It all has to end sometime, somehow..sighz...the last morning was spent roaming about Shatin for the last time...
Shatin Plaza...
Shatin Centre...din take a pic of Jade Plaza..
New Town Plaza...
The ol' so familiar KCR...
Thinking back, I wasn't really prepared for the exchange..having just returned to SG from a trip to Europe..and barely a week later I was off...but all in all, I achieved what I wanted..a relaxing semester with no worries for grades and perhaps enjoy studying like it should be..to gain knowledge and not the pursue of grades..even though the thought at the back of mind wreak havoc towards the end and I pia-ed so hard for my papers and projects..which caused a short pause in this 5-month hiatus from studying..haha..or should I call it extended holiday...
The company was great..the food was good..the views are stunning..except for the air quality and the tiongs, there were no blemishes in this experience (the latter can ruin anything and everything...) The locals were great, especially my management project team mates..you guys rox! But I regret not opening up totally(yes, I know..I still lack self-confidence...) and nestled in the safe harbour of Singaporean friends..but I won't have wanted it to turn out any other way...
I guess life moves on from here...dean's list and first-class honours...my fingers are crossed...
Enroute to airport...
Hong Kong International Airport...
Terminal 1
New Terminal 2 Sky Plaza
Farewell...
Like Alvin say: "What is there not to miss about Hong Kong, nothing."
Though I visited more or less the same places as I did 3 years ago..this time round it was done more economically (by bus and not taxis...) and boy is their transport system a mess...it goes a big round across all parts of island..and there are no signages nor indications in the route map of which bus stop to alight for which tourist spots..all they have is the road name...duh
But the most important thing is Macau is not in fog this time round!
Finally can see the tower's top...
Skywalk-X! And the views from the top...
Senado Square
Ruins of St. Paul..and this time round, we went up...
And not to forget the delicacies of Macau...
葡撻...
豬扒包...
Went to check out Sands..and I got a key chain spinning their welcome jackpot...haha
Following the night shots, it was mad dash back to the ferry terminal because we had to catch the 8:20pm Turbojet, since the 9plus ferries were "sold out"..we should have bought the 10:45pm jet and came early..since we saw that there are seats sold right before the sailing..damn..but of course if we risked it, we may have to cab back to Fo Tan from Central..which could have been a killer...
Saying goodbye to CUHK is probably a hard thing to do. Unlike others who are heading to the airport directly and has the "I gotta catch a flight" mentality, I was moving out but still staying in Hong Kong. But luckily, before any emotions could really build up, I started having to run from the rain as the skies only gave me a two-thunder warning after I stepped out of my hall before it opened...
Final pic of Room 2L03..I love the room, just not the company...
It poured...really..
The last shuttle bus I took...
And the weird thing is after I left CU, the rain got smaller and by the time we headed to Cheung Chau one day before the bun festival, it was sunshine all over again. By that time, my bro and sis-in-law were on their way to HK. Like they said, they do bring heat wherever they go...haha (London had a unprecedented heat wave when my bro went there for official duties...)
The island decked with celebration flags for the parade the next day...because of the weather forecast and the fact that my bro and sis-in-law only had two days to go Macau and SZ this time round, I could go on the actual day itself as planned but thank god I did not have to squeeze with the crowds under the especially hot sun this year round (weather forecast was wrong ..divine intervention? hahaha)
The bun tower for the bun scrambling contest...they used plastic buns this year for the first time..I watched it 'live' ...on tv that is..heh
The buns which were presented to the deities a week or two before being distributed to the public on 25th May...
The main towers of 平安包... which is supposed to give blessings to those who eat it...
Due to the severe weather days before, this was what happened to the buns close-up...Cheung Chau got 70mm of rainfall in one day on 23rd May..wow...
As a result..they had to ration the buns (whatever is left..) this year
But boy are we not gonna miss it for anything..there is this bun shop which is basically the main seller and the most popular one amongst the locals...long queues on the actual day..and boy were the buns delicious..after all these..non of Kong Guan paos taste nice anymore..sighz...
And after heading back..it was back to shopping at FYS again..haha...I am missing that place oredi....
My parents really bring fortune to Hong Kong man...haha...the ridge of high pressure persisted for the first 5 days they were there and most of time was spent walking the streets in continuous drizzle which became torrential occasionally. Come to think of it, the biggest rain was whenever I shifted things from my hall to my aunt's place at Fo Tan where I shuttled to and fro because I had credits left in my CULink so I wanted to clear it by staying in hall. It is as though some divine force didn't want me to move out..hahahahaha
So even when the rain stopped intermittently, the skies were really grey and the clouds were really low and fog persisted. There was not a single thing to see when we went up the peak! Can't help it, it was the 6th day by then and the next days will be in Macau and Shenzhen when my bro and sis-in-law comes over.
Grey skies...
Besides revisiting Hong Kong, I also went to some places which I missed, such as the Victoria Prison (missed the Open House in Jan, realised that only in May) which was right behind the old police station at Soho. It was where the Vietnamese refugee were kept in the early 90's...another part of old Hong Kong which together with the police station is also at risk of being torn down and the land redeveloped.
