This entry is about two months late...
Finally, after years of talking about it, and months of research and planning, our dream to take our parents back to HK happened! Yes! 5th November 2018 was the much awaited date; and as the days grew closer, the excitement mounted. We could not believe that it was actually happening.
Day 1
Passing over the sea, looking down at the boats and ships sailing, and then you see the buildings! Touching down in HK and then going through immigration and baggage claim went by in a breeze. Thought the lines were long and the airport being so big, we managed to find our way pretty well. And before we knew it, we were on the free hotel shuttle and off we were to our hotel. Our first ride in the shuttle was crazy! The driver drove as though he was a roller coaster driver; and we had to hang on to our seats.
The hotel was located on the corner of the street, with one side facing the Happy valley Turf Club; and the other a cemetery. We were lucky enough to get a room with the view of the buildings and part of the turf club. Once we checked in and got settled, we went to look for food as it was early 4pm by then.
Now we all knew that HK was expensive but seriously... our first meal costs HKD400+ for 5 people; and we only had fried rice and noodles. The famous milk tea was nothing to shout about either. That was an indication of the food "journey" we were about to have.
Our first day ended with a visit to the famous Ladies Market at Mongkok. Once we got a hang of the subway routes, travel was easy; although the amount of walking we did throughout the trip was enough to award us with multiple marathon medals. The market was not as busy as I thought it would be and although there were some ladies clothing, most of the items were souvenir-based. Nevertheless, most of our shopping was done there!
Day 2
The second day was Deepavali. Claire, Vay and I spent the day apart from mum and dad, as it was DISNEYLAND day! While we spent the whole day at Disneyland, mum and dad met up with old friends and reminisced. Unfortunately, mum took a fall and kind of injured her already "sick" knee; which caused her to limp throughout the remainder of the HK trip. :(
Disneyland was nice. Looking back, I can't say that it was fantastic because a couple of things were off. Cinderella's castle was closed due to renovation; the jungle trekking on a boat through the river was also closed; and there were not many characters around (in fact, there were no princesses). The queue for a photo opportunity with Mickey and Minnie was so long that it we had waited, we would have been waiting for half a day. So no pictures with them. :( We did get pictures with Goofy, Pluto, Tinker bell, Chewbacca, R2D2 and Eeyore. Although we found other characters like Woody and Cowboy Mickey, we were told that the queues were closed.
Food was expensive. We each had a HKD40 Mickey shaped ice-cream; a Mickey shaped waffle for HKD55 each; and our family lunch of a pizza, 2 drinks and 4 chicken wings cost us HKD255. Well, we didnt mind the prices; after all, we were in Disneyland!
What we did mind was the cost of the gifts! There was hardly anything below HKD50. So obviously, no souvenirs were bought. In fact, a cheap Mickey or Minnie hairband that can be bought for less than RM10, cost HKD298 onwards! The "souvenirs" we brought back were the tickets, guide maps and the Mickey shaped plate that came with the waffle. Of course not forgetting the hundreds of pictures we took and the memories that were created. One thing that will not leave my mind is the memory of sitting on a roller coaster, at the end of which I cried.
Day 3
Mum and friends had cautioned us prior to the trip that the weather would be cool as the temperatures were dropping amid it being autumn. So we all packed turtle-necks, long sleeves and brought jackets. Alas, while the winds were cool, the sun was shining bright; there was no need for jackets. But, mum still insisted that Victoria Peak would be much cooler than the city.
Lo and behold, with the sun shining so brightly that I could not open my eyes to take a nice picture, the jacket was useless. Yes, the winds were stronger and cooler, but nothing that warranted a jacket.
As expected, the view was amazing. We went in the afternoon, so we didnt catch the sunset/night view. We also visited Madame Tussauds and had a great time taking pictures with the "celebrities". Even dad got into the mood and took pictures with The Beatles, Anita Mui, the Hulk...
The tram ride up to the Peak reminded me of Penang Hill; only thing is, everyone got a seat so there was no need to brace ourselves when the tram stopped. I didn't like that the return journey was done backwards, in that we were traveling in reverse down the hill!
