Sunday, November 30, 2008

Hong Kong Day 1

Yeah! The long-awaited break of the year. My annual overseas trip with Blamer. Due to the soaring oil prices and inflation, we only managed to save enough for our maiden trip to Hong Kong!

Checking in our bags!

Our usual "chui" look at the airport.

Here we are, practicing our 自拍 which will come in handy in the days to come. The only shortcoming when we go on a holiday with just the two of us.

Can you spot our flight? The sixth row.

Since we are on a budget liner, need to fill up our stomachs first b4 the 4 hours plus flight. A hearty breakfast at Burger King.

And Blamer with her sandwich.

With our stomachs filled up, it's bon voyage time!

Last call for boarding at gate C20. Ding Dong!

On the plane and Blamer is still snapping herself away.

Up in the air, nothing much to see, just lots and lots of clouds.

Finally, land, we have reached!

The Hong Kong Airport. Shucks, looks quite remarkably different from our own... ...

Oh, see the vehicle on the left? The lorry with the stairs? We actually got off the plane using that. After which, the flat long buses on the right were our transportation to the main terminal. Remembered the last time I experienced this kind of reception was when I visited China. According to Blamer, Dubai airport adopts the same system.

Lotsa of people at the airport, no wonder they say Hong Kong has one of the highest population density in the world.

Our very first food in Hong Kong. Not siew mai, char siew bao or yun yang but Krispy Kreme...

Should have just gotten two but we went for the promo instead, kniack kniack... ...

Quite a selection to choose from.

First blood drawn in Hong Kong dollars. Ker-Ching!

Second blood drawn was for our bus ticket to the guesthouse. Ker-Ching! Ker-Ching! Both of us figured it would be more economical to take the bus and not their express train as the bus goes directly to our guesthouse.

But of cos, me ended up being the one to carry all the luggage.

Yes, that is the pitiful back view of me pushing all the luggage.

Our bus tickets by the way...

Finally the arrival of our ride. Looks very much like our SBS double-deckered bus.

Now that we were safe and sound on our way to the guesthouse, it's time to enjoy our doughnuts!

On our way, I can't help but noticed their toll system that is really similar to the ones they have in Malaysia. At least they do not have large signs that screams ERP in bold and caps.

Home sweet home! Well as least for the next couple of days, this is where me and Blamer will call home.

Our cosy and most importantly, clean bed.

The extremely small but well-kept toilet and shower.

YES! Need to rest a while while before we start our fantastic Hong Kong trip!

First stop, we need to grab some lunch first. Quite like their metal grill gate. It is those types that only opens if u use the key. No handles whatsoever. No wonder in those Hong Kong dramas, there were always scenes where the actor/actresses keep getting locked out of their houses.

And I am the keeper of the key.

Just to let u have a glimspe how tightly packed Hong Kong buildings are. Look at how narrow the common corridor is. A potential fire hazard if u ask me.

Blamer wanted me to take a pic of her showing off her dress, which proved to be a mistake later on at our visit to the Peak.

First we need to get our long awaited lunch at some world renowned restaurant researched by Blamer. Head out to Central, this stop is something equivalent to our Raffles Place or Cityhall station, the interchange to the rest of the transit system.

Ta Da, destination reached. Remembered we missed out on a few stations when we were in Taiwan, but this time, we managed to capture each and every station that we alighted on.

Acting like a true tourist, Blamer forced me to take a pic of this statue and fountain outside Exchange Square. This place is something like our CBD equivalent which houses many international banking and law firms including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisses, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allens Arthur Robinson. The building has 3 blocks, namely One Exchange Square, Two Exchange Square and Three Exchange Square and a shopping block, the Forum. (info courtesy of Wikipedia)

So here we are, approaching the IFC mall for the world renowned restaurant.

Trying hard to locate the restaurant, seems like the labels on the elevator buttons weren't much help... ...

