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December 29, 2013

Day 5 - Hong Kong Trip

Before we reached the airport and fly back home, we bought some deep fried chicken-and-chips-with mayo-in-a-cup for breakfast in Tsim Tsa Tsui. We gobbled them with some bottled water from the nearest Seven Eleven in a Sitting Park nearby, next to senior citizens. As we were sitting down, we listed some of our favorite things about HK: 1. Octopus Card (which can be used for almost all means of transportation as well as Seven Eleven and Circle K); 2. Public Parks (which are always clean and convenient for people of all ages, from children to seniors); 3. MTR Stations (they can be reached on foot, and the directory is far from confusing).

In all, despite the hassle of missing a flight and mishaps,I’m grateful to have experienced Hong Kong. A internationally renowned vibrant city that holds  a population of millions, it is indeed heaven for urban travelers, shoppers and foodies.  

Here are some random pics taken by Anna and I - well mostly from Anna's camera:

Playground at Hong Kong Park





Aaron Kwok's hand print, Avenue of the Stars, Tsim Tsa Tsui

Girls Generation poster and handprints, Harbour City Mall

Hand print of Yoona, a member of Korean's most popular girlband, Girls Generation (SNSD)


Hong Kong Traffic 

Playground at Hong Kong Park

Teaching kids to learn Braille the fun way

Tarzan's Treehouse at Disneyland

Stole a pic of Mickey and Minnie - got yelled at straight away, "If you want to take a picture, get in the line!" *lol

Mystique House, Disneyland




Toy Soldiers

See you in Tomorrowland!

Buzz Lightyear: "To infinity and beyond..."

Our late lunch at Disneyland: Chicken Nuggets and Chips

Dumbo, the Flying Elephant's wagon

Dumbo

Canon at Fortress Hill, Macau

Museum of Macau


Saw this thing on TLC, free public gym near Fortress Hill, Macau

Macau Tower and miniature of Macau City, Tomica version
Inside the Ferry to go across Tsim Tsa Tsui from Hong Kong Island

Season's Greetings, the most wonderful time of the year 

A harbour near Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island


One of the hotels in Macau; serving not only conventional gambling, but also fight-betting


A windy stroll at Avenue of the Stars

Camera...ready? Action!

Bruce Lee

Skycrapers as far as the eye can see

Day 4 - Hong Kong Trip

On our last day, we went to Macau by Ferry (HKD 159). After we settled the immigration papers at Macau terminal, we exited the building, hopped on a free-shuttle bus by Grand Casino Hotel (if I’m not mistaken) and went to Senado Square on foot.   



In the ferry to Macau

Welcome to Macau!

For brunch, we munched some fish balls and prawn balls from a stall near to the ruins – with tourist price; not that it wasn’t expected. Next, we tried the egg tart from Koi Kei Pastelaria that everyone’s recommended. I must say, they were right. Bonus: we could also try cookie testers around the shop. Not bad for snacks.
Portuguese Egg Tart

Fish and Prawn Balls

Pastelaria Koi Kei

A gorgeous historical site with Portuguese-influenced stone flooring, it’s much more laid back than any places we’ve been to in Hong Kong. Not far from the square, we found many shops that led us to St. Paul Ruins. We took some great pictures and went inside the underground museum. It’s amazing that the structure had stood there since the 1800s.

Senado Square





St. Paul Ruins

After that, we went up to Fortress Hill. It’s an British fortress with canons that are also aged hundreds of years old - also located near St. Paul ruins.

Next up was the Macau Tower. We had a bit trouble finding the bus to go there, but fortunately we found a police officer handsome enough to be a boyband member that gave us the right direction :D The HKD 147 cost tower was extremely cold...it’s 30 something levels above the ground, and I couldn’t help myself from grinding my teeth over the cold weather. When we were there, there were some Indian girls who were brave enough to do bungee jumping. My heart dropped when one of them was pushed down and seemed to be swept away by the fogs. The things people do to pump their adrenaline. I’m good with rollercoasters, thank you.





From the tower, we rode a free shuttle bus to the City of Dreams, which is exactly across the Venetian Hotel. The Venetian Hotel was the most crowded casino and hotel by far, given that it is exceptional for their man-made canal with boats and chaffeurs in black and white striped shirts, red scarves, hats and all. It also nests a food court that serves many kinds of food – affordable ones. We had a light lunch from Indian Spice Express halal food stall at the food court: samosas and mango lassi. Yum!

The Venetian Hotel and Casino

The Venetian ceiling



The Venetian Canal

Afterwards, we rode another bus and took a ferry (HKD 147) back to HK (after 6 pm, the ferry rate is higher). It took us approximately two hours from Macau-HK. We returned to the hotel, and spent our last night in HK....going back to the Ladies Market and around Tsim Tsa Tsui area. We bought some mango jelly and deep fried food on a stick. We wandered around SaSa again, got some (more) of for cute cupcake-packaged lip balm, mini perfumes, and a set of make up brush for me. I <3 the shop. Anna’s pledged herself to buy a Swatch for every visit abroad, and so...she got one, with the assistance of a nice looking young man..ehem :p On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in a shoe shop that sells pretty comfortable shoes. Each of us got one pair. A few blocks after, we saw another shoe shop – a more trendy one – and got ourselves another pair. Haha! Nothing like a retail therapy to end the journey.