Thursday, July 2, 2009

Day 4 (2Jul) HKG

Had BF@ the hotel’s café.

Took MTR to Central MTR & took a bus to the Stanley’s Market.

The ride to Stanley's (reminds me of Amalfi coast in Rome, Italy) was an adventure! Winding coastal roads with width barely enough for 1 bus! I shrieked inside of me everytm e opp direction vehicle come towards me & pass me by 5cm distance! Aiks! It's winding left & right, going up& downhill too! I took e advice to take an upper deck seat & i 'cleverly' took e front seat too! Like a Roller Coaster ride! Their driving skills DAMN GD AH! =) But I felt abit of Motion Sickness by the time I arrived at the Stanley Market… Tahan!!!

Stanley Mkt is more like Bugis Village with little shops selling touristy Tshirts, quite abit of 'Art Galleries'! Frm Posh shops (tat offers FEDEX to ur country of residence) to small shops which offers containers for u to roll up e Artwk! To me, all work, regardless of cost, is considered 'ART'. Frm a piece of child's drawing(those u put it on e Fridge) to street vendors who offers to drink ur Caricature for a fee! Art comes in different form! Art in e eye of e Beholder!


What I fancy most of Stanley Market was the Promenade walk. Imagine throwing hoops at the basketball court with e sea/beach as ur bkdrop! =) Alittle like Beachside walk, very nice! Nice houses too! E Rich & famous live &play here!

Imagine playing Basket ball with the sea as ur backdrop!Coooll!


I stopped by to chit chat with a Caucasian lady walking her Alaskan Malamute Mix. Big dog,surely she lives here! I asked her abt where to get pet stuff in HKG etc! Chit Chat etc,nice...so nice to stopped by for smting familar-Pets(FurKids! Made me miss Creamie loads!) & English!

Thereafter, I took the Minibus back to Causeway Bay! Topo to take Bus40! Amazing Experience! No standing allowed onboard, so e driver will signal to e pple @ e bustop how many seats are left, when the bus is Full, he will hang a sign (like hw Taxi Drivers put their Destination).


There's a Giant Indicator overhead e driver for all to see! It tells passenger hw fast e driver is driving! Watever for?! The road is so winding driver maneuvers skillful @ each hairpin bend, but only with only his right hand! Cos the irony ting is-he needs his left hand to hold on to a Bar built beside him, for balance when negotiating e Bend! V safe indeed!


Giant Speed Indicator of the driver!?!!!


Did abit of shopping at Causeway Bay: H&M n UNIQLO. It's like TanjongPagar(offices + shophouses). Since I am on the mission to drink lotz water & herbal tea to rid of the ulcers & prevent constipation, my strategy would be to visit every toilet possible at the shopping malls, before I down more liquid!

I took the off beaten track towards harbour... & discovered Cannon St, which was nt mentioned@all in any of the info i had gathered! It's like a mini Petshop lane! Petshops on both side of this lane selling Livestock: Puppies (teeny 1s) & Kittens(different breeds). I lost myself in the animal world. The cages are so cheap compared to Singapore! OMG! Wish I could bring them back with me! Actually I could if I had more help! They are not that heavy but rather bulky. What a waste!

I had a very yummy lunch @this roadside stall! HKG$24, i get to choose 3 frm abt 15 different ingredients! So Glass noodle soup with
1) Beef Meet Balls
2) Pork skin
3) WantonFree KangKong vege(loads)! Yummy! Still,$24 is considered exp lor!



YUMMY ROADSIDE STALL!
Got improvished aircon system!

The standard of living in HKG(Causeway Bay) must be rather high like if u work in Town Area Singapore. The pple who worked in tis area eat there! I knw cos i followed them! Keke! I aimed, saw 2 shopping centre retail girls in uniform (they carried this small tote bag- which a S'porean OL would call this e Lunch bag). I “stalked” them & found where e locals eat! They walked thru e Creaks btw e shops! Keke! It was 3+pm by then liao! I was Famished!


I took MTR back to Central MTR & ventured into LiYuen St, Still ok lah! Noting much-another Bugis Junction styled market/street.