After Victoria Peak, we returned to the hotel so that mum and dad could rest. Claire, Vay and I continued our exploration, looking for Jollibee, the multinational Filipino fast food chain that was on Claire's must do list. Not only did we find Jollibee, we also found Spaghetti House (a restaurant that mum has talked about got years) and Chungking Mansion, my parents' former abode. Claire had a "jolly" time, nearly eating half the menu in one sitting and even "tapau-ing". After that, the journey back to the hotel was filled with laughs and giggles and we did not even know why. We were all "jolly".
We also found a Victoria Secret BUILDING - it was 4 storeys - but by the time we found it, it was closing. The guard asked us to return the next day, to which we told ourselves that it is a MUST! There was also a Harry Potter shop, so that was added to our list the next day!
Day 4
So Day 4 of our trip was a relaxed day. Initially, we had planned to stay for only 3 nights, but after discussion and so forth, we figured that the cost for an extra night would not harm our budget too much; we were after all already in HK, so why waste the opportunity? Therefore, Day 4 started out on a lazy note. We slept in (very well deserved since we had two full days prior); then we went to look for dim sum. We had dim sum at U-Banquet, a well-known restaurant. The dim sum was not that expensive and it was good. After all the meals that we had over the past few days, this was satisfying.
After breakfast, we walked around our hotel area. Wan Chai was a former red lilght district but now it is a millionaire's district. Cars on the roads were mostly Porches, Lamborghinis, Maseratis....
And so...after the walkabout where Claire, Vay and I splurged in Victoria Secret (I finally got to buy my Bombshell Body Mist in 250ml), mum, dad and Claire returned to the hotel for a break. Vay and I continued our exploration. We headed to the Harry Potter shop which was actually a Context Museum. It was like walking onto a HP set and we wanted to buy everything. But the price tags were a deterrent; nevertheless, we still got a t-shirt each and a few small stuffs. After HP, we headed to another place to find Vay's Starbucks and Duddell Street Stairs.
It was the search for these two that lead us into a mini adventure where we walked for almost 1.5hrs, going through streets and lanes, up and down roads...only to find the place just two streets away from the subway stop that we exited from! Thankfully, the stairs were directly beside Starbucks! Vay got her wish, we got our Starbucks and pie - all were happy except our legs and feet.
We arrived back at the hotel only to leave it again in less than an hour to catch the shuttle to Central, where we were going to take the MTR to go to Temple Street Market. Before that, we had Jollibee for dinner again as Spaghettin House was just too expensive (a simple salad cost HKD168+). Temple Street Market is THE place to go to for shopping but, although the street was long with shops on both sides of the street, most of the items were similar. My dad came in handy this time as his negotiation skills gave us the most gifts with the cheapest price. One seller even commended my dad on his Cantonese and negotiation skills. :P
Walking the long street and stopping at almost every shop was tiring. We decided to have a drink and it cost us HKD29 for a coconut! While having the drink, we met a fellow Malaysian who has been working in HK. It is always nice to bump into fellow Malaysians when you are overseas. There is this instant connection.
Although we were disappointed as there was no clothing or shoes on sale, we still had a good time. With the amount of gifts we brought including the VS stash, or bags were filled to the brim; plus we had additional caryy-on luggage which we did not have when we arrived! Thankfully, none of our luggage exceeded the weight limit.
Last Day
Our last night in HK was spent packing and making sure that everything was kept in out bags and locked properly. Our flight was only in the evening but we decided not to anything on the last day. We slept in; had breakfast in the hotel; and relaxed in the room till it was time to check out. We then took the hotel shuttle to the Hong Kong Station where we took the Airport Express train.
Our HK trip officially ended when we checked in our luggages and headed to our gate for boarding, not before having our last meal in one of the restaurants where Vay suffered through her meal; and the milk tea was once again a disappointment. HK airport is so big that it has 530 gates; and ours was 202! Thank God for the travelator or else Vay or me would have had to carry my mum! Haha...
This trip has been a dream come true not only for myself but for Vay as well. Our parents always talked about their life in HK and have on occassion, said that it would be nice to go back and see how much HK has changed. And ever since they mentioned that, we put it on our bucket list - and it is finally ticked off!
The satisfaction and joy of being able to do this for them, while they are still healthy and are able to enjoy, is the highlight of the year for me. This is just the start of many more trips tat my sister and I are planning. If not yearly, at least once every two years. I think it's been since high school, then college and now work...that we have not had a family trip that was just for fun and bonding, let alone overseas.
So this was timely, and well deserved!
