2011 na xie nian na ge nian(those years,that years) has been an enjoyable year. Started 2011 with a rather 'bad' situation & ended 2011 on a rather good footing! Academically & socially, at the start of 2011 was a pretty bad times, however as the year passes by it slowly improves to what it is today. Anyway this post is not meant to be a long one so I shall just do a quick recap of what I did,achieve,lost,etc.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 PEOPLE & HOPE YOUR 2012 is a better year than previous years!
What A Year For Me:
1. Went to club for the 1st time (MOS in April)
2. Got an new Dell laptop in Feb
3. Got a HTC Desire S in late June
4. Lost the said no.3 early October
5. Got an iPod Touch mid December
6. Won $300 from various contests
7. Still havent got my L upgraded to P as Im driving-NOOB LOOL!
8. Went to Hongkong,Macau & China for the 1st time (hope to go again,lots more to explore)
9. Still SINGLE(any takers haha)
10. Went to Casino de Genting for the 1st time & 'chased out' coz I tried to claim my winnings Yikes!
11. Make friends with JX,Tommy & Chris, others
12. Watched more movie than any other years(Best Movie of the Year:Na Xie Nian)
13. THANK GOD IM BLESSED WITH A GOOD YEAR
Thats All Folks Not A Lot Eh!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
My 7-11 Holiday
11days, 2 Special Administrative Region,1 China,6 hotels, this is the story of my holiday in Hongkong,Macau & China starting 27Nov til 7Dec.Thus known as 7-11 Holiday!
27Nov
1st time onboard Royal Brunei 'new' 777, leased from Singapore Airlines.One of the flight attendant onboard the flight was my ex-classmate from SMSA, Khairul Azri. The food,crew & Skyshow was ok.However a bit disappointed that the seats are ex SIA & RBA didnt retrofitted it with its signature yellow seats.Flight time was just 2h 30min,and arrived on time at Hongkong.
Nice view of Hongkong upon descend, and only to be greeted with a very very long queue at the immigration checkpoint,took more than 1hr to clear,no thanks to the flight arriving the same time with a few other flights! Baggage was already out quite a while,after we cleared immigration. After that proceed to Airport Express counter to buy ticket for train to city,HK$190 for 3 tickets (special promo), takes only around 20min! Oh yeah, the train have free wifi but its epic FAIL!
Arrived at Kowloon station conveniently located below International Commerce Centre & was ferried to the hotel,Holiday Inn Golden Mile by the free shuttle bus.The hotel was conveniently located at Nathan Road, many shops around! After checkin,time for a little 'walk'!
Since I read in Basic House website, they have a branch at Miramar Shopping Centre, walked there.Find the whole mall for it but NON! Instead, shopped at MUJI for refillable inks haha! LOL! Dinner was at a dai pai tong (or a small cafe/restaurant if you like to call it).Price was around HK$30(RM$12 or B$5), however portions are huge! After dinner,went to buy a prepaid card for surfing as I cant live without my internet haha! Costs $98 with $98 value, and charges is $2/mb with maximum charge of $28/day.
After resting for a while,went to Granville Road for some 'rejected clothes' shopping! On the way,stop by at a few phone shops to check out the phone price.It seems at big stores like Fortress prices are clearly shown but its expensive,even more expensive than prices here.However in smaller shops you can bargain, but those shopkeepers dont like it if you say 'JUST WANT TO SEE', have to say 'WANT TO BUY', eventhough you dont want to buy! For example, in a small shop Samsung Galaxy Ace was $1500 after discount
Also stopped by at Sasa, which I would highly recommend if you want to get perfumes or cosmetics products at a much lower price! Bought a few mini perfumes, then walked down to Granville Road!Bought a T-shirt that costs $70 & at a recommendation of a friend tried Hongkong Gongcha, I must say the cup size is bigger than Malaysia but cheaper than Malaysia!
28Nov
Went for my 'morning walk' aka get free newspaper & buy newspaper! HK free newspaper market is very vibrant with about 4-5 Chinese newspapers being distributed at MTR stations, and also the only FREE English newspaper in HK, The Standard, and in some areas China Daily HK edition is also given out! Of course, I also bought a $8 'redesigned' SCMP, one of Asia most well known English paper
Breakfast again was at dai pai tong, ate some dim sum,wantan mee & porridge! After breakfast, ready to depart to Macau! Ferry terminal was at China Ferry Terminal which is adjoined to China HK City, which got a lot of outlet stores like Esprit Outlet. Ferry was at 12pm & ticket costs $150 for a 1hr trip on board Cotaijet to Taipa.This is the nearest place to Cotai where all the nice 'IR' or if you like to call it casinos are located hehe! Before departure,went for some shopping at Esprit Outlet,bought a T for $129 UP $259!
Macau immigration again the line was long but it move smoothly! Oh yes, the ferry terminal was next to Macau Airport.And in Macau you can see a lot of signboards/building names in Portugese, which makes Macau unique!
