What we bought in HK

These are the things that we bought in HK..bukan edisi menunjuk ok. But purely for my personal notes, also for my friends who have upcoming trips to HK so that they at least have ideas what are the things that can be found over there :)

Disney key chains (10 for $100) & fridge magnet (6 for $100, can actually bargain 10 for $100 but we were just too tired to scout arounds at other shops) bought at Ladies Market, fridge magnet (a.k.a can opener $10) and the large magnet ($15) were bought at The Peak.

These were our catch of the day @ Disneyland. Lanyard ($75), Disney keychain ($60), Buzz sword ($120), spinning Buzz ($60), Buzz watch ($100), Disney mug ($45 - not in the pic), fridge magnet ($40). The red Disney hp was bought at the airport ($85).

My favourite!! Our pictures taken in front of the Sleeping Beauty castle ($120)

We bought these at Ocean Park. Fridge magnet sea lion ($45), fan ($19), 2 fridge magnet with panda ($118).

our pictures transformed into FM :)

our catch at The Peak. Tissue cover ($18 each), bag telekung ($50 each), table cloth ($59 each)

Buzz rocket tumbler bought at Disneyland ($45). Satu kaki dah patah...firas jatuhkan kat taska! huhu

perfume bought at Sasa in Nathan Road ($328)

purple this time huh? tukar angin plakss :) Got this for less than $2500.

HK t-shirts bought at Ladies Market ($110 for 5)

last but not least, got the kids a blue/red crocs sandal @ the Citygate outlet ($530.40)

Tu saje kot yg kami beli.

All in all, we spent close to 6k for our whole trip (excluding the air tix & expenses by my mom).

Our overall comment about the trip:

- Transportation-wise very efficient. The MTR arrives on time, its map and route is very easy to understand. But pls pls mind the long pathway that you need to take from one interchange station to another, sgt penat jln ok! Getting around with taxi is cost effective if u travel in 5-6 person. Don’t forget to try out its double-decker tram bus, tak dapat naik kat London tp naik kat sini pun jadiklah! Hehe. You may use the Octopus card to pay for the bus fare and MTR.

- HK people are not friendly at all. They are the type ‘who minds your own business’ and doesn’t care about other people. Even the hotel staffs are not friendly and lack of courtesy. However my SIL said these are their natural behavior and they were just like that. Despite the above, we did meet 2 nice people during our five-day stay in HK. A middle-aged lady who offered a seat in the MTR when she saw me about to squatting down on the train floor to bf Ammar, and also a taxi man that took us back to hotel from the Central station. He chit-chatted with hubby and shared few things about HK and didn’t even mind when we asked him to change our route from Masjid Ammar to The Wesley.

- HK is an expensive city. Everything about HK is expensive, be it the hotel price, food, anything, except for branded items where you can get it at pretty good bargain compared to KL.

- If you’re asking me whether I would want to go again next time, my answer will be no. I guess HK has nothing to shout about, except the Disneyland (and of course the Citygate outlet, a heaven for women! Hehe :p) I rated 7/10 for our HK trip while 9/10 for Gold Coast, taking into account factors like transportation, places of attractions, the people, food, hotel, etc.

Hope the above info helps if not much at least a bit for u to plan ahead for ur HK trip!

Hong Kong Day 4 : 3 Oct 2011

HK Day 4: The Peak + Citygate Outlet

Ok peeps, let's continue on our 4th day in the city of HK. As planned in my itinerary, we went to The Peak (also known as Victoria Peak) after having breakfast in our hotel room. We took a cab direct to The Peak Tram Lower Terminus situated at the Garden Road (fare $20). You may also opt for an MTR and stop at Central station, from there you need to walk around 10 minutes to reach the terminus. We bought a 2in1 Combo ticket consisting of return Peak Tram + admission ticket to Madame Tussauds ($185 for adult, $95 for child). There is also a 3in1 Combo ticket with entrance to The Sky Terrace 428 (which allows you to enjoy the panaromic view of the HK city from the highest 360 degree viewing platform in HK.
After waiting for about 20 minutes, we finally boarded the Peak Tram and in just 8 minutes we arrived on top of the Peak.

the Peak Tram

this little boy was excited all the way thru out our journey to the top

Once arrived on top of the Peak, we passed thru few souvenir outlets selling all kinds of merchandise and keepsakes. Me and my mom spent more than 1/2 hour looking for few things and walked away with alas meja, tissue cover, more key chains and fridge magnets, bag for telekung, etc. It was very convenient to shop here since the place was air-conditioned, my kids can walk here n there playing around without disturbing their mama. So i was actually having my me-time to shop and belek-belek things in peace :p Sambil belek brg suddenly firas popped up in one of the shops telling me 'abah beli cap utk kite' and when i turned back i saw the three of them wearing a dragon cap hihi. Overall i spent $342 for souvenirs while hubby paid $110 for 3 caps.

