Hong Kong Day 3

For breakfast this day, we were supposed to be having dim sum again. The tour guide said it's at a different place this time.

Yeah different place, but SAME FOOD! Knn. Its actually the same restaurant but different branch. Wtf la. Only changed about 2 dishes, the rest were the same and again, no choosing, eat what's served. Pffffftttt.

Then we headed straight for Disneyland. In the itinerary given to us, Disneyland was supposed to take up the whole day. We will be dropped there and only picked up at 9.30pm after the last show in Disneyland which was some fireworks. But a lot of us decided to leave early and have our free and easy time, and the tour guide was fine with it.

Damn the weather. It was SUPER hot and sunny, and then it went slightly gloomy...

Not only was it hot, it was SUPER packed with people. We didn't even get to go on any of the rides or watch any of the stage shows because the queueing time on average for each show was 1 hour or more. If we were to waste those time queueing, there wouldn't be enough time to explore the entire Disneyland and leave earlier as planned to go to explore other parts of HK.

Instead, we made use of the time we had and took pictures with as many characters as we could. Even with that we still had to queue ok! I'm not sure if there weren't that many characters to begin with, or we didn't see them.

With Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Snow White from... Snow White wtf. They not only dress like them, they talk like them too. It was quite.. scary actually wtf.

And then it started pouring heavily!!! :( Sibeh unlucky la. Fortunately it wasn't a very long rain, probably about 20 minutes. Out of desperation I even bought one umbrella. Fucking expensive ok, HKD 170 after discount. But it's ok la, it's a nice and sturdy umbrella and has HK Disneyland printed on it lol.

The only ride we managed to try was the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters only because it has this fastpass service where you take a ticket and it'll tell you what time is the next ride, so there's no need to queue for hours and waste time.

I was thrown the camera so...

With Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty

Minnie Mouse!

Mickey Mouse!

Pluto!

And then we had to literally run to watch the Flights of Fantasy Parade because we took too much time queueing to take pictures with the characters. Luckily managed to make it and watch the parade.

After the parade we continued to venture to the other parts. Honestly if what the parade showcased was all the characters HK Disneyland had, I'm a little disappointed. I expected more! Where are the villains? The evil queen from Snow White, Maleficent, Ursula... etc? Where's The Little Mermaid? Where's Aladdin and Jasmine?

Lol wtf

This Merlin speaks Cantonese

Before we left we managed to watch the Mickey's Waterworks Parade. It's just another parade which involves some water shooting and getting wet, unless you stay in the 'dry' zone, or have an umbrella ready.

We left very shortly after the parade ended.

One last picture before leaving.

The first place we wanted to go was Lui Yan Kai (Ladies' Market) in Mong Kok. So we took the MTR located right outside the Disneyland entrance, to Mong Kok Station. We walked around not knowing where to eat before we spotted a Hui Lau Shan! I've heard about this place from other bloggers who've been to HK. Its famous for their mango desserts.

Everything was in Chinese so I could only point to order, without knowing what exactly it was.

This one is obviously a young coconut, and it has bird's nest, coconut milk, coconut flesh... and I don't know what else. Very nice!

Didn't know which mango dessert to have so we ordered this taster type of thing. Dunno why their mango super refreshing! It's sweet but you know how sometimes mango can taste sweet as though it's going to go rotten? This one is fragrant and sweet, and you can never have enough!

Next round, we decided to eat a heavier meal before walking Lui Yan Kai. I remember reading about a Kam Wah Cafe in Mong Kok so we headed there. Apparently they have the best Polo Bao (Pineapple Bun) in HK. True enough, they were selling like hot cakes. When we sat down the waiter asked (rudely) if we wanted Polo Bao, and said if we don't decide fast it'll be sold out.

I don't know how a good Polo Bao is supposed to taste like, if this is it, I'm disappointed. Comparing to all the other Po Lor Bao I've had before (from bakeries in Malaysia), this one didn't impress me :/ Partly because it carries the "Best in HK" title, I was a little disappointed. I expected more!

Btw Po Lor Bao does not involve any pineapples or pineapple products in its making. Po lor is the the way Hongkies call a pineapple, the bun is called Po Lor Bao only because it (very mildly) resemble the fruit.

The egg tarts were selling well too so we decided to give them a try since in HK TVB dramas I always see them eating egg tarts for tea time. They were really good. I was happier to eat their egg tarts than the Po Lor Bao...

I also remember reading Swee San's post about their Dong Leng Mat (Iced Honey Lemon) being green in colour. I found that weird and I was curious, so I ordered one. True enough, it was green! And... it sucks. I didn't like it all, didn't taste like lemon or honey. Tasted like some leong cha (herbal tea) or something.

