Alpha's Summer Adventure
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aayl1
- Sir Aaron of GRcade
- Joined in 2008
Alpha eX wrote:We checked the time and felt quite ashamed of ourselves.
[spoiler]
I would too, if I was wearing that.
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Rightey
- Member
- Joined in 2008
What make is that watch? The Massive "P" makes me think Phat Farm, in which case. 
Pelloki on ghosts wrote:Just start masturbating furiously. That'll make them go away.
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Alpha eX
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- Location: London
- Contact:
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Dual
- Member
- Joined in 2008
Rightey wrote:What make is that watch? The Massive "P" makes me think Phat Farm, in which case.
It's quite clearly a 'Police' watch.
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smurphy
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: A Little Cocky Child
- Location: Scotland
I put the blurred pics of Antonia through Photoshop CS5's anti-blurring app.
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Johnny Ryall
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Macraig
- Location: Box Elder, MO
Kudos, I was not expecting that.
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Alpha eX
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- Location: London
- Contact:
Johnny Ryall wrote::lol:
Kudos, I was not expecting that.
That is hillarious, I wasn't expecting that either and neither will she. Who is that? Kinda looks like Timmy from South Park.
Can't wait till she see's that
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Irene Demova
- Member
- Joined in 2009
- AKA: Karl
Alpha eX wrote:Johnny Ryall wrote::lol:
Kudos, I was not expecting that.
That is hillarious, I wasn't expecting that either and neither will she. Who is that? Kinda looks like Timmy from South Park.
Can't wait till she see's that
It's karlprof
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Alpha eX
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- Location: London
- Contact:
Ocean Park
24-06-09
Today me and Antonia planned to go to Ocean Park with Tina and Johnny. We set the alarm last night for 7.30am so we could wake up early and get there for 9.30am and spend the whole day there while Tina and Johnny would meet us in the afternoon. The alarm didn't wake us and we woke up at 11am, confused and disapointed. Aparently there was a big storm while we slept but by the time we woke, it was nice and sunny, perfect weather for the day out.
Tina and Johnny were in dispute over if they was going or not, Johnny doesn't like the sun, no he's not a vampire, he's just a bit of a pansy and likes it indoors with aircon. It took nearly an hour for them to make up their mind but all was well and we all arived at Ocean Park around 1pm.
Wellcome, one of the supermarkets out here in Hong Kong are currently running a promotion with Ocean Park. If you spend over $300 instore you get a 30% off voucher at Ocean Park, we had two off these so could our tickets for under $200 which is very cheap. The tickets came with a design on the back. While we got out tickets, Tina and Johnny went to get annual passes allowing unlimted visits for a year.
When Tina and Johnny got their tickets sorted and passes to get in, we went to the gates to finally get into the park. We all got our tickets, Antonia took longer, searched her pockets, bag and then spun in circles. She'd lost her ticket. I ran around the area looking for a ticket, no luck, I assumed some lucky kid had picked it up and got free entry but then I saw a cleaner. I asked and looked in his collection of rubish, thankfully, Antonia's ticket was resting on the top of the small pile of litter. We hurried into the park before Antonia could lose anything else.
By the time we had got into the park it was already early afternoon. Throughout the day various shows take place around the park. At 2pm there was a Sealion show so we decided to walk towards that and try catch it. On the way to the theatre, we passed a strange clown and some interesting bushes.
We made it to the Sealion show with time to spare. We managed to get good center seats and waited for the show to start. I took a few videos of the show along with some pictures, hope you like Sealions!
Pictures
Videos
I really enjoyed the Sealion show, at one point they asked for helpers up on stage, I threw my hand in the air without realising they asked for kids to help, I was defintly the oldest with my hand up.
Near the Sealion arena are a few carnival games, your typical hit the target or throw the ball type games. I decided to try one game and win Antonia something, Johnny decided he should try to and joined me.
