Hong Kong trip – 25 Jan 14

As Scoot does not allows online check in, we can only check in at the airport itself. Although the check in queue was long as there are few departure flights check in, there are many check in counters open so check in process was quite fast.

Russia theme in Terminal 2

Beautiful flower decoration

The queue to board the airplane was quite long as there are more than 300 passengers. We had foot massage outside the boarding gate while waiting for the passengers to board. 

Scoot operates using aircraft Boeing 777-200ER which has a seating arrangement of 3-4-3 unlike other budget airlines which operates using Airbus 320.

We were allocated seats at the aisle and a big fat guy was seating beside me. I felt so squeezed to sit beside him although I'm petite in size. His big leg occupied a bit of my leg space and I couldn't put my arm on the arm rest as his big arm overlap the arm rest. The worse thing is that he snores. Probably I was too tired and I dozed off soon after the flight took off. The seat is able to decline more compared to Jetstar and Tiger which makes it quite comfortable to sleep throughout the journey.

Scoot flight

The custom queue at Hong Kong airport is relatively long as those few counters opened cannot handle the huge influx of Scoot passengers. Soon after, more counters are opened.

We purchased the Octopus card at the arrival hall. The Octopus card cost HK$150 with value of HK$100 and deposit of HK$50. I have one HK$1,000 note on hand and I wanted to used it at the airport as many retailers do not accept HK$1,000 now. Luckily 7-11 accept the note as I forgot to use it to purchase the Octopus card.

Purchasing octopus card

We board Airport bus A21 and the fare to Tsim Sha Tsui is HK$33 ~ S$5 which is much cheaper than the Airport Express although the bus journey is longer.

Airport bus

The journey from Airport to Tsim Sha Tsui took about 50min. I have planned to have Dim Sum at Palace Restaurant 煌府 at the Tsim Sha Tsui branch but it is not open until 11am. Hence we took MTR to another branch at Prince Edward.

Station name in mosaic tiles 

The dim sum restaurant in HK are always packed with elderly and youngster are rarely seen. Hubby has went to one of the outlet in Mongkok and he commented the dim sum are delicious. However i find the dim sum mediocre at this outlet.

Dim sum

We then took MTR to Northpoint for the famous egg roll. To our disappointment, the egg rolls are fully booked and the shop don't accept walk in customers till after Chinese New Year.

Duck Shing Ho

Sold out!!!

We then took MRT back to Tsim Sha Tsui as I have planned to visit 1881 Heritage. The site was Former Marine Police Headquarters in the past and has been redeveloped into a tourist attraction. There is public toilet and free WIFI here.

The modern building don't blend with the heritage building

Valentine decoration

We crossed the street to Tsim Sha Tsui clock tower as hubby have not visited before.

Tsim Sha Tsui clock tower

Hong Kong island skyline

Valentine day decoration

We walked further down to Avenue of Stars as hubby also havent been here before. I joked with hubby that I will be his tour guide for today and bring him to visit the tourist attractions in Hong Kong, hehehe.

Avenue of stars

Hand prints of famous actors & actresses

2 big bears

Bruce Lee

Golden Piggy

Peninsula Hotel

Our breakfast has been fully digested since we have walked quite a lot. It's time for lunch and I have planned to have lunch at Australian Dairy Co 澳洲牛奶公司. Add: 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan (Jordan MTR Exit C2) Opening hours: 7.30am – 11pm, closed on Thu. There is a queue forming and we joined the queue. The queue moved relatively fast as we only waited for 10min.

