Hong Kong - Day 6

final day in hong kong. 

we did not eat the hotel breakfast, because the price is ridiculously expensive at HKD268 per pax. 

our breakfast is bread and cakes and maggi mee and blueberries, that we bought the previous day at a supermarket. 

disney hollywood hotel provides shuttle service to the airport, at HKD50 per pax. 2 years old and below no need to pay. the journey is quite fast. we reach the airport in 15 min. 

our flight is at 350 pm and we reach the airport at 11 am. we were hoping that we can check in our luggage early so we can use the priority lounge. and yessss HKIA has the automated check in machine for SQ flights, and so we did all the check-in by ourselves and we are done in less than 5 min. really love this automated process. 

we did some more shopping of souvenirs. darling bought some pastries from 奇华. the queue was insane. when we cleared the immigration, there is also a 奇华 outlet, and the queue was insane as well. 

we went to the priority lounge, only to discover that it has upgraded to a more premium one, and you have to pay an additional HKD200 per pax if you want to use that lounge. the standard priority lounge is 10 metres away and when we reach the entrance, we were shocked by the long queue at the entrance, and there was already a crowd inside the lounge, getting their food. 

so i decided, go for the premium lounge, pay for the upgrade, because it has lesser people, more quiet, and we wanted yuanze to nap inside the lounge before we board the plane. 

and omg, we did not regret. the food inside the premium lounge is beyong AWESOME. 

firstly, you get a serving of this premium ham from iberico pork. 

and then we get to choose a main course from a menu. there were about 6 items in the menu, and both of us chose this Maine Lobster with Pasta. the waitress told us that it is a very popular item, and omg, how right she is. the pasta, drenched in lobster bisque sauce, was so so so so good. 

kids' meal for yuanze. mac n cheese, sweet potato fries and green peas. the mac and cheese like no need money. too much of it, and also a bit jelat. the sweet potato fries were good! 

other than the main course, you also get complimentary food items, for example fishball noodles, mexican wraps, salads, pastries. fruit juices are free flow as well, and they really blend the fruits into juice and serve it to you. 

they also gave us two free tumblers, so we can fill up the tumbler with the drink we want and bring them up to the plane. we used a tumbler to fill it up with warm milk for yuanze. 

thankfully yuanze did sleep inside the lounge, although it took quite some time for him to fall asleep. he slept for about 1.5 hour, and so he got very active on the plane, and also very bored, because the inflight entertainment is not enough to capture his attention for 4 hours of flight time. hahahaha. 

and then before we take off, the captain of the plane told us that we are stuck on the ground for about 25 min, because the air traffic is slightly congested. omg man. HKIA need to do something about this. 

so that's it for our hong kong trip!

i am thankful that i am able to travel with my parents again, after 9 years. 

i am thankful to explore sha tin and sai gung for the very first time. in the past it is always tsim sha tsui and mong kok. 

i am thankful that yuanze is totally ok on the plane. he is totally ok when the plane is taking off, and totally ok when the plane is going to land. 

i am thankful that darling also enjoyed the trip. looking forward to more trips together with you, and yuanze! 

the next destination will probably be japan, with my inlaws; or new zealand, with my parents and sisters! :)

Hong Kong - Day 5

day 5 of hong kong, we are going to disneyland!

i chose the Advance Purchase Room Offer package. hong kong disneyland website has alot of different room packages, so you just have to choose carefully to see which package suit your needs, as well as your budget. by choosing the advance purchase room offer package, i have 15% discount of the room booking and free upgrade from standard room to deluxe room. it cost HKD1785, which is around SGD318. pretty expensive for a hotel room, but the room actually can accomodate 4 pax. holiday inn costs SGD274 for a room. 

and of course you have to buy the disneyland tickets, which cost HKD619 per ticket, which cost about SGD105 per ticket. very very very expensive. if you have enough HKD and the rate that you change at the money changer is better, please pay using HKD, instead of using credit card, because credit card company will charge you with a lousier exchange rate. i changed my money very early this year, when i saw the news that HKD drop to an all time low, and i got a rate of 1SGD to 5.92HKD. 

