Picture Heavy HK Trip!

21st June 2008 (Day 1)

number of stars * = "visit-worthy" tourist sites

• Arrive @ HK Airport after 3 hour flight
  
  
• Check in L' Hotel (I think it's prev known as Royal Plaza Hotel?).
  Had lunch @ Tsim Sha Tsui!
  - Bought HK Mag (July Issue) of Mina @ HK$25 (about S$5)! =D
• Madame Tussands HK Wax Museum ***
  - Great for camwhoring individuals, people who wanna strike funny poses with celebrities and starstruck individuals!
  - HK & Hollywood Celebrities & Politicians and Famous people spotted: Bruce Lee, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Marilyn Monroe, Micheal Jackson, Twins, Teresa Teng, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Paris Hilton, Queen Elizabeth (I think), and many more!

@ L' Hotel. Grandma and Grandpa's room! what a cute couple they make =)

Angelia Jolie, Brad Pitt and Ayumi Hamasaki !! <3>

Lee Kuan Yew and Mao Zhe Dong?!!
(ohh, yes sir!)

why, it's Madame Tussands and Einstein!!

OMG Bae Yong Joon! *swoons*!
no need to travel to Korea! no more JH! HAHAH..

• The Peak ***
  - Bird's eye view of HK's beautiful night scenery + cable car rides available here!
  - Great for couples and people who are interested in scenic sites or people looking for a place to chill out (may get cold here!)
  
  In front of the cottage house near The Peak (mom, me, sis, grandma and grandpa!)
  
  


• Then it's back to Hotel and ..

- End of Day 1! -


22nd June 2008 (Day 2)

• 
  
  Dimsum Breakfast @ Restaurant
  - It is said that the old folks of HK like to order dimsum and tea and sit from morning till noon to eat+drink, chit chat and have tea! I think it's SO true because that's what we saw @ the restaurant. the grannies there all look so cute! hardly much grandpas tho.. maybe because they're playing chess elsewhere (like our Singaporean counterparts!) I think they can certainly form the.. Dimsum Senior Dollies club ! If you look hard enough you can see the groups of old people really eating and chitchatting behind my family in the photo! I sure wish that in my old age, I can travel the world and do that too (with Sasha!!~) HAHA. and have my Senior Citizens/Neighbour/Friends Bitching "gossips" sessions where we talk about our hubbys, families, aged eyecandies while reminiscing about old times too..? LOL.. =B
  
  

our table people sure eat fast as compared to the other 2 family's table.
every meal's almost a wipe-out! Dimsum is not bad. food in HK in my opinion, is not that fantastic.. perhaps because the tour din exactly bring us to those raved/popular food outlets.

• then it's off to visit Avenue of Stars! ***
  - Visiting it in the noon is hot and kinda unbearable. we have to open umbrellas given the temp in HK being 30+ degrees. Avenue of Stars is a must-visit but only if it's in the night, where the lighting will make the atmosphere nicer, esp with the place being next to the sea. seriously, visiting this atraction in the noon just makes you wanna walk on and ignore the stars (after all they're just handprints!) and bolt for the nearest exit/shelter! xP
  
  

(Above) Sis and me
(Below) Ah ma and Ah gong (laughing heartily~ so cute!) sheltered by umbrella!
check out the number of umbrellas opened and the family with cute sons elder son who's my age!! to their left ! HAHA

(above) TOO HOT!! I think this was Jackie Chan's handprint. not that I really care.
(below) me with tubby legs.

• Off to Jackie Chan's jewellery store/factory *
  - The man is explaining the different Karats. usually jewellers use the Ks I think or was it the Pure Gold Content? can't remember.
  - Quite boring because we didn't really buy anything I THINK. mom bought some gold pendant but I think it wasn't here. They brought us to 2 jewellery store I think, which was rather irritating as these places are not in the Itineary. I'd rather go shopping! =(
  - It is said that the tour guides get commission off the goods their tour group buys at the stores they bring that to, if the tourists actually buysomething. might be a rumor, I don't know, but it's kinda annoying. a family in our tour got cheated in Shenzhen, for buying medicine herbs @ such a place.

• Repulse Bay **
  - Really hot! Has many chinese idols/statues like the God of Wealth, etc.
  - It SO reminds me of Singapore's old Haw Par Villa!!
  
  This statue below is about the Man on the Moon who is in charge of Love and Matrimony. It is said that he ties the red strings on couples legs to bind them together (in love).
  
  

• Then it's off to Shenzhen (about 45 mins ride) by HK's MTR (which kinda reminds me of Singapore's MRT).. we took MTR from Tsium Sha Tsui to Lo Wu (the custom)
  - HK is very similar to Singapore and HK/Shenzhen's relationship kinda reminds me of Singapore and Malaysia's relationship.
  
