HK 2007- PART 5: ETC

We were able to watch the national day fireworks on Kowloon side. Looking at this picture that I took is nothing compared to watching the actual fireworks.



I used to think that Central is a jologs place. When I got out of the mtr station, the first thing I noticed is the smell of Jollibee Chicken Joy. Beside Jollibee is a Pinoy fastfood called Little Quiapo. It has one outlet store of Giordano where they play OPM’s in jologs category and where Cantonese sales personnel speak Filipino. In half a block away, there stood a Loius Vuitton store in spectacular façade! I rarely see an original LV bag, much more a huge LV store!



I wish I could post to take my picture here on August 8, 2008.

HK 2007- PART 4: DISNEYLAND

The only way I know to get there is to take the Disney Resort MTR line. The train itself was designed in such a way that visitors are conditioned that they will soon enter the “magical” world of Disney as announced. There are Disney characters everywhere in the train. Mickey windows are all over.



I used to think that HK Disneyland is not worth going coz it’s too tiny. True, there are not much places to go to in this small Disneyland, but there are great shows to watch!



Disneyland has a fairytale town with fairytale stores, with fairytale goods, with fairytale qualities and you can afford to buy them all only in fairytales! But we don’t live in fairytales. We live in reality. So why buy them when you can take pictures with them?




It’s Halloween season when we went to Disney. Only in this time can we take pictures with Mickey and Minnie in Halloween costume.

HK 2007- PART 3: OCEAN PARK

From what I remembered since I was a kid, Ocean Park only is only special for its huge aquariums. Although now they have much more to offer, seeing the what's under the water still excites me.




Ocean park is now an amusement park with rides for brave souls. I rode that roller coaster behind us during my visit last February. After that traumatic ride, I’ll just take a photo this time. Now I know why my cousin refused to ride with me before.




I was so disappointed last February when pandas’ house is under renovation. Finally, I was able to visit them! They’re much bigger and fatter than the one in Shanghai zoo.




This is the place where I got my “shoti” penguin. I went back to get little penguins for Justine and Jason. After getting 2 more penguins, my mission in Ocean Park is over.

HK 2007- PART 2: ON FOOD

While stores are closed early in the morning, restaurants aleady serve breakfast. I’m so amazed to find a big big buchi… large enough for my 1 breakfast meal. Soya milk is also everywhere.

They have bakeries selling eggtarts, which are different from the “Lord Stowe’s” eggtart. Theirs is so yellow and no burnt top layer. I also found a chocolate chip version of the coffee bun, but it’s just so so.




A visit in Hong Kong is never complete without eating in Café de Coral. This fastfood chain is an institution. I love their porkchop baked rice with serving big enough for 2 people. They also have my favorite HK style milk tea.




It’s quite difficult to order your favorite dimsum in Hong Kong if you’re not familiar with Chinese characters. Years back, you can order dimsum by choosing from the dimsum cart which goes around the restaurant. Now, you have to READ, check the items that you want and give them to the service attendant.




This little store in the Fortress Hill MTR station sells the best tarts and pies I’ve tasted!!! Though I normally hate hand carried luggage, these pies and tarts are so good that we brought some of them home. Wish I can afford a franchise here in Manila.





STREETFOOD

Isn’t tapioca the English word for sago? Along Paterson Street in Causeway, there’s a store selling mango sago labeled as “mango sago”. They also have coconut milk sago and water chesnut beverages for 5hkd per serving.




Yakult + pineapple. Out of curiosity, we tried this drink. Though I’m not a fan of pineapples, I love this drink! We went to another fastfood where there’s a stall selling fruitshakes. Sally bought strawberry and mango milkshakes. We wondered why those drinks taste quite sour. Later on, we realized that there are piles of yakult on the display shelf of the stall. I assumed it’s a HK way of making fruitshake to use Yakult instead of the ordinary milk.




The sidestreets in Causeway offer crunchy sweet waffles. It’s tabi-tabi food but it’s way better than the waffle served in restaus here in Manila. We tried their best seller peanut butter + condensed milk waffle and their plain bubble-looking waffle.




There are side street version of dumplings, which of course we cannot resist.



AMUSEMENT PARK FOOD

One thing I hate about amusement park food is the price that doesn’t correspond with the quality and vice versa. This is quite true for food at Ocean Park. Another bad thing is that we went there on a Chinese holiday. We really have to line up, wait for our food, only to have a bowl of expensive noodles with ungenerous serving. We even have to move fast to get some seats for our mealtime. On the other hand, I’m very satisfied with the food at Disneyland. Their fast food is literally fast, no need to line up for a long time, no need to struggle to find some seats. It’s my second time to eat their burger and fries in Disney, coz it’s quite decent for an amusement park food. The price is almost the same as in Ocean Park. Hmmm… just a thought… maybe we don’t have to line up for burgers and fries coz we’re competing with the Chinese nationals who are in HK for the holidays.



INTERNATIONAL FOOD
I forgot the name of this place. It's a mall in the station after Sunny Bay. It has malls with outlet stores in it and a fast food which offers different kinds of cuisine. We decided to have Korean food to reminisce the good ol' days in Xiamen with our Korean friends.

HK 2007- PART 1: ON ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS

The first time I went to Hong Kong about 15 years ago, Chep Lap Kok International Airport does not exist yet. The second and third times, I went to Hong Kong by MTR from Shen Zhen. Finally, I was able to step on the gigantic airport by Norman Foster which I only used see in aerial view in my architectural board exam reviewers. Indeed it’s a huge busy airport. We have to go though several moving walks and take the MTR within the airport. There are planes on almost every bay of both known and obscure airlines.



You need to pass this bridge to get to the airport, unless you take the more expensive MRT airport express.




Although I already quit my career on being an architect, I still find buildings interesting. I can’t get rid of this urge of taking photos of famous and/or interesting buildings. There’s also a sentimental feeling in looking at buildings that I only used see in pictures, again for my board exams.



Hong Kong is so small that that they build everywhere. I saw a cemetery on slope, which is ok. What surprised me are the high-rise buildings on slope.




All apartments I’ve been to are more or less the same. They have tini-tiny rooms and tini-tiny toilets with y lavatories so tiny that when you wash your face, most of the water will spill out to the floor. The room we rented is quite interesting. Since there is not much space, glass walls divide the bedroom from the t&b in lieu of CHB + glazed wall tiles.




Call me weird if you want. It’s my first time to see a retractable canopy. I was standing on the sidewalk when I saw a lady adjusting the canopy outside her shop.




Architecture is not he only interesting part of HK. There are so much more to be said in my next few entries.