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[ View the Fotopage entry | View the complete Fotopage ]
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[ View the Fotopage entry | View the complete Fotopage ]
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| Saturday, 3-Jun-2006 15:16 |
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Day Zero (27th May 2006):
Made the 3-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong, arriving at around 7.00PM. Our friends/relatives Uncle Zam and Cik Su were waiting at the airport for us to take us to their apartment.
A bit of backstory: Uncle Zam is a pilot for HK's Cathay Pacific airline, and bought himself an apartment in HK a few years back. We decided to borrow his apartment for the trip for the wonderful perk of getting free lodging. ^_^
That evening, we were showed around the HK city for a bit, learing how to use the MTR (HK's commuter train system) in the process. There's this wonderful credit card the HKites have called the 'Octopus Card', which functions a bit like Malaysia's Touch N' Go card. But besides paying for train tickets simply by swiping your Octopus Card over the subway turnstiles, apparently you can use it to pay for groceries and stuff at 7-Eleven and other places. Very nifty -- Malaysia ahould prolly adopt this credit system real soon. O_o
Anyway -- we were taken out for dinner at this building (forgot the name -- Something Mansions?) which was simply flooded with Middle Eastern and South Asian people. It looked like we had stepped out of Hong Kong and ended up in Dubai or something. We ate in a small, quaint restaurant with unbearably spicy food. Though it was quite an experience, I wouldn't want to eat there again anytime soon. =P
Uncle Zam also showed us to this fantastic bazaar called the Ladies Market, where they sell all sorts of lovely things at ridiculously low prices (if you knew how to bargain well =P). We were to visit it (and shop 'til we drop like the locusts we are) the next day.
Uncle Zam's apartment is on the 49th floor of a building complex, which meant we were practically towering in the air. A bit of trivia for you: due strong belief in superstition and folklore, most of HK's buildings do not have every consequtive 4th floor, because in the Mandarin dialect the number '4' is pronnounced a lot like the word for 'death'. So our apartment building did not have a 4th floor, or a 14th floor, or a 24th floor, and so on. Instead they skipped straight from 3 to 5 and 13 to 15, etc. Very fascinating. =)
Due to our towering height, we had a clear few of the South China Sea and the airport, and saw the world covered in thick mist every morning.
Day One (27th May 2006):
Morning:Uncle Zam and Cik Su left early for Malaysia, leaving us to fend for ourselves. O_o We ended up visiting what we were told was the largest shopping mall in East Asia, called Harbour City. We had a very rough time finding our way there, and had to resort to asking for directions more than once.
Needless to say, when we got there we found out that everything was ridiculously overpriced. O_o We ate at Starbucks, and though the prices there practically burned holes in our purses, we found many delicious confectionaries that can't be found in Malaysia and my Mum bought the HK Starbucks mug that she coveted (she collects them, like my Dad collects Hard Rock Cafe merch from around the world). Wanting to prove that I had indeed been there, I dragged the family to a funky clothing boutique called Madison Ink and got myself an ORIGINAL Emily Strange T-shirt (which looks absolutely goth-gorgeous, by the way), rather than those ratty pirated Emily Strange t-shirts commonly seen sold here in Malaysia ... It's pale pink with Emily splayed on the front, dressed rather aesthetically-pleasing as a witch, with the caption, 'Wicked Strange'. Cost me about HK$250, which would be about RM125. =( *le cry*
Afternoon: After much last-minute planning, we resolved to visit Madame Tussaud's Wax Musuem HK at the Peak. We had to take the Peak Tram, and finding it was quite epic and tiring. Walked across the breadth of HK city downtown.
More trivia: It was a Sunday, which would mean the maids' day off from employment. The parks and streets were flooded with Filipino maids mixing and mingling, trading gossip and clothes and wares. When I say 'flooded', I mean lining sidewalks and invading public spaces, in an amazing spectacle that is not unlike a flashmob. Twas interesting and a bit scary.
We eventually found the Peak Tram station, which took us up to a place called Victoria Peak, where the musuem was waiting for us. Truly an awesome experience, as the tram ascended at a nearly vertical angle (we were being dragged up at a 45-degree angle, I swear!), and all the buildings that were built into the mountain seemed surreally slanting.
