Hong Kong! Hong Kong! Christmas '08:-)....香港之旅圣诞2008年.....香港の旅クリスマス０８年...

Above: Sydney Harbour by day...Christmas Eve 2008

Finally...my HK post...well, this was my first time in hong kong...although everyone seems to have been except me before this. I was there from 24th Dec-31st Dec so roughly for a week or so....it was great and a surreal feeling having grown up on hong kong movies/tv dramas and always hearing people and relatives around me visit hk...the beginning AND end part of my trip was a disaster though, of sorts, but overall i'd still classify my hk trip as a worthwhile one:)

Anyways, on my Hong Kong trip...i'll do it by day as much as i can remember cos its been almost 5 months now and i kinda have forgotten what i did each day...but i'll try anyways, here goes:

24th December 2008:

Plane from Sydney Intl' Airport to HKIA via Virgin Airways.

Arrived at night and took Airport Express to Kowloon Station. I had thought i'd take the ferry across to Central and back just to see the Victoria Harbour scenery as i had taken a picture at Sydney Harbour during the day and wanted one at Victoria Harbour at night so it'd be so cool to put up on here like 24th Dec -Day Sydney Harbour, Night Victoria Harbour but omg, it was BAD TIMING, Christmas Eve was jam-packed with ppl, i was naive enough to think that i could carry my luggage to the Star Pier and so paid the taxi to take me bck to Kowloon Station. The taxi guy was really really nice, very Hongkie type of guy...chatted with me,etc. The MRT system was packed with people. And it was horrible with my luggage.

Above: Victoria Harbour by night Christmas Eve 2008...well sorta, not really...somewhere near Victoria Harbour..ahaha..

I should have just asked my mom's friend to come pick me up from the airport but i thought i didn't wanna trouble her and that it shld all be fine. Boy, was i wrong...The luggage was SO heavy and i had to try to find my way around the MRT system..cos HK's stations are all SO HUGE, it was quite difficult ...when i finally arrived at the station, i needed to borrow a phone and cos i couldn't find any public phones, i had to ask street people....they say hk people are materialistic n cold, and that was true in certain circumstances when ppl ignored me when i asked for help during the course of my hk trip, but overall, ppl were nice...and lend me their mobile phones. But that wasn't the end of the nightmare...yes, it turned out to be a literal nightmare....cos the stations of the MRT system in HK are all so BIG (i didn't expect it...they're way bigger than the ones in sydney/melbourne, taipei, kl,etc the ones 've been to..) we couldn't meet up in the end easily and i didn't have a mobile phone so i had to keep borrowing from ppl, whom were kind enough to help this total stranger with a luggage (which i had to lug around up n down stairs and utterly spoiled by the end of the time i managed to finally meet them!) in the middle of the night on Christmas eve...there were so many exits n i got confused...finally, i managed to meet them n thanked this group of chic hk youngsters whom had just finished their eve party n were kind enough to stand by to wait with me..(i'm always kinda blessed to meet such kind strangers in lands which are not famous for their kind ppl, eg. hong kong n japan...)

I had planned my hk trip on the basis that my mother's friend would be able to allow me to stay over at her place as you'all know that hk's accomodation is ridiculously ex. ESPECIALLY during the Christmas peak season that i was going...I had calculated that it would cost me around $2,000 AUD for a week stay at a reasonably priced hotel in Wanchai unless i stayed in one of those cheap 60 AUD per night hostels in Mongkok which i wasn't gonna do! So unless i had a place to stay at, i wasn't going to HK and would just cancel my trip cos the expenses would be just too expensive, i mean the reason i can afford 5 weeks in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taipei is precisely because i have accomodation which SAVES ME HEAPS...hehehe....

Above: Train to Lowu, mainland China at Kowloon Tong MRT Sta. which serves as the main transit point for several MRT lines, trains to the mainland, and buses..vry vry convenient to live.

