Hives!

3:06am, in bed still, after writing yesterday's post
I noticed some patches of hives while in Macau and I hoped and wished that it was a one time thing but it came back! I'm so itchy but good thing I brought my Benedryl. I don't wanna take it because I don't want to be a walking zombie but if the hives get worse or don't go away soon, I may have to give in. This sucks...

I've officially lost count of the number of times we've gone dimsum

This morning we went out for guess what? Dimsum again. I swear my aunt doesn't get sick of it. I'm so dimsum'd out it's not even funny. Afterward, we went to the travel agency to get final details of our Taiwan tour and then proceeded out to Shum Shui Po to pick up some travel adapters, phone cases, iPhone docks (guess what souvenirs Mario and Danny are getting, lol), Galaxy Tab cases for work and some cables. We started off at Apliu Street, but I couldn't find what I was looking for so 妙珠姨 suggested we go to 黃金商場 to try my luck. Lo and behold, the building was filled with counter after counter of computers parts, PlayStations, Wii's, phone stuff, iPhone accessories, hard drives. You name the geeky stuff, they have it.

Very impressive work of sand art, only in MK I tell ya...

I was soooo looking forward to this!

Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh... Look at that teardrop!  LOL~

I actually wanted to have 大家樂 hot pot but CLM wasn't exactly cooperating, poopie!

At around 6ish, we finally left and walked down to Mong Kok to wander the ladies market and eat street junk food. Mom got tired soon from all the walking so we grabbed a quick dinner at Cafe de Coral and took the MTR back home. CLM didn't sleep until 1am so I didn't finish packing for Taiwan until after 2am. Add an hour of blogging and now I'm down to only 3.5 hrs of sleep before I need to get up again. Only now I think my entire back's covered in hives because I'm so itchy. Maybe I should take a Benedryl.

Did I mention this sucks? (3:26am)

Holding on to his dear life on the super crowded MTR

Lost Money?

11:06am, near 牌坊
CLM woke up a few times last night so I can't say I slept well. This morning we were all up and ready to go by 9 am but CLM was fussy again. So different from yesterday when he was giggling and generally all smiles.

We walked to some 街市 and had some 排當腸粉. Mom's friend asked if I wanted to eat in a restaurant and of course I said no! What's the point of 街邊腸粉 if we eat it indoors?

Wah, so good and so full of 街邊風味

Since Mui and Steph indicated that they liked the pantyhose we bought yesterday, we went back to get more. That's when I noticed I may have lost $2000! Noooo! That's now going to bother me forever. Poopie. (11:15am)

Jan25, 2:31am, at home in bed
Check out time was 12pm so we quickly grabbed a quick slurp of tofu flower from the place mom keeps raving about before heading back to the hotel. That's when I rummaged through everything and found the $2000! Phew!

More slurpy goodness!

We checked out and walked over to the harbour to visit the golden lotus. Finally! I've been to Macau so many times but never had a chance to go. Snapped a bunch of touristy pictures and off we went. Took all of 5 minutes lol. Our last meal in Macau was from this random restaurant near the lotus and the food was only meh at best. Sigh, besides the Portuguese egg tart, 腸粉, 炖奶 and 豆腐花, nothing was worth writing home about. I'm spoiled, lol.

There, now I can say I've been here

Now this place was definitely not worth the money

Our 3:30 pm ferry successfully brought us back to busy Hong Kong and we took a taxi back to Hung Hom to hitch a ride back home with 阿叔. While waiting for him to get off work, we went to McDonald's and finally got to eat the red bean pie! There is a big chance I will have it again before I leave only because I got a savings card that gives me free pies when I buy a drink. Win!

Finally!  Mmmm... That double sundae deserves honourable mentions too.  Haven't had a sundae in so long

I was so tired that I crashed right after dinner and didn't bother with blogging. And now it's 3 and I'm still one day behind. Omg. (2:54am)

Smokey!

