HK 2010

So being out of paid work for a long time gets you down so when the opportunity to go to Hong Kong even if it was my aunt and my mum I was willing to take that chance! I wanted to refresh myself and come back feeling brand new and ready. I went for around a month.


Wed 10^th November 2010

Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

So we got off the bus a stop or two too early!! And so we had to walk with 3 fat bags of luggage plus 4 small hand luggages.. Til we found a taxi drop off point. I was STILL in my jacket and was boiling. Then we got a taxi thankfully, we all fitted in and got us to our destination! So anyways, after dropping all the luggage we went to jade palace and ate dinner. It cost $336. So tired right about now as I only had about 1hour sleep in total.

Airport

Just touched down at HK, it's 26 degrees celius and not so humid. I'm sweating and suffering in my winter jacket but there's no space in the bags so I might as well just sweat it out! I found some wifi on this shuttle bus that cost 39$ going to Kwun tong. Very excited.

Thursday 11^th November 2010

Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

5am. Didn't sleep much at all! but I did get some shut eye. Mum, auntie and I, couldn't sleep so we just stood by the window looking at old people exercising like staplers lol. I rang home for about 10minutes and then we just ate some breakfast. Nuttella! YUM! I was craving for some chocolate. So we just had our first burst of laughter. There was a bin and mum and auntie thought it was a rubbish bin. Little did they know it wasn't for rubbish!! So auntie took out the bin and sorted it all out. Haha!

Its like 8:13am and we are at jade palace for some dim sum breakfast! But before we tuck in, we are waiting for my grans friend. Today seems a bit breezy maybe a little in appropriate for my 3/4 lengths but it should warn up later! Despite my earlier 6am semi breakfast, I'm ready to eat! Yeeha!

Due to the time difference I'm feeling to sleep! But it's only 6pm and we just finish eating. We had crab today, some special crabs which I don't know the name of but it has some fur near its claws. Wasnt as tasty as I expected but whatever. We are probably going to some museum tomorrow.

St Teresa Hospital Mong Kok

So off we decided to go to Mong Kok to check out the prices of body check at a private hospital. As it's like 20 something degrees with blazing sunshine we decided to wear slippers. Auntie decided to dig out some old ones that she wore from years ago. After a little hunt, she found them. Off we went, we decided to get a taxi instead of public transport. As we arrived not long after, aunties slippers fell apart! It was the most harlirious thing ever!! Omg. She was dragging her foot with the broken slipper. Oh boy. I'm creasing still. Dang.

12^th November 2010

HK Coastal Defence Museum

Kwun Tong, HK

Hong kong so far.. Has been great. I've already had my laughing fit, bought a few goodies and ate so really nice foods. I haven't done any tourist attractions yet but will be later on today. I went to bed last night at 6pm and just woke up about 4am. The gran, aunt and mum is awake and talking. The weather has been perfect so far, sunny spells at 26 ish degrees with warm weather. It doesn't feel like christmas over here but maybe it's still a little early or maybe because I haven't been to the shopping malls yet. I love the everyday sights, behind every tall building there's like a puff if cloud yet it isn't a cloud it's a mountain or a hill. It's such a beautiful city. If there was a little less pollution the views would be even more amazing.

Shau Kei Wan

Today I saw some breath taking views. It was amazing. The sky was blue as was the sea. It was really nice! We went to the hong kong Coastal defence and it was pretty insightful. I'm too tired today.. Right so after Coastal defence museum, we jumped on a random bus and got off at a random stop. That random stop was causeway bay. We sat at ate at them in them small food stalls. It was an experience. Very cramped area but very cheap food. I Ate two plates of churn fun. Yummy. Afterwards, we got on the MTR and got back to Kwung Tong to check out the tourists offices for one day travel in HK. But no luck. So we ended up in APM shopping centre and did a spot of shopping. It was good but my feet were killing!

13^th November 2010
Art Museum & Avenue of stars night & Symphony of Lights

Tsim Sha Tsui, HK

Just had dinner and off we go to check out avenue of stars and the symphony of lights. I wasn't actually hungry but I ate as much as I could. Wasn't the best meal but I had such a lovely steak at lunch. I hope it wasn't too raw coz I'm not feeling hungry! But Japanese beef steak is sick. Off we go!

