1 Out of 7 Billion
The world is getting smaller everyday but a lifetime is not enough to explore it. My adventure starts in Singapore.
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Hong Kong
June 1, 2010 — 4 Comments
My “renewed” relationship with Hong Kong in terms of shopping started 3 years ago. I have been visiting yearly since then.
Going to Hong Kong means filling up my luggage with H&M stuff, my most favorite brand. Zara, Pull & Bear, Esprit being the runners up.
Here’s a photo from my very first trip to the H&M store in HK in 2007.
May 2007
At almost the same spot during my recent trip there…
May 2010, minus the yawning lady in the background
Have I aged so much that the guy in the 2007 photo looks like my son?? Oh well. I guess with age comes a higher level of maturity to control impulse shopping and improved fashion sense. My hair is parted on the other side too. :p
Anyway, this 2010 HK trip is not just for my own shopping satisfaction but that of my sister’s who has not seen this beautiful city since 1988. Back then, she always wanted to be carried around by my parents as she could not survive walking along what used to be called Ocean Terminal in Kowloon. No wonder she hardly had any recollection of that trip.
She’s all grown up now and ready to spend more than I could ever imagine! At 20+ yrs old, no one in our family could carry her anymore without risk of serious injury… ha
Welcome back to Hong Kong!
When I was booking the flight, I made sure to choose the Singapore Airlines aircraft that had the new Economy seats. Some years back, Singapore Airlines introduced a new layout for Business Class and improved Economy seats. This aircraft has the same look and feel as the A380 but single deck only. A few photos of the Economy seats I am talking about.
Larger display, better looking remote control, and improved interactive menu
We arrived in HK slightly after noon and it was shopping and sightseeing for 3.5 days.
Hotel lobby of Jia Hotel in Causeway Bay (been staying here for the past few visits)
Cozy bedroom. One new gadget this time around is the iPod player/speaker near the TV.
HK MTR stations are characterized by numerous exits, 2-3 levels of escalators, and thousands of people. This one is like 10x the size of Dhoby Ghaut MRT station in Singapore
The tram that took us to The Peak
Sky was not clear but still happy with the view from above
Near the Madame Tussauds entrance getting intimate with Bruce. We decided not to go into the wax museum due to lack of time.
With Ron and William
Langham Place (mall) in Mongkok. I braved 13 levels and had quite a few good purchases. (Nearest MTR: Mongkok)
Citygate outlet shopping (Nearest MTR: Tung Chung)
More shopping, this time in Kowloon island, near Harbour City (Nearest MTR: Tsim Tsa Tsui)
Before we packed our stuff into 3 suitcases, we checked out the shops near Times Square (Nearest MTR: Causeway Bay)
Final day (morning) spent on a bus tour of south HK island. Passed through Repulse Bay on our way to Stanley Market. Awesome residential properties with stunning view of the bay.
Area surrounding Stanley market
Grabbed lunch at agnes b restaurant in IFC mall
We didn't need to request an additional chair for our bags and jackets as they had a low bench for them.
Spent more than expected but no regrets. I'll go back in 2011. Need to check out New Territories, have a round of drinks in a bar overlooking the city, take the cable car at Lantau Island, ride the ferry to the other island, bargain at day/night markets, eat good dimsum
Special thanks to Steph Ho, Kristy Teng, Vincent Ang, and MJ Kuok for the shopping / bar hopping tips.
And speaking of MJ, check out his latest single “Once Twice 3″.
Support talented musicians like him by purchasing his music from iTunes (search “mj kuok”) or from www.mjkuok.com (Click Shop Online).
Hong Kong
October 28, 2008
I spent the Deepavali long weekend in Hong Kong and what a relaxing weekend it was (my wallet got exhausted though).
This is my 4th visit within a span of two years and I think everytime I feel like going away for a long weekend I will book a flight to Hong Kong (instead of Bangkok).
Why do I love Hong Kong?
- The place gives me a sense of organised chaos which I welcome once in awhile.
- Shopping. I always go to H&M but I feel I’m missing out on a lot more good shops.
- Food
- I like hearing Cantonese.
- I have good friends who are superb hosts and fantastic party buddies.
I stayed at the Cosmo hotel which is one of the boutique hotels in the Wan Chai / Causeway Bay area. The location is not very ideal ; I always needed to take a cab to and from the place. However, the room space is just right for a short stay. Comfy bed too.
Good to sleep on a single bed for a change.
