Day 2 of Mom's birthday present!

This morning I woke up and it was almost like a scene from Oliver Twist... "Who will buy this wonderful morning..."

Mom and I ate the noodles we bought from the supermarket last night and it was delicious! I was still in a fix because I didnt know where we were going to go, but then we finally made a decision to go to Central. I was kinda dreading taking the MTR and the train, but it actually wasnt too bad. Furthermore, my luggage still had not arrived from Jetstar yet, so I had to resort to wearing my summer clothes in the Hong Kong winter. Looked like a downright tart! :S

Even though I was upset about my luggage, I still had the presence of mind to grab a few Hong Kong brochures while I was at the airport. Through these brochures I found out that it was a "Tiffany" Christmas at Statue Square, so I thought that we should check it out. I also found a few self-guided walking tours and the first one I picked was from here.

I was delighted when we arrived at Central and Statue Square was redone withe Tiffany colours! As part of the Hong Kong Winter Fest, it was a Christmas by tiffany's theme where there were Tiffany coloured presents everywhere, a candy cart in Tiffany colours, photo booths and even mailboxes which I suspected stamped Tiffany were in their signature aqua. Awesome. They even sold a limited edition Tiffany postcard with a Tiffany stamp. I tossed up between buying then and decided against it. Just another thing that I will have to find a place for in my tiny unit. No thank you!

As we were following the walking tour of Central, which was really written quite well, Mom and I got distracted with the surrounding Tiffany things and wandered off track. To get back on track, we looked for the Legislative Council building which was the second stop of our walking tour. To no avail. Turns out that we were walking around it and didn't realise what it was! How funny!

The beautiful architecture of the Legislative Council Building... which we managed to miss a few times!

After some hysterical laughter of realising that the building we were looking for was the building we were walking around, we had a bite to eat on a nearby bench and then wandered off to the Peak Tram which would take us to Victoria Peak. Reading so many guides on the way, I was aware that there would be a crowd waiting to get on this tram. But I didn't realise that it was an HOUR wait (at least). I don't even wait that long for food! :)

Yes, this is how we passed the time... taking photos!

No worries, Mom and I managed to entertain ourselves and when we finally got into the tram, it was a very steep ride to the top though! Eeeeeeeppppp! It felt like almost a 90 degree incline! Check out this photo:

Steeeeeeeeepppppp!!!!

The tram ride was so terrifying that a 8-10 year old child was screaming and throwing an absolute tantrum when we were on our way down for the WHOLE TRAM RIDE. It was horrendous, but I think she was absolutely petrified. What was hilarious though was that there was a 4 year old boy sitting next to me when this was going on and he looked thoroughly embarassed... the look on his face had me in stitches!

However, the wait and the scary tram ride was totally worth it. The view at the top was absolutely magnificent and breathtaking. I was so excited, but Mom and I thought we would take care of business first: LUNCH. :) Thinking that there was not much to eat at the Peak, and every restaurant seemed to be full, we decided to head to Burger King. And surprisingly, there was a fantastic photo op right outside Burger King! So here's a tip, if you don't have the extra mulla to head upstairs to the Sky Terrace, just head to Burger King and get a photo or two there. True story.

Of course I had the Mushroom Swiss. Amazing. Hungry Jacks Australia, you should be ashamed that you call that sorry excuse for a burger Mushroom Swiss. No where in the same league. SHAME ON YOU.

Beautiful Hong Kong...

However, we decided not to be tight and paid the additional fare to go up to the Sky Terrace (I mean, why wouldn't you, after waiting for so long!) It was so amazing but there were heaps of people there (if the wait for the tram was anything to go by... can you imagine??) There was also some sort of Art structure there with the theme of "Say I love you at the Peak" where there were paper hearts for you to write a message to the one you love. OK, so I wrote one. Guilty. :)

The said structure...

My message to my love...

 I kinda went crazy with the camera - but the views were so amazing, I wanted to get it all in!!! The result? THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS!!!! :)

There were heaps of stores in there selling little knick knacks, nothing that Malaysia didn't already offer. But what was funny was that there were plenty of places where we could grab a bite to eat!!! We just didn't know that there was more to the Peak than the building where the SKy Terrace was... there was a whole other building and a lovely outdoor area to sit and enjoy the sun. THere were cafes and coffee shops, gelato stores... everything you could imagine! It was great! (and a bit of a shame, but hey, we found a sneaky place for pictures!)

After we descended from the Peak, I made a beeline for the Tiffany candy stall! I couldn't believe my eyes, there was a Tiffany's candy stall complete with Tiffany candy! Lollipops in Tiffany's signature colour! I loved it! So I snapped a couple of photos and left!

I felt like I died and went to Tiffany heaven!!!

Off Mom and I were to find the HSBC lions. For those who don't know, there are two stone lions who guard the HSBC building. It was believed that rubbing these lions' paws were good luck. So of course we had to find it. I needed all the help I can get - it is going to be a tough year for those born under the Dog (in the Chinese Zodiac) in the year of the mighty Dragon...

