Hong Kong

I realise I never did blog about the trip to Taiwan in Jan. I still have yet to get the photos from my cousin. :s


The whole preparation for this HK trip was quite a low for me. I just didn't feel excited about the trip. I guess the only reasons I went were because I have not been there before, I do love to travel, and we could go see my mum.

Then things got worse two days before our departure when I sprained my ankle. I got really apprehensive about the trip and whether I'll be able to fully enjoy HK with the sprain.

Frankly speaking, I really did not enjoy this trip as much as the Taiwan one. I cannot really put my finger to why, but it is just a feeling. My travelmates for both trips were great. They made the trip so much more enjoyable and crazy.

Anyways, the 5 days in HK were CRAZY. We walked like at least 8hrs each day. Thank God the weather was still quite cool. I think I'd have gone crazy if we had to walk around with Singapore's current weather. But I guess I am kinda of satisfied with the trip, as in I don't have any regrets (except for the fact that I didn't get to eat egg tarts!!!!) because we went to most of the places on our agenda, we took almost all of their different kinds of public transport and we had a lot of good food! Of which, I have to say is the most impt thing of this trip.

We have relatives there (my mother's cousin) who was really really nice. He followed us everywhere and brought us wherever we wanted to go. Anyway, the huge joke is that although he's my mother's cousin, he look a lot like my dad. He got mistaken as my Dad once or twice before. You'll see him later in the photos though I don't think they look so alike now cos my dad has put on weight.

We also came up with silly hand gestures that you'll see appearing frequently in the photos below.


DAY 1


Went to Sha Tin to meet my mum, uncle and his wife.


DAY 2
We ate DIM SUM for brunch! Happiness. They sold unheard of items like braised duck with century egg and so on.. The har gow was good. Porridge too.

Spent half a day at City Gate Outlet Mall shopping. Basically it's a shopping mall full of factory outlets of various brands like Kate Spade, Armani, Adidas, etc.

At night we went to the famous Nu Ren Jie 女人街. I think we were all quite excited about going because of all we have heard about the place; plus there was supposed to be a street full of shops selling sports shoes next to it. Unfortunately, we only went home with a photo of a half naked Aaron Kwok to make our cousin jealous, and souvenir stuffs.




DAY 3

Ocean Park, the PEAK and Madame Tussaud's.

They were very smart in situating Ocean Park at its current location on a hill. The view was really great.

The PEAK was sort of a disappoinment to me. I don't know, I think it's because I have never saw pictures of it, so I was like imagining something more outdoors. When we reached there, we walked straight away into a shopping mall that was extremely tourist-y. I was quite irritating and complain-y while we were there too cos I was really tired. I had given most of my weight to my left leg because I sprained my right ankle. By the time we reached the Peak, the muscles in my left knee was burning. It was quite frightening because I have never felt that before.

But Madame Tussad's was good, though it was over too soon.



DAY 3

Went to visit my granduncle (mum's cousin's father) in New Territories. He lives in an undeveloped area where there's you know, wild growth and everything. Like a kampong except he lives alone.

We took the famous "small bus" that we always see in HK dramas. You know, like when a couple quarrels and the lady walks off and gets on the 'small bus'. The guy tries to get on too but can't cos it's full. And there are no bus stops. Basically you just call out to the driver whenever you want to get off.

Then we took a looong bus ride to Causeway Bay, all the way from New Territories to HK island. It was good for all of us so that we could rest.

I bought a pair of shoes there! We took sometime looking for Asics Onitsuka boutique cos my cousin wanted to buy their shoes. In e end I was the one who bought shoes. :D
It was way off my budget; I had planned to buy Converse.




DAY 5

Had a really really good lunch at 糖朝 (Tang Chao) in Tsim Sha Tsui. The porridge, carrot cake, black sesame and almond paste were all really good. And we finished one huge tub of tau hwey. Let me just state first that there was only 4 of us. 4 girls. And the tub was really huge.

I rarely do entries where I list out what I do in a day nowadays. But, I simply have to blog about this day.

I woke up early that day to go to Suntec to change money for our HK trip. Before I left, my sister sms-ed to say that her friend has lost contact with the boss of the moneychanger and to just find another one. So I decided to go to Parkway cos my cousin had just changed there and the rates were quite good.

At Parkway, when I used my sister's ATM card to withdraw her money, I realised that the money from the cheque she banked in on Sunday would only be available in the afternoon, right around the time when I would be playing badminton in Hougang. So I told her I'd go to one in Orchard the next day since I was going down for a haircut.

After that, I met my cousin and went to Hougang Sports Hall to play badminton. After less than 5 mins of playing, I sprained my ankle. It was entirely my fault; I was playing bare footed. :P

Of course we couldn't continue playing since there was only 2 of us. So I decided to cab down to a Chinese sensei near my church.

When we reached there, I found out, to my horror, that they were closed for lunch until 3pm. It was not even 1pm. >>.<<

So we went home. Or I limped home cos cabbing was expensive. Bus-ing is much cheaper.

When my father woke up at around 3plus, I asked him if he could drive me to a doctor later. And he got irritated at me and complained saying why I was so troublesome. I got SOOO angry I told him I don't need him to drive me anymore. At that moment, I would rather let my feet rot then have him fetch me.

After a while we both relented and he drove me to this Chinese sensei I visited before.



If you think this is the end of my adventurous day, you're wrong!

Guess what, it wasn't there anymore!! Thank God my dad drove me because I really don't know what I would have done if I had gone there by taxi.

Then he drove to the area around Hougang Sports Hall (-_-) and we found the Eu Yang San clinic. And that, is the end of my very frustrating day.


I was at such a loss when I sprained my ankle. Because of it:
-- I couldn't play badminton; I really have been wanting to play for a long long time.
-- I couldn't go for my haircut and I was really irritated with my hair then.
-- I couldn't go to Orchard to change money for my sister. We were leaving for HK two days later.
-- WE WERE LEAVING FOR HK 2 DAYS LATER! How can I walk around HK with a sprained ankle???
-- I was supposed to go to Sentosa w Eileen and Jane for volleyball the Sat after next. How to play with a sprained ankle???
-- I made a decision that I hope is what He wanted.