A quick getaway to Hong Kong.......
Had to get up at 5am this morning....... by 5:45am I was already on the way to the airport - Budget Terminal. There were not many people and the check in was swift. Then, it's just waiting to board the plane - Tiger Airways.
The flight took off on time and after 3.5 hours, we landed at Hong Kong International Airport. As usual, there's a long queue or people at the immigration. I took out my HKFVC and cleared the immigration! The luggage came out quickly and soon I was on the bus to the hotel! It was cold!
The journey from airport took about 1 hour to arrive at the Terminal - just opposite the hotel : Ibis North Point. After check-in, I went for a look-see around North Point. Stephen came shortly after and took the opportunity to nap at the hotel.
Later in the afternoon, we went for window shopping and ended up at Sogo. Being a Saturday and near CNY, the whole place was packed ! Mountain People Mountain Sea! Got out from there and went to other malls before finally meetinmg up with Derrick for Dinner - Japanese Buffet. Buffet again!
The food was average but the company was great! Went back to hotel by MTR. As Stephen has a performance the following day, decided to rest early.
23rd Jan
Did not even get up for breakfast! A relaxed day......had dim sum lunch at the Chinese restaurant located in South China Hotel. The lunch was delicious and (as usual) I had to be cautious with the ordering......(in case I ordered too much!). Certainly would go back there for dim sum again.
Stephen went back to the hotel to rest while I continue exploring the North point neighbourhood. Managed to buy some beautiful red packets and also some stuff within that short lookaround....
The most important event of the trip - to attend the stage performance.
Stephen and Derrick have been rehearsing for this evening...to sing cantonese opera in front of live audience. Went early to the backstage and it already bustling with activities. Friends came to give their best wishes and after changing and make-up, they were ready for the show down!
The stage singing was about 25mins. This was my first time attending such a performance. Both if them looked very good on stage and they delivered their best to the loud applause from the audience.
After the stage performance, they were busy with photo taking with friends and supporters! They were like celebrities! Hahahahaha!
By the time we left the cultural centere, it was already coming 10pm! Went tp teh nearby restaurant for dinner/supper before hitting the sack!
24th
Got to get up early .... packed and check-out. At the MTR, there were so many people rushing to work. I was surprised to see that the commuters were all standing in front of the MTR doors, waiting to rush in - not planning to give way to the commuters coming out! In Singapore, this would be a rare sight!
Stpehen came to send me off and we had breakfast at the airport before he had to leave for work.
Tiger airways was on time again leaving Hong kong for Singapore!
Though this was a pretty rush trip, I was glad I could be there to lend my support to Stephen and Derrick. Though I did not understand what they were singing (and occasionally dozed off a couple of time!) I did made it through the evening!
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Got Raymond to organise the birthday celebration for Gerald. Finally decided to have it at Jang Shou Korean BBQ.
After work, got a lift from Sam to the restaurant. When we got there, Raymond and Richard were at the entrance. Gerald and Jay were already at the restaurant. Soon, Wong, Tong and their Jap friend,Gon, arrived and finally Derrick.Soon, everyone was busy BBQing. The spread was great with different marinates and also cooked food. Derrick was kind to provide wine!It was a great evening and we ended with a birthday cake for Gerald. In return, we all got a small gift from him - TOTO ticket!
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After much anticipation, the long awaited trip is finally here......
Stephen arrived from HKG and made his way to my office, waiting at HELLO shop. Went back home first to leave behind the backpack before making our way to Alexandra village for dinner, Met small Ben at Queensway Shopping Centre.
Gerald and Jay were already there and as usual, Albert was late. Better late than never, I guess for him! Dinner was at the zi char stall at the coffee shop. We ordered the famous herbal chicken, the stingray, vege, clam, pork ribs, etc. It was a good meal! Then, we went over to Anchorpoint for dinner. The evening ended well.
Had to get up to work. Left Stephen still sleeping. Office was rather quiet and calls were not many. Soon, at 1pm, the office closed and I left to meet up with Stephen (waiting at HELLO).
We went over to Chinatown point to meet up with Derrick (to pass him Christmas present) and later Raymond came over to have late lunch with us at the noodle shop.
Went back home to rest before meeting for dinner, While at home, found that the air con was not working well.
Frantically searching for someone to come and check but found that I have to wait till Monday. Finally managed to get 1 to come the following morning.
Thought that we would be late for the steamboat dinner at Katong due to the bad traffic. Was surprised to be on time. Raymond's hope of hoping to get us to pay for dinner was dashed! Gerald, Wong and Tony showed up and the group was ready for dinner, We must really be hungry as we ordered many rounds of food! I had to keep ordering and putting the food into the steamboat! By the time we finished, it was a satisfying meal!
