Hong Kong Travel: Day 3 Morning - Dim Sum at Cheers Restaurant

Frankly, I love Dim Sum. As recommended in my guide book, it’s a must to try in Hong Kong. That was why i made it a trip to try it in Hong Kong before boarding the ferry to Macau.

I found a restaurant called Cheers restaurant (欢喜大酒楼) nearby my hotel that served dim sum at around 11am. Hopefully the name meant that they want the customer happy with the food and not them happy with the billing part.

One of the thing in Hong Kong restaurant is that if you don’t come in group, you will usually be forced to share a table with other people. For me, I shared with 3 old-aged aunties that kept talking about their grandchildren, maid, the in laws, their neighbors, the property, the government, the….. Yeah, they kept refilling the tea and kept talking. I guess maybe when I got old I shall do the same thing too, talking about stuffs and forgot about it the next day and repeat the same topic everyday. Hmm…

Anyway, to order, all I need to do was tick the menu, pass it to the waitress and then wait for the food.

Not to make myself looking awkward while waiting, I pretended to read the Chinese newspaper even though I was not good in Chinese words… nice pictures…

So what I had?

Okay, I didn’t know if the waitress had made a mistake or my Chinese words understanding had reached a sucky level, but I could swear that the upper right corner dish were beef meatballs. Maybe the name of the dish was too fancy that it misled me. Because of my respect for my grandma, I was not supposed to take beef. Well, since I accidentally took it, hope it was a real meatball and not part of the bull’s genitals.

Well, the dim sum was okay, still love the one in Malaysia though. Maybe the one here were customized to local taste. How much did it cost me? HKD155 and they said that dim sum was the cheapest meal of the day! Ouch, my wallet hurted!

Hong Kong Travel: Day 2 - Budget Traveling, Victoria Peak & Lan Kwai Fong

The second day was the time I visited the more luxurious site of Hong Kong. Similar to the different of Penang island and mainland, Hong Kong island was where most upper class citizen stayed. I was quite impressed on how the transit track could be built under the sea, linking mainland and the Hong Kong island.

Budget travelling is when you try to minimize luxury transportation such as Taxi and utilize public bus or tram. I walked a lot everyday, never once in my life I put my legs to so much stress test. Well, it was also time to put my map reading skill to test and honestly I got lost a few time!

For example, I took this public tram till end of the line until chased out by the bus cleaner! L I was looking for Kennedy Road to get to Victoria Peak but ended up at Kennedy Town! By the way, it was a must try for the tram, except when Hong Kong was on heat wave because there was no air conditioner inside the tram!

Anyway, I finally got my way to Victoria Peak and there was nothing much to see but cloudy Hong Kong, blaming the heat wave again!

I bet it would be nicer on other days! By the way, everything is money, from the inclining tram to the peak to the panoramic viewing area of the peak.

Single journey: HKD22
Return journey: HKD44
Sky Tower entrance to see paranomic view: HKD15

During night time, the best place to be was the clubbing area. The famous area on Hong Kong island was Lan Kwai Fong. It was an upper class area with luxury cars and branded stores. Trust me, I lost count on the number of Porches, Lamborghinis or Ferraris.

By the way, guess what shop was this?

Anyway, this place was so famous that even the road sign was a popular spot.

Being ‘kiasu’, this idiot also ended up taking a photo there.

Did I mention this place was suitable for people from all walks of life and any religious background? I’m wrong? Why was a monk doing there?

Trying to enjoy the atmosphere, I ordered a glass of Hoegaarden even the price was HKD55. I guess a small glass would not intoxicate me much… again, I was wrong, I need two hands to hold the glass!

I took the 12.30am railway transit back to the mainland and walked back to my hotel while trying to act sober. J

Hong Kong travel: Day 1 Evening - Tung Choi Street (Ladies’ Street & Goldfish Street)

In the evening, I went to visit the nearby Tung Choi Street. Actually I was aiming at the well-known Ladies' Street (女人街). But to my disappointment, no pretty ladies, just like a Malaysian style Pasar Malam or Petaling Street.

Even the goods are not really for ladies. Can’t imagine a lady wearing these on their body.

Next, I headed Goldfish Street(金魚街). Do you know that in Chinese ‘goldfish’ also meant prostitute? So I thought I was a sort of red light district, so curiosity got the best of me to try exploring this area. Guess what I realize? It was really an area selling goldfish! Damn!

