Hong Kong 2010

This year seemed to be a long year. We've worked really hard and we thought we'd deserve a good break. As we did not really make plans to go anywhere (tho' there were some talks of doing a road trip to Penange, which didn't materialise), hubby looked around for somewhere to go and chanced upon a great deal on Jetstar Asia. And thus, a late booking and off we went to Hong Kong!

The last time we went to Hong Kong was in 2008, and it was only a short 2 day transit on the way back to Singapore from Shanghai. On that trip, we didn't do much, except for some shopping and eating. 5 days (12-16 December) in Hong Kong this time around meant that we could do some sight-seeing.

We arrived in Hong Kong at about lunch time. After dropping the luggage off at the hotel, we set out to look for food. The first meal we ate had to be at Cafe de Coral. That's like Hubb's favourite place in HK. He simply loves the Pork Chop Baked Rice.

The boys had loads of fun taking the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour almost everyday. It was definitely a cheap and good fun. They enjoyed the breeze and looking at other ships out at sea.

This time around, we did some touristy stuff like going on the cable car ride at Ngong Ping 360 and also took The Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak.

On our cable car ride across to Lantau Island, we met with a fog and it was so misty and foggy that the cable had to stop moving for about 5 minutes! We were left dangling on the cable. It actually felt a little scary initially, but when we looked down, we realised that we were actually very near the ground as we were just above the slopes of the mountain! :P

Super misty halfway across to Lantau island

View from the cable car

The boys enjoying their cable car ride.

 And we definitely had to visit Disneyland Hong Kong this time around. In 2008, we brought the boys to the entrance, took some photos and we left! :P This time around, we spent a fantastic one day in the park. The park is rather small and most of their rides are really for small kiddos like them. It is suitable for the boys, for older children (like ourselves!!), there was really nothing much for us there.

Look! We've got Donald with us!!

The favourite Disney character for the day has to be Buzz Lightyear. They enjoyed Astroblasters immensely and went up on it umpteen times! They also took photos with Buzz whenever the opportunity arises.

Last but not least, some photos of the yummy food in HK:

Roast duck @ Fuk Yuen (Mongkok)

Tau Huay (竹筒豆花) in a barrel at the dimsum place near the hotel

Super yummy spring rolls at the same dim sum place

Did I mention we flew Jetstar? It seems that at the Hong Kong Airport, Jetstar does not have a walkway for passengers to embark and disembark. We arrived in Hong Kong and disembarked on the tarmac, we left Hong Kong the same way! However, the day we left, the temperature was a freezing 8 degrees celsius! The wind was blowing and it was really, really cold! It took some time for everyone to walk up the steps into the plane, so much so that Kieran actually had the chance to pop into the cockpit for a chat with the pilots! However, I must say that the service on Jetstar is really pretty good. Very friendly and helpful flight attendants. It's just that the plane itself is rather old and doesn't seem to be cleaned well (you see crumbs when you lift up the hand rests) and the toilet really smells. The seats were really quite cramp too. My knees almost touched the seats in front of me and I am not really very tall. Maybe it's just the planes for the Asia are smaller? We were not allowed to bring food up the plane, but they didn't really check as the boys brought 1 pack of cereal each in their backpacks. I think they are quite ok with children's snacks. Even then, the food on the plane is not too expensive either. I saw on the menu that a portion of chicken rice was about $8, although it is not standard-sized portion but it's pretty decent. I think it is fine to fly budget on a short 3-4 hour flight, but I really wonder how it will be on their new 11 hour flight to NZ??!!

Look at my crazy wind-blown hair!

As usual, our seasoned frequent flyers are just so comfortable in the plane! The small one knocked out and was asleep a little while after take-off! :D

Watching Jaws on the iPad

Munching on his snacks

It was almost 1am by the time we touched down at Changi Airport and collected our bags. The boys missed their toys so much that they immediately started playing with their toys when the got through the door! They were energised by the nap they took on the plane itself! It's the poor mum and dad that are darn tired! :P The next morning, we literally left the boys to their own devices while we slept in for another 2 hours or so!! :P Still, we look forward to our next trip out of Singapore!! :P