And this friend of my mom's is actually a Taiwanese housewife whom lived in Penang for almost 20 years with her husband, and i know her and her family too, she saw me grow up in Penang n both her son and daughter went to the same highschool as me in Penang (Uplands Intl' School) and we would go out during my highschool days and even on my trips bck to Penang during vacation when i moved to melbourne...so i knew her well enough to stay...she moved to HK as her husband got transferred to China (as most Taiwanese businesses did during the late 90s/early 2000s from Malaysia) and her daughter is currently in HK Univ. of Tech...they're pretty wealthy and it was great staying with them cos they lived in one of the wealthy areas in Hong Kong ( i only learnt that later)..Kowloon Tong, where most of the international schools and academic institutions are situated...there's also a high-class mall there called 'Festival Walk' as well...

I was expecting HK living to be really crammed as everyone i know had told me how small hk apartments are and i've seen it on tv too, but i knew my mother's friend lived in the richer parts of hk and so i thought their home would be alittle bigger, just alittle mind you, but when i arrived, MAN, their living area was bigger than even their apartment in Penang! And this means HUGE by hong kong standards, i was told cos its one of the older apartments in hong kong, they would tend to be abit bigger than the newer ones as hk developed, apartments became smaller and smaller in size.....the area being Kowloon Tong was full of contrast with alot of love motels standing with intl' schools... it seemed abit like Penang for its idyllic environment.

Of course, normal hk ppl dun live like HP and her mom does, i mean they even have spare rooms (something unheard of in hk) cos the mother sometimes shuttle to and from taipei n the husband is only bck on weekends....n the son too on alternate weekends....

Anyways, bck to my trip! We arrived home, auntie ming cooked me supper and we had a chat cos i haven't seen them in yrs now...then i went to bed after taking a quick shower...

25th Dec 2008 Christmas Day:

Above: Sham Shui Po Yong Tau Foo place...

I woke up and made arrangements to meet with a primary cum highschool friend of mine and invited HP to join us for Christmas night dinner cos she didn't seem to have any plans and she agreed. First i went to Sham Shui Po 'Ngap Liu Street' which is a famous place for lower class goods and wetmarkets, traditional foods, old streets,etc..i actually loved Sham Shui Po alot as it was very similar to Malaysia, like extremely similar...it has that old-Hong Kong feel of the 60s eg. crowded, run-down, tons of old buildings,wetmarkets, coffee shops,etc..i tried to find this famous place i researched on 'Gong Wor Dao Ban' which sells Yong Tau Foo and beancurd tofu-fa...and had a difficult time finding it cos beware there are actually ALOT of FAKE stores with similar names as the famous one but since i had made up a whole list of food places with exact addresses i wanted to try in hong kong (and also for macau n taipei) i knew that it was not the right one...i finally found the place n ordered yong tao fu n beancurd drink tao chong...not bad, but nothing great as well..basically my food list consisted of highly recommended places on food websites/hk tourism board places so it was worth going anyways..i also went to another highly recommended place called Kuan Kei for the 'Bak Tong Gou 'which was HEAVENLY and SWEET...just nice..i miss this traditional chinese snack from Penang so much...hehehe..it's funny how similar hk is to malaysia in certain respects, we even sell similar streetside traditional foods like 'bak tong gou'(which i never saw sold in shanghai or taipei when i was there!) ..

Above: The 'Bak Tong Gou' place at Sham Shui Po....

