Took the train to Tsim Sha Tsui to reach Holiday Inn. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of people travelling on the Shenzhen-Hong Kong MTR. From old folks with newspapers to thirty-somethings in power suits and teenagers clad in their version of fashion with mP3's in their ears and young school children in uniforms which are quite cute. Well, some of them are lah. The pullovers with school ties and blazers matched with white socks and black shoes. Rather Western public school-ish. I suppose those blazers are awfully handy when the icy wind blows.

Oh, and I saw this tall and good-looking guy in the whole school uniform suit in black. Yummy! I wouldn't mind going to Hong Kong schools if they were all populated with guys like that. =p

Anyway, as we were about to enter the train, its was a bit of 'every man for yourself' concept. You'd darn well better push yourself into the train because the next train is 45 mins away. =(

It was a relieve to reach our station. And I had to lug my huge roller bag up this super long flight of steps as there were no lifts at our station exit.

What the heck?! *groans and starts building arm muscles*

Holiday Inn turned out to be 3 minutes away from the station. And because land is a precious commodity, it is in high demand, therefore rent is sky high. The entrance fronting Nathan Street was so small that my mum didn't notice it and just walked on.

We decided beforehand that we weren't going to Disneyland because its kinda small and expensive. Its probably overcrowded with tourists too. So I'd rather go to the one in Florida, USA. *hints hopefully to parents though I doubt they'll be reading this*

Checked in and roamed the streets for food. As usual, our first meal in a new city sucks because we're usually hungry so we just walk into the nearest half-decent looking restaurant.

I misread 'rice and fried egg and ham' for 'fried rice with egg and ham'. I got a plate of plain rice and a fried egg and 2 pieces of ham for RM13. What a con! Okay, maybe its my fault for not reading the menu properly, but still, RM13 for that?!

The bill came up to HKD183 which is RM91.50.
1 ringgit = 2 Hong Kong dollars (HKD).

And the food kinda sucked. In Malaysia I can probably have lunch in Italiannies for that price.

Walked along the streets and all those branded label shops. Giordano, Esprit, Ferragamo, Boss, Guess...you name it, you got it. And there were a whole lot of other boutiques as well. What you see in Humen and Shenzhen, you see in Hong Kong for double/triple the price. Which is why we went shopping in China first. =pThe row of shops with dangling lights. Kinda reminds me of Orchard Road. I wonder if Orchard Road borrowed their layout from them. I assure you, the real thing looks better than my pic.

My mum and I got bored of shopping temporarily (I know it sounds impossible, but its true!) so we decided to go to Kowloon park and gave my brother a break from walking from shop to shop. My dad decided to continue shopping. Nothing much to shout about the park but the greenery was a change from all those shops. =pPink flamingoes and cute ducks that resemble Mandarin love ducks.
I was hoping to get more ducks in the picture but I got more brother than ducks.
Some high-rise condominium near the park.
My brother's new found friend whom he met playing in the park.

Met up with my dad later as he bought McD's nuggets and we stood outside Miramar shopping complex eating them. I felt a bit like a homeless vagrant eating my food outside a lovely shopping complex with very nicely dressed people walking in and out...

Went back to McD's to buy Sunday cones.
Now I know how eating ice-cream in winter feels like.

And no, whatever myth you might have heard about how eating ice-cream in winter keeps you warm is just a myth! And I must say that Hong Kong's McD's Sunday cones are more milky than in Malaysia.

Headed to the Avenue of Stars to see the laser and lights show which was kinda disappointing to me. I expected something much better. But it was a good effort by the tourism dept as I'm sure it wasn't easy convincing those buildings to put up those lights and all the co-ordination. My brother who insisted on this picture because he says he's never seen such a big red fire hydrant before. Alamak, jacoonnya...At the beginning of the show...The laser lights and sound show from Kowloon sideA nightime view of Hong Kong island in its glory with lights ablazing

Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong is something likeHollywoods Walk of Fame. It was built in the past couple of years and they have handprints of famous people like Andy Lau, Jackie Chan and the like. And the whole place was swarming with tourists from China and Taiwan sticking their hands into those handprints and grinning away while a camera snapped their picture. Well, they say if you can't beat them, then join them!

So I did the tourist thing and snapped this.Andy Lau's handprints

My dad brought us to this supposedly famous Chinese restaurent in Lan Kwai Fong called 'Yung Kee Restaurant'. When we got to the restataurant, the waitress immediately said to take a number and sit down and wait. Estimated waiting time was about 45 minutes so we decided to walk around. The restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong

If you've seen those TVB series, you'd probably have a preconceived notion of what it looks like due to those shows. For example, part of my preconceived notion was from 'Healing Hands' where the doctors all go to drink at this regular pub, which I assumed was set in Lan Kwai Fong. The real Lan Kwai Fong is quite different and quite unsimilar to what was depicted in the show and what my brain assumed. Hehe.
The signboard speaks for itselfRoaming Lan Kwai Fong with hungry tummies
If you look carefully upwards, you can see scantily-clad mannequins hanging in the air

For one thing, pubs are usually pretty small as rental is expensive. They usually have 4 or 5 small tables and a bar. Heck, some of the pubs looked like they were the same size as my bedroom or even smaller!

Though that pub in 'Healing Hands' could have been set in SoHo which I've not visited so far during my 2 trips to Hong Kong due to time constraints and also because my mum wouldn't be very keen on me dragging her all the way to SoHo just to see what it looks like. Hehe.

Anyway, the restaurant's food was quite good, but not fantastic. I can't remember exactly what we ate, but I know we had mini egg tarts for dessert and they were delicious. Though the one in Perth's Chinatown still beats it in terms of taste and size.

The price was a whopper at HKD 1370!

But it still fell short of HKD 30 to meet my most expensive meal in Hong Kong which was in Morton's at the Sheraton where every other table except ours were celebrating birthdays. So shy, everyone at that restaurant was in nice evening clothes and we walked in with jeans and sneakers. What to do, we weren't planning on going there to eat beforehand...

Food in Hong Kong is expensive.
Even their McD's are slightly more expensive too.

There was a family of 4 opposite my table and there were 2 guys there but they were not cute, so no eye candy. =(

There was also this old fart at the table behind us accompanied by this young and pretty lady which looked Caucasion-ish but spoke fluent Cantonese without an accent. The relationship didn't seem quite platonic, 3 guesses on who she is to him. =p

Dinner ended pretty late aound 10pm so we decided to catch the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui. Oh, and train tickets there cost a bomb too. Just 3 stations away and one train-line switch and it costs RM4.50. For that price, you can probably catch the train to KLCC.

Fortunately, this time I noticed that concessionary fees included the children, students and senior citizens category so I bought concessionary tickets for myself and my brother. Although technically I'm no Honkie student. But, if the train lady says to buy a concessionary ticket for my bro and he's no Honkie kid, therefore as a non-Honkie student I should also be eligible for the concessionary ticket. Hehe.