Hong Kong Day 4: Lantau, Stanley(大屿山，赤柱)

Since it's Sunday we anticipated there'd be many people 

taking the Ngong Ping 360 昂平 cable car, 

still, the crowd was overwhelming.

Took 1 hour plus of waiting even though we arrived in Lantau island 大屿山 around 10am. 

And we thought we were early...-_-"

We stood there in queue while people who had booking online walked pass us to the ride.

How I wished we'd done that too. 

So, here's a tip, book online to avoid the queue. :)

Cable car return ticket HKD 187. 

The extra HKD 7 was for 2 short shows at Ngong Ping. 

We find it not worth it. Unless you have kids, then maybe..

View from cable car was awesome with a lot to take in.

It's a loooong ride, and we both enjoyed it.

Locals digging for clams at the shore

Going up higher and higher.....

More to be seen. People hiking on the many trails.

Taking a break. It is a long trail

Finally, the tian tan big buddha 天坛大佛 appear in sight 

Our original plan was to have vegetarian food at Po Lin Monastery.

But there were so many restaurants right after we got out of the cable car, 

and we surrendered to the temptation of food.

Pizza at Ebeneezer (HKD 85) and 

mango pancake (HKD 28) from Honeymoon Dessert 满记甜品.

The mango pancake was something special and we both enjoyed it.

The famous tian tan big buddha 天坛大佛

We didn't climb up the staircase, but regretted now 

I wonder how the view looks like from the top...

Utilising our time to the fullest we went straight to Stanley 赤柱 after Lantau island.

This time we got on top deck of the bus and were glad we made that choice.

We were able to take in the view of the sea and surroundings which were obscured by trees.

It reminded me of Batu Ferrenghi back in Penang.

Watching sunset from Stanley Promenade

There was a concert at the Stanley Plaza by HKFolk 香港友 that night.

Always loving good live music and it's contagious atmosphere, 

we took away pork burgers from a McDonalds nearby and had a great time!~ 

Took the star ferry 天星小轮 back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

It was a short ride. 

So short that I wished there's more time for another ride.

It was very relaxing, sitting by the window enjoying the night view and sea breeze.

Since it was our last night in Hong Kong we decided to have more dim sum 

and chose Sweet Dynasty for supper.

Prawn and pork dumplings and mango dessert. Total HKD 130.

I'm not a fan of dim sum but if they're all this good I don't mind having more! :)

Hong Kong Day 3: Mongkok (旺角)

Mongkok is our only itinerary today.

So we walked from Tsim Sha Tsui to Mongkok along Nathan Rd

and pick up egg waffles 鸡蛋仔 and milk pudding 炖奶 on the way as brunch.

LKK egg waffles (利强记北角鸡蛋仔) HKD 15.

Located on Jordan Rd opposite police station.

Crispy edges with fluffy round balls. 

Taste is mild but fragrant,

I enjoyed pulling off the mini balls and snacking on them one by one.

Next up is Yee Shun Milk Company. The restaurant was full, 

so we ordered take away for the milk pudding(义顺双皮炖奶) HKD 25.

Found a park to relax and have brunch. 

The milk pudding is more milky than I'd like, since it got warm from us walking around.

But the texture is really good. Smooth and bouncy. :)

Then we reached Mongkok, buzzing with people and traffic.

Goldfish street, besides selling fishes there's also many pet shops around.

Then we started our shopping tour.
Going in and out of shopping malls and shops along Mongkok streets.

Langham Place, one of the malls.

We had lunch at Tsui Wah Restaurant (翠华茶餐厅), a franchised restaurant in Hong Kong.

I hadn't expect it to be good, but the Hainan chicken rice 海南文昌鸡饭 impressed me.
The meat was tender, bones were removed and the sauce went well with it.

Lemon tea is a very common drink in Hong Kong.
Especially refreshing to have after a heavy meal.

Love their milk tea cup...

Then we did more shopping and had tea break at Hong Ling Restaurant 康年茶餐厅.