Tsim Sha Tsui, HK

Wow. This has to be one of the best views ever! The lights came on and the view was breath taking. Perhaps it would have been better had we not chose to go on a Saturday. It was a really amazing view and relaxed atmosphere. A tad crowded. Off we carried on to see the film star plaques and the followed the path along the sea Pretty awesome. We then stumbled across the clock tower at 9pm and saw some people dancing. We couldn't help but laugh out loud! We then found harbour view centre, it was filled with Xmas lights and decoration. It was a werid feeling as I usually relate Christmas to cold freezing weather. Nevertheless it was nice to see Christmas decorations without covered in thick clothing. We then found our bus that took us home. After a good stroll and laugh we arrived home. Zzz

Kwun Tong

Here we are again at jade palace restaurant. This morning was much breezier (if that even makes sense), I'm feeling a little tired out. My foot is a little bruised from walking in my new Birkenstocks so that's why I'm back in trainers. So much more comfortable! Today's plan is to go to the market. Then to get back and eat some Japanese beef steak! Then off to tsim sha Shui to check out the space museum and perhaps then check out avenue of stars at night.

Prince Edward MTR

Currently on my way to the HK space museum at Tsim Sha Tsui. As it is a Saturday the trains are particularly packed! What's amazing is the good amount of space and the fact that you can use your phone underground! The TFL really need to get some tips! Time to get off!

14^th November 2010

Kwun Tong

Good morning! So it's Sunday today and we've decided to take a rest day! We headed up to the market this morning and it's quite bazaar how there's so many fish market and greens around. What's sad is seeing the fish gasping for air and just cruel the way it's handled. Moreover, the market place isn't great place, by that I mean a clean one. The Market man just blew out his dirty snot on the floor. It was revolting. I could have thrown up there and then! Disgusting. This is just horrible. We are back at the yards now, I need to wash my hair and eat lunch soon. Chillaxing Sunday let's roll! Another thing with the Market place and hong kong in general is the very high class conning-ness. There's so many fakes and so many people are easily conned. They hire people to stand by there stalls and tell you what's good acting like a good citizen but really beware and be warned. So many of these fakes and are just after your money! Also, don't trust what ANYONE says, if you like it and the price then buy it, always ask for a bargain at markets, if they ain't budging try just to walk away even if you desperately want it. Usually, they call you back if to walk away and deal with your bargained price!! Really, make sure you shop around! Don't rush! If they rush you, it probably means they want to con you quick time!

Mong Kok

So we ended up going shopping at Mong Kok, well just me and my mummy. We had a good time in our own ad bought a handful of things. We didn't get on the MTR as we wanted to explore so we jumped on the 1A bus to Tsim Sha Tsui via Mong Kok. After shopping we wanted to see if we could find a bus back to the house. After a round of looking we saw an A1 bus. However, we didn't know where the bus stop for it was so we had to run after the bus. It was very funny. After chasing the bus and taking a massive detour we found the bus stop. So we jumped on the bus! When we got home dinner wasn't too long of a wait. We had dinner which was noddles today. After dinner uncle, auntie and I went for a stroll at the supermarket 'wellcome' it was so relaxing. This is what I love about being in Hk you can stroll in your PJs and slippers at night and no one would look at you strange! We bought haggen daiz, popcorn and even stopped at maximes for some cake. The stroll was so enjoyable. Love the calmness and peacefulness of this country. I'll need my sleep tonight as we will be heading early to the big Buddha tomorrow! Goodnight!

15th November 2010
Big Buddha

Sunny Bay MTR

Here we are on the MTR at Sunny Bay station! It's So early I'm actually not quite used to it even though I did sleep at like 8pm. Perhaps I've had too much sleep! I'm not feeling 100% good. There's some amazing views wow! Awesome blueness.

Tung Chung

Maccy D's breakie! Yummy. I had a sausage McMuffin and it was scrumptious! Just what I needed! Today I'm not feeling as great as I did. I've got a slight headache.