The couch area is where I would dump my shopping bags at the end of each day.
Sat, 25 October
- Got upgraded to Business Class on Singapore Airlines. It’s my 4th time to be upgraded (3rd on holiday). I initially wanted to upgrade my purchased Economy class ticket but was told no seats were available. Thanks SQ!
- Went to H&M shortly after I checked-in. Did some panic buying and shopping for family and friends. The selection was rather disappointing and I guess I can say that for most of the shops. They were selling winter stuff and I could only buy so much. May / June would probably be the best time to go next time, based on previous experience.
- Met up with Ron at Causeway Bay and walked over to William’s place. William, Grace, and Louis hosted an awesome dinner with hairy crab as the main dish. Met a few new friends as well. Struggled in eating the crab with my bare hands (havent done that in ages) but I can say it was worth the cracking and scooping effort.
Causeway Bay, one of my fave areas in HK
With Ron and William, my great buddies in HK
Hairy hairy crab
- Decided to have an early night after waking up for an early flight but managed to stay awake for an hour listening to a few singers in the bar at Cosmo hotel. I knew most of the songs so I was singing softly in my little corner. Ha.
Day 2 – Sun, 26 October
- I had to make another trip to H&M to see if any new stocks came in but since I arrived slightly earlier than opening time, I walked around to explore the central area.
Why dont we have H&M in Singapore?!
- Ros invited me to have lunch with her and her husband Blums over at Taikoo then went around the mall for any interesting stuff.
Catching up with Blums and Ros at Simply Life Bakery/Cafe
- I was supposed to meet with Ron and William but they were fairly busy until late afternoon so I decided to go back to Causeway Bay. There were two events happening. One at Sogo which had a brief show that featured Eunice Chen, one of the popular models in HK. The other event was a promotion for Minute Maid orange juice which had official endorser Eason Chan, a pop artist/singer, making a special appearance.
Eunice Chen - took me some time to figure out her English name from the people I asked in Sogo
Eason Chan
- Met up with Ron and William near my hotel and went to a revolving resto for a drink before going to Lin Heung bakery/ tea house at Central for dinner. Peiru suggested that I try the BBQ pork while in HK so I requested them to include this in our meal. One thing that struck me is that customers soak the bowls in hot water before using them. Never seen that in previous trips. William told me that it’s the usual practice in HK. He did the honor of doing that before our meal…
William's fingers in their first-ever close-up appearance in my blog
- Lyn (my friend from Malaysia who happened to be there for work+holiday) and Dorothy (friend of Ron) joined us for dinner as well. We then went to Peel Fresco Music Lounge a few blocks away for some jazz music.
William, Lyn, Ron, Dorothy, me
Day 3 – Mon, 27 October
- No set plan but to pack neatly and reach Kowloon island for the first time in 20 years (yes, only because my previous visits were all in HK island).
Not teary eyed but quite a nice feeling being back in this part of HK.
- Had lunch at Harbour City. I officially ended my shopping in that place.
- Headed to the airport via airport (train) express, bought a few boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts for Pierre, Peiru and the SQ cabin crew, then boarded the flight. I arranged for an upgrade to Business Class previously so had a comfortable evening journey back to Singapore.
Preparing for a Clothes Revamp
September 15, 2008 — 3 Comments
It took me only one (1) hour to decide that I needed to say “goodbye, thank you for your dedicated service” to approximately 35 shirts (mix of both casual and office clothes). I wanted to create some space in the two closets I use — one dedicated to weekend wear, another for office wear. Sadly, letting go of clothes means rendering a lot of hangers jobless.
I have this habit of deciding every yearend what color to buy for the coming year. Unfortunately, I was not able to do this over the past two years due to time constraints, or shall I say due to all the activities happening before the New Year crossover.
So which ones were spared from my wrath?
Office Wear
Casual Wear
Analysis:
1. I have a lot of blue so I should avoid buying such color until yearend. I hope H&M doesn’t have much of this color; otherwise, I will be tempted to buy again.
2. I only have one pink shirt. I should buy one or two more.
3. I should go for fewer shirts with horizontal stripes. They make me look wide. Only exception would be if they are thin stripes or if the color combination is nice.
4. I should buy more shirts without collar, preferably white, green, orange with good prints.
5. I should further classify my casual wear on whether they are better off worn with shorts or jeans.
6. I need to look for more plain colors for my office wear.
Quite a nerdy approach but it works for me!
