Hong Kong 2015: Travel Journal + Food

I were skeptical to go to Hong Kong for 4 days breaks as there was a lot of aviation issues. When I FINALLY decided( Should I go? Don't go? Go? Don't go? - repeat 5 times ), I bought the ticket and hopped on the plane within 2 weeks! 

This is not the first time I went to Hong Kong as I went previously with my family on backpacking but I only have a weak reminiscence whether I had travelled to what places before. My old HK travel memory is Disneyland only. :P 

For the 4 days trip in Hong Kong, 1.5 days were quite rainy and wet. (TT-TT) At first I were quite confused with their MTR (not MRT) but after travelled back and forth the stations many times, I am proud to say I'm expert! (?

Close shots:

I searched this Starbucks purposely as this is the only branch that has Hong Kong ancient restaurant interior design. Looks really cool but too bad there is no seat available. ( 3 chairs beside the restroom were the only ones empty)  >oo<  

The weather for the third day was quite cloudy and appears to be rainy. I happened to walk into the tourist information center and guess what? The guide suggested me to randomly pick a bus and sat till the end of the station while enjoying the view along the way. Sounds like a good plan and I did it.

Below is the video I took during the journey :)

What a bad quality of iPhone recording video.

One of the attractions in Hong Kong is their Ding Ding bus. The bus station is not located at the side of the road, it is located in the middle of the big road. The bus does not run on fuel but by electricity cable connected at the top of the bus. Glad that they still keep this kind of buses in operations.

The food schedule was decided by my friend so there was no breakfast > lunch > dinner but 1st meal > 2nd meal >....n+1 meal. I'm dissatisfied with some restaurants to limit min expenses for every customer who opt to dine it. My friend and I had take outs and sat at the road side (looks pitiful!). The so-called-most-popular-beaf-noddles tastes bland and the noodles has a faint smell on it.  

I stole the restaurant brochure when I were strolling randomly on the street. Wish I can try their ordering service. 

Macau

I like the floor in Macau (confession?) Macau gives tourist a strong Portugal vibe and the buildings and the floors (2nd confession?) are unique in their own ways. 

Food Porn!

TADAAA! The food logs that I'm proud of and drew all the food I tasted in HK into the journal.

The food in Hong Kong is quite similar to Malaysia food but I love their egg tarts the most. The egg tarts are not too sweet and are crispier compare to Malaysia. I were surprised that the dim sum in Hong Kong operates on 11am! Considered a late operation time for dim sum cuisine (Usually at 7am)

Egg Tarts Collection:
Love egg tart, love egg tart, love egg tartssss.

Conclusion:

Will I go to HK anytime again within this year?
Nope in any more years unless I have another agenda. This HK trip lets me to reminisce back my old family HK trip and it was a decent choice to be a getaway for short weekend but don't go at rainy season! Heh..

Tokyo 2014 Part 3: Food Porn in Tokyo

This post is just to display (and brag) how much food I have eaten.

Is Tokyo banana cake that good? 

It deemed as a omiyage for friends but I didn't find it special.

My taste in food might be different with other people. I like omurice very much and I might show disinterest at some expensive food. For the first few days I were discouraged not to find omurice on the food menu. It should be a common food but restaurant does not really serve it somehow and I found it weird. My mom mocked me because omurice is just egg + rice so why I need to find it. (NO! It got tomato rice in it!)

My brother searched online for popular omurice at Asakusa (we stayed at Asakusa, read this) and we ended up found this.

A place that looked like decent hotel restaurant but it is not a hotel. There was an old lady served us and we kept analysed her whether is she the owner of this restaurant (like undercover or something) or this restaurant is managed by three-generation family. The restaurant situated in a quiet neighbourhood and there wasn't any other eateries around.

The right meal looks like a toy meal to me at first impression. I found out that Japanese carrot tastes different for us (kinda spongy feel?)

Red bean paste - too sweet for me

Ramen ramen ramen

Brownies Chocolate Banana Crepe

I'm scare of cream on the crepe so for safe choice:
I CHOOSE YOU! Chocolate brownies B.A.N.A.N.A~ I will try more next time ^^

Chinese cuisine at Asakusa

A hotdog that my brother insisted it tastes nice. Yeah right ==|||

White bean paste- toooooooo sweet

Sushi:

Like this very much. Singapore and Malaysia sushi never taste as fresh and fulfilling as in Tokyo.

