hong kong was great, the weather wasn't hot or cold, just wonderfully cool and the best thing, you don't sweat.

so i took the plane on wednesday and touched down in Hong Kong International Airport at about 6 PM. it gets dark pretty early though, at 6.30 PM it's like 8 PM in singapore. we took a cab to Tsimshatsui (hereafter known as TST) and got off at The Salisbury, which is a hotel. this lady from the HK branch of samsung was sent to meet us at the hotel, and she took us to this super posh restaurant for dinner (the chef has competed in Iron Chef). she's called alice, and she's quite funny although i don't understand half of what she's saying cos she talks like a bullet train. she thinks i'm only 14, and was quite shocked to find out i'm gonna be 18 next year.

you wouldn't believe the dinner. they served REAL scallops as big as your fist. and a roasted pidgeon, which i didnt have the heart to eat. i drank alot of the seafood soup though. the food was fanbloodytastic although i had to chew with my front teeth. after dinner we walked the streets of TST, and then my mom came across this megasale in HK Esprit, and we happily inaugurated the start of our Super Hong Kong Powershopping Quest. i bought a fantastic pair of pants, and the attentions of a rather cute salesboy came free.

the hotel was fine, except for one thing. it was fucking cold, and i didnt realise i set the damn air-con to cold and not heater. the first night i slept wearing socks, slacks, t-shirt and cardigan.

day 2 dawned lovely and clear. we decided to continue shopping in TST, but first we had to answer the call of our tummies. so we went to a restaurant for dim sum breakfast. although it was a lower-end restaurant, the food was wonderfuckinglicious. i normally hate prawns, but the prawns in hong kong deserve a bloody worship. they are all firm and crunchy and sweet, and i bet you'll LOVE them.

anyway, my mom wanted to get dried stuff like dried scallops and abalone, so we took the MTR which looks like the MRT. however we took a detour and went to this place called Causeway Bay, which is in Hong Kong Island (TST is in Hong Kong Mainland). we popped into SOGO, which looks like Takashimaya or Tangs only more expensive, then to HMV, where i saw a wonderful collection of pornos, even the whole DVD series of La Blue Girl. I tried to psyche my mom into buying A Chinese Torture Chamber Story, but she wasn't convinced when she saw the rather provocative DVD case (naked Yvonne Yung strapped to a table being whipped, her interesting parts blacked out).

we MTRed down to Sheung Wan, and got lost there trying to find the dried goods market. when we asked some old ladies how to get there, they said we're already in there. so it wasn't exactly a market, just about 4 streets of shops, where EVERY DAMN SHOP SELLS DRIED GOODS.

having found and bought about 10 years' supply of scallops and abalone, we MTRed to Mong Kok to look for the famous Ladies' Market, which looks like a pasar malam with lots of ang moh tourist. i heard this blondie bargaining with a shopkeeper, "it's too expensive, i'm not rich you know. i'm not from america, i'm from bolivia." right, you texas girl. only ignorant hongkies won't recognise that obvious texan twang. i bought floppy socks to go with my cosplay costume, an interesting frilly denim skirt and my mom saw this Lo Hong Kah stall and she dragged me over there. it's this famous hong kong brand of bird's nest and aloe vera. we bought two jars of aloe vera, meant for breakfast, but a few hours later we finished it before bed.

we MTRed back to TST, and went into this cake shop to buy egg tarts. then it happened. he was kind of tall. he had a goatee and longish hair, and he wore a dark blue hoody and baggy jeans. good-looking. we stood about 7 cm apart, and he was holding a loaf of bread. when i left, he gave me a glance, a quick furtive glance, and a tiny half-smile. i looked away and looked down.

just one glance. i was such a sucker.

but this is fate. fated to be only One Glance.

anyway sanity returned to me and we went back to the hotel to dump our things. then we went out again, this time to see the famous Symphony of Lights. it's spozed to be this light and laser display where you stand at the Hong Kong Harbour and you look across at Hong Kong Island, and the lights and lasers come from the skyscrapers there. we walked there cos it was just across the road from the hotel, and damn the lights are bullshit. there's no music, and all you see is just some flashing lights.

we walked to the Avenue of Stars, which is similar to the one in Hollywood, cept that the names you see on the floor are HK movie stars. we tooks pictures of the tiles, and i put my hands into Jackie Chan's handprints. then we went back to the hotel cos it was almost 11 PM.

day 3 was fine. we decided to go to the HK museum of art. it was cool, cept there was virtually no one there. my mom was very surprised at the fact that people in china wore gold jewelry even back in the neolithic times. i visited the chinese art exhibitions, and that was it. it was a small museum. we went to the performing arts section, and i bought a norah jones score book. my mom received a call from another hong kong business associate, and that lady invited us to dinner, so we said fine. we had some time to kill so we went to this place called Harbour City, similar to Suntec City. we strolled here and there but didn't really buy anything. maybe we did, but i can't remember anything at this moment.