i actually bought some groceries from a supermarket using my credit card at the automated machine (because the queue at the cashier was super long), and when i received my credit card bill, the exchange rate was 1SGD to 5.52HKD. aiyohhhhh. 

we check out of holiday inn at about 930 am, took a cab to disney hollywood hotel. the ride was about 30 min, and the price was HKD220, which is quite expensive, because there was a toll charge. 

disneyland hotels are always fully booked, so you can only get your rooms at 3 pm. so we did the check in first, placed our luggage with the concierge, and took the shuttle bus to disneyland. the shuttle bus frequency is quite fast. and the journey from the hotel to the disneyland resort is also quite fast, about 5 min journey. 

there were many firsts for yuanze. his first time going to hong kong disneyland (also our first time hahahaha). his first time taking the carousel. his first time taking the dumbo elephant ride. his first time watching the disney parades. 

anyway some tips for everyone:
- hong kong disneyland opens at 1030 am, and their last parade is at 8 pm (so plan your time accordingly)
- download the disneyland app. it is a very useful app, that acts like a gps, so you know where you are and which direction you should take to go to the different sectors. it also shows the waiting time of all the different rides. as well as what time and where are the shows starting. 
- it is good to stay in disneyland hotel, because you can watch the last show/parade at 8 pm, and then go back to your hotel. there were thousands of people walking towards the MTR station. omg i cannot imagine that. 
- hong kong disneyland's castle is undergoing renovation now, and will be completed in 2019. so in place of the show and the fireworks, there is a very awesome parade with very nice lightings. just think of the NUS RAG, with a few million dollars of budget. 

this is what i meant!

of course, yuanze enjoyed disneyland tremendously. he enjoyed the rides, enjoyed touching the toys, enjoyed watching the parades, enjoyed waving at all the disney characters, enjoyed the hotel room. 

i think i am blessed, to be able to see him enjoying himself so much, and also to have the ability to let him enjoy all these. 

can't wait for our next family trip together!

Hong Kong - Day 4

my mum requested to yum cha for breakfast. 

i came prepared! knew beforehand that there is a 稻香 near courtyard marriott hong kong. so off we go. 

walked to shek mun station, then take MTR to che kung temple station, and walked for about 10 min to 稻香. 

yessss here we are! thanks to google maps! we walked past a river, walked under flyovers (which i have always wanted to after seeing all the hong kong dramas) and here we are. darling commented that the invention of google map is the jinx of all travel agencies, and i fully agree. google map is just so amazing. 

luckily we went on a weekday. we reach there at about 9 am. got a table immediately. the restaurant was crowded, especially with the elderly. the vibes here is similar to the branch at tsim sha tsui. glad to be able to bring my parents to an old sch dim sum place in hong kong, which they had never been to before. the food is still good, and also affordable, just that there are lesser items on the menu. 

after 稻香 we went back to our hotel to pack our stuff. papa and mama will be going to the airport to take the plane back to singapore. the three of us will be going to holiday inn golden mile to check in, and also do all our shopping at tsim sha tsui. we never shop at all for the past 3 days and today is meant to be our shopping day. 

so for the remaining of day 4 in tsim sha tsui, i will do it in point form:

- got a room upgrade at holiday inn 
- had lunch at ichiran. yes ichiran! it is only 3 min walk away from holiday inn. we waited in the queue for about 10 min before being seated in the restaurant. 
- bought atas cookies at this cookie shop in the K11 shopping mall basement (tried something else because jenny bakery is overhyped)
- shopped at isquare, and our favourite shop is Log-On, that sells very nice stuff
- bought 2 slices of Lady M crepe cakes, charcoal flavour and rose flavour, cost HKD75 per slice, which is about SGD12. so expensive!! is singapore one also that expensive?!
- check out the christmas lighting around tsim sha tsui. so pretty!! 

we also concluded that, tsim sha tsui is not as cold as sha tin. probably because tsim sha tsui is full of people and buildings and car vehicles and exhaust smoke, that make the temperature warmer. 

that's it for day 4. 

tomorrow we are going to disneyland!!

