Thursday, July 19, 2007

Day 9-- Last day in HK

Our last day.. Mongkok again and Fa Yuen St to check if the birks are going to be there.. Went into a traditional cha lou for Dimsum. Turned out we were the only young people there.. the others are all ah gongs and ah mas..
And the dimsum was quite very cheap! so we ordered damn a lot... and we couldn't finish it..


that is not all to the dimsum... we finished some more.. n that is the i wanna die from fullness look from mr shawn.
while he was eating, this is what i was busy doing..
picking flavours for my Krispy Kremes! too many to choose from!

no little time, too much food to savour b4 we leave hk.. and it was xu liu shan again!

almost died from all the mango.. was already so full.. so shawn finished everything! amazing huh!

we actually lost wt in hk. despite the large intake of food. but we really walked alot. like we walked everywhere.. damn crazy..
So tts all folks




















Posted by sil3ntrain at 2:09:00 PM

Day 8-- Central H&M and a secret shopping place...
Woke up bright and early.. thanks to mr shawn ng. it's a sunday morning and he thought there will be a horrible queue at H&M so he dragged me out of bed really early so we could take the ferry to central, have breakfast and be the first in line.
So we had breakfast at Cafe de Coral-- it's their fastfood cha chan teng style. i had chicken chop and he had dimsum-- cuz he was craving for it again.

and so.. we reached H&M at

and they actually only open at.

so this was the pissed off me

and the downcasted him

and 1.5hour to kill... so we walked backed to ifc (where the ferry was near) and slacked at macs doing sudoku and drinking more stuff after our heavy breakfast. Then we saw a furby baby!!

doesn't he look like a furby??
so anyway we went back and there was still no queue. But the gd thing about going so early is that you can really pick the stuff you want, and try it on again and again without having to join the line. and Mr. Shawn bought the most stuff ever. all thanks to me helping him choose his stuff, or he'll nv ever even consider buying them. he's such a goondu really..
And i finally got a nice pair of skinny jeans in black! along with other tops and dresses. i love h&M. can't wait for it to come to singapore!! So anyway we had really huge shopping bags.. and we headed to our next secret location-- which i'm not telling..
So here is the I.T sale shop! all the funny expensive branded past season goods at discounted rates! and he bought a new pair of puma sneakers and i bought a Cacharel hp pouch cum wallet and a skirt and a men's shirt for myself. it's small enough to sort of fit me!

So this is the happy him-- with lots of shopping bags.. we wanted to go Peninsula for high tea but then we figured the money could be better spent on shopping. :)

So we only had lunch at like 4+ cuz we wanted to shop so badly... and even after going back to our hotel to put down the stuff, we still took our own sweet time.. in the end we were famished. and we decided to pop into this shop called Garlic for lunch. And we had fusion jap food for like 4+ Sing!! how cheap is that!!

teriyaki chicken udon (me) and zha jiang ramen (his)
ok.. the presentation seems really bad now but it was damn nice.. i dunno if it was bcuz we were starving.. but i swear it can't be that bad..

Then it was hitting TST again to look around and i decided to go do my hair. Haircut plus colour in a typical HK salon with typical HK people who can only speak cantonese. So i had a translator actually who tells the stylists what to do with my hair. Had a talkative one who dyed it red, and we tried to converse in broken cantonese (me) and broken chinese (him) and phrases of english (him). I don't know if he really could understand me but it was quite funny.
Then i had another stylist who cut my hair. and he didn't say anything to me at all.. god.. Luckily i only trimmed my hair.. or it may be quite disastrous..
While i was doing my hair, smart darling went back to Fa Yuen St to look for his birks.. and he was late in meeting me.. turns out that he tried walking to Mongkok from TST (which is quite damn far) and then he realised he din't have time to shop so he tried to take a minibus back but he took the wrong one and he didn't check what are the buses that are outside the hair salon.. so he ran back.. poor him..
After that we went back to Fa Yuen St together to look for his birks.. but still couldn't find the right one.. Then, we had our steamed milk pudding again! rocks rocks rocks... Got to have it on our last night in HK.

Posted by sil3ntrain at 1:31:00 PM

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Day 7 Fa Yuen St and Mongkok
Last day with the parents and siblings. They are leaving for Singapore first, leaving us, the aunties and ah ma to continue our stay in HK. Everyone woke up damn early to hit the streets for shopping. Fa Yuen St has all the cheap buys! really.. and they have really nice stuff as well. i love that place really.. Didn't really finish up the place cuz we had to check out from Prudential.
So anyway we moved back to YMCA- it is cheaper than Prudential.. And to our surprise, they upgraded us cuz we came back!!

The room is much bigger than the one we stayed in. and the both of us can stand inside the closet comfortably! Even the bed feels better..