  
  
  

  at the Tsium Sha Tsui Station and in the MTR.

  
  
  

  - End of Day 2! -
  
  
  23rd June 2008 (Day 3) @ Window of the World **** & the Cultural Village ***
  
  
  Facts:
  - One of the highest earning tourist attraction of Shenzhen.
  - It has about 130 reproductions of some of the most famous tourist attractions in the world (Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Americas & other regions) squeezed into 48 hectares.
  - The 108 meter (354 ft) tall Eiffel Tower dominates the skyline and the sight of the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal all in proximity to each other are all part of the slightly kitsch appeal of this theme park.
  - You might need to pay extra to get into the Ice place (forgot the name) as well as to get to the top of the Mini Eiffel Tower here to take photos.
  
  (Below) The Mini Leaning Tower of Pisa!

(Below) Me on Smelly (and poor) Camel! (its humps were like "hanging" to one side)
(take photo with the camel for S$2- I think. pretend you're in Egypt when you're really not!)

(Below) finally got to do this action! WA HA HA! Shiokness.

Me and random buildings (It's either China/Japan I suppose..oh wait, I think its China)

(Below) Mini Eiffel Tower!

(Below) at Window of The World's Ice place (forgot the name)
- Need to pay seperate entry fee!
- Friggin cold you gotta get outta here after some tyre rides and phototaking
- You can ski here too! Ski-idiots can use the tyres =)

.. Then we're off to the nearby Cultural Village!
- Damn hot. a fan will come in handy !
- The Cultural Village has SPECTACULAR eye-catching shows, but the warm weather just makes them less enjoyable (one of horses explaining the war between 2 countries and then another show where it's very costumey and lotsa dance and acrobatics)



gotta love the shows. it's really spectacular and you just wonder how they did it.
the women are heavily made up and graceful in dance (and they have good bodies!) alot of manpower and thought is put into making the show because there's dancers @ the left, right, center, back....everywhere you literally don't know where to put focus to!

- End of Day 3! -

24th June 2008 (Day 4) Back to HK & to Disneyland HK ***!

Enthu Mom with the family with cute sons HAHA
(an emo son and army guy son)

@ the Entrance area

Stimulating the Toontown (oh I played that game!) feel



(Above) On the Carousel and (below) my enthu mom again

Having tea in the teacup with Sis (LOL)

seeing the 3D show Mickey's Philar (I think that's how you spell it)

gotta don the glasses! hehe so cute huh, esp the photo with gramps!

Minnie Mouse Sis! AWWWW~

Disneyland HK has many different "areas/lands" like Tomorrowland, Adventureland, etc.
We're at Adventureland when the typhoon disrupted the rides =( and so far we kinda sat mostly indoor rides only!! =@ We din take the fantastic River Cruise =I

A must-take: the Ice Mountain (I think that's what you called it)

My 70 year old Grandma actually rode this rollercoaster ride too.. WOW! strong grandma (and made no noise)! Mom on the other hand "wailed" alot. the first time when I took the ride, I screamed and laughed alot too. WAHAA.

also, go to It's a Small World! It's pretty =)

overall, Disneyland HK was kinda a letdown for me. Perhaps I've grown out of it and the fact that there's not much fun rides/spectacular shows, perhaps it was the weather. OK lah, it's a combi of both. Mom says it loses to the Japan and USA (of course lah USA the originator mah) one.. I think the weather played a big part. the toilets are friggin cold tho and a redemption from the hot weather ~! then there was the Sleeping Beauty Castle fireworks @ 8pm =)

and then it's time to go home after the show! =D

here's a sweet photo of my gramps! was so eager to take it artistically (but kinda failed)
Caption will be like "My wife: The person I hold on to" (ok cheesy GAHA) but it's so sweet!! T.T

tired gramps! (grandpa made alot of WOooo noise when we told him gotta walk somemore- damn cute!)

- End of Day 4! -


25th June 2008 (Day 5) Free & Easy and Back to Singapore ***!
before going back to Singapore, we went to eat breakfast at a restaurant despite the Level 3 Typhoon (damn windy and wet!) gramps were so cute in raincoats! =D

the Typhoon went up to No. 8 the night before!

then it's back to Singapore! =) the flight was delayed tho for 2-3 hours =(

overall, the trip was alright (ok honestly, a little disappointing. not much shopping) but because I got to know my cute gramps (glum-looking grandma) and damn eager mother (who walks so fast sometimes that she abandon gramps) a little further, and also, cos I spent time with my sister, I'm happy!