Hong Kong 23-28Nov2011 – Day 06 Departure

28Nov2011(Mon) – Departure

Last day…took us many months to plan and it took such a short time to complete….

Last view from our room…

We left out luggage in the luggage room and requested the hotel to bring the luggage out before 12pm to the concierge so that we could catch the 12pm shuttle to airport. I check-out both rooms and paid the bill.

We took the free shuttle to MTR Tung Chung but not to take MTR ride, instead, we went to Citygate to have our breakfast and fast walk in Citygate because we need to take the 11.40am shuttle back to hotel in order to take another shuttle to the airport. It was real fast walk. PaPa got me a bigger Coach wristlet. He almost wanted to get me a sling bag but I was a bit reluctant. It was soo tempted because the price was cheaper than here.

Back to hotel and off to airport. We walked around the airport and there were Disneyland shop in the airport. AL got her Minnie Mouse cap and we were unable to find for JL. We got two pair of Mickey earrings.

Off to the airplane where the kids eat and watch movie…. AL was feeling much better …

Home sweet home with one whole pile of laundry…took us days to clear the laundry….

Hong Kong 23-28Nov2011 – Day 05 The Peak & Mongkok

27Nov2011(Sun) – The Peak & Mongkok

We decided to take it easy that day by waking up later than other days. We took the shuttle and MTR. We took a stroll at the Chater Garden and amazed by the foreign workers crowd gathering. The place reminded us of Puduraya during weekend where all the foreign works including maids gathered together.

It was a long Q waiting to buy and get the tram up to The Peak. The sun was shining bright. The place was crowded.

We did not buy the entrance ticket to Madame Tussaud.

We spent a long time at The Peak. The scenery was amazing and spectacular. The cool breeze was nice.

We took a tram back down and walk through the Chater Garden and made our way to Mongkok.

At Mongkok, we split ourselves to walk in the Market area and agreed to meet at the end of the road at certain time.

We managed to get linen material Chinese top for PaPa and myself. We also bought a cotton cheongsam for AL but unable to find plain linen Chinese top for JL. We got Christmas gift for PohPoh and MahMah. I managed to get knitted long coat for about RM60. PaPa helped to negotiate and we got 2 for me (one light and one black color). PaPa also found plastic buckle belts which he bought for himself and also for JL. JL’s belt buckle was rusty even though PaPa polished it for many times. We decided plastic buckle would be the option. AL took her nap in the Ergo Carrier while JL sat on the stool in each of the stall while waiting for us to negotiate and get our things without fuss.

From Mongkok, we again split because we wanted to go to Chin Nee’s hotel to pass the Ergo Carrier to the concierge as she would be arriving the following day. Thanks a lot Chin Nee… JL decided he wanted to walk instead of taking the MTR. We walked and walked. After passing the Ergo Carrier, we walked and walked. We took MTR to Tsim Tsa Tsui, our meeting spot with Sharon’s family.

HH’s Hkg friend met us there too to bring us for a lovely steamboat nearby there. It was nice of them to include our family for the dinner. We wanted to split the bill but HH’s friend insisted that the dinner was under him.

We went back to hotel and it was a busy night packing our things. PaPa brought extra vacuum bags to keep all our purchase. It was amazing that we were able to keep all within the same number of luggage without opening our standby bags. We came with 1 medium + 1 cabin size+1 backpack (with 1 foldable bag + 1 backpack inside).

Hong Kong 23-28Nov2011 – Day 04 Mongkok & Stanley

26Nov2011(Sat) – Mongkok & Stanley

We went early morning to Mongkok to get our breakfast. Our breakfast was Polo Bun. Then we went to the market area and not many stalls were open. Even the Yee Shun Milk Dairy was still closed.

Thanks to Chin Nee for the Ergo Carrier which I used for Day04 and Day05. It was great and AL slept well in the carrier with no fuss. We were using stroller in Disney and Ocean Park.

