Finally in Hong Kong!

25 Nov 2005

All of us were filled with anticipation as we set off for our next stop - Hong Kong! We broke our breakfast routine and had to forego the delicious spread. (P.S. : just in case history repeats itself like our first ferry trip to Macau.) I grabbed some buns, eggs, sausages and was off to our trip to HK on a light stomach.

Kudos to our Macau tour guide and we could all vouch for her as the best guide we could have in Macau! There were hugs exchanged before we all left... we couldn't possibly forget someone like her!

Let's just say women are crazy creatures when it comes to shopping, any time and any where! I even got amused by the small bottles of wine sold at the ferry terminal that I was tempted just by the packaging to get one home! And did someone just told me that these wines were meant for people who travelled here to gamble? Fortunately, the weather was favourable for travel by sea and we didn't experience the nightmare like the day we arrived. It was all smooth-sailing but most of my mates had quickly settled into their slumber when they got into the boat... just in case.

Long queues at the terminal back in HK, lots of waiting with chewing gums (not something we could do back here, ain't it?)... Then finally we caught sight of that familiar face, our HK guide! er hmm! We went to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for more educational programme...

Our first lunch in HK - another chinese banquet with our usual eggplant dish plugged into every of our meal! The restaurant was like the chinese restaurants we had been in Macau but have separated dining rooms. The only fascinating thing - the toilet with automatic sensor to turn over the toilet seat paper, that's some high tech hygiene!


The highlight - we all looked forward to visiting the ocean park... amusement park and pandas were all we had thought of (except for the pandas part; it was probably just the panda-crazy me!) We had a behind-the scenes tour of the park where we saw the dolphins, owls, parrots and pandas! I felt like being back on a kids excursion! I want to see pandas! I got my wish granted... but it was merely gazing at a sleeping panda... totally motionless! Quite a disappointment! We spent most of the time in the meeting room for educational lecture... leaving us rushing for last-minute shopping at souvenir shop and no time for the fun rides at all!

Leaving the Ocean Park with unfulfilled joy except for my new-found buddy, panda! We set off for dinner at the famous Jumbo Restaurant. What's special? The restaurant was not located on ground but in the middle of the sea! We took a boat to the restaurant and it was a splendid and grand entrance just as its reputation suggests. The food was nothing really spectacular... we had fish balls and like wise the chinese courses! Perhaps I got really tired of the banquet food! The service, though, was something to remember (let's just leave it as that :P). And yes an interesting thing about the restaurant is the imperial setting in which you can pay to dress up as an emperor or empress and get a picture of that!