After done with our shopping, our next agenda was entry to the Madame Tussauds. Before started with our tour inside the wax museum, meh amik gambar dulu!!!

the signage

The official figure outside the museum is Bruce Lee!

The wax museum is divided into several sections i.e. Kung Fu stars, Asian stars, Hollywood stars, Cultural Figures, Sports stars, Pop stars, the Royalty & the World Leaders. So let's continue our journey with some of the celebrity pictures.....

First skali jumpe minah ni...Nicole Kidman yer nama dia!

haa ni confirm ramai kenal - Ms Jolie + abang Pitt

Jet Li yg cool

Mr Will Smith yg cool!

ahh this will always be my favourite actor cum singer..abang Andy Lau yg sgt hensem :)

Robbert Pattinson aka Mr Dracula

ckp kat husband..sapela nenek tua ni eh? and he said...ni la Madame Tussauds. Haha baru ku tahu! Anyway each pic comes with a detail description, but me being me never bother to read any of them! hehe

the British's royal family

Ok peeps, that's all for now. Our camera's battery went flat that time and these are the only pics that we have in hand. The rest was all taken using my mom's camera, like Lady D, Michael J, Lady Gaga, the Beatles, Anita Mui, Saddam Hussein, Mahatma Gandhi, Ronaldinho, etc.

I can't remember how long we spent to complete touring the museum, but by the time we finished it was lunch time already. There was a shopping mall on top of the peak, called The Peak Galleria. We had our lunch on the bench outside the mall, and the fact that we were on top and at the highest point of HK, it was super extreme cool time tuh!! cuaca sgt sejuk, sgt windy..kiranya agak struggle jugakla menahan sejuk :p We can see the whole of HK from that point ( no need to pay extra for the Sky Terrace entry actually hehe).

Right after finishing our packed food, we headed towards the Peak Tram to go down and continue our day with shopping at the Citygate Outlet :) To reach here, you need to take the MTR (Tung Chung's line) and stop at the last point, that is Tung Chung station. I think this shopping mall was more or less similar with factory outlet, selling all branded items but at cheaper price. Hubby said the sports shoes are very cheap (eg: Nike, Adidas, etc) so does the original jersey. Hubby and my brother went inside few shops but they ended up buying nothing.

Me? haha i already targeted to spend some of my dollars inside Coach. Anyway, they control the size of the crowds, and people need to queue for few minutes to enter the outlet. So hubby and the rest wait outside while myself went inside alone. I was like crazy and pening lalat to decide what to buy. Kejap pegang itu, then try ini, then pusing lagi dan lagi sampai pening. Serious after 1/2hr i still can't decide what to buy. The cheapest wristlet i can found was selling at $400. Cheapest handbag..hmm bykla jugak but frankly the price is quite cheaper than the one selling at KL boutique. Finally i settled with a purple carry-all, convertible into sling..even tho i've actually minat dekat this one creamy beige handbag yg sgt cantik (but of course price dia pon lagi cantik lah!!).

and we also bought 3 pairs of sandal for the kids at Crocs ($530.40), sgt murah compared to KL.

After Citygate, we took a cab back to hotel from the Central station. Thought of dropping by at Masjid Ammar for dinner, but the weather was not good hence we told the taxi man to change our direction to the Wesley Hotel instead of Masjid Ammar. After dinner, we did the packing and everything, and the very next day around 9am we checked out and off we went to the HKIA by a cab (fare $322).

Day 5: HKIA

Our flight was at 11.35am, but we arrived quite early at the airport. After checked in our luggage, we took a tour inside the airport, and took the opportunity to finish up our HK coins (since i knew when we go back to Malaysia the money exchange won't accept coins and small notes for exchange). So we bought chocolates, ribena, mineral water and also a DIsney handphone for Ammar! ($85 -kira hadiah besday la bley hehe). Anyway, i made a huge mistake since i forgot to return our Octopus card! And there was $50 deposit inside each card u see argh arghhhh geram betul. The card can be used at certain convenience stores (eg: 7 eleven, the Mannings (Guardian), etc and has no expiry date..so we can actually keep the card for our next visit to HK (mau ke dtg lagi? haha rasanye tak kots).