The game was simple, throw the ball and have it land in one of the colored jars. There was three types of prize, small, medium and large. I got a large bucket of balls and gave some to Johnny as he had none, we then started. After a short while of playing the ball was bouncing around one of the colored jars, we all stopped and watched as the ball finally rested in the top. The game owner rang a huge bell and shouted out grand prize! I managed to win the large prize, Johnny didn't look impressed as he didn't manage to win.
The sun was really baking us around this time so we needed to cool down, we walked back the way we came, trying to keep in the shade. We was heading for the Pandas as it was air conditioned inside. On the way I saw an icey snack that I wanted to try, a snow cone. The guy making these was really cheery, he looked like he was having way to much fun.
I'd never had a snowcone before, I thought it would be soft, sort of like a slushy but it was hard ice with syrup over the top, in the bottom of the cone was sweet fruit and the rest of the syrup. The juice was nice but the ice was way too hard to enjoy.
Before we went to the Panda House we stopped by the Gator Marsh which is really just a tank with Chinese Aligators and some fish. The Aligators didn't really do much and I still don't know why they didn't just eat the fish.
Right next to the Gator Marsh is the Panda House, Johnny left to go here first because he couldn't stand the heat, when we joined him inside we could understand why he left, it was like walking through a fridge, very nice and cool.
The main part of the Panda House is a main enclosure for the Pandas and other animals. This place is in what looks like a giant green house but it's not made of glass and thankfully, doesn't trap heat.
As we got into the main part of the Panda House, we saw a huge crowd looking into a pit. I ran over thinking it was the Pandas, it wasn't. I didn't catch the name of these things, reminded me of Racoons.
A short walk from where this crowd was another crowd gawing at the two Pandas, Ying Ying and Le Le. I didn't watch these too much as they just looked like they was sitting around have a chat, boring, they should have been dancing or something. Still, it was cool to see some real Pandas!
Once we left the Panda House we arrived in a small courtyard with some aquatic animals. In the courtyard were several displays made to look like giant standing lanterns, the middle was made of perspex or something similar allowing the visitors to write a message/make a wish with board pen. I noticed someone had wrote "The Jonas Brothers" and "Hannah Montanna" over one of them, tempted to add a few words of my own after that, I left it alone.
In the courtyard was a small pond with turtles and fishes swimming about. I couldn't touch these turtles and they didn't look as cool as the ones I saw in Kowloon park. There was another encosure but it was empty as it was being fixed.
The path from the courtyard leads into the Goldfish Treasures building, a small hut filled with fish tanks containing many different types of Goldfish. I didn't know there were so many so was happily surpised to see new types of goldfish I had never seen before.
Most of the goldfish in here looked deformed but were interesting in their own ways. It would have been cool if they trained these up to swim through hoops or something.
In another tank was a really strange looking fish, I think it was a mutant because it was all on it's own and looked very angry. I liked this fish and took a few pictures of it.
As we left I saw a really cute fish, I only took one picture but it turned out really well, I love this picture.
Oh and there were some Koi Carp outside that no one really paid much attention too.
The Panda/Goldfish house path leads right into the shop as an exit. We was in here a while looking around and I took a few photos of the random bits on display. I bought Antonia a cute round panda plush toy before leaving, forgot to take a picture of it though and stuffed it in a huge bag with the duck prize.
We was getting hungry after all the walking and decided to head to the other side of Ocean Park to eat. Ocean Park is split into two main areas, Lower and Upper ground. The Upper Ground is only accessable via the Cable Car which goes over the mountain and gives a great view of Deep Water Bay.
Near the Cable Car station is a snack stand that sells Octopus Tentacles. I hate these, I've never properly tried them but just dislike them. Johnny got some and I was forced to eat one of these.
To my surprise, the taste wasn't too bad but it just felt like I was chewing a tire. I didn't enjoy it and actually wanted to spit it out into the bin. Before the Cable Car station are more carnival games. Johnny wanted to try and win Tina something so he tried his luck at his best game, Shooting Hoops.
