Travel to the Corners of the World

Day 8/9 ZhuHai/Macau 18th/19th March 2009

12:20 PM
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Bargaining Shopping at GongBei-->Casino at The Venitian--> Walk Walk at Senado Square and Ruins of St. Paul--> Babylon Casino at Fisherman's Wharf--> Slack at Macau International Airport--> Tiger back to Singapore

Today was our last day in ZhuHai before proceeding to Macau and spent a sleepless night there and catch our flight back to Singapore. I hope that I could stay for the trip longer but at the same time, I miss the happenings back in Singapore.

The guys woke up at quite a late time of 11pm before proceeding to GongBei Undeground Shopping Centre for breakfast while the girls woke up much more earlier where they already went to the undergrond shopping Centre for the bargaining war!

We came upon this cafe and decided to settle our breakfast cum lunch over here

The nice menu

Look like food court

After our breakfast, we also start our shopping war. Again the same rule applies, you must really bargain about the price or else you will kena thousands of tok by the chinanese. Even the massage parlour staff which I visited last night agree with me and ask me to bargain more than 40-60% off as they say that they really mark up the price very high as it is a tourist destination.

I remember there was an incident where we wanted to buy shoes. And there was this shoes selling at 70rmb and we asked how much does it cost and they give a price of 65rmb for each shoes. But we have a target of 60rmb and bargain with the shop staff and they was damn reluctant to meet our bargaining price. Than we give alot of reasons + excuses + sad look and they finally reduced the price to 64rmb. Than we used our whole effort to bargain again, trying to reach our target price. Than it reduced to 63rmb. Than to 62rmb than to 61rmb. But it still didn't hit our target price even though it is just 1rmb difference. And the staff was really reluctant to give us the 1rmb discount because she feels that we should give in because it is just 1rmb. Than she gave her final 61rmb ultimatum and we didn't agree and decided to walk out of the shop. After we walked out from the shop for about 5secs, the staff came out and shouted "ok la. 60rmb than 60rmb. 1rmb you all also don't want to give". Wah. That was when I feel a really big sense of satisfaction. It is not that we don't want to pay the 1rmb($0.25). It is just that we want to win! We want to win the bargaining war and the whole tedious process makes it really sweet to win.

The underground mall

After shopping till around 230pm, we proceed back to our hotel to check out before proceeding to Gongbei Custom to enter into Macau

A final goodbye to our accomodation in ZhuHai. Shot taken from the Gongbei Custom/Gongbei Underground Shopping Centre

After clearing the custom, we came to the bus bay which is linked to the Macau custom. There are alot of shuttle bus to different Casinos and we took the one that will bring us to The Venetian Macao because it provides free luggage storage and at the same time, we can enter our 1st ever casino!!

The HDB flat of macau, taken while on our way to The Venetian

Arriving

Preparing to store our luggage

Huge!

Classy and luxurious look

While on our way to the casino, we chance upon the famous local food-Portugese Egg Tart!! I bought 2 and it was really delicious eating it fresh and hot from the oven!

Nice nice nice!

Entrance to the casino

I wonder how Denise took all this picture when there are so many many cameras around. I did not bet because the minimum bet was quite high at S$20. After exploring the casino, it was around 730pm and we decided to go to Senado Square for our dinner and also some walk walk and also visit the "must-visit" Ruins of St Paul!

In the Taxi, their night view was really nice

Reaching Senado Square

Senado Square

In search for food, we came to Macau Recipes

My seafood spaghetti

After filling our stomach, we decided to search for shop that sell local-made food products

And we chance upon St. Dominic's Church

After much effort, we found the shop

They sell local delights like egg roll, sea weed tarts etc.. I bought 1 whole bag to Singapore to share with my family

Than we walked to Runis of St. Paul which is just beside Senado Square

Proof that I am in Macau

Shaking hand

Busy taking photo with the landmark while...

Some of them just sit at the staircase waiting for us to finish. They are not that excited =((

After that, it was already 103opm and we decided to proceed to our next destination which is Macau Fisherman's Wharf

Waiting for Taxi

Arrived in Fisherman's Wharf

The small Roman

Clean and neat and oldie feel

Beautiful view of the friendship bridge

After that, we came to Babylon Casino!

The minimum bet over is is much lower at HK$50 per bet and Yesheng and I share our bettings and each of us won around S$70!!

After trying our luck in Babylon Casino, it was already 315am and we decided to proceed back to The Venetian

More looks of the The Venetian. Very luxurious

Than we collected our baggage and decided to pack it to prepare for our flight back to Singapore

I bought 5kg worth of food product from Kong Kee and was so afraid that it will exceed the limit

After that, we took a cab down to the airport

Our temporary accomodation

We still have to wait more than 4hrs for our flight =(( I miss Singapore already

YeSheng showing off his winning

All dead tired from the sleepless night,

While YeSheng and I decided to go and have our breakfast located inside the Airport as we were damn hungry

After that, it was already daylight and everyone was quite awake. And we met up with Huisan and friend for the flight home

Macau Airport

YeSheng went berserk due to his sleepless night

And this picture below proof to you that Singaporeans like to queue

We were just standing near the gate waiting for some of them who went to shop and the queue starts to form

Finally the gate is open and on our way to the plane

Tiger Airways. Not a bad budget carrier

A last goodbye to Macau

After the plane took off, I fell asleep immediately and I slept so soundly that after I woke up, it was already 130pm, 30mins away from touch down

Sleeping so shiokly in the budget airplane

Yea reaching Singapore

Ships parking in Singapore water

I can see Singapore!!

This I guess is Tanah Merah Country Club

Yea touched down!

Back in Singapore Budget Terminal

After that, some of us when to Popeye to have our lunch and Home Sweet Home

And this are all the loots that I got from the trip

Pendants for my bro, wishing them (10bets 9wins)

It was a great vacation trip with this bunch of friends of mine. Everyone make this trip possible, enjoyable, fun, cool, swee, huat and many many more. Our 1st every self-planned trip make this experience even more sweet=D

Can't wait for the next trip!!

Cheers~

*.*"

THE END

ricky

Day 7 ZhuHai 17th March 2009

7:10 AM
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Relaxation at Ocean Spring Resort--> Tea Break at Cafe-->Seafood Feast at Seafood Street--> Night Shopping at Lotus Street

Oh, so it was the last 3days of our trip. Today weather was good to us and I must really thanks the grandpa sun to come out so often which didn't damper or spoil any of our plan. So we woke up at around 8am, without eating much breakfast and get prepared for one of our highlights of the trip which is to ZhuHai Ocean Spring Resort.

One of ZhuHai Ocean Spring Resort main hightlight is that it consist of more than 80 different types of indoor and outdoor hot springs and spa which include fish spa, turkish bath and dead sea salt pool. Entrance fee is at around S$40.

And so, our mini bus ride from our hotel at ZhuHai to Ocean Spring Resort took us around 1hr. And here, we arrive at Ocean Spring Resort.

The many many different kind of hotspring

The lady who greeted us

All ready and excited for the hot spring

Girls changing room

Guys changing room

Some of the pool and attractions that we went are the hot and cold bath, dead sea salt pool, turkish bath, fish spa, slide pool etc. It was really relaxing and enjoyable. Even when I am recalling now about what we did over there, the feeling is still fresh in my mind. I would really wish to go there again!

And thinking of what are we going to do if we are hungry or thirsty? If you are thirsty, there are water station for you to rehydrate yourself for free. If you are hungry, you can buy mini snacks like Tea Leaves egg and pay using an electronic wrist band which i shown below

And after you have done your spa and everything, all you have to do is to pay at the cashier counter before you exit

Cashier Counter

All looking depressed because we had to leave

All back into our mini bus for our next destination-Back to hotel

When we arrive at our hotel, it was already 4pm. And we decide to have a small meal at our hotel lobby cafe and we realise that their menu was really hilarious

So ginger can smile =DD

Peanuts are like popcorns, they explode!

Banana split in a boat and sink into the sea

Oh so cowpeas know how to fry egg

Laughing out hears out at the cafe. They didn't even bother to vet through their menu

And I ordered a spaghetti meal

With a very delicious Guo Tie!!

