Saturday, May 30, 2009

Lan Kwai Fong (LKF).

Random building taken during the journey from the tram station back to Central. Possible because i) we were on the upper deck of an open top Double Decker bus, fortunately and ii) the bus was stopping for the red light at a junction, fortunately. Image on the right - us awaiting to board the tram back to the bottom station.


Traffic jam, it can happen anytime, anywhere. And before heading back to the hotel to freshen up, Pete brought us to LKF for a quick stroll. It was still pretty early, hence, pretty quiet.


The many streets of LKF. At the end of the quick stroll, I left in disappointment because I did not get to bump into Bernice Liu (nor any other celebrities), sigh.


Experienced the 'wait-for-table' in restaurant moment always seen in TVB drama series - it was already 9.30pm at night when this photo was taken and yet, we still had to wait in line for a table - for dinner.


Dinner time! Clockwise - Jen, Pete, Mr. Tan, Ms. Waitress, Cannie, Brandon, Surprised Cherrie, Jacklyn and myself who is not in the camera. Its kind of like a custom to have a pot of hot water and another pot of tea on the table, one for washing the eating utensils (notice the bowl) and the other, drinking. And the other chopsticks are for common use - to pick food from the dishes instead of using your own one.


Octopus card (Pat Tap Tung) belonging to Ms. Waitress. I can't be 100% certain but it might have been Jen who first spotted it. Cute eh?


Brandon having a great munching time. Random shot of Jacklyn.

Friday, May 29, 2009

At The Peak.

Pete and Jen, just moments before alighting the bus, queuing up and boarding the tram towards The Peak on a pretty narrow slope if u ask me, I had to lean forward most of the time to maintain stability.


Scenery from The Peak, the infamous concrete jungle.


View on the other side of The Peak, much more peaceful both in its surrounding as well as the scenery as opposed to the previous photo.


Jacklyn's must have "I am tourist" photo with famous landmarks/scenery of destination in the background.


One for the album - minus Mr. Tan cause he was the one taking this photograph. Your honorable sacrifice shall be remembered until it is been forgotten. To the individual whose shadow is upon me, be known that you have ruined a otherwise absolutely fantastic photo. Thou shalt feel guilt forever and ever.




Crystal clear reflection of us through Cherrie's sunnies. From the amount of images seen so far, I think its pretty logic/reasonable to assume that we spent quite some time up here. Let's say that we were there long enough to experience the weather changing from windy-sunny to windy-bone-chilling.


Taken moments before starting our journey down in the late evenings. Yeap, regrettably, due to prior arranged appointment, we were not able to stay till nightfall. But looking at things from the bright side, here's another reason to plan another visit to Hong Kong again, yay!


Last but not least, here's a photo of our photographer, Mr. Tan, doing his thing. The lengths he go through for a good photo should be a lesson to us all. We later alighted the tram at the bottom station to a sea of tourists waiting in line to board.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

To The Peak.

Taking a ride on the electric tram, one of Hong Kong's earliest mode of public transportation, since we had ample time to spare. Which reminds me of the night tram ride time lapse video done by Pete which I really enjoyed. It's just so beautiful.


Mr. Tan, Hello Kitty and Jacklyn. Just a gentle reminder to everyone, hold on to something when not seated on the tram, certain parts of the track can be pretty jerky. What you experience inside the MTR = peanuts.


An oncoming tram, the initial purpose was to show how close by the trams were side by side but as you can see, the plan failed, totally. A random road directory taken while waiting for Jacklyn to exit the Burberry store (fortunately, empty handed).


On the open top Double Decker bus heading towards the Peak Tram. Could not help but wonder what happens if it rains since its impossible to accommodate everyone in the lower deck and using an umbrella would be pretty hazardous.


Soon, really soon.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Onwards to the Lomography Shop.

But, before that, we dropped by Man Mo Temple, one of the oldest and better known temples. Pete, our walking and talking encyclopedia, explained that during the early years of British rule, locals came to the temple to solve disputes or seek healing due to unfamiliarity with western medications (something that we still practice nowadays) and laws.

Seen in this photo are bell shaped like burning incense.


It is also one of the few that allow photography inside the temple, just so you know.


An interesting pattern sighted on a building on Hollywood road opposite the temple. If you stare long enough, you'll notice a repeating diagonal stretch of the alphabet Z. Photo on the right: the staircase located on the junction between Ladder Street and Square Street.


Random shot of Jen, Jacklyn and Pete with a background of tiny red tiles.


Aaron in front of the lomography shop, our destination. Jen and the road sign of Square Street.


Inside the lomography shop, extremely colorful which makes it really great to photograph - which I wasn't really sure whether its permitted or not but I went ahead anyway. If sounded, I could always use the No. 1 tourist excuse of "Oh, sorry, I didn't know" *grins*. Both Jac and I liked the top left photo the most.