Johnny didn't do so well and only won a keychain, which Tina didn't even want, oh dear. He tried again on a game next to it where you have to throw bean bags at targets to win. The game was themed as a Tiki Island, the targets were teeth in a statue and you had to knock at least 3 to win a small prize. Johnny had 9 attempts and didn't even hit one tooth, I felt bad for him, we left quickly for the Cable Car.
There was no queue for this which was quite surprising, we took seperate cars and started our cale car ride up the mountain.
Again, I took lots of pictures and some videos of this ride so please enjoy!
Pictures
Video
The whole journey took around 15 minutes and I enjoyed every second. The view was great, you could see far out to see and the whole bay. Passers by noticed me filming or taking pictures, most were friendly enough to wave or even shout hello which I thought was nice. As we got off, we saw the queue for the cable car going back down, the queue was at least half an hour long with way over 100 people in line, madness!
Feeling hungry, we went to the Bayside Restaurant under the cable car station. This place was really nice, quiet, air conditioned and had great seats looking out over the bay.
I decided to get a Broiled Beef and Antonia got some fish dish.
I really enjoyed my food, it was damn good for such a low price and in a theme park. The sauce the beef was in was quite spicey and it was thick, tempted to go back up there to eat it again. Antonia said hers was 'very tasty which was surprising for grilled fish'.
A short walk from the cable car station and restaurant is the Sea Jelly house, filled with many kinds of Jellyfish. Sadly, my camera sucks in low light situations so I couldn't get many good shots of the cool Jellyfish.
Near the exit is an interactive projector game. These are projected onto the wall and let you interact with the projected objcects, in this case, you could hit and change the direction of the Jellyfish floating about. I took a video.
By the time we finished in the Jellyfish house it was nearly time for the Dolphin show. We hurried through the park trying to find the Ocean Theatre. We made it with 15 minutes to spare so got some decent seats, there was a band playing while people were seating which was nice.
The main attraction of the Ocean Show used to be a killer whale, I was really looking forward to seeing this but just a few days before I got to Hong Kong, I learnt it had died a few years ago, a huge let down but dolphins are still cool. I took quite a few pictures and a video.
Pictures
Video
Right near the end of the show they had people from the audience to do some tricks with the Dolphins and Sealions as part of the show. One girl was terrified of the Sea Lion, everyone was laughing at her, she was a nervous wreck. You have to watch the next video to see what happened, I couldn't stop laughing which is why the camera is shaking so much, I know it's bad...
By the time the Ocean Show had finished it was past 5, the park closes at 6 so we only had an hour to do some rides. we first did the swings which wasn't that interesting. It took ages to start and when it finally did, it was stopped because of a group of kids spinning and kicking each other midair.
Johnny was getting fed up of the park at this point and wanted to leave, I don't think Tina wanted to leave so soon but they both went off. After they left me and Antonia went for the rollercoaster, we had to hurry as it was very close to 6. We made it JUST in time for the last ride of the day.
This rollercoaster was terrifying, not because of all the loops and drops, because of the dangerously low speed. We both thought the train would come off the tracks during the loops, it was really bad, it took a good few seconds to do just a small loop!
By the time the ride had finished the park was closing, we made our way to the exit. We was too late to take the cable car back down so had to head for the other exit on this side of the mountain via a long system of escalators. On the way, we saw another part of the park with a lot more rides and attractions. Because we got there so late, we had to miss these out so if you go, get there for opening time.
There are 4 tall statues at the other enterance to the park. A few kids were playing in this area and trying to climb on the statues. Antonia suggested I go climb up for a photo so I ran up and stood on the elephant statues head, the kids saw this and shouted, "I want to try that too", as that was said, a few worried parents ran up to grab their children giving me evil stares in the process.
We had to wait a while for the bus to arrive and take us to the main enterance. If you go, make sure you get this bus around 6 as the one at 6.30 only runs if there is enough people waiting.