In Macau, you do not have to worry much about transportation as those IRs provide shuttle bus to the city,airport,ferry terminal,border,etc etc. For 1st night in Macau, stayed at Venetian Macao Resort in a Bella Suite! Very big room,2 TV(1 colour,1 LCD),very luxurious indeed! Went for lunch downtown Macau which is a mere 20min by shuttle bus! Wanted to eat local Macau food but ended up eating some charsiew rice in a 'Water Cube like' casino named Oceanus. As usual portions was HUGE! After lunch went to Macau Tower or Torre de Macau.Ticket was $120 to go up the tower! Oh yeah HK dollar & Macau pataca is par just like B$ & S$. Can see the view of Macau from level 58 observation deck, but went up higher to level 61 where all the 'fun' is.Why stay on the edge when you can jump, WELCOME TO AJ HACKETT MACAU! Guiness Record certified World Highest Commercial Bungee Jump. They provide a X Walk,which lets you to walk outside (if inda takut),bungee jump & a slow drop
After all the photo snap, went to City of Dreams as my dad wanted to watch House of Dancing Water, a world famous $2b production.Unfortunately all the tickets was sold out.So took pictures around City of Dreams, including pictures of all the beautiful ladies standing here & there welcoming you for photo & also with a 'mermaid', in a virtual aquarium named Vquarium! Dinner was at Taste of Asia foodcourt Galaxy Macau, another IR/casino. Took pictures of Gingerbreadman Xmas deco(I miss my Gingerbread android htc phone), and also the colourful 'lucky crystal'. After that return to Venetian, for the gondola ride at Grand Canal Shoppes.A boat ride inside a manmade canal modeled after Venice cost $118, but I think its worth it with the gondolier sing for you,joke with you,get to know you better,etc! Oh yeah, did I also mention that in Venetian everyday is a blue sky day no rain haha (painting do the trick). May I suggest those that are dating to bring your partner here, as its a romantic place, on the day I went on the ride, a guy proposed to his girlfriend,in the gondola!
29Nov
Went to Venetian casino,only to end up having no luck & 'the flying lion' gracefully telan few hundred HKD!After delivering the bags to the concierge of the hotel (we are changing hotel),Hard Rock Hotel City of Dreams,we are off to the citycentre for some sightseeing on the IR shuttle bus. Before that,had breakfast at City of Dreams foodcourt,similar portions huge pricing almost similar everywhere!1st stop in sightseeing is Ruins of St Paul, however we got lost on the way there.Seeing 'clueless tourist look', the policeman approached us & we told him we wanted to go the Ruins.He then gave the directions. After Ruins, its some local product shopping aka Macau famous almond biscuits,eggrolls,etc! Then passby Senado Square & went for some 'window shopping' at New Yaohan before returning for hotel checkin
This time around the room was huge too, a Corner Suite.Interestingly tempat mandi di 1 side,cubicle in another side haha.Even better this room got 2 LG LCD TV!No need to rebut TV with my dad haha!After some rest,went to watch another show of COD,Dragon Treasure of which we as hotel guests get to redeem free tickets worth $30 each.This show was a 3D show,I would encourage you to watch it,after all its only $30!At night went to COD casino & my dad was lucky to win back monies telan by 'flying lion'. I guess the Dragon Treasure show about unleashing your fortune really helps haha
30Nov
Breakfast was at McD as foodcourt havent open yet. McD here is quite pricey as they dont have McValue breakfast like here.Today crossed the border to China(Zhuhai). Nearly got 'conned' I guess while going to Guangzhou,but after a while managed to find the 'correct channel' to Guangzhou aka CTS bus.The bus ride took about 2hr.Reached Guangzhou, only to end up with a taxi driver who said 'yes yes i know' & brought us to the wrong hotel with the same brand! LOL! Oh yes,1 interesting thing is China taxi driver dont help you to place your luggage in the car boot!He brought us to Holiday Inn Guangzhou City Centre instead of the correct Holiday Inn Guangzhou Shifu! Next time if you come to China write your destination name in Chinese!
This hotel is unique as the lobby is on the 4th floor & what is nice is this hotel is located near Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Shopping District. 1 unique feature of this street,is every few shops you will see the same brand shop again! Lunch is at KFC.KFC here is different from those here, as they sell other different items not available here like chicken wings & also rice with mushroom sauce chicken to name a few. Entered a Yishion (similar to Esprit) store only to look but end up buying a $139(rm$70/B$24) T-shirt under the range Yishion Teebox.Got a free cube calendar as free gift!Oh yeah mind you China was freeaking COLD!
1Dec
Today is a disaster as our Chinese yuan are running low & went to a few banks to ask about exchanging our RM/S$ but many of them said sorry USD ONLY! Finally found Bank of China that can exchange S$.After that,proceed to Chimelong Resort. Its something like A Famosa Resort Malacca with its hotel,circus,zoo & amusement park! Went to the Xiangjiang Safari Park, entrance was Y$180 (Rm$90/S$36).The main attraction was white tiger,Australia natives such as koala & kangaroo & as well as 'China treasure', panda!There was also a few animals shows such as African animals,tiger show,parrot talking(apparently the parrot wasnt in a mood to talk right that day) & bear playing basketball. Lunch was pretty affordable considering the portion of chicken & udon noodle was huge at a price of Y$38(about B$6), with a small cup of orange drink.
