Pearl of the Orient Day 3 : Disneyland

Day 3 is a trip to the happiest place on Earth, The only one outside Japan and probably the Cheapest among all location. DISNEYLAND and also the smallest.

We brought the tickets for about HKD375, which works out to about S$65. Mum and Dad decide not to tag along and prefer to visit their Friends in HK. 

We have our Breakfast at this Congee cafe near our hotel called 海皇粥店. I t is located @ Lai Shing Building, 497A Nathan Road, Kowloon, just about 5mins walk from our hotel.

Ordered You Tiao, Their Version with You tiao wrap by flour. This version can also be found in Restaurant in Singapore, though is may not be as widely available in our coffeeshops.

A Bowl of Hua Shen Porridge, Yummy!!. I prefer Cantonese Porridge to the Teochew Version. Their Rices is so much smoother.

and a Cup of Soya Bean Drink

Porridge is a standard breakfast staple in the Hong Kong Menu, but it hard to find a good one without spending time to look for one....luckily we manage to find one so near to our hotel which is off a reasonable standard.

One thing I notice in this cafe is the amount of sauce they have for their porridge. Usually it is just Soya sauce in Singapore. Here in HK, we even have Peanut, BBQ, Sweet and sour. I personally like Peanut sauce.

Typical practice in HK is that, the waitress will come over and take order, and put a piece of paper like the one above @ your table. Once u finish your meal, proceed to the counter for your bill....(Similar to singapore in some ways..lol but alot Louder and might be ruder in someways)

It's a rather big contrast in terms of the amount of activities on this street in the daytime as compare to the night time. Gone now are all the stores being setup selling from toys to food much like our Pasar Malam.

We took the MTR, which is the more econmical way to reach Disneyland them to go by their shuttle bus provided by the Tour desk which charges a surcharge for a one way trip there. Took from Yau Ma Tei and change at Lai King towards Sunny Bay for the Disneyland line to Disney Resort

The Train (MTR) at Disneyland line is a very special Train. It really depict the Happiest Place on Earth Feeling, all their train have mickey Mouse Windows Design and even their Handle Bar are of a Mickey Mouse shape. No wonder this is the happiest places..in the World...I use to have this dream to visit Disneyland when I was a kid...those day coming here is so far-fetch....Kid nowadays are so fortunate.

It's a rather hot day in HK for this time of the year (Dec), temperature is like in Singapore, just less humid. 30C....unexpected really.

There is quite a crowd, took some photos before we cross the gate into Disneyland.

The Landmark Monument from the Cartoon Fantasia.

Even before entering the park, Xuan already feeling tired. At her age...afternoon nap is a must...Let see how long she can last here..lol

The Entrance to the Disneyland Park Resort. There are a couple of Hotels within the Vicinity, We didn't choose to stay here mainly due to the cost of paying for a 5star hotel....

I have been to a number of Disneyland Park, mainly in the States, must say...the model is all the same..it is only a matter of the size of the park. It was say HK's version is the smallest....Baby Xuan is really excited by her first visit to the Park.. Afterall, Disneyland is definitely more Child-friendly than Universal Studio which will open in Singapore next Year.

This First Place when we entered the park is the Main Street, USA, here various building  depict a typical Street in USA.

We went into this place called " Art of Animation" and was treated with a surprise by this Toy-Story illusion display. Pretty interesting, about your eyes play tricks on you. The Idea is that the turning of the stage cause the whole animation to come alive. Got to see it live to really explained...it...basically, everyone inside this picture comes alive...

Photo of me with Baby Xuan before proceeding to take the DisneyLand RailRoad.

With Mummy and Daddy, child at this age always have problem looking at the camera. She must be wonder what is there to look @...lol

The First Ride in the Park, To take the Train for a round the Park Ride. This Excursion stlye train will bring you for a grand tour of the Park into the 3 lands, namely Adventureland, FantasyLand and TomorrowLand.

It wasn't really a very long queue though....but thought it is a good way to see what to expect from the park.

Frequency of the Train Arrival is pretty fast, didn't wait for a long time, the next train arrived.

It is quite a long wait to departure as the staff confirm every single one is seated properly. There are a couple of "China people" who refuse to heek their advise...resulting in the long delay.

