Hong Kong and Macao at last...

Aha!!! Mesti ada yang dah tak sabar nak dengar cerita ni, kan? Ok, untuk nak cerita sekaligus takut panjang sangat, so I make it into two parts.

Day 1- 29 March

Hari yang paling istimewa sekali, 1st it was our 8th anniversary and 2nd, we spent the night at Hong Kong Airport also known as Chek Lap Kok, what else can you ask for a perfect anniversary night? He..he.. We arrived in Hong Kong at 9.30pm (by the way, our time & HK time are the same) Actually we already planned that just to save cost. It was ok, nobody disturbed us, we just had to take extra care on our things.

Around 11.00pm, after most of the shops started to close, we finally found a spot to sleep. Biasa lah..walau tak lena sangat tapi cukup untuk lepaskan penat. Nasib baik bawak selimut, boleh gak cover sejuk air-con. For our anniversary dinner, we had biscuit and a cup of milo...(Wow... isn't that romantic?)

Day 2 - 30 March

Around 5.00am, orang dah ramai balik, while waiting for 7.00am shuttle bus to the hostel, we had quick breakfast that cost us, HK22 (coffee and bun). The shuttle bus (Airbus) starts as early as 5.30am till midnight which has 10 different routes. Price is HK33 per person, I guess this is the cheapest way to go to the hostel. To get to our hostel, we took A21 bus, which covers Mongkok, Yau Mau Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui. It was 40mins ride, and stopped opposite Kowloon Mosque and 5 mins walk to our hostel, New Garden Hostel in Mirador Mansion. Have you watched Chungking Express movie? The film was shot here. If you have seen it, i'm sure you won't want to stay here, but it's only in the movie. Overall this place is okay.

In Hong Kong (especially Tsim Sha Tsui area), all hostels are located inside big and old buildings. It looks and sounds dodgy but if you are inside the hostel everything looks different. Mirador Mansion is not as dodgy as Chungking Mansions, the famous one (which is the place where you can see all sort of nationalities). Even in the issue of 'TIME Magazine' 2007, Mirador Mansions was elected as the Best Example of Globalization in Action in its annual feature The Best of Asia.

Since we've arrived quite early, we had to come back at 12.00pm to check in, luckily they let us keep our lugguage there. Our first stop was Avenue of Stars which is facing Hong Kong Island skyline. Ianya tak jauh dari hostel kitaorang, yang bestnya kalau pilih duduk di Tsim Tsa Tsui semuanya dekat boleh jalan kaki ke mana-mana. Cuaca agak sejuk dan ditambah dengan Hong Kong yang dilanda debu dari China, so pemandangan agak kureng sikit, tapi boleh lah buat tatapan semua. I'm sure Hong Kong lebih cantik dari ini. Faizal paling teruja jumpa dengan patung Bruce Lee, macam2 pose dia buat. Tempat ni ala-ala Walk of Fame dan juga terdapat banyak muzium kat situ seperti HK Culture, HK Science, HK Arts and HK Space Museum.

Around 12.00pm we headed back to our hostel, paid the hostel fee (HK1400 for 4 nights, RM600), ada sikit miscommunication, instead of bayar RM448, jadi RM600 sebabnya bilik yang murah tu takde tingkap dan bilik air. Kecik ya amat, tapi janji ada semua kemudahan, air-con, towel, housekeeping, free mineral water and private bathroom plus TV! Tak pe lah janji within the budget. So, kalau book hostel in HK make sure you know what type of room you've booked for.

Lepas rehat dan tidur sekejap, around 3.00pm, makan maggi yang kitaorang bawa tu sambil plan what to do next. Next we took a ferry from Star Ferry Terminal to Central, Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong is actually consists of HK Island, Kowloon, New Territories and Outlying Islands (260 islands around). Tambang murah jer naik ferry, HK2.50(upper deck), HK2.20(lower deck), upper deck lagi best la...

Memang Hong Kong ni penuh dengan skycrapers, rasanya susah nak tengok bangunan yang comel2 especially in Central. Most of the buildings owned by big names such as, HSBC, AIA, Bank of China and many more. Yang paling mencabar sekali kalau jalan di Central ni, banyak mendaki bukit mungkin disebabkan struktur geografinya macam tu. Oleh itu, they have the longest escalator in the world, called Central Mid Levels Escalator. Sepanjang route tu, kitaorang lalu SOHO (macam kat England rasanya), Lan Kwai Fong (Happening pubs and bars are located) dan yang paling best terjumpa masjid, Jamia Mosque.