Madame Tussaud's was fun. =P I took pictures with Naomi Campbell, Ayumi Hamasaki, Freddie Mercury, Elvis, the British Royal Family, Adolf Hitler and William Shakespeare. And there's a rather embarrassing shot of me with Marilyn Monroe (involving a blonde wig, a white dress and an air vent) that I'd rather not post up. O_o
We wandered around Victoria Peak awhile, before descending on the tram at around 5.00PM to make way to the Ladies Market.
Those who are planning on visiting Hong Kong? If you are an incurable shopaholic like I am, please do visit the Ladies Market. Get off at the Mong Kok MTR station, and take a short walk down the street.
Pirated' copy handbags of desinger brands like Louis Vuitton and Coach going for ultra-low prices, anime merchandise, and all sorts of junk I usually fangirl obsessively over are available there in such abundance. Funky retro clothes, sweet jeans, and novelty things like jewellery, watches, naughty underwear, posters, and everything flea-market worthy stretching down four blocks of alleyway. Bargain-hunters' paradise.
I bought myself not one, but two wigs for cosplay purposes, and they're my most treasured buys. =D This first night at the Ladies Market (we went twice!) I bought myself a long-haired sandy-blonde wig for my Temari cosplay. The next day, when we went again, I bought a long silver-haired wig to cosplay Sophie Hatter of Howl's Moving Castle, whom is next on my list. =)
And their prices? Would you believe I bought the long-haired silver wig for the gloat-worthy bargain price of HK$90 (RM45!!!)? And this after I bargained only half-heartedly -- think on how low a price I could have got if I bargained more relentlessly. But I was short on time. =P A long-haired wig here in Malaysia usually goes for RM100+, without bargaining merits! And my blonde wig went for no more than RM40. Yatta, success! ^_^
I bought all sorts of uberawesome stuffs. One worthy of mention is a beautifully crafted Japanese doll in an intricate gold kimono, holding a gold paper fan, which I got for about RM40-something. I've seen those dolls for sale here actually, and coveted them like mad, but they were being sold for RM100+. She's now standing on my bookcase right now, and looks absolutely beautiful. ^_^
I also brought back three lovely tote bags (I hoard bags. I'm a bag person. Some girls can't resist shoes, some girls obsess over jeans, wild horses can't drag me away from slingbags and tote bags =P). I can't stop looking at the one splayed with pop-art-style faces in green, red, yellow, blue and black, because it's so gorgeous. And I have a new Emily Strange bag that [info]alleycatz would murder me in my sleep for. =P
And there is now an uber-gorgeous, as-large-as-the-planet poster of Sasuke looking cool and intimidating with a katana hanging over my bed, being the last thing I see before I go to sleep. Heee. *fangirlish giggle* Am such a happy geek. =P
Day Two (28th May 2006):
DISNEYLAND!! ^_^
We decided to take Uncle Zam's idea of visiting Disneyland in the afternoon, because according to him, you wouldn't have to wait long for the wonderful nighttime fireworks display. Our huge mistake, however, was not taking into comsideration that he and Cik Su didn't have kids like we did, and probably didn't take as long as we did on rides and shopping and lunch.
This resulted in us not really visiting Tommorrowland as we were short on time, much to great general disappointment because my brother and I were dying to ride Space Mountain. We tried to console ourselves with the fact that we visited Disneyland California years ago, and was probably good enough for us. =P However, not wanting to ruin the trip, Mum generously took us to Disneyland the next morning (we went twice, OMG) just for Space Mountain. Worth every ounce of effort, that. O_o
Before I continue, let me just get something off my chest: I advise everyone to visit at least one Disneyland in their lifetime if you can afford it, because dude ... even if I admit it's a huge capitalist scheme to cash in on our naive love for novelty, you can't help but have fun at Disneyland. It's just different kinds of AWESOME there. O_o The fireworks, the parade, the performances, the mind-blowingly fun rides ... everything you do at Disneyland is tinged with a hint of fantasy, wonder, sheer WOAHness.