Xuan starting to feel cranky as the afternoon nap time is near.

As expected, Xuan need her afternoon nap afterall, she fell asleep shortly after we alighted. As it is around Lunch time already, We decided to stopby this Fast Food Restaurant to settle our Dinner. It look like the Disney's version of Macdonald....

There is quite a Crowd inside the Air-conditioned Restaurant, but we managed to find a seat @ the non-Air con area outside the resturant though.

This must be one of the most unsatisfying meal I have so far in HK, The food tasted bland. But there is really nothing much to expect from a Theme Park Fast Food Restaurant. Wonder Why MacDonald din want to setup a outlet here...(Must be due to the copyright or Disney's high rental rate)

But there is really nothing much to expect from Fast food as how good can they get....lol Their Fish Burger though really need improving ...

Xuan Rested for a while just in time for us to enjoy our lunch and rest for a while. Rented out this stroller for small fee or about 45HKD. She can be lazy to walk if she is tired. Anyway...she wasn't very good at it yet....so Renting this is a definite Need.

Wonder what is the big occasion that have the Local TV station Presenter, likely from their News Department at Disneyland Reporting news...!!!

The Queue at Disneyland can be quite long, though they are comparable to everywhere else in Other Disneyland, Lucky, most of the rides in Disneyland are child-friendly. Got on the "merry Go Round" Ride.

Got on the Flying Elephant Ride as well.

After going on a couple of rides...the baby is hungry for her milk...

There is this mobile Shop selling Buzz lightyear bubble gun that spray out bubbles. Baby have a fun time catching the bubble.

We later went over to The Ride " It is a small small world" boat ride. It is a really kidish ride, with lot of puppets singing. Below are some shots during the ride.

  

The Ride is basically a Visual Spectacular. Lot of moving puppets singing. 

Took a rest after the ride watching the World gone by. 


Got an Ice-cream for the kid to enjoy!!!

A photo @ the Castle.

As this is a Weekend, there will be a Disney Parade and Fireworks and there is this super talk Christmas Tree at the Entrance of the park and I am sure it will be magical at night when all the lights are lighted up..

Pearl of the Orient : City Tour & Shopping

Consider how late we slept last night, this morning is a really early start for us....waking up something like 6am to rush for our half day tour @7.30am.

We waited for a while @ the crowded lobby (Full of "Da Lu" people) for our Tour guide to come fetch us. They were also late...the bus which was park opposite the Hotel came in only @ 7.40am


There were only a few folks on the bus....

Looking Sleepy...are mum and dad...

I have been on this trip aka the tour before, so i wasn't really excited, but just here to take more photos with my family.

Took us around 80mins to get from our hotel to the HK Convention & Exhibition Center, due to the need to pick up people from various hotel and the morning traffic didn't help at all......Was really hungry by the time we reached....But since the consensus of the people on the Bus is to visit the place first before Breakfast...doesn't have much choice.

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center

Looking @ our Hair, you know the wind is very strong, and the weather is freezing here...and the wind just make it colder..lol

Hardly keeping my eyes open due to the strong win...and I am only in Tee-shirt...lol...freezing..and on an empty stomach....does not help..

The HK Convention & Exhibition Hall is the place where in 1997, The British Handover Hongkong to China. The place was officially opened in 1988 and is a listed company in the HK Stock Exchange..Over the course of the year...they expanded the place to accommodate more exhibition....and the place have actually growth bigger.

This Structure use to represent the handover to Chinese rule. Shape of a flower....and from far is often mistaken as the World Cup Trophy.

There is quite a crowd here this early in the morning, lot of other Tour buses are also fetching people to the area.

We are actually now on HongKong island, the sea is just beside us....

I realise that there is a new skyscraper in Kowloon now...See the left-side Tall structure. Wonder what that building? probably a Hotel?

Breakfast happens at "Hai Tai" , which is included in the package Tour. Give us a chance to try out the ever famous HK's Tim sum. But I wasn't expecting much from this place....since i think they usually choose the cheapest to go with.

It's a rather crowded weekday morning...but HK people are so use to having breakfast aka "Dim Sum" ...and their working hours start @ 10am....how great......we don have this in Singapore....(8-5 or 9-6).