After unpacking, we headed for Mongkok. Walked there.. realised that we walk alot on trips. we really walk everywhere.. in Singapore, i'll even take a bus to the interchange which is just 1 stop away. tsk tsk..

So it was hitting Argyle Centre. Jingli and Olivia told me about this place. it's like Far East. They have rather cheap stuff but everywhere is like damn packed. Bought quite a lot of accessories and some pieces of clothing. then i lost Shawn. supposed to meet at the escalator after i finish combing the floor-- it's mostly girls' stuff so he doesn't wanna look around with me. Then i couldn''t find him. so i went to the next level and continued walking around. The place is quite big actually so i didn't see him at all and there was no way to contact him plus my bladder was bursting.. i almost went back to the hotel myself.. then we saw each other.. after about a 1hg+ ordeal. Phew..
We also found this amazing street eat. It's actually like cold soba with other ingredients. You can choose from a wide variety. they have some special sauce to go with it.

the small packet of noodle with baby octopus and scallop i think..

We usually are not so keen on street food. but it doesn't seem so dubious like those in bangkok. plus we can read and recognise the stuff they put in. haha..

Went back to Fa Yuen Street later.. and i bought shoes! finally.. only bought 1 pair for myself. :(
Shoes are much cheaper in Taiwan or Bangkok.. not worth it to buy in HK really.. We also searched the streets for shawn's white Birks. He wanted a pair to go with his clothes. But the sad thing was we couldn't find the size despite combing the streets a few times.. So.. he didn't get it in the end.
Then we had xu liu shan! Shawn's fav!
and we thought the mango platter is damn big.. but actually it's just 3 small bowls of desserts. Good nonetheless..
And it was KFC as well.. i think u got to try fastfood in diff countries. cuz it's different! HK KFC has criss cut fries and mushroom rice (instead of mashed potatoes). They even have chicken katsu curry!! AND they provide gloves so that you won't dirty your hands if you don't want to! it's quite nice really.. the fries are comparable to carls' jnr's.

Posted by sil3ntrain at 11:31:00 AM

Day 6 Causeway Bay
Our first dimsum meal in hk. Yes.. after like damn long. cuz we were sort of waiting for his parents and grandma to reach Hk. His da yi came down from guangzhou to join us for a few days as well. So we went to Shamrock- the hotel opp Prudential for their dimsum!

While the young ones wait for the rest.. we saw big fishes in the tanks.
i swear the fish's head is bigger than mine! Just so damn scary..
Introducing his mum, georgie yiyi, da yi and ah ma.
The dimsum was not bad. we ate so much we almost died. Some stuff were gd, some not so. but at least we satisfied the dimsum craving. After that, we headed for our steamed milk again. it's just so freaking gd. even though we're like damn full already.
Next stop- Causeway Bay again. we've actually been there previously but it was rather late at night and we didn't get to shop around. So it was combing the entire area. Took the tram there and then we headed for Krispy Kreme!!
JUST LOOK AT ALL THE DOUGHNUTS!!

Krispy Kremes excites.. really.. just see how we all were swarming in front of the doughnuts! it rocks my socks!!
totally excited at the fresh doughnuts coming out..
So fresh and hot and steaming and GLAZED! the rollers will pass them through the sugar fountain! we took videos of that.. damn cool..

we thought they might give out free doughnuts.. NOT. they are just glazing it in front of everyone so people will be attracted to buy. :(

So we exterminated 12 doughnuts. it was surprisingly easy when everyone just take a bite out of each doughnuts.. beats finishing 12 doughnuts on ur own.. no wonder i was so sick of eating them at home..
Then it was shopping on our own. So many places to explore.. Times Square is actually an expensive place for shopping. Lane crawford is like real high end. So we only browsed thru the stuff.
Causeway bay is generally more expensive. Alot of their local designers. Walked the little streets. chanced upon this shop selling japanese snacks and they even have this..
Claypot rice for takeaway. That includes the claypot as well.. damn amazing..
Then we went to look for qi gei (this wanton mee place tt jaz recommended). Perhaps we ordered the wrong thing.. the soup one wasn't really gd.. and i forgot their specialty was the crab porridge.. so we totally missed it. Also, we went to the street stalls to get their fried stuff-- fried squid. their chilli sauce is damn salty and spicy. but it was gd! they really have a lot of food to choose from.
After causeway bay, we went back to the hotel for some rest. Then we went to the cha chan teng next to Prudential for wanton mee. Bob said it's damn nice so we had to try it. and indeed it was GD! their wantons are absolutely huge.. the noodle is a lot crunchier than the Singapore style ones.. crystal jade at least matches their standard..
Combed TST as well. Grandville Street and the other shopping streets as well. Discovered some cheap buys.

