Hong Kong Mid Levels escalators

One of the places on my must.visit.list in Hong Kong was the mid levels escalators. It is a famous landmark that is located in the Central district which was merely a few tram stops away from my sister's residence.

It's the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. Built in 1994, the Central Mid Levels escalator spans 800 meters in distance and elevates over 135 meters from bottom to top.

From 6.A.M – 10A.M. the escalator moves downhill so the residents in the mid levels apartments use it to get to work. Then from 10.15 A.M until midnight, it moves upwards. There are a total of 20 escalators, some of the ascents can be very steep. But there are several junctions along the route so you can step away from the moving landmark to take pictures of the sights.

It cuts through the Soho district which is packed with trendy shops, restaurants and bars. It also offers great views of the wet markets, good architecturally designed buildings and at the very top you will see the posh skyscrapers in Mid-Levels, the preferred living quarters for expats and the wealthy Hong Kongers.

It is quite safe to use and it is also well lighted in the evenings. The only hard part is when you have to use the flight of stairs to descend. Yet if you are not really in a hurry, you can control your pace and enjoy the lovely surroundings. What a great way to avoid traffic, ha. Excellent innovation, I'd say! :D

Forty Four

Venue: Mr Choi Kitchen, Robinsons Galleria
Date: February 5, 2012

Hakaw (Shrimp Dumplings)



Fish Fillet with Beancurd and Taosi Sauce



Mixed Vegetables



Spinach Seafood Soup



Crispy Seafood Noodles



Beef with Broccoli



Happy 44th wedding anniversary Mommy and Dad!

Living in the Past

It's already February but I'm still in a Christmas-y mode. My heart, my mind and my thoughts are still lingering with memories of our wonderful winter vacation in Hong Kong and Macau.

Ergo this entry provides me with the perfect excuse to post more Yuletide pictures from our trip, even though it is already February! :D




MGM Grand Hotel, Macau



Senado Square, Macau



Hong Kong Winterfest, Statue Square, Central




The Body Shop along Queen's Road Central



Along Hennessy Road, Wanchai



The IFC Mall with the theme "Where Dreams come True"



Statue Square, Central




Lan Kwai Fong


The Pacific Place Mall



Leal Senado Square, Macau



Macau



IFC Tower One Mall



Grand Lisboa Hotel, Macau

Hong Kong Disneyland (December 22, 2011)

In all my 43 years of existence, I've never set foot in Disneyland ... until December 22, 2011. Imagine that!

A few days before Christmas, we decided to have an early start and shoved off to the amusement park to see Mickey Mouse and his friends.

Unlike Universal Studios in Singapore where it was sooo warm and humid, exploring Disneyland in 14 deg. C weather was quite pleasant.

We took a bus across the street from my sister's flat and alighted at the MTR station. From Hong Kong station, it is a scenic 25 minutes ride all the way to Sunny Bay station where you alight to transfer to the Disneyland train. (15 minutes ride)

I was amazed that the train was jam packed with people even though it was a weekday. So I guess they were mostly tourists (like us) visiting Hong Kong. Naturally there were long queues to all the rides. My parents were with us so we were quite selective when it came to the rides. So no roller coasters (not that I would even attempt) and no rides where you might get wet.



But everyone agreed that we would all go on the carousel. After lining up for almost 20 minutes, it was our turn. Here's where it turned into a funny incident. When it was my turn, 'the horse' was quite high. I couldn't reach the pedal to haul myself over it. I was getting flustered. My parents were bowling over in laughter. While D who was a few horses away had no idea of my predicament and by that time he was already in his 'photo shoot' zone.



After several embarrassing tries to get on the horse, I nearly gave up. Until D finally realized what was going on so he practically carried me so I could ride the carousel. It was way too embarrassing. I was laughing so much I almost peed in my jeans. It was an experience I would never ever forget! Until now they still tease me about that hilarious carousel ride. :D

My favorite part is when darkness fell and the entire Disneyland was all lighted up. I bought a Minnie Mouse headband and didn't feel embarrassed at all even if I looked like a kid!









The fireworks display near the main Tinkerbell castle at 9pm was amazingly awesome!

Photographs and Memories

They say that when you travel with your partner that's when you truly discover his/her true personality. Well I'd have to admit that is quite true. On our recent trip to Hong Kong, I discovered that although D is quite adept in packing and repacking matters, he was/is the ultimate photo trigger happy person. He took pictures of everything and I mean everything!

The thing is we are the proud owner(s) of only ONE digital camera. Heck I would even go as far as saying that it is MY camera. It was a gift from my sister and I'd had it way before we got married. But since I'm a kind person, if I may say so myself, I would let him use it.

You see, D has developed this keen interest in photography. I admit he has a good eye when it comes to capturing unique angles. My sister has her iPhone which she now uses for everything even taking pictures. So I 'borrowed' her Sony digicam for the entire duration of the trip. So D had 'my' digicam at his disposal.

