Hong Kong, Hong Kong!

Am finally back from a 4D3N trip in Hong Kong. Being back here made the past few days feel like a dream. In fact, I am still in a dreamy state.. Lols.

We woke up really early on Saturday morning, about 3am to be precise and took a drive to LCCT with our luggages. Check-in was pretty fast and the fella at the check-in counter asked me, "erm, check in for 3?" I replied yes. He continued, "and only 1 lugguge?!?" Lols. Yes, I've heard! 4 days + 1 luggage is not enough! Little did he know that we packed another foldable bag in the check-in bag! Lols!

We indulged in a pre-breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts prior calling time. Nope, not delicious; but they did well in filling our little rumbling tummies! ;p Thea was absolutely excited! Imagine, at 6am in the morning and she was jumping around!!

When we arrived in Hong Kong, we took this bus by this company Vigor. Cost us HK600 for a round trip for 3 of us. I thought it was pretty expensive but hubby explained that in Hong Kong, stuffs are pretty expensive (seriously, then why everybody tell me that Hong Kong is CHEAP?!?!?!? :-o ). Anyway, by the time we arrived at the hotel, there were a swarm of people. The hotel was busy but luckily check-in was quick and our room was already ready despite our early arrival. The minute we put our bags in the room, we left for a proper breakfast; or rather, more like brunch at a local diner. Food was absolutely LOVELY!!!!! albeit a little pricey for my standards. Ah well, Hong Kong mah... To our (hubby & I) surprise, Thea absolutely loved the food too! Otherwise, she must have been R-E-A-L-L-Y hungry!!

We walked around A-LOT!! Went back to the room about tea time for Thea to nap a little and to have her milk. Showered and left for dinner. This was mainly our routine for our 3 days there, including our trip up to Disneyland the next day. While I didn't mind one bit about this, hubby was complaining all the time because he wanted to walk about the city some more when our little darling needed her nap. Lols. It was cute seeing him fuss.

Disneyland was really an awesome experience for the three of us which we visited on our 2nd day in Hong Kong. Ok, more like for Thea and I. We walked around and for the rides that we thought were suitable for Thea, we went on it anyway without consulting her. Lols. We even watched a theatrical show which I enjoyed very much. I was moved to tears watching the performers bring life to the famous disney characters. Unfortunately, food there was not very appertising. I hardly ate and poor Thea only had rice. The chicken sucked too. :( Because Thea was getting tired, and hubby wanted to go back to the city to look-see look-see, we left Disneyland at about 3-4pm. We were there since 10:30am. ;p Thea slept the minute we got onto the train. She must have been really tired.

The 3rd day was spent walking around the city and shopping. I wouldn't say that shopping in Hong Kong is so enticingly cheap, but choices available are definitely encouraging. Imagine, we were walking around sooooo much that hubby and I were sharing that our legs, feet and toes ached, but the little girl made no complaint. Even when I repeatedly asked her if her legs were tired, aching or painful. She just shook her head and happily skipped along with us.

One thing about toilets in Hong Kong. I abosutely respect the cleanliness and the consideration provided. Sanitizer for the toilet seats itself and clean floors. Maybe it's the places that I visit, I don't know; but there is always one or two cleaners on standby cleaning the cubicles each time a person finishes their business. It's really impressive. So one thing is for sure, I would visit Hong Kong again with Thea; even if it's just for shopping purposes... Lols.

Not to forget about the food! Yum! Yum! Although we didn't get to patronise all that we had planned to, but visits to the Macau Cafe (twice), BLT Restaurant (this is actually a western cruisine), the local diner (can't remember the name of the restaurant), a Shanghainese restaurant that my HK friends - Mark, Irene & Sarah brought us to, this dessert shop; save for the notorious chicken rice in Disneyland; it's a thumbs up! I would go to HK just to EAT!!! Lols.

Christmas decorations were absolutely beautiful too. Too bad I didn't bring the 500D. I wanted to. But decided against it since Thea would be with us. It would be unwise to carry too many loads while traveling with Thea. However, I made a mental note to return some day with the 500D to capture the scenic nights filled with beautiful lights. Oooooh yes, how could I forget, we also took the ferry from Central back to Tsim Sha Tsui. The ferry ride was cheap, windy and fun! Plus, it is only a short 10-minute ride!

I guess a beautiful experience that accompanies my 1st time in Hong Kong is the rekindrance with my friends whom I had not met in 11 years - Mark, Irene & Sarah. Mark & Sarah were my classmates when I was studying Foundation Level at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Irene is Mark's wife, whom I also met in Melbourne. It was really great being able to catch up with each other face-to-face again after all these years besides through FB. The funny thing was, Mark kept asking me if I ate Pork, if I had tried Shanghainese food before and etc etc as if thinking, just because I am a Malaysian, I am a Malay. I reminded him that I am a Malaysian Chinese and that Malaysia comprises of many races. We are multicultural. I guess it's hard for them to grasp unless they live here. Mark & Irene were so kind. They accompanied us from the train ride from Causeway Bay (there's where we had dinner by the way) all the way to Central, and accompanied us further during the ferry ride from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui. Yeah, that's how it was possible. I think if they'd left it up to us to figure out our way for the ferry ride, we would have ended up taking the train or a taxi back to the hotel! Lols. The best part was, Thea absolutely adored the both of them!

I had a great time. Hubby is already plannnig our next trip next year. Lols. I can't wait.

Thank you, Mark, Irene & Sarah for taking the time to meet up with us. It's truly wonderful being able to reconnect again! Looking forward to see you in Malaysia next time round!!!

Ah... I love Hong Kong already... :D