I took the MRT to Prince Edwards MRT Sta. near 'put lam gai', and had a late hk style wanton noodle soup for lunch...and then went to meet my primary-highschool friend at one of the entrances of prince edward mrt. Cos i had seen her on facebook she hadn't changed much but i was surprised to see that she had brought along her two brothers whom i hadn't met in YEARS...when i last saw them they were still in their teens (early) and now they were grown-up men! That was one of the surprises and highlights of my hk trip as i hadn't thought of meeting them at all:-)

Anyways, we had met at 3 30pm and i planned for us to follow these tourist route maps which i had printed out as research for my trip..i thought it would take us awhile but hong kong is really quite small, i mean we walked from prince edwards to TST in like 3 hours incl. stopping by all the places i wanted to see like 'goldfish lane' and 'ladies market' and 'flower market' 'flower market wet market' (interesting wetmarket!! worth a visit as something unconventional to do in hk..)and 'shanghai street', as well as 'jade market' and mongkok 'sai yung choi street' which is like shibuya of tokyo or ximenting of taipei (v.similar to ximenting actually but much bigger n busier)...we also had the mango ice desserts at Hui Lau Shan and curry fishballs street snacks in mongkok ..hehehe...how could i not try on my 1st hk trip...caught up on old school days,etc...and walked past kowloon park, Nathan Road, and Park Lane Boulevard which is really pretty at night and took tons of pictures as it was Christmas time and there were plentiful special lighting displays then...we also passed through 'Temple Street' Yaumatei as i told them i wanna see the place cos i've known about this famous nightmarket since primary school days via Hong Kong movies where the triads are always portrayed as happening here...it was still early and so many stalls weren't set up yet...we also went to the famous 'Australia Dairy Company' place to have late tea as i've been hearing rave reviews about it and it was definitely great...i had iced lemon tea hk-style and the famous fluffy egg sandwich...

Above: Mongkok....one of the multitude of markets....

Above; Shanghai Street...where they apparently sell traditional chinese wedding costumes (which i saw none of!!!)

Above: Goldfish Lane...

We then rushed to meet up with HP whilst taking quick pix at Park Lane Boulevard...met HP at Kowloon Sta. and we decided to go to Victoria Harbour as i hadn't actually been there yet! We passed Canton Road TST with all the lovely branded boutiques there and it was getting crowded already as it was nearing 8pm on Christmas night...we took photos in front of the Christmas decorated The Peninsula Hotel with massive other ppl taking shots too, it was sooo dangerous as cars were coming in and out of the entrance and the road was just behind us! But it was worthwhile...


Anyways, we made it to the Promenade and the Christmas special displays which they have on Victoria Harbour was AMAZING! SIMPLY AMAZING! It didn't even seem REAL...like out of some brochure or something...of course took plenty of pix here....then as we had arrived as planned for the nightly 'Lights Show' at 8pm, it started, well worth the visit for first or second time visitors to hong kong...

Above: Victoria Harbour during Christmas with the Christmas Lighting Displays...

Anyways, we then went to have our dinner (as i had already planned on eating chiu-chow food in hk which is apparently the 2nd most famous cuisine to be had in hk after obvious first-place cantonese food) i told my friend about this rest. i had researched called 'Chao Inn' which serves Chiu-Chow food...we went there and thankfully didn't need to wait too long...we were given a table BY THE WINDOW!!! WITH VICTORIA HARBOUR VIEWS~~ Chao Inn is located in TST and has an amazing view of Victoria Harbour n the cityscape...well worth going there..ordered alot of dishes and my friend and her brother basically did all the ordering....cos i said i wasn't familiar with chiu-chow food, just wanted to try...anyways, alot of cold dishes which is what chiu-chow food is famous for apparently, but highly unusual for chinese cooking where everything is cooked piping hot due to the philosophy of cold food being bad for the body...

Above: Chiu Chow Food at Chao Inn, Peking Road.

Took a ton of pics again with the Victoria Harbour view behind us....it was an amzing night..heheh..left, and got bck home. Took a rest n shower n bed.

26th December 2008:

Woke up, had breakfast, went with HP and my mom's friend Auntie Ming to Harbour City, TST. This could possibly be shopper's paradise and apparently the largest shopping mall in Hong Kong...it is right beside Victoria Harbour and once again has amazing views of the HK skyline..i mean i came to realise that Hong Kong has ALOT of restaurants,etc which are situated in buildings which give a superb view of the HK skyline...far more than Sydney and Tokyo i think (i've lived/living in both n that's just my personal experience...anyone care to differ?)