After our tea break, we proceed to one of ZhuHai must go destination and that is to the Seafood Street for a seafood feast! Seafood place is a place full of seafood restaurant. You arrive in a restaurant, ask a chef to follow you to a stretch of seafood market which is just beside the restaurant and bargain for a good price for the seafood. After you bought your desired seafood, pass it to the chef and they will go back to their restaurant to prepare the dish for you with the request of they way you want the dish to be prepared.

Seafood street. Competition is stiff over here and all the restaurants here call the customers by "liang zai"(handsome guy). Listen already until very song(shiok)

Lines of seafood restaurant

Finally after some much discussion, we settled on the restaurant. Now to the market for some bargaining

All fresh

Not dead yet

Abalone!!

Bloody fish

And all of our rewards

Smiley Orange =DD

After our seafood feast, we proceed to Lian Hua(Lotus) road for some night shopping. It is situated opposite the road of our hotel which took arond 10mins to reach

The line of shop. Still crowded even though it is already 930pm

After around 11pm plus, we proceed back to our hotel and because it is our last night at ZhuHai, we went back to the Massage Centre at the lobby of our hotel for some massage. I and Chee Hiang do body Thai massage and it was shiok. If you are hungry, cup noodles are free

Tomorrow we are going to Macau, a very exciting place in my perspective

Cheers~

Ricky

ricky

Day 6 Shen Zhen/ ZhuHai 16th March 2009

9:57 AM
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Happy at Happy Valley-->Long bus ride to ZhuHai-->Shopping at GongBei Underground-->Massage at Hotel

Today was a sunny day! Mother nature has been good to us for the entire trip! There is isn't any bad weather that we had encountered.

For today. I am quite excited because we are going to one of ShenZhen famous theme park and that is Happy Valley theme park! However, we were only allowed to stay there until mid afternoon cause we will have to leave for Zhi Hai City after that.

After having our breakfast, we arrived at Happy Valley theme park at around 1040am. The entrace ticket cost about S$40.

The entrance of Happy Valley

When we got in, we thought that we could start to play all the rides. But that was not meant to be as some ride are only availiable at a later time at around 12pm or 1pm. Thus, we played other rides that we can find.

A grass bear salute and greeted us

Before we went to play, alot of us went to the toilet to either shit or pee first cause maybe we are too excited. So we slack abit and while waiting for the rest to be ready, this is what happened outside the toilet

After that, we head towards to the direction of the tall tower. That tall tower is called the Space Shot! Shit!! That is the ride that I am all excited about!!

This Space Shot was different from the one that I took in Hong Kong. For this, it will not slowly move to the top and free fall down. It will directly shoot you upwards and free fall down!! That was exciting. Another plus about this ride is that there is a live MC(fat white shirt guy) to entertain you! Can you see the 3 girls that is on the left side of the photo? When the MC ask them to wave and scream, they did and guess what? While the girls are waving enthusiastically, the MC press the button and up they go without any preparedness. While guess what. While I was taking the ride, I won't listen anything to the foxy MC. I just hold on tight to the handle and prepare myself.

See how tall is it. After the ride, conclusion-It was much more fun than Hong Kong Ocean park similiar ride

The ancient house of the Chinese people

Getting the hueeling of what is it like living in the past

Dorothy is hungry. She is as red as the chilli

Dancing fountain

YeSheng only thinks about that part...

We also took on this dream river ride. It was a relaxing but non exciting ride. Got wet through the spraying of water gun nearing the end of the ride

It was time for another exciting ride and that is the Gold mine train

Queueing up for it

The ride was fun and interesting with fast turning and steep downslope

Here, it is time for some warmdown

Than, we went to take the Acrobatics

We are sitted behind

Wa. The guy in white shirt sitting at the front row on the extreme right hand side look so kan chiong. You scared already scaredy cat?

Played with the accompany of the dancing fountain

Up Up and away!

Nice fountain. Next we proceed to this really exciting and thrilling roller coaster ride

This roller coaster is the best coaster that I have sit on. It is really damn fast and interesting. The name of the coaster is called Suspended Looping Coaster

Queueing up for it

Can you see how high it is??

Suspended make this ride really interesting. That was a really cool roller coaster. It comes at such a fast speed that the G-force make you difficult to bring your head up. That was the most interesting ride that I have taken in my life!!

Than, we went on to took up the challenge of this ride called the Shoot the Chute. However, it is not as interesting compared to Singapore Escape Theme Park Flume ride. The only highlights for this ride is the final part where alot of water splash onto you. The picture shows how massive the impact is.

By this time which is around 1pm, most of us felt hungry and its time to meet our tour guide at Captain Louis's Restaurant for our lunch.

While walking to the restaurant, we saw a very sexy lady and I was typically forced to kiss her. I was forced one arh!!

Now let the Pro show you what is La Ji(Stir Kiss)

Woo Hoo. Sexy lady sunbathing!!

Lunch time!!

After stuffing our stomach, we were left with only about 1 more hour to explore Happy Valley as we have to proceed to our next city which is Zhu Hai. It was quite rush but we still manage to utilize our time fully.

We went in search for the Haunted house located in the theme park and we came across this foggy place.

Care to buy a shampoo?

The haunted house was not bad but as we are not allowed to photograph, thus there are no photograph for it. Than we proceed on to the last section of Happy Valley which is located near the exit.

We hop on to this ride called the UFO. Not bad though. Thrilling level 2.5/5. Comfortable level 4.5/5(because the can enjoy the wind)

The buddies who fought all day long

Than, we hop on to the last ride of the day called the Discovery. As you see from the picture, you will know that it is quite high. Quite exciting.

After that, we went on to play some mini fair games.

Chee Hiang and Yong Liang relishing their child memories by catching tiger

After that, it was already 3pm plus and it was time that we leave Happy Valley and proceed to Zhu Hai. Although we didn't really got the time to explore the whole theme park, but it was really fun afterall. It is a rather big and nice theme park with very interesting ride.

We went back to the mini-bus which was suppose to take us ZhuHai. ZhuHai is a city which is located just beside Macau. It is well known for its seafood and hot spring. This is the reason that we are going there.

Before we leave, let us take a group photo with our tour guide for his good guidence. It is time on our own again

With the jouney that took around 3hrs, this is how I survive throughout the journey.

Play poker cards

Take people eys and my own sexy eyes

Play my camera with YeSheng
Take his sexy picture

Take Chee Hiang's photo

Take scenery on the way...

and after 3 long hours and at 705pm...

TADAA!!

We reached our hotel

This is our hotel, Golden Port Hotel. It is conveniently located just beside GongBei Underground Shopping Centre and GongBei custom between ZhuHai and Macau. And at the hotel level 1, there is a 24hrs massage centre!! Woo Hoo~

For GongBei Underground Shopping Centre, it is a very big underground shopping centre which sells alot of things which range from electronics product to fake brand clothes to fake LV wallet and with a few restaruants for you to fill up your stomach. But just an advice though. If you wanna buy any products at the GongBei Underground Shopping Centre, most of the shops item are over priced. So you have to at least kill the price which is around 40-50% lesser or else you will be deemed as the 'kena tok" family.

This is the hotel reception. Not bad looking ya

After booking in, we went to our hotel room to explore

This is the toilet

See what's on the toilet wall

I shared a room with YeSheng and KianAik

After putting our stuff, we met up with one another and proceed to GongBei Underground Shopping Centre for dinner

The facade of the shopping centre

With a huge plaza. Becareful of your belonging though. This place is well known for pickpocket

We came to this shop for our dinner

And this is what I ordered. If i'm not wrong, this cost me around S$6

After dinner, we proceed for some shopping at GongBei.

The shopping experience start at this moment

The price over here is seriously over-priced. Have to sa sA SA than can buy. After shopping which ends at around 1115pm, we proceed back to our hotel for some massage at our hotel which cost around S$12 before going back to our room to have a very good sleep.

Today was a really different experience at ShenZhen and ZhuHai. Hoping for more tomorrow!!

Cheers~

*.*"

ricky

Day 5 Shen Zhen 15th March 2009

9:59 PM
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Miser Breakfast-->Splendid China, China Folk Culture Village-->Sumptious Lunch-->Window of the World-->Great Dinner

Yes! It was a sunny morning again. The weather has been good to us for the trip so far. Today, our itinerary was to visit Shenzhen 2 tourist attraction.