We got back to the main enterance and was picked up by the driver and taken home. Antonia's father invited us both out for a meal at the Country Club. I had to dress smart and was quite nervous but the dinner was really good, spoke a lot more with the father and had a nice evening to round off a great day.
I really enjoyed Ocean Park but think we could have done more if we went there earlier. If you plan to goto Ocean Park, get there at around 10 and maybe start from the Tai Shu Wan enterance if you're more interested in the rides.
24-06-09
Today me and Antonia planned to go to Ocean Park with Tina and Johnny. We set the alarm last night for 7.30am so we could wake up early and get there for 9.30am and spend the whole day there while Tina and Johnny would meet us in the afternoon. The alarm didn't wake us and we woke up at 11am, confused and disapointed. Aparently there was a big storm while we slept but by the time we woke, it was nice and sunny, perfect weather for the day out.
Tina and Johnny were in dispute over if they was going or not, Johnny doesn't like the sun, no he's not a vampire, he's just a bit of a pansy and likes it indoors with aircon. It took nearly an hour for them to make up their mind but all was well and we all arived at Ocean Park around 1pm.
Wellcome, one of the supermarkets out here in Hong Kong are currently running a promotion with Ocean Park. If you spend over $300 instore you get a 30% off voucher at Ocean Park, we had two off these so could our tickets for under $200 which is very cheap. The tickets came with a design on the back. While we got out tickets, Tina and Johnny went to get annual passes allowing unlimted visits for a year.
When Tina and Johnny got their tickets sorted and passes to get in, we went to the gates to finally get into the park. We all got our tickets, Antonia took longer, searched her pockets, bag and then spun in circles. She'd lost her ticket. I ran around the area looking for a ticket, no luck, I assumed some lucky kid had picked it up and got free entry but then I saw a cleaner. I asked and looked in his collection of rubish, thankfully, Antonia's ticket was resting on the top of the small pile of litter. We hurried into the park before Antonia could lose anything else.
By the time we had got into the park it was already early afternoon. Throughout the day various shows take place around the park. At 2pm there was a Sealion show so we decided to walk towards that and try catch it. On the way to the theatre, we passed a strange clown and some interesting bushes.
We made it to the Sealion show with time to spare. We managed to get good center seats and waited for the show to start. I took a few videos of the show along with some pictures, hope you like Sealions!
Pictures
Videos
I really enjoyed the Sealion show, at one point they asked for helpers up on stage, I threw my hand in the air without realising they asked for kids to help, I was defintly the oldest with my hand up.
Near the Sealion arena are a few carnival games, your typical hit the target or throw the ball type games. I decided to try one game and win Antonia something, Johnny decided he should try to and joined me.
The game was simple, throw the ball and have it land in one of the colored jars. There was three types of prize, small, medium and large. I got a large bucket of balls and gave some to Johnny as he had none, we then started. After a short while of playing the ball was bouncing around one of the colored jars, we all stopped and watched as the ball finally rested in the top. The game owner rang a huge bell and shouted out grand prize! I managed to win the large prize, Johnny didn't look impressed as he didn't manage to win.
The sun was really baking us around this time so we needed to cool down, we walked back the way we came, trying to keep in the shade. We was heading for the Pandas as it was air conditioned inside. On the way I saw an icey snack that I wanted to try, a snow cone. The guy making these was really cheery, he looked like he was having way to much fun.
I'd never had a snowcone before, I thought it would be soft, sort of like a slushy but it was hard ice with syrup over the top, in the bottom of the cone was sweet fruit and the rest of the syrup. The juice was nice but the ice was way too hard to enjoy.
Before we went to the Panda House we stopped by the Gator Marsh which is really just a tank with Chinese Aligators and some fish. The Aligators didn't really do much and I still don't know why they didn't just eat the fish.
Right next to the Gator Marsh is the Panda House, Johnny left to go here first because he couldn't stand the heat, when we joined him inside we could understand why he left, it was like walking through a fridge, very nice and cool.
The main part of the Panda House is a main enclosure for the Pandas and other animals. This place is in what looks like a giant green house but it's not made of glass and thankfully, doesn't trap heat.