After much skirmishing around, we found it! Wow, quite posh looking.

Equally posh-looking table setting.

Some more elaborated furnishings.

Notice that in the previous few cam-whore photos, I'm busy on the phone. While Blamer is happily snapping pictures, I'm trying to get my ATM card linked to my Hong Kong dollars account, if not we would have to survive with just HKD3,900 in our pockets right now. Wondered whether we will end up having to wash dishes at the restaurant.

However, a glance at the menu tells me that the pricing is very much like our Crystal Jade. Hence, still affordable. We order their award winning Wanton Noodles soup. Initially, Blamer said never mind just order one bowl will do since she wasn't feeling very hungry. But guess wat, when the noodles arrived, she happily apportioned a small bowl for me and hungrily gobbled up the rest! Talk about 有福同享... ...

Next we ordered the salty egg yolk custard buns, which Blamer said according to Qian, is a must try too.

First bite. Blamer told me to be careful of the hot fillings that might ooze out of the bun.

But I was disappointed as the bun looks pretty dry from here. I gave it a little squeeze but no custard came oozing out... ...

Second bite. OUCH!!! Pain written all over my face as the hot, and I say REALLY HOT fillings came squirting out! Scalded tongue instantly.

This makes the last dish, the Honey BBQ pork quite tasteless actually. But the extreme saltiness of this dish managed to tingle my now temporary defunct taste buds a bit. Too salty in my opinion, but if taken with a bowl of rice, it would have been heavenly.

Next stop, the Peak. Had to navigate ourselves via the map and road signs on the way, since neither Blamer nor I can speak Cantonese. Wished FMQ was here to act as our translator hee hee.

But 黄天不负有心人. We manage to locate the Peak Tram station. As the good saying goes, "Always follow the crowd"

Just look at the crowd.

However, thanks to Blamer who researched intensively before our trip, in order to cut the queue to the peak tram, just purchase a combo ticket which includes a visit to Madame Tussauds.

Ta Da, our peak tram tickets.

And our Madame Tussauds tickets.

Not much of a queue cutting, I realised we were still very far behind in the queue to board the tram. The only queue that we cut was the queue to purchase the tram tickets : (

Oh here comes the tram... ...


Pretty well-maintained for a tram that first began public service in 1888.

A quick pic before we embarked on our maiden tram ride.

Our routine cam-whore on board the tram

It was really a fun ride, look at how steep and fast the tram was traveling uphill. These pics were taken with "Dent Dent" held horizontally.

Some nice views on top of the Peak, and a fellow tourist was kind enuf to take a pic of Blamer and me : ) Notice the haze in the background. Air pollution in Hong Kong is really quite bad.

Notice Blamer don't look very comfortable taking the pics above. That's b'cos the wind was too big and her dress kept being blown up like Ma Li lian meng lu. However, clever me in a stroke of genius thought of an excellent idea.

Ha ha, the so-called "useless" clips which Blamer says of no use on my jeans actually came in handy this time.

Still a little apprehensive of her dress after my improvised "alteration".

All natural now, can even manage a smile leh... ... Hiack hiack!

Dinner at Bubba Gump. A restaurant that portrays the Forest Gump Theme.

Notice the Halloween decor at the back? (the cobwebs and stuff) It seems like Halloween is a big thing in Hong Kong, widely celebrated not like here in Singapore.

And they have these interesting signs that when u flip it to stop forrest stop, the waiters will stop to serve you. If not they will just carry on with their stuff.

I ordered their special Halloween drink which cost a whopping HKD48. But in return, I get to keep the glass. : )

Their Caesar salad. Cos Blamer din want to order a main course each, hence I ordered two starters and a main.

This is one of their chef's recommendation starters - Cajun Shrimp.

Very tasty, succulent, well-marinated shrimps. Two thumbs up for me, but Blamer felt it's too salty.