The first tourist attraction that we are going is Splendid China, China Folk Culture Villages-A showcase of China ancient, civilized country that dates back 5,000years through their artificial scenery and famous building and another showcase of China folk arts, custom and architectures of their 22 different minority nationalities, 24 different villages and 56 customs.

Another tourist attraction is Shenzhen Window Of The World- A place where it allows you to "travel" the world in 1 day! It has mini landmarks of the world. You can find the huge Eiffel tower and even Singapore Merlion!!

We meet up with our tour guide in the morning at around 9am and bring us to have our breakfast.

On our way to breakfast, he was explaining to us about ShenZhen

When we arrived at the restaurant that we are going to have our breakfast, I thought how good of a breakfast that we are going to have as it was a buffet style. But sadly, that wasn't the case.

See how miserable was my breakfast. It look as if that we are currently in a war where there is a shortage of food

But sensing that the food wasn't enough, our tour guide went to ask the staff to cook out more food for us.

And Taddaa! Here is our fried rice

Although breakfast wasn't that great, it didn't destroy the anticipation that we had for the day. After having our breakfast, we arrived at Splendid China, China Folk Culture Villages at around 1030am.

來來! 走快一点吗! Tour Guide: "Come come. Walk abit faster horse!"

The entrance. The auntie on the left is here for grocery shopping. We were given till 130pm to explore this attraction. As time is short, we wasted no time and start to decide where should we go first as this attraction is divided into 2 side. The left side is the Splendid where it shows us about the landmark of China while the right side show us the culture of China. We decide to explore the left side first.

The first building that greeted us was this:

Eh... I think this was an ancient town or something...

Than we walk along and came to this:

I'm happy to take photo with Buddha =D

Than we came to the waterfall. Wa even waterfall they also can rebuild. This prove to you that Chinese is really good at copying. Iphone, LV, Adidas shirt etc.

I like this!! It looks very martial 武侠(martial arts novel). Make me feel like i'm 郭靜 from Legend of the Condo Heroes. Beside me is 黃蓉

Ancient people is really good with building buildings anywhere

Than, we came to the tombstone of 秦始皇(Qin Shi Huang)

One of the greatest man of China men and horses

It is forbidden to pick up the minatures and even going in but I don't care! I just want to take a photo with it!

A fat pig trying to imitate human

Have you even seen an ancient titanic? Oh so 羅曼帝克romantica

Left to Right: Wanna go pee, hand pain, half side 僵屍(Jump jump stiff chinese vampire), sprained his back, leg kena shot

Than we came to another attractions:

I so hope that I can bring the minature home so that I can play masak

The great wall of China. The place where I gonna visit one day!!

The stairs of the Great wall of China

I'm also want to visit the Imperial Palace one day!!

After visiting most of the attraction on the left, we decided to take a rest

Chee Hiang sucking on an ice-cream

while a donkey walk past on us

As we are left with around 1 and a half hrs, we decided to go to the folk culture village with is on the right

We walk past a mountainous toilet. The morale of the story tells us that never look a book by its cover

And we were attracted by this gong gong bell

I decided to give it a try. The plate that is on the right of the bell wrote:

一声一帆風順 One Sound One smooth like the wind

二声全家幸福 Two Sound Whole family Happy

三声身体健康 Three Sound Body Healthy

四声四季平安 Four Sound Four Season safe and sound

I gong the bell 10 times so tat I can have all =D

Beside the bell, there is a shop that do well wishes and name engraves onto stones.

A meticulous engraving

After all the gong gong bell and name engraving, we realise that we are left with only half and hour to explore the right side.

Thus we decided to rent this "motor car". I and Yeshie shared a car

Donkey carriage

A sourvenir shop

Chinese The mask

Goose on the run

A man with a traditional costume

I came across this Pony ride station and was irresistable to ride on it which cost around S$2.50

The hair was good to pull

I love donkeys!! They look so innocent

And we came across the mongolian attraction

A horse was parked at the mongolian attraction and I so wanted to try on it but have to give it a miss as time was running short

Beautiful lady playing traditional five stones game

The spinning and dancing of lady

After all the rush, we met up with our tour guide. Didn't really get to enjoy the Folk culture villages as it was really rush. There was even flying fox over there that I had to give it a miss =(

Leaving the place and heading for our Lunch at 2pm

Before that, let's take a group photo for remembrance

After that bad breakfast, I was hoping the lunch could be better

And...

It wasn't that bad afterall

We came to a nice restaurant

With a private dining room

Let's have a five-ten before tucking in

What a spread!! I like the crispy prawn especially

Finishing up the food

A good lunch makes a happy me=D

After our lunch which ends at 330pm, we proceed to Window of the World which is just beside the restaurant

Window of the World

A beautiful and enchanting scenery

Taiwan have F4, we have SF-Shit 4

世界之窗

Nice fountain

While we were waiting for our tour guide to finish some administrative stuff, we witness a situation. There was this boy and girl who was selling a stalk of flower. And their target was those young couple. Their tactic was to approach the couple and ask the couple to buy from them, if they don't want, the boy or the girl will grab tightly onto the leg of the womans and cry and request them to buy, if they still don't want, they will continue to hug onto the womans leg till they buy from them. After buying, the boy or girl will apporach their elder brother for another stalk of flower and the tactics continue again. But they were not so lucky where everyone will buy from them, some of the couples will kick and push them away. And you will also have to becareful of the kids because they may resort to steal your wallet.

Begging on the street. Without dignity and so pitiful

Crying relentlessly and wouldn't let off his hand. The brother, behind with a black cap and holding a plastic bag looks upon. They might have a gang which told them to do this kind of thing

Leg hug hug

A group photo before we go in

Do you know, the first thing that I go in was to find Singapore Merlion

and Tadaa..

Here I found it

A baby Merlion

Angkor Wat. The 1: 15 indicate the ratio of the size of the building over here compared to the actual size

Mt Fuji

Then...

We saw a very scary thing...

Arghhh..!!!

Chinese Vampire!!!! Quick run!!

Don't worry. Here come the master priest Wen! %$&@x*^%$# Pa!

You are subdued

Yesahh!! We are so elated with the subdued of the chinese vampire that we show our happiness by taking jumpshots!

After the scary experience, we came to India

Meditation

Ahmitabha

After the meditation, we came across a 觀音菩薩 Guanyin Bodhisattva statue and offer some prayers.

I pray for world peace =D

We look up the sky and saw a flock of birds in a V-shape formation

Not long after exploring Asia, we arrive in Europe

Stone hedge in England

London Bridge makes me think of:

London Bridge is falling down

falling down, falling down

London bridge is falling down

My fair lady

A small push and you are down

Here, we arrive in Holland

The colourful windmills make this place really nice

By this time, we were separated from the rest and I am left with Chee Hiang, Denise and Claudia

We entered into the maze but wasn't as fun as you thought. I think the maze in Pasir Ris is better than this

A fountain that looks imperial

And finally, we reach the Eiffel Tower

There are actually 2 tier for the Eiffel Tower. You can climb the stairs to the 1st tier while you will have to purchase a ticket to take a lift to the really top of the Eiffel Tower

The stairs to the mid of Eiffel tower

At the mid of Eiffel Tower

Nice sunset

After that, we went back down to purchase tickets to get to the top of the Effiel Tower

Heres the ticket

In the elevator

The city view of Shenzhen

I can see Egypt from here!!

Arch of Truimph

Can you spot Sydney?

The Ampi Theatre

A photos at the top

Taking the escalator down

After that, we continued our travelling of the world

Here, we arrived at Jurassic Park

I am The Thinker

Not long after, we arrived in the United States of America

No terrorist attack for this?

And not long after, we saw this interesting Flume Ride. Without hesitation, we decided to go for it! And tihs will be our last ride as time is up and we will have to meet our tour guide

Look interesting

On the ride

Up Up and Away

The view up there before the plunge

Yea. We got wet of course. And some of the credit has to go to the rest of the people as they use the water shooter to sprayed on us before the ending point. We happen to met them before we got onto the flume.

