Hong Kong 2007 (1)

Met Slug at the airport in the late night for our year-end trip to Hong Kong. Third trip for this year! Am feeling really blessed.

As usual, took a short nap at the Skyview Lounge before having breakfast at Burger King. Checked in at 4.10am for our 6am flight. Was seriously feeling more lethargic (due to lack of sleep) than excited.

A breakfast enriched with fat and cholestrol

Me and Slug after checking-in

It was a rainy morning. Fell asleep on the 3.5 hour long flight, and woke up with bloodshot eyes and feeling even more tired. Temperature was about 21 deg, but I would not say it was exactly freezing. However, as we were queuing to check out at the Hong Kong airport, I espied a couple of PRC old folks secretly sniggering at my pink top which bared my shoulders. Realised everyone there was wrapped up to their necks in thick sweaters and scarves, so I tried to hide behind a large foldout map of Hong Kong that I had grabbed from one of the shelves.

Whole check-out process took 30 minutes. My patience was wearing thin and my lips were dehydrating. Finally decided to put on my jacket because I underestimated the chilly winter winds. Hurriedly fled to the airport bus terminus to catch A11, the Airport Express Bus that would take us to our rented apartment in Causeway Bay.

Arriving at the new and modern Hong Kong Int'l Airport

Airport Bus Terminus

Slug and I queuing up for the bus

Bus fare was HKD40. Not cheap. Starting to realise the high cost of living here. Finally reached Causeway Bay after an hour.

Along the near-empty roads on Lantau Island

The 22km-long Tsing Ma suspension bridge

Took us a really long time to find Great George Building, the apartment we rented. Tried to ask for directions but communication with the locals was difficult. Most of the passers-by spoke only Cantonese, and attempts to speak in Mandarin with them were rewarded with awkward smiles. In the end, decided to rely on the mute but reliable map.

Contacted Mr Chiu, whom we rented the apartment from, and he took us to our room, which was one of four bedrooms in that apartment. I went into a daze when I saw the spartan living conditions in that small cramped room, which were duly justified by the cheap daily rental rate. At the bare minimum, our room was equipped hot shower and drinking water was provided.

Great George Building

A room that even a fugitive would take offense if offered to him

An equally gloomy bathroom

Having slowly got over the fact that we had to put up with such austere accommodation for the next seven nights, we washed up and tried to make up for lost sleep by napping for a full three hours. Woke up in the late afternoon, and much to our surprise, the sky had started to darken even though it was only 6pm.

Walked around the streets groggily in search of something to eat, and settled for dinner at a small and humble-looking cafe along Hennessy Road.

Chicken baked rice that came with some weird but delicious soup

Slug enjoying his pork chop rice

Again, not cheap, but no choice. That was the cheapest we could get for some decent food. After dinner, walked around the Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Central areas.

Bright neon lights of Hong Kong

Some establishment selling snake soup

Heavy traffic along brightly-lit Gloucester Road

Commercial buildings decorated with Christmas lights

A market stall that was still operating

We grew up reading black-and-white Old Master Q comics

Gazing at the Kowloon nightscape across the sea

It started to get chilly out in the streets and we sought some warm comfort at Pacific Place, a posh shopping centre in Admiralty that houses many high-end fashion brands. Would rather do the shopping back in Singapore since prices here were about the same as those back home.

Inside Pacific Place

Corridor connecting Pacific Place to Queensway Plaza

Slug browsing through albums at HMV in Queensway Plaza

Soon it was closing time for the shopping malls and we were back onto the streets again. Surprisingly, despite the late night, business was still going on for some of the roadside shops and street stalls. As we walked our way back to our apartment leisurely, we stopped by a bird nest shop and had some sweet dessert there.

Some stalls still operating in the back alleys

At the bird nest shop (shopowner surreptitiously making an appearance in the picture)

Slug and I enjoying some dessert

Bird nest soup with lychees

After that, we visited their local supermarket, Park'n'Shop to buy some cup noodles before continuing our way back. Even at 11+pm, Causeway Bay was still buzzing with activity. We took a walk along Jardine's Bazaar, where the shops like those selling clothes and cosmetics were still open.

Causeway Bay still alive at night

Jardine's Bazaar

Slug in front of a snack shop

This snack shop selling stewed cow tripe and snails braised in XO sauce (eew!)

We returned to our apartment, feeling cold and exhausted. It was a nightmare bathing because it was freezing, even with the shower heater. We warmed our stomachs with a big bowl of 出前一丁 cup noodles, which came with a tasty braised egg.

The apartment with such a Hong Kong-style metal gate

The 出前一丁 cup noodles

The lousy TV only had six channels, of which, 5 were in Cantonese. Could not understand most of what we heard. Decided to sleep, in preparation for more walking the next day.

Chalet 2007 Day 2

Wee and I woke up at nearly 3pm, and when we woke, Haoling was gone and Ah Sir had gone to fetch 2nd Aunt and Ah Ping. We had leftover kong ba pao for breakfast, and the others started to stream into the chalet as the afternoon passed.

We spent the hot sunny afternoon in the air-conditioned bedroom sprawled lazily on the beds and chatting. Henglip kept pestering us to narrate to him as many gory stories and movies (Hostel 2!) as possible.

Henglip a fan of gory details

After a while, we got up and sat around with our aunties at the barbeque pit. 6th Aunt brought a pile of unwanted clothes and everyone was buzzing around, pawing every piece of clothing and making their selections.