Pete fiddling with his iPhone, Jacklyn and Jen seems to be engaged in a serious conversation - most probably of the "just buy since you're already here" topic. Jacklyn in a "pretending to be appreciative of art" pose.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

ifc Mall to Hollywood Road.

At this current speed that I am posting on the Hong Kong trip, I can't help but to sometimes wonder how long it would probably take before I say "finally". But since I'm still pretty comfortable with the ways things are going, I'll just leave things as it is. I think I am contradicting myself with conflicting opinions again.


Random - cars, cabs, trams and Double-Decker buses.


Jacklyn. Us on the escalator - notice how the left lane is the moving lane as opposed to the right one in Singapore and none in Malaysia? Not easy to take photos as there's a constant flow of people moving up in a fast manner.


All the way up and then all the way down. I kept having this nagging fear of slipping (since it was drizzling) and rolling all the way down when descending. And that is a really long way down.


I was not kidding when I say we were walking under light drizzle most of the time, as witnessed here. Hollywood Road by the way, no celebrities spotted here though.


First bowl of wan tan mee in HK. Lesson learnt from Pete at hawker stalls, always to take chopsticks facing upwards because you don't wanna risk eating cockroach shit. Notice how the mee is not totally submerged in the soup to prevent it from becoming soggy? Would you believe it if I told you that this tiny bowl of mee contains 5 wan tans (dumplings) that are much, much bigger from those that we have in KL?

Monday, May 25, 2009

Towards Chung Wan (Central).

On board the ferry to Central Pier, sitting in the air-conditioned section. Honestly, without Pete touring us around, we would probably be taking only the MTR (which is more expensive and boring) around throughout our vacation.


Exiting the ferry at Central Pier. I can't really recall on the cost difference since we were using the Octopus (its either Pat Tap Tung or Pat Tap Pung) card - the only thing that mattered then was the value left in it.


A bewildered looking individual, Brandon doing the rocker sign, Cherrie doing the peace sign, Pete looking right and Jen totally ignoring me. A pretty steady gangway we were exiting on I would say.


Walking towards the ifc mall via the blue bridge, I hope you're not expecting me to be able to name all the places I've been to/snapped a picture of. Sorry for not paying attention Pete. Just the other day we were watching some TVB series when a scene on the bridge came and I excitedly mentioned it to Jac who totally ignored me, hmph.


ifc mall welcomes us.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

To the Avenue of Stars.

Starting our journey at the Avenue of Stars under light drizzle, looking at hand prints of celebrities in Hong Kong in various forms - small, huge, deep, shallow.


Taking touristy photos at said location, a replica of the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch and I have no idea what that thing is called - a prop. Due to its size, the prop kinda reminded me of what Justice Pao used to behead the criminals tried and found guilty.


More tourist photos. Brandon, Cherrie, Pete and a cultural center with posters that are pretty *thinks of appropriate word* suggestive? Jacklyn with a nude statue of a lady wrapped in films, looking up to the sky holding a transparent sphere which might or might not light up during the night.


Them doing the Aaron Point. If it looks pretty familiar, then it looks pretty familiar. You only see 5 of them because the other 2 felt they were a little too old for the pointing. The guy in green shirt has nothing to do with us - he's just at the wrong place at the wrong time.


A group shot.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Mido Cafe.

Located just a stone's throw away from Dorsett Seaview Hotel, we were already out by 9 in the morning after settling in way past midnight earlier. The cafe looks awfully familiar, I think it has been used in the filming of TVB's 'Miu Kai Ma Heng Dai' (translated as the twins of Temple Street) series starring Hacken Lee, Edmund Leong and etc.


The setting upstairs, the owner was kind enough to let us explore the cafe and morph into a photo-snapping frenzy mode while waiting for the food to arrive. Everything is just so old school - reminds me of the yellow window building I used to have lunch at during my previous employment.


The setting downstairs and a pineapple on ice drink with Brandon, Cherrie and a very delicious French Toast in the background. No kidding.


Ham and Egg sandwich and milk tea, yums.


The mentioned super sedap French Toast, very fragrant, not too oily, not too sweet. And it doesn't have the stickiness of peanut and butter when biting into the toast, unlike what we have over here in certain franchises, hmph! Although the milk tea is good, its not as good as the one that I had a few days later.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Around Temple Street.

Also known as Miu Kai, a direct translation in Cantonese. It does bear some similarity with our very own Pasar Malam (night market) minus all the food stuff, T-shirts, bags and souvenirs aplenty. And much cleaner too.


In front of Tong Tai restaurant while waiting for our food, which is supposingly our dinner but is actually supper (almost 11pm), to arrive. As I'm seated pretty close to the roadside, each time a vehicle passes by, especially the mini-buses, I can't help but to inch a little closer to the table - quite an experience.


Pete, a random ang moh and Jen. Cheers!


A quick stroll after supper, surrounded by billboards and signboards of massage parlors and other businesses. Right beside where we're standing was a poster showing a masseuses in various revealing positions performing a massage. An eye opener.