12:06am, in bed at Metro Park Hotel
Gravol is my friend on this trip. Either I'm getting old or my lack of sleep is really getting to me. I'm constantly feeling nauseous! Especially here in Macau as everyone is a walking chimney. Nasty. Tonight I had to sit through an entire dinner with a cloud of smoke around me. Poor CLM. Poor me.

Somehow the food doesn't taste as great as last time I was here.  Maybe I was just really hungry.

 

Yesterday, we hitched a ride out to Hung Hom with 阿叔, had breakfast at the 茶餐廳 next to his shop. Waited around while he tied up some stuff at work (I took the opportunity to call up Sandra to wish her a happy birthday) and then hopped into his van to head to the harbour to catch our ferry to Macau. Our tickets were for 1 pm but since we got there at 11 am, we decided to take an earlier ferry. Only we didn't make that decision until 11:20am to take the 11:30am one. Meaning we had all of 10 minutes to submit our tickets for seat numbers, go through customs, find out the gate number, run to the gate and jump on the ferry. We literally RAN to the gate. With CLM. 跑到斷氣.

An hour later we were in a really sunny and really warm Macau!  I bought my data SIM card right away (God forbid I don't have internet to share my food pics, lol). So expensive here! $100 per day ($300 for 30 days) when it's $78 per week in Hong Kong.  Stupid that I had to pay $300 for 3 days.

Mom's friend came to grab us and took us to our hotel. We checked in and then went out for a quick bite. I'm so spoiled though: I find the food that I've had so far are only okay at best. Well, except the 葡撻 that I had today, that was really good. 

Very slurpy!

After lunch, mom went to the bank to cash her three government cheques so now we have spending money! We walked around, looking at stuff, visiting the places she lived at in her childhood times, her schools, the streets she walked to get places. Then we walked to 大三吧, sampled lots of almond cookies, pork jerky, candies, had 雙皮奶. We were so stuffed. By the time dinnertime rolled around, none of us were hungry so we didn't eat dinner until 10 pm and settled for congee (which wasn't very good). I can't believe how many bird spit stores they have around. I know about jewelry stores, pawn shops, but holy, so many bird spit stores that sell canned abalone, 冬蟲草, fish maw...omg, lemme at 'em!

Free pork chop bun that came with our ferry tickets.  Paper thin!  Sigh...

One of the crappiest congees I've ever had.  The MSG in my one bowl could have flavoured an entire pot!  Yuck!

This morning Mar and 太上文太 went downstairs for the buffet breakfast and took CLM with them so I could sleep in. Well sort of sleep in because mom's friend kept calling to wake me up, grrr.

木糠布甸, meh.

We visited two casinos today, Galaxy and Venetian, tried 木糠布甸, went to 氹仔, ate 葡撻, watched an early sunset in 路環, met up with more of mom's friends and had dinner at a restaurant in the Grand Lisboa.  The second hand smoke there almost killed me. If it wasn't for the smoke maybe I would have enjoyed dinner a little more. I conclude food in Toronto tastes much better than Macau. At least the 平民 foods do.

CLM on the bus with 婆婆

Now THESE were good!

Sunsets are always so pretty... 路環, tourist-free area

This time in Macau, I got to see it in a whole different perspective and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It sure is different if you have a local bring you around.

Restaurant fail.  The rising second hand smoke from the casino floor below was more than just overwhelming.

Time to hit the sack to recharge my battery for our last half day in Macau tomorrow. (12:52am)

At least CLM seem to be enjoying himself.

腳趾公塞入鼻哥窿

Backlogged...

Jan21, 7:30 am, at home in bed
Okay, I better catch up with my blogging before I get totally backed up. Today we're off to Macau for a few days. I'm totally stoked to go Macau with mom. Finally get to see the town where she grew up WITH her. It'll be great to hear her childhood stories as we walk through the city together. Can't wait!