Again, we changed our plan. We supposed to cover town and Avenue of Stars for Day 04. As for Day05, we wanted to cover the South Island (Hong Kong Island) for Stanley and The Peak. The new plan, we decided to take the bus from Mongkok to Stanley instead. After Stanley we would go the Avenue of Stars for dinner. On Day05, we would go to The Peak and walk around Mongkok towards evening.

HH (Sharon’s hubby) managed to Whatsapp Jazz about our changed of plan but our dinner would be still on. There was a free wifi spot in the MTR. We were Whatsapping and checking our email using the wifi spots. (Yes, I had free wifi in my hotel room too…)

It was long long journey to Stanley along the coastal road. The scene was breathtaking with all the nice and beautiful bungalows and villas. I managed to take some short nap. At Stanley, we walked around including the Stanley Market. We got JL and AL each a stamp with their Chinese name engraved on it. Initially we only got for JL and AL requested whether we would be getting one for her. So, we ended up getting for her too. Besides that we got ourselves the cheap white HKG T-shirts for 4 of us. JL wanted the Chinese cap with the pony tail which we did get for him. We also bought fridge magnets for family members.

After that we took another long journey on the bus back to town. We went to Avenue of Stars to take some photos and meet up with Jazzmint (with Faythe and Vyktore). We packed dinner from the Sogo food court and had our mini picnic at Avenue of Stars to secure a strategic place to see the Symphony of Lights. We managed to get a nice corner spot where the kids (6 of them) could entertain and play around after dinner while waiting for the show to start.

We had our dessert in Yee Shun Milk Dairy after the show. The kids enjoyed the Steamed Milk while I loved the Steamed Egg. Yummy dessert was done. Thanks Jazzmint for the wonderful dessert.

We took MTR back to MTR Tung Chung. The 6 kids almost turned the whole MTR upside down with all the noises…

Hong Kong 23-28Nov2011 – Day 03 Ocean Park

25Nov2011(Fri) – Ocean Park

We wanted to end our HKG trip with Ocean Park but we were pre-warned that Ocean Park would be very crowded during weekend. We decided to bring forward Ocean Park from Sunday to Friday. We did make the right choice because it was still crowded on Friday (I guess more crowd on weekend).

It was a very early morning day because Ocean Park was located far away. We had a very simple breakfast in the hotel room. We missed our first shuttle from the hotel to MTR Tung Chung. We took MTR Tung Chung out to MTR Admiralty where we took a bus direct to Ocean Park. At the bus stop, we purchased our Ocean Park tickets.

The first thing we did in Ocean Park was to queue up for the cable car. The view from the cable car was beautiful. It was hilly walk up the hill. We walked up and down. We went for a show in Ocean Theater. We took some rides and decided to take the Ocean Express down to take our lunch. . There were many games which was not suitable for kids on the upper part.

We sat at a nice spot at Skyfair waiting for a performance while the two fathers went to buy lunch. We sat and had our lunch slowly until the performance started. It was a good idea so that we didn’t have to rush our lunch to get a nice spot to view the performance.

After that we walked around where the kids saw the pandas and took some ride. The last ride was the Sea Life Carousel. Then we went to the Giant Aquarium. We rested very long while waiting for the show at Aqua City Lagoon since it was a long whole day for the night fountain show. While waiting, PaPa and JL went to hunt for t-shirts for 4 of us.

The show ended marking the closing of Ocean Park. The Q was extremely long for the bus but efficient. There were so many buses to bring everyone out of the Ocean Park. From the bus station we took MTR and then bus back to hotel.

Hong Kong 23-28Nov2011 – Day 02 Disneyland

Let me continue to write a long overdue story of our trip…before the end of 2011. Even though it was long overdue story, I would like to keep the encounter recorded somewhere with some photos. The posts are not as interesting and colorful as compared to those written by Sharon. Check out her blog...

24Nov2011(Thurs) – Disneyland

The kids woke up and had breakfast in the room. I did tuna sandwich. They took tuna sandwich with milk while PaPa and I took our traditional kopi o. After breakfast, we went to the lobby to catch 10am free shuttle to Disneyland.