Eventually 'his.wandering.off.to.take.pictures.persona' totally irritated me to no end. There were moments when I had to stay behind and let my parents and sister go ahead because I had to wait until he got back from God knows where to take pictures. He is what you call a 'slow' photographer, for want of a better word. He would wander off and study the area, position himself from awkward angles just to snap a picture of let's say the dome of a church. He would also take pictures at his own pace which in my opinion is quite slow.

At one point, I was so irritated I just left him and went ahead with my family. When he was finally able to catch up with us, I gave him the silent treatment for 2 days. It isn't in my nature to do so but enough was enough. :D I believe he got the hint because the next day he gave the digicam back for me to use.

My main issue was not the fact that he was hogging the camera. Honestly I didn't mind. What I minded was his slow pace. He was traveling with 4 other people who had to constantly wait for him to 'show' up. It got on my nerves.

For me, a trip is about bonding together and enjoying the scenery. It goes without saying that we should take pictures to capture the moments. But when the trip turns into a big photo shoot opportunity then it ruins the entire picture.

Speaking of pictures from this recent trip, I've been quite busy sorting out the thousands of photos he took. He wants me crop and edit the pictures before he uploads them on FB. So while he is quite adept at taking pictures, he isn't patient enough to do his own 'editing' since he is busy with work. Me, I'm not open to the idea of 'photoshopped' pictures. I posted the ones I took as they were taken. Naturally I picked out the ones where I didn't look like a fat cow. :D

How about you? Do you edit your pictures before you upload them on FB or Flickr? I'd like to hear your comments on this tedious chore.

Gastronomic feast

They say the best way to immerse in the culture of a nation is by partaking of their local cuisine. Eat where the locals eat to truly enrich your visiting experience. But after a while, your taste buds tend to savor something different than the usual fare. Thankfully, Hong Kong has an interesting mix of various cuisine to offer!





Since it was very chilly outside, hotpot where you cook your own food was a favorite hangout. This was taken at the Budaoweng HotPot Cuisine located at iSquare Mall, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It is located at the 23rd floor of the mall so it offers a fantastic view of Hong Kong.





Ebeneezer's had really appetizing shawarmas. It has several branches all over Hong Kong. After we explored the Lan Kwai Fong area, we decided to take out from this kebab place. It was yummy!





We had Beijing cuisine at a small nook on Caine Road. The restaurant is called Hometown Dumplings and it served mostly mainland (Beijing) Chinese food.





I ordered this Hokkaido Scallop Ramen from AjiSen Ramen, a Japanese restaurant. It was huge but I was famished so I managed to gobble it all down.





We dined at Thai Pad on New Year's day. They serve authentic Thai food which aren't too spicy for our discriminating palette.





Naturally we had Portuguese food when we visited Macau. This oxtail stew at NOW Cafe was delicious!





We merely had to cross the street from my sister's flat and voila a hotpot restaurant for you! We loved it so much we ate at Ying Kee Hotpot Restaurant quite frequently due to its very convenient location.





This 3 kinds of roasted meat was one of our orders at a restaurant in Queens Road West. Until now we don't know its name since the sign (as well as the menu) was in Chinese characters. We had a difficult time communicating with the staff who didn't speak English and ended up ordering by pointing at the pictures on their menu!





It was German cuisine at King Ludwig Beerhall located at the Murray House in Stanley. Huge platter of different kings of sausages filled our tummy after a long day of exploring Stanley.





We had lunch at Cadogan Pho, a Vietnamese restaurant after hearing mass at St Anthony's church. We were too hungry to take pictures of the food and only remembered to snap a shot of the place after we stepped out into the cool breeze.





For Christmas lunch we ate at Bayi, a Mongolian restaurant. Their menu consists mostly lamb dishes like this lamb stew with cumin.





Here we are all smiles at The Corner Cafe in Disneyland, Hong Kong. Their American fare was quite filling (huge portions).



A few tips while dining out in Hong Kong:
1) Portions are quite big for one person. My hubby and I would normally just share one dish.

2) Most menus are in Chinese but some restaurants have English menus so always ask before you enter the premises.

3) Bring your own tissue paper because they don't serve napkins.

4) They don't have fork and spoon so you must learn to use chopsticks. My father never learned to use chopsticks so we always brought along a pair of cutlery for him to use whenever we dined out. At one restaurant, we completely forgot about it and it was cleared along with the dishes after we had finished dining. Boy oh boy, we had such a hard time explaining to the waitress (who didn't speak English) that the fork and spoon were ours. After several hand gestures and sign language she finally understood and ran off to the kitchen to retrieve the fork and spoon.

5) Lastly, bring along your sense of humor as well as huge amounts of patience because frankly the inability to communicate with the servers can be very very frustrating, annoying and quite irritating to say the least! hehehe

Happy Lunar New Year!!!

Let's usher in the year of the dragon.


Gold dragon hanging on the ceiling at the City of Dreams in Macau.


Dragon display in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong island