Monday, June 29, 2009

You wouldn't want to read this -___-

It has been long time since I sit down here with a peace of mind to blog. I have been very busy last few weeks - with reports to do, and cupcake orders to complete. It was indeed hectic, where at some point I am gonna lose myself. Thank God I have an Mr. Angel by my side, giving me the strength and energy when I'm down, pushed me when I stopped and gave me head massages to ease my headaches. I found myself lucky to have someone who support, encourage and lend a helping hand to whatever nonsense I do. And that pushed me to go further, together with him. ;)

One thing for sure, my energy level went down the drain, and so do my readers T__T *sobs*. This won't stop me from writing though! :)

I shall continue with my China/Hong Kong trip, which happened last year (arghhh don't throw rotten eggs to me...) and yes Clara, I still owe you Bandung trip posts. Feun's birthday. My coming birthday. Yaki-yaki buffet review. Swap review. Cherating, Pahang. Phew... One thing at a time. :D But now - Shenzhen. Boo...


Date: 28 November 2008, Friday
Agenda: Depart from Macau to Zhuhai and then to Shenzhen. (Fuh...)

We woke up at 7.00 am, thanks to the "friendly" alarm reminder via automatic telephone call by hotel. -___- We were freaking sleepy (we were in Macau the day before) but to think of the other members in the tour, we dare not to snooze for longer period. That's why we swear we would not joining any tour packages EVER AGAIN. No matter how cheap/worth it. I still prefer free and easy, where I can sleep and wake up whenever I want! Hmmph!

Photobucket
Dressed up the HK way. I wanna dress like this in Malaysia too... and get heat stroke later wtf.

Photobucket
After breakfast, we depart to Zhuhai (Pig River Pearl River), from Macau. Just look at the queue at China custom! Freaking long.

Photobucket
Here we are in Zhuhai.

Photobucket
The famous landmark in Zhuhai - 'Lady with Pearl'.

Photobucket
What are you waiting for? Snap photos lah!

Photobucket
We being very touristy T___T What's so nice bout the sign-stone after all? ;)


Next, we went to garden (where the others went for some cable car ride), while me and Wei Hwa walked to other side for some photo-snapping and dried sotong munching. Yes, dried sotong -___- It's famous in Zhuhai (as they claimed to be) and it's dead yummy!!! :) It comes in original and spicy... I love the spicy one! Forgot to snap photos of it though.

Photobucket
Photobucket
PhotobucketPhotobucket

After dried sotong, lunch, jewelery scams (no shop's name being displayed and located in between flats) dingdingdongdong et-cetera, off we go to Shenzhen. Least that I know that it's gonna be a 3 hours journey! 3 hours journey in our local express bus is OKAY, but 3 hours journey in CHINA busses are definitely NOT okay. The seating of the bus was 90 degrees straight. Yup, how comfy is that. "Thanks" to the driver too, I can't sleep well for 5 minutes. Thanks, Reliance. =___=

Photobucket
Photobucket


Finally, after escaping one kind of a hell ride, we reached Shenzhen and thanked God we're in piece. What's the first thing to do in Shenzhen? SHOPPING! :)
Dong Men Shopping District is not a department store, its an open air shopping area that is interconnected, with hundred plus shops. A shopping heaven, and its lively at night. Along the shops are small parks with benches, and a lot of food stalls, good place to sit once you are tired from shopping. The place is really for people that love to bargain, always ask immediately for 50% off from its original price. Bags (from handbags to luggages), fashion accessories, shoes, toys, men & women clothings. Shop keepers accept only RMB or HK dollar. But a lot of them accepts RMB only.

Source here

Photobucket
KFC, made in China.

Photobucket
Coleslaw, made in China.

Photobucket
Chicken burger, made in China. I wonder what they used to produced the buns. So yellow looking. -___-

Photobucket
Tako yaki, not as yummy as made in Malaysia. Malaysia Boleh! Woohoo!!!

Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Welcome everybody, presenting Dong Men Shopping District -___- wtf so touristy.

Photobucket
For supper, we got ourselves McDonald's Pie in taro and peach!!! :D I postponed this blog post for so long till I forgotten the taste of it already. Dang! =___=

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Being Hongkie, even for a day.

This post suppose to be published before Disneyland post, but because due to overwhelming response for Disneyland, I delayed my other part of Hong Kong experience. Please remember that everything in this post happened before Disneyland. :D

We stayed in Metropark, Mongkok, where there's pros and cons about this hotel (reviews from Tip Advisor):
  • Its very cheap to stay here but then again you get what you pay for. The hotel is OK but looks very old. The view from the rooms facing the backside of the building is horrible. You can see all the fishbone TV antennas and people drying their laundry on clotheslines. The rooms have old beds and furniture and are tiny. For those who plan to travel by bus to mainland China, the buses are literally just downstairs so thats the biggest selling point. There are plenty of restaurants nearby and the busy Nathan road is just a block away and the Prince Street metro is also a block away. Transportation is very good from this hotel.
  • This hotel turned out to be the cheapest one I could find from a travel agency. Needless to say, I didn't expect much from this hotel considering the price. I didn't care too much for the quality either as I knew I would spend most of my times outside. But this hotel surprised me. Bottles of shampoo and shower gel are normal to be had in average hotels but you don't often get the facial tissues and disposable slippers and this hotel provided them. The message system was pretty cool. There's a red light on TV that kept flashing until you turned on your TV and it will tell you the subject of the message and that you can pick the full one up from the reception.

    The only complaint I could have is the lobby, it has only one sofa that can fit five people(if you know each other and are willing to sqeeze in otherwise it's good for four people). Once you get up, others are surely going to jump in.

    The location of the hotel is alright. The only purpose of this trip for me was to shop and everything I needed just seemed to be within walking distance or a short hop on a subway.

