(the title suggests this vacation is too long to share in just 1 post)
we had originally wanted to fly AirAsia because it was only 3hours plus flight time, but shockingly, at that time (end-sept), the price of their tickets was almost the same as MAS when the latter had promotonal rates. so we took MAS but i was not impressed with the A320s that were used for the hong kong route. they looked & felt old, & didn't have individual video screens.
i had surfed the net for suitable (read: affordable) accomodation when i chanced upon some serviced apartments - i didn't know they had these in HK, did you? finally settled on Olympic Terrace in kowloon at (a giveaway rate of) HKD600 a nite for a 2 bedroom apartment. it's just 5 mins walk to 2 MTR stations on 2 diffrent lines. is that convenient or what?
the day after we landed, i called up a bosom buddy who has been working there for many years & we met up at a restaurant at Times Square. you know it's a posh place when some etiquette is expected, like these pairs of black & white chopsticks.
the (clean?) black pair is used to take food from the common plates unto your own, while the white pair is used to move food from your own plate into your mouth. classy but tedious, huh? (i wonder how clean are the chopsticks themselves??) later, he took us up to victoria peak for a view of the city at nite....
& then down via the famous tram ala penang hill.
dinner was at his favourite wan tan noodle shop at causeway bay....
....the specialty being the prawn wan tan....
....unfortunately the portions are just too small for us guys & so, we ended with a 2nd bowl each.....
.....this time beef noodles. after that, it dessert time at another shop. we had milk curd...
....something quite similar to soya bean curd except that it's made from fresh milk. the waitress wasn't all that friendly when we took some time to ponder what to order, an attitude that reflected the shop's money-grabbing practice.
(roughly translated to mean every customer will be charged HKD10 whether they made an order or not!!). that was a fitting end to a day of feasting.
the next day, we took a boat ride to Ma Wan island where the world's only life-sized Noah's Ark was located & had opened just this year.
the story even came up in the iconic Wall St Journal (read here).
in addition to the display of life-like pairs of animals,
it also has a museum elaborating the creation story as well as the big bang/evolution story. how odd!! there are also many rooms catering to children's activities. definitely worth a look.
next: shopping at causeway bay & mongkok
14 comments:
the milk curd looks like vanilla ice cream
A smile from SJ =)
Wah! A real impressive account! I can't do that for my Korea trip! I surrender! But I am doing a feature for my newspaper - limit to 1500 words! Will post when it is published.
First time I see two pair of chopsticks, one clean and one for personal use. If me, I will give back to waiter saying he gave us extra chopsticks *shy*.
I think we cannot expect too much of good service from those smaller shops. It's just the way it is, and no point letting it ruin your holiday.
A very descriptive journal of DOC's adventure in Hong Kong! Thanks for sharing.
The Noah's Ark looks impressive.
my house practice dat..having a pair of chopstick to take the food..and for our own use will use spoon and fork...due to hygiene.. :P
ya..my tour guide told me that in HK, we need to order when we sit..can't sit with no food..
ooooo.. the noodles look delicious!! I would gladly travel to HK for its food!
SJ,
it sure felt strange to have that milk in curd form, but the shop was packed with people who ordered that. maybe it's an acquired taste thingy.
*return smile from doc*
Yan,
thanks.
look forward to your post.
Adino,
that's why i asked my buddy & he explained about the 2 pairs of chopsticks.
that shop shouldn't be too arrogant because all that is needed is another cow milk scare like the one in China to damage the business.
Ilene,
you are all much welcomed. have to share the pros & cons for the benefit of other would-be travellers.
Mich,
good for your family.
in my home, it's a free-for-all at the dining table!!
Wenn,
but we are just pondering over the menu because it's a totally new thing for us! anyway, we ordered enough to keep that woman off our backs!
Jo,
like Tony said, now everyone can fly. be warned, though, that food would take up a huge chunk of the budget!
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