Hong Kong Travel: Super Tuition Teachers

One thing I find amusing in Hong Kong were these big banners or expensive advertisement, which were in front of big buildings,

or busses.

At first, I thought it was a pop group or some sort of new uprising superstars but when I studied the advertisement, they were all tuition teachers! It seemed that tuition teachers were packaged like superstars or idols in Hong Kong!

Even the newspaper advertisement was designed, staring a tuition teacher that looked like a celebrity!

The advertisement in TV was also quite amusing! Tuition teachers seemed like superheroes that save the day, helping students scoring As! So, superman or batman, try to beat that!

What happen to the usual celebrity or superstars that I have seen on tv? Are they not as famous as these teachers? Never know that teacher could be packaged like an idol or celebrity.. hmmm…

Hong Kong Travel: How Expensive Was The Food?

Hong Kong is famous of its food. Just try to walk into any food stall or shop and you will definitely agree with me! If you visit the right place, some food would bring tears to you (yeah it was that good); however when the bill came, it would usually bring tears to your wallet too (yeah, they were pretty expensive!).

The thing with Hong Kong is the living standard is so high that a cleaner’s salary is around HK$8000+ (which is around RM3600++). This meant that every Hong Kong folks I met was far richer than me. I was the poorest of them all! Gee, imagine being the lowest earning guy in this society! Maybe I should be the one cleaning the cleaner’s place, or the person who opened door for the hotel doorman, or even the guy who polished the beggar’s shoe while asking for tips from him!

So, how expensive was the food over there?

Wanton Noodle – HK$36 (around RM17)

I took this noodle at an ordinary eatery called “Yun Kei”.

Look at the Wanton’s size, as big as golf ball!

The noodle was tender and nice! Although the price was still bearable for me, it made me imagine the price for those famous foods.

Yinyong Beverage – HK$18 (around RM9)

Accompanying my wanton Noodle was Yinyong.

This beverage is made from a mixture of coffee and Hong Kong Style milk tea. It had a rich silky taste, but I suggested you finish it before the bill come.

So as you could see, a normal food plus 10% tax would be around RM36 in Hong Kong whereas in Penang if we were charged RM5 at a coffee shop, we would be scolding the cook, or probably his mother, his family or whoever related to him or her.

By the way, the roasted goose and pork rice was good too, again around HK$36.

Anyway, I also tried the famous mango desert at Hui Lao Shan (许留山).

It was priced at HK$32, so no matter what I need to show that it taste good, right?

Actually it did!

Well, I too tried the stinky tofu but forgot to put the chili sauce, so it was tasteless for me.

Felt like biting into a normal fried tofu. Oh ya, the strange thing was it smelled bad, really bad until you had the first bite, then the smell seemed disappeared. I think it might be too smelly until my nose or taste bud shut down, masking off the stinky smell.

A lesson learnt was that after eating stinky tofu, remember to cover your mouth when asking for direction, and if you were asking for the toilet, remember to let them know that you had stinky tofu, else they would think you have accidentally sh*t or pee into your pants.

Still, Hong Kong food is really too expensive for me. Can you imagine the price of the food in restaurant? Nah, better don’t imagine, you might faint…

Hong Kong Travel: As Bad Lucks Followed...

In my previous entry, I mentioned bad lucks following me to Hong Kong. Well, it’s time to elaborate that:

1^st Bad Luck: Heat

On the day I touched down in Hong Kong, heat wave started. The weather was so hot that Hong Kong Observatory issued a “very hot weather warning” the next day.

I with Malaysian-Design-Heatproof-body could not withstand the 35ºC. I was forced to change into a singlet but still sweating heavily.

I really didn’t understand some people who still managed to wear coat and tie in this kind of condition, either Hong Kong was full of crazy people or the people had blocked pores that preventing them from sweating! Gee, I was at the wrong place and wrong time! In addition, I packed a lot of long sleeves clothing and jackets, thinking the weather would be 28ºC!

2^nd Bad Luck: Lost

Getting too used to the transit in Malaysia where usually there is only 1 or 2 entry points, I actually printed a portion of the Google map to guide me to my hotel. I thought it should be quite straight forward – from A21 airport bus drop zone, Tsim Sha Tsui Station marked with green box to Ramada Inn marked with yellow box.

