Oh, It's Love…

Y’know you’re hanging out with a bunch of Asians when you find yourself hanging out and just talking while standing in the middle of the street!

I had such an awesome time tonight hanging  out with two friends of mine. Once again, I found us just standing on the sidewalk talking for about an hour. It must’ve amused the little girl nearby. She ran around/between us several times. Cute kid! She must’ve thought it was the normal thing to do because her parents were also just chilling out. See! It runs in the Asian blood.

Day at the beach! Sunny day, blue skies, chocolate dipped ice cream! What more can you ask for? Doesn’t matter who you are with, because it will always be an awesome time.

After reading «Everything of Women’s Life Can be Changed in Their Twenties», I’ve decided to start fresh, for the billionth time.

Starting now, I’m going to post everyday about something that is positive and brings a smile to my face. It could be as random as mustache cups or cute puppy pictures. I’m just getting all giddy just thinking about it!

May 12 – 16

Time to hit up some more cities after being in HK for a couple of days. I decided that joining a travel agency would be best for going to Beijing. I was much too lazy to explore myself. The combination of simplified Chinese and Beijing-accent Mandarin discouraged me to travel without a guide. Travel agency it is! I ended up going with Hong Thai (康泰旅行社). Their dates worked for me and the prices were very reasonable.

On the day of the trip, we had to meet at the airport at 6:30am for the 8am flight. SO early. I definitely was not used to waking up this early during a vacation. However, getting to the airport early means that we had plenty of time to walk around and shop. A must-go place at the HK airport is the Disney store. The store sells some of the special items that they have at the HK Disneyland. I picked up this adorable Stitch koala-bear looking plush. He’s the best travel buddy and I brought him everywhere with me.

//– WARNING: this post is image heavy –//
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May 05 – 10

Coming back from that way-too-short trip in Taipei, I had to rest and just chill out for a bit. After a full day of resting and doing absolute minimal, I was ready for more food and more excitement!

Tracy called me out to do some shopping, and I can never say no! We stopped by Ding Tai Fung for some delicious dumplings. The one in TST isn’t as good as the one in Taipei though. Then again, I’m comparing it to their roots. Lunch was just Tracy and me but we were seated in this room of 12. They ran out of 2-seaters in the main dining hall. So here we are, just the two of us, sitting beside the huge dining table. It was hilarious! Just like the one in Taipei, they had excellent service. The waiters would check on us every once in a while to make sure we’re OK.

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April 29 – May 03

5 days 4 nights in Taipei, what a whirlwind trip! 5 days is definitely not enough. I miss Taipei lots already!

//– WARNING: this post is image heavy –//
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April 28

Today started off strong – had some amazing fishball noodles (魚蛋河) and tofu dessert (豆腐花).

魚蛋河 at 德昌魚蛋粉

豆腐花 at some oldschool restaurant in the North Point street market

More shopping at Causeway Bay in the afternoon. It’s definitely getting repetitive. Might have to scoot on over to Kowloon for those shopping tendencies.

Later at night, I met up with a couple more Waterloo-ers for some HK movie magic. We watched Toy Story in 3D and in Cantonese. Craziness! But what’s even crazier with HK theatres? The seats are marked! Marked and you can’t change seats. That idea is so foreign to me. I’m so used to if I want good seats, I’d just go earlier. But it definitely doesn’t work that way. They also don’t play a lot of commercials prior to the ‘feature presentation’.

Toy Story in 3D was pretty cool. After the first couple of minutes, the 3D became so natural that it doesn’t really stand out anymore. Good thing or bad thing? The movie was definitely longer than I remembered. Almost an hour and a half! The jokes were also quite different, since I’ve only watched it in English. I didn’t recognize any of the voiceover actors either.

For all the Iron Man fans out there, there were these life-sized Iron Man thingies outside the Causeway Bay theatres! They were still setting up that night… so we had a sneak peak!

PS. Hi Derek! <3!

April 27

I met up with Katie today for some shopping on the other side of HK. First up, Langham Place at Mong Kok! Crazy high ceiling on the lobby level.

Walking around Langham Place was a challenge and a half. So many levels! So many escalators! So many steps! We were so tired just from walking through this building. After some high-class window shopping, we went somewhere cheaper – 新之城. As we walked around, we noticed a lot of the younger girls were eating these noodles from these tiny little baggies. Turns out they were from the main floor! These stands that were just making customized snacks. And they were only $10HKD.

For some even cheaper shopping, Katie and I headed over to Ladies’ Market. There really wasn’t a whole lot of shopping since it was quite touristy there. We really didn’t need any more of those I <3 Hong Kong tshirts. But it's always nice to walk through these streets.

Dinner was at Hokkaido Katsu Sushi, just a random place that we picked. We met up with G+Chi (from Teacher’s) and Charlie+Jackie+Grace. Maybe it was because we went late, the fish really wasn’t that fresh.

G+Chi had to head back earlier to pack since they were going home first thing the next day. Charlie+Jackie+Grace(?)+Katie+me just hung out around Mong Kok. haha so jokes. I forgot how much fun Charlie is and just how random Jackie is. He’s the mini 方大同~！

April 26
I woke up insanely early this morning at another ungodly hour (6:30am) for an incredibly important event – getting my china permit.

My aunt and I got to the permit office at 7:30am. I opted for a quick old-school bottle of milk. Just like the ones I drank in elementary school!

Anyways, my grandma came with us to wait for the permit line later that morning. “Due to unforeseen circumstances”, I wasn’t able to get the permit (because I needed the HK passport, which I don’t have. So we just headed over to the Immigration Center at WanChai. They have these computerized processing machines. So cute!

I dim summed with my granny and aunt for lunch. Typical Chinese style, can never get enough of that. haha

Finally, I had some free time in the afternoon! Causeway Bay, here I come!

Shopped for hours. I found myself in Uniqlo. I picked up a UV cut sweater, some tops and a pretty skirt (which I will not wear in Asia). Got home just in time for dinner. =]

Post-dinner, I went out with Alex and his younger sister to Lan Kwai Fong. It’s the bar street. But because it was raining, the street was quite empty.

We settled at this bar with very comfy couches and just chatted away. Ended the night at McD’s for some Taro Pie. Delish!

Off to Hong Kong, land of everything glamorous!

Early in the morning, I was super psyched about this trip. Even at an ungodly 6:30am on a saturday, I was getting butterflies in my stomach. Good thing for spending that extra time to pack the night before, I was more than ready for the trip.
Prior to boarding the plane, I already checked in (Air Canada reminded me 24 hours beforehand) and promptly received my electronic pass. However, as I checked my luggages at the counter, they gave me a paper boarding pass anyways. I don’t think I saw anyone who used their mobile devices to board the plane. Why spend their advertising budget when their workers don’t believe in the technology?

Either way, the plane ride was long. Almost 16 hours. In one spot. I’ve watched quite a few movies (Couples Retreat, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Avatar, the Young Victoria) and read a bit of The Tipping Point.

The food was decent, though it did get progressively worse as the flight went on. But I always got the meals first, since I had the ‘special’ meals.

I landed in HK around 1:45. Waiting for the luggages took such a long time! I missed my suitcases several times and I even accidently picked up someone else’s suitcase!

My uncle, aunt and popo came to pick me up and we had our first meal at a cha chang tang! Red bean ice and peanut butter toast! Delish!

Dinner was with more uncles and aunts and popo! It was so much food! I didn’t take pictures this time… but man, so much seafood!

Judging by the good eats on the first day, it can only get better!

Restaurant #1: 樂天茶餐廳
Restaurant #2: didn’t get the name.