After the zoo,went to Canton Tower.The tallest building in Guangzhou completed last year,just in time for Asian Games.A few category of ticket with the cheapest Y$50 & most expensive Y$150, and the price depends on how high up you want to go.We only went up till 162m! After the tower,went back to the hotel.I quickly went to buy a pair of shoes as my shoes tapak had already fallen apart. 1st stop, went to Yishion & saw a nice one at Y$168. At first,didnt want to buy coz it was a bit overpriced,but mum said just buy. This end up to be a wrong decision as got an 'earful' from my dad!
Last night in Guangzhou,dinner was in a famous restaurant that was advertised in the tourist guidemap! Next day, went to Shenzhen, the famous 'shopping heaven' city for Malaysians & Bruneians alike
2Dec
Travelled to Shenzhen via train,only takes 1hr in a train that travels at 160 km/h (Luckily not steam train haha). Costs y$100 for a 1st class ticket (woot), actually I think there are cheaper tickets but they want to earn more tourists money(passport required). Depart from Guangzhou around 11.20, and reached Shenzhen Luohu around 12.30. Arrived there to find another 'deadlock', asked a few taxi driver to drive us to the hotel but most of them dont know.Finally, I got help from a Ctrip staff to write the hotel name in Chinese! Finally they knew it LOL!
Our hotel was in Nanshan district, near some technological science park! The hotel was Holiday Inn Shenzhen Donghua, this time around my dad booked a Executive Suite yo! Priced at Y$833++ (about S$165++). Since its too early to check-in,went for lunch nearby. After lunch,its time to checkin.Oh yeah,another thing about hotel workers in China they all have English names like Chris,Daniel,etc etc. The room was a bit small for a suite,but there is free wired internet,free certain minibar items like juice,coke,China beer,water,nuts,Snickers, free laundry,free breakfast,free newspaper daily,etc!Worth the extra $$$ paid for extra perks! I did knew that Facebook & Twitter dont work in China,but using this hotel connection it did work!
After some rest,went out again nearby to Haiya Dept Store!Again I saw Basic house,but LADIES!Oh yeah, I even saw a brand named Harry Potter!Argh!Saw on the hotel guidebook there is a JUSCO nearby,but cant find it after walking for some time till saw some weird dark lights from some kind of tunnel.Walked to there & smack JUSCO was there! Had dinner at Coastal City shopping complex there & went into Uniqlo! Oh yeah for your info, that weird 'tunnel' was Shenzhen Bay Boulevard. Bought some bread for breakfast at Breadtalk,pricing similar to Singapore! Oh yeah went also to a big electronics to check out the phone price.1 word NO CHEAP! And interestingly, HTC phones there are sold not as Desire S,Chacha etc but their codes like A123 something! Even more interesting, there are Sharp phones,not cheap but wonder why they arent any around here!
3Dec
Travelled by Shenzhen Metro to Window of the World. This is a place where there are mini scale figures of famous places like Eiffel Tower,Egypt Pyramid,etc. There are also various reasonably priced rides such as Colorado Springs boatride,etc etc! This time around wanted to go OCT East but its simply too far & we dont have time for it, SO SAVE IT FOR NEXT TIME. At night, since we would be going back to Hongkong tomorrow, went shopping at JUSCO for some unique snacks
4Dec
Travelled to Hongkong in a private car,around RMB200/person(B$40), crossed the Shenzhen Bay border. Arrived at Hongkong Airport(wait belum mau balik lagi), and travelled by taxi to Hongkong Disneyland! Again its TOO EARLY to check in!
Travelled by very colourful (Mickey & Friends,toystory painted) shuttle bus to Disneyland Public transport interchange where the bus and MTR station of Disneyland Resort are located. The MTR station was modeled as an ancient train station.Disneyland Resort line is served by its specially designed MTR trains with Mickey,Donald,etc figurines in the train,specially designed Mickey ears handrails,sofas,etc. And the announcement in the train are also special, Have A Magical Day! Oh I almost forgot to tell you about our destination, Citygate Outlets.
Citygate Outlets is like China HK city that I went before just its bigger with more brand outlet shops such as Calvin klein,DKNY,etc. Lunch was in Food Republic, a foodcourt there. Dinner was also here as food in Disneyland was far too expensive. Nearby, there is another attraction, Ngong Ping 360 (Big Buddha).To get up there, you either take a cable car or bus! If you want to take the cable car I suggest that you buy in advance, so that you dont queue like us for a long time til a bus company people came and said 'Its better to use bus rather than queue up for ages'. Its a 40min ride by bus or 25min by cable car(not inclusive of queue time, LOL!). The climb to Big Buddha was a very tiring climb, but my dad said that the stairs are less than Batu Caves!