Wanted to go over to the ice cream kafe for dessert but it was closed for private function. Decided to go over to awfully chocolate instead. The chocolate ice cream was delicious!
As it was Christmas eve, we planned to walk orchard road. Well....it was a mistake! We got out at Orchard MRT and out of ION. The human traffic was REALLY BAD! It was very packed! The traffic was almost impossible just outside Taka! We finally managed to get some breathing space and at Dhoby Ghaut, we took the MRT ride over to City
Hall. I though that there would be people singing Christmas carols everywhere but I was wrong. It was just lighting and mountain people mountain sea! There was no Christmas mood!
After a drink at City Hall, we decided to call it a night. When we reached home, the air con was still not working. Stephen tried making some 'changes' and we finally got some cool air but it was shortlived, I really had problem sleeping ...... I managed to get yanti to reset the main switch and we managed to get some cool air again.
25 Dec
The guy came and found that there was gas leakage. He managed to top up the gas and also tightened some loose screws. Hopefully that would solve the problem. To think that I only serviced the air con a few weeks before!
Had to prepare for the family party. Got up to make some desserts, Then, went over to TBP for a movie before going back to get ready.
As it was pouring, the family members were late but we finally had the food ready for everyone. Fried bee hoon, curry chicken, Kong Bak, pork ribs, soup (Buddha jumps over the wall), desserts and jade noodle, There was plenty to eat and drink!
We also got a log cake to celebrate mum's birthday.
Then, its gift exchange time again! As usual, Steve would bring out his ang pow and that would be the one everyone wants, This time, the least expected Stephen got the ang pow! He was delighted! The night ended well with lots of fun and laughters. Glad that Stephen enjoyed himself as well.
Had leftovers for breakfast and then started to pack for the KL trip. Went over to Beach road to catch the Transtar coach.
The coach left almost on time but there some some congestion getting to the 2nd link. Further delay to clear SG side because 1 passenger left his departure card in his bag instead and had to be escorted to the coach to look for the card. At the rest point, some passengers took their own sweet time, making everyone waited for them. Then, bad traffic slowed down along the highway and by the time we arrived, it took more than 6 hours! We were supposed to arrive about 7:30pm. We arrived after 8:30pm!
Had some noodle at Jalan Imbi before making our way to the hotel. After some calling to Douglas to ask for direction, we finally found Fraser Place.
Check in was smooth and when we got to our room, we were pleasantly surprised! It was a very well equipped studio apartment.
We went for a walk to see the many pubs/bars just next to our apartment before turning in for the night.
Went over to KLCC for a look-see before meeting up with Nelson. Decided to have KFC for lunch as Stephen reckoned that Malaysia has tastier KFC. Then, we went over to Sungei Wang, Bintang Plaza and also to Pavilion. We managed to find seat at the Snowflake shop to have desserts.
SP came over to our apartment for a drink and then we met up with Ben and friends for dinner, We went back to imbi and ordered some noodle dishes, The dishes were delicious and then we moved on to another place for desserts.
Went for a stroll along Bukit Bintang also also Ah Lor before heading back to the apartment.
A relaxed day on our own. Walk to KLCC and then took the MRT ride to Central Market. It was rather interesting as the place has many stuff to offer. From there, we went over to Chinatown. Decided to walk back to Bukit Bintang from Chinatown. By thé time we got there, Stephen's fingers were swollen - too much walking! We settled down at Jogoya for a late lunch. The spread was just too much for us and we had very limited time to eat.
After lunch, we went over to Pavilion for Stephen to buy swimming trunk. We went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day at the pool, sauna, steam and jacuzzi. It was great!
I had the opportunity to get my laundry done and dried. We did not go out to eat...instead we cooked instant noodle, together with the BBQ pork that we had. A simple meal....
As we could not sleep, we decided to go for a walk and managed to order a pizza and tiramisu back to the hotel for supper. The pizza was really delicious!
A very important day - need to go to Port Dickson to look at a resort. Nelson has been very kind to offer to take us there. Its' about 1 - 1.5 hour's drive. We had to go back to his place at to pick up Alwin (who has just gotten back from night shift). Went to a nearby restaurant for Bak Kut Teh lunch. Supposed to be a popular restaurant but we found the food to be average (based on our liking!)
Then, we moved on and our 1st stop was Sepang - Palm Tree resort. The journey there was rather far, and we dozed off easily after lunch (full stomach). Finally arrived at the resort and we saw many people at the beach next to the resort.