Hong Kong - Day 3

let me recall how many times i had been to hong kong. 

my first trip to hong kong was in december 2018, with my army friends, leow and mak. 

second trip to hong kong was in 2010, with my nuscd friends, xuehong, nzj and hanwei. it was a long trip for us. before hong kong, we were at shang hai (for the world expo) and shen zhen. will aways remember the tagline of the shang hai world expo,  which is Better City, Better Life. unfortunately, the time we spent there, made us ponder on the tagline. and we think it should be Better City, Better Life??!! so anyway, my second time to hong kong, xuehong and nzj introduced me to satay king and 稻香 (a old school dim sum restaurant). i was blown away. from then on, this 2 eating places will always be a must go whenever i go to hong kong. 

third trip to hong kong was in june 2011. a solo trip. it was my first time taking aeroplane on my own. and my first time staying at a hotel on my own. during that time i was the artistic director for the workplace's 25th anniversary concert, and i felt that i need a break from all those countless rehearsals. anyway it was not really a solo trip because i still meet up with xuehong and nzj over there (they flew to hong kong a day earlier than me), and of course, we went to our usual eating places, satay king and 稻香.

and so i was quite familiar with hong kong already. the 4th trip to hong kong was in december 2012, together with darling. we went to macau and hong kong. we watched the house of dancing water at macau. one of the most impressive and spectacular performances i have ever watched. we stayed at galaxy hotel at macau, also one of the grandest hotel i have ever stayed at. in hong kong we stayed at this cosy airbnb apartment at yau ma tei. of course i brought darling to satay king and 稻香, and she enjoyed the food there too. 

in november 2014 i was supposed to bring students to hong kong for a performing arts trip. unfortunately, the trip got cancelled because of the yellow umbrella revolution in hong kong. to make up for that disappointment, i went there in december 2014, with darling, and her family. we also went to macau. stayed at this hotel that got an Emperor name, unfortunately that hotel is nowhere near the standard of Galaxy. in hong kong we stayed at a airbnb apartment in mong kok, and the lift is damn old school, where you need to manually open the door of the lift and also close the door of the lift. my FIL took the lift for that very first time and got so traumatised. and again, we went to satay king and 稻香. FIL love the food at satay king so much and he requested to go there to eat again the next day. 

this trip is my 6th trip to hong kong. in a span of 10 years, i have actually been here 6 times. 

ok now let's go on with day 3. 

in the morning we went to sai kung. it was my first time here. darling's first time here as well. my parents' first time here too. and we love the place. we love the sea, the boats on the sea. very scenic, very picturesque. yuanze love the place so much that he fell asleep on the bus journey to sai kung, and when we alighted the bus, he still continue sleeping in my father's arms for another 45 min. 

see what i mean? yuanze still sleeping in my father's arms. hahahaha. 

photo credit: my mum

yessss finally a group photo! :)

sai kung is quite a touristy area. and there are many seafood restaurants. and other eateries as well. you can google the famous seafood restaurants. so being typical tourists, we also had lunch at one of these seafood restaurants. my memory is getting worse and i cant remember the name of the restaurant. hahahaha. we ordered the seafood set for 4 pax, which cost HKD238 per pax, which is about SGD40 per pax. consist of a chicken corn soup, lobster with noodles, steam fish, crab stir fried with spring onion and ginger, steam scallop with garlic and vermicelli and a vege dish. 

after sai kung, we went to tsim sha tsui and mong kok. we were shocked by the HUGE crowd. everywhere is filled with people. it was so crowded that we dun dare to hold yuanze's hand to walk. me and my father took turns to carry yuanze. 

went to satay king for dinner. i miss the satay soup vermicelli and the pork chop in white curry rice so much!!! so happy to be back here again!

and that's it for day 3. it is the last night for my parents. they will be flying back to singapore the next day. 