As we got into the main part of the Panda House, we saw a huge crowd looking into a pit. I ran over thinking it was the Pandas, it wasn't. I didn't catch the name of these things, reminded me of Racoons.
A short walk from where this crowd was another crowd gawing at the two Pandas, Ying Ying and Le Le. I didn't watch these too much as they just looked like they was sitting around have a chat, boring, they should have been dancing or something. Still, it was cool to see some real Pandas!
Once we left the Panda House we arrived in a small courtyard with some aquatic animals. In the courtyard were several displays made to look like giant standing lanterns, the middle was made of perspex or something similar allowing the visitors to write a message/make a wish with board pen. I noticed someone had wrote "The Jonas Brothers" and "Hannah Montanna" over one of them, tempted to add a few words of my own after that, I left it alone.
In the courtyard was a small pond with turtles and fishes swimming about. I couldn't touch these turtles and they didn't look as cool as the ones I saw in Kowloon park. There was another encosure but it was empty as it was being fixed.
The path from the courtyard leads into the Goldfish Treasures building, a small hut filled with fish tanks containing many different types of Goldfish. I didn't know there were so many so was happily surpised to see new types of goldfish I had never seen before.
Most of the goldfish in here looked deformed but were interesting in their own ways. It would have been cool if they trained these up to swim through hoops or something.
In another tank was a really strange looking fish, I think it was a mutant because it was all on it's own and looked very angry. I liked this fish and took a few pictures of it.
As we left I saw a really cute fish, I only took one picture but it turned out really well, I love this picture.
Oh and there were some Koi Carp outside that no one really paid much attention too.
The Panda/Goldfish house path leads right into the shop as an exit. We was in here a while looking around and I took a few photos of the random bits on display. I bought Antonia a cute round panda plush toy before leaving, forgot to take a picture of it though and stuffed it in a huge bag with the duck prize.
We was getting hungry after all the walking and decided to head to the other side of Ocean Park to eat. Ocean Park is split into two main areas, Lower and Upper ground. The Upper Ground is only accessable via the Cable Car which goes over the mountain and gives a great view of Deep Water Bay.
Near the Cable Car station is a snack stand that sells Octopus Tentacles. I hate these, I've never properly tried them but just dislike them. Johnny got some and I was forced to eat one of these.
To my surprise, the taste wasn't too bad but it just felt like I was chewing a tire. I didn't enjoy it and actually wanted to spit it out into the bin. Before the Cable Car station are more carnival games. Johnny wanted to try and win Tina something so he tried his luck at his best game, Shooting Hoops.
Johnny didn't do so well and only won a keychain, which Tina didn't even want, oh dear. He tried again on a game next to it where you have to throw bean bags at targets to win. The game was themed as a Tiki Island, the targets were teeth in a statue and you had to knock at least 3 to win a small prize. Johnny had 9 attempts and didn't even hit one tooth, I felt bad for him, we left quickly for the Cable Car.
There was no queue for this which was quite surprising, we took seperate cars and started our cale car ride up the mountain.
Again, I took lots of pictures and some videos of this ride so please enjoy!
Pictures
Video
The whole journey took around 15 minutes and I enjoyed every second. The view was great, you could see far out to see and the whole bay. Passers by noticed me filming or taking pictures, most were friendly enough to wave or even shout hello which I thought was nice. As we got off, we saw the queue for the cable car going back down, the queue was at least half an hour long with way over 100 people in line, madness!
Feeling hungry, we went to the Bayside Restaurant under the cable car station. This place was really nice, quiet, air conditioned and had great seats looking out over the bay.
I decided to get a Broiled Beef and Antonia got some fish dish.
I really enjoyed my food, it was damn good for such a low price and in a theme park. The sauce the beef was in was quite spicey and it was thick, tempted to go back up there to eat it again. Antonia said hers was 'very tasty which was surprising for grilled fish'.
