEA how many sets of baby wears i got for Gwen! It must be at least 15 sets? And i got 5 sets of PJs for Daryl Darling too, from Power Rangers to Ben 10, to Transformer etc... He was a happy boy! Headed back to hotel to sleep cos must replenish energies.

Day 2, 15 Oct
Decided that we will go Macau only on 3rd day, since we wanted to cover Hkg first. Patronised Xi Ji congee shop right below our hotel That was fantabulous piece of art!! Smooth and tasty, totally seduced all my tastebuds, fending off potential rivals, from getting into my mouth... hahaha... it was just THAT good!!

Got ourselves Octopus Cards at the MTR station, and headed for our 1st stop, Wong Tai Sin Temple. So talked about, that i must go take a look. Indeed, the crowd is as huge as our local Waterloo GuanYin Temple, all devoted and conveying their wishes to the "Higher Authorities".

Then we proceeded to Apliu Street, where 2nd hand electrical and electronics are sold at damn cheap price. Too bad, i cant find any SB600 (flash) for my Nikon... Just as well, to save $! By the time we had our lunch at Cafe De Coral, it was almost 2plus. well, with elderly and the young, we naturally headed back to hotel for napping session, to recharge and continue for the evening.

After R&R, we headed again, to Mongkok area to browse at Ladies Street. Another round of shopping and bargaining before we walked off with our winnings...hehe.. Had dinner at a Shanghainese restaurant.

Afterwhich, it was Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), where we watched the Symphony of Lights. I think thats pretty lame that the HKG tourism made it such a "must visit"... I mean, whats so interesting about the buildings with lasers?? We strolled around the Avenue of Stars, snapping pics and all. Then, stepped into Sogo, to use the loo. Well, an accident occured. Bro was putting on his jacket for Daryl, when he missed a step, and fell down the stairs. It all happened so fast, that we were dumbfounded. Next, we saw him slided across the floor when he landed, and knocked his head on a sharp edge of a display table... Ouch!!! He insisted he's Ok, and we proceeded back for fear he may feel concussed.

Day 3 - 16 Oct
Hb's bday!!!! Mum gave him a red packet in HKG dollars. wahahaha.... we had brekkie at another Cha Chan Teng, and rushed to Harbour City, TST, to get our Ferry Tickets. Whooaa.. the ferry ride is indeed bumpy... so much so that i was worried that my folks will start the merlion act! heng ah, nothing happended,..

When we stepped into the terminal at Macau, a swarm of those transport operators "swam" towards us, each recommending their service to bring us around. One even quoted HKD$700 for 3 hours. We brushed them off nastily, and walked to hitch the public bus at HKD$2.50 per pax. See how much they wanted to fleece us?? But one bad thing when we DIY, is that we gotta knw where to alight. We were on the way to visit Ruins of St Paul's. Well, naturally, we overshot lah.. Just as well lah, cos we had one of the most wonderful lunch. Eventually, with kind guidance, we got to St Paul's. It was breathe-taking. The architect is magnificent. after pic takings, we went and got many food products, before leaving for the Terminal. Due to time constraint, we culdnt visit the casinos, specially the Venetian.. Sigh.. next time then.

5.30pm ferry, we reached almost 7pm, to Kowloon. Everyone had bland/light food. Guess we were all tired and had no appetite. Dad even was in naseous state. We left for hotel... hoping to hop into bed to sleep immediately.

Day 4 - 17 Oct
Headed to Hongkong Island's Causeway Bay to shop, and also got our chance to try the eletric tram. What a good feeling it was! we travelled on the tram for a long time, sightseeing, and it was one flat fee of HKD$2.50!!! Had lunch at a restaurant that left us too full to walk... Then we went to Causeway's Lane Crawford to shop. And i saw THAT Kate Spade and was instantly hooked! So damn like it, but gotta give it a miss, cos no point i pay S$500+ for a small bag... the money can save for LV..oppsss.... i mean baby..wahahaha

By the time we got back, was abt 4plus already. Everyone napped, while me and hb slipped out to the nearby markets for a good 2 hrs, for our own sweet "we" time. I really needed that, to be away from the folks, to have our own romantic time.

Headed back after dinner to pack....

Day 5 - 18 Oct
Skyline's colleague picked us up at 8.45am and we headed to HKIA to board our Jetstar... reached Sin at almost 3.30pm and home by 5pm. Finally can rest our feet till 8pm, where we headed to Nik's new home for hb's post bday celebration...

Ok, more pics at my facebook... have fun viewing!