Thinking of whose idea is it, the blame was pushed to Yong Liang and a fight ensured outside Windows of The World

The Rock vs Triple H vs Rey Mysterio

It was already 7pm and we proceed to have our dinner at the same restaurant

Another sumptious meal as you can see from the expression of te boy below:

Mouth full of food

food goes into stomach and digest into shit

so..

Mouth full of shit =D

After that, we proceed back to our hotel to have a good rest

Times really flies and its gonna be day 6 already

Tommorrow we will be going to Happy Valley Theme Park! It gonna be a thrilling filled experience!

Cheers!

*.*"

ricky

Day 4 Hong Kong/Shen Zhen 14th March 2009

10:33 AM
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Last minute shopping at Fa Yuen Street and Ladies Market-->MTR to ShenZhen-->Arrived at ShenZhen-->Dinner at Steamboat Buffet-->Massage in ShenZhen-->Late Night Shopping in ShenZhen-->China Man in Hotel

Fiona flown back to Singapore in the morning as she is starting her SIP soon. Thus our group were reduced to 12 people. I am sad that we will be leaving for Hong Kong in the afternoon but excited at what Shen Zhen has to offer.

Today, I woke up quite late at 10am plus. As YeSheng and QiJun send Fiona off to the airport, Chee Hiang still want to continue to sleep, while the rest of the people dunno go where shop already, I was left alone to settle my own breakfast. Thus, I went back to the place where I missed it's french toast which is just opposite our hostel.

Familiar right?

After that at around 12pm, YeSheng and QiJun were back from sending Fiona off. As there are still some time, I decided to go to the wrong side of Fa Yuen Street to search for something which my aunt ask me to buy with the accompany of YeSheng. This time round, we went to the correct side of Fa Yuen Street where they sell alot of sports wear. Haiz. When I want to go to the correct side, my leg bring me to the wrong side. When I want to go to the wrong side, my leg bring me to the correct side. Leg ar leg. What do you want??

Never mind. It was great to experience another part of Hong Kong. I didn't found the stuff that I eventually wanted to buy but YeSheng bought a pair of branded shoes from a London brand which is much more familiar in Hong Kong as he has discount card. While on our way back, we went for a really very last minute shopping at Ladies Market to search for my stuff. We walk real damn fast browsing through the shop and stalls and eventually, I bought something.

Today is a nice weather

Fa Yuen Street

We went back to our hostel and it was past 1pm already and meet up the rest before proceeding to the MTR station for our ride to Shen Zhen

While on our way to the MTR station, we saw HuiSan and her friend who was searching for Dragon Hostel. So qiao(coincidence) right?

Today wasn't a good day to take MTR as there are alot of incident happen

For example, their ticket machine have notes limit. They can only accept 1 piece of HK$10 and 1 piece of HK$20 and the rest must be in coins. Tell me how can we buy a ticket where our ride to Shen Zhen will cost us HK$38? We have to find so much combination of notes for 12 people eh. Shit machine lousy invention. Was suppose to make human life easier but it makes our life difficult

Next, some of them can't pass through the gate due to some reason and they have to go to the customer service counter to request for help

Also, if you are taking a luggage taking MTR, you can only reach the platform by taking the lift as you are not allowed to carry heavy stuff while on the escalator. So most of us have to use the lift to transport us to the platform which is quite troublesome.

Finally, we are on the platform for our ride to ShenZhen

Before reaching Shen Zhen, we have to transfer to another train. This was suppose to be an MTR but it looks like a railway train eh. And i'm quite excited because this is not underground!! So I can see the views of Hong Kong

Is it SARs period?

In the cabin

Wa. This di di look so cute

Views from the train

Tai Yuen Station

Railway track

Other views from the cabin

While on our way to Shen Zhen, some of them were resting

Resting with the tiger

Resting with her hand

Finally we reached Lo Wu station! We were late as we were suppose to meet our tour guide at 3pm but we just reached there at around 310pm.

A long walk to the custom

This is the custom

After clearing the custom, we proceed to find our tour guide

Inside the building

Walking out

See this stairs? I think they built in in a way that there are some Feng Shui significance to it as most of China stairs are built in a way where there is a flat way in the centre dividing the stairs. Similiar to those found in the imperial palace in China.

Where is our tour guide?

Here it is!

Chee Hiang: Yes finally we found our tour guide!"

Our van that will bring us to our hotel-Feng Shun Hotel

In the van

This is what ShenZhen looks like

The streets of ShenZhen

Chee Hiang ah pek with Ah Pek

Finally, we reached Feng Shun Hotel. There is a convenient stall beside our hotel!! Yea.

This is our hotel lobby

Collecting money to pay for our room and tour guide

Allocating rooms

Due to chinese custom, we have to knock on the door 3 times and say "sorry to disturb you for a few days" before going into our room so as to respect what should be respected

Ta daa!! This is our room. A very big different from Dragon Hostel right? Spacious and more comfortable

The toilet

Look at the price of the drinks in the refrigerator. Damn cheap right? A can of coke cost around S$0.80 only and the noodle cost only around S$1

The views from my room

After settling down, we proceed to ShenZhen shopping district which is around 15mins walk away from our hotel. One thing is, it is unsafe to walk alone in ShenZhen as it is quite dangerous. Even our tour guide warn us about it

While walking to the shopping district

Another photo

While walking, we saw an outdoor barber shop. Very special as it is rarely seen in Singapore

The HDB of ShenZhen

Weee Woo Wee! A slow walk to our destination

What does WC means?

A bicycle repair shop on the roadside

A roadside pineapple fruit stall. It is not advisable to buy food from the roadside stall as it is really unhygenic

Some provision shop

Finally, we reached the shopping district

Crossing the Yuen Yang(couple) bridge to find foodie. We saw an advertisement from outside a mall about a steamboat buffet and we decided to go see see

On the escalator to the steamboat restaurant

The price of the steamboat was relatively cheap but the food really cannot make it. The environment around there also wasn't that good.

While walking in, the floor was rather slippery and sticky and while we were lead to our table, I walk past kitchen and it really make me lose my appetite. The floor was very black and it was rather messy. I could also see prawn heads and other stuff on the floor of the kitchen. To think that our food is process in the kitchen and also thinking that our food may be chop and cut on the floor, who won't lose appetite right?

Look nice but not

This pepsi was damn cheap. I tihnk it cost around S$0.30 only. But I didn't dare to drink it as it reminds me of an email where the pictures show that they reuse the pepsi bottle and pour other similiar drink into it...

All forcing ourselves to finish the food or else will kena fine. I didn't eat much as I don't really feel safe about the food.

After dinner, we went to a massage parlour which is opposite of the mall for some massaging. Wah. The lady boss was very happy as I think she long time don't have so many customers already. I even saw one of the staff shaking hand with her congratulating her. Is business really that bad? The massage was quite cheap. I tihnk it is around S$6(excluding tip) if i'm not wrong.

Getting ready for the massage

Before that, you have to soak your leg into a pail of water with some powder that they put in. The water will turn jellyish after sometime

Woot~ This was the person who help me massage. Chee Hiang was very jealous of me=D

All enjoying

YeSheng so shiok face. Don't know why he kena touch by guys still so happy

Of course I am happy =D

We forgot about the undelicious dinner and enjoyed our time in the massage parlour

Before leaving the place, the girls want to take photo with handsome guy first as they don't want any regret

It was around 10pm but we heard from the staff that there are still some places good to shop and the girls wanted to go there. Thus we proceed for late night shopping

The shopping street and malls. Still with alot of people even thought it was already 10pm. We decided to split up to shop on our own before meeting back at 11pm.

This is not Singapore, so you can just throw your rubbish anywhere you want

If you were to shop in ShenZhen, you will really have to be careful about your belonging as the girls did witness a pickpocket. There was this guy who banged onto a cacuasian and the impact was so great that the caucasian falls down and the guy quickly run away. The cacuasian stands up and realise that his wallet has been stolen. And due to this reason, we met up quickly after that to proceed back to our hotel as it is very unsafe to stay out so late in Shen Zhen.

While on our way back to hotel, while the full moon hangs in the sky and the wolf howling, Chee Hiang turned into Lester!