Back to yesterday, Sunday. Yes, dimsum at Elements again, the entire time I was Whatsapp-ing Meishan. I got tired of typing so by the time dimsum was over, I just called her to rant, lol.

That's 4 for 5.  Sigh...

CNY decorations going up everywhere

As per normal itineraries, we went to visit 阿嫲, followed by 寶福山 to 拜阿爺. 阿嫲's really lost a lot of her memory though. She claims I haven't been back at all to see her. Omg, I'm like the grandchild from overseas that sees her most. Omg. At least she seems healthy otherwise.

After a kazillion blurry shots, finally one that's decent.

寶福山 on the other hand, was really busy! There was so much smoke I smelled like a walking bbq for the rest of the day. Blah...felt like puking. Funny how 太上文太 told 文生's grandfather that she brought me there to see him. I'm thinking, I brought YOU...She didn't even know what temple he was in! Omg, I'm sure I've been there more times than she had in the last 5 years.

Pretty flowers I got for 阿爺.  So vibrant (and so cheap, lol).  I wonder if he had a thing for bright flowers?

As per norm again, we went to the 沙田新城市廣場 for a quick drink (that place was packed) and then went to 大圍 for 燒乳鴿. Yet again CLM was complaining so we just quickly ate and left. The shrimp we had were awesome! The second I bit into it I knew they were fresh. So sweet and succulent!

Most expensive 凍檸茶 I've ever had in HK and it wasn't even good :( I knew I should have lined up for Starbucks

Shrimp was so fresh!  Pigeon was crispy and juicy!

We finished dinner at around 7 pm, went home to pack for Macau and called it a night. (1:40pm)

CLM finally cracking a smile after days of misery

Going to Taiwan! and Macau

Jan20, 11:57am, Lei Garden @ Elements
Omg, dimsum again. I'm going to be dimsum'd out pretty soon. Four days here and 3 dimsum dates already. Omg.

Last night I was so tired I passed out right away after getting home. Well, right away means after I got everything tidied up and CLM into bed.

又飲茶, *facepalm

So, dimsum in the morning at Tsuen Wan 潮江春 and then we made 妙珠姨 come into Tsuen Wan (I felt so bad, we were supposed to go out to Mong Kok). Booked our tickets to Macau and Taiwan, walked around 新の城 before it dawned on me that I had to call Emmi. Funny thing was, she wasn't even awake yet (it was quarter after three). She couldn't figure out where to eat so we headed over to 愉景新城 while she got ready. I had my first Starbucks in Hong Kong and as I guessed, their venti's are smaller than ours. The barista was surprised at my custom green tea frappuccino, which wasn't even complicated. That actually surprised me.

Venti, unsweetened, 8 matcha, soy green tea Frappuccino

(one less scoop of matcha for the missing 2oz, lol)

Emmi decided to come over to Kowloon so I took the opportunity to exchange some money first.  Omg, when I got to the foreign exchange I always go to in TST, I saw that the sign said the exchange rate was 7.75. Then an older dude poked his head out and said that the rate had changed to 7.72. So I thought what the hell, I'll change anyway because I was really running low on cash! Turns out that the markets "are closed" and the CAD rate dropped so to be safe (for them), they wanted 7.65! All in the span of a few minutes while I decided how much to exchange. Of course I was a little upset so I was going to walk but Emmi! She was livid! Entered into a huge catfight-like argument with the owner's daughter...I felt kinda upset but not that upset! Lol...So the lady agreed to give me the 7.72 rate, and "影 Emmi 相". So dramatic lol.

Saturday night eating out meant lots of people and no tables so Emmi suggested we eat earlier. We actually sat down at 6 pm. Only she didn't know the restaurant she picked at iSquare was an all you can eat shabu shabu. None of us were hungry enough for AYCE so we left. Oops, lol.  We ended up walking next door to a yakiniku restaurant and had wagyu! Sweet!

Lemme at that wagyu!

