Times to remember...
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Hong Kong & Macau
When: 21/01/2008 - 26/01/2008
With: Dad, Mum
How: Flight
Total hours of flight: AFour hours (one way)
Pictures: Below
Cross-posted at nEutral
Day 1
Took a flight to Macau with the parents. Stayed in the Venetian, which is crazily overrated. My first impression of it was that it looked strangely like an airport, and my mum said that it was like a fish market. Seriously. For a hotel that has received so much hype, publicity and praise, it doesn't deserve it. It was swarming with people and reeked of faggers. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice hotel and all, but it's not that great.
 It looks better from the outside.
The room though was quite nice. Particularly liked the canopy thingy over the beds.
The casino was okay, but the one at Sands was much nicer, though both had a serious fagger-control problem too. Who in their right mind smokes in air-conditioned places?? Sheesh. And would you believe it, I was stopped at the entrances of both casinos! Though, I guess I should be happy since I look young, but c'mon, do I not look at least 18 to you??? Hahah.
Went to St. Paul's ruins, took some pics and shopped.
 Some square which leads to St. Paul's ruins.  Lighted I-dunno-what building.  Took this pic because I saw someone else take it. Hahah. =p
Came back to the Venetian, and went to St. Mark's square (which is inside the Venetian). Probably the nicest place there, since the buildings and the surrounding were pretty. Plus, most of the people only go to the Venetian for the casino, so St. Mark's square was relatively peaceful and smoke-free. And get this, the sky is painted! How cool is that? Haha. Saw some baskers there performing too, which was fascinating. And of course, what Venetian-themed place would be complete without a gondola ride? =)
 Can you believe that sky is painted?  They even dim the lights to change it to night-time.  Guy on stilts and his puppet.  Baskers/Performers in action.
Other than that, I've gotta say, the whole of Macau looks like Malaysia/Singapore by day, so it was nothing great. But by nightfall, the place magically transforms into a mini Las Vegas, and it becomes quite pretty. The place is filled with casinos, casinos, and even more casinos! It was crazy. Haha.
Too bad the place was like Sungai Wang, multiplied by 100. -.-
Day 2
Had breakfast in their food court, and discovered the greatest thing they could ever sell in Macau:
 #&^$&%@#%!
BOOST JUICE!!!!
Hahaha. I thought I'd never see it until I get back to Aussie. Missed it terribly, so the first sip that day was euphoric.
Took a ferry over to Hong Kong, and there was this person throwing up into at least 5 vomit bags the whole way there, which was extremely gross. Granted, the sea was choppy that day, but... eww...
As soon as we reached the Hong Kong port, I had a feeling I was gonna like Hong Kong, because the sea was blue (in Macau it was the colour of crap) and the whole place had a good feel.
Was more impressed by just the lobby of the hotel we were staying in (Kowloon Shangri-La) than the whole of the Venetian.
 The Venetian.
Don't be fooled just because it photographs nicely.
 Kowloon Shangri-La.
Or am I just biased? Hahah.
The room had an amazing view of the harbour, though by day it was really misty.
 View from the room by day.  The flower arrangement in the room.
Just because it was so gorgeous.
Went shopping at Prince Edward, where Nastasha suggested I should go. Came back to Nathan road to shop some more. Shopped... shopped... shopped... well, you get the idea. Hahaha. They were mostly selling winter clothes though, since it was winter.
 Night view from the room.
Day 3
Took the MRT to Wan Chai and walked from there to Causeway Bay (while shopping at the same time, of course, haha). Bought a bracelet for my bag. Hahah. I'm probably the only one who does that. Hahah.
 Porridge which was yummy,
with yiu char kuey,
and the best damn soyabean drink ever.
Realised we wouldn't have enough time to shop at the island that day, so we did the next best thing: we took a tram around the island and window shopped from the tram. Hahaha. I'm serious, we did! Hahah. After reaching the end of the line, we hopped back on an opposite tram and got down at one of the stops, before proceeding to shop again.
There was one saleswoman who was really agressive and insistent. After just taking a look at the different colours of one of the tops they had, she said the grey was the best selling one, and went, "So you'll take that wan, ok?" in Canto. And while I was still looking at the top and considering, she was like saying, "Buy clothes also must think so long... you go and buy other places also the same wan, I'm the one who supplies all their clothes... if you don't buy, you 'chao pou' ar..."
