Day 1 in HK- Blur, tired, sore and hot

(…continued from here) 

We finally reached Hong Kong!!! We didn’t arrange for airport pickup, so all were done with a bit of exploration on how to get from the airport to Majestic Hotel…

you see my shop??

 

The signboard of the Spaghetti House is much seen along the roads in Kowloon

after putting our bags in one of the 2 rooms available at that time, we went trotting out to the streets without time to lose. at that moment, we were hungry and needed something to fill our stomachs, so we tried to find one ca can teng to see if we can get to eat some egg tarts and lunch.

we managed to find one quaint looking place which sells mainly chok (porridge). i had been warned by my colleague that because most eateries are very small, we might need to tak tai (share the table)with other people, meaning that we have to sit separately with other strangers staring down to your food. not in this case, probably it was like 3pm in the day and mostly had already finished their lunch and it wasn’t really time for their dinner.

we decided to go hunt for that craved dan tat (egg tarts) even though we were mostly ‘full to the brim’.the eatery called yee shun milk company that we managed to find was one which sells mainly milk and egg products. A said that since there were eggs it should have egg tarts, which to our disappointment is not the case. so we had some dan dan (custard-like egg dessert) and other sweet desserts.

 

 

 

 

 

the guys actually ate some more sandwiches!! *faints*

we then decided to walk to TST to find the esprit warehouse. the sweltering heat caused us to perspire like pigs and we welcomed the cool aircon immensely as we strolled along the row of boutiques and shops. we separated to do our own shopping so that time will not be wasted for those who were not interested.

J and I managed to get to the esprit warehouse and there i met a few of my colleagues who were there to shop for clothes for their wives. in fact, there were only two shopping, while the rest of the guys were waiting for them and enjoying the cool atmosphere. i managed to get 2 tops, without trying. i saw one of the eye shadow which i once bought in singapore but since then they had discontinued the product. i ended up not buying it coz the only colour left was lime green.

J, TC, GH, WL and I went on to the New World Centre which was next to the Avenue of Stars. the guys had receed Sogo and said that there wasn’t much to see except branded stuff, so we skipped that. along the way we saw the most expensive Peninsula hotel, and took pictures along with it.

The renowned Peninsula Hotel

time was up for all of us to meet at the Avenue of Stars. we arranged to meet there to catch the Symphony of Lights show but it was a tad disappointing. before that, since we had time to waste, we went in search of the tour east travel agency (where we had booked our hotels with) at harbour city shopping centre. i didn’t expect to do our payment as yet since it was after office hours, but just to find the location is also good. we window-shopped a while at the shopping centre, and were desperately trying to find the adidas shops (there were 3 of them in the building) but to no avail. not even one we took a glance at!

Bruce Lee & the Avenue of Stars (星光大道）

the view of HK island from Kowloon Peninsula in the day

the view of HK island from Kowloon Peninsula at nite

followed back the same route to the avenue of stars again to catch the disappointing show. pictures can really show what it is all about, so i took some videos but it was too far too. just like some lights shining over the victoria harbour (it is Hong Kong island across) on the tall buildings, that’s it. we left the place in search of dinner, and found this roastery shop for our fattening, oily dose of char siew, roast duck and veggies to counteract the oiliness.

next stop was the renowned lui yan gai (ladies street) where i tasted the smelly beancurd. i took 2 bites only not because i didn’t like the smell, but i was too full. but damn, it really smells like…very smelly, not when u eat it, but after one opens the mouth after a bite of it. the guys got some yee dan (fishballs).

indeed, as what my colleague had said, lui yan gai was so hot, that BH kept muttering, “i’m going to hit somebody, i’m going to hit somebody.” nothing actually caught my fancy, so we left the place while halfway into the whole street coz we felt so dehydrated, sticky and sore.

i thought the nite had come to an end for me, but it didn’t. i sms-ed my fren just to ask if they were out somewhere, and i ended up going clubbing at this place called cyber disco. i didn’t want to go coz i was pooped and i had already brushed my teeth and donned my glasses but VH ‘verbally dragged’ me to join them and that he will wait for me at the place. he said that since i was alone in the room (J, my room mate, was out with her ex-colleagues) i might as well join them. and they checked out everything for me, the location, the exact name and stuff, so that i could grab a cab to the place.

i ended up calling GH to see if he wanted to join, but he didn’t. i was a bit worried about taking the cab alone, due to my half-past-six cantonese, alone, and nearly midnite. then TC called again to tell me that GH and WL will accompany me to get a cab, and so i asked GH to help me check with the taxi driver approx. how much it would be to get to the place.

i finally reached the place, behaving like a dodo coz i didn’t know how they work. luckily they could speak Mandarin fluently, and after paying for my cover of HKD 80 i was led up the lift with several other guys. saw my colleague right after the lift door opened.

the place is terribly smoky and i would have danced to the music if not for the fact that my legs were already partly numbed. i must say that the Hongkongers really know how to dance. i watched them play with dice games.

then the most eventful thing happened…

we were trying to leave the place around 2am. D went to the gents to pee but was stopped. R went past the doors but VH, SC and me were restricted leaving. we were not sure what had happened, and R came back to look for us, oblivious of what actually happened. the wait staff led us to a room when she realised that we were tourists, and i had thought she was leading us to a special exit.

it was a police raid….

groups of other people (around 10 or something) were also in the room. and we realised that R was also led there.the police started to check our details. SC did not bring along any credentials, so was warned by the police to bring out something for identification next time.

D didn’t even manage to pee. haha~

the karaoke room was quite ok, with an attached toilet. after checking us, the group of police went out to check the others outside. we were joking that D shouldn’t have gone to the washroom, and i had jested that i wouldn’t be in this if VH had not asked me to join them.

we waited for eons in the room, about 2 hours, before they finally released us. it was already 4am, and i was supposed to go for a half-day tour in a few hours’ time at 8am.

dragged my zombie-like body back (they sent me back to the hotel) and woke up less than 3 hours later.

my first time to HK, my first nite, my first clubbing experience in HK and first raid.

(to be continued…)