Po Lin Monastry

We reached the Po Lin monastery and the big buddha at about 10.30 ish. By bus, the bus took about 35 min and there was some amazing sights. There wasn't much people and the weather was fine. I still had a headache but it hasn't been that bad. It was a really nice surrounding lots of fresh clean air. The rents didn't want to trek up the stairs to the big Buddha but I wanted to. So I suggested I would go on my own. There was too much bickering amongst the adults. But eventually they decided that they wanted to go to. So we all trekked up the stairs. The view from above was astonishing, had I felt a bit better and had some company I would have definitely enjoyed it more. Nevertheless it was still good. Another frustrating thing is the adults don't know how to use a camera and they don't know how to take a good pic. Anyways we had some vegetarian lunch. Again not my favourite in fact I don't do Chinese vegetarian. I ate as much as I could, I couldn't take the headache so I took some neurofen.

Cable Cars

Wr decided to get the cable car down instead of the bus. We
Paid $45 dollars per person more for the crystal cabin. To be honest there wasn't much point of the crystal cabin view wise but the queue for it was much shorter. We got in and off we went. It was brilliant flying over the sea and seeing the views from above. Truly a wow experience. It was great. I must have taken over 300 pictures! Mum and auntie was frightened for their lives. They was so scared they didn't want to move! Well too scared to move. When we arrived it was the end. I wasn't tired at all and we could have gone to Tai O with our bus tickets but again they were too tired so they decided to go. We was going to go shopping at the cityoutlet shops but they had no money. With this kind of attitude, I didn't want to go. But I still managed to get a sick adidas hoody for $250! result! We got back and stopped at saint honours bakery! It was so delicious!!! I love these cakes, too nice!

16th November 2010
Repulse Bay

Mong Kok

Wowee. So we was looking for the Modern Toilet restaurant at Mong Kok but it's gone! So we had to go for an alternative. We looked for a while and found a Korean BBQ buffet! It was delicious and was $224 for 3 of us. There was all sorts of meat and fish, veg, sushi and even desserts. It was sick. A buffet as well! After lunch we headed across the road to the shopping centre. There wasn't much in there so we decided to go to the ladies Market. Great stuff. We managed to grab a few bargains here and there! Nice shopping day ended with a minibus aka van ride home. They sped across the towns and we reached home in quick time! I had such a lovely day.

Causeway Bay MTR

This morning again we went to have breakie at jade palace restaurant. It was nice biting wasn't that hungry as I ate some bread from last nights shopping trip. I ate my cocktail bun I think its called. It was so delicious especially when it was warm and straight out of the oven. So todays plan is to go to Repulse Bay. The weather today is much cooler and theres not as much sun today but weather is still fine. I'm actually quite excited to see thrusts going on at repulse bay as the sights are suPPOsed to be quite nice! Here we go.

Repulse Bay

We only decided to go to repulse bay this morning. The weather said it would be breezy but after our morning tea we headed out. We travelled to central MTR and then took a 6x bus to repulse bay. The bus ride was exciting, it past mountains, curving up and the sights were amazing. What a beautiful city. We then got off at Repluse bay beach. The most incredible view. Sea sand and sun. Walking closer to the sea was breath taking, as you walked closer the sea got bluer. We took off our shoes and slashed around for a while. Greatest feeling - looking beyond the sea and seeing the sky and sea as one. After a few picture taking moments we walked towards the statues. We took many photos. As we got there relatively early there wasn't crowds. No fighting for a picture or pushing and shoving. Loved it. Next time I'm going to go for a swim! If I ever decide that hk is the place to live I'm coming to repluse bay or Stanley. Both have the most spectacular sea views.

17th November 2010
Lamma Island

Kwun Tong

Today we had breakfast at home. We had porridge and 'yow cha gway'. It was good stuff even though I wasn't hungry from yesterdays buffet lunch! Anyways, there's no real plans at the moment for today.

