Hong Kong (Aug '11)

Traveled to Hong Kong from 06 Aug (Sat) to 09 Aug (Tue). Main purpose of this trip was to a have a relax holiday over the long weekend and to redeem the Krisflyer miles from Singapore Airlines.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative region of the People's Republic of China. The territory consists of Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories, Lantau Island and over 200 other small islands.

Leisure trip at a glance

Country / Region: People's Republic of China (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region)
Period: 06 Aug to 09 Aug 2011
Flight timings:
06 Aug: SQ 860, SIN–HKG, ETD 0830 ETA 1215
09 Aug: SQ 861, HKG–SIN, ETD 1520 ETA 1915
Air tickets: Return Economy Class tickets (Krisflyer miles through online redemption)
Accommodation:
Silka Seaview Hotel (06 Aug to 09 Aug)
Currency exchange rate: HKD 100 = SGD 16.50 (Aug '11 period)

There is no time difference between Singapore and Hong Kong as both are in GMT+8 time zone. Total damage was about SGD 550 including transport, food & hotel, and excluding personal expenses.


Day One

Took a taxi to the airport in the morning. Had a fast-food meal for breakfast at Terminal 3 before clearing immigration. Glad that the flight was on time.

Flight Meal

Snacks and beverages were provided just after the plane had ascended (left photo below). As for the main course, I selected the spinach eggroll with tomato, ham and potato (right photo below).
Hong Kong Travel Pass

After Immigration clearance, I proceeded to the Airport Express counter (left photo below) to purchase a 'Airport Express Travel Pass (72-hour)' at HKD 300. This pass allowed me to travel in Airport Express twice as well as unlimited MTR travels within 72-hours.

The deposit cash of HKD 50 in the travel pass can be refunded at the MTR customer service center located at the airport (right photo below) before departure.
Silka Seaview Hotel

Booked Silka Seaview Hotel (海景絲麗酒店) via internet at SGD 386.09 for 3 nights per standard room (left photo below), which I personally felt was pricey compared to the price I paid the previous year.

Pleased that I was assigned to the sixteenth floor in the hotel, thus had a good view of the Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui (right photo below).
Hui Lau Shan Dessert Shop

It was rather a hot afternoon, thus decided to have dessert at Hui Lau Shan (许留山). Conveniently I just needed to walk across the street from the hotel to this dessert shop. Ordered a mango with black glutinous rice at HKD 39 (left photo below). Disappointingly the price had increased again since my last visit (right photo below). However, taste was the same as before.
Shopping at Causeway Bay

Visited Tai Yuen Street first by alighting at Wanchai MTR station. After some browsing, I then proceeded to Causeway Bay to continue my window shopping. Several malls and department stores are located around Causeway Bay MTR station, including Times Square, Windsor House shopping mall, HMV store and Sogo.

Had dinner at Spaghetti 360° located at Windsor House shopping mall (left photo below). This restaurant features western tastes from spaghetti, stone pot rice, sizzling plates, crispy pizza, and Japanese desserts and drinks. Ordered a beef curry at HKD 95 (right photo below). Taste was good and authentic.
After some walking, headed back to the hotel for rest.


Day Two

Ocean Empire

Had my breakfast at one of the outlets of Ocean Empire (海皇粥店) near my hotel (left photo below), where I ordered a preserved-egg porridge (皮蛋粥) and a cup of cold soybean milk (奶茶) (right photo below). The total cost for this meal was HKD 18.50. As this outlet is located besides a main road, seats were often fully occupied, therefore I had to share the table with other strangers.
City Gate Mall

Citygate Mall (東薈城) is a commercial complex at the town centre of Tung Chung.

Located besides Tung Chung MTR station, many famous sports brands were located in this mall, including Adidas outlet, Espirit outlet (right photo below), New Balance outlet (bottom left photo), Nike Factory Store (bottom right photo), Timberland, Puma etc. It was rather disappointed because I didn't get anything I wanted.
Window-shopping

Had lunch at a fast-food restaurant (left photo below) in APM. Ordered a two-piece chicken meal at HKD 33.60 (right photo below).
The APM is large shopping mall with ten storey (left photo below) and a total retail area of 56,000 m². It is located in Kwun Tong and just besides Kwun Tong MTR station. The name APM is a fusion of "am" (morning) and "pm" (afternoon), promoting the mall's theme of a place for night-time shopping and leisure as well as its slogan "Play more, Sleep less". As such most stores are open until after midnight.