It was at here that I checked my Facebook and saw someone posting about their results.Anxiously,went to check my results and was kinda surprised that I did pretty well.On the other hand, some people were in a distress mode over their result! Before going downhill, had taufa made from spring water that makes it special & at only $10 a bowl (around $1.7) its worth trying
Return back to Holloywood Hotel Disneyland for checkin. The room was pretty basic! Again no free inroom internet, however there is free wireless at the lobby which I used to chat with my friends about their results. The best thing about the room,you can take everything when you check out (except TV,phone,towel,fridge,safe deposit box,mattress,etc) including the very nice Toystory room card! Oh yeah, the elevator in the hotel can 'speak', you can hear Mickey & Minnie sound & laughter!
5Dec
This is the most exciting day as Im going into Hongkong Disneyland! Mickey here I come! The latest attraction is Toystory Land, where I went for the parachute ride.Wanted to go for the 'dog chase its tail ride',but after another thot maybe not nanti pening over!Went for 2 shows like Mickey Orchestra as well as Space Control Centre to have fun with Experiment 626 aka Stitch.Went to Tomorrowland to ride electric car in the highway of the future, and last but not least ride the jungle boatride where you can see 'angry daddy elephant spray water into the boat', 'fire', 'sudden waterfall'.Oh yeah n visited Tarzan Treehouse & went for the Small Beautiful World boatride. Food & drink in Disneyland was rather expensive, and not to mention the souvenirs too! I am 20 years old and this is the 1st time I stepped my foot in Disneyland, while some kids are lucky only few years old can already proclaim I HAVE BEEN TO MICKEY HOUSE! The highlight of the day was the 3.30pm parade!I almost forget we also went for the Main Street Railroad train ride
After watching the parade,we make our move on MTR to downtown Hongkong. Stayed at InterContinental Grand Stanford, another IHG group hotels. Got upgraded to a nicer room,but again no free internet, who cares when you have a 3 Prepaid card to surf. (Ran out of credit,search frantically for a topup coupon). Very elegant room,greeted with chocolates on the bed! Dinner was at Cafe De Coral, one of the cafe promoted in our tourist pamphlets.
6Dec
Today is a PRETTY LONG DAY! 1st stop,breakfast at SOGO foodcourt. Next up,went to the nearby Avenue of Stars which is pretty much like Holloywood Walk of Fame with the handprints of artists. Then,went to CTS to buy discounted The Peak tickets. Then, off we go on the MTR by buying a 1day Tourist Pass that cost $55 which proves to be a wrong choice as we didnt travel as much as expected!
The Peak is on the other side aka Hongkong Island. To reach the tram station from the nearest MTR, its quite a uphill walk to its Lower Garden Tram Terminus. Uphill on The Peak, there is a building The Peak Centre which is like sort of a mall & at its highest point there is a Sky Terrace where you can have a good view of Hongkong assuming that the fog/pollution is not that bad! Oh yeah, there is also a heart shaped structure where you can openly proclaim your love to your 'other half' Also in The Peak was Madam Tussad Hongkong, where you can meet Jay Chou, the hot Robert Pattinson the vampire,President Obama but 'in figurine form'. Lunch was at Hongkong Day a cafe in there, got special privileges aka my cup of milk tea was free & I must say the cup is very nice, wanted to 'kidnap' it back (joking). After that bought some souvenirs at 'wholesale price'
After The Peak,next stop is the Golden Bauhinia Square in wanchai aka Hongkong Exhibition Centre. From the picture, it look so big but its so small in real haha! Next stop,a shopper paradise Causeway Bay! Times Square had a very nice Barbie inspired Xmas deco! Times Square OMg! Its a very very high mall as in ada banyak tingkat, and so it have express escalators that 'jumped floor'. Went to Page 1 in Level 9(yikes, but I used lift) & bought a copy of Reader Digest,after conversion was around $6 only. Next stop, went for some 'look' at SOGO Hennessy Road before going for dinner in MX Maxims.
Last item for the night was to watch the Symphony of Lights which is held every night where about 40 building in both sides of Hongkong will 'perform' aka flash its colourful lights/rays. After watching the show, went to the nearby Sasa to buy Chris's perfume. Strongly suggest you all visit Sasa for cheaper perfumes & cosmetics that in Malaysia or HK department store.
7Dec
Time to balik Brunei! Last minute shopping at Hongkong Airport & price were same like downtown! Bought some cakes & biscuits from Kee Wah Bakery, a famous bakery in Hongkong
That's it folks sorry no pictures! Sorry if you find it too boring
27Nov
1st time onboard Royal Brunei 'new' 777, leased from Singapore Airlines.One of the flight attendant onboard the flight was my ex-classmate from SMSA, Khairul Azri. The food,crew & Skyshow was ok.However a bit disappointed that the seats are ex SIA & RBA didnt retrofitted it with its signature yellow seats.Flight time was just 2h 30min,and arrived on time at Hongkong.
