it's a COLOURFUL life i'm living.

Monday, November 17, 2008 Y 3:58 PM

THIS POST IS TWO DAYS LATE MAINLY BECAUSE I JUST RECOVERED FROM POST-STRAITS TIMES NEWSPAPER COMPETITION SYNDROME. MORE ABOUT THAT LATER.

BACK FROM HONGKONG :D

Since I'm in a relatively high mood, I'm gonna blog in lots of COLOURS :D

AND CENTRALISE EVERYTHING

This will be a looooong PHOTO POST

DAY 1

Taking off

IN THE AIR

The super cool MTR thing that tells you which station is next and which you're at (the ONLY thing I like about the hk MTR system)

Times Square near our hotel.

Then we shopped at this bazaar near causeway bay and bought lots of cheap and really cute stuff. I bought this THING for nan and I think she will like it. I bought another THING for marge and I hope she'll like it. I also bought SOMETHING for eenette and I know she won't like it. But I bought it anyway :D

LOOK AT IT :D It's my favourite thing in the world right now. And it even gets to store my iPod. Lucky (cute) little thing.

We walked

And walked

And walked some more

Then we finally reached Tsim Sha Tsui

Where we once again, walked. But shopped at the same time.

I bought a pair of black boots :D which I proceeded to wear the next day when we went out of Hongkong into China, Shenzhen.

Day 2

We took a long (referring also to all the walking at the interchanges) MTR ride to Shenzhen, on which, Mel got so bored and sleepy she conked out on my lap.

We bought a billion cheap Kipling bags and purses, Le Sports Sac pouches, Agnes B stuff etc. All imitation, of course. But they look pretty good and the material is seriously almost the same. They even managed to make the sports sac zips like the real one! Every tooth on the zip a different colour. I got fooled for a minute.

We didn't dare take any photos cos we heard horror stories about thieves snatching cameras and bags and kidnappers who hang around waiting for a chance to pounce on unsuspecting kids (AND TEENS) and make them handicapped child beggars.

On the way back to Hongkong, we were all SO SLEEPY AND TIRED. Above is a pictorial representation of our tired selves. One of us, anyway. But we profited. I got ANOTHER pair of boots. Hey they were cheap. And brown. And pretty. CANNOT RESIST. And Mel got this pair of really cute boots. I don't know how to describe it but they look very her-age. haha.

DAY 3

We had a great lunch at one of those small restauranty places along the road. This doesn't look that appetising, I know, but it tastes GOOD.

MINIBUS TO STANLEY MARKET

I heard it was a great place for shopping but unfortunately, i didn't manage to find much stuff I liked. Well except for this pair of lovely black jeans. Oh my sis profited so much. 5 pairs of new jeans. And a fridge magnet.

At the seaside, we took a few family photos with the help of friendly tourists (just like us). There was this really friendly guy who was just "waitin' for mah wife. She gon' take a looong time yeh. S'okay I'll take a pic fer ya!". Okay bad imitation aside, you get the idea.

Next destination: Mongkok

Ladies' market wasn't that great a shopping spot. It seriously reminded me of Chinatown. And the shopkeepers there are so desperate for you to buy stuff that you can easily bargain something that originally costs $20 down to $8.

Except I didn't see that much stuff I wanted to bargain for.

There were a lot of what I might call professional beggars around D: They really go all out. My heart goes out to them, but it was pretty scary. To see the desperation that made them willing to exchange all the remnants of their self-esteem and self-worth for a little bit of charity from complete strangers.

Bad advertising much? I don't know about you but I don't think I would like a potato-shaped haircut.

DAY 4

Avenue of Stars
It was a really great place for phototaking with the back drop of the Hongkong skyline against the water. And all those hand prints of Hongkong celebs and big shot directors :D

I have exactly the same sized hands as Lin Ching Hsia :D

And then, to the AIRPORT

This photo was taken on the shuttle bus to the airport. Love it. I was lucky enough to be able to catch the sunset.

In the plane on the way back. I managed to take videos of the plane taking off and landing both to and from Hongkong. Will make a family video when I'm free :D

And that sums up Hongkong for me. It was not exactly a getaway from the city cos it's one of the busiest cities in SEA. But it satisfied the shopaholic in me though it's MTR system didn't do justice to my feet. The scenery was pretty too, and I realised Hongkong is rather hilly. It's my second visit to Hongkong and I'm actually glad we had more time to experience the Hongkong flavour aside from the tourism hotspots Ocean Park and Disneyland. I crown Hongkong, Her Royal Highness Paradise of Shopping. I'll miss you, HRH!