Walked to e Lower Peak Tram Terminus. Lucky for Octupus Card, not only it's our Ezlink card, it allows a centralised system for taking e Peak Tram & entering e SkyPeakTower(pay to get to e tallest point to see 360degree). Oh, octupus card gets huge discounts! Actually quite cheap! HKD$22+$11(Peak Tram Up &down),$22(Entry). So effectively only abt SGD$12 for 2 attractions?! Cheap! In S'pore, it would have easily cost $20 for entry for 1 attraction! Only e Parks in Singapore are Free!

Saw the electric tram... but dun dare to take! Cos I duno whether board in front of behind of the tram! I observed for a while by the roadside... I think it's from the rear of the tram! Wuahaha! Still I didnt take it!


" SEE HONGKONG" Electric tram!


I Love e Scenery! Weather cooled dwn a little, the sky looks alittle dark though. Can see the little swimming pools at the “condos” like our River Valley apartments in the rich estates!
Nice 360 degree view!

The Tram ride dwn e Peak is rather awkward, it goes bkwards!!?! Like taking those Amusement rides! Wuahah! Quite fun when the elevation can reach like 45 degrees? Kekek!

Waiting for the Peak Tram!


Wow!! Beautiful!!
I took the MTR to TsimShaTsui MTR, enroute I passed by a group of students who just finished performing to the "sea"... I love to catch the locals at their most true self! The front that we see they "greeting" us at the shopping malls, hotel etc is just .... a front! Underneath the true self reveals!



Went to the 'Avenue of Stars' -So called MUST SEE in HKG whereby Famous Movie Stars leaves their Hand Imprints & sign off on e Pavements! I looked for Jackie Chan’s (no imprints left liao!), Bruce Lee, Anita Mui etc. Those dead have only a star imprint.

Almost time for Sunset! Orangy sky!
On my way back to the MTR, I saw this scene... I guess only the "Angmohs" will patronise the busy, the locals probably get their domesticated wives back home to do it! Still, this is the scene I would love to capture on camera!
"Angmohs" getting their shoes polished!


Since @TST, I went to Granville Rd to look see yet another Bugis Village style st. Bored w it! Enroute back to the MTR station, I went to Silvercord Shopping mall-Nice arty farty boutiques w nice jap style shops like Bugis Junction Mall's nice Jap section. Niceeee-but still too expensive for cheapo po Soya! Wuahaha!

Bk to hotel, dropped my loot off! Ventured out to find the highly recommended 美都餐室 (Mido Café) @temple St! Abit difficult to find cos it was at e other end of Temple St! Passed by so many makeshift 'stalls' of Fortune Tellers & “ 卖唱“ (Mai Chang) -Reminds me of e great movie i love <新不了情> by Anita Yuen & Lau QingYun! Wow! Cool! Stupid me forgt to bring camera out for dinner! Hungry cant think lah! 9pm liao still yet to have dinner!

Finally found MIDO Cafe! Packed! Got a place upstairs(as highly recommended!) wow! Like in HKG movie where they go eat dimsim for BF! The famous Polo Bun w Butter (菠萝包加油) sold out! Boss & Waitress only can repeat “明天趁早!” in cantonese! Haiz!

Nevertheless, mus eat sm food,order sm Soupy Yi Noodles & a 小菜 (vege dish) of 小白菜 , asked for less oil(feeling guilt tat i havent been working out & really pigging too much)!.
so she said she will specially instruct to have it v little oil. In e end,she delivered a small bowl of dark soya sauce 1st,then e vege came. it was broached, jus w water-tat explains e soya sauce! So every mouthful i'll hav to dip it in & eat it. It's really too bad i dun really understand e Impressive chinese menu, nor abit of Cantonese to converse comfortably. Nonetheless, i'm really happy for e Nostalgic feel! I love vintage stuff, immersing w e Locals!

I stopped by sm shop to have a Sesame paste dessert too! Niceee! Then it’s back to hotel! I am having prob packing my loot esp + the 2 pairs of sports shoes!

Thank God for Cable, Discovery Channel! Why am I so interested to know how the nuclear turbine works actually, I duno, t’s just very technic & I think it’s good knowledge lah! I watched it till 1am before I forced myself to off e TV.

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