This is our main dish. Deep fried shrimps coated with coconut. It is listed as one of the chef's recommendations as well, but I was definitely not impressed by this dish. The shrimps were tasteless, the coconut coating added a tinge of sweetness to the dish which is definitely not my cup of tea after I have tasted the fabulous cajun shrimps. I prefer my shrimps to be on the savoury rather than sweet side.

Pic of us outside the shop. Notice the box of chocolates on my right. "Life is like a box of chocolate... ..." Ha ha lame I know Free Smiley Face Courtesy of www.FreeSmileys.org

On our way to Madame Tussauds, can't help but notice the long queue forming for the peak tram ride down. This is from the door...

The middle of the queue... ...

Till God knows where... ...?

Heck! Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, here we come!

First stop their Glamour section.

Eh thought Jay Chou is based in Taiwan?

Now this is a Hong Kong icon. The degree of resemblance is uncannily striking dun cha think? In my opinion, the best made figurine of the lot.

Yeah pic with a 美女 yum yum.

Another Hong Kong entertainment icon. Blamer was surprised at the actual height of this hottie.

Happens that we share almost the same height. (hint hint)

Blamer trying to snuggle up to Brangelina. Come on, people already attached, with kids some more... ...

At least should pick this one who still claims to be single.

Next stop, historial and national heroes... ...

Our immediate target was to zoom this to our very own hero... ...

Hee hee no offence but he does have a very smooth chin. smileys Central

Hong Kong's richest man Lee Ka-shing. Erm erm, let me straighten your tie for u yeah? (any hot stock market tips in return?)

Same charming smile, same charismatic hand-gesture, but hopefully not the same hairline though... ...

The narcist Blamer

We lost track of the catergories but happened to spot the 甜蜜蜜 here. Blamer can't help but hitch a ride.

The sports catergory I think. Blamer can't seems to "measure up", there's not enuf space for me to capture the ball.

Eh, dun you find the unfinished head a tad creepy?

Alas, after the wax museum, we decided to take the bus downhill, much less crowded, no?

A must visit for anyone who wants to experience the night life of Hong Kong yeah?

Decided to take a pic under the 1997 neon sign. Wonder whether this has anything to do with the hand over to China? This marks the end of our first day in Hong Kong. Stay tune for Blamer's post on the second day! (hee hee kena arrowed liao)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Recession

Received this email from Fionn when recession starts to set in .....

Your Boss's Reaction during a Recession

剛開始 begining.....老闆 Boss: Be good, you will be fine.

過了一週After a week...
要加油ㄛ!!....
Must Work Hard man

過了一月After a month...
要給 林北 加油喔.....
Must Work Hard for Lim Peh u know!

過了一季 After a Quarter....
叫你要 加油啦..... 聽到沒 ??
Can you hear me, you must work hard!!!


As I was feeling quite creative on a particular day .... I decided to come up with my own version
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
剛開始 begining....Keith says: Be good, I will love you and treat you like a Princess

After a month ....
I will continue to dote on you

After a year ....
Treat you like a Princess? Dream On!

After 3 years ...

BUY ME MY CAR!!!

Now you all know what kind of life I have been going through for the past 3 years :P

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Crab Feast

Been on a crab feast recently (opps, think the pics are dated around 3-4 months back ;p) with Leecher & his family. We went to 2 different places for dinner and the highlight - CRAB (Leecher's fave dish cuz he is forever full of CRAP)

1st stop: Coffee shop near Leecher's place

Apparently, the coffee shop has a new boss/chef so we decided to come and try out the dishes.

The seafood claypot dish, which apparently is their signature. So-so only leh.

Sambal kangkong, spicy yet not spicy enough to give you the punch.

