Causeway Bay Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Rawa Island 2018 Day 3 – Aeon Mall and Home Sweet Home

Posted on October 28, 2018December 1, 2018 by ziyi

There were a few instances of sleep talking otherwise all seemed fine. I woke up with the alarm sounding off and prepared milk for K before going out to take a jog. Remembering that there was a sunrise viewpoint, I jogged in that direction. The route was initially normal but later I came to an extension that didn’t looked complete. Walked carefully to the edge and found that there wasn’t any view at all. Reversed and made my journey upwards the same route we took to the cactus garden the day earlier. Again, the steep slope killed whatever stamina I had. Eventually I just walked upwards and passed the owl house yesterday.

While on the way to hilly viewpoint I saw the same ladies I met yesterday, while passing them they also commented “it’s you again”. There weren’t anything much to see at all and the steepness wasn’t helping in jogging, going downhill was just as difficult as climbing. Made the steps to the viewpoint and was shown a cloudy sunrise again. Went downhill and was disappointed to see the main restaurant still closed. We were running out of water in the room and I couldn’t get more from the unopened restaurant. Without much of a choice, I strolled back to the room.

Once back, I stayed at the patio to watch the sea life in the incoming high tide. Managed to see a stingray and even a shark (wasn’t fast enough to take a shot). Then I tried bullet time again, for the last time before leaving the Island – still not epic.

Once I entered the bathroom to wash up, I was met with an army of mosquitoes swarming around. I swore I killed at least 5 while in there. I tried to smack as many as possible while brushing my teeth.

Had to wake K up at 8 to have an early breakfast so as to give time for digestion before hitting the seas on the speedboat. It was not too difficult to get him out today and we were at the restaurant in no time. The breakfast was similar with the exceptions of Nasi Lemak which I had some. K had a good amount of breakfast before he met up with L at the pinball machine. There was a couple of fun play, running around, and they tried playing the pinball machine as a team (50cents per play, changeable at the reception) before we went back to the room to pack.

I was informed at the reception that we could leave our luggage outside at 10am so we packed and left the luggage only at 1015, at which time the buggy had also arrived coincidentally to load up. We settled the bill of 136RM at the reception by card, picked up our passports and stayed in the airconditioned kids room 5mins before schedule.

We boarded the speed boat with a few families, amongst them L’s family. The boat trip was no drama and soon we arrived back at Mersing. K and L spent their last time together before going to the toilet and then leaving.

Drove towards Aeon mall, 1hr45mins drive and K felt asleep while on the way there. By the time we arrived, it was already 1pm. The carpark was quite packed and thankfully there was underground parking to avoid the hot sun.

We first went to the top floor Japan Village to have ramen for lunch, at Ichiban Ramen. Ordered tomato beef ramen and the original one and some drinks. K was throughly entertained by playing Pogo and ate to his fill. Paid around RM70 and left to get some pastries at the bakery opposite.

Later we spent some time at Padini Concept store and while mommy bought something for herself, we also managed to get K some clothing, that was pretty affordable.

We left paying the 1RM carpark fees and we drove towards Woodlands causeway. Pumped petrol at Shell, bought a new touch n go card (maybe that’s why I had issue coming in the first time around) and then some 10mins drive into an abhorrent traffic jam. It was so bad that my wife could walked to the toilet at the petrol station some hundreds of meters away and come back with the car moving only inches.

The lanes converged to only 2 lanes and eventually, we cleared the Johor immigrations by 745pm and later, another but smaller jam at the Singapore side which we only cleared by 8ish. 4hrs of life, wasted.

The birthday getaway brought us to an exclusive island with beautiful beach. The lack of suitable activities for family with young child made the place boring, coupled with the lack of WiFi and TV, empty kids club and no pool, plus the room wasn’t luxuriously comfortable, the destination felt more suitable for young people going for dives and/or families with older children who could utilise the giant slides. Costs wise, it wasn’t too bad though the accommodation is a tad too expensive for the value of return.

