The 5D4N trip started off with an early flight. Lucky for me, my house is not far from the airport, getting up at 6.00am in the morning was still bearable. However, this was not the case for my boyfriend and his family, who live more than 30km away from the airport… I suggested him to stay up whole night since he usually sleeps at 3am. I mean what’s a big deal to wait for another one hour to bathe or get everything ready! I slept about 5hours but it did not take any toll on me – I was in a happy mood I guess. After checking in our bags and ourselves, finally, we were on board one of the best airline in the world, Cathay Pacific. Everything about it was awesome except the seat (economical class what), so it was kind of small. They served good breakfast; a variety of fruits cut into piece, pastries, sausages, omelets, buns and refillable fruit juices. My breakfast was accompanied with the shows playing in the small TV right in front of my seat! I made a choice of Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst, a great but a bit slow show, thus I watched till sleepy (not because of the lack-of-sleep in the night before, it was the show!). After four hours, we touched down at the Hong Kong International Airport. The airport was so big (not if you compare with Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok) that we actually traveled in the airport, from one point to another, by train! (It’s up to your imagination) Our group comprised of 34 people, including our young and responsible tour leader, Ah Leong. We had our first lunch in the airport; it was not cheap (Hong Kong’s foods are known expensive). Fortunately, most of our meals were included in the package.
The first destination was the most popular temple in Hong Kong, the Wong Dai Xin temple. The temple was filled with many people, both tourists and locals. But one thing in common, they were holding one-size joss sticks. The rules and regulations:
These were restricted, what a confused message!
The place was very smoky till my eyes went teary. Anyway, I still managed to make smiles and take a few shots there. Then, we were headed to ‘lui yan kai’, Hong Kong’s ‘chi cheong kai’, shopping heaven for imitations. The street was noisy as the tourists were busy bargaining for bags, watches and clothes to get the best price. As I walked, I could scent the smell of drains – really stinky. I thought to myself, how such a developed region could have such an unkempt drainage system. I was complaining about it until I realized the odor was not from the drain afterall – it was the smell of Hongkies’ favorite snack, ‘Chao Tao Fu’. After some advices from people at home, and the fact that I was already there, I did not hesitate to try one piece.
The place was very smoky till my eyes went teary. Anyway, I still managed to make smiles and take a few shots there. Then, we were headed to ‘lui yan kai’, Hong Kong’s ‘chi cheong kai’, shopping heaven for imitations. The street was noisy as the tourists were busy bargaining for bags, watches and clothes to get the best price. As I walked, I could scent the smell of drains – really stinky. I thought to myself, how such a developed region could have such an unkempt drainage system. I was complaining about it until I realized the odor was not from the drain afterall – it was the smell of Hongkies’ favorite snack, ‘Chao Tao Fu’. After some advices from people at home, and the fact that I was already there, I did not hesitate to try one piece.
errr… the taste, I would say not as nice as my friends recommended me, wrong stalls maybe. Next, it was dinner time, the foods served were crabs, prawns, geese, pork, scallops, fish and some veggies, for me, they were none other than high-cholesterol and oily chows. And we were actually eating the same stuffs everyday, couldn’t imagine how the weighing machine will react with me on top after this trip. After dinner, we went up to one of the richest residential area, Victoria Peak to view the night scene of Hong Kong, the sky scrappers such as IFC and 40-storey Four Season Hotel from the top of the peak. It was fabulous and romantic. After the cool breezing view from Victoria Peak, we were brought to the famous Hong Kong wax museum, Madame Tussauds. It features more than 100 wax figures of local and international celebrities and important historical people. My camera was very busy shooting me during that time. I took photos with famous artist, Andy Lau, skilled football player, David Beckham, well-known actor, Brat Pitt, elegant Princess Diana and so on. Although they are not real, I did enjoy taking pictures with them.
Shenzhen
On the early morning of the second day, we had our breakfast or so called ‘Dim Sum’ in a Chinese restaurant. Hongkies’ ‘Dim Sum’ is the must-try for tourists. Sadly, the foods were ordered prior to our arrival, meaning I did not get to choose from the menu (a disadvantage of group tour). Anyway, I gave my good appraisal to the porridge, it tasted really good, and it was the best porridge I ever ate in my life, no joke. After breakfast, we were taken to some fishing villages to see how their indigenous people live in the sea. They are mainly senior citizens, including the boatmen, as most of the young generations had moved to the land. However, I considered myself lucky, managed to have a look at these villages before they actually diminish.
