Tuesday, 9 September 2008

Hong Kong Trip Final Update

I was looking at my photos taken in Hong Kong and I found that I haven't upload a last batch of photos. So here they are.

Everytime I go back to Hong Kong, I will definitely find a chance to explore the green side of Hong Kong, which means I will go hiking or what we say in Cantonese "行山”. This time I was invited by Auntie Anney (my Mum's old classmate) and her family and friends to walk a trail that I have not hiked before, its called "梧桐塞”, this trail is famous for its awesome view of waterfalls. I asked my good friend in Hong Kong, Clarence to join me in the walk. We walked for almost 4 hours and went for BBQ for dinner.


Stick insect, can you spot it???


The crystal clear stream



Aren't these water lilies beautiful? They are taken in a pond of a temple in the middle of the mountain



大帽山 is the highest mountain in Hong Kong, we are hiking near that area


The whole waterfall is categorised into 3 portions, main fall, middle fall and bottom fall, with the main fall having the most magnificent view



Bottom fall



Middle fall






The main fall



Youngsters playing at the main fall




View of the main fall from far



BBQ in Hong Kong is very different from the BBQ we have here, in Hong Kong, people sit around the circular BBQ bit and chit chat while they barbaque their food. I would prefer this way of BBQ, because people tend to talk more and are more involved in the whole conversation, if there are new friends around, it is also a better way to build rapport. The problem with our way of BBQ is that only a few people are barbaqueing while others are in their own small groups doing nothing but chat, those at the BBQ pit might feel lonely, new friends might felt left out when they have nothing to do and listen to conversations that does not concerns them. Therefore, Hong Kong style of BBQ is more heart warming.



First time trying the Hong Kong style of BBQ



Uncle Benny and family



My 堂表姐 brought me to 尖沙嘴.

尖沙嘴

We walked past a Charlie Brown Cafe, those who like Snoopy can come visit this cafe located in 尖沙嘴. I heard from my 堂表姐, the cafe's food is quite good. We did not ate over there coz we were supposed to eat somewhere else.



Photo taken with Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Yay!!!



The staircase to the cafe





This store is quite famous, because the food here is very nice! I ate 叉烧串, and its was super juicy and nicely barbequed. Alot of celebrities come here for their food too. Photos I saw on the walls were 张柏芝,任达华,famous food critic 蔡澜,马俊伟,张伟建 etc. Its located at 尖东, anyone going to Hong Kong should visit this store if they have the chance.


After dinner I went to meet my aunt and took MTR home, but before I leave, this is the my snack after dinner for the day, this is our local snack like our waffles over here, its called 鸡蛋仔, it must be eaten when hot, coz its crispy on the outside, soft in the inside when its hot, if cool down already har, it will be soggy soggy, not nice liao.

My aunt bought me to go eat high class buffet on the third last day of the trip. Guess what kind of restaurant is it? Its R66, a relvoving restaurant which means the restaurant turns 360 degrees. One round one hour. Its located in Hopewell Centre, 湾仔 and you could see the whole of Victoria Harbour's skyscrapers in one complete 360 degrees turn. Its good food with good view. Priced around S$50 plus to S$60 per person, half price if your birthday fall on the month you go. Its quite reasonable already, because buffet in Hong Kong is super expensive nowadays (something which Singapore is cheaper in, we can get good buffet in Singapore around S$30 plus already). Really enjoyed myself, I was really excited, but got a bit giddy initially even though the restaurant is revolving in a very slow pace (coz you can still feel your whole environment turning), but once get used to it, you will be enjoying your food and the beautiful night view.


湾仔


Central Plaza


Hmmm... Delicious...


Bank of China building, Internation Finance Centre (IFC - if you saw "Batman - The Dark Knight", this is where Batman jumped down from) and Central Centre all in one view.



This is that classic scene... Batman should actually jump down when the building is on fireworks during the New Year Countdown, AHAHA... Like that then classic mar.


Candle light dinner





Hopewell Centre, one of the symbolic icon of the famous Hong Kong skycrapers, we ate at the 60th storey of this building.