The bloody jam at bridges is just utterly frustrating and I didn’t know why so many Singaporeans still choose to cross over to Malaysia to get stuck in a jam. 4hrs of waiting equals an flight equivalent to Hong Kong or at my jogging speed, probably 30km equivalent. This is the main reason why I loathed going over to Malaysia, albeit being an affordable place to go to. I would rather fly then to waste my life with the rest stuck in this ugly traffic mess.

Insta360 gave really nice 360 videos but I found little chances to use it, due to the lack of pretty 360 views or simply too lazy to bring them out. However, loaning this equipment from Leasany (a newly established company that does travel rental, such as 360 camera rental) allow me to get a taste of how this works, gave me some videos that I would like to keep and spare me the cash and storage for this equipment if I don’t utilize it every time. It would be nice to see what else is on *offer!

*For a limited time only, you can get 20% discount for rental service if you use this promo code “escapesfromthelittlereddot”. Valid till 30 Apr 2019.

Hong Kong 2014 Day 1 – Arrival, Eat and Shop

Posted on July 12, 2014June 3, 2020 by ziyi

The day started at 4am for our Cathay flight to Hong Kong. As expected the drive to the airport was seamless but upon arrival, there was already a slow moving queue to check in. Had some hot drinks over at Wang’s, one of the few shops opened in the early morning.

The boarding was fast, although it was for a big airplane and soon we were in the air en-route to Hong Kong, dozing off just as quickly.

We were awaken for some omelette breakfast which was pretty filling, and then back to sleep. Before we knew it, we are landing in Hong Kong!

There wasn’t any immigration card on the flight and only got it from the stewardess upon landing. Proceeded to a very crowded immigrations, there were 7 rows of people waiting to get through. We had 15mins of perpetual walking in the lines before clearing immigrations, which was about 5mins, not too bad.

Immediately on the outside of the immigrations, there was a counter selling Airport Express train ticket. A lady at the front of the queue informed that we should get the Kowloon tickets since we were alighting at Jordan. As we proceeded to the belt, our luggage was already in sight and we quickly retrieved it before exiting. The train station was just another 20m away and we boarded the quite empty train that came in in a short 7mins – to Kowloon we went.

Once onboard, we noticed that it would be better to take to Hong Kong station and do a direct transfer to MTR that goes to Jordan. Oh well, already paid for the tickets. 24 mins and many views of super tall dense buildings later, we reached Kowloon.

After alighting the train, we entered a really spacious building where we got a drink from 7-11. Moving on to the 2nd floor, the signs pointed us to a free bus transfer for all airport express customers to major hotels. Checked with the staff and she advised us the bus number and the stop to get us. Boarded an almost empty mini bus and we were on the way to the hotel, city sights along the way. It was here that every advice along the way seemed to make sense. Getting off at Kowloon station is the right advice.

Checked in was pretty straight forward at Novotel. Situated along a small street off Nathan Road, it wasn’t easy looking for it. Luckily Google map is working without the data requirement and we easily navigated there from Eaton Hotel, one of the bus stop.

Check in at level 2 was quick and we were given 10th floor. The superior room was expected small, but the view was bad, blocked by the parallel buildings packing the sense streets of Hong Kong. What we saw were roofs filled with rubbish. Never mind, we were here for the shopping and the food anyways. If not for the better price offered from my company’s contract with then, I might have chosen another hotel.

We walked the 5mins walk to Jordan MTR station and bought single trip ticket to Admiralty and changed to the blue line going towards Wan Chai for our first stop – Wing Wah noodle shop. Easily accessible near the main road on the opposite side to the station, but not really recognizable if you don’t read Mandarin.

Entering the shop, we were called to the end of the shop where there were 2 seats from a table of 4 where the other 2 seats were already taken. Guessed this would be the way to eat around Hong Kong. The menu on the table had both English and Mandarin so it was easy. Ordered the original Wanton and one with Pig knuckles.