A short walk from the cable car station and restaurant is the Sea Jelly house, filled with many kinds of Jellyfish. Sadly, my camera sucks in low light situations so I couldn't get many good shots of the cool Jellyfish.
Near the exit is an interactive projector game. These are projected onto the wall and let you interact with the projected objcects, in this case, you could hit and change the direction of the Jellyfish floating about. I took a video.
By the time we finished in the Jellyfish house it was nearly time for the Dolphin show. We hurried through the park trying to find the Ocean Theatre. We made it with 15 minutes to spare so got some decent seats, there was a band playing while people were seating which was nice.
The main attraction of the Ocean Show used to be a killer whale, I was really looking forward to seeing this but just a few days before I got to Hong Kong, I learnt it had died a few years ago, a huge let down but dolphins are still cool. I took quite a few pictures and a video.
Pictures
Video
Right near the end of the show they had people from the audience to do some tricks with the Dolphins and Sealions as part of the show. One girl was terrified of the Sea Lion, everyone was laughing at her, she was a nervous wreck. You have to watch the next video to see what happened, I couldn't stop laughing which is why the camera is shaking so much, I know it's bad...
By the time the Ocean Show had finished it was past 5, the park closes at 6 so we only had an hour to do some rides. we first did the swings which wasn't that interesting. It took ages to start and when it finally did, it was stopped because of a group of kids spinning and kicking each other midair.
Johnny was getting fed up of the park at this point and wanted to leave, I don't think Tina wanted to leave so soon but they both went off. After they left me and Antonia went for the rollercoaster, we had to hurry as it was very close to 6. We made it JUST in time for the last ride of the day.
This rollercoaster was terrifying, not because of all the loops and drops, because of the dangerously low speed. We both thought the train would come off the tracks during the loops, it was really bad, it took a good few seconds to do just a small loop!
By the time the ride had finished the park was closing, we made our way to the exit. We was too late to take the cable car back down so had to head for the other exit on this side of the mountain via a long system of escalators. On the way, we saw another part of the park with a lot more rides and attractions. Because we got there so late, we had to miss these out so if you go, get there for opening time.
There are 4 tall statues at the other enterance to the park. A few kids were playing in this area and trying to climb on the statues. Antonia suggested I go climb up for a photo so I ran up and stood on the elephant statues head, the kids saw this and shouted, "I want to try that too", as that was said, a few worried parents ran up to grab their children giving me evil stares in the process.
We had to wait a while for the bus to arrive and take us to the main enterance. If you go, make sure you get this bus around 6 as the one at 6.30 only runs if there is enough people waiting.
We got back to the main enterance and was picked up by the driver and taken home. Antonia's father invited us both out for a meal at the Country Club. I had to dress smart and was quite nervous but the dinner was really good, spoke a lot more with the father and had a nice evening to round off a great day.
I really enjoyed Ocean Park but think we could have done more if we went there earlier. If you plan to goto Ocean Park, get there at around 10 and maybe start from the Tai Shu Wan enterance if you're more interested in the rides.
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Roonmastor
- Member
- Joined in 2008
The nervous girl looks like a plant to me. Didn't stop me laughing my arse off though.
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Alpha eX
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- Location: London
- Contact:
Roonmastor wrote:The nervous girl looks like a plant to me. Didn't stop me laughing my arse off though.
She was but no one, including myself, knew about it. I think that's what made me laugh so much, cause I thought it was just some dorky kid from the audience. When she first backed away I was kinda hoping she'd fall in
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Johnny Ryall
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Macraig
- Location: Box Elder, MO
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Alpha eX
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- Location: London
- Contact:
Hey Jude
25-06-09
Today Antonia had arranged to meet a friend of hers, Judy. We had to wake up on time for once and be in Causeway Bay by 1pm. I had never met Judy before, she is an old school friend of Antonia's.
