edmund wee

We took a Jetstar flight at 0630am on 29-04-10 from Changi Airport Terminal 1 and reached Hong Kong at 1030am. First thing we did was to buy an Octopus Card which is Hong Kong’s equivalent of Singapore’s EZ Link Card. The service counter is conveniently situated at an area after you cleared the customs.

Went directly to Empire Hotel at Tsim Sha Tsui by MTR. This is the cheapest way to travel from the airport to Tsim Sha Tsui – Starting from the airport, we transferred at Tsing Yi Station and from there we bought a single trip ticket to Tsim Sha Tsui Station. The alternative way is take Airport Express MTR, which connects the airport directly to the Central area, but this cost a lot more.

The hotel we are staying is Empire Hotel at Tsim Sha Tsui. After checking in, we went for Dim Sum and explore the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui area, visited attractions like the 1881 heritage and ferry terminal area. Shopped at local street stores and tried the mango ice at Xu Liu Shan(Hui Lau Shan in Cantonese). I realised the eating out expenses in Hong Kong is rather high as compared to Singapore. A typical dessert meal of mango ice is minimally priced at HKD 30 which is at $6 onwards. At night, it rained heavily and spoiled our plan to visit the Avenue of Stars. Interestingly, a salesperson at a fashion outlet later told us that raining on the first day of our vacation represents luck. Probably that’s what Hong Kong people believes in.

One thing I realised about people in Hong Kong is that they usually eat dinner late, and we also had a late dinner that day in KFC at 9pm. One unique thing I found out is that KFC in Hong Kong actually provide plastic gloves for diners to peel the chicken!

It had been a eye-opener for me – the buildings, the trademark signboards of Hong Kong streets and the neon lights. The moment I exit the MTR underground pass, I thought I was in a Hong Kong film setting. Quite surreal when considering the day before, I was still in camp!