Lamma Island

Last minute decision to go to Lamma Island. I didn't mind where we was going to be honest as the main attractions that I wanted to go to, we'd covered. It was later than usual as we didn't have any major plans. So at about 10ish we headed out. Aunties feet were sore and she insisted she wanted to stay at home and rest. So we went. We got on the MTR and headed to central MTR and from there we found pier 4. This headed to Lamma island. It was one of the most beautiful islands ever. Ive never been on an island so when I was by the seaside, it was like being on shipwrecked. The place was amazing. I absolutely loved that island. Surprisingly, there was a lot of dogs, people had bought along there dogs. I saw two cats too, they reminded me of beansy. Anyway, I saw so many funky trees and flowers. For the first time I saw a banana tree! I never knew how they was grown, now I know!! I love the whole nature exploring trekking. After about 2 hours of walking we sat down to eat. We didn't eat much but had a little something. The blue seas, clear skies and eagles flying above were picturesque. What an amazing island. It costs us $14.50 via boat. We had to run for the boat as it was about to leave. It was very funny. On the way back, I sat outside and managed to take some serious nice pictures. The sight from outside was so good!! When we arrived at Central Pier we walked towards Wing On department store. Wow. The prices were sky high with some items reaching $2000 which is about £200!! I couldn't believe it! Furthermore, it didn't even seem like that great! So we got back on the train to come home. We finally got home about 6pm! >.

18th November 2010
Golden Bauhinia

Right, now. It's 3:33am and I'm wide awake in bed. It's too hot here and not much wind coming through the window. Moreover, everyone snoring is not helping. It's like trying to sleep in a storm!! I tried playing the iPod to drain out the sound but no help. I'm squished against the wall so I can't really move, which is annoying! Oh dear more snoring =.= yesterday I got bitten for the first time I've been here. And I just found another bite! And it's turned into snoring warzone here. This must be the first night I've woken up at 3am since the first couple of days! Oh no... I'm not even tired no more! Luckily, there's no need for me to wake up early, the oldies are going for a body check up at 10:30am so I can sleep in and eat saint honours cakes, have Nuttella sandwiches and drink yalkult. Result! I finished a tub of Oreo cookies haagen dazs last night. It was delicious.
What else.. Hm, oh kay so now there's an arm prodding through my back. Gheez. I'm so uncomfortable right about now!! Anyways, the trip so far has been good, I've loved the sightseeing and exploring. The views you get from here are just completely different from anywhere else. It is stunning. The night strolls are the best, just being carefree roaming the streets in the cool breeze so relaxing. ...I'm starting to get hungry lol giddy gosh. There's more of a breeze at the moment but the snoring is still present and I can almost make out Eastenders theme tune with all the sound?! Weirdly, I'm not missing TV and not missing English food. I usually crave for something or another. There's still an arm in my back, still in snoring warzone and stuck against the wall but it's goodnight from me! Til tomorrow folks!

Tsim Sha Tsui, HK

We decided to take the star ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui from wan chai. It was a quick ride and only cost us about $2.5. After the ferry ride, we walked around avenue of stars again. This time hunting for a hotel with a good buffet. We found one hotel and trekked up there. There was two sick Ferraris parked outside, you could tell it was expensive. We walked in and asked whether there was space. It was about $500 per person. Wow. A little too expensive. So we took their card. We then decided to walk over to harbour city in search of a restaurant. After a good run around we found a restaurant! Finally. We are currently eating! And I am full dot com!

Kwun Tong

Blogging from the loo! Lol. So everyones gone out to do their body check so I'm at home munching on brunch! I'm drinking a double mocha and having them cakes from saint honours. I should be bored but I'm actually loving this on ya own time. It gives me time to do what I want which is good. So I might sort out my things on the laptop. It definitely sucks that there is no wifi here otherwise it would be great!! So anyways, the plan after is probably to go to somewhere close by as it would be quite late when they are done..

Golden Bauhinia Square, HK

After their body checks, it was about 2pm. We headed out to the golden Bauhinia square only to find that it was under construction so we just looked around. The view again was amazing. We then took a few snaps here and there, exploring the area.

Wan Chai, HK

After exploring, we stumbled across a cafe, harbour road cafe. I had a cappuccino and there was wifi!! I love the free wifi and the iPhone is a lifesaver. So I was surfing the net for a good while.. The net wasn't great but it was good enough! After our cafe, off we went with no plans..

