Hong Kong: Short Getaway

Hello! So I was in Hong Kong in February this year (I know right, now then blog. Procrastination stinkssss!) right after CNY and my KL work trip with my bf and my mother.

Kinda like my first official holiday this year which turned out to be quite a bad one O.o You'll see why later on actually.

Extremely early flight out of Singapore to Hong Kong via SQ hence we had an early start. Le bf almost gave me a scare because he needed a visa to go to HK and the girl at the check-in counter refused to let us check-in  till he got those sorted out online -.-" #woesofdatingaforeigner

Hong Kong airport still remains as one of my favourite airports in the world because of the variety of stores available there - DFS is freaking awesome there and there is a Disneyland store there :D

Weather was cold yet erratic. It can fluctuate from being relatively cool at 18 degrees to 8 degrees in a span of 2 hours wtf. We certainly weren't prepared for 8 degrees then D:

Arrived at the airport and took the bus A21 to our hotel - The Cityview - which is located in Yau Ma Tei.

I have stayed here countless of times on my several trips to Hong Kong and while many may balk at the idea of staying in Kowloon as opposed to the more atas Hong Kong island, I like it due to the proximity to Mongkok and other parts of Hong Kong itself.

Anyway, the trip from the airport to Yau Ma Tei took us about 45 mins and cost us HK$33 each which we paid with our Octopus card, available for purchase at the counter directly outside of the arrival gates.

Of course, by then we had equipped ourselves with data, tech-whores we are lol the bf and I.

You can easily get the cards on the departure hall at a store called '1010'. I honestly cannot understand why it was on the departure level and not on the arrival hall but nevertheless, getting the SIM cards were a breeze despite the haughty attitude of the staff there.

I apologise really for the lack of pictures to make it a full blown travelogue entry but I was really beat on that trip. Taking care of the needs of the mother as well as the bf plus working non-stop + CNY festivities really took a toll on my energy levels lol.

It was like my battery remained at dangerously low levels throughout and I really didn't enjoy it as much as I did unlike my previous trips to the land of dim sum.

Anywho, continuing with the entry!

After check-in at our hotel, it was time for a late late lunch and I honestly cannot remember what we had for lunch that day but yeah I remember dinner lol!

We met up with Billy who is working in HK at Harbour City for dinner hahaha. We went to a burger joint for dinner and had good company.

I could really feel how much Billy misses Singapore because the gang of us are here, given that I had a taste of it when I was in Europe last year for a stretch of 4 months. But his is permanent though :x Thankfully, HK is just a 3.5 hour flight away from Singapore!

Ended Day 1 quite late and went back to rest. The mother couldn't sleep that night and that was the start of my nightmare :(

She was extremely lethargic the next day when we headed out to Sham Shui Po for Tim Ho Wan at brunch.

But first off, what is Hong Kong without having curry fishballs huh? Hehehe. Actually, the bf just got hungry and decided he needed to fill up his tummy first.

Luckily he did so because we waited a good 1 hour before we got our seats at Tim Ho Wan.

Note to self, never go to Tim Ho Wan on a weekend! D:

Oh, and Billy came with us to Tim Ho Wan for some dim sum. Sad to say, the standards have dropped so I don't think I will visit it in future trips to HK :(

Boo pls. They ended up tasting like the Singapore outlets sigh. Nvm, next time just eat in Singapore can already haha!

Gei dan zai~ Yum!

Shortly after, Billy left the 3 of us to have dinner with his parents and we went to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet another friend, Qian Hui.

By then my mum was totally out of battery and we had to send her back to the hotel and ta-baoed some porridge for her because the bf, myself and Qian Hui were on our way to Lan Kwai Fong for dinner + some drinking haha.

But not before stopping in at the humongous Sasa store along the way. I may be tired and exhausted, but you can always count on makeup to energize me hehe!

Took a cab to Lan Kwai Fong from Yau Ma Tei, my first time in a cab actually in HK. I mostly relied on MTRs and buses on my HK trips because I've heard how exorbitant the fees can be. But it was okay that night, about HKD180 and to just simply speed there without having to climb up that torturous hills in Central? Best HKD180 spent lol!

Breakfast the next morning at Tai Hing which is a chain store of cha chan tengs before we headed to Disneyland! It was my 4th time in HK Disneyland and even then, it didn't feel too boring for me? More like I was going home lololol! I really love Disney and all their characters haha.

But my bf was a total downer -.-" Next time, I am gonna go with the girls instead lol. They understand me more than this stupid man does about my Disney obsession haha!

Disney train! :D

Taking the MTR all the way to Sunny Bay where the Disneyland Resort is located

HK Disneyland to me will remain as one of the best memories because I've spent so many wonderful times here. First real Disney experience (I went to Euro Disney when I was 11 but I cannot remember shit about it) with all my loved ones: with my mum in 2007, 2010 and now 2014, the bff in 2009, the bf in 2014 and with the Gambit OG mates in 2012.

This is my favorite hobby in Disneyland - getting the coin presses! Here's me and the Duffy design lol. I have a few from the past years but sadly, the copper will oxidize and change colour so please bear that in mind each time you throw your money down the machine haha.

 I love the magical feel of Disneyland. Somehow it makes me feel very young all the time and I'm a pretend Disney princess LOL!

My favourite princess is Rapunzel but we couldn't find her :( Sad die me, haix. But it was nice, even if the parade doesn't change every year lol. My favourite time to go is actually in winter! The characters actually change their outfits according to the seasons. They even have special CNY ones hahaha!

My mum fell quite ill at Disneyland towards the later part. Think the weather didn't help too so yeah :'( We had to bring her to a doctor the next day and let her rest the entire time. Somehow HK doesn't like me and my mum very well huh when we go there together lol. Shit always happens one. But thankful we had friends around to help with the translation and all.

Next morning was our last full day in HK as we were leaving the next afternoon. Went to queue for Jenny Bakery cookies! :D

Queue was hideously long despite us arriving about 15 mins after the supposed opening hours.

By the way, each customer is entitled to only 5 items each, irregardless of whether you're buying 5 big tins or 5 small tins, still 5 each!

(Update 2015: They have now restricted each customer to only buy 1 large and 1 small tin daily)

My advice is to go early if you can afford to. We waited approximately 45 mins and only those with number tags were allowed to purchase from the store.

Bought 15 tins in total because there were 3 of us lol. Grace was there with us while my mum was sleeping in the hotel room.

Lunch was at a cha chaan teng along Ladies Street at Sai Yung Choi St and after sending my mum back to the hotel to rest cos I forced her to take the meds lest her condition worsens, the 3 of us went out back to Mongkok.

Mongkok is just a good 5-10 minute walk away from The Cityview hence I really love the location of the hotel!

Bought this cold noodles which is a must have for me because.... it's just awesome. Someone open a franchise in Singapore please? LOL

Dinner for the night was at Yung Kee in Central, very famous for their roast goose meat and this century egg appetiser.

Must order!

Twas a nice evening, 5 young people heading out to a bar afterwards to have drinks lolol.

I was telling them how issit that we don't meet that often in Singapore but when we are overseas we meet so often! The bf and I were meeting friends every single day throughout the trip until the final day when we left haha.

Ok last meal before I left Hong Kong was obviously an all-time favourite for me - bo luo custard bun wohooooo!

Ok, gonna end it like this and.... I feel so fail about this entry because of the lack of pics and information. Anyway, I will be heading to Taiwan next month and hopefully I will be more inspired to do something blog related.

Till then, bye and thanks for reading :D