Langham Place (朗豪坊) is a commercial complex and shopping center in Mong Kok with a retail area of 17,000 m² (right photo below). It comprises 15-level shopping center with two basement levels and connected to the Mong Kok MTR Station via an underground passage. I was impressed by the long escalators which it was claimed to be the longest indoor escalator in the world.


Had dinner at Suzuki Café (鈴木珈琲館) in Langham Place. Ordered pumpkin soup and matcha tea at HKD 43 (left photo below), and spaghetti at HKD 88 (right photo below). Total cost was HKD 143 inclusive of 10% service charge. Food taste was average café style food.


Yee Shun Milk Company

Yee Shun Milk Company (義順牛奶公司) is one of the classic dessert places in Hong Kong (left photo below). This company has several outlets located in Hong Kong and Macau.

Ordered a 'double-skin' steamed milk pudding (雙皮燉奶) at HKD 23 which is a smooth milk pudding with a thin sheet of milk on top (right photo below).


It is recommended that first timers should try their signature 'double-skin steam milk pudding' for the taste of curdy smooth pudding. This pudding is available in both hot and cold versions.

Shopping at Mong Kok area

The Mong Kok area has become my usual place for toy-hunting (left photo below). Many toy stores are located there, such as in the CTMA center (兆萬中心), Sino centre (信和中心) and In's Point (現時點).

Probably still felt hungry, I got myself a fried oyster omelette at HKD 20 (right photo below) and had it inside the hotel room.

Day Three

Ocean Empire

Had breakfast at Ocean Empire (海皇粥店). Ordered a shrimp roll at HKD 13.50 (left photo below), cold soybean milk at HKD 8 and fried carrot cake at HKD 14 (right photo below). Taste was the same as before.
Ocean Park Hong Kong

Ocean Park is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, animal theme park and amusement park situated in southern district of Hong Kong Island.

It had been almost 9 years since my last visit in 2002 to Ocean Park. Thus many attractions had been renewed or updated. Took Bus 629 at HKD 10.60 per ride from Admiralty Station just few minutes walk from the MTR station exit (left photo below). Bus was comfortable and almost same as the Singapore bus (right photo below). The journey takes about 15-minutes.

✍ Update:
Direct bus service 629 operating frequent service between Admiralty West and Ocean Park has been discontinued since January 2017. Alternatively, visitors can take MTR and alight at Ocean Park station just adjacent to the main entrance of the park.

The bus arrived at the main entrance of the Ocean Park.

Ocean Park Entrance

The new entrance was opened in January 2011 that features sculptures of sea creatures and fountains (left photo below). The old entrance located on the Summit side of the park was closed. Admission was HKD 480 but there was a 10% discount from the Airport Express Pass.

Aqua City Lagoon

Aqua City Lagoon (夢幻水都) is the setting for the nightly spectacular fire, pyrotechnic, water and music show "Symbio" (right photo below).

The Grand Aquarium

The flagship attraction is The Grand Aquarium (海洋奇觀) which contains over 5,000 fishes of 400 species and 5.2 million liters of water (left photo below). The three-storey walk-through aquarium starts with the Reef Aquarium (right photo below).
Further down are the smaller displays with octopus (left photo below), nautilus (right photo below), the rare sea dragons (bottom left photo), and even a gigantic swirl tank of milkfish (bottom right photo). It's a mesmerizing display of the fish swimming like a slow tornado.

Glimpses of fish large and small against the shimmering light can be viewed from the Reef Tunnel dome (left photo below). The grand finale is the world's largest viewing panel, measuring 13-metres wide and 5.5-metres high (right photo below).

Amazing Bird Theatre

Amazing Bird Theatre is a theatre in South American themed garden (photos below). "Emperors of the Sky" (天上王者) is an aerial show that takes place four times daily.
It showcased many colourful birds including Macaws, Eagle Owl, Steppes Eagle, Cranes and other exotic birds (photos below).

Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures

Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures (香港賽馬會四川奇珍館) is located in the renovated former Hong Kong Jockey Club Giant Panda Habitat (photos below).
This exhibition is occupied by a male giant panda An An (安安) and a female giant panda Jia Jia (佳佳). Giant panda An An was born in 1986 (left photo below) while the elderly giant panda Jia Jia was born in 1978 (right photo below). Both pandas were born in mainland China and donated as a gift to Hong Kong by the Chinese Government.

✍ Update:
Sadly, Jia Jia (佳佳) passed away on 16 Oct 2016 at the age of 38, making her the oldest giant panda in captivity. Whereas An An (安安) died on 21 Jul 2022 at the age of 35, making him the world's longest lived male giant panda in captivity.

Giant Panda Adventure

The enclosure of Giant Panda Adventure (大熊貓之旅) is covered with the same translucent material used for the "Water Cube" of Beijing Olympics and its temperature is controlled at between 18°C and 25°C (left photo below). The enclosure is home to Ocean Park's two young Pandas Ying Ying (盈盈) and Le Le (樂樂) and both are on loan from Chengdu Research Base of Panda Breeding.

Donation to Panda Conversation is easy as it can be performed through cash or even Octopus card (right photo below).


A pair of Red Pandas, male panda Cong Cong (聪聪) and female panda Li Zi (栗子), were also exhibited along with the Giant Pandas (photos below).

Giant Panda Birthday Bash

Female giant panda Ying Ying (盈盈) and male giant panda Le Le (樂樂) were both born in Aug 2005. I was fortunate to witness their birthday bash during this visit. Interestingly their "birthday cake" were of different design. Following were the photos taken during their bash.


• Giant Panda Le Le (樂樂)
  


• Giant Panda Ying Ying (盈盈)
  

After much exploring, I left the park at about 5 pm. Took bus from the park main entrance back to Admiralty MTR station.

Dinner at Japanese Restaurant

Had dinner at Japanese Restaurant Ha-Ne Sushi (羽壽司) which is located at Mong Kok Area (left photo below). Ordered a Chawanmushi at HKD 15 (right photo below), Takoyaki at HKD 22 (bottom left photo) and a Seafood Ramen at HKD 48 (bottom right photo). Total cost was HKD 73 with 10% service charge. Taste was acceptable in a Japanese restaurant.

Day Four

Sweet Dynasty

This Sweet Dynasty (糖朝) is one of my favorite places for breakfast whenever I'm in Hong Kong. It is located at 100 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, and adorned with the 'antique-classic' look (left photo below).

Ordered Mango Glutinous Rice Balls (芒果糯米) at HKD 30 (right photo below), Black Sesame Paste (黑芝麻糊) at HKD 23 (bottom left photo) and a Beef Brisket noodles (牛腩面) at HKD 42 (bottom right photo). Total cost was HKD 107 with 10% service charge.
Shopped along Nathan Road before heading back to hotel to pack my final luggage. Took MTR then Airport Express to airport.

Lunch at Fast Food Restaurant

After Immigration clearance, decided to have lunch inside the airport. After a tough decision, I finally opted to have Popeyes Chicken again (left photo below). Took this 2-piece Chicken Combo at HKD 56 (right photo below).
Final shopping at the Airport

As it was near Mid-Autumn Festival, thus decided to get some moon-cakes from Wing Wah inside the Departure Hall (left photo below). Took me just few minutes to decide what to buy in this store. Following were what I got at the airport (right photo below) and its cost breakdown in HKD:

• Wing Wah metal case mooncake (低糖双黄白莲蓉月饼) – HKD 196.50
• Wing Wah traditional wife's biscuit (传统老婆饼) – HKD 45
• Wing Wah white lotus paste wife's biscuit (白莲蓉老婆饼) – HKD 60
• Wing Wah winter melon paste wife's biscuit (纯冬蓉老婆饼) – HKD 55

Flight Meal

The flight back to Singapore was an Airbus A380 series which is wider with more seats per row (left photo below). Drinks and snacks were first served after flight (right photo below).
Had my inflight meal of stir-fried fish fillet with steamed rice (left photo below) and Häagen-Dazs ice-cream (right photo below). Unexpectedly, taste of the fish fillet was good.
The flight reached Changi Airport at 1915 hours on 09 August. Just after flight landed, was heartening to hear the welcoming announcement by the Singapore Airlines: "to all Singaporeans, a Happy National Day !".

With this, it ended my long weekend trip to Hong Kong.