Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Hong Kong Trip 2011


I had the opportunity to go to Hong Kong for holiday last year. I wanted to go somewhere new, I wanted a holiday, so my parents decided that we visit Hong Kong as they have not been there for more than 20 years after they went there when they got married, and even so they were stucked in the hotel last time due to typhoon, how unfortunate.

It was a... hmm, I would say good trip, but not great. We went at the end of November, so it was quite cold for me. Well, around 14'c - 17'c but to me it was freaking cold already. We followed tour, there were free and easy time for us so I thought it was good as we would be able to have more free time to ourselves rather than following those full time tours.

I would say that you wouldn't need a tour to go to Hong Kong. Transportation and directions around Hong Kong are very, very clear and convenient. There is the monorail that is so convenient and on time and it has stops at almost every part of Hong Kong.

I always thought that Hong Kong is a one-piece-land-country but until then only I know that there's two parts. There's like a tunnel that links both sides.

The tour includes 2 days passes to Disneyland (If you don't have kids/time, one full day would be enough), one-day pass to Ocean Park, passes to Ngong Ping hill which include tour on the hill (dai yu san), and a half day Hong Kong city tour. We went Disneyland for the fireworks of course, twice, it's presented daily, it was beautiful of course, but should have just spent one day there. On the day of the free and easy, we had to use it to go to Ocean Park, so wasted another day there. It was my first time seeing dolphins, but my parents said that it's still the same as 20 years ago, nothing special.

The half day city tour just bring you around to the harbour, taking group photos and end up acting pity faces asking you to buy the photo from them, bring you to feng shui jewellery shop and herbs shop and giving you an 'optional' tour where you fork out more money to continue the day with another half day tour. So then we went to Women's Street (for just one hour), Madame Tussaud wax museum & The Peak, Avenue of Stars, and a meal which includes the famous dry roasted goose.

I didn't enjoy myself eating Hong Kong delicacies because I was scolded for taking styrofoam for just buying a stick of curry fish ball, I didn't get to eat stinky tofu as I didn't manage to search for it, I didn't manage to eat a lot of Hong Kong snacks. I didn't had the chance to explore those famous streets like Mongkok or Tsim Tsa Tsui or Causeway Bay. I did manage to eat at few char chan tengs, well, they're just like our coffee shops here, some are nice, some are not, but no doubt their milk teas are awesome everywhere. Just like their egg tarts, roasted goose/duck, dim sums, some are nice some are not.It was overall ok, just not as enjoyable as I expect it would be. Definitely would go back again, free and easy of course, just to eat my stinky tofu and all other goodies. My friend suggested a must-try called "Aussie Dairy" at Jordan Road. Hmm, curiousity kills.

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Happy New Year 2012

Wishing everyone
Happy New Year
Blessed 2012
May all your dreams come true
Be happy and healthy