Buttered pineapple bun 菠萝油 with warm crunchy crust and butter melting inside.
Just nice for tea time. :)

After that we went to Cheung Sha Wan 长沙湾
to meet with a friend I knew during working holiday in New Zealand.
We were early,
so we stopped by a park and watched these cute kids getting trained to skate.
It was fun to watch, made me felt like learning too.

My friend brought us to Tai Chung Wah restaurant 大中华饭店,
famous for it's clay pot rice and sizzling trotters.

There was a long queue even though the restaurant had quite a few dining areas.
By the time our dishes arrived we were starving and everything tasted awesome.

We had stingray clay pot rice 煲仔饭, sizzling hot plate trotters 铁板猪手,
spicy fried clams 炒圣子 and the perfect match for seafood - ice cold beer!~

Despite trotters and clay pot rice being their signature dishes our favourite was the spicy fried clams.

Tai Chung Wah restaurant 大中华饭店:
长沙湾富荣街539号地下
Cheung Sha Wan, Fuk Wing St no 539

Hong Kong Day 2: Macau, Taipa (澳门，氹仔)

J had been talking about porridge and dim sum before we even begin our trip.

So we looked up a nice place called "Tao Heung 稻香"

 nearby our hostel with a good breakfast deal.

It was HKD 15 for 2 dim sum per person (for breakfast session 7-11am). 

We had assorted dumplings 三式饺, fungi bun 野菌包, 

and 2 different porridges 菜干肉丸粥，皮蛋瘦肉粥. 

The porridges were our favourite. 

They were really smooth and fragrant. I totally understood why J is so obsessed with the porridge. 

After a satisfactory breakfast, off we head to Macau 澳门.

It was not originally in our plan, 

but considering we might not make a separate trip for it, we decided today is a good day to visit. :)

We got our ticket (HKD 300 bothways) at the HK China ferry terminal.

Admiring passengers in the ferry terminal...with their trendy shoes.

After 1-2 hours boat ride, we arrived in Macau.

Took a bus from the terminal to the famous landmark (Ruins of St. Paul 大三巴牌坊）

I just realised at that point we need to prepare the exact fare because they don't give change. >o<

Then we got off at the wrong stop and end up wandering through the streets.

Which is good actually,
because we loved the nostalgic look and feel of old shop lots and buildings.

And I still remember one of the shops playing Sam Hui's 许冠杰 song
as we walked by and it felt as if we were in some old Hong Kong movie.

Can't get enough of mosaics...

Stumbled across this park which were painted with all kinds of wall paintings.

We knew we're on the right track as soon as we reach this street.
The place was packed with people and shops selling stuff from souvenirs to meat jerky,
almond cookies and Portuguese egg tarts.
Plenty of samples to nibble on too. :D

Koi Kei Portuguese tart HKD7.
To my surprise it has a rich egg flavour but not too sweet. Just nice.
Cravings for Portuguese egg tart. Satisfied!!

It was a beautiful day at Ruins of St. Paul.
The structure standing against the blue sky and colourful crowd making a beautiful picture.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the heritage trail.

Another place we wanted to visit was the grand canal shops in Venetian Macau Hotel .

Clueless about the fact that it was in Taipa 氹仔 (connected to Macau via bridge) 

because we came unprepared, 

we spent hours wandering from different hotel to casinos.

As luck would have it, we finally discovered it's in Taipa just as we were about to give up.

Couples were taking wedding pictures all around the Venetian Macau Hotel 威尼斯人度假村.

The very luxurious and grand architecture...

There was a moment of confusion upon reaching the grand canal shops 大运河购物中心.
Adjusting from the night outside to "broad day light" in the mall.

The canal was clean and beautiful surrounded by European themed shops.

Everywhere there were lamp posts and lights that lit up the place like day. 

It was so surreal like a dream.

Though I'm not sure I like it, it is quite an experience.

Got a free ride back to Macau terminal on the casino's bus. 

Had an exhausting day thanks to not doing any homework. :p

Tao Heung 稻香: 

加拿芬道20号加拿芬广场3楼

Carnarvon Plaza 3rd floor