Soon, we continued our trip to Shenzhen, China, waved goodbye to Hong Kong for two days (as we would be back on the fourth and fifth day). After some jokes and traveling stories shared by Ah Leong, the boring journey in bus and train, immigration procedures and a short distance of ‘stewardess-style walking’ – walking and pulling luggage at the back with one hand – finally we reached the fastest growth city of China. This city is very developed, as I first arrived in the city, I was amazed by the buildings and traffics, ‘oh gosh… this is not what I thought China is supposed to be’, I said to myself. It looked sort of like second Hong Kong but the living expenses here are so much lower. I got myself a pair of high-heel covered shoe at only 39 Renminbi (Rm20) during shopping at the night market. The price for this type of footwear would be tripled if I were to buy in Malaysia. Everyone in our group enjoyed shopping very much, spent without sparing for second thought as the stuffs were extremely cheap.
In the next morning, we were supposed to have a western style buffet breakfast in the hotel café but there were no omelets in sight. Instead, some ‘Dim Sum’ was provided. Weird! Then, commenced our drive to ‘Windows of the World’, one of the top local attractions. A visit to here was like a tour around the world. It comprises of countless interesting sites ranging from ancient architectural buildings like the Colosseum and the pyramid of Giza, to hi-tech sky scrappers such as the Eiffel Tower. All of these were built with smaller dimensions, or ratios, as compared to the original ones. The Eiffel Tower in Shenzhen is 1/3 of the one in Paris. We climbed up to the first floor, it killed my leg muscle (no jogging for a long time) – can’t imagine how it’s like when I visit the real one in May. I took a picture with Taj Mahal (1:15) since India is a place that I might not be able to rest my foot on in future. I, as a Penangite, was so proud to see the mini Kek Lok Si temple (1:15) was there too. Besides the above mentioned, there were also Niagara Falls, Stonehenge, the Leaning Tower, Notre Dame and Mount Fuji. Unfortunately, we did not get to ski at Fuji-san as we were rushing to the ‘Miniature of China’ – another similar kind of tourist destination where little replicas of renowned buildings were exhibited. This time, I was clueless on the names of all the replicas except for the Great Wall; thus, there was no interest for me to take photos with any of the buildings.
Disneyland
Well, the fourth day was the day I have been waiting for in my whole tour. As I said earlier, Hong Kong foods are extremely expensive compared to those in Malaysia, what more the second Disneyland in Asia. While we were having the partial-western style breakfast in the morning, some immoral thoughts came to our minds – to steal some pastries so that we could eat in the Disneyland when we are hungry. After all the planning (how to put them in bags) and observing (the waiting staffs and other hotel guests), Ryan, my boyfriend’s brother, managed to take an adequate amount of bread and ‘Pao’ to supply our lunches. We felt so happy and gratified. Satisfactions and excitements ended real soon once we got up the bus. Ah Leong came out with one sentence that really shocked us – we were not allowed to bring foods into Disneyland, except a bottle of drinking water. It was only 500ml per person, mind you. Oops, poor us, after all the trouble.
Soon, we reached the children’s dreamland. As we were walking towards the main gate, there were Disney songs playing along the boulevard, ‘I can show you the world, shinning, simmering, splendid, tell me princess…’ It felt like I was in a fairyland that time. There were castles, fountains, a clock tower, and other interesting sites such as Tarzan’s tree house and Lion King’s den. We rode on an adventurous boat and space roller coater, sat in a honey pot to experience Winnie’s story, had interaction show with Stitch, saw Lion King’s show on stage, and not to mention the 3D Mickey show – the activity I liked the most. This theater has the world’s largest 3D screen, a show that brought us into the world of Disney which combined our senses, i.e. vision, hearing and smell, with the movie as one, to give a better 3D effect. All the Disney characters were shown during the daily parade. They were Mickey and Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, The Toy Story family, Snow White with seven dwarfs, Cinderella and so on, standing on their respective mobile display homes. Enjoyable moments do not last long – the clock stroked 7pm just after some games and it was only 30 minutes left till closing. Before everything ended, the lights along the lanes went dim and the songs turned louder out of a sudden. Everybody’s focus was directed towards the main castle which was lit up abruptly. Then I realized it was the time for the scheduled fireworks display. The countless sparks and explosions appeared in the sky made me feel romantic and speechless. It was the most beautiful fireworks display I ever seen in my life, far better than what I experienced in the many New Year celebrations. I left the Disneyland reluctantly and went back to hotel. Although tired, I was still very eager to shop around the streets of Hong Kong before leaving, but unfortunately, my boyfriend, fully exhausted, was already glued onto the comfortable hotel bed when I came out from the toilet. Not wanting to wake him up, I decided to settle for the only three items I bought previously.
We were allowed to have enough sleep on the last day because there was nothing else to do according to the tour agenda. Since the Chinese restaurant was just around the corner, Ah Leong suggested that we walk there for breakfast. That was our very last walk along the streets of Hong Kong. Not long after, we were on our way back in the A320 of Cathay Pacific.
Overall, I find the trip a little packed, schedule wise, but due to that also, we managed to cover most of the interesting places in Hong Kongand Shenzhen. I felt really satisfied following this tour, good food, comfortable accommodations and a friendly tour leader. I bet I will be missing Minnie Mouse. Sigh… a long blog I have written.
