Oh hello there, multiple boarding passes.
Brunei Air had bigger seats than other airlines. Viv and I had a three seat row to ourselves. The plane didn't seem that full but all the rows around us were occupied so we couldn't spread around to sleep. When it came time to disembark, we saw rows and rows of empty seats up the front. *shake fist at stewardess that checked us in*
The food was pretty yuck. It was like MAS airlines' food.... twenty years ago that is. The eggs were rubbery. Croissant was nice though.
We landed in Brunei Airport and had 3 hours to kill before our connecting flight to Hong Kong so we legged it to the only coffee shop in the terminal - Coffee Bean which is kinda like Starbucks.
I've forgotten how awful "European" food can be in Asia sometimes. The "fluffy" scrambled eggs with salmon came apart like dust mites when poked and the scone was like a cake. Fail. And don't get me started on the coffee. At least there was free wi-fi.
Then it was time to board our plane to HK. Yay.
The plane did not have individual TV consoles for each passenger but we had something even better.....
A mirror! Who needs a tv when you can stare at yourself for three hours? No? Just me? Fine then.
Viv spent her time watching the latest Asian drama on her Ipad, Xiao Bai - seen here resting on her useless inflight pillow. Don't think I didn't notice you sneakily resting your head next to mine on my superior pillow, Mei.
Ahh to use or not to use? British passport finally got an airing!
I can stay for 6 months if I so wish in Hong Kong.
Oh yeah, bought the obligatory fridge magnets while killing time at Brunei Airport.
Lunch enroute to Hong Kong was slightly less sad than the previous offering.
Landed in Hong Kong and my suitcase went missing. After a mild heart attack and a long twenty minutes wait, they finally found it. The ground staff missed the whole pile of luggages still to be unloaded next to the plane. Say what? Anyway, we hopped in a taxi and headed for the hotel where Mum and Dad were already waiting. Seriously, we have the best parents. They readily agree to drop everything to come on trips with us whenever any of us asks and will sponsor the trip by throwing money at us to spend. Anyhoo, Dad arranged for him and Mum to arrive in Hong Kong the night before we do so that they have everything ready for us, ie the hotel.
So as you can imagine, we were both very excited on the way to the hotel. Taxi driver gave us some good tips about where to eat around the hotel and they checked out too. Thanks, taxi dude.
Got to the hotel and Dad was waiting at the entrance for us and quickly grabbed our suitcases and up we went to our rooms. We had connecting rooms with an internal access door and this gave me memories of all our previous holidays with the rest of the sisters. It made me very nolstagic and a tad sad realising that these holidays are harder and harder to come by now that they all have kids and families of their own. Anyway what an adventure awaited us and we knew six days would be over before we know it.
Royal Plaza Hotel is right next to a huge shopping mall (they all are in Hong Kong) so we headed off to hunt down some food. We decided to just eat something quickly in the food court since we had to go for Viv's first bridal dress fitting. Ps: Weddings are annoying. So we walked around the foodcourt, secretly feeling like we were not doing our stomachs justice by eating at a food court instead of an exciting HK streetside cafe. Oh well.
Mum and Dad were full of news to tell us.
Dad, seen here gesturing about the size of Ah Here's brains.
Our afternoon snack - red bean ice, ice milk tea, fried turnip cake and steamed rice with chinese sausages and peanuts. The meal was perfectly alright but we had high expectations so were slightly underwhelmed.
Then we walked to the MTR station and hopped on a train to Viv's bridal shop. We ooohed and aahed over the dresses while Viv played princess in her head for a while. With the important part of the trip sorted, the food and shopping adventures began!
We decided to go to Causeway Bay - the hippest part of Hong Kong and first stop was Honeymoon Dessert!!! This was the place we headed straight for when we came four years ago with the rest of the gang.
Mum and Dad waiting for their refreshments:
Me looking skinny before the gluttony took a toll:
Viv looking annoyed at me as I couldn't make up my mind as to what to get:
Ohhhhh my kind of shop!
This was the best dessert of the trip. Stupid Viv thought the other place was better so we never had HD again. Sniff sniff.
My pomelo and mango sago dessert:
Dad's mango taufu far:
Mum's almond taufu far was not very photogenic:
Viv drinking her sago drink:
We then headed of for some shopping and came across one of many many many luxury handbags consignment stores with seemingly endless Hermes Birkin bags for sale. This one is just for you, Lin.
I bought some rings that were weird and wonderful:
We walked until dinner time and had no idea where to eat so Mum gestured to the first restaurant we came across. We thought to ourselves - oh well, how bad can it be? and wandered in. Oh how naive were we?? It was the most overpriced restaurant ever!!!
We knew before we even opened up the menu because the whole place was a shrine to the founder. Mr Ah Yat, self-proclaimed world's number one abalone king. There were heaps of photos and accolades of him on the wall. He's also got culinary certificates from some fancy schmancy school in France. Last but not least, there was a bronze statue of him in the cashier area!!!
