Hong Kong ... revisited

I've been to Hong Kong quite a number of times but the last time was actually more than 10 years ago. When I was much younger, all I care about is to go shopping. Also, most of those trips were sponsored by my parents. You see, a lot of the older generation of Chinese prefer to go back to where they feel comfortable with, speaks the same language and serves the food they like, even if it means going back to the same place over and over again. At that time, Hong Kong is still a British colony. Today Hong Kong is part of China although being categorised as 'Special Administration Region' just like Macau. So, I still do not need a visa to go in Hong Kong.

This time when I revisited Hong Kong, I skip a lot of the touristic spots that I've been and merely just spent a couple of days soaking in the city, the food and of course the main agenda is to treat my son to his first Disneyland experience. So, this blog is gonna be like a lazy holiday version of Hong Kong.

Much of Hong Kong still looks the same to me. Well, of course with even more sky scrapers than I can remember. Do you know that Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers in the world? Yes, not in Manhattan or Chicago but in Hong Kong. Hence Hong Kong also has been named the best skyline in the world. We'll get to that later. So, here's is the version of my Hong Kong trip ... revisited.

First stop, Central District.

Central District is the main business district in Hong Kong. Here it is all about business. Probably here is also where most of the sky scrapers are located.

Take for example this one, I think it is One IFC, most probably the highest in Hong Kong Island.

Or this one, which is the HSBC Building. Very unique structure and design that I can immediately recognised.

Here we can also find a lot of important landmarks such as this beautiful Legislative Council Building.

Or the Majistret

Or even the Police station. OK, I'm not sure if this is the Police HQ but the facade of the building is beautiful, marking the British influence here in Hong Kong.

In Central, there is also a very important structure which is the Central Mid Level Escalator. It is the world's longest outdoor covered escalator. How long? Its 800 metres climbing 445 feet in total! So, you can just stand on the escalator and travel from one area to another. Amazing!

Only problem is that after you have happily stand stagnant and being transported almost 1km uphill, you gotta walk back down ... not funny.

Through this Escalator, we managed to come to SoHo which in my opinion is the most hype place in Hong Kong. Lots of bars, cafes and eateries here. You can find most foreigners here.

Another 'happening' place being serviced by this escalator is the 'Lan Kwai Fong'. But I don't find anything interesting except for this picturesque back lane. Perfect for me to practice my photography skill.

In Hong Kong island, the surest and cheapest way to travel is by hopping onto one of this tram and you can travel around the city for only HKD2. If you decide not to get down, you can travel from east to west for only HKD2! Unbelievable. If you decide to hop down, you can get one anytime almost instantaneously.

So, one night, we just hop onto one, climb to the top level and just sit down and enjoy the sights of Hong Kong island.

This is the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) in Happy Valley. A lot of Hongkongites are crazy about horse racing or more accurately gambling. How crazy are the bettings on horse racing in Hong Kong? Let's just say, billions of dollar bettings are involved. The HKJC is the largest tax payer in Hong Kong. Enough said.

OK, apart from all the glamour city living, we managed to visit one of the morning wet market in Fortress Hill. Couldn't help but snap a picture of the typical Hong Kong life.

Here, we also managed to find a very delicious Hong Kong cuisine, the goose drum-stick. It cost HKD68 for a drum stick but OMG ... taste so superbly good.

One more place that you should go to in Hong Kong island is the Causeway Bay. This is like the shopping district in Hong Kong. Heck, you can find anything here including a shop that sells nothing but ang pow packets. All sort of sizes and colours (gotta be red or yellow or auspicious colour) and some have even various surname engraved on it. Suffice to say, we went a bit crazy at this ang pow shop. Hey, if we gonna be giving money out on Lunar New Year, might as well do it in style right?

The Times Square is also located in Causeway Bay.

I know Hong Kong city is always full of people and I tend to walk a little bit faster as well in case people trip over me but I've never seen so many people as in Times Square. Just crazy. This picture is taken at almost midnight!

Oh, last but not least, in Hong Kong, there is a very famous chain called Milan Station. They sell all the 'pre-loved' handbags and purses. So, if the queue for Birkin doesn't seems to reach you, you can just drop by Milan Station and there are plenty for you to choose and take home with. There are even some vintage and limited edition Channel .,, ooo la la. OK, I didn't go in, just sneaking from the window outside. I just can't trust myself.

Judging from this blog, doesn't look like a lazy trip right? OK OK, one last place I wanna talk about is non other than Tsim Tsa Tsui or better known as TST by Hongkongites. It is actually located at the mainland in Kowloon district. So, we gotta climb onboard an MTR to come here.

Here is like another shopping haven. Mostly of street fashion and mid-level pricing items. At night, there are at least 2 to 3 night markets but since I've been to them in my previous visits, I skipped, what's with my 5 year old son along.

But that doesn't stop us from shopping at day time. Me, cam whoring with my son while waiting for my hubby to buy his shoes.

And, if you can afford it, you have to come and have an afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel. This is like an icon of TST.

OK, I think you get the idea, Hong Kong is just way too interesting. There's just too many things to see, to eat, to buy ... I shouldn't wait for another 10 years to come again.

Location : Hong Kong

Next, The Peak

I'm Gulliver for a day

Obviously this post is an inspiration from the recent released movie, Gulliver's Travel. I remember reading this book as a child and thought how scary it is that you are one big giant in an island of little people and they tie you up and wanted to cook you as food. As I grew older, my perspective change to how awesome it is that you're a big giant and everything is just like toys to you.