We went to this stonegrill place which is their fav rest. to bring friends/relatives on visits to hk...apparently her husband is a frequent business patron of theirs and omg, it was nice...v.classy and the manager there even recognised my mom's friend (though she seldom goes, her husband goes alot, he's got this discount card there now...) it was nice having the person-in-charge there come over to say hi,etc...feeling v.important, haha..the grill was nice, haven't had it in years bck in Penang..the sauce was great...loved it, asked for more...afterwards, we went our separate ways and i shopped for abit at Harbour City, then went over to Silvercord Plaza, i like this place...i saw the Food Republic place here as well as visited this unique store which sells chinese-style little things such as aprons, gifts,etc called G.O.D. 'Ju Hou Di' ..went around the multitude of malls around Canton Road, TST and then rushed over to Wanchai to meet some melbourne friends whom happened to be in Hong Kong at the time......one of them is bck for bro's wedding n the other has been living here for years now, a Caucasian whom speaks both Mandarin AND Cantonese cos he studied in Taiwan b4 n now in HK doing some phd in buddhism or somethin...we went to the yum cha place i had suggested going but they were closed for yum cha and so we walked to Causeway Bay which was a good walk for me given that i'd not been on hong kong island yet...it was nice walking there...wanchai reminds me abit of the streets of taipei, just with much more people...went walking around causeway bay and ended up at the 'World Trade Centre' in Causeway Bay...had dessert of mango w/h black sticky rice in milk crushed ice at Honeymoon Desserts called 'Moon Kei' in Cantonese..i like this dessert and had checked up this dessert store beforehand n so was glad to have a try here..in fact i had it at least 2x in hong kong...chatted and updated each other..on the years which have passed, then ZB had to leave to meet up with a friend for dinner and i said my goodbye to SR and hoped to meet again.

I was running late for my highschool reunion which was like at 7 15pm and i had to rush to TST to the MRT station to meet my 3 hong kong mates whom studied in Penang with me in the 90s...i hand't seen one of them in 10 yrs i think and the other two in 8 years...as i rushed up the stairs to meet them, i saw HM the one i hadn't met in 10 yrs, she had left school early to return to hk to finish her studies which explains why i hadn't seen her in so long...it was a surreal feeling to meet her after a decade in of all places, not quiet small-town feel Penang of the 90s but TST MRT in bustling Hong Kong of all places!!!! We went to the restaurant booked by one of our highschool mates as she wanted to eat Shanghainese food (one of her fav cuisines apparently..) and again found via openrice.com.hk which is this really famous food-sharing website which all of my hk friends knew n used n which i used myself for my foodie trip research in hk...

the restaurant was nice and packed...really interesting, i allowed them to order cos i know nothing about ordering shanghai food and the last time having had the 'real deal' waaaay back in shanghai in 2003/04. It was nice catching up after so long...i've actually never been to a highschool reunion b4, so this was my first time, a mini-reunion of sorts...its actually v.hard to meet cos as former international school students reading this can attest to, all ur classmates are never where u guys studied at, unlike people who attend govt/private schools whereby everyone is local...classmates at inl' schools come from all over the world, being an expat or having a foreign parent/PR being the requisite to attend these type of schools in the 1st place.

Well, the good thing is that u get to know alot of old schoolmates all over the world, as they return back or move to live at...haha..like hong kong, london, the States, where alot of my highschool mates are now based..