Everything was done so professionally. Everyone -- from the street cleaners to the waiters the Cast Members (they call all staff there Cast Members, like they're all constantly performing) were so mind-blowingly professional it was like watching a beautiful, well-made clock at work. Everyone who played a character was so in-character, and never once got out of character. I've made a resolution to work as a Disneyland Cast Member at some point in my life (nursing the fanciful idea of playing one of my fave characters, preferably a villain =P). Mental note: learn Japanese as soon as possible, move to Tokyo suburbs, work at Disneyland. Life's dream. =P
Anyway. Going up Main Street we took pictures with characters, Mickey and Minnie Mouse being the main ones of course. Also took pics with Tigger (O_o!!! TIGGER, PEOPLES!), and my kid sis got a photo with Daisy Duck and my parents got one with Goofy -- each of our respective faves. Couldn't find Merlin or Mulan, though (my personal faves), but that was quickly resolved the next day. 
Ate lunch (fish n' chips) at the Corner Cafe, before watching the Parade. That's 'Parade' with a capital 'P', dudes, because it was a PARADE. What amazed me about the Parade was its mechanics -- the technicalities of running it. The streets were lined with speakers playing each themed float's song as it passed, and once a float passed one area, the song playing on the speaker would change for the next float. Do you realize how mind-blowingly synchronized everything had to be? The dances, the floats' progress down the street ... everything had to be timed exactly. I was aware of this, and realized quite depressingly that Malaysia couldn't possibly handle something so monumental and phenomenal as a Disneyland. I skulk in shame.
We made our way to Adventureland first. Oh, and the weather that day was kinda cloudy and slightly drizzly, but we didn't let that hamper our day, oh no. Visited the towering Tarzan's Treehouse and rode on the Jungle Rapids, but the best part of Adventureland was definitely the Festival of the Lion King, which was a spectacular song-dance performance in an enclosed stage area. They did a musical summary of the Lion King's story with performers playing the key parts, with dazzling effects, costumes, props and makeup. Truly spectacular stuff.
Next was Fantasyland, which are mostly kiddy rides, I must admit. =P Didn't have an It's A Small World ride much to general disappointment (how can you have a Disneyland without It's A Small World? Or Pirates of the Carribbean, for that matter), but the Winne The Pooh ride was cute, and so was the Cinderalla Carousel (how often does one ride on a carousel? =P).
By that time night had settled in, and the fireworks were about to begin. We waited around 'til the show started, and had front-row seats (well, sorta) to the whole display. =D Fireworks shot through the sky, timed by music, while scenes from Disney movies were projected to the side of the Sleeping Beauty castle. Though they didn't have a Tinkerbell firework like the one in California did, they did have a Mulan firework sequence with impressive pyrotechnics, of which we could feel the heat from even though we were standing quite a distance away. Several different kinds of awesome, that. =P
However, right after the fireworks ended, they announced they were about to close the park. As I said, we hadn't visited Tommorrowland yet, which dampended the mood a bit. Plus, the night ended in tragedy: halfway through the fireworks diaplay, my unreliable fool of a little brother dropped my precious baby digital camera and permanently damaged it. It's currently dead, my poor baby. =( The pictures in the memory card could be saved, though, but I remember feeling an ugly, angry feeling towards the end of the fireworks display because of my camera. Felt a hatred for my brother that could rival Sasuke's hatred for his own brother Itachi, then. =P
But the last-minute therepeutic shopping helped, though. I got myself a few lovely, pointless memorabilia, which is the type I love best. ^_^ A Sally doll from Nightmare Before Christmas now sits on my desk, and a pair of Stitch ears hang by my bed. I remember my first purchase being a pin, bought just before the Parade. It's of Simba with 'Hong Kong Disneyland' emblazoned on it, and it's pinned to my pencilbox.
Day Three (29th May 2006):
Morning: Well. =) Like I said, Mum was pretty much aware of our disappointment at having us missed out on Space Mountain, so we prepared for a second trip to Disneyland. We were such dorks, visiting Disneyland twice two days in a row!
We made a beeline for Space Mountain first.
You have NOT truly been on a rollercoaster until you've been on Space Mountain.