After we reached our hotel, it was around 1130pm and we decided to meet up to play China man after we bathed with the Bailey's that Dinesh bought from Singapore duty free shop.

We have so much laughter while playing Texas poker

It was already 1plus where we decided to rest to prepare ourself for tomorrow activities!

It was a scary Day 4

Cheers~

Ricky

ricky

Day 3- Hong Kong 13th of March 2009

9:01 PM
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Charming Breakfast at Victoria Harbour Restaurant-->Shopping at Fa Yuen Street-->Shopping at Ladies Market-->Tram to The Peak-->Walk to Lan Kwai Fong

Today we meet up at 930am in the the morning with the sun shining its beautiful ray on Hong Kong. What a great weather it is. Wouldn't it be a waste if you come to Hong Kong and you didn't get the chance to eat their famous local cuisine-dim sum? Initially, I thought that in Hong Kong you can find Dim Sum easily but that was not the case. Not most of the streets have dim sum restaurant and you had to search for it yourself. Thus I asked the caretaker of Dragon Hostel of where we can find Dim Sum restaurant and then, we are lead to this restaurant- Victoria Harbour Restaurant at a top level shopping mall 2 streets away from our hostel. It can be considered as one of our best breakfast for the whole trip.

Victoria Harbour Restaurant

Waiting to be seated

At the table listening to the service staff explaing about the orders even though we don't know what she is talking about as she is speaking in cantonese. Lucky Janice know a little bit of cantonese and that was helpful in Hong Kong

Quite a nice restaurant isn't it?

Waiting for the dishes to be served

Here they come!!

This is the prawn dumpling. Unlike in Singapore where they use those transparent wrap to wrap the prawn, here in Hong Kong they actually use rice to replace it

The "Popiah"

A bowl of porridge to fill your demanding stomach

Shark fin soup to end your breakfast with a bang

We are so full till we actually play five-ten to see determine who will finish whose unfinished food

All tucking in. All enjoying

All eaten up! A good breakfast makes you start your day smiling=D Guess how much does each of us had to pay for this breakfast? Around S$7 only!!

While leaving Victoria Harbour Restaurant, there were something that caught my eyes

No matter what fish this is, it sure can be eaten

Big Abalone!!

Is this sea cucumbers?

Lobsters

After a great breakfast, we start with the 1st activity of the day-Shopping at Fa Yuen Street. Fa Yuen Street is actually a street known for selling sport items. However, I think we are on the wrong side of Fa Yuen Street because we didn't really see alot of sports shop. I tihnk it is on the other side of the road. However, we still have a great time over there with the shopping

Fa Yuen Street

Selling fruits and clothing

Giant durian found in Fa Yuen Street!! It was really huge till when beeen thrown to your face, your face sure bleed...

The only thing that I don't like about Hong Kong-Old rundown buildings. Shouldn't the government do something about it?

After Fa Yuen Street, we proceed to our next shopping haven-Ladies Market which was just a 2mins walk away from our hostel

The two shopping street experience was really different because at Fa Yuen street, the variety and product that they sell may be lesser but their price is reasonable. For Ladies Market, although they have alot of items that is good to buy back as sourvenirs to your friends and family in Singapore, however the items price here are overpriced. You need to really be a bargain queen like Janice or else you will surely kena tok by them. Maybe because it is a popular tourist destination, that is why the items here are overpriced. One thing that is good about Ladies Market is that you can get the excitement while bargaining.

Ladies Market

A stretch of shops like Singapore Pasar Malam

Today Hong Kong weather was really funny. It isn't as cooling as it use to be as I start to have the feeling of sweating after shopping

After shopping at Ladies Market, it was already 430pm and we actually shop till we forgot about our lunch. It is time that we proceed to our next destination which is The Peak. The Peak also known as Victoria Peak has an altitude of 552metre and I research from the internet that people give god reviews about this place thus, we included it in our itinerary. I can compared The Peak with Singapore Mount Faber. Only thing is that Mount Faber has Jewel Box while The Peak has The Peak Tower-A shopping mall.

On the train to The Peak. Poor YongLiang no seats to sit while everyone got a seat=D

Chee Hiang why so buay song(angry)?

After we alight at the Central MTR station, we have to walk around 15minutes to The Peak and we actually walk pass thier Central Business District. The weather here was really differnet from the main island because here was much more cooling

One of Hong Kong famous landmark-The Bank of China Tower

Me with Bank Of China Tower

This girls look like stars because...

...of all the lao ti ko(old pervert) photographer

A group photo before we proceed to The Peak...

...No No No. A jump shot first

The road to The Peak

Oi QiJun! you cao ti ko(smelly pervert). I know i'm wearing a skirt but do you have to take till so obvious...?

Finally, after all those photographing and walk, we reached the Peak!

A Adidas bus tram passing us

We bought our tram ticket up The Peak which cost around S$7 for 2-ways

While waiting for the tram to come...

...YongLiang trademark expression was caught on camera-looking out of the spectacles

Here come the trams!!

People mountain people sea embarking on the tram

All in the tram. The journey up The Peak was a steep one. The tram was actually travelling at around 75 degree angle

View from the tram

After we exited from the tram, we were in The Peak Tower where the 1st thing that greeted us was the Madame Tussauds wax museum. We didn't visit the wax museum as most of the people don't want except for Chee Hiang and YongLiang.

Thank you

Fighting with Bruce Lee

Welcomed by Cecelia Cheung

Having a fight with Bruce Lee

In his mind he only think about that part...

The outside view from The Peak Tower

While after some monkeying in The Peak Tower, we start to feel hungry and found this Hong Kong cafe-Hong Kong Dry just beside Madam Tussauds

Hong Kong Dry

I am waiting for the person to clear the table

A photo before ordering

My meal

Others on the table

After having our dinner, we shop around in The Peak Tower and came across this sourvenir shop that does wax hand sourvenir. This lovbird,QiJun and Stacey decided to make one that belongs to them

1st step- Bear the hotness of the wax and put your hand with the shape that you want into the wax

2nd Step- Take out your hand from the wax and wait for it to be harden

Step 3-Repeat step 2 and 3 for a few times

Step 4-Let the person pull ot the wax from your hand once it hardened and she will touch up on the shape

This is the semi finished product. Now we left with the colour and the base

Step 6- Put the hand into the different coloured wax to colour it

After coloured

Now it is time for the base

Step 7- Attach the base to the hand with wax and colour the base. That is the end product of it

I tried on it too!!

After some shopping, it is time that we get out of the shopping mall and enjoy the beautiful night scenery of Hong Kong. I can tell you that it was damn freezing cold and windy outside!! It can be so cold that your hand feels numb as though there are no feeling anymore. We were told that the degree outside was around 14 degree celsius

All freezing cold.And the wind was so strong that it was difficult to capture an unblur photo

YongLiang and CheeHiang played five-ten to a dare. The dare is the loser will have to stand outside with his jacket off. Now you know who is the loser

Lucky there was this small little corner where we can hide to escape the chilling wind. A group photo at the corner

All freezing cold. YeSheng is dead

One more take

Do they look alike?

Another photo

I was there freezing cold while the two guys who obviously has more fats than me took off their jackets. I can surely be like them if I have more fats

Hong Kong shining night view

A shot with Kian Aik

Me with the stunning background. Thanks to the hoodie, my neck escape from frost bite

The peak tower

It was a very special experience in the night with the chilling winds blowing and enjoyng the stunning great view from The Peak

A group photo

The guys

The girls

The girls with the extra

A last view of the very nice view

viewing hut

Other building on The Peak

This shop was actually selling Ice cream.I wonder why they would still see ice cream whether the weather is so freezing cold. I even make a dare that whoever dare to eat ice-cream now, I will treat them. Of couse,most of them dare to took up the challenge. But the problem is I don't dare to treat them

The Peak was truely a great place to visit to. It would be better if you visit in the Spring because the weather was much more cooler. A never regrettable visit

After surviving through the chill wind, it was arond 9pm plus and we decided to proceed to our next destination- Lan Kwai Fong. Lan Kwai Fong is similiar to Singapore Clark Quay where there are pubs and clubs around.

Photos before the tram arrive

Don't worry. He just need to lend a shoulder

I wonder why I will do this...