After dinner, we went towards the Star Ferry as they asked and i said i wanted to take the iconic ferry across Victoria Harbour, a much-recommended experience said to be one of the 100 things u must do before u die..hehe..read that one somewhere...anyways, we took more photos in front of the Peninsula Hotel, then took the ferry across and right back again..hahah..cos there was nothing to see at Central at night...we then went to Temple Street as i wanted to see it at night cos rem the night before, it was too early?? Well, this time around, it was crowded and really like in the movies, but not what i expected though, maybe it isn't as popular anymore since the mid-90s but it is definitely worth a visit being one of the better nightmarkets in hong kong..i bought some cheap sweater there too...the place is where 'Cest La Vie Mon Cherie' one of my fav hk-feel films was set and filmed with Anita Yuen (it was a major tear-jerker n blockbuster hit back in '93)and there are still song people there whom sing cantonese opera whilst spectators give money...and alot of fortune-telling stalls with alot of young ppl!.one of the classmates wanted to but in light of the queue we decided not...we then hung around and went our separate ways, after planning for a karaoke night on another date.

I returned and had a shower and went online i think n slept.

27th December 2008:


Above n Below: Shanghai Tang...there's two more cheongsam tailor stores in the Peddler Building which i visited..v.expens stuff...

I woke up pretty late and headed to Central, Hong Kong's financial district. Visited the flagship store of 'Shanghai Tang', the famous Chinese couture clothing store...also visited the Peddler Building and some of the Cheongsam shops there...hehe..then managed to find this cheongsam tailor shop where Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Tang Wei, and Sammi Cheng made their cheongsams at for their films and adverts...heheh..i had the priviledge of speaking with the cheongsam tailor whom was originally from Shanghai (yes, a 'real Shanghainese cheongsam tailor'!) about his experiences, which actress left the best impression (apparently Sammi was the nicest and most respectful one!) and even took some photos in secret...he said his clientele included rich tai-tais, society ladies, in hong kong and even one of the family members of the Lee Kuan Yew family in Singapore...they fly in and out to collect their cheongsams whilst in hk n he has old measurements at hand so they don't need to always come in for a fitting...i found out about his store from the internet..from the outside, u wouldn't even know he made all those cheongsams in 'In the Mood for Love' ,etc...

Below: The cheongsam tailor whom made Maggie Cheung's cheongsams in 'In the Mood for Love':-). Great for a Cheongsam fan like me, and once again, a unique HK experience!

Above: Tsim Chai Kee Wonton Noodle Soup with fishpaste...

Anyways, tried the wonton noodle soup with fishpaste at Tsim Chai Kee on Wellington Avenue..it was actually one of the best i had whilst in Hong Kong! Definitely worth a visit...and wandered around Central with its up-down steps incl. Pottinger Street...walked along Queens Road,etc and went to Sheungwan. I realised that i like two extremes of Hong Kong the best, the very traditional wet-market old storefronts selling dried chinese condiments places such as Sham Shui Po and Sheungwan and the other extreme being the upper class areas such as Hollywood Road, Mid-Levels which i shall get to later.

Above: Some wedding photoshoot with western and traditional chinese costumes at some cobbled road in Central...
Above: Sheungwan...selling chinese dried foodstuff....

Anyways, visited the Western Markets in Sheungwan, the Birds Nest Lane, Dried Foods Lane,etc and the myriad of traditional lanes selling chinese foodstuff like sharksfin,abalone,etc...this was basically Hong Kong island's answer to Kowloon's Sham Shui Po...but as with everything here, the better cleaner version as Hong Kong Island is traditionally more upper class and having even now statistically more wealthier people living on the Island than across in Kowloon and the N.T. (the New Territories). I enjoyed Sheungwan v.much and bought some souvenirs of mushrooms and dried seafood for my relas in Taiwan..it was so funny, i was buying this mushroom stuff in Hong Kong and of cos being at HK, i spoke Cantonese everywhere i went but obviously i said it with a discernible accent and so he asked me where i was from...and testament to the fact that hk people are not all unfriendly superficial people he even joked with me cos i said i am not a hong kong person...and he said 'oh?? so you are a kowloon person??' which is obviously a joke given that he knew i meant being a foreigner but he said it as if i was from kowloon and not from the island..get it?
Above: One of countless high-rise apartments in Mid-Levels, HK Island...

