1:36am HKT
Hong Kong 2007 – The City That Never Sleeps – CLICK HERE
Hong Kong 2007 – Part 1 of 3 – CLICK HERE
Hong Kong 2007 – Part 2 of 3 – CLICK HERE
Hong Kong 2007 – Part 3 of 3 – CLICK HERE
Tune: “Eyes Are At The Billions” by Cortney Tidwell
Drink/Food: Hot Water/Dark Chocolate Xmas Cake
^^ At Wah Wing Dimsum in the morning before our flight.
Unlike last year’s trip to Hong Kong, I didn’t feel much for this one, this time around. At least last year’s, right off the bat, I had some cultural experiences from day 1. This year, right off the bat, it felt like a hectic version of my life in Vancouver – no career-related work, but lots of walking – not good for flat feet.
^^ The salt-water aquarium display inside the Vancouver International Airport.
Anyway, the trip was talked about early this year around May, and then finalized and paid for by July. At first, I wasn’t going to go, but my mom somehow convinced my brother to go and also convinced my 7th aunt, her son Brandon, and her daugher Christina to go with us as well. So in total, it came out to the seven of us, with my dad leaving ten days earlier than we did.
^^ The day-time view from my suite. That white building on the left is a police building of sorts. I see bus loads of officers unload in the parkade every morning. The Shatin city hall is also nearby (behind the white building) and the New Town shopping centre is all around us.
^^ Royal Park Hotel from across the river.
^^ 24 channels of blah, mainly sports like football and rugby with two pay per view adult channels.
The flight as usual was disgusting. Ever since I had the chance to fly business class, economy class just can’t cut it for me. At check-in, I wanted to upgrade to business class which would have cost another $270 one way. You may think it’s a lot since a one way ticket for econ class is roughly $300, but it’s well worth that extra comfort. If you think about it logically, say you made $25/hour. $270 is almost 11 hours of work. That’s less than the flight time. With $270 you may think you can spend on a lot of sushi AYCE or a lot of beer or a lot of gas for months, but in reality, the price of these things can only be relative to its own type of things. So with flying, sure, I won’t spend an extra $7000 to fly super sonic 7 hour flight, but an extra $270 is worth the extra leg room, the wider seats, the electric outlet for the laptop, the quieter atmosphere, and the cleaner washrooms, and no crying babies.
^^ My cousin Christina taking many pictures of herself.
^^ Brandon.
^^ Indeed.
Well, maybe next time if and when I have a more stable income, then I can treat my entire family to fly business both ways.
After landing and checking out, we made a rendezvous with my dad and my 5th aunt. Instead of the original plan of taking 1 or 2 limos to the hotel, somehow we ended up with taking a direct airport bus to the hotel. It was a lot cheaper, but I was willing to pay for the cheap limo rides. [sigh]
^^ The view from Christina’s and Edmond’s room.
^^ My brother at a kid’s clothing store building towers of dicks. According to him, the tallest one is a black dick, and after that, I forgot what the others were.
^^ Then he combined them all into one Super Dick.
^^ We went back to that store later without my brother and Brandon and I managed to build a castle together.
Our flight ended around 10pm, but we didn’t get to the hotel until around 12:30am. In which we had to confirm our rooms, unpack, shower, etc, before we went to bed. I thought that after staying awake for almost 22 hours, I could get at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Oddly, I woke up at 6am HKT – roughly 4 hours later. So did everyone else. Time adjustment, etc… This was a reoccuring thing for the next couple of days.
^^ On the way to and from the hotel’s 3rd floor which connects to two mall sections.
At first, Brandon shared a room with me. Christina and Edmond in one, and my mom and my aunt in the third. However, Brandon got sick in one of the days, and everyone thought it was because I didn’t turn the A/C on in our room. I bluntly told them that if that was the case, I would have been sick every day for the last 20 somewhat years. So Brandon ended up sleeping at my mom’s and aunt’s room. Which was better. I like the privacy.
^^ In a mall somewhere, by the leafy teddy bear.