As we walked from the bus parking area to the entrance, we took some photos. The kids were excited. AL was in her stroller. Upon arrival the entrance, we bought the tickets and I got 10% for my corporate ID. Since it was only for 4 tickets, we opt for the discount on the 4x adult tickets.

The first thing we did was to purchase 3-in-1 meal coupon so that we will have lunch and dinner at 20%. Each family purchased 2 sets. Then, we took the train to the Fantasy Island. Some of the places which we covered:

• Fantasy Island - Carousal

• Fantasy Island - Dumbo Ride

• Fantasy Island - Winnie Pooh (Fast Pass)

• Toyland – We were queuing up for the parachute ride but go to let go due to long q and we need to rush for ‘The Gold Mickeys’ show.

• Show: The Golden Mickeys

• Lunch

• TomorrowLand - Space Mountain (Fast Pass)

• Flights of Fantasy Parade

• Festival of the Lion King

• Fireworks

Time was too short for us to catch up with all rides and taking photos with the character. Surprisingly the place was crowded with a lot of tour group from mainland China.

After ‘The Golden Mickeys’ show, we found our old stroller was missing. We wasted some time doing report to the staffs in Disney. They offered us a free stroller to use in the park. If our stroller was not found, we would choose any stroller from the Lost & Found section.

While we were going for Space Mountain ride, we found our stroller parking just opposite. AL quickly changed stroller because she didn’t like the plastic feeling of the Disney stroller. Since Eryn was not feeling well, we passed the Disney stroller for her to use. Guess what? While we were queuing for a car ride, PaPa and AL were waiting outside as AL refused to ride. The Disney stroller (which was labeled with our name) was parked at the parking bay while the rest queuing up for our turn. It was a long Q. During that time, a group of mainland ladies and kids were walking and suddenly one of the ladies went to the parking bay and just took our Disney stroller. Imagine PaPa who was zero in Mandarin began to shout in Mandarin that that was our stroller. The lady said sorry and thought the stroller was provided by Disney. What an excuse… we suspected these was the group of people who was going round taking strollers from the parking bays from their own usage. Why can’t they just bring their own or rent from Disney right?

AL was sick and most of the time sleeping or refused to play. She only played some. After the fireworks, there were ‘snow’ (foam) and we went to get t-shirts for 4 of us.

Instead of taking the free shuttle to the hotel, we opt to take the MTR from Disney to Tung Chung where we took a bus back to hotel (because we missed the shuttle back to the hotel from Tung Chung area). The MTR from Disney was interesting with the window and handle made out of Mickey’s shape.

It was a rushing trip and JL was upset because we didn’t cover most of the places. If the hotel price promotion was still on, we would make a trip back here. Besides that, AL had requested to bring her back to Disney to get her pink princess dress. Poor girl was sick during our trip to Disney. All was ok except the bad experience of losing our old faithful stroller but we found it which was great.

Hong Kong 23-28Nov2011 – Day 01 Arrival

It was around middle of this year when we were deciding where to go for this year. We decided to go Hong Kong since AL was big enough to understand the Disney characters and also my colleagues had been sharing to me the good deal corporate rate for Skycity Marriot.

Even though the hotel was near to airport but for the price it was very worth it (much cheaper than staying in 5 stars hotel in Malaysia). The room was big with 2xDouble Beds and a lot of free shuttle:

1. Airport shuttle every 20 minutes (24 hours)

2. MTR Tung Chung shuttle every 30 minutes (last shuttle was 10pm)

• This was the same place where the Hong Kong branded factory outlets located – Citygate

• This was also the same place to take cable car up to Ngong Ping

• If we were to miss the free shuttle, we could take bus S1 back to hotel (located next to MTR Tung Chung) which had frequent bus service till midnight.

3. Disneyland – 10am (to) and 8.45pm (back)

• Optional : MTR Tung Chung to MTR Disney (change train at MTR Sunny Bay)

Under my corporate rate, I was able to reserve 2 rooms that I asked Sharon if she would like to join for the trip. Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong were already had their plan to go to Europe at the same time.