During dinner, CLM was acting up again (poor guy, he was so tired) but good thing the server seated us at the very back of the restaurant so damage was minimal. Over topics of babies, Emmi told me she's getting married in October this year! I'm so happy for her! Then I started giving her tips on prepping her body for babies, lol. Although I'd really like to attend her wedding, I don't think I'd be able to make it for October 30 (which happens to be a Wednesday, lol).

Mammie! I need to sleep!!

After buying Alan's stuff at Mark and Spencer, we took the mtr home and got in at around 10 pm. (Jan21, 7:21 am - yup this post took a whole day)

CLM looked so stoned, lol

Lost a Shoe!

4:51am, at home in bed
It was a little chilly today according to the weather report but by the time we left for Tsuen Wan at 10:45am, it had gotten warmer. Had a quick brunch at 翠華 as I refused to go dimsum again today before heading out to Hung Hom again to get those lucky envelopes printed for Greenpark. In other words, I kinda wasted an entire morning waiting for the printer to get me a draft for approval. While waiting, I grabbed a snack of chestnuts (mm, so good), and had lunch with 阿叔 at a Thai restaurant before finally finalizing the design with the printer. It was 4 pm already so we made our way over to Causeway Bay and walked around Sogo before meeting up with 妙珠姨 and 旭珠姨 for dinner at とん吉 for yummy, but kinda expensive tonkatsu. Oh so juicy, oh so crispy and oh so good. Would have been better if CLM didn't fidget and complain the entire time though.

Took a red bus home after and even when I was extra careful and mindful of my belongings, we lost one of Cur's shoes. Poopie.

What a not so eventful day. Damn, getting old. (5:08 am)

I absolutely REFUSED to have dimsum again today.  Then I got attitude all morning, lol.

What 細V describes as "從未如此鬆化過" 的炸豬扒

Look who passed out on the bus

Curtasee's First Day in HK

2:53am, at home

When we landed yesterday, we took our sweet little time to freshen up at the airport before heading out to immigration check and as a result, no wait and no pushy people rushing to get their checked luggage.  I wanted to grab a new prepaid SIM for immediate internet access but of course with my luck, the 2 stores I went to either didn't carry the one I wanted or sold out. Sigh. Hence I waited until after dinner to run out to 7 Eleven and even then, I had to go to two different ones! That card is just too popular I guess. A week of unlimited data on an HSPA+ network for $78HKD ($10CAD) is pretty darn good compared to what we pay for a prepaid service. This is the first time I've ever used mobile internet while away. I like. Hee hee.

阿嬸 knows I'm a sucker for good food so she bought some 大閘蟹 for dinner. Although they're totally not in season, I loved the thoughtfulness and the crab were actually pretty sweet, despite lacking in the 蟹膏 department (and the one I had was male, so even more lacking).

Not really big, but still pretty good!

After dinner I ran out to buy my SIM and noticed they opened a Starbucks downstairs! Of course I had to unleash the inner non coffee sbux drinker in me and went inside to check out their stuff. Some local drinkware are much better looking than the stuff back home or maybe I'm just biased, lol. They're having this Chinese New Year promo on right now so I may just make myself an excuse to go in just to get some sbux lucky envelopes!

Looks like they invaded 深井

While extremely exhausted from the flight, I could have fallen asleep standing and CLM was pretty pooped out too but I think he has a little jetlag and woke up many times (nothing new, lol) once to poo and once to play! Aiya, clapping happily at 4am...吹漲.

Got up shortly after 8am and got ready for our first real day out. A coincidence that cousin Aiyi from England is here visiting with her daughter and hubby so we all went out to Elements for dimsum. We were pressed for time so we didn't end up shopping there but I still managed to pick up my Armani make up. Can't believe they changed the packaging so I had to get a new case! Freaking hell.

Dimsum at Lei Garden

Hitched a ride out with 阿叔 to Hung Hom and walked around a shopping arcade looking at clothes and phone cases. When I got hungry, I was going to grab a McDonald's red bean pie but they were sold out! The nerve! I came all the way for it! LOL~!

