Hong Kong (Part 3)

Went to Causeway Bay for another day of shopping cum sight-seeing. Felt a bit bad for Li Heng as he must be SUPER bored following Clare and I around shopping. Esprit and G2000 stuff in Hong Kong are really cheap!!! We also went for "finger food" such as fish balls, sharks fin soup, fried pig intestines etc on top of having dinner at Hong Kong style "char chan teng".

Red Box karaoke!! How I miss that!!

Times Square in Causeway Bay. It may not be as huge as the one in New York, but it's still quite a nice place to shop around!

And of course, how can we not have "tong sui" desserts for supper!! This is life - to be able to eat at anytime you want!

And the classic chilled mango sago but this time, with bird's nest in it!

Ngong Ping 360 is a new tourist attraction in Hong Kong. There's a cable car service to bring us from Tung Chung Bay to Lantau Island. The Ngong Ping village is desined to reflect and maintain the cultural and spiritual bits of Hong Kong as there is where the big Tian Tan Buddha statue is situated. And Lantau Island is the largest and probably least polluted area in Hong Kong!! Yes, unfortunately Hong Kong is really polluted... that's really one of the bad side of this city...

The ride on the cable car where we were supposed to be able to experience spectacular 360 degree panoramic views over the Lantau Country Park, the South China Sea, Hong Kong International Airport and the Big Buddha. Unfortunately, the weather was really foggy that 10 mins into the ride, we were surrounded with fog and mist that we couldn't see anything!

I tried my best! Guess you'll have to use some imagination to make out the Big Buddha.

At the Po Lin Monastery, we thought we'll make some donations. Turned out that our small donation of a mere HKD 20 gave us so much snacks!!!

Got up early in the morning to have dim sum and yum cha to send off Li Heng. It's been a long time since I had yum cha with Clare and Li Heng... really miss those Sundays when we would all go to Floating Lotus for dim sum!!

Another of my favourites - XO sauce fried radish cake!! Yummy!!

More dim sum - siu mai, black beans ribs, beef balls and fried yam.

After Li Heng left, it was pretty much shopping, shopping and shopping. Yours truly was too busy shopping that I completely forgotten to take any pictures. I now have a big dent in my bank account but what can I say? I'm a shopaholic and I can't resist a good bargain or a shopping marathon. I went to Hong Kong with an empty suitcase and came home with a full one!!!

And I also met up with friends and relatives to tick off the things on my to do list.

The Hong Kong connection - Andy (Finance) Wong, Clare, me and CJ

An afternoon tea-break during my shopping marathons!!

Well, as the saying goes : I left nothing but footprints and took nothing but memories. Hahaha.. okay and maybe on top of that a lot of shopping and a lot poorer!! :P

Hong Kong (Part 2)

First shopping destination on our list - the IFC Tower. How can a trip to Hong Kong not include shopping??? heeheehee... This is the tallest building in Hong Kong and is right in the middle of the financial district in Central.

I love shopping malls like this! A shopaholic's best friend! :P

From Central, there's the longest covered escalator in Asia. This escalator leads all the way up to "half-peak", where the more affluent people like bankers live. Rent here is a freaking HKD30,000 a month!! And it's a tiny apartment...

This is also the escalator where they filmed the Kelly Chen and Takashi Kaneshiro movie called Lavender. Apparently, everyday Kelly Chen will walk past this escalator to work.

Central is probably the most happening area in Hong Kong where the clubbers, fine diners, expatriates and of course, the rich and famous flocked to. So, this is a must-see and must-visit place when you're in Hong Kong.

The intersection where you can get to Soho, Lan Kwai Fong, Hollywood Road and Central. The place to be!

This is supposed to be one of the most famous Hong Kong-style restaurant to have local food.

Lan Kwai Fong - it was a bit quiet though as we were there on a Sunday night.

Drinks at Bar 21. It has really interesting names for drinks which are all associated with being 21. Sigh, the joy of being young at 21 again!!

And the Hong-Kongners way of drinking hot soy bean milk after hitting the club!!

It's Disney Day today. Since Li Heng really wanted to go to Disney Land to get souvenirs for his nieces and nephews, we spent the day at Disney... I guess I can add to the list of visiting every Disney in the world with the exception of the on in Florida! It's time to transform and be 5 again!!

Both of us trying to act cute in the MTR to DisneyLand. The train was specially designed for Disney as you can see the windows are in the shape of Mickey's head.

The boy who never grew up - see how much he's enjoying himself by helping BuzzLightyear saving the universe from the evil emperor Zurg by shooting down them down... hahahahah....

Driving into the future abroad electric cars that cruise along the highways of tomorrow. Who am I kidding or do I just miss driving???

Don't be fooled by the picture. The castle looks a lot smaller and a lot less grand than you think it is!!

Family picture in front of Mickey.