Sharon was checking for her flights. She would be flying in with AA and back with MH. We would be arriving on the same day but different time.

23Nov2011(Wed) – Arrival

We took 9.15am flight and arrive just before 1pm. It was not a very smooth flight with a few turbulences. AL was cranky recovering from her high fever due to throat infections.

Upon arrival the airport, we were stop due to AL’s high fever 39+. We were escorted to their medical section to be interviewed and were given a letter. If AL’s fever did not subside within next few days, we were required to go to the hospital and show the letter. AL did not have fever that morning but I still gave her medicine. We were not sure why her fever suddenly went up even after medication. Too excited of the trip?

It was a long queue to get clearance at the immigration. After collecting our baggage, we went to get some Hong Kong maps and also bought Octopus cards for Sharon’s family. As for us, we had 2x Octopus cards from Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong plus 1x Octopus Card (Child) from Yi Yee. We just reloaded the Octopus cards.

We went to hotel counter at B05 to get our free airport transfer instead of waiting for the Marriot (every 20 minutes) Bus Shuttle at the Bus Stop. The staff pulled the bags for us and we sat in an Alphard to the hotel.

We check-into the hotel for both rooms. I registered for free Marriot membership in order to get free Wi-Fi in the hotel. It was a spacious room overlooking the airport. Everyone was too tired that we dozed off.

We took the 4pm shuttle to MTR Tung Chung. Before we left, we put the hotel access card in a sealed envelope and specifically inform the concierge to hand it to Sharon’s hubby, HH (later we found that they actually check HH’s passport to validate before handing the envelope).

At MTR Tung Chung, we went to Citygate to walk around. My cousin, Natalie who was studying in Hong Kong came and met us about 530pm in front of New Balance. She was late by 30 minutes but we appreciated her for taking trouble to come all the way to meet us. It took her about 1 hour to travel from her place to here.

We continued to walk and chat. We went to the grocery to get some bread and cereal. We also got some fresh juice for the kids especially AL who refused to drink much plain water. We found that the bread had no preservatives and only lasted about 3 days. We continued to walk and chat until about 630pm, she have to leave for an appointment. We went to McD to wait for Jazzmint who would be meeting us at about 7pm. While waiting, JL wanted to eat Apple Pie.

Yes, at 7pm, we met Jazzmint together with Faythe and Vyktore. Jazzmint took us for a lovely steamboat nearby. While we were having our dinner, Sharon called to inform us that Eryn was having fever.

After dinner, we went to Jazzmint’s condo to get children fever medicine for Eryn. We missed the free shuttle back to hotel. Jazzmint showed us where to take the bus using our Octopus Card to pay for the fare. Thanks Jazz because it really helped us for the next few nights when we missed the free shuttle without having to get taxi.

Upon arrival the hotel, we put our things in our room and went to Sharon’s room to pass her the medicine and also the food. We exchange a short update and all back to own room. The kids decided to spend some time playing in the bath tub…before zzzzz

Long journey in car

It has been a long time since we last had our long car journey as a family. I would usually pack activities to entertain the kids. Besides that, I also must make sure there are some food and drinks. It was usually like having picnic in the car while PaPa would be eating or drinking and driving. In between we would have our short break for the toilet and also for PaPa to stretch his legs after long duration driving manual car. Maybe we should organize another one more car trip since both kids are much older because there would be a lot of things to learn while travelling in the car.

Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Trip (17 & 20 March 2011)

We were there on the first day evening (Thursday, 17Mar2011) hopping to catch the 6pm hot air balloon. The kids were excited bringing along their raincoat and boots (like Pua Chu Kang but in blue instead of yellow). The raincoat was too big for AL.

We arrived there about 4plus pm and Sharon also arrived about the same time. Together with the kids, we went walking around exploring the place while waiting for 6pm. It started to drizzle about 545pm. PaPa went to the car to take umbrella and the kids’ raincoat. We were sitting down the area near where the hot balloons were supposed to be released with our umbrellas. All of a sudden, a staff was walking along the path asking everyone to get shelter because a heavy thunderstorm was on the way and it was just 5 minutes before 6pm. The announcement said that the hot balloon would be postponed to 8pm.

