Day One [Part 1]

So here it is, the fabled Hong Kong post I promised. =)

First and foremost, I warn you, it's picture flooded! So, if you're sharing a line, read this some other time. It'll kill everyone's bandwidth. Lol.

Also, all pictures are taken with my new Panasonic DMC-FZ28. Totally awesome camera.

So YEAH! This is my first vacation overseas and my family and my grandma is coming. Haha. My grandma is the awesomest. =P

The trip also includes going to Shenzhen, which is just 45 mins of train ride from HK.

I had to break Day 1 into two parts coz it had too many pictures. Lol. But the other days are in one post only. So~ Here goes!

My flight was at 6.30 a.m on the 24th of December and that means the taxi comes at 3 a.m.

I didn't sleep. Couldn't. Too excited. Haha.

So the time came and before I knew it, we were at the airport.

One thing though, the LCCT, which is the lower cost terminal of KLIA, sucks balls. Big time. They have big issues. I wouldn't address them here coz it'll just waste our time. So, let's move on! =)

We're taking AirAsia, and their planes are okayla....just abit crampy.

Window shot.

As I was super jakun, I stayed so much awake during the whole airplane take off ordeal. XD Feeling the Gs as the plane throttled ahead and pulled up while looking at the buildings as they get smaller and smaller...... It was something I was looking forward to. Haha.

And the view down from the plane was pretty as it was still dark. I could see the little specks of light below and from above, they look nice.

It was a 4 hour flight approximately, so I slept despite the excitement with my iPod plugged into my ears.

I woke up later from the light coming through the window. I opened my eyes and saw this.

A rainbow coloured horizon.

It was such a nice view to have, waking up. I looked around and saw the clouds were pretty too.

The sky is actually blue up here. =P

Looking out the window to pass the time, it was a scenic view. Before long, the plane descended and islands started to appear.

Can you see the freighters on the water? =)

Holy shit, we're here!

The clouds are nice over or under them.

And stepping out of the plane, I landed on Hong Kong. The weather was distinctively colder and everything had a different atmosphere.

First, everything was very......chinese. XD Hahah, what I meant was all the stewardesses, security guards, notice boards, tv ads, posters, they were all in chinese and hey, it feels like home. =P

It was a big jam at the immigration gate but as we passed it, I saw

Starbucks!

Fun to see familiar things. Haha. I just had it the morning before. Like the people, there were lots of trolleys too.

Trying to be artistic shot of the trolleys. Haha.

After taking our luggage at gate 4, we proceeded.

Rolex public clocks!

Walking out, I saw something familiar again. Bee Cheng Hiang! Pork is roaming free~! Hahaha. Good signs.

The airport's pork shop. Har har~

We met up with the tour guide and we were brought to the little tour bus that will bring us to our respective hotels. Of course, the actual tour buses used during the trips are bigger and more glamourous. Haha.

Hard Gay! [The license plate, incase you missed it]

So we rolled out onto the roads and we're soon out on the highway. The first thing I noticed:

The taxis!

They're the taxis that appear all the time in TVB dramas. Omg, it's there! Hahaha. Very novel thing to see. =)

Ah, Hong Kong, here I come. =)

Another thing, they have lots of double-decker buses around. This is either some environmental thing or it's because having a car in HK is a pain in not only your anus, but all of your innards too. Found out that it takes around 25K HK$ to upkeep a car. Lovely.

One of em typical buses.

High rise buildings are also a common sight in HK. This is due to the limited space they have to spare. All the buildings are at least 40 floors or more.

Some of the apartments I saw along the way.

Here's a fun picture, Guardian is known as Mannings in Hong Kong. =D

The logo also the same.

Then on the way, I saw this! Omg, McDonald's! McPORK is close.......=D

Their McD's is cheaper than ours.

Finally, after around 20 mins I think, we've reached our hotel, Newton Place Hotel. I don't know if it's that three law Newton. Lol.

The lobby's pretty.

I had a sigh of relief coz I was expecting something bad. Because I was like having images of those shady old hotels that's dirty and stinky. Haha. This hotel's awesome.

Christmas is near~

This is the view outside my hotel window.

That's the old airport in between.

We came from the new HK airport. Imagine having to land in the middle of the city like this! Lol. And opposite, that's Hong Kong. The hotel I'm staying at is in the Kowloon district.