Our childhood fantasy of meeting Winnie the Pooh. And the Winnie the Pooh tea towel sealed our fate!!

Hong Kong (Part 1)

Don't remember much from my last Hong Kong trip 10 years ago... but I guess with all the TVB series that I've watched, many places in Hong Kong looks really familiar to me... but the highlight of the trip was meeting up with friends which I've not seen for some time and will probably not see for some time again... Clare, Li Heng... hope you guys have as much fun as I did... This WAS definitely one of the best "sleep, eat, shop and fun-filled" trip!!

After touching down, we went straight to Clare's aunt's place for a "zhen qing" feel steamboat dinner with all the extended family and a really cute little doggie... and it was during the dinner that Li Heng found the joys of eating steamboat with a bowl of soy sauce... hahaha... and not to mention, Clare's cousin's fascination with Li Heng's muscles!!! Hahahaha....

Headed off to Avenue of Stars (the HK Hollywood version!) to catch a glimpse of the night view in Hong Kong by the river after the dinner.

And on our way, we passed by The Peninsula, which is supposed to be the oldest and most posh hotel in Hong Kong! (It's the place to feast your eyes on Rolls Royce, Ferraris, etc.)

Night view of Hong Kong island - the city of lights

Andy Lau's palm at the Avenue of Stars!!

The next day, we went off to Mongkok for a taste of Hong Kong. First stop was the famous Nissin Noodles restaurant. Apparently, the owner of the restaurant won the Nissin Instant Noodles Competition! Brings a whole new meaning to eating instant noodle...

The famous fried abalone Nissin instant noodles. Taste like the mamak Maggie Goreng to me!! :P

One of my favourites, the fried Cheong Fun with peanut butter sauce and sesame. Yum yum!!

That's all the newspaper clippings and photos of him winning the competition!

From Mongkok, we then moved on to Ladies Market (Nui Yan Kai) where you can bargain for prices and haggle with the stall owners just like Petaling Street! There were many items of interest and of course, fake branded goods...

Shoppers bargaining for prices and trying to find cheap goods. LV bags anyone?

We then took the ferry over to Wan Chai in Hong Kong Island from Tsim Tsa Tsui. It's one of the oldest means of transport in Hong Kong apart from the trams.

Waiting for the ferry to come. Haha... how come we look so excited?? Hihi..

The Hong Kong Exhibition Centre. According to Clare, this is now the new name for the Aaron Kwok's hairstyle when he first started out.

Next to the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre are the memorials for the 1997 handover. Being tourists we thought that we should at least take a few pictures around! So here goes...

Hmm... this picture really shows how short we both are standing next to Li Heng!!

Another 1997 handover memorial

Passed by the AIA outdoor themepark but since Li Heng is afraid of heights and I have bad motion sickness, we both decided to give it a miss! Sorry Clare, I know you would love to go on those rides!!

What is it with everyone and the eye... after London eye, we have Hong Kong eye and even Kuala Lumpur eye...

Just a little note...

Haven't been blogging for a good 3 weeks by now.. have been too busy at work.. working from 9 to 9 daily and sometimes, even up to 11pm!!

And straight from the office, I hopped on to the plane to Hong Kong for a week!!

Anyway... just a little note to let anyone who happens to read my blog that I'm still alive!!

Will blog about Hong Kong soon when I have more time on my hands...

New Year's Resolutions

I'm usually not one who makes new year's resolutions. I guess it's partially because I know if I start making them, the list would be endless but it's also partially because circumstances change over time. I mean over the year, my views on things change as each day pass due to the different events in my life.

But, over the last week... each time I meet someone, the first exchange would be greetings for the new year and then it would be followed by asking me what new year's resolutions I've made. I know, I know... it's just out of politeness that they are asking and probably for conversation sake, but I'm getting a bit irritated with the question.

Do I really need to make resolutions just because it's new year? I don't know... perhaps I should start my resolution-making process with a resolution to make resolutions each year??

Oh well... I guess that's a start somewhat...

But to be honest, at times... I don't even know what I want... and at other times, I'm not sure whether what I want is what I should want or whether it is right for me to want certain things. Sigh, I guess I'm not making any sense... so, perhaps my first resolution for 2007 is to sort out certain mess in my life and get back on track. I believe that I DO know what I want ultimately (I hope!!!). It's just that sometimes I get distracted.

Anyway, if you are one of those people who make new year's resolutions every year and keep to them faithfully, good for you!!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

As we bade goodbye to 2006 and welcome 2007, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have helped made it a wonderful year for me!! :)

A big thank you to all of you who have stood by my side even when things weren't going too well. It is because of each of you that I have fond memories of 2006!! Thank you and have a good year ahead!!

Countdown fireworks at London Eye. What a pretty sight!!

Goodbye 2006 and welcome 2007!! :)