We got to the station and was waiting for her, she called us up and had gotten lost in the underground pathways in Causeway Bay staiton, a short while later she arrived. My first impressions of her that she was very shy and timid, she also seemed really nervous but I could tell she was happy to see Antonia. She needed to get a card and gift for a friend's father, we walked around for a while looking for a gift, a really cool lego type lamp and then decided to walk around some more.
We decided to go to the Namco Wonder Park to play some games for a while, get some sticker photos and play some games. We spent a while in here and left to get a snack. We walked towards the main road and passed the Red Mall, curious, I suggested we go in.
As we went up the escolators I saw nothing but signs for nail salons, I wanted to turn back but the signs for a toy shop kept me from turning back. The first shop we came across was a very cute stationary shop, if you ever come here with a girl or need to buy a girl a gift, checkout Princess Rose just up the escolators.
The shop sells all sorts of stationary, notebooks, stickers and stamps. The products here have a nice style but prices can be steep. Antonia saw a diary she wanted in the window, she had been looking for it a while so I bought it for her as a gift. The girls spent quite a while in this shop so I wandered across the way and found another cool shop, New Things.
New Things is a puzzle shop that sells mostly Rubix Cube type puzzles and stacking cups. I saw a lot of cool variations of the Rubix Cube in here but sadly couldn't take photos, I took a sneaky one of the window to try show the 6x6 Rubix Cube!
While I was looking around I noticed a cool 3x3x1 Rubix Cube, basically just one row of a normal one. I spent ages messing it up so I could try solve it, I couldn't and left it. By this time, Judy and Antonia had come in the shop, Judy picked up the puzzle I was just playing with. A few seconds later Judy taps me on the sholder and hands me the puzzle, solved. She's some sort of freaking genius, I suspect she was forced to do Rubix cubes before meals as a kid, no way she could do it so easily in such a short ammount of time!
We left Red Mall to go to Orchard Garden Cafe & Restaurant which was close by in Causeway Bay, near the Yoshinoya and opposite the Milk Desert place from a few posts back. Antonia told me this was a great place for deserts but I was quite hungry so was looking for a meal aswell.
The place was really nice. Good lighting and a window along side the whole restaurant made it feel very calm despite the noise and open view of the kicthen. It was very clean in here too and the waiters were very smart.
We started with a Japanese Starter Set. I had no idea what this stuff was but when it arrived, I went straight for the juicy meat on a skewer.
I went for the meat skewer first because I this looked a lot like something fresh off a Korean BBQ, which is one of my favourite foods.
I took a big bite as a Antonia looked on with a strange glare. As I started to chew the rich flavor filled my mouth, pleasure turned to disgust when a strong fishy flavor kicked in, this wasn't meat, I had just taken a huge bite of Eel. I have a history with Eel, Antonia loves it and eats it from a can, I hate the stuff and the smell and keep well away. She thought it was funny as I slowly tried to finish eating the piece in my mouth with disgust.
Half a glass of water later and I was ready to try the next dish, Vegetables Wrapped in Beef.
The meat was nice, what I expected from the first dish but a little thin. Sadly, the vegetables had an almost bitter taste to them which led me to gutting them out and just eating the meat.
The next dish was some sort of Dumping / Spring Roll combination which was actually really good. I enjoyed this the most.
The last dish was Chicken Gristle Skewers which was terrible, it was litterally just bone, fat and a tiny piece of meat. No one liked these, what a shame, I usually enjoy chicken.
After the starters it was straight onto Desert, a Hot Chocolate Strawberry Sundae.
This was really good, it had hot chocolate at the bottom so you could drink it afterwards. The top later had thicker chocolate with pieces of very light fluffy cake which soaked up the hot chocolate making them just melt in your mouth. If you go to Hong Kong, go get one of these from the Orchard Garden Cafe & Restaurant but go before 5.30pm because as we left, around 6pm, the queue to get in was at least 6 parties, it was very busy.
Judy had to leave to meet some other friends so we decided to head home and have an early night as we had to sort some things out for the trip to Beijing in just a few days.