At the Entrance to the Restaurant, there are alot of "poster" Advertising their famous dishes....HKD$88 ofr Lobster ($16) and also "peng Cai" for Dong Zhi as well...

Set Meal menu for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Once we got to our tables, the food come rather quickly....probably also because we are late.....We have the usually Dim Sum stuff.

Busying preparing the baby for breakfast.

The "Zhu Chang Fen" of HK, very different from our typical S'pore Hawker center version. This one is "drench" with soya sauce and have meat or prawn in it. The one at the restaurant taste ok only though...

"Siew Mai", also a so so taste to it.....but food here generally taste more saltier.

I kinda like this....I think they called it "Deep Fried glutinous buns or something

We also order Century Egg Porridge. Also a so so taste to it...and it is rather watery.

There is this very funny looking Carrot cake, as they call it...and it tasted really bad...lol..It is very flaky.....and dry.

After breakfast, We make our way to Victoria Peak located on the western part of Hong Kong Island.

Victoria Peak

The actual summit of Victoria Peak is occupied by a radio telecommunications facility and is closed to the public. but the surrounding area of public parks and high-value residential land is the area that is normally meant by the name The Peak. It is a major tourist attraction which offers spectacular views over central Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour, and the surrounding islands. It's height of some 560m tall....help us to a spectacular view over the sky scrapers on the island.

We actually took a different route and reach the half-way point on the peak (~250m) to see the skyscraper. As there are alot of tourist at the area all try to take shots of the skyview. We actually have a hard time trying to get a good location for photos...lol....finally got 1 shot with Dad.

Another shot for myself only...lol

See the edge of the photos where some "auntie" can't get out of the way enough....it is quite difficult to have a clean shot as almost everyone is trying to get one...

it is rather windy and cold with so many people around, baby xuan stay at one side.....feeling rather curious..why there are so many people here...

We make a rather short stopover at the peak, and were off to repulse Bay @ around 9.30am.

Repulse Bay

Primarily an upmarket residential area, sun-drenched Repulse Bay has a relaxed resort-like atmosphere. The wide, wave-lapped beach is popular with locals and visitors alike and great for sandy strolls in the early morning when the sun is up and the sunbathers are out in force, or at sunset when all is at peace. But during the Winter, only the Tourist are out in force here..lol...

There is this Temple Along the beach with Towering twin statues of Kwun Yum and Tin Hau, both protectors of fishermen dominate the picturesque gardens that lead down to the beach. It is actually a lifeguard clubhouse built in traditional Chinese style. Its ceiling is decorated with magnificent swirling dragons. ....I didn't know that the "Temple" along the beach act as a lifeguard house as well..

There is this small portion also along the beach with various Chinese folk tales structures.....and there is a bridge which make good photography and a pier to lead further out to the sea.

Manage to grab a photo while making our ways onto the bridge....my and my sister.....

And with Dad.....Dad follow us to this area...while mum and baby stay on the bus as the baby was sleeping....

One Interesting structure is the "yue Lao" structure, say to provide marriage and relationship by tiring red string to both parties involved.

There is this Rock, aka "Yin Yuan Rock" which is say, by touching it give u the relationship u wanted.....haha...I want a relationship....lol......though I only trust God to provide....

Read and you will understand...

Auspicious animal in Chinese customs....3 Goat.....

Came upon this structure where tonnes of Tourist are trying their luck to throw coins into the mouth of the fish I suppose....It was rather fun to see them "wasting" their money ....as most of the coins..including mine, didn't land in it mouth but in someone's hand which I don know who...

Aberdeen Harbour

Aberdeen harbour is home to hundreds of people living on fishing junks. Their traditional lifestyle is dramatically juxtaposed against a modern high-rise community spread over the nearby hillsides. In the evenings, the thousands of twinkling lights reflected on the water are a magical sight. There use to be even more such junk during the earlier days but they are now gone....leaving just boat for the Tourist.....and some that still make a living here...

As part of the Tour include a Sampan Ride on the harbour....which last about 30mins, As Mum and Dad have been on this trip countless time...they decided to give it a miss...

I climbed on board mainly for photography ......though.