We couldn’t wait till 8pm because we had to go for our family prayer meeting that night. So we decided to walk back to the car. It drizzled and it turned into heavy thunderstorm in just a split seconds. JL was well protected with his raincoat and boots. We decided to wrap AL with the oversized raincoat. I was carrying AL with PaPa carrying a big golf umbrella. However, the rain was so strong that by the time we arrive our car, we were drenched from top to toe. Sharon and her 2 kids were also wet. We decided to cancel our dinner together and to go home as everyone needed to take shower to change. On the way home, the kids were hiding themselves in the blanket which we kept in the car. It would be great to hide ourselves in a heated blanket to keep ourselves warm.

JL still wanted to see the hot air balloon. Our weekend was tight with JL’s activities and birthday. So the only slot we had was on the last day where we decided the early morning would be a better option than evening since it usually rained in the evening. We left home just before 6am on Sunday morning with both kids half asleep. We arrived there just before the parking lots were full. Some people had come as early as 4am just to get tickets to ride the hot air balloon.

At last the kids got the chance to see the big hot air balloon. There was also helicopter ride which was too pricey. We bought 2 battery operated bubbles guns for the kids for RM15 each which we found was cheaper than getting from toys r us (which was almost RM50 each).

We let the kids play with the bubbles for a while near the parking lot before we proceed to Alamanda for our breakfast in McD. We did a fast grocery in Carrefour and let the kids walk around toys r us before we went home to rest.

Duty Travel -- Dubai 24-26Feb2011

It was last minute I got selected to go for a workshop in Dubai. The workshop was sponsored by one of our competitor (Company E) for knowledge sharing purpose. My company would just have to pay for air tickets and allowance.

It was my first time going to Dubai and my first time going to the Middle East. However going on duty travel was not a fun thing because it was not a holiday. For those who travel on duty travel would understand what I mean.

My manager and I were selected to join the workshop. Our Department Head would take the same flight with us to join the Excom Meeting and back the following day. Our Senior Manager (team head) would fly into Dubai one day later to be one of the speakers for the workshop and would go back on the same flight as ours. So, we were flying into Dubai with our Department Head and back to Malaysia with our Senior Manager.

We took noon flight on 24Feb2011 and landed there late evening in Dubai. The flight took off 1 hour late from KLIA due to technical issue and we had almost 1 hour transit in the airplane at Karachi. Upon landing Dubai airport, it was a long walk to the immigration where we ended up queuing for almost 45 minutes just to get our passport stamped. By the time we check-in the hotel, it was too late and we were tired. We ended up only taking sandwiches in the hotel. The hotel which was booked by Company E was just opposite the airport. Yes, we stayed nearby to the airport and not in the city. This was how close the hotel was located…

The next day, we had breakfast in the hotel and a bus fetched all the participants to the Company E training centre (or another word, it was actually known as college). It was a one whole day session of sharing from other companies on the title “Continuous Monitoring”. I was amazed how small I was seeing other participants who were majority minimum managers and above. Some was even the Head of Department.

After workshop, we were sent back to the hotel. Our Senior Manager just landed and requested us to wait for him. My Manager and I were just ‘lepaking’ around the hotel and even taking our nap. Yes, we were still tired over our flight the day before with time difference of 4 hours. We took a free shuttle to the airport where we took train to the town. It was so late but we managed to see Burj Al Khalifa at night.

Than we walked to Dubai Mall to see the Giant Aquarium and had our late dinner at the food court. We were admiring all the expensive cars and all the expensive shops in the mall. The people there was having a good life enjoying having ‘tea tarik’ session in an expensive café.

 

On Saturday, it was the last day of the workshop session. We from Malaysia were the first to leave that we need to check out from the hotel in the morning. We pulled our luggage to the workshop. We had to leave after the brainstorming session and missed the brainstorming sharing session. It was a big rush and our Senior Manager was not happy with the arrangement but what to do…Cut cost… because our company would need to absorb the extra night stay for the hotel and extra allowance if we were to stay another night.