A space-themed, thriller-coaster in the dark, lit only by starry lights? Can anyone say GREATEST RIDE ON THE PLANET?! It was so awesome, we applauded at the end of the ride, amongst exclaimations of, "That was freakin' wicked!!", "Ohmygodsoawesome", "I can't walk straight", and, "I cannot feel my legs." =P
I got a picture of my brother and me at the end of the ride (it was one of those where there's a camera at the end that takes humiliating pictures of you screaming like a baby at the end of the ride), but I was pleased enough with my thrilled-tinged-with-wonder expression and 'O'-shaped mouth to buy the photograph.
Tragedy #2: I lost the picture sometime later. I dunno where I lost it. =P I think it was when I was watching the Merlin show -- that magical jerk must've done something. O_o Meh, HK$90 (RM45) down the drain ... =(( Woe.
I feel I must also mention we took the Buzz Lightyear ride, where you blast evil Zerg targets with a blaster equipped in the car, and got a higher score than my little brother, who is a terrible shot. He only got until Level 3 out of 7! I'm currently a Level-5 Space Ace, woohoo! *geeks*
Afternoon: Took taxi and MTR to Ocean Park, which is an enormous theme park in HK that aims to entertain and educate about marine life. We came for the Dolphin Show. After Disneyland, Ocean Park was nothing to shout about, but it was great enough. =) Took a lovely, slightly acrophobic cable-car ride to the Highland section of the park, where the Dolphin Show was to take place. Wandered around the Shak Enclosure, where I had possibly my closest encounter with a live Great White Shark (terrifying and fascinating, though it was only in an aquaruim), and the Sea Jelly Experience (jellyfish are the cutest things in existance, EVER. I shall call them my squishies, and they shall be mine).
The Dolphin Show started at 5.00PM, preluded shortly by a live mariachi band (they were pretty good, but I was like, O_o?? Mariachi?? for most of the time). It was very impressive, with the dolphins and sea lions doing leaps and marine acrobatics, and I was quite thankful it was educational as well and not just mindless fluff. I can now tell the difference between a seal and sea lion (ear flaps, people!) and know how much an adult dolphin weighs (130 kg, which is more than twice my measly 50kg ...).
The park closes at 6.00PM, so we made the tranquil cable-car ride back to the Lowland section.
Evening: Ah, what to do in downtown Hong Kong on the last day of your vacation and spare HK$ to spare?
Shopping. Of course.
We made our second trip to the (wondrous! beauteous!) Ladies' Market for some last-minute shopping.
I have one regret, though: I saw, on the previous night, several lovely, large Naruto keychains for sale ... these were the large models of the characters that go for RM20 back in Malaysia, and the rarer characters are usually out of stock. I saw freakin' Temari and Yondaime keychains (I mean, YONDAIME. Where can you find a YONDAIME keychain here? And, *sob*, TEMARI!). I would go back to HK just for those keychains. =P
I bought my silver wig this second night, as well as that precious Emily Strange tote bag. I think that night we couldn't be bothered with bargaining anymore, and took the prices nearly as they were. =P They were already going much cheaper than we could find them in Malaysia, anyway (I didn't expect my wig to be so cheap, and was actually expecting to pay a lot more than the price offered).
That last night, we did a bit of packing and cleaning up of the apartment we trashed during our three-day stay. Set off the next morning and arrived safely home, where I now type this entry. ^_^
So yeah, all-in-all, I adored my HK trip. ^__^ I shamelessly throw myself to the floor and kick around in a temper tantrum, demanding to go back to Disneyland again.
I enforce it again: please, if you can afford it, go to at least one Disneyland. Nothing can go wrong there. Even a ruined camera and a lost RM45-photograph does nothing to avert me from the place. Everything's gorgeous there. ^__^
I love the bargain-shopping, the theme parks, the bustling swell of Hong Kong city at night. Watching Hong Kong in motion is like watching a beehive of colour and lights and people, smoke and scents and traffic flowing in gushes and torrents of a swolen river after a storm.
Hints for people travelling to HK: not many people there speak impeccable English, so it's an advantage to travel with someone who can at least speak a Chinese dialect (Mandarin being the best, of course =P). But almost everyone speaks okay-ish English, so no one has to worry too much. It's not like Japan. =P
*sighs* Longest entry so far, I think! O_o
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