Nice view of Hongkong upon descend, and only to be greeted with a very very long queue at the immigration checkpoint,took more than 1hr to clear,no thanks to the flight arriving the same time with a few other flights! Baggage was already out quite a while,after we cleared immigration. After that proceed to Airport Express counter to buy ticket for train to city,HK$190 for 3 tickets (special promo), takes only around 20min! Oh yeah, the train have free wifi but its epic FAIL!
Arrived at Kowloon station conveniently located below International Commerce Centre & was ferried to the hotel,Holiday Inn Golden Mile by the free shuttle bus.The hotel was conveniently located at Nathan Road, many shops around! After checkin,time for a little 'walk'!
Since I read in Basic House website, they have a branch at Miramar Shopping Centre, walked there.Find the whole mall for it but NON! Instead, shopped at MUJI for refillable inks haha! LOL! Dinner was at a dai pai tong (or a small cafe/restaurant if you like to call it).Price was around HK$30(RM$12 or B$5), however portions are huge! After dinner,went to buy a prepaid card for surfing as I cant live without my internet haha! Costs $98 with $98 value, and charges is $2/mb with maximum charge of $28/day.
After resting for a while,went to Granville Road for some 'rejected clothes' shopping! On the way,stop by at a few phone shops to check out the phone price.It seems at big stores like Fortress prices are clearly shown but its expensive,even more expensive than prices here.However in smaller shops you can bargain, but those shopkeepers dont like it if you say 'JUST WANT TO SEE', have to say 'WANT TO BUY', eventhough you dont want to buy! For example, in a small shop Samsung Galaxy Ace was $1500 after discount
Also stopped by at Sasa, which I would highly recommend if you want to get perfumes or cosmetics products at a much lower price! Bought a few mini perfumes, then walked down to Granville Road!Bought a T-shirt that costs $70 & at a recommendation of a friend tried Hongkong Gongcha, I must say the cup size is bigger than Malaysia but cheaper than Malaysia!
28Nov
Went for my 'morning walk' aka get free newspaper & buy newspaper! HK free newspaper market is very vibrant with about 4-5 Chinese newspapers being distributed at MTR stations, and also the only FREE English newspaper in HK, The Standard, and in some areas China Daily HK edition is also given out! Of course, I also bought a $8 'redesigned' SCMP, one of Asia most well known English paper
Breakfast again was at dai pai tong, ate some dim sum,wantan mee & porridge! After breakfast, ready to depart to Macau! Ferry terminal was at China Ferry Terminal which is adjoined to China HK City, which got a lot of outlet stores like Esprit Outlet. Ferry was at 12pm & ticket costs $150 for a 1hr trip on board Cotaijet to Taipa.This is the nearest place to Cotai where all the nice 'IR' or if you like to call it casinos are located hehe! Before departure,went for some shopping at Esprit Outlet,bought a T for $129 UP $259!
Macau immigration again the line was long but it move smoothly! Oh yes, the ferry terminal was next to Macau Airport.And in Macau you can see a lot of signboards/building names in Portugese, which makes Macau unique!
In Macau, you do not have to worry much about transportation as those IRs provide shuttle bus to the city,airport,ferry terminal,border,etc etc. For 1st night in Macau, stayed at Venetian Macao Resort in a Bella Suite! Very big room,2 TV(1 colour,1 LCD),very luxurious indeed! Went for lunch downtown Macau which is a mere 20min by shuttle bus! Wanted to eat local Macau food but ended up eating some charsiew rice in a 'Water Cube like' casino named Oceanus. As usual portions was HUGE! After lunch went to Macau Tower or Torre de Macau.Ticket was $120 to go up the tower! Oh yeah HK dollar & Macau pataca is par just like B$ & S$. Can see the view of Macau from level 58 observation deck, but went up higher to level 61 where all the 'fun' is.Why stay on the edge when you can jump, WELCOME TO AJ HACKETT MACAU! Guiness Record certified World Highest Commercial Bungee Jump. They provide a X Walk,which lets you to walk outside (if inda takut),bungee jump & a slow drop
After all the photo snap, went to City of Dreams as my dad wanted to watch House of Dancing Water, a world famous $2b production.Unfortunately all the tickets was sold out.So took pictures around City of Dreams, including pictures of all the beautiful ladies standing here & there welcoming you for photo & also with a 'mermaid', in a virtual aquarium named Vquarium! Dinner was at Taste of Asia foodcourt Galaxy Macau, another IR/casino. Took pictures of Gingerbreadman Xmas deco(I miss my Gingerbread android htc phone), and also the colourful 'lucky crystal'. After that return to Venetian, for the gondola ride at Grand Canal Shoppes.A boat ride inside a manmade canal modeled after Venice cost $118, but I think its worth it with the gondolier sing for you,joke with you,get to know you better,etc! Oh yeah, did I also mention that in Venetian everyday is a blue sky day no rain haha (painting do the trick). May I suggest those that are dating to bring your partner here, as its a romantic place, on the day I went on the ride, a guy proposed to his girlfriend,in the gondola!