Part of the highlight of this boat ride is to come close to this. the magnificent floating restaurant anchored here. Three storeys high and elaborately decorated with swirling red and gold dragons and other traditional Chinese motifs

This place is a restaurant for Seafood and other HK delicates but I heard that is is rather expensive....

We Sail rather near to the restaurant before making our way to see the harbour...

Beside the people who use to live here @ the Harbour, the Rich and Famous also have their Million dollar boats park right here @ the pier..

There are quite alot of richy rich people on the harbour...with their toys park here..

But a Majority are still these boat @ the Harbour....making their livelihood on fishing and Tourism.

Here are some sights on the harbour...

A Tug boat?

Small boat into big boats....lol

Fishing boat...

Groceries Boat?

These boat are park very randomly on the harbour....it could get tricky to move around here..






Salted Fish boat....part of their lifestyle..




This is the "uncle" Piloting our boat..see how relax he is....he have been doing this for years...

Among other things on the harbour, there are also lot of high rise accommodation in HK. Kinda like our HDB but taller....

Some are kinda build on a hill....and resemble a Condo...

Baby is really enjoying her first boat ride...

Occassionally point to stuff..she is curious about

Family pose......before leaving the boat..

Lunch Time

Included in the Tour package, Lunch was settled @ Xin Fu Chao Chou, which i believe we will be sampling some Hokkien Dish in HK.

I must comment that this is the worst meal so far...since we came to Hong Kong,

The vegetable is rather tasteless and the look of it seem rush out...

Eggs are way too Salty....I was told HK people like their food salty...or rather,their food taste is stronger than us Singaporeans.

A Noodle like Dish with some Salted Vege involved...tasted really weird...probably just not use to Hokkien Style of cooking...??lol

Fried Fish, and is one of those dish I did not try....I am not a "fish" eater...comment from my parent weren't great either.

Another Vege with mushroom like stuff in it....

HK's Roast Pork are suppose to taste superb but the one serve here only tasted average and is even worst than some hawker center food in Singapore..hiaz...

The only Dish I like....Egg shredded soup....with corn in it.... satisfying but not fantastic..

I didn't quite enjoy the Lunch actually and it a rush rush one for me..as I need to take care of the baby while the parents can have their lunch..lol...Turn out quite fun, I brought the baby to see a dog outside and walk around the streets ...


The baby is busy occupying herself before the actual food come...

Everything on the table including the chopsticks become her toy
Some shots of her..before lunch...
    




Mummy and Kid.....before Lunch...

The City Tour


Lunch ended rather late...around 2pm....we took our bus to our final literary , the City Tour on a Open Bus....This kind of Tour is everywhere...we had it in Singapore as well..basically...it is a double Decker bus with the roof-top not covered...(Aka...not suitable during Rainy Season)

The Lower deck is like a normal Double decker bus...you will be able to get a better view on the top deck though...as we are late...all the seat on top were taken up...

I Still manage to grab a few shot of the HK's Skyline while on the bus.....here are some to share...

Clouds are rather low....see how the tallest Building in HK is covered with cloud...this sight is rather rare in Singapore

Street in HK are this busy all the time.....it is like our Orchard Road on Weekend....except that this is taken during a weekday in HK.

Being in a city, Traffic-jam are a norm....

I was told housing in HK are extremely small...if you find Singapore's HDB small...HK's ones are even smaller and much more expensive....

They are also not as beautify as our modern HDB.

The Hygiene conditions look bad as well...

Our City Tour ended around 5pm....it was much later than I expected...and we request to be drop off at the ESPRIT Outlet shop to do our shopping...

Before we left our bus...our Tour guide actually ask us to take down this auspicious number for 4D.....typical Chinese tradition..lol

We spend the next hour or so...grabbing all the discount stuff @ this outlet...ESPRIT in HK is damn Cheap and nice....I spend over 500HKD in 1hrs....

After finishing our Shopping...we need to quickly rush back as the baby is getting tired and need to sleep for a while..before dinner....

Dinner @ Mido Cafe Again

We manage to get ourself ready for Dinner...after the baby took a short afternoon nap from 5pm -6.30pm. Out of Convenience, We choose to have our dinner @ Mido Cafe again....