Hong Kong - Day 2

we discovered that Auberge Discovery Bay has a Kids' Club, while we were exploring the hotel after eating breakfast. 

the Kids' Club is amazing. there was a playground, a bowling machine, 2 bball machines, a table tennis table, a pool table, as well as a piano. 

yuanze went crazy at the Kids' Club, and didn't even want to leave. :p

the famous monument at Discovery Bay for couples to hold their wedding. 

thank god for good weather in the morning! when we reached Hong Kong yesterday it was drizzling. today was clear sky. 

yesterday during check-in, i asked the staff how should i get to sha tin from auberge discovery bay. he recommended us to take the MTR, because the car journey is quite long. darling gets nausea easily when taking rides on the taxi, especially those very aggressive taxi drivers who brake very aggressively. i checked google maps. if take taxi, it will be around 40 min journey. if take public transport, it will be around 1 hr 37 min. the siong part about taking public transport is that we have to change train 4 times, and we are bringing yuanze, together with all our luggage. so i checked with my parents whether are they ok to take public transport, and they are ok with it. 

Auberge Discovery Bay provides complimentary shuttle service to Disneyland Resort, as well as to Sunny Bay MTR station. 

So let me share what was our route from Auberge Discovery Bay, to Courtyard Marriott Sha Tin. 

From Auberge Discovery Bay we took the shuttle bus to Sunny Bay MTR. 
Sunny Bay MTR take train to Lai King MTR (tung chung line). 
At Lai King MTR, alight and change to Tsuen Wan line, towards Prince Edward MTR. 
At Prince Edward MTR, alight and change to Kwun Tung line, towards Kowloon Tong MTR. 
At Kowloon Tong MTR, alight and change to East Rail line, towards Tai Wai MTR. 
At Tai Wai MTR, alight and change to Ma On Shan line, towards Shek Mun MTR. 
From Shek Mun MTR, walk 450 m to Courtyard Marriott Sha Tin. 

google maps really very accurate. we took the 10 am shuttle bus from Auberge. And we reach Courtyard Marriott Sha Tin at 1137 am. OMG!!! 

courtyard marriott sha tin is really a very nice, high class hotel. darling and i went to courtyard marriott at Boston, and both of us agree that courtyard marriott sha tin is more grand and more high class than courtyard boston. 

courtyard marriott also provides free complimentary shuttle service to 3 places: new town plaza (next to sha tin MTR station), kowloon station, and tsim sha tsui. 

shek mun MTR station nearby also has alot of eateries. after checking in, we went to Dim Sum Deluxe for lunch, a place that i found on google maps. the food at Dim Sum Deluxe is not bad, and the chefs all look very young. just that the restaurant itself is too small, and can only seat about 20 people. order their scallop dumpling with XO sauce! it was really good that my parents wanted to have more. 

our next destination was new town plaza, a very big shopping mall. and there were too many many many many people. so we just went to this snoopy exhibition at new town plaza, and went to Tai Wai MTR station to find a dinner place. 

and this concludes Day 2!

Hong Kong - Day 1

our hong kong trip was from 7 dec to 12 dec. my parents joined us for the trip as well, but they flew back to singapore on 10 dec. 

the initial plan was that all of us fly back on 10 dec, because my parents have used up most of their leave. so based on that plan, we decided to book a disneyland hotel on 7 dec, and then bring yuanze to disneyland on 8 dec and spend almost half a day there, while my parents go to somewhere else. and unfortunately i went to the disneyland website to book a hotel, and to my dismay, there were no bookings available. i did the booking very early, which was in late march. and so i went to book a hotel that is quite near disneyland, that is Auberge Discovery Bay, and the hotel itself provides shuttle service to disneyland. 

and then when i chatted with a colleague, he told me he will be going to disneyland in june. then i told him i was unable to make any booking for a hotel room in dec. and he told me that i was too early. disneyland only open the rooms for booking 6 months in advance. HAHAHAHAHA. 