英皇HQ wor... 容祖儿,阿娇,阿Sa,谢霆峰的 office wor, 杨老板的 main office wor. But too bad, didn't see them at all. Ahaha...

On the second last day, my aunt brought me to the newly built mall, "Elements" at Kowloon station, one of the higher end areas in Hong Kong now. We ate at a superbly nice Japanese sushi restaurant named 千两 (only sushi and sashimi),the food there is super fresh. After that we went to Mong Kok and bought all the sovenirs for YOU ALL and went back there to watch "Batman - The Dark Knight", the theatre there super class lor, the chair actually vibrates together with the explosion scenes, super cool. After that we went walk walk around that area, above the mall are where Hong Kong's most expensive condominums are. At night we went back into Tung Chung and ate Teppanyaki, I treated my aunt for dinner coz her birthday was nearing. Haha...


Semi barbaqued salmon sushi! Oyishi~~~


Scallop sashimi~~~


Salmon sashimi~~~






This will be the next symbolic icon in Hong Kong after the IFC, this is called ICC (International Commerce Centre), meant to be the a twin to the IFC on the shore opposite.


This condominum is called 凯旋门, this is one of the most expensive condominums in Hong Kong. Reason being the great view it provides, tenants have the whole Victoria Harbour's skyscrapers view smack on their windows. You see the bridge between the two buidings, like Heng Wei's house right, but their whole 会所 is located over there, you can swim up there while enjoying the Victoria Harbour view. Unless super rich, if not dream on on buying a unit over here.


Beautiful sunset!!!


Our teppanyaki dinner!


Beef steak


Cod fish
Time to go back~~~

Really enjoyed my time in Hong Kong, a special thanks to Aunt Surinna for making my stay an enjoyable one. Will not forget the times we had together. Hope to come back in near future. I LOVE HONG KONG!!!



Taking photos with the Olympics mascot, Hong Kong is the host city for Equestrian (马术) for the Beijing Olympics 2008.


大舅母,爱华姨妈 and Aunt Surinna at the entrance to the airside. Bye bye~~~ See you all soon!!!


The busy Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok International Airport, Changi is just too quiet for a hub...


Boarding soon...



Flying on an A330 - 300 back to Singapore.


Waiting for disembarkation


Beautiful weather! This is the most stable flight I have ever flown on, with no turbulence for almost 3 hours of flight only slight turbulence towards the end of the flight.


Drinks and snacks service


A330 - 300's cabin


Flight route map showing us we are flying at an attitude of 39 000 feet. This aircraft is not yet installed of the new seats and IFE.


Had chicken chop rice for lunch. Nice~~~



How about ice-cream at 39 000 feet? Shiok~




Old style remote control, hope the refurbish the A330 - 300s with the new seats and IFE soon


Back in Singapore


Hope to fly with you soon in near future, Cathay Pacific!


My air ticket

And yah, thank you CYYAM for fetching me! I won't forget what happened. Haha...

Monday, 25 August 2008

香港始终是家?

哇!好挂住香港啊!挂住那里的人事物!

I can almost confirm a feeling. I have always dismissed this feeling because I think I am being too 感情用事. However this feeling grow stronger and stronger every time I am back in my hometown, Hong Kong, this particular time, I am not going to deny it, because its too strong to ignore and I am not going to run away from it. There is this strong sense of belonging, this strong attachment. 那里的人,那里的文化,那里的街道,那里的食物,那里的每一件事,每一样东西,对我来说都有着浓厚的亲切感。你们可能会说,为什么在新加坡长大的我,会有这种感觉?因为我发现原来在这 16 年来我没有彻彻底底地被同化,我发现在我内心里,我的潜意识里,那条根,那种对香港的情怀已经扎扎实实地扎根在我心里的深处。我并非对新加坡没有感情,毕竟这里是我长大的地方,只不过“归属感”不在这里。我有尝试让自己对新加坡有多一点的归属感,可是那往往只是假象。我记得有位弟兄曾经问我是否有一天我会回去香港,当时我的答案是很肯定的“不会”,