So that's basically wrap our stories about HK. Next i'll post pics of souvenirs that we bought over there okeh!

Hong Kong Day 3

Hong Kong Day 3 - Ocean Park + Ladies Market

Our 3rd day was spent at one of the infamous park in HK i.e Ocean Park. I booked the tickets online from KL, payment made via cc and the website issued a booking slip confirmation. Ticket price is $280 for adult and $140 for child. After having a heavy breakfast in our hotel's room (thanks again to my mom for made us a delicious nasi putih + kari ayam Yeos Chef Wan..mmg terbaekkk!) we took the MTR to Admiralty station. From there we boarded a Citybus (No 629) direct to the park and the journey was only about 10 minutes. We use the Octopus card to pay for the bus fare, $10.60 for adult and $5.30 for child. Applying the same tips and tricks for entry to Disneyland, we hide and covered our foods under the stroller, beneath Ammar, under the kids' caps, inside the pampers, inside our pockets, etc and we passed thru the security without any issue alhamdulillah :)

The queue for the ticket was very long (probably because of weekend). I need to present my confirmation slip together with the credit card used during the booking. It was rainy that time, hence getting around the park with umbrellas in hand mmg sgt leceh ok!

The park is divided into 2 sections – the Summit & Waterfront. We made our first move to the Summit using the express train available at Waterfront station and in just 5-8 minutes we already arrived at the Summit. Alternatively you may also go to the Summit using the cable car (which my mom doesn’t prefer at all sbb takut hehe). My mom must be freaking upon seeing these pics that I googled just now haha http://www.themeparkreview.com/oceanpark/oceanpark1.htm
The cable car was quite long, and scary, and for those who has allergy towards height, you better choose not to!

our kids inside the hotel room

inside the CityBus No 629
the entrance
Grand Aquarium

Giant Panda House

We catch our first show of the day, the Sea Dreams at Ocean Theatre. It was a combination of dolphins and sea lions show, but overall it wasn’t impressive at all, at least to my expectation. The dolphins show at GC was far more attractive, with loads of amazing movements made by the participated dolphins. Right after show, we brace thru the rain looking for a covered place to have our lunch. There is quite an extensive number of rides and other attractions available, but because of the rain, we kind of hesitant to try them out.

Sea Dreams @ Ocean Theatre

firas yg suke mandi hujan..stress jaga budak ni ari tuh!

After lunch, we took the Ocean Express train back to the Waterfront. Thought of entering the Grand Aquarium, one of the park’s main attraction but the queue was damn long. Hence, we walked further and went inside the Giant Panda house, which only houses 2-3 pandas inside there! Adesss sgt hampa ok..igtkan bykla panda dlm tuh. Luckily there are many panda (including the red species) inside the Panda Village, at least we managed to have a close-shot on them! Other than that, we also went inside the Goldfish Treasures, the Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium & attended a Whiskers n Friends Show (sgt bosan, not recommended at all!). We didn’t try any of the rides because of the non-stop rain. Took a family photo with the Panda Mascott and paid $118 to have our pictures in the form of fridge magnet (2 pcs).

SkyFair celebration- takleh naik belon besar ni sebab hujan huhu

@ Panda Village. Tpt ni mmg cool, sejuk plak tu..panda pon byk and dpt tgk dr dekat

the red panda

ni la family photo dgn panda tuh...transformed into fridge magnet. Notice our kids wearing ponchos? bought it for $39 each...mahal gilos

My review is kinda short this time huh?
Honestly we didn’t enjoy our visit to this park. Probably because of the rainy day hence there was nothing much that we can do. Takkan nak naik rides with the payung kan..leceh and takut kids demam pulak nanti! And it was really tiring catching up with Firas yg degil takmo pakai cap, sibuk nak pegang payung sendiri sampai langgar org, sibuk rebut payung dgn idlan…iskkk byk lagilah karenah mereka berdua ni. Ammar jugak yg behave all the way dari pagi sampai petang :p

So by 5pm, we decided to go back to hotel for solat jamak and dinner.
The kids had Maggi goreng for dinner (they heart n enjoyed maggi goreng so much ok!!) while us the adult ate nasi goreng if I were not mistaken.

After Maghrib, we took a train to Ladies Market (Mongkok station). The market stretched from Kowloon to Mongkok, very long with rows of small shops selling all sorts of things like souvenirs, toys, perfume, t-shirts, sportswear, etc. Men may find this place as heaven since there're Adidas outlet, Nike & other infamous brands stand proud along the road (people also call this area Sportswear street). We bought HK t-shirt (5pcs for $100), keychain (20pcs for $200), fridge magnet (6pcs for $100), and few toys for the kids. Went into the perfume shops to scout for more perfume but the the place was too cramped with people that i finally gave up and walked out. We spent less than 2 hours here since the kids started to get cranky and tired. Called off the day by taking a train back to Wan Chai.