Posted by sil3ntrain at 11:00:00 AM

Day 5 Stanley
It's the Stanley and Repulse Bay day. woke up bright and early. Went down to Pacific Place then to Central to catch a bus to Stanley market. A 5 min toilet break turned into an hour shopping trip at Pacific Place. Can't take women to malls. We end up buying stuff regardless of the timing. So it was mango, zara and the assorted stores. Bought a mng wallet, zara shorts for 20sing (not possible in singapore) and a basic top from Zara as well.
Then it was stanley. Quite a touristy spot. Expect the expats, pubs, bars, highly marked up goods. So we didn't buy much from there. wise choice. U can tell if it's touristly just by the streets itself. The stanley market street is airconditioned ok? So anyway... passed by the beaches and shawn convinced me to walk there with him. So we walked. under the hot sun. with our magnum icecreams. and it dripped on me. cuz it was too hot.
STANLEY. beach. pubs.

the shawn posing.
the me on the hydrant. TOo hot..

Real beaches aren't that nice afterall. the sand is too coarse here. and it's such a puny stretch. So anyway.. we stood amidst half naked people and took all our photos. Touristy.. yes..
love

the beach with no hot bods or babes or hunks. with the exception of us duh!

normal me. crazy me.

After which.. took a bus back to our hotel. Met some funny americans. They were complaining how dirty China and Hk is. "the air is so thick you can chew on it" "i was so embarrassed to go to the hairdresser. But after they heard i was in China for 2 wks, they all nodded sympathetically" there were more of cuz.. but i can't really remember..

Avenue of stars again at night. Didn't catch the symphony of lights previously. Actually.. it wasn't fantastic. Nothing very interesting really.. but u got to do it at least once.. so.. here we were.
Then we walked back for dinner. Sushi on belts. Not cheap. and there weren't many to choose from. Poor ernest ng had to go back to hit his books. Common test after hols. poor dude. So it was mindy shawn n i for shopping. TST is not a bad place to shop if you find the right spots. Grabbed some cheap clothes. dress for 10 bucks! and other stuff.. bought perfume too! SASA is damn big there. it's everywhere. and their perfume are alot cheaper than in singapore. My 100ml Envy Me costs only about $65. about half of the price here in singapore! went on a major perfume spree.. but now i'm still lacking 1 more-- CD J'Adore.. i love it!! and i so want to have it.. :( In total, i bought 3 bottles of perfume. CD Dolce Vita (for my mum.. but she kept it somewhere so i can't even use it..), Gucci Envy Me and 212 Splash. Splash is so cute cuz of the packacking. go look for it in Singpaore. it comes in a plastic can and it is spherical conical inside. split into 2 bottles. adorable.


Posted by sil3ntrain at 12:18:00 AM

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

a short in btn my hk posts (which are btw way overdue). Friday night was dentist- retainers collection. then ramen dinner. followed by jaz's surprise 21st party. last 21st in the braders and sisters gang. got to do it b4 that girl flies to europe. So there she is, backpacking and pitching tents in parks for 1 whole mth.

So, was already feeling crappy. but of cuz.. to prevent the karma retribution thing, i went. stood in the ghastly wind waiting for the braders-- who are always late. then we went up to her place. quite a lot of food. plus an medium size bengawan coffee cake. (n dajie wanted to buy a large one..) and so... dajie came up with the smart idea of playing card games and finishing the entire cake. so it was poker, black jack and some funny games we invented.. so i stuffed down lots of cake, din have enough water and rest. and i woke up sat noon with all sorts of aches..

spent the entire day sitting in front of my tv watching my korean dramas. total food consuption on sat= 5 mouths of macaroni. i so wanted to die. nv felt like i was so close to dying b4. really. shawn was worried it was dengue. fever hit 38.8. the puking feeling was like constantly nagging at me. just felt so damn miserable.

woke up on sunday. felt better. stomach still feels really weird. total consumption of food= 1 hot fudge sundae, 5 mouths of mee tai mak, 5 sushi, 3 mouths of cha soba, half a bowl of tauhway, half a chocolate coated strawberry. watched dimsum dollies with his family. quite a gd show.

whatever it is.. till now, i'm still feeling crappy. have this huge sore/ulcer or sth at the back of my mouth. dunno if it's caused by my wisdom tooth. maybe it's time to do sth about it. my nose, my head and my stomach hurts.. :( life sucks...

Posted by sil3ntrain at 10:54:00 AM

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Day3 HK
Last day at YMCA, shawn's parents and grandma joining us. Moving to Prudential.