Nasib baik naik pakai escalator turun terpaksa la pakai tangga, bergegar jugak lutut, tapi best! Dah agak nak malam, we headed back to Tsim Sha Tsui and had our dinner at Ali Baba Curry King inside Chungking Mansions, riuh betul tempat ni. Dinner cost us, HK80, (he..he..boleh tahan jugak kan?)

Day 3 - 31 March

Apalagi another landmark to go, The Peak. To make our journey easier, we purchased Octopus Card (ala-ala Touch n Go), cuma yang best kalau pakai this card, dapat diskaun for each journey (hmmm...TnG ada ke?!!) dan boleh refund deposit and unused value. Price starts from HK150 per person(HK50 refundable, HK100 remaining value can be used, it's recommended). To get to The Peak, there are two ways that I know, take 15C bus from Star Ferry Terminal in Central to The Peak Tram Terminus, HK4.20 and take tram from there or take bus no. 15 (HK9.40) straight to The Peak. Tak sah lah kalau tak naik tram. Walau costnya agak mahal tapi worth it! Kitaorang beli combo price (Tram return & Madame Tussauds, HK180 per person). It was a fascinating ride up to The Peak regardless of bad weather. Kat The Peak, apalagi Anna cepat2 ke Hard Rock Cafe to get her pins. Kat sini hanya ada Rock Shop, cafe tak ada lagi due to relocation. Kat atas ni pun ada shopping mall, kat HK ni mana2 ada shopping mall, sampai dah tak larat nak masuk semua.

The Peak ni bukan aje for sightseeing, tapi jugak orang tinggal kat sini especially big tycoons, celebrities and rich people. Lepas tu ke Madame Tussade yang tak sebesar macam di London, tapi kitaorang still enjoying ourselves there. Tengoklah aksi2 "bengong" kitaorang.

Dah dekat pukul 3.00pm perut dah keroncong, we back to Central and took MTR to Causeway Bay to find Warung Malang, the only Indonesian restaurant that 100% halal. Even Astro Oasis had discovered this place for their show. The onwner, Bapak H. Mochamad Nurali from Jombang, East Java who has opened this place for the last 13 years. Sayang sekali, ramai Muslim dari Malaysia datang ke sini, tapi tak ada satu pun restoran halal milik orang kita (yang kitaorang perhatikan). Hmmm, wonder why?

Makanannya sedap kena dengan selera kita, apalagi makan sampai tinggal tulang je..Kosnya seperti biasa, mahal sikit tapi puas, HK85 for two, Ok la tu... Disebabkan nak kejarkan ke muzium yang dah nak tutup pukul 6.00pm, Faizal and I jalan punyalah laju macam tak cukup tanah, maklumlah every Wednesday all museums are admission free. Bukan apa di HK Museum of Culture is having HK Film Festival where they have Bruce Lee's exhibition. Itu yang nak kejar sangat tu...

Lepas tu, kami ke Ladies Market di Mongkok area, punya la ramai manusia nampak kepala orang je. Kat sini memang heaven la untuk awek2, aksesori, handbag, baju2 dan souvenirs ada dijual. Sempat la jugak spent a few hundred HK dollars for souvenirs (bunyi macam banyak, tapi lepas convert tak sampai RM100 pun) Di situ juga ada street yang dikenali sebagai Shoes Street sepanjang tu, semua kedai kasut. Juling jugaklah biji mata. Then we headed to Avenue of Stars for Symphony of Lights yang diadakan setiap malam pukul 8.00 selama 15 minit. It can be seen from both sides, HK Island or Tsim Sha Tsui.

Kesimpulannya so far, di area Central kedai2 dalam shopping mall tutup cepat, as early as 7.00pm tapi di Tsim Sha Tsui, Mongkok and Yau Mau Tei lebih happening dengan street markets, so tutup lambat, boleh la..ronda-ronda lagi. Transportation memang double thumbs up! Toilets are clean and places too.

Macamana our story so far? Nak tau lagi kena bersabar dah lenguh ni taip story, we'll keep you guys updated soon.

Stay tuned for Part II.