My parents don't really okay with eating raw food because they think your brain will full of worms and bacteria as it is not cooked so eating sushi is a hard task because we need to find a sushi bar has a few more choices of cooked sushi for them. 

At Haneda airport: 

Last meals at airport - taste good!

 I like Tokyo airport very much

Tokyo 2014 Part 2 : Dessert! + Tokyo Tower

Dessert:

I didn't actually wanted to try out at this cafe originally because this cafe called WIRED CAFE which I think it is weird to have it at first but guess it is proved to be strategic when I wanted to use free wifi and rest. HA

Heavenly nice dessert

The ice cream is made from yogurt and it may tastes a bit more sour for some people but I felt really excited when I tasted it (like on heroin. Kidding) After my brother and I sent my parents back to the guesthouse to rest while my brother went to Akihabara AGAIN to explore his anime stuffs, finally I have time to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Tokyo Tower

Never really super excited to go to Tokyo tower because it might be overrated by tourists so didn't put this in the itinerary. After my dessert time and the night was still young (9pm), I were thinking why not pay a visit there. I know what's Tokyo tower looks like but when I saw this:

When I stepped out of the subway, I saw this O.O

Totally amazed by it. What a sparkling golden tower! If I live near this place, I can basically stare at this blankly to relax my mind everyday for some time.

A nearer view

I wonder if Paris tower as beautiful as this.                     

Site: http://www.tokyotower.co.jp/eng/

Subway Transportation:

Tokyo 2014: Asakusa

                

My first night 2am walk around Asakusa (Quiet night)

First Impression:

Asakusa is a bit far from city but you will get the feeling of small town and away from the town buzz but still have something worth to explore.

After we reached the guesthouse at 1am and settled down, we went out loitering around. My brother did not need sweater at all because the weather is chilling. Really like the environment and I still feel safe if I'm alone(I didn't walked into dark alleys of course). There was some drunk businessmen came out of the restaurants.
There was 3 Family marts and 1 7/11 convenient marts in Asakusa! Woot! How awesome is that. After remembered the locations of all these marts (I'm a fan) and window shopping in these marts, I went to first restaurant to eat. (Yup at 2am. I'm not that hungry though but still gonna try out)

Totally satisfied with the my accommodation location.

Sorry aunty, 

 Accommodation:

My guesthouse (Khaosan Original)

I have been giving my parents some mentally prepare about how Japan rooms will be not as big as Malaysia does given with its compact popularity but my mom still intimidated with the toilet size (Yup, can't barely move around) and she shied away from getting water from the kitchen because there was other foreigners at the common area. 

For me, I'm really like this accomodation. The location is so near with Sensoji temple which I went there every day (Ahem, more explanations below) and there is bicycle rental services nearby! 

Today luff it!

Too bad the staffs have much hospitality enough because they will only do their things without the talking or just answer your questions. They are helpful but not warm which I'm disappointed because I were hoping to make some new friends.

Khaosan Original (sites)

* Business Hours: 08:00 - 21:00

* Check in time: 15:00 - 21:00

* Check out time: by 11:00 am

Rates: (4 person per room) 2,300 YEN per night

 Surroundings:

  

-Shops that have beautiful drawings at the shop gates-

I'm sure the locals in Asakusa see visitors ALWAYS lurking around but I guess they get used to it because I'm THE ONE lurking around. For my 7-days in Tokyo, I woke up early (8am-9am) morning to walk around for the sake of exploring around. 

Mothers ride bicycle with toddlers behind them to send them off to the kindergarten(So cute). Children sit comfortably behind wheels(like a boss). Some fathers walk with their children to send them as well. 

There was some senior citizens playing hockey-style of pool game (a long hammer stick - upside down to hit a tennis-sized ball) in a field. Looked like a serious competition going on. 

After the shops open:

 

                      

- The streets to Sensoji temple -

During my stays in Tokyo, I did not went into the shopping malls at all (except when there was sunny raining). We just went to flea markets and streets shopping because Singapore has enough H&M and Uniqlo (no thanks). 

We bought a lot of street foods. If you convert the currency into SingDollars, you will eat comfortably. If you convert the currency to RM, you will starve and dehydrated (I'm not rich enough not to care).

Sketches:

Too bad I didn't try out the trishaw service (a bit costly) ;(

Purple: Walking route

Pink: Cycling route

Asakusa IS my neighbourhood.