Ocean Park
Damn..I should have went with the singy gang because I went in bad weather..sobz..and the rides were stopped many times or they were simply too wet to take...and boy was it a dampener..but overall it was SMALL..really. It was like trying to throw Dreamworld and Seaworld into an area 1% of the formers, and of course the tiongs who were enjoying themselves so much did not help the situation...
People had this since so long ago and Sentosa had to make a big hoo ha when it got its Carlsberg Tower...wth...
Feels like a big storm brewing huh...but it was actually constantly moving..it was simply a gigantic mass of rain clouds, visible on satellite images...
At the end of it all, it was quite disappointing...moreover its like Sentosa with Bird Park all thrown in as well...but then again, if one Ocean Park can do it all, won't Singapore lose it not-so-huge numbers of tourists?
Sounds ironic huh..having lived more than 20 years of my life here and I am getting used to it once again...there are habits that really seem to die hard for the past 5 months...
(1) I stand on the right side of the escalators now (although here we are supposed to be standing on the left, but who cares, everyone stands on any side...)
(2) Tap the EZLink card when alighting...I have so been used to just tapping once when boarding, or once when alighting (on trams)
(3) To zig zag across the irritating people who just does not want to keep to the side if they are strolling..at least in the fast-paced Hong Kong, there are express lanes everywhere for people to past through, albeit being invisible but Hong Kongers know better to not block your way (well, the tiongs in HK excluded)
(4) I no longer hear the "歡迎光臨 隨便看 慢慢挑" when entering shops, and the "多謝" after getting the change and receipt, and I am so used to "晤該" that I start saying thank you when I get back change, and all I get is the cold shoulder...Singapore's service quality needs a lot of improvement...or maybe it is just the culture...once I am done with your business and the money changed hand, heck care...duh...
(5) The slope behind my block seem to be a lot less steep now..haha..after all that terrain walking in Hong Kong, especially in CU...well but I don't think it will last long, with my kind of lifestyle, my breath will not last as long soon...
The package arrived two days ago and I have packed all my notes away by now..and Yvonne if you are reading, your grey bear is back...I guess this signifies a closure, and the last thing to come will probably be the academic transcript and hostel refund to close the entire chapter...but I can't help but feel that I TOTALLY MISS HONG KONG!!!!!!
Btw...I totally adore time lapse videos, but I did not take this myself..haha..it's from EarthTV..and this was taken on a gorgeous winter day in Dec 2006...damn..should have gone there like a month earlier...lolz...more at EarthTV.com
As A41 made its way from Shatin to the airport, it dawned upon me that my exchange experience has indeed ended. As my parents stepped out of the arrival hall, it was a family trip from there on.
For dinner that night, we had Yung Kee! We(the singy) had thought of splurging there for once but it never happened. Oh my god, the crystal clear preserved egg, the roasted goose...mmm mmm yummy!
Planning the tour for my parents was really difficult because the weather threatened to be a big problem and it did. It rained for 5 consecutive days. As was the forecast. Luckily, the sun still shined for a large part of the first day, so heading for Lantau was a good choice because I can finally see the buddha under a clear blue sky!
And I finally ate the vegetarian food and the famous tau fu fa at the monastery there..and well the food at Fung Yin Sin Kun was a lot better and the towhuay...my coffee shop downstairs beats it hands down..so yah...
Then it was onto Tai O Fishing VIllage and we left in time when we saw the sky literally changed colour in a flash..and boy did the rain pour as the bus navigated through the terrain of Lantau back to Tung Chung. We then headed to SSP as Dad forgot to bring the camera battery charger...
The next day was off to Repulse Bay and Stanley. Nothing much to say about it as I have been there more than once but the sky was still cooperative for a while but by the time we got to the restaurant for lunch, it has started raining again...
And we had lunch at the German restaurant which my uncle introduced me last time and boy was the pork knuckle still as delicious as before...hehe
I sorta noticed that the sun rose from the Tolo Harbour by chance on one of the nights where I did not sleep till like 6am...(their sunrise is at around 5:40am) and so on the last day (alone) in Hong Kong before my family join me, I decided to try my luck to see if I can catch the sunrise. The clouds weren't really co-operative but it was nonetheless serene. I mean the school if mostly vacated by that time of the year (exams were over) and that means I can truly appreciate the beautiful scenery from my hall's rooftop.
Before dawn breaks...
Thereafter, I roamed to the Ma On Shan rail extension (which we said we wanna try but did not) and ended up at Tai Shui Hang where I managed to catch the view of CUHK from opposite the harbour and finally got up close to the buildings I have been staring at across the bay for months...
Tai Wai Station, interchange b/w East Rail and Ma On Shan Rail
CUHK
Heading back..
Dropped off at Shatin Wai...another older part of NT where there is this 围村 which is rather modernised (aircon, cars etc) as compared to the one along the heritage trail in Fanling...
Then walked to Che Kung Temple (I don't know what kind of deity is in there but well...) and then it was back to New Town Plaze before heading off to the airport to meet my parents...
