Hong Kong Business Trip

Greetings from Hong Kong!! I have been here for almost a week and it's been pretty boring and routine... Wake up 7.30am, breakfast at hotel cafe, jostle with the morning crowd on train, work, lunch, work, dinner, return to hotel room, more work... Only managed to do some shopping only yesterday lor (and it's at Shenzhen instead of Hong Kong) hahaha =)

My place of accommodation: Regal Hong Kong Hotel (HKD 1086.80 per night) is situated pretty near to Causeway Bay MTR (5-7min walk away), Sogo departmental store, Time Square, etc... A pleasant surprise awaited me when I first entered my room... Gosh, the room is HUGE, hahaha.. and nice =)

Comfy bed and spacious living room

Decent bathroom. L'occitane shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion are provided, lovely!

Welcome gift for corporate customer. Nice gesture yah!

Views from my room

MONDAY (21-SEPT-2009): After check-in, I met up with a fren for a quick dinner at one of the eateries near my place... Food is so-so and expensive (by SG standard!)...

I had sweet and sour pork with rice plus coke set meal (HKD38); my fren had spicy noodles (HKD 38) ; plus a plate of kang kong veg (HKD20) to share.

TUESDAY (22-SEPT-2009): First day of work in HK office, exciting, hahaha... Morning crowd on the train wasnt that bad, and I managed to find my way to office quite easily... Lunch was at Cafe De Coral (HK's slow-food chain) which is opposite my office - Roasted meat rice with coke set (HKD31.50). Dinner was at Venue's Garden, Island Beverely with my colleague - Grilled steak with soup plus tea (HKD86.90). Oops, no photo here cos i forgot to bring my camera out, hahaha...

WEDNESDAY (23-SEPT-2009): Need to get to office by 8.30am for a conference call... I wonder why my boss loves to have such an early call lor... We are supposed to start work at 9am! Lunch was at Pret A Manager - Salmon sandwich plus ham/cheese sandwich (HKD40) Well... the portion is really small and I skipped breakfast, so I had to buy two sandwiches to fill my empty stomach!! After work, I decided to be adventurous and took the tram back to hotel. This was a bad decision cos there was an accident at Wan Chai distinct and the tram was stuck in the traffic jam and couldn't move till someone sorted out the mess... I had to walk 30min to return to my hotel even though Wan Chai is only a station stop away from Causeway Bay. Super tiring, esp when I was carrying my laptop!!

Dinner - Taiwanese oyster mee sua (HKD10), pan fried dumpling plus milk tea set (HKD26) at one of the eateries along the long journey back to hotel. Food was good and cheap, I love it!

THURSDAY (24-SEPT-2009): Work again, boring... and I had a lunch time conference call. Late lunch was at IFC Mall's roof top garden where I did a takeaway for a salmon sandwich plus mango smoothie (HKD74) from Simply Life. You can enjoy the breeze and views of Victoria Harbour from here and it's free... Cool!

Sandwich and smoothie from Simply Life

Roof top garden where there's a public seating area for you to consume your food while you enjoy the breeze, sun and view.

Views from the garden.

Dinner from the eateries near my hotel - Shrimp wanton noodle soup (HKD28), green veg (HKD20) plus peanut dumpling dessert (HKD15)

FRIDAY (25-SEPT-2009): TGIF!! Lotsa work to do for today and we had to pack food from Cafe De Coral...

Menu at Cafe De Coral

Factory like operations where you order your food and pay at the cashier, you join a queue to collect your food and the workers hurriedly make the food and serve you your order.

Portuguese chicken rice with coke set (HKD29); tasted awful.

IFC Tower (left) and Exchange Square (right)

Escalator to go to Exchange Square One & Two

My office was at Exchange Square One. From Monday, I would need to report to new office at IFC Tower.

We decided to treat ourselves to a good dinner as a reward for all the hard work done for the week, hahaha...

Pan fried rice noodle rolls in XO sauce (HKD42)

Specialty shrimp wanton noodle soup which was awarded Bib Gourmand by 'Michelin Guide HK Macau' (HKD38). I found this dish to be similar in taste to the one I had last night, hahaha...