The return flight was a bigger airplane and yes, directs flight with no transit. We ended up doing our shopping in the airport. I managed to get a t-shirt for JL and AL with 3D Camel sewn on the t-shirt. JL was white color (I couldn’t find green for him) and AL had pink color.

We landed at KLIA on Sunday morning about 6plus am. Our Senior Manager went home while my Manager and I went to watch shop. I did my survey before I went and made comparison with Dubai Airport and found a better deal in KLIA (surprise leh…) that would be another post to write about…

I went home to zzzzzz and went for lunch with my grandmother from Alor Setar. I was so sleepy both journey from home and back to home for lunch. The journey was tiring and rushing. It took some time to adjust back my body clock.

The best experience I had from this trip is I made friends with all the competitors who could be useful to get the best practices and knowledge sharing. I distributed my business cards to everyone before I left for airport on the 2nd day.

Wish I had time to view more of Dubai….but just didn’t make it…

I-City - 26Dec2010

Yi Yee suggested us to bring the kids to I-City. We decided to go on Sunday 26Dec2010. KongKong, PohPoh, Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong joined us for this short trip. We left our apartment at 6pm to Klang for Bak Kut Teh.

After dinner, we went to I-City. We were quite early so there was no long queue to the parking. Parking for each car was RM10 which could be exchanged with entrance (up to 5 pax) to one of the 2 small mini Safari Parks or selected food and beverages.  We redeemed by entering one of the mini Safari Park. It was not a very big park but we brought along stroller because AL was not getting any lighter. This was the 2^nd place we brought the kids to for this school holiday after Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary.

Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary 20Dec2010

This holiday, Mummy didn’t have time to plan anything for the kids due to work and exam. It was sad and Mummy felt guilty. Last minute, Mummy managed to take leave on 20Dec2010 (Monday) while PaPa made that day free to bring the kids to Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary after reading Agnes’s blog and Jazzmint’s blog about this place.

That morning, PaPa was having purging and Mummy wanted to postpone the trip but PaPa insisted that we should because both kids were looking forward to see elephants. KongKong followed us there too since PohPoh was out of town.

We started our journey about 8am. It was a gloomy and wet weather. After the last toll, we turned back to Karak for early lunch. We ate chicken rice. After lunch, we went to Elephant Sanctuary.

We were early. PaPa filled up the registration form and gave some cash donation. The receptionist gave us 3 Yellow Stickers and 2 Red Stickers because she was trying to spread the distribution of the Yellow Stickers. The Yellow Stickers included Elephant Ride and Elephant Bath, whereas the Red Stickers were for Visitors only. KongKong did not want to get wet so he took the Red Stickers with AL.

 We were walking around seeing the elephants. Then we went to a video documentary on ‘How the elephants were rescued?’

The activities started about 2pm with Elephants Show and follow-up with Elephants Feeding. JL was afraid to feed the elephants. Then we queued for our turn to ride on the elephant. PaPa, Mummy and JL sat on an elephant together. It was our first time sitting directly on the elephant skin.

 

Last but not least was the Elephant Bath. PaPa didn’t join this activity due to his back injury. Mummy accompanied JL by sitting on the elephant in the river. The elephant would than just drop itself. Mummy was holding JL’s armpit to raise him up when we feel into the water. The river water was so cold. JL tried to get close to the elephants but not close enough.

Since it was too cold, he decided to leave the river water. To avoid the jam in the shower room, we went there to get the kids a fast shower. It was a cold shower. Mummy bathed the kids and sent them out to PaPa for change. While Mummy took bath, PaPa changed them and sent the kids with KongKong to the main building because it was raining. PaPa waited for Mummy outside the shower room to go the main building. After that, PaPa drove the car to fetch us home. It was almost 4pm when we left the Elephant Sanctuary.

It was a simple experience for JL with elephants and river. As for AL, she was still too afraid to go close to the elephants.