I also had a chance to source out some printers to print Greenpark's lucky envelopes. Found a place that could do it for half the price compared to what they're paying over there for better looking and larger envelopes. So after whatsapp-ing with Mario, my trip just turned business, lol.  Now if only they can just pay for my vacation...

Walked into a travel agency to inquire about a side trip and it looks like we'd be going to Taiwan and not Japan. Works for me! I still have lots of Taiwan cash from last time.

What's a trip to Hong Kong without looking at jewelry? Lol, found a really nice 0.7ct ring, F, SI1 with certification, for only $29,600HKD ($2,840CAD). So pretty and quite cheap for the size! I think I just convinced Mui to buy it, lol.

Dinner time rolled around pretty quickly and I was a starving monster (since I didn't get my pie!) so we went back to 阿叔車房 and we headed out to 屯門 for suckling pig! Oh so crunchy and so juicy! Me likes! So cheap too, 4 of us, 6 dishes and under $700HKD out the door. Fantabulous! What was even better was CLM falling asleep just as we got there and slept through the entire peaceful dinner. Nice! Enroute home we grabbed dessert from 發記 and I got my fix of 楊枝金露.

Been looking forward to this! I can still hear the crunchy skin...

Throughout the day I had several dizzy spells so I'm thinking my body wants to warn me that I'm exhausted! I crashed by 11:30pm in the middle of a conversation with Mario, lol, and just woke up, omg an hour and a half ago, to finish it. Now that I'm completely caught up with blogging, I should really catch up with sleep. Signing out! (3:52am)

Blogger For Android, You Failed Me

7:35am Hong Kong time, during flight
Blogger, are you kidding me? I made no changes and all of a sudden you turn my post into html AND screw up my formatting? You suck!

Nine and a half more hours to go... (7:55am)

11:08am Hong Kong time, during flight
Finally! I was starving! 10pm Toronto time and just had a "I don't know if it's lunch or dinner" kind of a meal. This time, I had CLM with me until Mr Man's mom finished her meal so I was just purely watching people eat, salivating and trying so hard to keep CLM's hands to himself. Poor guy hasn't peed much since his diaper change in Vancouver 9 hours ago. So while waiting to eat and trying to keep him occupied, I bit up pieces of ice and gave it to him. Lol, he seem to like it! I chose pasta instead of rice and actually it wasn't too bad. I'm sure it had everything to do with the fact that I was starving. I wonder if I could ask for seconds? I'm still hungry. (11:15am)

4:24pm, flight in decent to Hong Kong
Finally, the end of the flight is near. Curtasee "napped" for 3 hours (should be his normal bedtime :( sigh) and woke up just as they were serving noodles and sandwiches. Well, since he was having one of his I can't get back to sleep moments, I had to postpone my noodles. After he settled down and completely woke up, I asked for my cup noodle. Do not deprive me of my noodles! Lol! Especially when I'm sleep deprived and hungry. (4:28pm)

Airborne!

10:44am Toronto time, during flight
Okay Blogger, you better not let me down!

Running on just an hour of sleep, I must say I'm pretty awake! This morning, we were supposed to get to the airport by 5am to be on the safe side (I didn't know what to expect at security check since I have several containers of food for Cur exceeding 100mL) but we didn't get to leave until after 5! So much for that idea, lol.

Despite checking in yesterday and printing off our boarding passes AND making sure that it was okay that the AC ticketing agent screwed up and placed Cur's seat with 太上文太 instead of me, we STILL had problems! First, the stupid machine didn't print my luggage tags, then we had to line up to check in again, then at the gate I was given attitude for Cur's seat being wrong! Stupid AC.

So instead of priority boarding, we ended up being one of the last to board the plane. Sheesh!

