a-ngoi-ing : e-staying in touch: lei hou mou?

Day 3 of Hong Kong stay, and I already feel like i'm in some mafia movie. All that's left is the drugs and being captured or something - haha!

So here we go, a brief overview...

Day 1 : touchdown

We landed at around 6pm (HK/Sin time). I almost bought a micro SD card was tempted to buy an mp3 player, but they didn't have the model i wanted and so i thought - nah. Sigh. no GST!
Finally watched Wall.E on the plane (and one episode of flight of the conchords) - it was, well, different. It wasn't bad, but somehow I didn't leave super excited. maybe because this time the subject matter and setting was a bit more serious than the usual pixar fare. Good stuff though, i'm still buying the DVD!
Landed, had some trouble drawing money, but all sorted out, took an expensive one hour cab from the airport to HK Island. it's funny, i would've totally missed the hotel cause it was kinda squeezed into the line of shops (admittedly, it's a more budget-ish hotel), but it's nice inside, really comfortable. and wired internet access, woot!
And thus me, mum and dad began our most important activity of the day - window shopping. We went to this place near times square, with all the mid-range shops - tried a few suits at G2000 and that sort. In the end, no size :( but i guess Singapore is cheaper anyhow. Hopefully I won't need one for school anytime soon!

Dinner at the quaint little whatyoumacallit - i shalt christen it a teahouse. Porridge and noodles - num num num. then back to the room (with some pit stops at relevant shopping locales).

fun fact #01 - the hotel owes us a favour since apparently the last time round dad's room was broken into, while he was still inside. so they were extra nice to us - maybe we should ask for a free gym pass? to california fitness, no less. kinda adds the whole "dangerous" feel huh? although it is actually quite safe here.

Day 2 : the movie experience

woke up late :)

(do you feel like you're in a hong kong movie yet?)

after breakfast in the hotel we went to this mini wet market near the hotel. fresh fish, still jumping! tried an egg custard - mmhmm. then again, i don't really know what a bad one tastes like. mum decided on impulse that we should go to victoria peak, so we ended up on the tram (cool huh!) and then went up the peak. gosh, what a view!

(top of the world! well, almost)

the two ngois may be interested to know there was this EA shop that encompassed 2 half-floors. i didn't go inside, but there were all these game stations. mmmm.

ate fast at another quaint little teahouse. some cold cured meats with noodles - not too bad.

then we rushed back to the hotel to change and go for a... wedding! my mum's colleague's son's (and lots of apostrophes). we walked, overshot, and went into the ceremony late. the priest spoke in cantonese, i would have been a lot more amused if i was a bit less tired!

fun fact #02 - the son in question apparently surveyed 10 churches and picked the most beautiful. this one in particular, had a long stairway - i heard they use it for movies. truth or proud exaggeration - who knows?

(can you imagine the mafia boss standing somewhere there? there's two more flights below)

(the couple stood there for like an hour while relatives and friends swapped to take photos)

adjourned back to the hotel, had a power nap, then off to a spiffy dinner at the grand hyatt!
they pulled all the works man. live musicians everywhere, and you should see the chandelier! a violinist, cellist (i think), sax, piano. the sax guy played the wedding march (seriously!) and went ahead of the bride and groom.

ah, and for those who need their gambling fix:

(receptions everywhere would be so much more entertaining if they had mahjong like in HK)

Dinner was sedap, of course (alden and asher, feast your eyes on this half-eaten abalone).

I think it was 11 courses in total, and not cheap stuff either! at first was quite sian cause i couldn't speak cantonese, but it got a lot better through the night when i found the chap next to me could speak good ol' mandarin. so learn it boys, you never know!... of course, i got a nice "lecture" from him about how i should work hard, and how there are two lines of business you should never go into - drugs and gambling (amuse yourself by exchanging one word for a profession of choice). nice guy though. and he likes chicken! the food. just in case.
The only bad thing was that there was no yaaaaam sengggg. sigh. what i was looking forward to the whole night. it was funny though, the dad was super happy! and they gan bei very fast. HK style, as dad calls it. swift and decisive.

(this was seriously huge)

(can you see the piano and sax on the stage?)

Hotel. tried to upload but some problems with bluetooth. so slept late and did the uploading the next day. was listening to some sting - man... vinnie is a craziiie drummer.

Photos proudly brought to you by Nokia N78.