The noodles were really springy though the dumplings were just ok. I liked the pig trotters particularly, chewy but not tough, good taste and not fatty. Only problem was there were only two of them.

Pork knuckles noodles. — Pig knuckles noodles.

Everything was fast moving, ordered ate and paid in 20mins at most.

Left for our next destination, Ho Hung Kee at Hysan Place. Getting off at 1 station away at Causeway Bay, Hysan Place was immediately connected to it. The restaurant was located at the 12th level, but the elevator took years to arrive. We had to travel to basement first before getting to the 10th storey. From there, by elevator to the 12th floor.

Store front of Ho Hung Kee at Hysan Place

The restaurant had a modern decor but the sitting arrangements were similar to the previous ones, you share. We ordered congee, I had fish and tangerine peel congee and my wife had fish ball congee, thinking that this 1 star Michelin restaurant was popular for congee till we read it’s history on the paper on the table.

Congee was smooth. The fish ball was made of real fish meat, but tasted of ikan bilis. I liked the tangerine flavoured congee which was kinda different.

We ordered a small bowl of Wanton Mee to share. The noodles here were skinnier. I thought it was not as springy as the one I had just before. The dumpling was better here, though I thought there were more taste of fish.

Left satisfied in terms fullness but not in terms of expectations.

Causeway Bay had many various malls and a lot of people. I thought it was something like Orchard Road, people everywhere, lines everywhere. Spent some time at the huge Forever 21 before heading over to Times Square. Took a short break at the Agnes B cafe, shopped a bit more before going to Sheung Wan station and proceeding to Burd street for more congee, Sang Kee congee.

Batmobil on display outside Times Square

Multiple storey of luxury goods stores in Times Square

Sheung Wan was a place without the crowd. Googled map our way there and we were initially mistaken for another of their chain selling noodles. As we moved around the corner, we saw the little shop and entered the cosy little shop. Ordered fish ball congee and minced pork congee. It was really good, the porridge tasted soupy. The balls was tasty and bouncy with a good taste of the fish and pork. It was cheaper than the ones that we had before too. The only pity was that the more popular one with the fish stomach was already sold out. It must have been good.

Went back to our hotel tired and but feeling great. Surfed the web to find more food and I made one more attack on a popular steam egg pudding at Yee Shun Milk company. Daobao the original for HKD22 and back ate it back at the hotel. The store closes at midnight and it was still fairly busy at that time of the day.

The chilled pudding had taste of sweetened milk but the tofu softness of the end product made the chilly pudding a great desert to end the food trip for today. More research on the food trip tomorrow before going to bed. Some early waking up and queuing was anticipated.

Escape to Hong Kong in July 2014

Posted on July 11, 2014June 24, 2020 by ziyi

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Hong Kong in July 2014:

Total duration 3D2N
Singapore is in the same time zone as Hong Kong.
Flight time is 4hrs direct flight on Cathay Pacific from Singapore to Hong Kong.
Morning flight on 12th July and arrival in Hong Kong at 11am on the same day.

Day 1 Arrival in Hong Kong, Eat and Shop
Day 2 Eat and Shop and the Highest Room in the World
Day 3 Eat and Shop and Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was to celebrate my wife’s birthday with a short getaway. With the ticket prices for Cathay Pacific quite value for money, about $360 all in, it was good chance to escape for this special occasion

Budget nature: Affordable travel and affordable Michelin star eats. We splurge on the stay though.

Moving around in the MTR is cheap with Octopus card. But the train is just as crowded as in Singapore if you are there during the summer holidays, such as this period. Michelin stars eatery are everywhere and they are affordable. We tried only 2 places this trip and both are not expensive.

We splurged on one night stay in the Highest Hotel in the World (As of 2014) for that special day to celebrate my wife’s birthday. Luxurious yet of impeccable service. Probably worth the experience once in a lifetime.

Complexity: Easy to get around

The main shopping and eating places were easily covered with the MTR, made moving around effortless. There are signs in English, and people seemed conversant in English, shouldn’t be too hard to travel.