For mains, again we were lost in all those Chinese characters. In HK Char Chan Teng (cafes), do not expect friendliness. Expect being pressured to order quickly. I was not bothered to ask them what's what in the menu so I ordered what I know without even trying to read (and fail).

Chan Dan Meen (Egg and Spam instant noodle)

Gon Chao Ngau Hor (Stir Fry Beef Rice Noodle) which is like our Char Koay Teow with beef but Char Koay Teow is 1000 times nicer.

The mains weren't impressive. Not even their Nai Cha (Milk Tea). I've read in some blogs that they think their Nai Cha's good. Comparing to the first Nai Cha I had on Day 1 in Happy Valley, this was not as good.

Overall, I find this Kam Wah Cafe a little overrated period.

Then we proceeded to Lui Yan Kai. We wanted to go to Zhong Wan (Central) after this and because it was getting late, we very quickly browsed through Lui Yan Kai and we didn't manage to walk the entire market.

Look at my sunburnt shoulders and stupid sunburnt nose wtf -.-

By the time we reached Central, most of the shops were already closed. So we could only window shop, sight-see and use their high class toilet wtf. Ooh there's a H&M there, nice and affordable stuff.

But by that time we were already dead tired because Disneyland pretty much drained away all of our energy. Our feet were sore, we're all tanned/sunburnt, exhausted. I don't know how we could stand staying there till 9.30pm as how it was planned initially.

Overall, Disneyland was a little smaller than expected but it was nevertheless fun. Given that the Disneyland is bigger, I don't think I could walk that much too. It was a shame that we ran out of time to properly explore Lui Yan Kai and Central. Maybe next time? :)

Hong Kong Day 2

After looking through my pictures I realise this day was actually one of the most boring day throughout the trip, but it also had the most problems. The places we went were boring and uninteresting, the schedule was screwed, and it was so damn hot!

The day started at 8am with dim sum breakfast. Dim sum was one of the many things I was wanting to try in HK. The taste was good but unfortunately we didn't get to 'choose' what we wanted to eat. Everything was preselected before our arrival in the restaurant so we could only eat what was served. We could order other dishes but of course, that would be at our own expenses. 

Again, no pictures cos we were eating with the other people in our tour group. But I remember their Loh Bak Gou (Chinese Radish Cake) was really good, very different from the ones in Malaysia, in a good way. 

After breakfast the first place we stopped at was the Golden Bauhinia Square. Didn't take much pictures because it was super damn hot and sunny, and it's not picture-worthy anyway. Bauhinia is a flower species, also called the Hong Kong Orchid because it originated in HK. This flower is the symbol used in HK's flag itself. This square is sort of like our Merdeka Square, it is where the official handover of HK from UK to China took place.

 Dunno why I smile as though I'm constipated... wtf

We went to Repulse Bay after that. Nothing much there, a Chinese temple, a beach, some nice beach side housings. Then we went to Aberdeen Harbour, took a boat (not free of course) to see the floating village and Jumbo Floating Restaurant.

 Lots of cabin cruisers stationed around, I wonder if they belong to people or they're there for rental.

 With the fancy looking Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Cheh, can take picture only. Not that we get to eat there also.

 In the Aberdeen Floating Village, the 'boat people' are people who live in boats, fishing for a living.

 Drying Ham Yu (Salted Fish)

Then we were brought to a jewelry shop -.- I don't even remember the name of the place because I have no interest in jewelry, let alone purchasing jewelry in HK. This was obviously one of the places the tour guide HAD to bring us, in hopes that he could earn some commission. 

Apart from this, there was also a dodgy-looking duty free shop which sold cosmetics and fragrances. I didn't have the chance to shop around myself so I wasn't sure if the duty free shop was really selling things cheap so I didn't get anything. And besides the stocks they had were limited anyway, most of them looked like excess stocks, most probably expiring too.

Lastly he sent us to this Chinese medicine and herbs shop. After this it was already 2.30 and we have not had lunch. Super late, I know. People were getting really hungry and quite restless but we had one more stop before we could head for lunch, which was the Avenue of Stars. Seeing this, the tour guide actually had the cheeks to ask us if we would still like to go there, if not we could cancel it and head for lunch straight!

HOW UNACCEPTABLE! Firstly we weren't properly brought to Lui Yan Kai, now he's thinking of taking Avenue of Stars off the list?!? How bout he took that stupid jewelry shop or that herb shop off the list at the beginning??