we went back to the hotel to freshen up, then we met with that lady, Elsie. we took a cab to the most famous seafood area in hong kong, the name which i cant remember, and whoopee what a great place that was. you choose what fish or sea animal you wanna have from tanks, and boy those creatures are HUGE. we saw this 13-year-old garoupa, and it's so FAT, it's fatter than ME, and longer. it took up one whole tank.

elsie says you choose the raw materials, then you choose the restaurant. so she chose the best and most expensive restaurant. the raw materials are then sent to the restaurant, and the restaurant cooks it. THE SEAFOOD WAS WONDERFUCKINGLICIOUS. words can't describe it. we had prawn balls (prawns made into balls, not their real balls), steamed fish (as big as my arm), sotong (soooooo soft and chewy), abalone (fresh ones....i saw them swimming about an hour prior to eating), escargot (which i can't eat thanks to my teeth) and dragon prawns (prawns so big, they can be passed off as crayfish). it was the best dinner of my life, and probably the most expensive, but it was Elsie's treat, so who cares.

day 4, my mom said she didn't feel like she's spent any money. so we decided to go to this famour tourist place, Stanley Market. we took the ferry to Hong Kong Island, but it wasn't very enjoyable cos it was too fast. then we bused to Stanley, which took about an hour. it was worth it. at Stanley Market, we spent like S$1000. i got a painting for my brother, an interesting bag for myself, lots of little pouches for my classmates and cousins (let's see, about 20?) etc. my mom bought baby clothes for her friend, a blouse and a silk wrap for herself, tablecloths and placemats and some boring stuff for my aunts and grandmother.

we bused back, and on the way, there was some road problem. a bus broke down in the middle of the one-way road, and we're all stuck there. some people got off and walked, but we stayed put. then the policemen came and we all ogled at them. they were really good-looking. tall and lanky, tanned and they all wore tight pants. my mom was especially excited. she squeals everytime a policeman comes near. after about an hour the damn bus was lifted off with a crane and we finally made our way back. we went on to The Peak, which is a shopping centre built on the highest mountain in Hong Kong, and you can see almost the whole of HK from there. then picture this.

we stood at the top of the mountain, in the middle of winter, out in the open, eating peppermint ice-cream.

after 15 minutes my mom complained she can't feel her fingers anymore, so we went back into the mall. there was this shoe sale, and i wanted to get a pair of sexy heels, but i couldn't find a suitable pair. my mom did though, she bought a pair of shoes and a blouse. later she found out she was too fat for the blouse, so now it belongs to me. we went back down to the hotel and packed up.

day 5, we got up and checked out of the hotel. my mom said let's go to lantau island, which originally wasn't part of our plan. but since we've been to the whole of hong kong, and this was the only place unvisited, we went there. we took the train to Lantau Island and then a bus to the famous Po Lin Monastery to see the biggest Buddha statue in the world. it was a horrid ride, all bumpy and nausea-inducing. i forced myself to sleep. when we reached there, it was kinda crowded. to get to the big buddha, we had to climb like 20 flights of stairs, with each flight consisting of 25 steps. when we got there we realised it wasnt the temple, just an exhibition hall.

we had a vegetarian lunch, and shared a table with this european couple. the guy was from germany and his girlfriend was from hungary. come to think of it, the hungarian girl looks a little like you. maybe it's cos i missed you. the guy looks exactly like shaggy from scooby-doo, and all the while i was forcing myself NOT to sing the scooby-doo theme song.

finally we left the place, and the bus ride downhill was worse. the woman behind me burped every 5 words she spoke, and she spoked non-stop. again i forced myself to sleep. my mom said it was lucky that i slept, cos all the old people (about 80% of all the people on the bus) was throwing up into plastic bags. and the lady was still burping.

finally we got ourselves at the airport. my mom bought some sweets and snacks, and i got myself a japanese magazine that i can't read. when we boarded the plane, i sat next to this american-chinese guy who was such a gentleman. he helped stow our things in the overhead compartment, and he blushed a lot. he's like about 26, but looks 19. similarly, i'm 17 and a half, but looks 12. the air stewardesses gave us kid's meals, and free toys. the toys were free, so i took them anyway. the american-chinese guy was clueless; he thought Singapore Airlines gave away freebies all the time.

when it was time to get off the plane, the nice guy took our stuff down from the overhead compartment without us asking, and let us move before him. such a nice fellow. my mom was so impressed. she said it was a waste he wasn't better looking.

anyway the whole trip was a success. i learnt lots of things in HK.

1) All the streets look the same, whether it's TST, Mong Kok, Causeway Bay or Sheung Wan.
2) Hong Kong looks like Singapore, except it's colder, and they have sticky-out signboards.
3) The food is ALWAYS good.
4) Everyone is well-dressed.
5) We should've gone to Hong Kong in the summer, cos then they'll be selling summer clothes, not winter clothes.

and finally,

6) Living in a hotel is great, cos you don't have to clean up the room yourself, and fresh towels every day.