Photo in the tram

Tongue pouting

We arrive at the foot of The Peak and decided to walk our way to Lan Kwai Fong. It actually takes around 20minutes to reach there from The Peak. And it was great walking in the night along Hong Kong street

Alert!! A HAND was sayanging... Wee Woo Wee~

We walk pass a hospital

While on our way,we tried to take a group photo without anyone help

Shot 1- Unsuccessful

Shot 2-Unsuccessful

Shot 3- Unsuccessful. A white cap floating...

Shot 4- Yes we did it!!

Than we came across this long flight of stairs. Imagine if someone trip and fall over... It's ok, the hospital is just behind...

Of course, the long flight of stairs did inspired us to take another group photos

And yes! Finally we reached Lan Kwai Fong- A place with bars,clubs and restaurants

Can you see the line of Taxi?

Our initial plan was to find a place to drink but we ended up shopping instead as some of the shops are still operating. It was also a great place to see Hong Kong Mei Mei(beauty beauty) =D

It was around 11pm plus when we decide to proceed back to our hostel

But before that, someone suggested to have dessert at one of the dessert shop that is just around our hostel

The menu. Looks like that are a wide variety of choices to choose from

Feeling tired but telling myself "No i'm not tired"

I ordered a mango+Pamelo+Sago which cost me around S$6. I just love the combination. Just from the picture, you can see how delicious it was

Another yummy dessert

After the dessert session, we walked back to or hostel where Denise bought a smelly toufu from the shop below our hostel

I hate smelly toufu but this was good enough. I tried once only because I scared later will have bad breadth

It was such an enjoyable day 3!! The morning breakfast was filling. The bargaining experience was exciting. The peak experience was damn shiok. Sad that we have to leave for ShenZhen tomorrow =(

Good Night day 3

Cheers~

*.*"

ricky

Day 2-Hong Kong 12th of March 2009

12:27 AM
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Breakfast at Coffee House-->Cab to Ocean Park-->Cab to Avenue of Stars-->Symphony of Lights Show-->Dinner at Nathan's Road-->Night Shopping along Nathan's Road

Today, we woke up at around 730am and get ready for the day. It was a very good day to Ocean Park as the weather looks real fine. I am quite excited for today because we will be going to Ocean Park for one whole day and I can see my favourite Panda and Dolphin!! Also I am all ready for the thrilling rides!! We meet up at around 8am before going for our breakfast.

For today's breakfast, we went to a coffee house just opposite Dragon hostel.

The food displayed outside the shop make my mouth watery

Part of the menu

Inside the coffee house. Thinking of what to order

I ordered a cuppa of tea, a egg and ham sandwich and a french toast all which cost me around S$7. I like the french toast especially because once I see it, it opens my stomach. The combination of the egg bread, the butter and the peanut butter in between the egg goes very well. Deliciouslishly

Other foodie that was on the table

A gong gong(blur blur) cutting the french toast

After having our dinner, we proceed to Ocean Park by hailing a cab. Damn it, we(Me, QiJun, YongLiang, CheeHiang) was tok(cut aka cheated) by the cab driver. Our cab fare always were the most expensive. On day 1 when we took the cab to our hostel, our fare were also the most expensive compared to the rest. Dunno is whether we suay(unlucky) or what. The cab fare cost each of us around S$4

On our way to Ocean Park

This signifies that we are reaching Ocean Park as you can see the cable car is within the reach of my eyesight

Yes finally!! We reached

Ocean Park entrance

This was the ticket to Ocean Park. We brought it directly from our hostel. You could actually purchase Ocean Park and Disneyland ticket directly from Dragon Hostel which give a better rate. The actual price for Ocean Park ticket is around S$42 but we brought it for around s$39

I am excited!!

Yes finally I get to see Dolphin although its a fake one!!

Outside one of the sourvenir shop. The sourvenir inside th shop make my heart itchie cause there are quite a few items that I wanna buy but some are quite expensive

The first attraction that we are going- Giant Panda habitat

But before that, Stacey and Janice tried on the Bunge Trampoline located at the Sky Fair

The foot of the Giant Panda Habitat. Know what am I looking at? Secret... Wee Woo Wee~

The guys with the Sky Fair as the background

Finally we reached the Giant Panda Habitat

A very classic pregnant panda

Heeee heee heee heee

Panda munching his/her bamboo away. Guess whether is he or a she? Pai Seh. Too black I cannot differentiate

I got a photo with panda!!

It is bad to eat while lying down eh... Must ask you mother to teach you already

Another photo with Panda!!

Panda on the rock

Get me out!! I wan go gai gai(shopping)!!

Sitting while sleeping. Or was he/she playing with his/her... Who knows =D

Taking photo with a real life panda!! Woo hoo~

Posing for the camera. So Kawaii!!

Sourvenir shop at the Giant Panda Habitat. I so wanna buy the big one home

Panda in a dustbin

The gigantic black panda. Scary

A final photo with the pandas before proceeding to the Dolphin University

While we are on our way

We came across this shark mascot which was overwhelmed by us

Yeshie is so indulged and enjoying being surrounded by... WooHoo~

A quick photo

While we are on our way to Dolphin University, we came across Whiskers Theatre where a bird show is coming up. So we went in to have a look

Colourful Parrot

The Owl

As we want to save time, we left while the show was still ongoing and proceed to Dolphin University which was beside Whisker Theatre

The dolphin University was a place where dolphin was trained for the performance and show at the Ocean Theatre. We were lucky that the Dolphins were having training!!

Arghhh!! Dolphin is so slimy and cute!!

The awards for a good performance

Dolphin wading in the water

Free willy!! Thanks to my camera skill, I was able to capture this image!!

I so wanna swim with them one day!! Dolphin wait for me!!

After the great display by the dolphin we left for our next destination: The cable car ride!!

While on the way out of the Dolphin University, there is an exhibition of the sealion

A quick shot again. Wonder what Janice is doing... Chee Hiang naughty ar...

Reaching the cable car station. The experience of the cable car ride is definitely different from Singapore Sentosa Cable car. The scenery is much much nicer compared to Singapore because of the mountain and sea view

We got ourselves into the cabin!!

From left to right: The innocent look, The ah beng look, the diao(stare) look, the baby don't friend you look, the kek sai(endure shit) look

In the cabin

Setting off

The front view of the cabin

The great wall of Hong Kong. You could actually go to the other side of Ocean Park through this freaking stairs!!

The back view

The side view

Half-way through the ride

Reaching our destination

A last photo before getting off

While we were to get off, we were greeted with this sign. Are they asking us to be careful of the wet floor or asking us to take car as a form of goodbye?

After getting off the cable car, we proceed to the next attraction: Sea Jelly Spectacular. An exhibition of Jelly Fish

The jellyfish glowing under the light

After that, we proceed to our first thrilling ride of the day-The Dragon Roller Coaster

The roller coaster track. Looks fun

Queuing up for the ride

The ride is not as scary as you thought it to be. Although the track looks scary, but the speed is not that fast

After the roller coaster ride, we proceed to the next ride: Pirate ship
The pirate ship is a preparation for what we thought is the scariest ride-The Abyss

On the pirate ship

The Abyss viewed from the Cable Car station

Look scary? Yes it is. I so wanted to try this ride in my life. Before the ride, I was always thinking whether my heart can take it or not... That kind of want to try but don't want to die feeling

The death seats. When I was on this ride, I covered my mouth with my hand because I scared that when I was dropped from the sky, the gravity will push my heart out from my mouth. Scary...

When I was dropped from the sky, my heart feels like it stopped for a while before it pumps again. And once I conquered the ride, I feel a sense of achievement!!

After we conquered The Abyss, we went for this ride called Eagle. It is a ride that will only make your head giddy

Fly like a Eagle

Next, we went on another roller coaster ride called Mine Train. It was more thrilling than The Dragon as it is faster and more downwards ride. Also it is great with scenery!

Mine Train

Great scenery!!

