march 02 - hongkong day 1
hong kong travelogue.
day 1-
departed lcct 6.25am. jumpa w just before boarding. pizza for bfast, so-so, better looking in pics.
arrived and it was so cold. panic attack when my bag came out late(drama lebih). saw bubblets everywhere. airport ambassador(i want this job!) pointed the way to catch bus to city. wifi in bus! jakun. otw to city saw signs for disneyland. not sure went into under the sea tunnel. suddenly we were in the new territories(tst & kowloon side).
confusion looking for sincere building, argyle st, mongkok. it's behind a complex something like low yatt. our hostel is on the 14th floor. 2 lifts, 1 goes to even floors, the other one odd-numbers. lift very, very small(only 7 people 1 go).
alighted to find narrow stretch of a corridor. hostel is apparently in flats. tiny, flats. lobby is 1 unit of flat. our room is in another unit of flat. next to lobby is chinese palembang association flat. found way to room. room sooooooooooo small!!! for 3 pax. 1 single bed 1 barely twin bed. nasib mak kecik. hehe. attached toilet, okla. (also tiny but not like you have to shower on top of toilet seat). 3 persons cannot stand in the room at 1 time. oklah, can, but how to move? tv flat screen. towels provided(yay).
headed out towards wanchai for halal dimsum at osman ramju islamic center. after mrt walk a long way until found the place. dimsum was handled by a garang makcik who scolded when we wanted to pick them up ourselves. she'll do it, tqvm, just point. i though the food was hit and misses but l said tak sedap.
after prayers headed to victoria park for runners(l and w) to pick up their kit(hk sc marathon). via causeway bay! memories of sogo. rained a little, then heavier when we found the park. (but stopped 10 mins later).
after that headed to peak tram station and bought tram return tickets and entry to madame tussaud's. tram ride, so steep! next to me sat a japanese aunt who gestured a lot with her hand to show how vertical we were being. i agreed. (makcik jepun so comel).
the peak was nothing like i remembered, now got huge complex with plenty of shops! i think last time only like garden and some shops tepi jalan. fabulous views of hongkong city, the harbor, etc from the top. also started to rain so very very cold! after braving the cold enough entered madame tussaud's to find ANDY LAU BEST ACTOR EVER.
jumpa. mak suka. hehe.
hk's madame tussaud's not so many famous figurines, even of the chinese stars. but got lady gaga. sakit belakang mak posing with gags(eh nickname baru).
after meeting the "stars" debated to eat at mcD or not, but finally decided to come down from the peak and head towards tst to find some halal restos. made our way to nathan road searching for chungking mansions, when found, immediately accosted by touts promoting their halal restos. but not as bad as i expected from reading reviews on the internet. thank god for male's presence(l), so made our way into the "mansion" carefully while being herded to the lift. got off and ushered into halal pakistani resto, almost deserted but 1 table got malaysians. food was kind of expensive and when it came it was okay, i don't think i was a fan of how the spices were used(my tongue said it was too much).
finally, went home. runners need their rest(ke non runners dah tak larat hehe).