Long queue

Australia Dairy Co

There are only 3 choices:

- Breakfast Set HK$26 from 7.30am – 12pm. Breakfast Set comprise of toasted white bread, scrambled or sunny side up egg, macaroni soup with ham slices, coffee or milk tea

- Tea Time Set HK$30 from 12pm – 11pm. Tea Time Set comprise of toasted white bread, ham and scrambled or sunny side up egg, cha siew spaghetti soup, coffee or milk tea 

- Fast Food Set HK$26 for all day. Fast Food Set comprise of toasted white bread, scrambled or sunny side up egg, fresh milk (hot/ cold)

3 type of sets

Bustling with customers

We ordered 2 fast food sets with the choice of scrambled egg and a steam milk. MacDonald Big Breakfast's scrambled egg used to rank highly in my list but after eating at Australia Dairy Co, it is pushed down the rank. The scrambled egg here is fluffy and yet not dry. No wonder everyone is full of praise for the scrambled egg here. We followed the locals whom we shared the same table with by placing the scrambled egg on top of the toast and eat it together. The scrambled egg is simply heavenly, it's the best scrambled egg which I have ever eaten. However, the steamed milk is nothing to shout about.

Steamed milk

Scramble egg & toast

Warm milk

We decided to walk to Mongkok after a heavy lunch as it's only 2 MTR stops away.

Bread Talk in HK

Typical HK building

Naraya outlet

New Town Mall at Mongkok has 4 levels of shops which is similar to Platinium Mall in Bangkok. However, the price here is fixed with little room for bargain. The items here are not as cheap compare to Bangkok and I only bought 2 pairs of shoes.

New Town Mall

Rows of shops

Our legs are tired after shopping and we walked to the nearby Kam Wah 金華冰廳 (Add: G/F, 47 Bute Street (Prince Edward MTR Exit B2). Kam Wah is famous for it's Polo Bun. Every dine in customer is required to order a minimum of one drink each. We ordered 2 ice Nai cha, polo bun and polo yao (with butter). The polo bun is delicious and I do not find much difference between polo bun and polo yao.

Kam Wah Cafe

Polo bun

Ice milk tea

Since hubby has never taken the Star ferry, we took it to Wan Chai and from there we walked to Honolulu cafe.

Star ferry harbour

Honolulu Cafe 檀島咖啡餅店 is famous for the egg tart but it was sold out by the time we reached there in the evening. Add: G/F & Mezz Floor, 176-178 Hennessy Rd (Wan Chai MTR Exit A4) or G/F, 33, Stanley Street, Central Opening hours: 6am to 12am

Honolulu cafe

We took the Star ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui to catch the Symphony of Lights at 8pm. Hong Kong skyline is spectacular which Singapore cannot compared with. This is the 3rd time which I have seen the Symphony of Lights and I find that the show is not as interesting as I have seen it previously. More buildings should participate in the show to make it more colourful.

Night view of Victoria harbour

We then took ferry to Central and from there we walked to Yung Kee Restaurant 鏞記酒家 for dinner (Add: 32 Wellington Street, Yung Kee Building, Central (Central MTR Exit D2) Opening hours: 11am – 11.30pm daily)

Yu Kee restaurant

Once we stepped into the restaurant, we are asked to go to level 2 to get a queue number. We waited for about 5 min for a table.

First level

We ordered century egg served with pickled ginger, roasted goose (quarter portion) and crispy pigeon. The standard has dropped and the dishes are not as good when I dined here few years ago.

Century egg with pickles

Roasted goose

Crispy pigeon

After dinner, we walked to Connaught Road to catch the airport bus back to the airport.

Hong Kong Airport Terminal 1

Chinese New Year decoration

Let's weigh the luggage

We found a corner near the toilets where charging sockets are available. There are seats nearby and we occupied 2 seats each so that we can catch a sleep later. There are also few passengers sleeping around us.

Power socket

We didn't sleep well as we wake up once in a while to check our belongings. Hubby woke me up at 4.30am and we proceed to check in as the check in counters are already open. Clearing the security check and custom is a breeze as there are not many people in the airport at such hour.

There are few shops opened and we had MacDonald for breakfast before boarding the plane.

Macdonald for breakfast

I slept throughout the flight and we reached Singapore safely at 10.30am.

>>Epilogue