Selecting hand-me-down clothes appealing to old and young aunties alike

4th Aunt seeming to mock at that gaudy yellow top

Finally got them to stop browsing the clothes for a while and pose for a picture

Me and Henglip

2nd Aunt trying to flash her dollars

Soon, Ah Ping decided to take ALL (Ah Liang Liang) for a swim at the pool, and because I did not bring my swimsuit, I could not join them. Nevertheless we went to the pool to watch ALL frolick in the water.

It was not easy getting ALL to look at the camera

Finally, ALL displaying his cute side!

Wee the SHARK

After a while, we (Ah Sir, Henglip, Haoling and I) got bored watching them and went for a stroll along the beach. At the beach, we watched a dog bury itself in the sand, expressed disgust over why there were SO many BLACK society families at the beach, and of course, used Henglip to take pictures of us!

Enjoying the cool evening breeze

Fully-clothed beach babes

We returned to the chalet, only to find that the buffet dinner had started! Immediately wasted no time to scoop fried beehoon, veggies, yam ring, sweet and sour chicken, soon kueh and of course, the greasy butter prawns onto my plate.

This bounty made me happy

Ah Sir did not believe she could be caught on camera

Topped off the dinner with some sweet yam paste, before returning to the bedroom to laze around again. This time, psychotic Wee kept grilling an unabashed Zhongyi and Qiqi (who are still in primary 1 and kindergarten) to reveal their crushes, while I tried to steal Gordon's toy pig. It was a night of howls and laughter.

We left at around 10pm, much earlier than usual. I was thoroughly exhausted.

Chalet 2007 Day 1

Our annual family chalet at Aloha Loyang! Mum made kong ba pao, cucur bawang (prawn fritters) and tapioca cake for the potluck dinner. When we arrived, the 'party' was in full force and everyone was stuffing themselves with food. Only one miserable slice was left of the pizza that 1st Uncle ordered, but luckily there were some spicy drumlets left. It was the usuals: 4th Aunt's curry chicken, 3rd Aunt's fishballs, 6th Aunt's satays ...

Our evening was entertained by a zealous pair of Brandon and Gordon, who really amused us with their kiddish banter. We tried to make a fool out of Brandon by making him speak in Mandarin, to which he managed with some difficulty and reluctance, which ended up with him sprouting nonsense.

Us teasing Brandon and Gordon

After eating our fill, Kar Cheng, Ah Sir, Wee, Henglip, Haoling and I went out of the chalet for a walk. Kar Cheng led us to the infamous Red House, which was a really run-down compound of small houses hidden amidst thick foliage. A bunch of juveniles was standing outside the gate, looking apprehensive about entering. When Kar Cheng, Wee and Henglip entered the Red House, the juveniles joined them, while Ah Sir, Haoling and I waited outside with two members of the juvenile bunch. When they at last emerged from the creepy darkness, they looked bored because nothing scared them. We then went to the beach before going our separate ways. Kar Cheng was, as usual, irritating Haoling (and inadvertently, all of us) with his loud remarks and arguments about God and Jesus. God should really do some justice by pushing him into the canal that we were walking along to shut him up.

Walked through a really disgusting muddy field on our way to the beach, but we did not stay long because dark stormy clouds were approaching fast. Back at the chalet, we just ate again and watched TV, and finally at 1+am, the mahjong maniacs left. Ended up with only Ah Sir, Wee, Haoling and I staying overnight.

A rowdy group of BLACK society people were creating a din outside our chalet, and attempts to shut them up were futile. I tried calling the security guard twice, but turned out that the guard was also from the BLACK society and his efforts to get them to lower their volumes were hopelessly weak. I was so frustrated with them, but consoled myself by getting Ah Sir to acknowledge together that those were some very selfish and useless BLACK society people.

The four of us were cramped into one bedroom, with Ah Sir and Haoling sleeping on the lower decks of the two bunk beds, while Wee and I slept on the top decks. We annoyed Wee with our noise and tickles, because we refused to let her fall asleep before we did. We laid in our beds chatting in the dark, because Ah Sir had drunk coffee and could not sleep (and dragged us along to suffer with her caffeine-induced insomnia). I was feeling thirsty and wanted to reach out to the bottle of water on the drawer chest below me, so I shone my handphone light in the dark on the top of the drawer chest. I was stunned to see something scamper across the top, accompanied by Haoling shrieking because she saw it too. Ah Sir shrieked because Haoling shrieked, and the three of us jumped out of our beds to turn on the light. It was a huge cockroach and what followed was a thrilling 90-minute hunt for this nocturnal invader.

So there it went dashing and hiding behind the beds, under the wardrobe and behind the wardrobe, and we tracked its movements relentlessly. There was not any insecticide available, so Wee and Ah Sir rolled newspapers, preparing to smash it into a pulp. I even had to use my camera to visually locate the cockroach under the wardrobe (which was tricky because there was a hollow space at the base).

Cockroach did not suspect it had been caught on camera

So the four of us were shrieking unnecessarily and on the alert for the cockroach making sudden appearances from nowhere. After a while, Ah Sir managed to smash a leg off from the cockroach, but the damage done to it was so negligible that we had to do the whole pursue thing for another 20 minutes before FINALLY managing to drive the cockroach away from the bedroom. Once in the living room, we decided to let it off because it was getting late and we should not waste any more time playing hide-and-seek with it. We returned to our beds wide awake and covered in sweat.

Nobody is going to believe we spent so much time hunting down a cockroach only to let it go in the end.