Day 2 at Hong Kong! This day was totally dedicated to shopping! Our itinerary states up to almost 10 different shopping malls located at different areas, so we started out early in the morning to ensure we go everywhere.



Headed out of the room wearing a T-shirt, shorts and slippers, went to meet up with BFFs, and ended up informed that it was raining outside, and it's cold. So, in my mind, I was just thinking, "aiyah, cold abit only la, not as if I will freeze to death." But for precaution, I went back to the room and grabbed a jacket.

Went into a random Hong Kong Cafe for breakfast. The meal isn't actually cheap in Hong Kong, if you guys think that way. Well, if you compare it to cheap restaurants in Singapore, food there is definitely cheaper than those. But if you're comparing with coffee shops, then Hong Kong foods' are actually more expensive. But most of the Hong Kong Cafe provides set meals, which are the cheapest deals you can get out of their menus, offering a main dish, side dish and a drink. Costs-wise, the prices of meals in a Hong Kong Cafe can range from HKD$20 to HKD$60, which is approximately SGD$4-SGD$12. Yes, more expensive than coffee shops okay?



Century Egg and Pork Congee with a plate of Cold Noodles. Well, the noodles were supposed to be hot, but somehow or rather, when it was served, it was totally cold. Worse than Soba noodles from Japan.



Cockscrew Pasta, or Fusilli with Beef Slices and the famous "Milk Tea" which is a "MUST DRINK" for every tourist. It was said to be made from stockings worn by real people, which is why the drink is so much more tasty. Myth or fact? I don't know.



Another "MUST EAT" when you visit Hong Kong is their Pork Chop Bun! It's super nice! Somehow or rather, Hong Kong's pork is so much more tasty than what Singapore has to offer. Try it! Oh and just a warning first, for hot drinks served in Hong Kong Cafes, the drink is actually tasteless, you got to add your own amount of sugar to the drink, even for Hot Lemon Tea. Whereby sometimes, because of this, the drink becomes awfully disgusting.

After a filling breakfast, we walked to the MTR station, and of course cam-whoring while along the way. Oh did I mention, once I went out of the hotel, I immediately regretted wearing such thin clothing. It was raining, not very heavily though, but the breeze and the rain drops were super duper cold. I think it was less than 20degrees that day, and lucky I went back to grab a jacket, if not it could be worse!



All the MTR stations have very artistically painted walls, and a very oriental themed writing of the station name. Super chio!



First Stop, SOGO @ Causeway Bay! It is super big can! It's like Ngee Ann City's Takashimaya X 5 I think. More than 21 storeys, all dedicated to SHOPPING! Local brands, international brands, random brands of items, all can be found there!



You know what's even better? You have to actually queue up to take the lift. Not just "stand around and wait for the lift, and once it arrives, fight your way through to get in" kind of queue, but seriously queuing up.



Cool right? Maybe Singapore's shopping malls should use this technique to ensure the first customer who's there gets to use the lift first. Especially Cineleisure! You know there's only 4 lifts that's able to go up to the 8th floor, and there's always a huge crowd waiting for the lift as the escalators are super un-user-friendly. Then people will squeeze and push until they get into the lift, like super typical can. If the management uses such rules to ensure they queue, won't that be better? Just hire a few more staff only ma, not as if can't afford it!



The super cool "Ding Ding" as they call it. It's just buses actually, but the big deal is, it follows exactly where the rail brings it, and they have like cables hanging on top of the bus, and it cables are actually linked to the bus. It's like a merge of MTR and buses. Wanted to take a ride on it, but super scared, since we don't know where those buses are going, and totally worried that we'll alight in the middle of nowhere and totally no way to return. Not that I or my BFFs don't speak Cantonese, but just a relatively dumb worry, maybe we should have taken it! DAMN!

So, next we headed off to the famous Times Square! It's something like Singapore's Suntec City, just a little bigger. Basically whatever that the shopping mall offers are similar to what Singapore's shopping malls have got to offer. Zara, Juicy, Marks and Spencers, everything is the same.





Lots of people heading round on a Sunday despite the rain and the cold.



With her sitting there, just GORGEOUS! Bet you can sense the sarcasm right?

So after heading to just 2 places, we got totally fatigue. If we had rewards, it can be justified, but we didn't even make a single purchase. So we didn't to skip many other places, and go to the largest mall, I guess so. IFC MALL @ Hong Kong.



It's supposed to be an airplane I think. Too artistic for me to interpret.



In this case, the shopping mall totally gives out the same feeling as that of Vivo City! 3 or 4 levels, I can't remember, of shops! And it's a huge circle concept, the entire mall, almost similar to Vivo! And on the top level, there's a concept store by Agnes b. All that Agnes b has to offer is provided all in there. The theme of the store is relatively nice too, totally feel like you're in another place and not in a shopping mall.



Yeah, so there was a performance ongoing when we were there. Some kinda jazz music performance. They played lots of songs in the Bossa Nova style I suppose, and got the little kids there moving. It was super adorable, the "Make You Wanna Dance" music, and the little kids moving on their 2 feet and all the parents crowding around. Heart-warming indeed!



So at this point in time, once we left the mall. It was seriously freezingly cold! The wind got stronger and colder at the same time! So we quickly walked round to find some shelter that will cover us from the wind for awhile, while we try and eat some bread. We walked along a walk-up with alot of maids lurking around that area. It's totally like the exterior of Lucky Plaza, just LONGER! I mean the maids were sitting all along the walk-way and they even built their own "homes" with cardboards to protect themselves from the cold. How cool is that! Totally SURVIVOR style!



We headed down an escalator that's supposed to bring us to the MTR station, but somehow or rather it led us to the bus terminal, and it wasn't covered up entirely on the 4 sides, so the wind was still blowing straight at us. We totally gave up and sat on the steps and eat our bread. IN THE COLD!