The room 935 had rennovations beside it and the weird humming overnight made my sleeping unrestful. After calling room service about it, they offered to switch my room to 912, on the other side of the floor. The first night was blah. Some German family and their kids kept coming in and out of their rooms banging the doors loudly. Think over a dozen times in under half an hour. Retards. What could they possibly need from each other’s rooms that much?
Fortunately, they left and a mandarin family took over. A bit better.
The hallways smell like cigarette smoke all the damn time. Pretty disgusting. Windows don’t open either for safety reasons I’m guessing.
^^ The celebrity couple.
I received an aching throat by the 2nd day, and strep throat by the 4th. My aunt’s Panadol pills helped greatly mind you. I bought two cases of beer – Carlsburg and Blue Ice since the ones in the fridge were overpriced. I gave two to Christina and kept 8 for myself. I drank 5 and my big bro came over one night and drank 1. There are still 2 in the fridge, and I have 5 days left here, and my strep throat turned into a full fledged ‘cold’.
We were all a bit unlucky, well most of us. My dad upon arriving got a cold. I got strep throat which turned into a cold. Brandon got sick for one day. Christina ate bad ice cream and became sick for about two days.
^^ Chicken, and its butt to honor our ancestors…
^^ A shopping plaza very nearby.
For the entire week and a bit, it was mainly walking here and there, do dimsum here and there, and visit X person here and there. We managed to go back to Macau and stayed at the 5 star hotel The Venetian. The place is massive, but my experiences there weren’t really that good.
^^ This one is for you Laura.
^^ My mom and I.
^^ At the cafeteria. I was drawn to him.
The morning of our trip to Macau, I took a Tylenol 3 pill for the aches and pains in my feet and legs. Big friggin mistake for a first timer. On the Turbo Jet ferry to Macau, I got sea sick without vomitting. It was extra windy in Hong Kong that day. Walking around inside the smoky hotel wasn’t great either. To say the least, it wasn’t a good experience.
^^ Macau Tower.
What I learned about staying at a 3, 4, and 5 star hotel is that the stars don’t really mean much unless you’re in an established country like Canada and SAR Hong Kong. Yes, The Venetian was friggin massive and was in essence, a city within a city. It is a hotel for lovers to go to and have a good time and be romantic since they have a river that runs around the outside into the inside with traditional Italian long boat thingies for couples to be kissy and lovey. For the shady and greasy gamblers, The Venetian is your gambling heaven – one of. As you can see, I’m not in the mood to give a review of the place. However, I will say these two things: nice rooms, but NOT CHILDREN FRIENDLY. The main hub for the routes is a casino. Don’t expect to be able to cross it if you have children with you. If you have a walking disability, there is a one person elevator for you. Prepare to go around in a large detour. Do not expect anyone to help you directly. Of the more than a dozen security guards and customer service reps, ONLY the females were helpful.
Ah yes, one more thing: the room view was awesome enough.
^^ The Venetian.
^^ Our room with two beds + sofa bed, two televisions, a good view outside of a developing Macau.
^^ Mini Pitch & Putt roughly 25 floors down.
^^ That sky almost looks real.
^^ The main lobby.
Anyway, Macau is a superficial city. On one side, you will see developing casinos and on the other, the slums. It’s a superficial city because money is everything. I can’t explain it right now. It’s 3:49am. In short, I would hate to live there.
^^ The view from my suite in the morning after. Despite the construction, it’s nice eh?
^^ Brandon and I.
^^ “Your outlook in life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.” – reminds me of the fortune cookie fortune from a few years back,
^^ St. Pauls.
^^ Brandon taking a pic of me shaving.
^^ Big bro drove us to a mountain to see monkeys. The one in front was picking up a nut while another came up from behind and started banging ‘her’. Hmmm…
^^ I’ve always had a fascination with monkeys who pick up food with its little hands and pop things into their little mouths to chew.
^^ Big bro hiding and running away from the camera.
^^ At Tuen Mun, the cartoonist draws caricatures of Brandon and I. Once we get back to Canada, I’ll show you the mini poster.
^^ Shatin at night.
^^ The building on the right with the bright white square is where Royal Park Hotel is.
More later… ^_^
4:04am