29Nov
Went to Venetian casino,only to end up having no luck & 'the flying lion' gracefully telan few hundred HKD!After delivering the bags to the concierge of the hotel (we are changing hotel),Hard Rock Hotel City of Dreams,we are off to the citycentre for some sightseeing on the IR shuttle bus. Before that,had breakfast at City of Dreams foodcourt,similar portions huge pricing almost similar everywhere!1st stop in sightseeing is Ruins of St Paul, however we got lost on the way there.Seeing 'clueless tourist look', the policeman approached us & we told him we wanted to go the Ruins.He then gave the directions. After Ruins, its some local product shopping aka Macau famous almond biscuits,eggrolls,etc! Then passby Senado Square & went for some 'window shopping' at New Yaohan before returning for hotel checkin
This time around the room was huge too, a Corner Suite.Interestingly tempat mandi di 1 side,cubicle in another side haha.Even better this room got 2 LG LCD TV!No need to rebut TV with my dad haha!After some rest,went to watch another show of COD,Dragon Treasure of which we as hotel guests get to redeem free tickets worth $30 each.This show was a 3D show,I would encourage you to watch it,after all its only $30!At night went to COD casino & my dad was lucky to win back monies telan by 'flying lion'. I guess the Dragon Treasure show about unleashing your fortune really helps haha
30Nov
Breakfast was at McD as foodcourt havent open yet. McD here is quite pricey as they dont have McValue breakfast like here.Today crossed the border to China(Zhuhai). Nearly got 'conned' I guess while going to Guangzhou,but after a while managed to find the 'correct channel' to Guangzhou aka CTS bus.The bus ride took about 2hr.Reached Guangzhou, only to end up with a taxi driver who said 'yes yes i know' & brought us to the wrong hotel with the same brand! LOL! Oh yes,1 interesting thing is China taxi driver dont help you to place your luggage in the car boot!He brought us to Holiday Inn Guangzhou City Centre instead of the correct Holiday Inn Guangzhou Shifu! Next time if you come to China write your destination name in Chinese!
This hotel is unique as the lobby is on the 4th floor & what is nice is this hotel is located near Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Shopping District. 1 unique feature of this street,is every few shops you will see the same brand shop again! Lunch is at KFC.KFC here is different from those here, as they sell other different items not available here like chicken wings & also rice with mushroom sauce chicken to name a few. Entered a Yishion (similar to Esprit) store only to look but end up buying a $139(rm$70/B$24) T-shirt under the range Yishion Teebox.Got a free cube calendar as free gift!Oh yeah mind you China was freeaking COLD!
1Dec
Today is a disaster as our Chinese yuan are running low & went to a few banks to ask about exchanging our RM/S$ but many of them said sorry USD ONLY! Finally found Bank of China that can exchange S$.After that,proceed to Chimelong Resort. Its something like A Famosa Resort Malacca with its hotel,circus,zoo & amusement park! Went to the Xiangjiang Safari Park, entrance was Y$180 (Rm$90/S$36).The main attraction was white tiger,Australia natives such as koala & kangaroo & as well as 'China treasure', panda!There was also a few animals shows such as African animals,tiger show,parrot talking(apparently the parrot wasnt in a mood to talk right that day) & bear playing basketball. Lunch was pretty affordable considering the portion of chicken & udon noodle was huge at a price of Y$38(about B$6), with a small cup of orange drink.
After the zoo,went to Canton Tower.The tallest building in Guangzhou completed last year,just in time for Asian Games.A few category of ticket with the cheapest Y$50 & most expensive Y$150, and the price depends on how high up you want to go.We only went up till 162m! After the tower,went back to the hotel.I quickly went to buy a pair of shoes as my shoes tapak had already fallen apart. 1st stop, went to Yishion & saw a nice one at Y$168. At first,didnt want to buy coz it was a bit overpriced,but mum said just buy. This end up to be a wrong decision as got an 'earful' from my dad!
Last night in Guangzhou,dinner was in a famous restaurant that was advertised in the tourist guidemap! Next day, went to Shenzhen, the famous 'shopping heaven' city for Malaysians & Bruneians alike
2Dec
Travelled to Shenzhen via train,only takes 1hr in a train that travels at 160 km/h (Luckily not steam train haha). Costs y$100 for a 1st class ticket (woot), actually I think there are cheaper tickets but they want to earn more tourists money(passport required). Depart from Guangzhou around 11.20, and reached Shenzhen Luohu around 12.30. Arrived there to find another 'deadlock', asked a few taxi driver to drive us to the hotel but most of them dont know.Finally, I got help from a Ctrip staff to write the hotel name in Chinese! Finally they knew it LOL!
Our hotel was in Nanshan district, near some technological science park! The hotel was Holiday Inn Shenzhen Donghua, this time around my dad booked a Executive Suite yo! Priced at Y$833++ (about S$165++). Since its too early to check-in,went for lunch nearby. After lunch,its time to checkin.Oh yeah,another thing about hotel workers in China they all have English names like Chris,Daniel,etc etc. The room was a bit small for a suite,but there is free wired internet,free certain minibar items like juice,coke,China beer,water,nuts,Snickers, free laundry,free breakfast,free newspaper daily,etc!Worth the extra $$$ paid for extra perks! I did knew that Facebook & Twitter dont work in China,but using this hotel connection it did work!