After a few back and forths, Claudia and I also managed to agree to a time and place for dinner. We took a train to Yuen Long and met her there where she took us for an authentic Hong Kong steamboat! It was amazing!!! She ordered enough to feed six, but I really believed that if we sat there long enough, we could have eaten it all! There were delicious dumplings, a platter of meatballs, vegetables, MUSHROOMS (which turns out no one liked but me), bean curd and some bean curd puffs! They were DELICIOUS! All in all, a very nice meal and more than anything, it was lovely to catch up with my beloved stupid roommate. :) Thanks for the lovely dinner!

Love you stupid room-mate!!! :)

 And to top off an absolutely lovely day... my luggage arrived! Ah, Jetstar... thanks... FOR NOTHING!!! :) But to be honest, I am thankful that it at least arrived!

Onward to day 3!! x

Day 1 of exciting Hong Kong!!

Day one was off to a FLYING start! (note the tone of sarcasm here...) Jetstar left on time and actually landed in Hong Kong ahead of schedule. Which was fabulous but I had a nagging feeling that they would have stuffed up my luggage and it would not be here waiting for me. And I was right.

I saw Mom's plane get in. If all goes well, I would collect my luggage and meet her at her carousel, but alas, my luggage never arrived. How could one airline be so GODDAMN USELESS????? Jetstar, I daresay I'm never going to fly with you again!!! I had a sneaky suspicion that my luggage was on its merry way to Beijing.

Yes, Mom was quite insistent that we take a few photos with the Christmas decorations!

Anyway, after complaining and asked that they will deliver my luggage to my hotel, I met up with mom and took a shuttle bus to our hotel, Harbor Plaza Resort City. As advised by many, it was quite far away (like a 45 minute drive from the airport) but I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. The room was spacious and fairly modern but I didn't pay much for it, so no complaints here!

Mom and I were starving so after check in we headed to the shopping mall next door (Kingswood Ginza) to seek out a food court. There wasn't one per se, but we found this little cafe that served roast duck and pork and a variety of chicken dishes. As there was an outbreak of bird flu, mom and I have sworn off chicken this trip and so we settled on a pork chop and baked rice kind of dish. Buying it was an experience in itself as it took me all of two minutes to order, pay, be swept into a mini queue to get my food and have my food served to me. Before I knew it, I was spat out of the other end of the queue with my food in hand and not quite sure how I got there in the first place! I didn't even have time to put my change back in my wallet!

Mom and the snowmen...

No photo as we were way too hungry and it really didn't look that good. However, it tasted GREAT! the pork chop was lovely and tender, and it sat on a bed of rice and completely doused in tomato sauce. Not just any tomato sauce, but a homey, not too overpowering, sauce made out of actual tomatoes (they had heaps of tomato pieces in them). Beautiful! Luckily mom and I had the good sense to stake out someone else's food before ordering so we just ordered one to share as it was huge! I couldn't walk after eating my half! At the cost of HKD$33 a serve, it worked out to be AUD$4.40, an absolute steal considering mom and I had to share, so it worked out to be AUD$2.20 per person. Lunch DONE.

We walked around a bit more and scoped out a handbag for me, some clothes that I may need to buy if my luggage doesn't show up and HK SIM card for my phone. What I have found rampant in this shopping mall were Japanese food shops, electronics and gifts!

After going back to the hotel to make some phonecalls (hello Claudia! And FREAKING Jetstar who didn't have any news of my luggage,) mom and I headed out again to buy the Octopus card, just to be organised. But we were informed that they did not sell them at the convenience stores, nor the train station across from our hotel. Apparently this train station was Light Rail and was completely different from the MTR. No matter, I'm sure we'll be able to get one tomorrow.

Upon receiving that information, mom and I decided to head to the supermarket to see how the people of HK live. It was an amazing experience (well, for me at least- plus I love supermarkets anyway in general, I am my mother's daughter after all...) It was at the top of a shopping mall and was massive! The produce was beautiful and so cheap! The green Chinese veggies were to die for and there were many islands which housed food for steamboats. There were fishballs galore, beautiful stuffed veggies (kinda like yong tau foo but with beef), seasoned beef mince, all sorts of dumplings, the list was endless! I even joked with mom that we should get a pot and have steamboat in our room. Half joked. I'm kinda digging the idea. But not tonight.

For dinner mom and I settled on a box of unagi sushi which was only HKD$42 which equates to AUD$5.6. It was another massive meal which we shared, there were twelve bits of sushi there all with grilled eel cooked to perfection with a beautiful sweet sauce. Yum yum!!! And as HK is famous for it's "wife" biscuits, we bought a packet for dessert. I think it might be an acquired taste .... really, nothing to write home about. **

"Wife" biscuits, unagi sushi and an assortment of fruits... cheap as chips!

What we also did was to buy a couple of cup noodles for brekkie tomorrow because when in Rome... :)

That's all for Day one. I need to start prepping for day 2 now! Hasta la vista!

Xoxo