As per normal, I ask for water and Gravol right before take off and just as I wanted to take a sip of my much needed hydration, Curtasee spilled the entire cup of water on my lap! 真係唔知好嬲定好笑!

Our plane took off at about 8:12am and much to my surprise, Curtasee has been behaving pretty well on this flight so far. I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed though. It's a long ride still.

Call me a moron though. Since our flight stops in Vancouver, meals aren't included unless you show you're going to Hong Kong. Well stupid me didn't hear the "if" part so I was left without food...sigh. Will know better for next time. (11:15am)

12:37pm, during flight
We're now landing in Vancouver. So far the ride has been decent since this flight isn't full. The next one will be really crowded though. (12:40pm)

11:41am Vancouver time (2:41pm Toronto time), Vancouver international airport
We're back on the same plane now and 13.5 hours later we will be in Hong Kong! This flight is so full it's not even funny. A lot of the carry ons need to be checked since there's absolutely no space left. Good thing for priority boarding.

Hong Kong here we come! (11:45am)

1:02pm, during flight
Sigh, as if I have the ability to jinx everything. CLM isn't really cooperating. Because the flight is full, I'm not lucky enough to have an empty seat next to me. Cur kept going into the lady's things! He started bawling when I wouldn't let him grab her tea. Now I sent him over to 太上文太so I can at least eat my pretzels in peace. Oh dear Lord I can still hear him. Sigh. This is going to be a long flight. (1:08pm)

1:35pm, during flight
I just wolfed down a lunch of chewy coleslaw, salty chicken with baby pasta and a chocolate mousse that tastes more like whipped topping that Starbucks used for their mocha cookie crumble frappuccino. I don't think I've ever eaten lunch that quickly. My intentions were to finish in record time so I can relieve whichever grandma it is back there that has Cur. BUT! My efforts are wasted, I burned my tongue for nothing as Mr Man's mom refused to give me back MY son because he fell asleep. I asked many times but she still refused. So she's sitting there, eating with her left hand, Cur looking retarded in the position he's sleeping in and me being persistent and she wouldn't give him up. Meanwhile, the bassinet in front of me is empty and the flight attendants are all wondering what happened to Cur. I'm not impressed. (1:42pm)

3:00pm, during flight
Napped on and off for an hour. Now wondering if I should go get Curtasee back, lol. (3:01pm)

The sky's not really that blue...lol

Here Comes Curzilla!

This is it!  Today is the day Curtasee goes to HK!  I'm so excited, except we're leaving for the airport in 3 hours and I'm still not packed yet.  Aiya~

I'm kinda nervous too, since it's CLM's first trip.  I'm afraid I might forget to pack something, or certain things will get lost, or squished... maybe I'm just too excited to go, haha.  Been getting butterflies in my stomach since the weekend too.  Sigh, was never this nervous when I traveled with Tinlop.  Sheesh.

Finished week 2 so I won't get too behind while away

Last week was pretty uneventful except for booking the flight.  Most time was spent getting stuff ready and totally psyching myself out for the trip.  I plan to blog throughout the 3 weeks and hopefully can keep up.

Anyway, off to pack or I ain't going nowhere, lol.

T-4!

Only four more days before CLM flies to Hong Kong!  Wah!

A week ago, I found out AC was having a seat sale and combined with Tinlop's discount code, I managed to score tickets (that were supposed to be $1,800+ as per end of December when I last checked) for $1,257!  If only I had booked a few hours earlier, we could have gotten the tickets for almost $100 less.  Aiya, and two days before the sale ended the seats to HK were all gone already.  Yikes!  Unfortunately, 文生 couldn't get time off so he'll miss CLM's first birthday as well as our anniversary.  Yes, my bad and horrible timing.  :(  We will Skype on the day of and celebrate when we come back.  Promise!

I'm so excited!

I hope the Ultimate Dinosaurs exhibit is still on when I come back from HK.  Wanna see the Futalognkosaurus in action.
Now try saying that three times fast.  Foo-what?  Never mind.