Next its time to get wet. We went on this ride called the Raging River. It is similiar to Singapore Escape Theme Park Log Flume ride but I would prefer Singapore one because it is higher which is equivalent to more thrilling. Whats more, Singapore one has 2 slide while Ocean Park only has 1

Lucky for me, I did bought a poncho to Ocean Park so when we played the raging river, I am the only one who is not wet. Clever Ricky =D

The Entrance

Proof that this slide was smaller than Singapore Escape Theme Park one

After taking the not so interesting mini water slide, we proceed on to our next ride which is the Space Wheel to blow dry ourselves

Another giddy ride and it can go till vertical eh

After all those ride, it's time for picture. Ocean Park has a lot of very long escalator. It looks similiar to the one in the popular cartoon Tom & Jerry where tom take the escalator all the way up to heaven... And we take this opportunity to take photos!!

A scenery shot

Taking another photo. Chee Hiang, is the photographer that scary??

Proof of the long escalator. We can even sit down and it takes around 45secs to 1min and a half to reach the end. Feeling hungry, we went to search for food which was around pm plus. We play till we forgot about the time eh

Ocean Park have various restaurants selling different kinds of food. The price range around S$8-S$10. There is also a Macdonald restaurant in Ocean Park so you doesn't have to worry about going hungry

I bought a 2pc Chicken set not from KFC of course and it cost me around S$9. Wasn't that tasty though because it was a bit oily which will make you sick of eating it

While we were searching for foodie, we saw this cute sleeping sealion although it did came into my mind as food though =)

Another Sealion-looking for fish

We came across this Hong Kong styled phone booth

After our late lunch, there is game booths beside the Macdonald and so we went over to try our skill in it

I played the basketball but didn't win anything.Too difficult to get the ball into the let because it is bouncy and big while the ring was relatively small =(

The game booth

Yong Liang playing the basketball booth

After spending our time at the games booth, we went to catch the last dolphin and sealion performance at the Ocean Theatre

The stage

While we were waiting for the show to start, there was actually a musical performance to keep us entertained

The performance starts!!

After the dolphins are in the limelight, it's time for the sealion

The sealion doing not 2 but 1 hand stand!! Strong!!

It was a great performance. I bet it is a must watch performance if you were to go Ocean Park. But you would have to go earlier before the show starts because at the previous time slot, the place is full before the show starts

Didn't get enough of the performance? Here's a short video clip of the dolphin!

After the performance, Fiona, Janice and I went for the last attraction as the afternoon is not young anymore which is the Atoll Reef. Similiar to Singapore Underwater World but for Ocean Park, theirs is a very huge and deep pool where you start from the top and walk your way down to the ground level

The Entrance

One of the fish that have YeSheng sexy lips

Can you find Nemo?

mini eel

The deep deep ocean

After the Atoll Reef, it was already 6pm plus(Ocean Park close at 6pm) and thus we walk our way out of the exit

Fiona with CheeHiang tiger where he won from the games booth

At the exit where the Flamingoes and Swans bid farewell to us

After a great day at Ocean Park, we took a cab down to Avenue of Stars which cost each person around S$6. It is a place similiar to Singapore Esplanade bay(the place where we usually watch fireworks) where we can watch not only Hong Kong beautiful building skyline but also features commerative plaques, handprints of movie celebraties etc. to pay tribute to Hong Kong professionals who have contributed to their long history of film making

Also we are there to watch the spectacular symphony of lights show

The skyline here compared to Singapore was much more nicer as Singapore building skyline consist only of a few buildings while Hong Kong skyline consist of a stretch of buildings. It is like a stretch of buildings from one end of Orchard road to the other

The Bruce Lee Statue

Jet Li handprint

The Hong Kong colourful building skyline

I feel that Avenue of Star is a very romantic place for couples to go to during the night where you can listin to the singing of the choppy waves and also with the very cooling weather(it must be around 17-20 degree celsius when we are there). If there is an additional hot food for consumption even if it is a hot cup noodles, the feeling will be damn shiok!!

When the clock strike 8pm, it is time for the Symphony of light show. However, it was not that spectacular though because you only see the same laser flying around the sky with the music. So after a while you would feel quite boring of it

Symphony of light show

A naked woman covered by films holding a globe on her hand

Avenue of Stars

A singing performance along the avenue of stars

Ready camera Action!

A group photo before we leave Avenue of Star to pamper our hungry stomach. We cross the street and went to Nathan's Road in search for food.

Nathan's road is a stretch of road(4MTR long) which is lined with shops and restaurants so it may be a good place to shop

Nathan's Road

We found a restaurant to feed our stomach

The pork baked rice that I ordered which cost me around S$9. My dinner cost me around S$13 including a drink and a side dish

Other foodies

After dinner, we went to shop along Nathan's Road but due to the limited time that we have and the strong shopping power of the girls, we didn't really cover much of Nathan's Road

Chee Hiang and Yong Liang playing five-ten using their tiger while waiting for the girls to shop. Yup the guys literally waited for the girls outside the shop indulging in playing five-ten

It was already 11pm plus and most of the shop was closing. Thus we proceed back to our hostel after a very exciting Day 2

Cheers~

*.*"

ricky

Before the trip

11:16 AM
0 comments

Whenever I go to Changi Airport, I always envy those people who are carrying a luggage. It seems that all of them are going on a holiday, enjoying themselves. The excitment shown on their face waiting for their flights to their "paradise" makes you really want to go on a holiday!! And thus, I start to build on this force of power and passion and decided to plan a trip not with my families but with my friends.

I don't want to go to Malaysia because it is very common and somewhat a familiar place and I had been there many times. I don't want to go to Thailand, Vietnam or other ASEAN countries because it doesn't look safe right now and if I were to plan my 1st ever free and easy overseas trip to a place where I am not so familiar with their language, culture and place, it will gonna be a very stressful trip. Yes, we can go on a tour guided tour but I would prefer free and easy because you can go to the place that you like at your own pace and time. Thus, I decided on Hong Kong as Hong Kong is similiar to Singapore where their transport is easily accessible and the place is safer and thus all the itinerary is easier to plan.

Initially, our plan was to go on a 6days Hong Kong trip. But due to some reasons, we changed our trip to a 9days getaway and we started to think which destinations should we go as we can't possibly stay in Hong Kong for 9days. The closest city to Hong Kong is Shen Zhen and Qi Jun suggested Zhu Hai which is a 3hr drive away from Shen Zhen. Thus we decided on these destinations. Macau was included in one of the destinations because we chose to fly on Tiger Airways which fly us from Singapore to Macau. So it will be wasted if we didn't visit Macau.

So the plan was to fly from Singapore to Macau, take a ferry to Hong Kong and stay there for 3 nights before proceeding to Shen Zhen which we will be staying for 2nights. After that, we will proceed to Zhu Hai for 2 nights and toned at Macau for 1 night.

We have decided to hire a tour guide in Shen Zhen as we are not really familiar with that place and the crime rate there is rather scary. So for safety reason, it is better to hire a tour guide.

Regarding accommodation for Hong Kong, we stayed in a hostel as it is much cheaper compared to a hotel. After searching through the online review, we found out that this Dragon Hostel at Mongkok has a lot of good reviews and thus we decided on it. As for the accommodation in Shen Zhen and Zhu Hai, we stayed in a Hotel as it is really cheap. For Macau, we didn't stay in a hotel as we will be catching our flight back to Singapore the next morning, so why not don't waste time on sleeping and spend more time on exploring Macau?

As times get nearer, everything like our accommodation, our transport started to be in place and we were ready for the trip on the 11th of March. So are you ready for this trip?

Here are some of the price list if you guys wish to know:

Accomodation in Hong Kong and Zhu Hai- around $25/pax/night
Tour guide fee in Shen Zhen(including transport, meals and accomodation)- $105/pax for 2 days
Transport from Shen Zhen to Zhu Hai(25 seater car)- $340/car
Return Air Tickets(include everything)- $320

Here are the group of people who were on this trip

Cheers~
*.*"

ricky

Day 1-Hong Kong 11th of March 2009

4:51 AM
0 comments

Changi Airport-->Macau Airport-->Ferry to Hong Kong-->Cab to Sincere House-->Train to Causeway Bay-->Happy Vally Racecourse

We have to check-in our luggage at around 430am and so we have decided to meet at Changi Airport Terminal 2 around 230am to chit chat and have some supper.