for Auberge Discovery Bay, i booked it at a very good price. i booked 2 rooms, facing the ocean, with breakfast included, at 259 dollars per room. and because it was at such a good price, there was no free cancellation. 

then i started to think, i finally get to travel overseas with my parents. the last time i went overseas with them was in 2009, to turkey. i have not travelled overseas with them for 9 years. and of course i want to spend as much time together with them as possible. and yuanze is going too, of course they will want to bond with their grandson. after discussing with darling, we decided to extend our trip by 2 more nights. so that we can spend one full day in disneyland. 

for this trip, we stayed at 4 different hotels. LOL. 

7 dec - auberge discovery bay

8 dec and 9 dec - courtyard marriott sha tin

10 dec - holiday inn golden mile

11 dec - disney hollywood hotel

let me first talk about the check-in procedure at changi airport. if you are taking SQ, everything is automated. no need to queue like for the longest time ever just to get your boarding passes and check in your luggage. once you arrive at the airport, you go to this automated machine, you scan your own passports, collect your own boarding passes, and also collect your own baggage tags. the baggage tag itself has instructions to teach you how to put it on your luggage. if you have difficulty, the airport staff will go to you and help you. so once you have collected your boarding passes, and you have put the luggage tags on your check-in luggage, then you go to the automated luggage counter. same thing, you do it all by yourself, and if you got any difficulty, the airport staff will go to you and help you. the whole process took me 10 minutes. so fast, so efficent, i am impressed. 

and so coincidental that at our boarding gate, there was like a damn stringent security process. after our hand carry bags got scanned by the detector, we still have to bring the hand carry bags to a security officer to let him personally check again. and he also wants to see our the home screen of our handphones. we thought that there was some big shot taking the same flight as us, probably a Minister or what. then when i asked one of the airport staff, she told me this was a security exercise. 

and yessss we are on board the plane! 

bought an air hammock for yuanze, also known as Fly Legs Up. with the air hammock, yuanze can sleep comfortably on the plane. and thankfully, he did sleep on the plane, for about an hour. it is a good investment! please buy it if you are bringing toddlers or young kids onboard flights. especially if it is a long distance flight. 

i really enjoyed the service from our cabin crew. once on the plane, the air stewardess gave yuanze a specialised headphone (for kids). and i love the inflight entertainment system. the screen is quite big, and it is touch screen. no need for remote control. very easy to use, very easy to navigate, even yuanze knows how to use it. he enjoyed the inflight entertainment as well, and watched cartoons such as disney cartoons and super wings. i watched antman and the wasp. 

and then as we were about to reach hong kong, the captain of the plane told us that we need to stay up in the sky for about 25 minutes more, because the air traffic at hong kong international airport was slightly congested. zzzzz... 

ok so fast forward to we touched down, cleared immigration, collected our luggage, and took a cab to Auberge Discovery Bay. the staff offered to upgrade us to a 2 bedroom suite, that is facing the ocean. OMG how lucky we are. later on i went to check the price of the 2 bedroom suite. it cost 955 dollars per night!!! wah we really 赚到. 2 bedroom suite was really good, because we can all stay together in a room, and yuanze really had lots of fun running around the suite. and the scenery from our room was really breathtaking. 

there is a shopping plaza just outside the hotel, called DB North Plaza. there's a few restaurants, a wellcome supermarket, a kids' indoor theme park, and a starbucks cafe to get your coffee fix. 

we had dinner at Gilmore's, that serves western cuisine. the service by the staff was very good. he gave yuanze colour pencils to colour on a drawing while we were waiting for the food to arrive. and here's my dad showing yuanze how to hold a pencil correctly. :)

after dinner we went to wellcome to buy some groceries. they have this car + trolley thingy. yuanze really loves it! we bought cup noodles, bubble bath lotion for yuanze to play in the hotel room bath tub, as well as some fruits (so that all of us can shit well the next day hahahahaha). 

yuanze totally loves the hotel suite. 

and that's it for day 1!