Physical manifestation of YMCA

Headed for Tung Chung- the supposed Citygate outlets which consists of "factory outlets" by stores like Polo Ralph, Vivianne Tam, HK branded stuff plus our regular Espirit, Roxy, Levis, Nike and Adidas and it goes on. The place is damn near the airport, took about 30 mins by train. Train crowd consists of tourists heading for Disneyland-- sth i'm glad we din do. So we took Citygate by storm. the Esprit outlet is a must go. Everything is like so freaking cheap. I always think that Esprit is like damn overpriced in Singapore. Their stuff are hell basic and they sell it at like 80+ bucks. Then again, i'm guilty of paying that kind of ridiculous money on basic stuff. Ultimately, it's the brand. So anyway.. tops are going at up to 80% discount so we grabbed quite a bit of stuff. Mind and I didn't have watches and we totally forgot about the time so we ended up almost an hour late and we were still not done. So anyway.. we left for HK island.

Determined to take different transport, we took a bus to Mui Po to catch a ferry back to Central. And the result, a half an hour trip became a 3 hour adventure. The bus went up the mountain, winding narrow roads and steep gradients, not to mention bumpy ride and speeding around the corners, left us hanging on to our seats. The lack of sleep started setting in as well. So we held on to our shopping bags, hecked it, and slept our way to the ferry place.

By the time we reached, the ferry was going to leave. Determined not to waste the trip, we decided to explore the place a bit. So it was seafood lunch- since we are just by the sea. Hongkongers really eat a lot. We ordered this set for 2 and added another dish and it fed the 5 hungry Singaporeans. The food was gd as usual.
The vast seas...

Hit for the ferry afterwhich. Walked to H&M. Finally got to look at stuff properly. But the crowd was like horrible. The queue for the changing rooms were long as well.. So basically we all rushed to grab stuff and then whatever we could try, we bought. The good thing about being small is that i can buy kids stuff! Their designs are gd, and it's cheaper as well. Cheryl can fit into the 7-8 year old category. I wear their dresses as my tops.
Then we rushed to meet the parents. Headed for the peak. Apparently the view is supposed to be really gd from the top. Took the tram upwards. It is like 45 degs or steeper. Really scary. And it doesn't really have a braking system, so when it stops, it moves back and forth. Couldn't get pics of the slope cuz this bunch of terribly americanised HK chinese were blocking our view. We so can't people who speak with an american accent and look so terribly chinese.

the tram ride with the 'bananas' in the backgrd

So, the peak in all its glory. Sorry, i have to say that exlim cameras cannot take gd night scenes. But this is the best i took. Shawn dad's coolpix is like damn gd. Will grab the pics from him.

Took a bus down the peak. Quite scary as usual. Took us forever to get down as well. The freezing cold bus didn't help much. We had our steamed milk again. It rocks my socks. We should so have it here in Singapore.

Went back to YMCA to get our luggages and dragged it all the way to Prudential.. It is freaking far.. really.. We must be quite a sight. 5 people dragging 5 luggages in a straight row. We were wondering if the police will stop us cuz they may think we are peddling goods or sth. their night scene quite exciting. we saw policemen running out from their van. then we didn't know where they disappeared to. But anyway the sounds of police siren is damn common.

dragging our luggages..
Went back to hotel and got a scare from shui. sth about problem accessing my stars. Reg day is tmr and can't afford to screw up. Internet access at Prudential is ridiculous. S$10 for 15 mins! gotta be kidding. went to pac cafe further down the road. Free access with food purchase. Staff was very friendly knowing we are poor uni undergrads trying to reg. Turns out that it was ok! wanted to kill shui really.

Prudential rocks.
Day 4- Shenzhen
It happens to be registration day as well. woke up bright and early. Had breakfast then headed for pac cafe again. Being super paranoid, i tried to register my sbjs myself even though i got shui and wen to help me.
So anyway, got the sbjs i wanted. headed for shenzhen after that. China is a scary place. haha.. it also happens to be my first time on chinese soil, so they took really long b4 letting me pass thru immigration.

look at our worried faces on the train.. SZ is A SCARY PLACE!
The weather was freaking hot as usual. so much that we didn't really feel like walking around. Place seemed rather dirty. The toilets were gross. I so appreciate Singapore toilets. did i already mention that? And we all thought we would get cheap and gd stuff in Shenzhen.. that is such a misconception.
Mind and i were desperately looking for manicure palors. There are like so many people holding pictures and samples for manicures but they all seem so dubious. They even followed us around! damn scary. Then we all decided to go for a massage. What beats a nice bath and someone to knead away your sore body rite? In the end, it turned out to be quite a painful and ticklish experience. Cheryl HATES MASSAGES. really.. it was just so torturous! then did a facial with mindy. Bob did his separately. So glad I didn't have pimples, just blackheads. Shld take a look at bob and mind's face after the facial.. blotchy and red. scary.

ME in that green goo on my face.
No time for manicures.. settled for icecream and some dinner. And we bought Original Cds for like 5 bucks sing! latest steph sun, avril lavigne and eason chen's albums. it's not pirated ok..

Posted by sil3ntrain at 1:40:00 PM