19th November 2010 

Kwun Tong

So at about 11pm at night we headed out to eat late night dinner. Auntie was scared she would get hungry at night and couldn't sleep as we only had snacks for dinner. So we headed out in the middle of the night in search for a little restaurant to eat congee, an noodles. I had already stuffed myself with cakes, popcorn and yalkult! So I really wasn't hungry but for the experience I decided to go! Walking in our PJs we found a place! Yummy yummy. I managed to eat a plate of noodles. I was bloated by the end of the night! When we got home I K.O'd on the bed!

Cheung Chau Island

We have arrived at Cheung Chau island. My first thoughts were quite packed. I much prefer Lamma islands' peacefulness and village type scenery. Here there were many boats, probably for the locals fishing. As soon as we arrived we walked over to the seafood stalls. The rents started to look at things and buy stuff. I was bored. Seafood shopping doesn't interest me one bit. So I just looked out to sea. It was lovely just watching the world from an island I'd never heard of til recently. Afterwards, we continued to walk, following no real path or direction. There were a couple of beaches but the rents weren't too keen. I wanted to have a look. Anyways, as we kept walking we stumbled across the beach. I managed to take a few snaps here and there and the view was stunning once again. Not long after, the rents said go. I didn't like the rushing. What's the rush?! So we carried on our journey and decided to eat. We stopped by at a little restaurant by the sea. We had some really delicious seafood! It really was quite a meal!

After our seafood galore, we headed off and did some exploring around town. However, after about 20 minutes my mum and auntie got tired. Hmph. Come on! So uncle and I decided that we should just finish exploring and go ride bikes. Riding side by side by the sea is one of the most amazing experiences ever! I loved it. But I had to be cautious as there were many other riders and other car type things. It was so fun. I loved it. We rode around the island and just enjoyed it. It was only $10 to rent the bike for an hour or $25 til 7o'clock! We stopped by attractions and took pictures before headed back on the bike for more riding. We left the island about sunset and seeing the sun setting by the sea was amazing.

20^th November 2010

Sheung Wan, HK

Today we are doing some adult seafood shopping at shueng wan area at wing lok street. The shop we are in is aunties friends. She has 3 dogs and 2 cats so I was playing with them. So fluffy. Adorable dogs and cats.

21^st November 2010

Kwun Tong

Sunday, the day of rest. We decided not to go anywhere today, attraction wise as it's a weekend and therefore it means packed! So it's visiting family day today. We just came back from walking out in the Market. Nothing much to buy to be honest but it was good to get out of the house. Later on we will be heading to Yau Tong to visit some relatives. I'm feeling pretty tired today probably because of increased amount of sugar in take over these past couple of days!! I've had loads of cakes, popcorn etc. Loads.. Yawn...

Yau Tong

So we arrived at my relatives house About half past one. We sat and talked, it was nice and she really made me feel like taking up a sport as she took up swimming and running. It made me really think about the greatest of London and the fact I've never Used it's facilities like I should. So I've decided to make use of London's facilities and opportunities. Mums not feeling to well so we are back at the yards. She's off to the doctors just to be safe especially because we are heading to Guangzhou tomorrow.

22^nd November 2010

Hung Hom, HK

At the train station ready to depart to guangzhou. I keep hearing how dodgy the area is and how desperate people are so I have to be extra cautious. At the moment Im on the fast train and just left hong kong, passing through china. As soon as you look out of the window you can tell it's China. The scenery is just completely different. The tall building still exist but arent as close together as HK. The pollution is also worse here i think, all the lakes are pure green. It's not nice. Also, another indication we've left HK is that you would hardly see English words. It's all on Chinese!? I dont know how people who chose here as a holiday destination navigate! Even me with a Chinese background I would struggle big time!

24th November 2010

China TV Tower

27th November 2010
Guangzhou

28^th November 2010

Hung Hom

So after a few days in Guangzhou we decided it was time to head back to hk.

29th November 2010
Avenue of Stars

I'm not feeling 100% refreshed mainly because I didn't have the greatest sleep last night despite a bed on my own. The bed wasn't very bouncy more like rock hard so I wasn't comfortable and kept waking up. This morning nothing was planned.