Ladies Market @ Mongkok.

Si adik followed si abang solat maghrib before our outing to the night market. Solat sambil pakai Halloween mask plak tu :p

Hong Kong Day 2 (part 1) : 1-10-2011

Day 2: HK Disneyland

We had fried rice for brekkie (thanx so much to my mom for taking incharge of all the cookings..mmg marvelous!!) using the Perencah Adabi. Umi also made sandwich (using canned Tuna) and 2 big containers of fried rice for us to tapau and eat in the Disneyland. We knew that it's going to be a long day there, hence we need to spare ourselves with enough food, else we might end up starving since it's difficult to find halal food inside the park. We walked to MTR Wan Chai, took the train to Central and had interchange at Hong Kong's station before heading towards Tung Chung's line. Mind you the MTR is very long from one's end to another (especially at HK station) so be prepared if your kids grumble and complaints of tired walking :p Took another train and stopped at Sunny Bay, before we board onto a special train direct to Disneyland station.

us at the MTR Wan Chai station. Train dia mmg sgt efficient!

inside the train to Disneyland...notice the Mickey shape of its window? also the Mickey's handle on top of your head :)

reached the Disneyland station already!

here we go..the entrance. Wajib posing dulu :) The park opens at 10am, notice the big crowd tho it was still early in the morning huh?

There were having a Haloween celebration that week, hence the pumpkin' faces everywhere.

the Toy Story spinning effect...pening tgk!

malas nak queue amik pic ngan Mickey...amik pic org lain jela

parts of the Haloween's deco

the castle from afar...very nice!

Disneyland's signature - the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Firas - with his Haloween mask :)

Anyway, just for info the park is divided into 3 sections i.e. Fantasyland, Adventureland & Tomorrowland. Once we entered the park, the very first thing we did is to collect the park Map & highlight the important shows to catch up during the day. Oh did i mentioned that Disneyland prohibit outside foods and drinks, but thanx to the forumers with their info & tips, we managed to pass thru the security without any problem! We placed 2 containers of fried rice beneath Ammar, cover it nicely and let Ammar seat on top of it. As for the sandwich, they were packed and divided into 2 plastics, one was hidden under the stroller, another one inside my mom's handbag. We bring few mineral bottles, and all is hidden separately - under stroller, covered inside the pampers, inside firas's Cars backpack, balut with the kids' t-shirt, etc. We did the same thing for the snacks - we smuggled oreo biscuits, waffer, etc...semua lepas alhamdulillah :) The security will check all your bags, but just act cool and walk straight if they didn't query you okeh! Oh if you're going during winter, your jacket can be the best medium to hide all ur foods n stuffs :)

Our first show of the day was the Golden Mickeys show (@ Fantasyland), featuring all the favourite Disney's characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Ducks, Pluto, Toys Story, Aladin, the Lion King, Beauty & the Beast and many more. I managed to bf Ammar inside the theatre. By the way Ammar cooperated very well thru out the show, so i had no issue to handle him.

the Golden Mickeys show

the show ends with all the favourite Disney's characters lined up on stage waving goodbye to the audience

comel kan??

another show of the day - Festival of the Lion King @ the Adventureland. The show was quite long, my mom in fact fell asleep after half way hehe. Ammar again enjoyed the show very much..bz main2 lampu dekat tangga audience :)

We also watched the Mickey's 3D Philharmagic show. But honestly, the Shrek 3D show at GC was far more enjoyable than this one. There were many more attractions at the Fantasyland, but we didnt manage to experience some of it due to time contraints and u see, travel with 3 kids you must always expect the unexpected haha. Anyway, we did try some of the rides like the tea cups, flying saucers, etc. Ammar pon naik ok...and again he enjoyed the rides very much! Me and hubby are not the adventurous type who would want to try out the thrilled rides and all, so most of the time we would resort to kids rides sajerk :p

Jungle River Cruise @ the Adventureland...yg ni mmg menarik wajib naik! See Ammar bz studying the map :p

Ammar dgn paksu. Thanx yer paksu rajin dukung saya!

entrance to the Adventureland

another view of the castle..siang dah cun, mlm lagikla cun!

Snow White Grotto @ Fantasyland

@ Tomorrowland

to be continued......