It was rather interesting seeing people flying kites, swimming, having picnic and even having ball game on the beach! We went over to the resort and I must say it looked impressive, even from the beach. The only thing, to me, was that the units were very close (side by side) to each other.
From there, we moved on to Port Dickson. It was relatively nearer from Sepang. We saw the sign of the Legend International Water Homes and the Water Chalets. The 2 resorts were just side by side.
Managed to get the sales person to show us the Grand Pool Villa. From the pictures, the Villa looked very good but........... the villa was not as grand as expected and it looked smaller in real life. We could not see the Executive Pool Villa as the resort was running full. We were told the difference was only the room size.
Both resorts are 4 star but we felt that the lobby at Water Chalets looked better than Water Homes! We managed to see a chalet (the door was opened) and found the room to be rather small, but comfortable.
Then, its driving all the way back to KL...... and the terrible traffic jam....the traffic was so bad that Nelson decided to risk taking another route. Finally managed to crawl our way out of the traffic and the risk was no risk at all. We managed to get into town and decided to have dinner at Pavilion.
Dinner was at Crystal Jade and we had Peking Duck, Sweet & sour soup, some prawn dishes and vege, etc. It was a sumptuous meal, thanks to Alwin!
On the way back to the hotel, we bought desserts (from SnowFlake Cafe). Nelson and Alwin were quite impressed with the room. We chatted till late before they had to leave.
It was a long day but it was a very good day for us.
Got up late.....just ready for lunch. Went for buffet Dim Sum at Novotel hotel. Did not realise that the dim sum were already on the buffet table (not the ala carte buffet). The food was average but for the price (M$45 nett), I guess one cannot complain.
Then, it's off to Pavilion for a look around. Wanted to catch a movie but the timing was not good and so decided to go over to Time Square. Time Square was rather crowded but after looking around, there wasn't anything worth buying there.
Nelson called and wanted to catch up. So, decided to meet at Pavilion. Went over to Pavilion and we sat down for tea at StarBuck. As it was still early for dinner, we decided to go back to hotel to rest.
Back at the Hotel, we went to the 18th floor again for steam, sauna and jacuzzi and even swim! It was really good! Dinner was supposed to be at Cheras, behind Phoenix Plaza - steamboat. SP was to meet us there.
Dinner was good...we had lots to eat!
Then, SP drove us to Mid Valley for a look -see and also for a drink. It was rather late by the time we got there and after walking around for a while, he drove us back to the hotel.
Got up for breakfast and then packed our stuff. Checked out around noon and took a cab ride (about 50 mins) to LCCT.
It was self service for check in at the kiosk and then we just dropped off our luggage at the counter.
The plane was on time and after about 50mins flight, we landed at Changi International Airport.
Raymond has booked dinner for 6 at the Canton Restaurant at People's Park Complex and we arrived early to buy some stuff for Stephen's colleagues. We also bought a gift for Simon - parfum.
Gerald, Tony and Wong turned up for dinner. We just had dinner together on 23rd when Stephen arrived from Hong Kong. It was great to catch up again, on the last day of the year. After dinner, Gerald, Raymond and us decided to try to walk to Fullerton for the countdown. We met up briefly with Kelvin and gang at illuvia, enroute to Fullerton.
When we got there, the whole place was packed! It was almost impossible to walk! Then, we decided to give up and we came back home to watch the countdown instead. We got to see the fireworks on TV.
First Day of the New Year! May it bring good health and lot of good fortune!
Have arranged lunch with Kelvin & gang at the Seafood International Market restaurant at East Coast. Raymond came along as well. The food was rather good and the company was great!
Went over to Raffles City for a look see but could not get what I wanted. Then, we went over to TBP and also Anchorpoint to get some stuff.
Dinner was at Anchorpoint . We had Laksa Yong Tau Foo and also pizza (not as good as the one we had in KL).
Stephen's departure back to Hong Kong.
Went over to Pearl Centre to try and buy a DVD but it was not available. Went to another shop but still could not find. Had Dim Sum lunch at Mouth Restaurant. Wanted to have lunch at Yum Cha Restaurant but was packed!
Went to the airport early to avoid any long queue as many people are travelling back today.
The trip has been rather exciting for us. Stephen got to meet up with some of my good friends in KL. He was pleasantly surprised with their generosity and kindness. The journey by coach was an experience for him and he reckoned that he would do it again. The apartment was cosy and comfortable. Certainly would stay there again!
Glad to know that he enjoyed himself a lot and also made new friends in this trip!
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