After some rest,went out again nearby to Haiya Dept Store!Again I saw Basic house,but LADIES!Oh yeah, I even saw a brand named Harry Potter!Argh!Saw on the hotel guidebook there is a JUSCO nearby,but cant find it after walking for some time till saw some weird dark lights from some kind of tunnel.Walked to there & smack JUSCO was there! Had dinner at Coastal City shopping complex there & went into Uniqlo! Oh yeah for your info, that weird 'tunnel' was Shenzhen Bay Boulevard. Bought some bread for breakfast at Breadtalk,pricing similar to Singapore! Oh yeah went also to a big electronics to check out the phone price.1 word NO CHEAP! And interestingly, HTC phones there are sold not as Desire S,Chacha etc but their codes like A123 something! Even more interesting, there are Sharp phones,not cheap but wonder why they arent any around here!
3Dec
Travelled by Shenzhen Metro to Window of the World. This is a place where there are mini scale figures of famous places like Eiffel Tower,Egypt Pyramid,etc. There are also various reasonably priced rides such as Colorado Springs boatride,etc etc! This time around wanted to go OCT East but its simply too far & we dont have time for it, SO SAVE IT FOR NEXT TIME. At night, since we would be going back to Hongkong tomorrow, went shopping at JUSCO for some unique snacks
4Dec
Travelled to Hongkong in a private car,around RMB200/person(B$40), crossed the Shenzhen Bay border. Arrived at Hongkong Airport(wait belum mau balik lagi), and travelled by taxi to Hongkong Disneyland! Again its TOO EARLY to check in!
Travelled by very colourful (Mickey & Friends,toystory painted) shuttle bus to Disneyland Public transport interchange where the bus and MTR station of Disneyland Resort are located. The MTR station was modeled as an ancient train station.Disneyland Resort line is served by its specially designed MTR trains with Mickey,Donald,etc figurines in the train,specially designed Mickey ears handrails,sofas,etc. And the announcement in the train are also special, Have A Magical Day! Oh I almost forgot to tell you about our destination, Citygate Outlets.
Citygate Outlets is like China HK city that I went before just its bigger with more brand outlet shops such as Calvin klein,DKNY,etc. Lunch was in Food Republic, a foodcourt there. Dinner was also here as food in Disneyland was far too expensive. Nearby, there is another attraction, Ngong Ping 360 (Big Buddha).To get up there, you either take a cable car or bus! If you want to take the cable car I suggest that you buy in advance, so that you dont queue like us for a long time til a bus company people came and said 'Its better to use bus rather than queue up for ages'. Its a 40min ride by bus or 25min by cable car(not inclusive of queue time, LOL!). The climb to Big Buddha was a very tiring climb, but my dad said that the stairs are less than Batu Caves!
It was at here that I checked my Facebook and saw someone posting about their results.Anxiously,went to check my results and was kinda surprised that I did pretty well.On the other hand, some people were in a distress mode over their result! Before going downhill, had taufa made from spring water that makes it special & at only $10 a bowl (around $1.7) its worth trying
Return back to Holloywood Hotel Disneyland for checkin. The room was pretty basic! Again no free inroom internet, however there is free wireless at the lobby which I used to chat with my friends about their results. The best thing about the room,you can take everything when you check out (except TV,phone,towel,fridge,safe deposit box,mattress,etc) including the very nice Toystory room card! Oh yeah, the elevator in the hotel can 'speak', you can hear Mickey & Minnie sound & laughter!
5Dec
This is the most exciting day as Im going into Hongkong Disneyland! Mickey here I come! The latest attraction is Toystory Land, where I went for the parachute ride.Wanted to go for the 'dog chase its tail ride',but after another thot maybe not nanti pening over!Went for 2 shows like Mickey Orchestra as well as Space Control Centre to have fun with Experiment 626 aka Stitch.Went to Tomorrowland to ride electric car in the highway of the future, and last but not least ride the jungle boatride where you can see 'angry daddy elephant spray water into the boat', 'fire', 'sudden waterfall'.Oh yeah n visited Tarzan Treehouse & went for the Small Beautiful World boatride. Food & drink in Disneyland was rather expensive, and not to mention the souvenirs too! I am 20 years old and this is the 1st time I stepped my foot in Disneyland, while some kids are lucky only few years old can already proclaim I HAVE BEEN TO MICKEY HOUSE! The highlight of the day was the 3.30pm parade!I almost forget we also went for the Main Street Railroad train ride
After watching the parade,we make our move on MTR to downtown Hongkong. Stayed at InterContinental Grand Stanford, another IHG group hotels. Got upgraded to a nicer room,but again no free internet, who cares when you have a 3 Prepaid card to surf. (Ran out of credit,search frantically for a topup coupon). Very elegant room,greeted with chocolates on the bed! Dinner was at Cafe De Coral, one of the cafe promoted in our tourist pamphlets.