Finally, after years of talking about it, and months of research and planning, our dream to take our parents back to HK happened! Yes! 5th November 2018 was the much awaited date; and as the days grew closer, the excitement mounted. We could not believe that it was actually happening.
Day 1
Passing over the sea, looking down at the boats and ships sailing, and then you see the buildings! Touching down in HK and then going through immigration and baggage claim went by in a breeze. Thought the lines were long and the airport being so big, we managed to find our way pretty well. And before we knew it, we were on the free hotel shuttle and off we were to our hotel. Our first ride in the shuttle was crazy! The driver drove as though he was a roller coaster driver; and we had to hang on to our seats.
The hotel was located on the corner of the street, with one side facing the Happy valley Turf Club; and the other a cemetery. We were lucky enough to get a room with the view of the buildings and part of the turf club. Once we checked in and got settled, we went to look for food as it was early 4pm by then.
Now we all knew that HK was expensive but seriously... our first meal costs HKD400+ for 5 people; and we only had fried rice and noodles. The famous milk tea was nothing to shout about either. That was an indication of the food "journey" we were about to have.
Our first day ended with a visit to the famous Ladies Market at Mongkok. Once we got a hang of the subway routes, travel was easy; although the amount of walking we did throughout the trip was enough to award us with multiple marathon medals. The market was not as busy as I thought it would be and although there were some ladies clothing, most of the items were souvenir-based. Nevertheless, most of our shopping was done there!
Day 2
The second day was Deepavali. Claire, Vay and I spent the day apart from mum and dad, as it was DISNEYLAND day! While we spent the whole day at Disneyland, mum and dad met up with old friends and reminisced. Unfortunately, mum took a fall and kind of injured her already "sick" knee; which caused her to limp throughout the remainder of the HK trip. :(
Disneyland was nice. Looking back, I can't say that it was fantastic because a couple of things were off. Cinderella's castle was closed due to renovation; the jungle trekking on a boat through the river was also closed; and there were not many characters around (in fact, there were no princesses). The queue for a photo opportunity with Mickey and Minnie was so long that it we had waited, we would have been waiting for half a day. So no pictures with them. :( We did get pictures with Goofy, Pluto, Tinker bell, Chewbacca, R2D2 and Eeyore. Although we found other characters like Woody and Cowboy Mickey, we were told that the queues were closed.
Food was expensive. We each had a HKD40 Mickey shaped ice-cream; a Mickey shaped waffle for HKD55 each; and our family lunch of a pizza, 2 drinks and 4 chicken wings cost us HKD255. Well, we didnt mind the prices; after all, we were in Disneyland!
What we did mind was the cost of the gifts! There was hardly anything below HKD50. So obviously, no souvenirs were bought. In fact, a cheap Mickey or Minnie hairband that can be bought for less than RM10, cost HKD298 onwards! The "souvenirs" we brought back were the tickets, guide maps and the Mickey shaped plate that came with the waffle. Of course not forgetting the hundreds of pictures we took and the memories that were created. One thing that will not leave my mind is the memory of sitting on a roller coaster, at the end of which I cried.
Day 3
Mum and friends had cautioned us prior to the trip that the weather would be cool as the temperatures were dropping amid it being autumn. So we all packed turtle-necks, long sleeves and brought jackets. Alas, while the winds were cool, the sun was shining bright; there was no need for jackets. But, mum still insisted that Victoria Peak would be much cooler than the city.
Lo and behold, with the sun shining so brightly that I could not open my eyes to take a nice picture, the jacket was useless. Yes, the winds were stronger and cooler, but nothing that warranted a jacket.
As expected, the view was amazing. We went in the afternoon, so we didnt catch the sunset/night view. We also visited Madame Tussauds and had a great time taking pictures with the "celebrities". Even dad got into the mood and took pictures with The Beatles, Anita Mui, the Hulk...
The tram ride up to the Peak reminded me of Penang Hill; only thing is, everyone got a seat so there was no need to brace ourselves when the tram stopped. I didn't like that the return journey was done backwards, in that we were traveling in reverse down the hill!