Sliced beef and pork meatball congress (HKD38)

All in all, I found Hong Kong to be pretty similar to Singapore in most aspects, except for the price of meals here which is kinda pretty expensive. An average meal of HKD40 (equivalent to SGD7.50) at their local eateries will have bought me something better at the hawker centres in Singapore, hahaha...

Another week to go, and it's home sweet home!!

Day 12: Lantau Island, Mdm Tussauds, The Peak

Our last day in Hong Kong! Planned activities are: 1) Visit to Lantau Island and 2) Visit to Victoria Peak. This should be a very packed day!! =)

Local breakfast at one of the eateries next to Wan Chai MTR station. Delicious chee cheong fun / siew mai plus tea for HK$11.

Central MTR where we have to walk quite a bit of distance for the next line. This place is huge... Our final MTR station was Tung Chung MRT where you can take either Bus NLB No 23 or cable car to Lantau Island...

We opted for a Ngong Ping 360 cable car ride where you have ride up a mountainside offering 360-degree views over the sea, HK International Airport, lushed valleys and rugged terrains. Awesome sceneries!!

The new Ngong Ping 360 Crystal Cabin which we were in is equipped with a glass bottom and you can get to see the boundless sea and the rolling grassland slopes right underneath your feet. Very cool!! This comes at a hefty price of course, hahaha... One way trip for crystal cabin at HK$109 vs for normal cabin at HK$63.

The cable car cabin which we were in for the super long 30min ride from Tung Chung Cable Car Terminal to Ngong Ping Cable Car Terminal.

Ngong Ping Village - a cultural themed village which has been architecturally designed and landscaped to reflect the cultural and spiritual integrity of the Ngong Ping area.

Under the Bodhi Tree

Photo with the mascot.

We signed up for a free nature guided organized by Ngong Ping Nature Centre where a guide will bring us around the area to appreciate and explore the culture and natural resources around the area.

Fruit which looks like a praying monk... Cute!

Butterflies fluttering around the greens... AH hid behind Emi's back most of the time again, hahaha, as these butterflies seem to love to 'attack' AH!!

After a 30min walk, we arrived at Phoenix mountain (i think this should be the correct name) and Wisdom Path. You can get to see the sea from here, nice!

Wisdom Path is a replica of the centuries-old Heart Sutra (one of the best known prayers that is revered by Confucians, Buddhists and Taoists alike). The sutra is engraved on 38 giant wooden pillars placed in the figure of infinity (8 positioned horizontally) to symbolise the concept of immeasurable splendour and the infinity.

Visitors have to climb 268 steps in order to reach the Buddha!!

Tian Tan Buddha (aka Big Buddha) is a large bronze statue of a Buddha located near Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion. The Buddha statue sits on a lotus throne on top of a three-platform altar and is surrounded by six smaller bronze statues representing gods or immortals.

We wanted to take the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak, but alas, the Peak Tram was closed for maintenance =( No choice; we got to take Bus 15 (Central Ferry Pier), fare: HK$9.60 and journey took us almost an hour. Yawn, super long lor...

We managed to get to Victoria Peak just in time to catch the sunset

Quick dinner at Burger King. HK$40 for a mushroom swiss meal.

Madame Tussauds Hong Kong is part of the renowned chain of wax museums founded by Marie Tussaud of France and is located at the Peak Tower. Admission fee is HK$140 for adults. We had a terrific time here taking photos with the many wax figures of internationally-known personalities... Thumbs up!!

Brad Pit (so handsome!) and Angelina Jolie

Aaron Kwok. Check out his muscles.

Bae Yong Joon with his signature smile. He's the first Korean star included in a Madame Tussauds exhibition.

Princess Diana

Queen Elizabeth II; Princess Emi; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Husband of Queen Elizabeth II); Princess Anne

Lee Kuan Yew, our former Prime Minister. Salute!

Andy Lau (so charming!) was the outlet first animatronic model that was crafted out of silicone rather than wax.

The Beatles

Leslie Cheung

Anita Mui

Scare attraction: Scream - Escape The Asylum! I'm hiding behind Emi all the time as we walked down the dark corridors where murder, bloodshed, violence filled the whole place... now and then, rampaging psychopaths (the performers) will jump out from the dark to scare you too!

Breathtaking night view of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor from Victoria Peak on a clear night. Gotta pose for photos!!