6Dec
Today is a PRETTY LONG DAY! 1st stop,breakfast at SOGO foodcourt. Next up,went to the nearby Avenue of Stars which is pretty much like Holloywood Walk of Fame with the handprints of artists. Then,went to CTS to buy discounted The Peak tickets. Then, off we go on the MTR by buying a 1day Tourist Pass that cost $55 which proves to be a wrong choice as we didnt travel as much as expected!
The Peak is on the other side aka Hongkong Island. To reach the tram station from the nearest MTR, its quite a uphill walk to its Lower Garden Tram Terminus. Uphill on The Peak, there is a building The Peak Centre which is like sort of a mall & at its highest point there is a Sky Terrace where you can have a good view of Hongkong assuming that the fog/pollution is not that bad! Oh yeah, there is also a heart shaped structure where you can openly proclaim your love to your 'other half' Also in The Peak was Madam Tussad Hongkong, where you can meet Jay Chou, the hot Robert Pattinson the vampire,President Obama but 'in figurine form'. Lunch was at Hongkong Day a cafe in there, got special privileges aka my cup of milk tea was free & I must say the cup is very nice, wanted to 'kidnap' it back (joking). After that bought some souvenirs at 'wholesale price'
After The Peak,next stop is the Golden Bauhinia Square in wanchai aka Hongkong Exhibition Centre. From the picture, it look so big but its so small in real haha! Next stop,a shopper paradise Causeway Bay! Times Square had a very nice Barbie inspired Xmas deco! Times Square OMg! Its a very very high mall as in ada banyak tingkat, and so it have express escalators that 'jumped floor'. Went to Page 1 in Level 9(yikes, but I used lift) & bought a copy of Reader Digest,after conversion was around $6 only. Next stop, went for some 'look' at SOGO Hennessy Road before going for dinner in MX Maxims.
Last item for the night was to watch the Symphony of Lights which is held every night where about 40 building in both sides of Hongkong will 'perform' aka flash its colourful lights/rays. After watching the show, went to the nearby Sasa to buy Chris's perfume. Strongly suggest you all visit Sasa for cheaper perfumes & cosmetics that in Malaysia or HK department store.
7Dec
Time to balik Brunei! Last minute shopping at Hongkong Airport & price were same like downtown! Bought some cakes & biscuits from Kee Wah Bakery, a famous bakery in Hongkong
That's it folks sorry no pictures! Sorry if you find it too boring
Sunday, December 4, 2011
My 11day holiday (summary only,full post coming up)
Sunday 27 nov travel by rba 777 to hongkong,served onboard by 1 of my ex classmate from SMSA.travel by airport express to hotel,holiday inn golden mile.went to miramar shopping complex (bough stuff at muji),granville rd(bought a t-shirt),Sasa(bought mini perfume)
Monday 28nov travel to macau by ferry Cotaijet.at ferry terminal went to esprit outlet n bought a t-shirt.stayed at venetian macao resort.went to macau tower,venetian gondola ride,galaxy macau n oceanus
Tue 29nov change hotel to hard rock hotel city of dreams.went to ruins of st paul,senado square n watch dragon treasure show.went to casino in city of dreams n venetian
Wed 30nov travel by bus to guangzhou china.stay at holiday inn guangzhou shifu.went to nearby shangxiajiu shopping district.bought t-shirt from yishion
Thurs 1dec went to safari park n canton tower
Fri 2dec went to shenzhen.travel by train.stay at holiday inn shenzhen donghua.went to MOI dept store,haiya megamall,coastal city shopping mall
Sat 3dec went to window of the world, travel by shenzhen metro.bought loads of snacks at jusco
Sun 4dec back to hongkong via limousine(kaya wah LOL)! stayed at hongkong disneyland holloywood hotel.went to citygate outlets,ngong ping 360
MORE COMING SOON STAY TUNED
Monday 28nov travel to macau by ferry Cotaijet.at ferry terminal went to esprit outlet n bought a t-shirt.stayed at venetian macao resort.went to macau tower,venetian gondola ride,galaxy macau n oceanus
Tue 29nov change hotel to hard rock hotel city of dreams.went to ruins of st paul,senado square n watch dragon treasure show.went to casino in city of dreams n venetian
Wed 30nov travel by bus to guangzhou china.stay at holiday inn guangzhou shifu.went to nearby shangxiajiu shopping district.bought t-shirt from yishion
Thurs 1dec went to safari park n canton tower
Fri 2dec went to shenzhen.travel by train.stay at holiday inn shenzhen donghua.went to MOI dept store,haiya megamall,coastal city shopping mall
Sat 3dec went to window of the world, travel by shenzhen metro.bought loads of snacks at jusco
Sun 4dec back to hongkong via limousine(kaya wah LOL)! stayed at hongkong disneyland holloywood hotel.went to citygate outlets,ngong ping 360
MORE COMING SOON STAY TUNED
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