We ordered a Dried Noodles with Pork, Delicious...much like our Singapore's version of "Sheng Mian"

And also a Beef Fried Kway Tiew... This I heard is a typical HK dish in the rank of Singapore Chay Kway Tiew...

The baby is having her moods...feeling tired after a long day...


Next up, I was thinking if we can make it on time for the Symphony of the Light Show @ 8pm @ the

Symphone of the Light Show @ 8pm


Located @ the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, We quickly make our way their via the MTR, HK's Equivalent to Singapore's MRT system.

The Destination is Tsim Sha Tsui Station which is about 10mins away, it is already 7.40pm...

The Train wasn't as crowded now as most of the people have probably gone back home in the other direction....we are kinda travelling toward the City...

Photos taken @ the Subway....lol

We manage to reach Tsim Sha Tsui Station @ around 7.50pm...most likely we will miss the fireworks.....as we still need to walk about 15mins to the waterfront...

Along the way...we could feel the Christmas festive mood as hotels and shops are all dress up for the occasion....much better than those "SOP" design in Singapore....or maybe it is just that we are seeing these decorations for the first time..

Hotel ...The Peninsular.....fully dress-up

The Fountain near the hotel.....

There are quite a number of construction happen along the Nathan road Region making navigation to the site much more complicated...

We did manage to find the under-pass which lead us to the location...

Although we are slightly late....we still manage to catch a short display of it.....the performance fantastic.....I must...say.....so when is Singapore doing one of this..soon...We already have similar skyline.....

A Symphony of Lights (Traditional Chinese: 幻彩詠香江) is a synchronised building exterior decorative light and laser multimedia display, featuring 44 buildings on both sides of theVictoria Harbour of Hong Kong accompanied by music. The technology was developed by Australian firm Laservision and cost approximately 44 million HK dollars. It has attracted over 4 million visitors and locals so far.

A Tripod is definitely a must here..to grab good photos.....but this shot is done without the Tripod.....but @ high ISO though....but still pretty usable...a DSLR is a must in night photography...

The photos though could have been better if I happen to be @ a better location...as there are alot of people also watching the show....

Lights are still on after the show on most of the buildings...

The Famous HK Island Skyline from Kowloon....side...

The Crowd are starting to leave after the show @ around 8.20pm.

As sis is rather tired from all the walking.....we decided to stay around for a while to rest our legs after so much walking throughout the day.......Took some photos while resting as well.....



Photos of sis with her curious kid...

Group Shot #1 - with hubby

Group Shot #2 - with me lo..

Me, my sister and her hubby.

Me trying to get the baby to look @ the camera....it's tough .....

See what I meant.....she is still not looking...lol

Mum and Dad @ the Waterfront...

Me and Dad.....

While the folks continue to take a break from all the walking...i took opportunity to walk around the waterfront area to take more photos...

These are the decoration @ the concert hall....@ the Waterfront..Hong Kong Cultural Center, aka Singapore's Equivalent of the Explande...

The Famous Clock Tower @ Tsim Sha Tsui Near the Cultural Center..

The Rows of Restaurant in front of the bayfront...

Resting....resting.....

After resting for about 30mins....we make our way back to the subway....for our trip back to the Hotel...The baby is already feeling tired...

The Waterfront now look quieter an hour after the show...

Supper Time

As the night is still young....after putting the baby to sleep ...we decide to venture out to get some supper.....mum stay behind to look after the baby...

We Came upon this store that sell....claypot rice...with alot of people lining up for...it..however as the crowd is huge....we decided to give it a miss....and probably try it out tomorrow.

We Came upon this Steam Milk Company...near Yau Ma Tei MTR Station...

Here is where the shop is...

It a rather small shop typical of a HK Cafe, but serve very good steam egg dessert....yummy...

Cost around 20 HKD per bowl.....around S$4. It really worth coming here and it open till 12am..

This is their shop recommendation, The double layer steam egg..

Another late night ....to end off with....it already past midnight when we came back to the hotel.....Tomorrow we are off to Disneyland...having got our tickets @ the hotel Tour desk....we opted for just to tickets as we think travelling there by MTR is rather convenient.