I planned to sleep at 7pm and wake up at 1am but I somehow can't fall asleep. I even tried to watch the television to make myself tired so that I could fall asleep but I just couldn't. Thus I gave up and just watched the television all the way till midnight and went to take a bath before double checking on my luggage. Maybe I was just wayyyyyyyy too excited!!

I met up with Kian Aik and Fiona and her father drove us to the airport to meet the rest at Mcdonald.

Excitement is written on all of our faces

A new high-tech camera where you can actually take yourself taking picture

Thanks Robin and Duke for seeing us off

At 4am, its time for us to proceed to the Budget Terminal to check-in our luggages

Waiting for the 24/7 shuttle bus to the budget terminal

On the shuttle bus to budget terminal. Ye Sheng seems really really excited. Maybe this is the first time that he is on a shuttle bus... who knows?? =D

Tell me do they look like alike?

We are going to fly off at 0605am!! I hope that I am able to see stars when we are above the sky!

The departure gate

Taking a group photo before stepping into the departure gate. Bye Bye Singapore!

Inside the departure gate. There is a coffeeshop and a few other shops including duty free shop and gift shops

The boarding gates

A wonderful jump to mark my excitement

All cat walking towards the gate

Whee. Finally we reached our gate

The time now is 545am. Flying off in 20mins time!

Get a glimpse of our aeroplane

The views of outside when we are inside the aeroplane

The aeroplane running on the runway. It was abit interesting during take off because if I didn't hear wrongly, the captain actually announced that there is something wrong with one of the engines and thus, he will have to switch off the air condition during take off so as to give the engine more trust to lift...

Finally, the aeroplane take off and I survived!!

The view was very nice and you could actually see the moon shines so brightly and with the great bird eye view of the lited Singapore(looks like a birthday cake with alot of candles). I was seated on the left side of the aeroplane and on the right side of the plane, you could actually see the sun rising. But i'm abit disappointed that I can't see any stars, maybe its because the moon was too bright

Cool. I was actually risking everyone's life by taking photos during take off as I am not allowed to do so. So what we are still alive. Those 2 guys beside me always ask me switch off my camera cause they scaredy cat

After take off. I was very tired and took a nap. When I woke up, it was day light and you could actually see the great horizon

Feeling hungry, I actually ordered a cup noodle and a packet of drink which cost me S$7 in total!! 4 dollar for the cup noodle and 3 dollar for the drink. OK. Some of you may say that i'm stupid to buy cup noodle and drink that is made from gold but hey, i'm on a holiday. Why save right? The real thing over here is ENJOY!

Not long after, we are going to reach Macau

A glimpse of Macau

A hazy Macau

Alighting from the aeroplane. We survived once again. The weather here was cooling which is similiar to the weather in Genting

After we cleared from the custom, we hired 2 mini bus from the airport which will bring us to the Macau Ferry Terminal for our ferry to Hong Kong. The transport cost each of us around S$5

Smiling in the mini bus

Those are some of the Casinos in Macau

I'm smiling too

We reached the Macau Ferry Terminal on time to catch the 11am ferry to Hong Kong. The ferry ride to Hong Kong took about 1hr and cost each of us around S$28. But I have to pay extra S$4 for my huge luggage. Morale of the story: Never ever bring a huge luggage

On the ferry to Hong Kong. The chair was quite comfortable but I couldn't fell asleep as i'm having a slight sea sick which make me want to puke slightly but in the end I didn't puke because I only feel sea sick slightly which make me want to puke slightly....... Ok what am I talking about...

Not long after 1hr, we could see Hong Kong with their tall and bundled building

Arriving in Hong Kong

We arrived at the Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal. After clearing the custom, we went to hail a cab to take us to our hostel which is located at Mong Kok

In the cab

Hong Kong HDB

After 15mins of ride, we reached our hostel building-Sincere House

Our bed

The toilet

The size of our room was quite small but it is considered not a bad hostel compared to the price we paid for. It is conveniently located near the MTR which is equivalent to Singapore MRT and a 2minutes walk away from the ladies market. Also, there are some shopping and shops around our hostel. The hostel also provide 2 computers for free internet access which is really great

The back alley of the Sincere House building. One thing that I don't like about Hong Kong is that alot of their building are rundown without any renovation or repainting

The street outside Sincere House. After checking in our hostel, we are hungry and went to search for food

We came to this small eatery shop which sell wonton noodles and meat balls

Inside the shop and deciding on what to order

I ordered a wonton noodle but I would not visit a 2nd time as the noodle was real sucky. The noodle floury taste was too strong which makes your toungue dry and it doesn't taste really nice

After having the bad lunch, we proceed to Mong Kok MTR for a train ride to Causeway Bay- the orchard road of Hong Kong

Mong Kok Station MTR entrance

On the escalator

The train approaching

Inside the train. It looks similiar to Singapore MRT

We are in Causeway Bay. The place has alot of shopping mall but the price over there are quite expensive, so it is not really a good place to find bargain items

Island Beverly, a shop that sells alot of woman accessories and clothes. Not a place for guys. As we are in a big group, we decided to split up and meet back at the same location at a later time

More look at causeway Bay

We came across this unique signboard

I would like to recommend this really nice food. It is a shop that sells french fries

I ordered a speciality sauce french fries which cost S$5 and the taste was way too delicious and the spicy taste goes really well with the coooling weather. Can someone bring this food in to Singapore??

We also went for some dessert at this shop called Lucky Dessert

And I ordered a soup dessert with grapefruit and sago which cost around s$5.20. Wow! It has a very balance sweet taste with very fresh mangoes!!

Taking pictures in the shop

Notice that even in Causeway Bay, the shopping mall above is usually for residential

We settled our dinner at this eatery

Looking at the menu

Chee Hiang, Kian Aik and I shared on this 3 dishes- Tofu, fish and pork. I like the tofu especially as it is smooth with a very fragrant taste. The fish was also not bad because it came with a special sauce made from corn which smells nice and I personally am a corn lover, so it goes well with my tastebud

Food on the table. After dinner, some of them decided not to go Happy Valley Racecourse as they are more interested in shopping. Thus they proceeded to Temple Street Night Market while Kian Aik and I proceeded to the Racecourse for some horse racing

Posing with fake horse

After a 15mins walk, we reached the Happy Valley Racecourse. We bought a S$4 ticket and went in

The background of the racecourse was quite spectacular

Initially, we wanted to go to the grandstand but we bought ticket on the wrong side and thus, we are at the side. But after the 5th race, we could actually go to most part of the racecourse

Horse racing in action. Chiong ar!! After watching the race, Kian Aik and I decided to try our luck

Inside the betting cabinet, there are TV screen for you to analyse your bet just like Singapore Singapore Pools. As we are newbie to this, we were quite lost as to how do we bet. Lucky for us, there is a very helpful service staff teaching us how to bet

One of our betting slip where Kian Aik and I bet HK$20 each. The minimum bet for each game is HK$10. We actually choose our horse base on the odds. If the payout of the odds for that particular horse is lower means they will have a higher chance of winnning, we bet on that horse

There are alot of different type of betting where the easiest one is the Win and the Place betting. For the Win betting, if the horse that you bet on came out 1st, you will win. For the Place betting, if the horse that you bet on came out 1st, 2nd or 3rd, you will win. Thus Kian Aik and I bet on Place betting

After the 5th Race, we went to the grandstand. Yup there are Mcdonalds over there and alot of ang mo drinking beer

The race track

Me at the grandstand area

The grandstand

The horses. Number 3 is one the horse that I bet on not base on odds but on my lucky number but it didn't win. Shit you

Shining grandstand

The big screen

The winning horse on a horse walk

People mowing the grass after each race

This pictures double confirmed that Horse Racing is part and parcel of Hong Kong peoples life. See that everyone enthusiastically stick their eyes onto the screen. In the end, I bet on 3 races but only won 1 races which give quite a low odds which in total, I lost around S$10. But it was a great experience though. By that time, it was already 1045pm and so, we decided to go back to our hostel

While on our way to the MTR station, we walk past time square which looks really nice. There is a big TV screen and you can see Gillian!! Her comeback after 1 year

We reached our hostel and have a hot bath before falling into deep sleep. It was a good Day 1

Cheers

*.*"

ricky