When my bus approached that area, I was surprised to see so many entry points for Tsim Sha Tsui Station ( ‘ж’ symbol marked with Green Box). I was immediately lost!

For a while, I was walking in circles, carrying a printed google map with blurry street names. Wrestling and rejecting lots of street people who was offering nice accommodation with cheap price, I managed to arrive my hotel 2 hours later under super hot condition. By then I thought I could finally have a nice bath and go for nice meal, but I was wrong!

3^rd Bad Luck: Hotel Problem

“Sir, we could not find your reservation or any payment made in our computer. Let’s us do some manual checking for you and get back to you shortly” I almost fainted after hearing these words from the front desk. I panicked and began to wonder whether I was scammed into paying a fake agent for my accommodation.

After telling the staff that I would be back after 2 hours, I left the hotel and went to a nearby park to draft for plan B.

It was not an easy task because hotels in Hong Kong were super expensive, in average a small room would cost HK$600++ (≈ RM290) unless you dare to try your luck with those offering cheap accommodation by the street.

Under enormous heat, not having a meal since I left Penang and body sweating badly, I tried to scout for nearby hotels with reasonable pricing. It proved to be difficult as many hotels were fully booked mainly by tourists from Indonesia and Philippines who took the opportunities of their public holidays to visit Penang.

2 hours later, I was glad that everything was settled and I managed to check into a small room.

Oh well, lesson learnt.

• Need to do a final checking on the weather before packing for that country
• Do not use the transit station as a landmark on the map because there might be multiple entries into that station.
• Remember to print out the confirmation code after booking the hotel, or I might be sleeping on the street next time.

A bad start for my trip in Hong Kong? Stay tune!

Hong Kong Travel: From Penang to Hong Kong

It’s an unplanned trip, so last minute that I was:

• Working in the office 15 hours before the flight (3pm);
• Researching the internet on Hong Kong 12 hours before the flight (6pm):
• Gave up preparing information about Hong Kong and bought a Frommer's Hong Kong guide book 9 hours before the flight (9pm); and
• Only manage to finish packing 4 hours before the flight (2am).

I finally could have a few hours of sleep when I took the 6am flight from Penang International Airport to Hong Kong International Airport, although I was forced to sit other that my assigned seat because of an ignorant semi-bold and fat Penangite who landed his big bulky butt in my assigned seat, telling me in Hokkien “Air Asia can sit anywhere u like”.

I planned to tell him “If so, can I sit on your face?” but before I opened my mouth, the passengers behind told me that there was vacant seat there; so I just took the seat and tried to grab some sleep.

Arriving Hong Kong, I was greeted with the most complicated airport terminal – there were so many stairs, so many elevators and so many directions to go. So, no choice, I need to deploy one of my survival strategy,” Monkey See Monkey Do”, I followed where most passengers went (except the ones that went to the toilet), and found my way to the immigration area. I didn’t know whether it was me or the officer was having a bad day or he didn’t know English at all but when I greeted him with “Good Morning”, he responded with an odd expression, as if I was going to kill his family. Maybe it was because I was from Malaysia which was famous for H1N1 virus that he thought my existence would kill him.

After getting green light from the custom officer, I went to pick up my backpack and finally exited into the public area. My guide book recommended me to get an Octopus card for convenient purpose, so without hesitation, I went to counter to get one.

Before I flew to Hong Kong, I was advised to speak English instead of Cantonese or Mandarin unless my Cantonese was as good as the local. The reason was that most Hong Kong folks disliked or looked down on Chinese from China (or they called them “Mainlanders”). Speaking inappropriate Cantonese or mandarin would sort of associate Chinese ethnic folks with mainlanders; and it would certainly deny those travelers to some assistances or services. Wonder why so? Watch the video below:

Despite being a crown colony of the United Kingdom for more than a century, I found it amusing when the guy at the counter tried to explain the usage of Octopus Card in English. It reminded me of a guy in South Park Animation, the City Wok Restaurant Owner and yeah, he sounded like him:

Well, it seemed I was ready to meet Hong Kong by then; I boarded bus A21 and headed downtown with my HK$67 (HK$100 minus bus fare) preloaded Octopus Card.

Little did I know, my bad luck followed me to Hong Kong. Stay tune for the next entry.