I was texting back and forth with Edward the other day and the following conversation made me LOL:

Ed: So Curtis first bday in HK?
Me: Yup, haha.  How's that for a birthday present huh?  Lol
Ed: He's too young to appreciate it... he might be more excited if you give him an avocado

lol...so true...

Still Hungry?

Oct. 5 - 4:17a home
Yup, it's 4am! Of course I'm still up blogging, lol.

Woke up at 6:30a this morning and couldn't fall back asleep so I laid in bed for a bit before getting up to get ready to leave with 阿叔 at 9:00a -ish for Jordan. Had a quick breakfast with 阿嬸 at a 茶餐廳 before meeting with Tinlop and Meishan in TST.

10:00a rolls along and we all met up at the currency exchange to get some moola. The CAD exchange rate was pretty sad so I ended up using my USD instead. Good thing I brought along both currencies! Tinlop's 二嬸 took us to a few travel agencies to see if we could fit a short trip in to Korea or Singapore but nothing was in our budget or time restraints. Meishan called up her aunt the night before to meet for dimsum at 11:30a so we headed over to Cheung Sha Wan for some really crappy dimsum. No really, it was really crappy. Did I mention it was crappy? We quickly ate the bare minimum and left for MK to have street food and noodles instead. Of course, I had to have my share of 炸大腸 so Meishan and I devoured one skewer each. I didn't want to spoil lunch, so I opted to stop there while Meishan happily chowed down some stinky tofu. LOL~ Since having the 傷心酸辣粉 back in January, I knew I had to go back for some more so that's where we ended up for "lunch".

After lunch, which was already our fourth meal so far, we shopped around in MK for a bit and bought shirts for Mr. Man. Meishan even picked out a new pair of glasses. We needed a pee break so we stopped over at a McD's and there I was hoping to get my red bean pie again only to find out it was seasonal!! I opted to try the sweet potato pie, which was yum too but not as good as the red bean lor! If I didn't lose count, that would have been "meal" number 5 (and it was only 3:00p).

We proceeded up to Fa Yuen Street to buy some more stuffs and that's when Tinlop had some fresh egg tarts. I called up Emmi to see if she had time to meet up before dinner but she didn't want to come over to the Kowloon side so at around 7:00p Meishan, Tinlop and I hung out at Fairwood in TST to rest up and wait for our 8:30p dinner seating at 鴻星 to have 大閘蟹 with 妙珠姨, 旭珠姨 and 達文叔. OMG, dinner was from 8:30p to 11:30p! Freakin hell. Service was extremely lacking and food wasn't even cooked right. It was pathetic. Sigh...

After dinner, Tinlop was tired so he went home while Meishan and I walked down to the pier to check out the Avenue of Stars. I was hoping the lights would be still on but much to my dismay, they were turned off as soon as we got to the pier. We trekked all the way to TST East and noticed a live band was playing at one of the bars so we decided to sit in and watched a bunch of 中/老坑's dance until 2:00a. I must say, they were good!

By this time, buses and MTR were non-existent so we walked back up to Jordan to take a roller coaster of a mini bus back home to 深井 which only of course took about 20 minutes. I just showered and Meishan wouldn 't sleep until I do. So now I do. Tired. (4:30a)

Surprise!

Oct. 2 - 11:03a during flight
Wow, what a take off. Guess we're going to Hong Kong afterall. This morning Tinlop sms'd to let us know that we're flying direct which is great since travelling via Vancouver would be more expensive and much longer. I thought things were looking good! So I got up just after 7:00a to get ready for the airport by 8:30a as requested by Tinlop. 文生 decided to wait with me, awwwwww, and walk me to the gates this time (he never did this before), so we sat by the Starbucks waiting for Tinlop and Meishan to arrive.