And he decided to base the decision on votes. Obviously we HAD to go to Avenue of Stars! And fortunately there were more votes saying to go. I understand there were kids and pregnant lady in the trip and they needed to eat and wanting to go to the Avenue of Stars was going to further delay our lunch. Hey, it's not MY problem, it's the tour guide's problem!

Again not much pictures because it was super hot. Avenue of Stars is basically a little bit like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's a walkway along the Victoria Harbour waterfront with plaques on the floor honouring HK celebrities. Some have hand prints and autographs.

Right after that, it was already 3.30-4ish. Our next stop was the Ngong Ping 360, a cable car which connects Tung Chung to the Ngong Ping area. Our lunch was supposed to be at the Po Lin Monastery.

Initially, according to the tour guide, we were supposed to have lunch at NORMAL lunch hours which means we were supposed to BE at Ngong Ping by 1-2ish pm. And after our vegetarian lunch we were supposed to have our free and easy time till 5pm. The tour guide also mentioned that there's a Tung Chung Citygate Outlet which is a shopping mall, and if we're interested we can have a look because it's right opposite the cable car terminal at the base of the hill. At 5pm, we were all supposed to meet at the Citygate entrance because the coach will be parked there waiting for us.

Now because everything was so horribly delayed, the tour guide decided to change the gathering time to 6pm. Free and easy time? Kiss it goodbye la.

The cable car ride took 25 minutes. Fortunately we didn't have to queue to take it because there was a special lane for tourists. Once the cable car touched down, it was already almost 4.30pm and we still have not had lunch. I quickly took a peek at the queue for the cable car to go down. It was pretty massive. Seeing this I was already a little worried.

The walk to the monastery where we were supposed to have lunch was pretty long. My sisters and I were literally speed walking (almost running) because we both really wanted to go to that mall. Not that we really need to shop but since we're here and we haven't really gotten much time to do some shopping, why waste the time and opportunity eating and not make use of our supposed free and easy time?

Once we arrived at the restaurant we took only 15 minutes to eat (we looked like we haven't eaten for 10 days lol). It's just boring vegetarian food (again, random vegetarian restaurant in Klang makes better vegetarian food) so we weren't bothered and besides in a few hours time we were supposed to be eating seafood dinner already so might as well save the space for that. 

Before leaving to take the cable car, I specifically asked the tour guide if i would have to queue together with everyone else or if there was a special lane, just like when we first came. And he told me there's no special lane for cable cars which are going down, only 1. And he even assured me the queue usually wouldn't be long so it'll be ok. Haha...

We quickly walked back to take the cable car downhill. When we arrived at the terminal, there was a massive queue, even more massive than when I first saw it. While queueing and seeing no signs of the tour guide and the other tourists from our group, I sent a message confirming if we were all still meeting at 6pm at the Citygate entrance, telling him by the looks of the queue it's impossible to meet at 6. My sisters and I were the first to leave the restaurant to catch the cable car and we can't make it at 6, it's impossible for them to even make it at 7pm!

While I was in the cable car, I receive the tour guide's reply saying "I'm waiting with other tourists too, please don't go to Citygate, just wait at the exit of the cable car"

Both my sisters and I went FTS WE'RE GOING TO CITYGATE.

Honestly!?! I can't believe he told us not to go to Citygate! We queued till our feet were on the verge of breaking apart and he's telling us that we'll have to wait for all of them which could most probably take another fucking hour, having NOTHING to do?

We took a little more than an hour to get into a cable car, plus 25 minutes ride down. When we're down it was already 6.20pm. We quickly went to the mall, very quickly and briefly browsed through, before exitting to look for our coach. At 7pm we were already in the coach and nobody was there except for the driver who was waiting there for more than an hour without any notice from the tour guide. Poor guy.

At about 7.30ish, finally everyone started to appear looking exhausted and frustrated.

Randomly took a picture while we were bored waiting for the rest.

After that we were sent to a pier in I forgot where to take a boat to Lamma Island for dinner. More HK night views from the pier.

Approaching the restaurant where we had our seafood dinner.

The end wtf.

Seafood dinner was alright, not great but not terrible. Once again, I've had better seafood in Klang. I'm not saying nice things about Klang just because I'm from Klang, but it's a fact that the restaurants this tour has been bringing us weren't impressive. I'm not really complaining since I was mentally prepared for it anyway; tour groups hardly bring you to nice food places.

If you've been reading from top to bottom, I applaud you haha. Day 3 is HK Disneyland, fret not, no more complaints. Oh maybe a little bit about Chinese tourists. Seriously most of them drive me up the walls. But Day 3 onwards it got better, thank goodness.