The trip started with a slightly lost journey to the new Budget Terminal. Cabbie and I were a little uncertain after we passed Terminals 1 and 2 and still had not spotted the Budget Terminal. Stopped and tried to get directions from fellow cabbies before I decided to ask him to just drive on a little. And hey hey, there it was just 100m down. So take note, have to do a little U-turn, pass the 2 big Ts and a bus stop to get to the Budget Terminal.
Which was a very pleasant surprise. The word "budget" doesn't sound good. It brings up images of spartan settings, depressing gray colours, terrible or lack of services but our Budget Terminal is actually bright and cheerful.
What's more. It had more duty-free shopping than I expected! With more cafes and eateries. Couldn't help thinking how it beats Beijing International Airport hands down anytime!
And budget means you get a piece of receipt-like paper as your boarding pass. And board the plane by walking out to the "parking area" and climb up a flight of steps to the plane. So carry minimal luggage!
The sea looked blue and peaceful as we were about to land at Macau. But as we flew nearer, somehow the water turned yellowish. Sigh.
And here's the Wynn. Just one of the Vegas-based casinos to make its mark on the Macau landscape. New Hotel Lisboa and SANDS are huge. MGM is still putting on its final touches before opening but the new buzz is all on the Cotai Strip where Venetian is set to be the giant of all giants as the anchor integrated resort.
After 1.5 days in Macau, I made a weekend trip to Hong Kong via Turbojet which was really fast! Just an hour to get to HK and the customs check both ways were hassle free. There's very comfortable assigned seating and custom areas for luggage. And there's no need to worry about sticking to the timing of the ferry. I got pushed the 2.45pm ferry ticket at 2.40pm but I made it onto the 3.00pm ferry with no hassle (ferries at 15min interval). And on the way back, I bought the 12.45pm ticket but was just moved automatically to the 12.30pm ferry 'cos I was 5 min early.
After settling down at Pris' place, we went out for dinner at this highly recommended Italian restaurant on Star Street (nice row of eateries, see below), Cinecitta, which turned out terrible! Well, the pasta was blah and wine mediocre. Can't understand how they got the rave review for being excellent in pasta.
Next morning, Pegs joined us for dim sum branch at a little Chinese eatery near Pris' home. The food was excellent. I've not had such yummy century egg porridge in a looooooooong time!
Place reminds me of 大碗粥 at Boat Quay in Singapore -- it's a natural Chinese retro feel, not the intentional hip style of modern eateries.
After brunch, it was off to shopping in the Causeway Bay area by way of the tram. This was my 4th time in HK and my first time on the tram!
And it was during this afternoon of shopping that I got my star buy -- the YSL sunglasses. It was unintentional but the draw of the shops were just too powerful. The next thing we knew, we had missed lunch -- yes, Pris planned for us to have lunch even though we just had dim sum brunch at 11am -- and it was almost 6pm. So, we shared 2 Krispy Kremes between the 3 of us since it was nearing dinner time.
And then, Pris developed a sudden eye infection and we had to scramble to find a clinic that was operating on a Saturday evening. And God bless, we did find one near Pegs place where we ended up to dump our shopping bags and gush over the beautiful pieces that Pegs had made under her "label" Gilty Pleasures.
The clinic looked dodgy, building old with those old push-door type lifts where the buttons do not light up when you press them, and the doctor a little odd. But I guess he did know what he was doing because Pris' eye started to recover over the course of the medication.
As we waited for Pris to withdraw some cash at an ATM after leaving the clinic, Pegs and I couldn't help noticing that the guy in front of her had BRIGHT PINK boxers on with some FEMININE LOOKING CARTOON characters. Looked like Betty Boop to me. Too late, he had straightened up by the time I whipped out my camera so you can't see much of the boxers but it was so so obvious when he was bending over. Haha, Pegs just brings out the evil side of me. :p
We went to dinner at this eatery with its famous pork chop vegetable rice where we waited a long time for a table. Business was excellent. There was still a queue when we left at 9-ish. Then it was off to dessert -- a must in HK -- where the 2 girls giggled and tried to tease me about the hashima because I said it was "some gland". Actually, I knew it was some frog's ovaries but I couldn't recall it for the life of me and just said "glands". I'm eating it. I'm just not registering what they are. Dunno dunno dunno. Forget forget forget...
After the hectic and eventful Saturday, we decided to take it easy on Sunday, starting with afternoon tea at The Verandah at Repulse Bay.
The jam was yummilicious! And so were the savory items. The sweets got too much. I skipped tier 2 totally and went straight to tier 3 instead.
I love the relaxing atmosphere, just chatting over tea with girlfriends.
After tea, we hopped into a cab and went over to Stanley where we did a little shopping before walking out to the beachfront to watch the sunset. It was beautiful! I never knew that HK has views like these!
There were quite a few pubs along the sea-front so we had dinner there and watched this girl in super-short shorts throw herself at a couple of Caucasian guys who, to their credit, did not buy in to her come-hithers.
Next morning, Pris took me out for a HK gong-zai noodle breakfast before my ferry back to Macau.
And she introduced me to this watercress drink which was so refreshing! Never knew that vegetables could make such tasty drinks.
And that's the end of it. Took ferry back to Macau where I caught the flight back to Singapore.
Now that the contract has been signed, I guess HK shops will be seeing more of me. And my money.
For me, one of the best things about going to Singapore is
Ice kachang
Graffiti