As the parcel of notes departs for Singapore on 14 May, it is really time to pack up the feelings and prepare to leave. My parents visited Hong Kong from 17 May, and by the 15th I was feeling the crunch that "Almost everyone has left..." and "I still have so much that I want to see and do here..." but you can never get all that you want in life.
Salvaging the time left in Hong Kong to explore, I went all the way to Shau Kei Wan, which is where the Hong Kong Coastal Defence Museum is, and the end of the Victoria Harbour where Lei Yu Muen sits opposite.
At the end of it all, I guess it is the beautiful view of Hong Kong when the sun sets that continues to bind my longing to the stunning harbour.
Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter
Lei Yu Muen (seafood paradise..din visit)
And this beautiful sunset really brought some sort of closure to the whole 5-month experience...
One more must-visit place stuck off the list...
Tsing Ma Bridge...glowing in the dark
Town of Tsing Yi
And halfway through taking photos...I saw lightning in a distance..as the thunderstorm season approaches and Lantau isn't the best place to be in a rainstorm (it gets the strongest winds and heaviest rainfall) so I made a quick retreat and a minibus saved me the agony of flagging a cab...heh
The traditions of the Noon Day Gun dictates that the Jardines will fire the canon at Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter everyday at noon. Three years back when I first visited HK, I booked a cruise for over 200 HKD called the noon day gun firing cruise. After bringing us around the harbour for more than an hour, it came to an end as we saw the canon far out at sea, a tiny minute spot and "boom" and all we saw was smoke.
Determined to see what the whole noon day gun firing is really about, I made my way back to the site. This time on foot, through Excelsior hotel and boy...it was still smoke..haha...it was so fast, I can't even captured the firing in a photo..and it was loud...they should've gave prior warning...
The week beginning 8th May saw the gradual departure of the Singy gang..Yuanshe was first to depart. The next day was Yvonne, then Angie and followed by Alvin and Yongsheng. Packing for Yvonne and Angie was really fun as we threw stuff, gave away stuff and tried our best to squeeze things and I will never forget Angie's "I will hand carry the other stuff..." hahaha...when her drawers are full and her shelves are not empty either...lolx
As the sun sets in the horizon, and friends start to leave, the feeling that "it's gonna end soon..really" starts to set in. While Hong Kong will not notice the departure of these few Singaporeans, neither will the clock stop ticking at the beautiful garden campus. As the KCR rides down its rails, there will be a bunch of us here in Singapore thinking back of the days we had.
The University Station that has been the start and end point of our outings...
The sunset I saw on the day of Angie's last night,though not the most beautiful, but one of the most meaningful ones...
On a side note..CUHK is really fast with their results..it's out already! Haha...oh well, I guess it corresponded well to the effort put in..I think...haha...but I still think I studied too hard? hahahahahahaaahaahhh
Ok, I decided to stake out TVB to see what stars I can see. Well, travelling more than 1.5 hours to the ulu industrial estate at 将军澳 is no easy task and boy was I feeling like a real fan when I saw filming right outside the complex! I saw 欧阳正华 and wanted to take a photo with him but was not brave enough to ask him and later he was too busy with filming already... and then I saw 陈小春 or should I say he almost banged into me when I was zooming my camera into the complex to take a pic of the filming. And I recovered, smiled at him, he smiled back. He got onto the taxi with his assistant and I saw the cab drive off. OMFG! I didn't take a picture! Haha...now I know what it means to be star struck?
Anyway, even though I do not have proof of the stars I saw, mostly the 二线三线 artistes but all I say this trip to HK has not been wasted, cos we should see some stars since they are so supposed to be everywhere...haha
This is how they film the typical car driving scene where they chat in the car as they are on the road...
The main actors I guess..this is a show about..god knows..haha..but they were using the TVB building as a hospital as there were also extras posing as nurses when the moved the filming into the complex...
I have longed been mesmerized by the night view along both sides of the Victoria Harbour, but had never ventured into Central, the CBD of Hong Kong. Aberdeen is where Ocean Park and Jumbo (the used-to-be famous seafood floating restaurant) are. And boy was I disappointed by the looks of Jumbo...it was well...very normal. Heh...
With less than a month left in Hong Kong, as people start streaming back home, it is time to catch up with the places I have yet to go, and have been wanting to. Some of time far, some of them almost at our doorsteps, like the Railway Museum at Tai Po, we were basically about 150m from it at some point in time shopping around and yet we never ventured to it.
As the 10th anniversary celebrations in Hong Kong goes into full swing, I begin to feel that there seem to be an attempt to remove all hints of Hong Kong related to the colonial period, anything British, like Queen's Pier. There are redevelopment plans slated for every part of the region from Wan Chai to Lantau. I begin to feel that the Hong Kong I wanted to see wasn't really there, as I tried to captured the old Hong Kong, which is fast disappearing.
The old logo looks very traditional...heh
I have been wondering the need for a first class carriage on KCR. Now it seems to be just a tradition carried down since the old days. And in the old days, there was indeed much difference in the level of comfort between first class and ordinary class, from the seat width to the material of the seats, as well as the tinted windows...