Look at her hair and you'll totally understand how strong the wind can blow. And you know what, BFF was totally covered up head to toe, scarf, jacket, jeans and shoes, and she's totally complaining about the cold. And all I got was just a jacket. My face, legs, feet were totally left out in the cold! FML!



I had no choice but to fully utilize my jacket.



But nonetheless, I always have time for the camera! =D

Eventually we gave up! Hid behind a wall, to prevent the wind from attacking us, literally!





I was so desperate for help that I asked GOD to try and stop the wind so I can get some warmth back into my body, but to no avail.

So we surrendered, and actually enjoyed ourselves for about 30mins out in the cold wind.



The wind made the scarf fly like a kite. I'm serious it did!

So, to make the game more interesting. Weikiang took off his jacket, rolled up his pants and went out into the wind.



Feeling victorious? He could outstand the wind.



Obviously not! Wind still wins. It was totally uncool!

So, I decided to try and have some fun. Since we rarely get such enjoyable weather in Singapore. Why not make full use of it.



Removed my jacket and VOILA! Lasted less than 3mins I think, I almost wanted to faint right there and then cos I totally can't feel my arms and legs.





IT WAS REALLY REALLY COLD! I SWEAR!



After enjoying the fun, till I couldn't even feel my own lips. We finally decided to head to the MTR station hoping that it's warm in there and not COLDER! We went to Watsons to see random items, and I heard the sales auntie say in Cantonese to a customer: "Tomorrow's going to be less than 12degrees, better get everything ready, it's freezing!" She actually said it pretty loudly, and boy, was I lucky that I understood Cantonese! We quickly bought some warm packs to prevent us from being total ICE!



Yes, the MTR station was very very warm. It's almost like finding some light in a very dark place. Guess that's called HOPE!



The station had really nice art works painted on the pillars. They were all musical instruments! Guitars, Pianos, Trumpets. And colourful too!



The station's forecast! Said to be 14 to 19degrees, totally got us worrying, since we didn't bring enough any thick clothings at all.



The station has 2 super duper long travel-ators, because the route to the MTR was super duper long! If there's weren't any of this at all, I'm pretty sure half-way along the way, my feet would have caved in, and I would require some assistance!



So, we got ample time for camwhoring, and to think of our next location. Since all the shopping malls are offering almost similar items, we decided not to go to any other shopping malls. So I remembered this sports apparel shop, where they sell branded apparels at super cheap prices. I came across this shop when I came visiting 2 years ago. With some hope of buying something, we headed there. It was also at Tsim Sha Tsui but the opposite direction of our hotel. This shop has plenty of franchises all around Hong Kong. It's something like our Sportslink, Royal Sporting House or World of Sports, but CHEAPER!






How cheap you ask? Each Adidas T shirt that we bought cost around HKD$149, which is roughly SGD$27. A jacket costs roughly HKD$254, roughly SGD$50 and shoes are also priced within the range. And those apparel are not those CHEAPO SALE items, they are all super nice and relatively new designs. So we spent almost 3 hours in that shop, looking at everything, thinking of purchasing everything. And indeed that was the only place which collected winnings from us!



Everything was stuffed into this suitcase, which we bought at a price of SGD$17 (HKD$85), after much bargaining with the uncle. The uncle's initial offer was HKD$150 if I did remember correctly.



With smiles on our faces, we happily skipped back to the hotel to take a quick hot shower before heading for dinner! The hot shower did help alot! I didn't even feel like coming out of the toilet after I stepped in, because it was super comfortable and warm!!!!!

We decided to have our dinner at KFC, and see if what Hong Kong offers has any difference with Singapore. Indeed there was! The meals and items were all basically similarly priced, but they offered many more items Singapore has yet to offer. So, we ordered a meal that has everything, so we can give everything a try!



Total price of it was around HKD$50 I think, for everything you see in the picture. There were waffle fries, one piece of drumstick, spicy popcorn chicken, a super delicious chicken and mushroom soup, super nice chicken and vegetables risotto or something like that, tortilla chips with cheese and a drink. Alot right??!!!! And it really tastes not bad too!



The interior of KFC, looks almost like Singapore's one right? It's like the concept is the same everywhere loh.



It's way more "Finger Lickin' Good" Than Singapore! Hurry and import the soup and the risotto!



Oh, the KFC was actually located at the 2nd storey of some random street. Lots of shops in Hong Kong aren't located at the same level of the street. It can either be at the basement or 2nd level of the building, with stairs leading up/down from the street. Pretty Awesome way to create mysterious feeling in customers I guess.



While walking along the streets, we found road side stalls offering "鸡蛋仔" or Egg Rolls or something. Tasted something like waffles but just a very innovative way of a waffle. One just has to twist each individual "Egg-like" waffle and pop it into your mouth.



Then we saw CURRY FISHBALLS! The fishballs in Hong Kong are super tender, to the extent of rock hard even, but super nice! As compared to our fishball in our fishball noodles, ours are so soft and limpy. The ones in Hong Kong, one can maybe throw it on the floor, and it might actually bounce back. That's how "Q" the "Balls" are!





Standing around an awesome graffiti wall chit chatting, and finishing up the curry fish balls,



Along the streets, we saw one of our HTM-er, who was in Hong Kong to visit his sister. Such a coincidence huh? Seriously, the world can be said as very small or very big indeed.

So the second day ended with another long shower and watching of television shows! Day 3, we're off to Disneyland! Bound to be a super duper long post, since we took ALOT, and I meant ALOT, like 1000+ photos can. Gonna take some time, for the photos to be uploaded!

Labels: Hong Kong Grad Trip