It's at a pretty good location because just a few walks away, there is a 7 Eleven and a McD's among other things. The MTR station, is also nearby and I tell you, I love their MTR.

So, since we haven't eaten breakfast for real, we headed to McD's to have....

McPORK!

That's a Sausage McMuffin but instead of being made from chicken like in Msia, it's made of PORK! Omg, it's a pork burger. I've never ever eaten one...! T.T Tears of joy.

Really, it's tastier. The texture and tenderness is better and it's not so dry. The actual taste is quite similiar though. Haha.

Not only that, they have creative promotions such as this:

Ebi burger.

That's shrimp burger. I mean, when did WE ever have shrimp burger? =(

I'm here.

Mmhmm, confirmed. I'm not lying kay? Hahaha. So since we were joining the night tour, we had to move out at 3.45 p.m. And yeah, that's what we did. =)

Along the way, there sights to see such as this.

A very typical Hong Kong street.

You can see those hanging neon signs, and the crazy jams, and lotsa people. Hehe. Oh, and among other things, I saw rich people too:

Note the car license plate on the Audi.

People with a license plate "LAMMI" is no ordinary cheap skate. My god. And in HK. That guy must be loaded. XD

And soon, we're at our first destination, the Avenue of Stars.

One of the earliest things I saw,

Cute. =)

See, that's the statue they give out at the awards. =D

You can see the hustle and bustle of the place there. It's packed. And Hong Kong is just in the background. Lovely place.

Sexy figure.

And oh, in this trip, there was a cameo by someone I haven't seen in a long time. It was a big surprise, a nice surprise to see someone you know when you're on vacation. I totally didn't expect it and it sure did make the trip more meaningful. =)

Eevon.

I met her when she was boarding the tour bus, and I couldn't help but laugh. I was laughing at the oh-so-coincidence that happened. Haha. Just had to take a picture together. She was holidaying at Hong Kong too; she came a little earlier than I did. Hehe, it was fun. You can check her post about her vacation here. =)

So along the way, you can see the handprints of stars all over the floor from start to end. Hong Kong stars of course, such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Bruce Lee and even Michelle Yeoh. Here's how they look like:

Andy Lau's handprint.

From start to end, the place is actually pretty lenghty. But at the end of the walk, you are rewarded with a statue of Bruce Lee. Haha. Or a picture of it at least.

Cool.

So then when walking back to the start, here's some pictures I took:

Mix of traditional and modern.

Emo shot of the light poles. XD

Emo shot of the skyscraper.

It looks pretty dusty huh? Lol. But it didn't seem that way when we're there. Just looks that way. Lucky. XD

And this was at the end.

They were just putting this up.

And we were just leaving. Lucky! XD Haha.

Emo shot of the trophy lady. Look at the birds. =)

Ah, then we headed for our first dinner here in Hong Kong. It was in someplace in the city and without the tour guide, wouldn't have found it. Lol. The place is called:

Pleasant Palace.

And oh, the name was fitting. The food was totally awesome. AWESOME! Roast goose one of the attractions. =)

It appears that it's part of a chain restaurant thingy. So they have lots of this restaurants around Hong Kong and for all the dinners and breakfasts to come, we'll be eating at this restaurant. Lol.

After dinner, we lingered around the streets while waiting for the rest of the group. The neon lights were just starting to light up.

Lights.

See that sign on top of 7 Eleven? Haha. Looks shady. And apparently, in chinese, it's read, Kim Gary. O.O! Since when Kim Gary so cun. XD I forgot what it really is. It's not a whorehouse I think.... Hahah.

Once again, I look at the people and the atmosphere, it reminds me, I'm in Hong Kong.

Dad, Bro, Me.

It's awesome, and you can see the cars AND people are fast. Crazy. Haha.

Next up! We're going up to the tallest hill in Hong Kong. I forgot what it's called. Damn. And woot, the roads leading up looks exactly like in the TVB dramas or movies. They are also windy enough to be made into an Initial D track. Hahah. But the view throughout the journey was nice. You get to see the specks of lights from the buildings. Lovely.

So finally, we're at the peak! Being on a hill, you'd expect....a hill right? But no....There's a whole freakin' complex up there.

The complex.

And it isn't some simple complex, they have like a whole shopping complex inside. You can get branded stuff there. So much for just a hill eh? Hahah.

So here is the end of part 1. Part 2 is fun as well. Seriously. It's fun.

Stay tuned ya? =)

Joe>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Part 1 End.