    Overall, I would not hesitate to stay here again on my next visit to Hong Kong.
  • We got the A21 airbus from the airport which dropped us right outside.

    First impressions - nice tidy reception. Easy quick check in. But got to the room - shockingly SMALL - especially room 633 (refuse any room ending 33 if they give you - they are the smallest rooms in the hotel on all floors! Look at the floorplan!).

    Myself and my partner didn't believe all the rooms were that small, and it was true - when visiting our friend's rooms, they were bigger. We just got the short straw. We tried to change but reception simply said the others had an upgrade as there were no available rooms - LIE. All the rooms are the same size except the end rooms i.e. X33. Either way we figured we didnt want it to ruin our trip, and we'd be out most of the day anyway, so we put up with it.

    Good things about this hotel: the location. Only 5 mins walk to Mongkok and the shopping area, including ladies market, Langham etc. And Prince Edward station is just across the road (back entrance). 7/11 and McDs just across the road too, and laundrette right next door - got home and no laundry to do - bliss! Cake shop within the hotel - yummy fresh buns for the morning. They even sent a birthday cake and card to one of us - nice little surprise. We had a night flight back to UK, and leaving our luggage with them through most of the day was fine.

    Overall good, but dont get the end room!
As for me, I would stay there again for my second trip to Hong Kong as everything is within walking distance - from dim sum restaurant, 24 hours convenient stores, shopping complexes, Ladies Street, boutiques, arghhh basically anything! :) I love it!

Photobucket
All dressed up for Hong Kong, baby!

Photobucket
The all-famous "put chai gou" which were always mentioned in TVB dramas. The taste? Bland. Not up to my expectation. Which were sad enough.

Photobucket
OMG, "put chai gou" is so delicious wtf.


As we walk and walk, we tried on any local foods that caught our eyes. That's the way to experience the locals' lifestyle! And we find it so much fun.

Photobucket
Local biscuit stall selling Wife Biscuit ("Lou poh peng") and Almond Biscuit ("Hap tou sou"). There are others more, but it was sold out. :( Luck's not on our side.

Photobucket
Photobucket
Yeah, you got it! It's the all-time-famous Stinky Tofu! :) It's smelly alright! But it was hell-yeah-delicious!!! I ate those stinky tofu and I would love to have it again. :)

Photobucket
Yeah, it's THAT smelly!


As out hotel were very close to popular landmark, all we did were walk. Walk and walk and walk as our heart desires. In the end, our trusty foot bring us to Langham Place, which were located in Mongkok district and "it's a 1,800,000 sq. ft. 3-in-1 mega development, comprising a 15-storey shopping mall, a 59-level Grade-A office tower and a 665-room 5-star hotel". Wow... :D Amazed!

First thing first: SHOPPING!!! :D Woohoo---!!!

Photobucket
Here I am in H&M, doing what girls does best: shopping!

Photobucket
How I wish H&M would be available in Malaysia... That would be dream come true! A bliss to all Malaysian girls, including me of course. ;) I got myself a pair of glove, a large handbag and a leather belt. Nah, I didn't able to get any clothes as it was winter season and most clothes weren't suitable to be worn in hot and sunny Malaysia.

Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket

After I have done my round of shopping, off we go to the main attraction in Langham Place: the Xpresscalators!!! Now... what's that??? :) Xpresscalators is "The longest escalators within a shopping mall in the territory. A pair of them is located on the 4th floor leading up to the 8th floor, and another pair leads to the 12th floor. These long escalators have been designed to reduce the "horizontal drift" of shoppers, thus keeping them in the mall".

Photobucket
WOW! The xpresscalators!

Photobucket
Be afraid, be very very afraid!

Photobucket
We went through the first xpresscalator, that brought us from 4th floor to 8th floor. Coming right up the the second xpresscalator, that will bring us from 8th floor to 12th floor!

Photobucket
Xpresscalator to heaven wtf.

Photobucket
We've reached the heaven wtf wtf~ Choi choi.

Photobucket
We're going aaaallllll the way down. Scary huh?

Photobucket
Bye-bye 11th, 10th and 9th floor...

Photobucket
Photobucket
Bye-bye xpresscalators... :( You are indeed fun.

Photobucket
Apart from Sasa, you must go to Bonjour for great deals on perfumes and skin cares. You would be spoilt with choices and low price! Guaranteed.

Photobucket
I experienced the longest escalators and also the shortest one. Wtf! ;)


Morning snacks? Check.
Shopping? Check.
Fooling around with escalators? Check.
Lunch? Oh-ooo~ Nearly missed it!

Before heading to our next destination, Disneyland (woohooo!!!) we filled up our stomachs with noodles from local shops. This shop is located somewhere in Mongkok, a very small shop, yet packed with customers.

Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
We ordered Pork Noodle in Spicy "Ma Lat" Soup and Wan Tan Mee in clear broth. Extremely yummy! Part of it because we were overly hungry. ;) Anything taste good when you are hungr

Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket

After lunch, we head on to Yau Ma Tei MRT station and off we go to Disneyland... well, which I have already blogged earlier hahahaha why am I blogged the other way round? Lol... Disneyland has higher popularity amound readers~

Photobucket

Photobucket
Ignore my ridiculous pose, please. :o

Photobucket
That's the boots I bought from Shenzhen for a very small price. I love boots dearly but I definitely could not wear it in Malaysia. :(

For continuation on where we are heading next, read this post and you would be in the picture.

Sorry for my lack of updates. :( I'm really sorry. Cupcakes took most of my time, which I enjoyed making, creating and delivering love to customers. Despite being packed, here am I promising to myself and you that I will update whenever I can. Won't neglect this baby of mine. Promise! :k
 

Show Me The Stars Template by Carly Lloyd Designs