Welcome to Day Two of our Hong Kong travelogue! I have been without Internet for the past week and is still currently detached from the online community due to the inavailability of internet port at my new home - so it kind of put a spanner into my blog-updating routine. Guess I'll just have to bear with it at the moment while praying that the ISP will be contacting me soon with some good news.

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We kickstarted Day Two in Hong Kong with the devilishly mouth-watering bowl of Wantan Mee.
The HK-version of Wantan Mee was slightly different from those found in Malaysia as their soup was clearer and their Wantans (prawn dumplings) were twice the size of those sold in Malaysia and there was a huge full size prawn wrapped in it!



We then sauntered around the wet market nearby our hotel. It was pretty much the same as those portrayed in HK dramas - lots of butchers, fishmongers, and fruit and vege sellers.

As HK itself is a major port, it is only natural that they have abundance of fresh seafoods available. Fishes, prawns, crabs, clams, squids - you name it, they've got it.



Midway through our morning walk, I felt a burning sensation beneath my feet. I guessed it was down to the constant walking and the incomplete recovery of my sprained ankle the previous week that got me huffing and puffing throughout the journey.

On a positive note, it gave me the perfect excuse to hunt for a new pair of walking shoes. Though I prefer a white pair of shoes, I eventually settled down with the grey pair of New Balance as it was incredibly comfortable once I tried them on. And so, I parted with my HK$350.



With a new pair of shoes on, I was looking forward to our next destination. Not to mention that Vian and my mum were more relieved now that I do not complain of feet ache anymore. ;)

Our next destination - the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum located at The Peak.

While waiting for the tram to arrive


Here comes the tram...

View from the tram


The Peak Tower - where the wax museum was located

The Peak was located at a hilltop, overlooking the scenic view of HK city and its port. To get to the Wax Museum, we had to take the tram that will take us uphill and along the way we were able to get a glimpse of the panaromic view of the port city and its surrounding skyscrapers.

However, it could not conceal our excitement of being able to meet and take pictures with the well-known celebrities and famous historical figures. Especially my sis - who drools over the prospect of meeting her idol, Brad Pitt.


We were greeted with our very own Datuk Michelle Yeoh at the entrance. She was looking ever resplendent in her pearl color outfit.


Me with my 'ex-gf', Nicole Kidman. Damn, has she grown taller since the last time I saw her!



The Most Celebrated Couple - er, can you guess which couple do I mean? :P


Vian with her Korean sweetheart - Bae Yong-jun.

While it may be easy to get starstrucked with such a vast array of stars in the museum, may I also add that it can also serve to realize your crazy and wild aspirations that may never be fulfilled in the real world.

Such as:

1) Be The King of England - and being flanked by no less than Queen Elizabeth herself.



2) Be good buddy with Saddam Hussein - and placed a 'Peace' sign on his head.



3) Having fun with Mr. Lee Kuan Yew - hmm, I don't think Mr. Lee will be amused. :P



4) Condemning George W. Bush - for all his misdeeds, RIGHT IN HIS FACE!



5) Tickling The Chairman Mao Zedong - while asking him "Why So Serious??" in a Joker-like tone.



6) Forming a pop music duo with Adolf Hitler - and posing for our debut album cover, military-style.


While I was forming bonds (and making enemies) with some important people, the girls were having a good time posing and immersed in another world with their idols.

And totally forgot about my existence. Sigh....








After spending around an hour realizing some unfinished dreams, we decided it's time and left the museum.

On the way out, I bumped into Yao Ming who was practising for the East Asian Games and decided to join him for fun. As he was about to make a shot, I jumped up in front of him and managed a successful block.

And here's the proof - captured on film.


:) . PRICELESS.

As Chinese President, Hu Jintao was making his way back to China on the same day after visiting the wax museum, he kindly invited us to join him on his official plane as he complained about the boredom whenever he flies alone. We gladly accepted. :)


We then went to the shopping mall located opposite The Peak Tower to have our McD's lunch.

There was this outlet inside the mall that sells a lot of unique, rare collectible stuffs. The name of the shop was Delay No More - which is a vulgar word if you pronounce it with a Cantonese accent. ;)


The view on top of the hill was breathtaking. We were able to have an eagle's eye view on the city and of course, we could not resist taking pictures on the cold, breezy hilltop.




At night, we made our journey back to the MTR station by foot. Along the way, we crisscrossed the city centre and the nightview was splendid - different from daytime but somehow similarly breathtaking with the brightly-lit skyscrapers - smacked right in the middle of the financial capital of Asia.









That concludes our travelogue for Day 2 in Hong Kong.

Do come back for more in our Day 3 & 4 review of the trip which will be updated by Vivian soon. :)

~Happy New Year to all dear readers~

As we mentioned in the previous entry, we embarked on a 6D/5N trip to Hong Kong together with my mum and sis. It was a hastily arranged trip as we made a pretty last minute decision to visit HK just 3 weeks before. But it turned out to be a brilliant decision eventually as the trip turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable one and we practically shopped till we dropped - and broke!

Throughout the entire length of the journey, we snapped about 600 photos so you will have to expect that these 4-part entries are gonna be filled with lots of pictures. :)



We arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday night. It was regarded as one of the best airports in the world but honestly, it failed to live up to my expectations or perhaps, I expected too much instead.