Anyway, I dug out some old photos of me while in China many years back. How many years back? Let's just say that I need to scan this photos because digital camera has not been around yet. Here in Shenzhen, they created a place called "Window of the World'. In Window of the World, they build all the famous monuments around the world in miniature size. So here, I can be Gulliver for a day! Not only do these monuments seems small, in fact I can walk around the world in a day!

Stonehenge in England

Temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Mount Rushmore in United States

Statue of Liberty in United States

Is this cool or what? I only post 5 photos obviously because I have to scan them. In fact in this place, there is more than 100 reproductions covering 5 continents. So I guess apart from being Gulliver for a day, if you can't afford to travel around the world, just go to China!

Location : Shenzhen, China

Date or travel : Way back

The royal waiting room

While I enjoyed very much the sun, sand, sea and spa of the Evason Resort in Hua Hin, something I gotta do is at least to check out the Hua Hin town. So, we booked a cab from Evason to Hua Hin for 5 hours (that cost us 800 baht) to bring us to town, wait for us and bring us back.

As Hua Hin is really a very small town, there is only ONE (1) so called tourist spot that you need to do the mandatory posing and photo shooting and that is the railway station. Yes, the railway station. I know, how pathetic right?

Hua Hin railway station is apparently one of oldest railway station in Thailand. Its most striking feature is the 'Royal Waiting Room' in Thai architectural.

The 'Royal Waiting Room' was built in the reign of King Rama VI in order to welcome the King and his entourage.

Oh yes, this very red little sign post is probably the most famous sign post in Hua Hin. You have to take a picture here to show you've been here. The little magnets sold all over the night market in Hua Hin Town is of this little red sign post. I mean they even build a similar sign post at the night market for people to take picture. At least we were at the original station to have this picture taken.

OK, I'm not sure of the bell but I thought 'bell' is important part of the railway station right?

While I'm here, I might as well get some artistic shot of the station and the train arrival. What do you think?

1. A local lady selling food to the passenger via the window

2. From Bangkok to Sg. Kolok

In summary, this train station is the attractive site in Hua Hin that you should never miss cause there is really only one attractive site in Hua Hin.

Location : Hua Hin, Thailand

Date of travel : October 2010

Sun, sand, sea, spa and sex!

Merely reading the title of this entry qualifies this to be 18SX right? OK, I'm just trying to be truthful and blog straight from the head you see. To prove my point and as a preview, I checked into a resort with a dreamy romantic bedroom setting like this ...

and then barely 10 feet away at a sort of private verandah, there's another day bed that looks like this ...

The bedroom is so comfy that the moment I saw the bed, I just wanna climb unto it and just lie down there and do nothing but sleep.

Anyway, let's get to the place shall we. Me and four of my other girl friends decided to take an all-girls trip to Hua Hin to celebrate one of our birthday. Whereabout is Hua Hin? Hua Hin is located south of Bangkok, approximately about 3 hours drive and if you're unlucky like us which happens to travel on a public holiday in Thailand, it is a 4-hour journey. By the time I reached Hua Hin after 2-hour flight and the 4-hour road trip, its almost evening. I guess that's why I'm so freaking tired and think of nothing except wanting to sleep.

We checked into the Evason Hua Hin Resort & Six Senses Spa. Bet you have heard of Evason right? Its like a chain of very reputable private resort and spa. I mean even the Brangelina bunch stay in Evason.


OK, here are some pictures of the beautiful resort.

These first three pictures are credited to my friend, Mimi who took exceptionally beautiful pictures.

The famous Six Senses Spa

The bright sun, the blue sky and the green palms ... bliss

A quaint little jewelry shop in the middle of the pond

Beautiful lotus all around to provide some flora element

A cosy library in the middle of the woods

A rustic back to nature set up all around the resort

A quirky signage keeping you update on the weather

Fresh lemonade keeping me hydrated in the sun

A night view of the pool

The Evason Resort is simply a fabulous place to getaway for a relaxing holiday. The whole concept is basically rustic and back to nature. Their lemongrass everything from drink to shampoo to lotion to food is simply spectacular. Never like Lemongrass that much.

The only set back I can think of for this resort is that it is located about 25 minutes away from Hua Hin town. So you have to grab a cab or shuttle bus to go to the town which simply means we only did it once during our 4 days there. So, there is really nothing much to do except to hog on a sun lounge and lie there whole day, reading my novel and sipping lemonade and go for a massage at their famous spa. And of course for those couples ... ehem ... (you know).

Ok, now let's head to the Evason beach shall we?

After looking at the beautiful beach at the Gulf of Thailand, I want share something that is totally weird and maybe funny. As beautiful and private Evason Resort is, the beach is totally public. What? Eeeewwwwww. In fact, there is a public road separating the resort pool area from the beach.

Look at the road and the view it provides straight to the pool area of the resort! I mean, can you imagine that you paid a 5-star price hoping to get a quiet and private lazy time, lounging around the pool in bikini only to find trucks and buses passes you by and people taking photos of you like you're some sort of a freaking monkey show. I kid you not!

The problem is I can't hate Evason for this as I heard there is a rule in Thailand that the resorts are not allowed to build all the way to the beach. Beach is for everyone. What kind of silly ruling is that right? OK, so it is not a private beach, but do they have to build a public road in front of the beach? I really can't understand.

Location : Hua Hin, Thailand

Next, The royal waiting room