After Victoria Peak, we returned to the hotel so that mum and dad could rest. Claire, Vay and I continued our exploration, looking for Jollibee, the multinational Filipino fast food chain that was on Claire's must do list. Not only did we find Jollibee, we also found Spaghetti House (a restaurant that mum has talked about got years) and Chungking Mansion, my parents' former abode. Claire had a "jolly" time, nearly eating half the menu in one sitting and even "tapau-ing". After that, the journey back to the hotel was filled with laughs and giggles and we did not even know why. We were all "jolly".
We also found a Victoria Secret BUILDING - it was 4 storeys - but by the time we found it, it was closing. The guard asked us to return the next day, to which we told ourselves that it is a MUST! There was also a Harry Potter shop, so that was added to our list the next day!
Day 4
So Day 4 of our trip was a relaxed day. Initially, we had planned to stay for only 3 nights, but after discussion and so forth, we figured that the cost for an extra night would not harm our budget too much; we were after all already in HK, so why waste the opportunity? Therefore, Day 4 started out on a lazy note. We slept in (very well deserved since we had two full days prior); then we went to look for dim sum. We had dim sum at U-Banquet, a well-known restaurant. The dim sum was not that expensive and it was good. After all the meals that we had over the past few days, this was satisfying.
After breakfast, we walked around our hotel area. Wan Chai was a former red lilght district but now it is a millionaire's district. Cars on the roads were mostly Porches, Lamborghinis, Maseratis....
And so...after the walkabout where Claire, Vay and I splurged in Victoria Secret (I finally got to buy my Bombshell Body Mist in 250ml), mum, dad and Claire returned to the hotel for a break. Vay and I continued our exploration. We headed to the Harry Potter shop which was actually a Context Museum. It was like walking onto a HP set and we wanted to buy everything. But the price tags were a deterrent; nevertheless, we still got a t-shirt each and a few small stuffs. After HP, we headed to another place to find Vay's Starbucks and Duddell Street Stairs.
It was the search for these two that lead us into a mini adventure where we walked for almost 1.5hrs, going through streets and lanes, up and down roads...only to find the place just two streets away from the subway stop that we exited from! Thankfully, the stairs were directly beside Starbucks! Vay got her wish, we got our Starbucks and pie - all were happy except our legs and feet.
We arrived back at the hotel only to leave it again in less than an hour to catch the shuttle to Central, where we were going to take the MTR to go to Temple Street Market. Before that, we had Jollibee for dinner again as Spaghettin House was just too expensive (a simple salad cost HKD168+). Temple Street Market is THE place to go to for shopping but, although the street was long with shops on both sides of the street, most of the items were similar. My dad came in handy this time as his negotiation skills gave us the most gifts with the cheapest price. One seller even commended my dad on his Cantonese and negotiation skills. :P
Walking the long street and stopping at almost every shop was tiring. We decided to have a drink and it cost us HKD29 for a coconut! While having the drink, we met a fellow Malaysian who has been working in HK. It is always nice to bump into fellow Malaysians when you are overseas. There is this instant connection.
Although we were disappointed as there was no clothing or shoes on sale, we still had a good time. With the amount of gifts we brought including the VS stash, or bags were filled to the brim; plus we had additional caryy-on luggage which we did not have when we arrived! Thankfully, none of our luggage exceeded the weight limit.
Last Day
Our last night in HK was spent packing and making sure that everything was kept in out bags and locked properly. Our flight was only in the evening but we decided not to anything on the last day. We slept in; had breakfast in the hotel; and relaxed in the room till it was time to check out. We then took the hotel shuttle to the Hong Kong Station where we took the Airport Express train.
Our HK trip officially ended when we checked in our luggages and headed to our gate for boarding, not before having our last meal in one of the restaurants where Vay suffered through her meal; and the milk tea was once again a disappointment. HK airport is so big that it has 530 gates; and ours was 202! Thank God for the travelator or else Vay or me would have had to carry my mum! Haha...
This trip has been a dream come true not only for myself but for Vay as well. Our parents always talked about their life in HK and have on occassion, said that it would be nice to go back and see how much HK has changed. And ever since they mentioned that, we put it on our bucket list - and it is finally ticked off!
The satisfaction and joy of being able to do this for them, while they are still healthy and are able to enjoy, is the highlight of the year for me. This is just the start of many more trips tat my sister and I are planning. If not yearly, at least once every two years. I think it's been since high school, then college and now work...that we have not had a family trip that was just for fun and bonding, let alone overseas.
So this was timely, and well deserved!
No comments:
Post a Comment