The first thing that struck me about Hong Kong was the sightings of tall, multi-storey apartments and condos everywhere. It gave the impression of Hong Kong as the City of Lights as the sky was well-lit by the assortment of neons and light bulbs emitted from the skyscrapers and tall apartments. However, the abundance of tall buildings in a small country can only mean one thing - a very densely populated country! Lest I digress, I'll dwelve into the subject later on.



This was the hotel that we stayed in for the duration of the trip. It was located in North Point - an area which was located next to Causeway Bay. The hotel made an error in recording our bookings prior to our arrival, but luckily they still have rooms available for that day. Otherwise, we might have to sleep on cardboards under the bridge just like those homeless men often depicted in TVB dramas.



This was the street view at night just outside our hotel. Several rows of shoplots, blocks of apartments and endless streams of red cabs and double decker buses.



In the morning, the city came to life. Still, there was the usual endless stream of red cabs and buses filling up the streets everywhere. It is not surprising really, considering the exorbitant petrol price for vehicles which was around HK$10 per litre (approx. RM5 per litre).

We were lucky as Vian's friend, Percy was a Hongkonger and she was free to bring us around. In this densely populated city with a fast moving lifestyle, you can easily get lost amid the sea of people without someone to guide you around.


The next morning, Percy brought us to this restaurant which served some delicious dim sums for breakfast.


We had a hard time deciding what to order as there was a vast variety of dim sums to choose from.


We eventually settled for siu long baos, har gao, fu chuk rolls, phoenix claws (chicken feet) and some more. Dim sum is like to Hongkongers what Nasi Lemak is like to us Malaysians. That was the preferred way to kick start the morning here - enjoying dim sums over Chinese tea while chit-chatting with your family and friends.



After breakfast, we then headed to Tsim Sha Tsui - a well known luxury shopping district for the locals. As with most of the locals here, we travelled by foot and MTR.

The MTR stations were often packed and crowded with people from all walks of life and one have to walk closely together in order not to get lost.



This was the Octopus Card - somewhat akin to our Touch 'N Go and Perth's Smart Rider card.


Females always have time to pose for a shot - even while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. The 3 ladies shown above were a good example.

The Gateway Shopping Mall - home to luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Marc Jacobs, etc.

One thing about the luxury brands in Hong Kong - they were more like Jusco supermarket on J-card Day Sale rather than the usually quiet and elegant malls in Starhill.



Look at throngs of people lining up to get a hand on their luxurious must-have handbags or wallets. From the experience of staying in HK for 5 days, I can safely say that 9 out of 10 people that you meet in the street will have at least a LV or a Gucci with them and the odd one out that doesn't have any of the luxury item is almost certainly a foreigner.



Just half day gone and we're already carrying so many shopping bags with us. Good for the ladies, but pity the guy who have to carry those bags though. :P
The city was packed with droves of people walking from all directions. It kept me thinking whether in the future HK will suffer from the problem of oxygen inadequacy.



There was this little candy shop located outside the the shopping mall that sells various types of candies, chocolates and snacks. You can choose any type of combination of the candies or chocolates available and they will be charged according to the price per 100 gram. My mum couldn't resist the temptation and succumbed to it by buying 3 packets full of candies, cookies and mini dried meats.



Christmas celebration in HK was sort of like Christmas in Singapore, if not on a grander scale. Streets and high rise buildings were adorned and decorated with colorful neon lights and signboards ushering the impending Christmas celebration. It was a far cry from the normally mundane and more subdued Christmas celebration in Kuala Lumpur.

That night, we travelled to Sha Tin by MTR to enjoy the famous chicken porridge. However, there was an incident which almost disrupted the whole plan altogether.

In the eagerness to savour the chicken porridge in Sha Tin, Vian had accidentally entered the MTR and then the door closed, leaving all 3 of us stranded behind. There was a moment of panic as she was unfamiliar with the stations, and Percy and I were showing her hand signals to indicate that we will meet her at the next station.

However, she was nowhere to be found when we got off at the next station. And we were keeping our fingers crossed that hopefully she will be waiting for us at Sha Tin station which was 2 stops away. Unfortunately, we caught no sight of her when we arrived at Sha Tin station.

Percy decided to go back to the first station while the 3 of us were searching for her at Sha Tin. It was during then that I felt a sudden sense of impulse to look out for her near the elevator.

Perhaps it was pure coincidence or maybe it was pure destiny, there she was - about to descend onto the elevator when I spotted her. It was a huge relief to all of us, and she was visibly shaken from the ordeal. I comforted her and she barely eaten throughout the dinner too because she was having a bad migrain and stomachache at the same time.

That was an eventful first day for us at HK. Not exactly the way we imagined we will have spent the first day in the City of Lights but we were certainly looking forward to the remaining 4 days of our trip here.....

To be continued...Part 2

Hey guys..

Was playing with my Mozilla Firefox this morning. I discovered that we can actually download themes and apply it to the browser. Awesome!



LOL...I know that I acted like some 'sua ku'..just came out from don't know which jungle..But it is damn cool. After so many years of using Mozilla firefox, now only I know that it can be so cool with those colourful themes. It brightens up your day whenever you turn on your browser :) Give a try!


Here are a few websites where you can get those custom-made themes :

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:2
http://customize.org/firefox

Try google "Mozilla Firefox Themes Download" for more :)