现在的我没那么肯定了。。。

过了两年的兵役后,我很有可能会回去香港读四年大学,如果习惯了那边的生活,我可能不会回来了。如果有一天我真的离开新加坡,我会感谢上帝在这里让我受好的教育而我最舍不得的是神在这里赐给我最美好的礼物,CYYAM,因为它建立了我的信仰,我的人格,让我董得什么是爱。神会安排我在这里长大,可能是为了让我认识他。 常听妈妈说起当初来到新加坡,神怎样让她从新肯定他的存在的经历(我妈曾经离开过神),我常常在想如果我们一家没移民的话,我们可能根本就没有慢下脚步去认识神的机会,现在的我可能也不会是基督徒。所以我相信这一切不
可能是偶然。当然如果我真得回去香港生活的话,应该也不是偶然的吧 (我还有很多未信主的亲戚)。当然现在一切都还不成定局,一切还要看神怎样带领。那就耐心的等候吧。

Even though I am back in Singapore, I still do want to share with you the amazing food and charisma that Hong Kong has to offer. 香港真的是一个太精彩的地方,所以不是我要帮它打广告的咯。香港人是喜欢新事物的一群,他们爱吃所以很会吃(讲究吃的意思)。在香港是很难找到难吃的食物的。把这两样特点加起来就造成了一个现象,就是食物的款式往往千变万化,这点,你们有机会的话,去去它们的 McDonalds, KFC 和 Pizza Hut 就知道。在新加坡,这些普罗大众的餐厅卖的来来去去就是那几样款式的食物,但在那里,能叫的食物的款式可能会让你傻眼。就拿 Pizza Hut 来讲,新加坡的 Pizza Hut 的洋式汤是cheap cheap 的罐头 Campbell soup, 相信我,以为我常常喝 Campbell soup, 那味道我肯定认得了。香港Pizza Hut 的洋式汤,是高档的真才实料洋式汤。餐单里的食物样式多到眼花缭乱。以下的照片,你一看就明白,试想想新加坡的Pizza Hut 会有这些吗???


海鲜面


Mango smoothie


鲜螺锔薯容


Multi-national pizza, (from the left), American flavour, tom yam flavor and wasabi teriyaki chicken flavor


拼盘

Other food...


海南鸡饭, I still prefer Singapore's. Haha...

Went to 铜锣湾 on a particular day with my aunt, 铜锣湾 is like Taiwan's 西门町 or Singapore's Bugis Junction. This is one of the most crowded places in Hong Kong too, other than 旺角. People who like shopping, this is a place not to miss, but mind you, things here are not cheap.



There is this 街头艺术街 in 铜锣湾 named 西九龙文娱艺术街,see how lame they named the street in English... Supposedly, West Kownloon Cultural Street, they named in West Dog Dragon Cultural Street (Read the chinese name in Cantonese and you will know why).


One of the 街头艺术. Free hugs, mind trying one of them? Er... For girls, they are not that good looking for some worthy hugs right? Ahaha....



The bustling streets of 铜锣湾


Trams and buses on the roads of Hong Kong island


The famous 皇后大道。。。There is a song for it, you know? Haha...

Went to a famous Japanese restaurant called 别府 for dinner. Food there was great!


寿司!!!


Grape soda


铁板牛肉


Fried Jap tofu


鳗鱼炒饭



这个一定要介绍,这是香港著名点心流沙包,认识我的人就知道我不喜欢吃甜食,但这个包啊,真的让我欲罢不能。流沙包其实就是奶黄包的化身,只不过里面的奶黄不是泥状的,而是热辣辣的液状,咬入口中时,里面的液状奶黄就会喷出来。。。简直就是 HEAVENLY 啊!!!This is a must try if you have a chance to tour in Hong Kong!


我阿姨煮的港式家常菜,番茄红杉鱼

I was supposed to buy a book of Pei Fern. My friend brought me to the address of the bookshop in 荃湾, and we 顺便 went to this old Chinese style house named 三栋屋 which has already turned into a museum to take a look.