Cereal prawns! My fave, I can just take the cereal and mix it with rice and eat. Oh, be careful when eating this dish for there were small chilli padi hidden inside the cereals. I took a spoonful and fed Leecher and before I could blink my eyes, he kena a "swollen" tongue. Opps, sorry (I didn't mean it, wa ha ha)

Next, the highlight of the day .... *clap clap in the background*

Think this is the butter crab. The gravy is alright, just that the smell of the milk is kinda strong (which kinda reminds me of baby's burp)

Chilli crab! Yeah, you can never go wrong with chilli crab :) Oh, we also ordered the fried bun and they were very disappointing. The fried bun is supposed to be a WHOLE bun, yet, we got slices of fried bun that is over-fried and hard, yucks. Spoil appetite :(

2nd stop: House of Seafood @ 180

Headed to this restaurant @ Serangoon Gardens. Quite difficult to find parking. We had to park like 4 streets down and walked up to the restaurant. Damn tired.

This is one of their signature dish - Champagne Pork Ribs (if I still rem the name correctly). I polished off my portion: either its delicious or I am just too hungry after all the waiting.

Stir-fried long beans with prawns which I think Xiufeng quite like this dish :)

No cereal prawns :( make do with this egg omelette with prawns lo ...

Lastly, crabs! We ordered 2 types for the 7 of us to share.

Butter crab: looks different from the butter crabs that we had earlier. This version is much tastier and you can really taste the melted butter on the crabs.

The staple of all crab dish: chilli crabs. The gravy is slightly spicy, yet to coin from Roger, it lacks the punch. However, at least we get decent-looking fried buns this time round :)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Happy Birthday!

Happy 1st Bdae to footprintsallover!

Blamer is born in the year of the Rat, hence the pic. Hee Hee Hee. I very thoughtful hor... ...

Friday, November 7, 2008

Aussie visitors in SG

We have Jamie & Zili (both from Aussie) who dropped by on different occassions, yet coincidentally, the team brought them to ....

Claypot laksa for lunch :)

I brought Zili there and he ordered the normal chicken laksa

Apparently, he loves the laksa very much that he polished off everything from his bowl. The aftermath: he finished one packet of tissue for he was sweating like hell, from the heat outside and inside :)

I ordered the seafood combo this time round, comes with scallops & abalone.

I had to eat my laksa with lots of caution, if I don't want my white blouse to be stained with the curry gravy.

Jamie came to visit us when she was back to SG for her vacation

I tompang her to get me the HAIGH's choclates, which she recommended the last time I was in SYDNEY. Now, my mum only like this chocolates and Leecher's mum likes this as well :) She also bought us violet crumbles, which has been a staple snack in the office for 3 months, with Elliott replenishing it when he went over to Aussie.

Took Jamie out to lunch and all of us ordered the chicken wing laksa while Elliott opted for the chicken wing claypot rice.

Once again, I am in white :( Why they like to eat laksa when I am dressed in white? >_<

** Note: The depot road laksa has closed down :( anyone have ideas where it relocate to?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

爱心餐

Chef Leecher cooked another 爱心餐 for me *hugs*

1st: prepare the ingredients. Auntie helped him with it one lo, haha.

2nd step: cook the spaghetti in boiling hot water. I got help to stir it :)

A picture of Chef Leecher in his most "cui" form, hahaa

Blamer & Leecher in the kitchen :)

3rd step: once the spaghetti is cooked, we need to drain off the water. Auntie helped us with this, cuz she more expert in this area. Thank you, Auntie!

4th step: stir fried the ingredients. Oh, that is Auntie's cooking it by the way. Thought its supposed to be Leecher cooking?

5th step: pour in the tomato sauce (can be bought off the shelf from Fairprice). Still Auntie cooking.

6th step: pour in the spaghetti and cook together! That is still Auntie cooking lo; where the hell is Leecher?

Tadah! The finished product; yummy!

Meanwhile, we were both squeezing orange juice for Auntie to drink :P

Finally, Leecher reappeared again, posing with an orange this time. Kaoz, looks gayish rite? wa ha ha!

Me also got help out, yeah! *hungry already, time to eat!*
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