Tinlop had this mischievous look when he arrived and told us that the flight was completely full! Wow! The flights going to Vancouver were completely oversold so he decided we'd see if we'd get lucky to get on the direct flight, despite the lack of seats. Lo and behold, we got on! Like Mario always says: "you guys always get on!" Lol!

We took off at about 10:15a and shortly after, we encountered a bit of stomach upsetting turbulence. Wow, it was quite bumpy to say the least! I hope I can manage since I'm not taking any Gravol whatsoever. After sipping some apple juice and saving the all-too-familiar pretzels for later, I took out the touchpad and started typing. Not bad...the keyboard is nicely laid out and the screen is very accurate and responsive. Now, to watch TVB or just listen to the Hacken concert and fall asleep? (11:16a)

Oct. 2 - 11:56a during flight
Being seated at the very very back of the plane, it's normal that we get served last. Usually by the time food gets to us the good choices are gone (like the congee from last time). Knowing that the pork noodles are extremely salty and soggy, I attempted to ask for chicken with rice and got it just as they ran out! Ooo, lucky! So I chowed down the corn and edamame appetizer and ate the ooh so salty, but at least tender chicken with nasty parboiled rice. It was drenched in a mustard mayo sauce that was just plain salty but at least it was semi palatable. Of course the brownie was toooooo sweet so I left it after taking just one bite. I think I'm going to watch a bit more 九江十二坊 before I attempt to sleep. Should really digest a bit before I gain more weight.....haha! (12:04p)

Oct. 2 - 6:15p during flight
Wow, what a bumpy ride! We've had several bouts of air turbulence on this flight which caused more than just our drinks to shake, lol. Must be the weather... I just finished up the all too familiar "snack" of cup noodles, after drifting off to sleep during an episode of 秀才愛上兵. Starting to get a headache though...not good. I think I'll just chill for a bit before attempting to nap again. (6:20p)

Oct. 2 - 9:46p during flight
Omg, I'm so hungry...but an hour to go before we get our congee/omelette choice. Mind you by the time it gets here, it'll be "would you like omelette or omelette?" Sigh...

I just got up and went to the back with Meishan and Tinlop to chat for about an hour or so. Felt so good not to be cramped up in the middle seat with nothing to do. At least we got some chatting in and I got to stretch. Poor Tinlop's entertainment system didn't work so I switched seats with him and now I'm at the absolute back row. Only about 3 more hours before we land! Omg, I cant wait to get off the plane, lol! (9:52p)

Oct. 3 - 12:21p (HK time) during flight
Final hour before landing! Finally! As usual, lunch was served 2 hours prior to landing and as expected, they ran out of congee as soon as they got to me. Poo. Good thing Tinlop was willing to trade so I saved my stomach by eating some easily digestible food. My headache is getting worse so I hope I can bear the landing without barfing...ewww... Countdown time! (12:24p)

Oct. 4 - 12:28a home
Yay me! I didnt throw up! Hoot! We landed shortly before 1:30p and proceeded to swim through the loads and loads of freewalkers and managed to get out of the airport in record time. Between getting Octopus cards topped up and phone activation, we were at the bus terminal by 2:20p. Surprisingly, it's quite cool in HK! Unlike last time we were here in October, it was only around 25C with showers. Since it was nice and early still, we thought we'd go back to Tinlop's 二嬸's place, then trek over to Hung Hom to drop off my luggage with 阿叔 and then meet up with Sandra and surprise her. However, the bus ride from the airport took almost 2 hours! Sandra was already heading home so I had dinner at 二嬸's and then the very sleepy trio went over to Sandra's to surprise her. Keke, she was surprised all right! I love surprises!

Sandra's son Harold is soooooo cute! Too bad he was sleeping so we couldn't play with him. We snuck out for a bit of Cafe de Coral (Sandra didn't eat yet so she ate dinner while Meishan, Tinlop and I just had drinks) and I bused all the way back to 深井 in about an hour. I’m so exhausted right now...omg....I need to crash... Except I'm hungry...poo. (12:45a)