Monday, August 23, 2010

Hong Kong Trip

Early morning, we check out of Casa Real hotel, took the shuttle bus to Macau Ferry Terminal to continue our journey to HK! Ard HKD 140+ for one way ferry which is ard SGD 35+... BTW, our two night hotel stay was approx SGD 160 (cheap as the stay was during wkday, the rate for wkend was like SGD 120++ for 1 night) Some pics of the ferry we took.





We reach HK after about 1 hr! We booked our room in Bishop Lei International, the hotel mentioned on their website that there is shuttle bus service from Central MTR or alternatively a short walk up the mid-level escalator will reach their hotel and etc etc. In the end, LOST!! Don’t trust the signs!! We took a cab after strolling around central for about 1hr+ with our luggage!!



The cab was cheap since the hotel was near Central MTR and we found the location of the shuttle bus pickup in the end, but it was impossible to find if you did not ask the hotel staff. So.. If any1 do stay in Bishop Lei one day, please take a cab.. It won’t cost much from the Central MTR Station.



Thankfully, they upgraded our room to a harbourview room for no reason!! =)
The pics did not show the small living room and bathroom, so it is not as small as it seems.. Overall, I'll rate it 3.5/5 for HK standard (the bathroom is alittle too small.., but the view was amazing)

Pics below!





We went to Temple Street Night Market and NOTHING!! Okay, maybe for us. All the stores are selling the same items. We took about 15 mins to walk up and walk down and in the end bought my items all from the SASA outlet store. We are so exhausted from all the travelling and walking that we bought our dinner and some supper and went back to the hotel to rest.

Next morning, we went Stanley market by bus, it was a nice ride with views to look at, not spectacular, but not boring to say the least. The place is quite a good shopping spot and the cooling weather helps since it something like Singapore’s Pasar Malam combined Chinatown stores.

Some pics.





After which we took the bus back and went back Central to take a walk, travelled across to Causeway Bay by MTR and went to Star Ferry Pier. It was windy and I was freezing, but the view was nice. Some pics





We went Causeway Bay to walk, famous for some fashion wear, but in the end, nothing to buy! Mayb we are just too picky. Went for dinner at Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant, recommended by Lonely Planet book, we thought we can get some tim sum there, in the end, BIG disappointment!!!

No tim sum and the food was so EX, we ordered fried rice and some porridge, one of the supervisor came, looked at us and say in mandarn: “one eating porridge and one eating fried rice for dinner, enough already right?”, it doesn’t help when the rest keep looking at us and laughing to one another. Disaster. Spoilt my appetite BIG time and the cost for the above was SGD 30+!! What the $%@&^%$.. Furthermore, cause the loving couple (us) to have some slight argument. BOYCOTT BIG TIME!!

*side note* the point i am putting across is we were sort of "looked down", which i feel was partly due to what we wore there.. Hip hop and fancy restaurant don't gel apparently.. Anyway, moving on...

That night was Chelsea vs Man Utd match, we thot our hotel provides the channel but to our dismay, on air was some other football league, but Chelsea won, so maybe not watching is better.

I hope to go back again one day since I missed quite a lot of places, it doesn’t help when you walk and travel so much the prev few days and your partner fell sick. Will go back again 1 day!

*Tips*: If u plan to travel much, purchasing the Octopus Card (like EZ-link in Singapore) is a wise choice, furthermore, any remaining value in the card is returned to you after your visit in HK! (http://www.octopus.com.hk/home/en/index.html)

Next up, Brisbane Australia!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Trip to Macau - Part 2

After a long night sleep, our trip for Day 2 begins.

Before the trip, extensive research was done on the transport to the central; however, during dinner last night, we realize that we are able to walk to the central. From Casa Real to Central takes about 30 mins, provided you are not lost. (thank goodness I still remember the way from prev trip).





We went to the famous Sao Paulo Cathedral which is a must go when you are in Macau . On the way to Sao Paulo Cathedral, you will cross a stretch of shops selling barbeque pork which btw cannot be compared to Singapore 's Mei Zhen Xiang or any other brand and shops that sell the famous Ginger candy and almond cookies etc.

Generous sampling size are given along the way, make sure you keep some empty stomach =), the biscuit stores are great place to buy some back home while the barbeque pork store are known to be quite pricey. Unless you are a huge fan of their barbeque pork, I would not recommend buying from there.

Some pic of Sao Paulo Cathedral



Behind and Inside the Catheral





Our next destination is Penha Church. Btw the trip to Penha Church drained the %$#&@#$ energy and brain cell out of me. We were given wrong direction and ended up walking much much more than we had and not forgetting the steep road up the hill to get to the church.

Nevertheless, we managed to drag ourselves up and enjoy the view from the top of the small hill. If only the weather would have been alittle clearer, the view would have been stunning.







Something interesting that we spotted was just outside the church, there is someone selling Buddhist items, lucky charms etc. Not exactly the best location I guess?

We hiked back down and went strolling around Macau Central again, grabbed some munchies on the way which was delicious and slowly make our way to Wynn and MGM casino.





Lose $$. Not Happy. We went for dinner after the long day and went back to rest. The following day, we are travelling to Hong Kong .

Stay tuned for HK trip!