I swear, she was by far the most annoying saleswoman I've ever seen. So in the end, I had the greatest satisfaction of saying, "No thanks" and walking off while she was yelling, "I'll even give you the belt for free!"
Who 'chao pou' now, huh?
Day 4
Took a bus to Stanley Market. The shopping there was omg-ly awesome. Hahah. Didn't think we'd spend so much time there, but we did, and we bought a ton. I think this day was one of the two most fruitful days. Hehe. Took the bus back again, and sat right in front on the upper deck. It was fun. =)
 "The spoils of war." Hahah.
My mum was the main buyer that day.
Had dinner at Royal Garden, and it was really good. The service was excellent and I loved the ambiance.
 Beautiful!
Hahaha. ;)
And some random stuffs, I kinda like the school uniforms in Hong Kong. The guys look good in them. =p
Day 5
Was much colder than usual, because it was raining lightly, and because of some kind of monsoon winter thingy from China, I think? Anyway. Waited for about 2 hours for the drizzle to stop, but it didn't, so we headed out anyway.
Went to the Avenue of Stars and saw names like Jackie Chan and Aaron Kwok, whoever he is. Hahah. Was hoping to see Ron Ng (in person, but I'd settle for just his handprint too, hahaha), but sigh! =/
 Supposed to be stalls I think. Cute.  With my mum at the start of the avenue.  Would've posed more spontaneously and wackily if there weren't so many people watching. -.-  With Bruce Lee.
Same reason of posing as above.
 Was gonna pose like they were filming me, but... hahah you know why.
Had dim sum for lunch, which was really, really good.
 One of the best dim sums.  I know, I know, we eat alot. Hehe.
Went shopping again at Nathan road, and went berserk at Giordano. Bought so much that we had to go back to the hotel and drop them off, as well as borrow an umbrella because it was still drizzling.
Headed to Ladies' Market and shopped with umbrellas hahah. Found out that bargaining is scary. I was trying on a pair of shoes, the lady wanted to sell it to me at way too much, I offered her way too little (because honestly, does she think I'm stupid?), and she took back her shoes with a black face and started muttering something. I was gonna walk out, when her friend offered me a price that was slightly more than I offered, but much less than the first lady offered. So I took it, and the first lady suddenly was all smiles again.
Selling tactics!!
Also managed to find another pair of boots (I have two now! Yay, hehe) and this dress that I've been searching for everywhere, among other things. =)
Packed that night. We went with 3 bags, and came back with 4. Hahah. I was feeling a bit bad that night, cause I felt like I spent so much, but when I came back and told Kinz, he said he spent around the same amount, so now I feel like I should've bought more. Hahaha.
 My dad's and mine.
Day 6
Took the ferry back to Macau cause our flight was from there. And if you guys ever go to Macau and plan to go Hong Kong by ferry, or vice-versa, be smart and take the free Venetian busses. Hehe! There's a bus from the airport to the Venetian, and a bus from the Venetian to the ferry terminal. In fact, there are free bus rides by almost all the big casinos, so yeah. Haha. ;)
In the airport, while waiting, we had some Portugese egg tarts, and it was freaking good! You have to try them if you go to Macau.
And for some stupid reason, they have smoking rooms which are open-aired. I mean, what's the point of having a smoking room then??
Because we took Air Asia, it was free-seating. When I sat down at the window-seat, I immediately noticed that I was sitting next to the emergency door. Then the air host said, "Yes, because you are sitting next to the emergency door, you'll have to know how to open it in case of an emergency, so please read the booklet in front of you." I thought he was kidding, so I just smiled incredulously and went, "Really?" When he didn't smile back, I did what every other person in my situation would do: I changed seats. Hahaha. =p
Scared la, I don't want to kill everyone else on the plane just because I didn't know how to open the emergency door in time. Hahah.
Touched down (Air Asia pilots are surprisingly really good, btw), was hit by the extremely hot weather of Malaysia's, and am glad to be home. =)
Something I noticed: I have a lot of pictures with lamp posts in them. See:
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