We noticed this old dude on the phone and realised that it was him!!! Viv wanted to rush over and get his autograph but I managed to stop her from making a fool of herself. I couldn't stop her making goo goo eyes at him though. Ps: We also spotted him checking himself out in the mirror and smoothing back the one piece of hair on his gleaming head.
How you doing?
Viv wanted to be the spokesperson for the restaurant:
The food was pretty tasteless and darn expensive. We didn't go near the expensive stuff and still, each dish was about NZD$40 which is totally scandalous in Hong Kong!! I made sure we finished every scrap of food for once!
Satay beef dish which seriously only had 4 slices of meat and tasted so bland.
Tiny pot of seafood tofu caserole:
Chinese vegies.
Second day in Hong Kong and we went off to find breakfast. The taxi driver told us that the best polo bau (pineapple bun) in Hong Kong can be found at a cafe near our hotel. So I managed to find it and the place looked packed. Also, Dad had a funny tummy which he blamed Ah Yat for. So I decided to get some buns to go instead of dining in.
Kam Wah Cafe:
They have had many write-ups in the media so Lin would definitely be open to eating here hehe:
Ooooh crunchy goodness!
I spotted a porridge place opposite Kam Wah so we went there for breakkie.
Lady stood outside, guarding the cabinet full of oily goodies:
It turned out to be a great choice because the food was delicious and dirt cheap. Dad and I both thought the soya bean milk was excellent and the parental units loooooved the yau jar kwai.
Dad's fish porridge - the rice was cooked for so long that it no longer resembled rice at all and the flavour was amazing. Soooo good. HKD$22:
Viv's fish cheong fun. HKD$22:
The cafes were near Goldfish Market and we saw a few goldfish shops dotted around the place. You can buy many different types of fishes already pre-packaged in individual plastic bags.
Viv wanted to find the Wedding Mall so we headed for Nathan Road. Yes sadly, there really was such a mall. If I was a character from Enchanted Forest and my favourite land was Land of Endless Eatin Without Getting Fat, then my ultimate nightmare would probably be the Land of All Things Weddingy haha. Anyway while trying to find the mall, we went into a jewellery shop so Viv spent a year there customising her wedding rings. After that, we resumed our search for the mall.
Mum nearly got swindled while we were walking. We walked past this street cart selling little abalones. Mum started choosing some and there were 2 other ladies also going at it (ie lady with dubious taste in top as seen in the photo and the lady whose face is peeking out next to the poor sucker dude).
Anyway, Mum handed her little bag over to the seller to weigh up. Mum had maybe about a handful of abalones in the bag. The seller then said something about buy x amount and free y amount. She put Mum's bag aside and weighed the spotty lady's bag and said ah I free you this too ... wah such a great deal bla bla bla. Spotty lady agreed and said yes amazing deal. So did other customer lady. So the seller then picked up mum's bag and said oh I help you and started picking up abalones by the handful and shoved them into mum's bag. I was standing there going what the heck is going on. Mum's little bag went from tiny to bulging. Seller then weighed the bag and said oh ok comes to HKD$12K. That's when Mum tipped the bag back and left. haha.
After we finally found the mall and had a look around there, we had to turn around and walk past the cart. The spotty lady spotted us (haha) and quickly walked away to distance herself. Beware of swindlers, people!
We then went into a nearby mall, Langham Place and had lunch at Shang Shang Shanghai Cuisine, one of the restaurants that lined the perimeter of the foodcourt. We had fun staring at Leopard Girl eating her lunch while on a date with Preppy Boy.
Water spinach - me favourite.
Viv demanded that we got this and it was yum! Dong puor rou - braised fatty meat.
They had Mum's favourite buns too so I ordered them but i don't think they were as nice as the ones from Shangdong. Jieng bau - pan fried buns.
Obligatory Xiao Long Bao - not that amazing.
Langham Place had this really long escalator that spanned across 5 levels:
Viv bought some weddingy accessories:
Mum and Dad were tired so they went back to the hotel for a nap. Viv and I wandered around Tsim Tsar Tsui and shopped a bit. We also bought snacks from our favourite snack shop in Hong Kong.
Wasabi nuts and Dried Mango for Dad. But when we got back, we discovered that Dad also bought the exact same things on their way back to the hotel for their nap. Oh well, great minds think alike:
I also bought this:
Itsy-bitsy dried crabs!!
Viv and I tried Hang Far Lau for our afternoon tea:
We decided to get something normal and something adventurous. Watermelon in juice and..
Steamed milk with red beans. It was alright - very very milky:
Viv came across a little stall that sold all kinds of mochi so she bought 2 - Sakura (her choice, no good) and Mango Mousse (mine, yum!).
We headed home for dinner with the parents at sunset. I forgot to take my camera out again so no photos of dinner on Day 2.