Anyways, as i was roughly following a tour route from one of the maps i downloaded, walked to Hollywood Road, Mid-Levels which is clearly one of the upper class areas in Hong Kong and there was alot of antique shops at one point....the whole area gives a nice upper class feeling to it with cafes and bars...and its close to Central and the Peak too...there were alot of high-rise buildings on the slopes of the hill there..which is where all the rich people live in Hong Kong, in the area called Mid-Levels and The Peak...of course there are many other areas traditionally known to be wealthy as well such as Happy Valley, Kowloon Tong (where i was staying:-) ), Taikoo, Causeway Bay, Discovery Bay, parts of Shatin,etc.. u know HK has alot of rich ppl!!

Discovered this G.O.D place again and went in.


Above n Below: Somewhere along Hollywood Road, Mid-Levels...selling sweetttt sugarcane juice below...one of the to-eats places on my list which i just chanced upon...

Anyways, bumped into one of the eateries i had written on my foodie list and bought the sugarcane juice famous there...its called Gong Lei...then i hurriedly went over to TST to Miramar shopping centre (crazy given that i was supposed to rush back to Causeway Bay in an hours time! which is practically just down the road from Mid-Levels...) did this quick mad 20 minutes shopping spree at UNIQLO which is a Japanese label which is not available in Taiwan (i didn't bother w/h visiting Muji cos there are heaps in Taiwan) and took some photos of Knutsford Steps just besides (sadly didn't get a chance to visit this happening pub/restaurant area but there's always next time!!)and hurriedly rushed to Causeway Bay (being late anyways...haha)

Above: Knutsford Steps pub scene and below being of Causeway Bay street scene..

Met up with this Hong Kong friend that i met whom was also in one of my project groups during our semester exchange in Keio Univ. Tokyo back in 2005 ( i haven't seen JS since 2005!)..had dinner at this place called Ichimon which is apparently quite famous and 'trendy' as i later asked ppl and they all seem to have either been or heard of it...its famous for its Japanese style cuisine of smoked food eg. chicken, ham on a stick and smoked...串烧料理, we ordered alot of stuff..JS did the ordering..and caught up on what's been happening since 05..JS is a frequent traveller who's been to MANY places since then, back to Tokyo and onzen trip again, Tibet, India,etc...attached now as well....anyways, then we went to Times Square, somewhere i always wanted to go to...had a quick walk-about then left and cos i said i wanted to take the iconic tram, we took a tram ride from Causeway Bay through to Happy Valley passing the racecourse...omg, the racecourse was surreal, given that the highrise buildings and busy Causeway Bay was just a tram ride away but the Happy Valley district was so quiet despite being so close to the busy areas...such is the contrast in Hong Kong..we took the tram to Central again as i wanted to see Lan Kwai Fong...the tram ride that night was definitely one of the highlights of this trip to Hong Kong..hehehe...i shall always remember it as we passed causeway bay, wanchai, the buildings of central,etc..

Above: Ichimon Entrance, Causeway Bay...

Lan Kwai Fong turned out to be reaaaaalllly small...i was surprised at how small it was...Soho was much nicer with the Mid-Levels to Central outside escalator being really nice...i passed by Hollywood Road again...we were going to meet up with another friend but she never called and the Starbucks we were going to was closing and so decided to call it a night...JS caught a taxi for me whilst JS walked back home..YES..she actually is one of those rich people whom live in Mid-Levels but was too humble to tell me when i initially asked...JS said Central..when it was mid-levels but then JS says alot of ppl live in mid-levels and there's buses up there to fetch ppl to work every morning so it isn't what i think to be the exclusive suburb it is..but still...they must all be rich ppl livin there..haha..

Anyways, got home via MRT and slept...

Part 2 coming up next...:-)