25-06-09
Today Antonia had arranged to meet a friend of hers, Judy. We had to wake up on time for once and be in Causeway Bay by 1pm. I had never met Judy before, she is an old school friend of Antonia's.
We got to the station and was waiting for her, she called us up and had gotten lost in the underground pathways in Causeway Bay staiton, a short while later she arrived. My first impressions of her that she was very shy and timid, she also seemed really nervous but I could tell she was happy to see Antonia. She needed to get a card and gift for a friend's father, we walked around for a while looking for a gift, a really cool lego type lamp and then decided to walk around some more.
We decided to go to the Namco Wonder Park to play some games for a while, get some sticker photos and play some games. We spent a while in here and left to get a snack. We walked towards the main road and passed the Red Mall, curious, I suggested we go in.
As we went up the escolators I saw nothing but signs for nail salons, I wanted to turn back but the signs for a toy shop kept me from turning back. The first shop we came across was a very cute stationary shop, if you ever come here with a girl or need to buy a girl a gift, checkout Princess Rose just up the escolators.
The shop sells all sorts of stationary, notebooks, stickers and stamps. The products here have a nice style but prices can be steep. Antonia saw a diary she wanted in the window, she had been looking for it a while so I bought it for her as a gift. The girls spent quite a while in this shop so I wandered across the way and found another cool shop, New Things.
New Things is a puzzle shop that sells mostly Rubix Cube type puzzles and stacking cups. I saw a lot of cool variations of the Rubix Cube in here but sadly couldn't take photos, I took a sneaky one of the window to try show the 6x6 Rubix Cube!
While I was looking around I noticed a cool 3x3x1 Rubix Cube, basically just one row of a normal one. I spent ages messing it up so I could try solve it, I couldn't and left it. By this time, Judy and Antonia had come in the shop, Judy picked up the puzzle I was just playing with. A few seconds later Judy taps me on the sholder and hands me the puzzle, solved. She's some sort of freaking genius, I suspect she was forced to do Rubix cubes before meals as a kid, no way she could do it so easily in such a short ammount of time!
We left Red Mall to go to Orchard Garden Cafe & Restaurant which was close by in Causeway Bay, near the Yoshinoya and opposite the Milk Desert place from a few posts back. Antonia told me this was a great place for deserts but I was quite hungry so was looking for a meal aswell.
The place was really nice. Good lighting and a window along side the whole restaurant made it feel very calm despite the noise and open view of the kicthen. It was very clean in here too and the waiters were very smart.
We started with a Japanese Starter Set. I had no idea what this stuff was but when it arrived, I went straight for the juicy meat on a skewer.
I went for the meat skewer first because I this looked a lot like something fresh off a Korean BBQ, which is one of my favourite foods.
I took a big bite as a Antonia looked on with a strange glare. As I started to chew the rich flavor filled my mouth, pleasure turned to disgust when a strong fishy flavor kicked in, this wasn't meat, I had just taken a huge bite of Eel. I have a history with Eel, Antonia loves it and eats it from a can, I hate the stuff and the smell and keep well away. She thought it was funny as I slowly tried to finish eating the piece in my mouth with disgust.
Half a glass of water later and I was ready to try the next dish, Vegetables Wrapped in Beef.
The meat was nice, what I expected from the first dish but a little thin. Sadly, the vegetables had an almost bitter taste to them which led me to gutting them out and just eating the meat.
The next dish was some sort of Dumping / Spring Roll combination which was actually really good. I enjoyed this the most.
The last dish was Chicken Gristle Skewers which was terrible, it was litterally just bone, fat and a tiny piece of meat. No one liked these, what a shame, I usually enjoy chicken.
After the starters it was straight onto Desert, a Hot Chocolate Strawberry Sundae.
This was really good, it had hot chocolate at the bottom so you could drink it afterwards. The top later had thicker chocolate with pieces of very light fluffy cake which soaked up the hot chocolate making them just melt in your mouth. If you go to Hong Kong, go get one of these from the Orchard Garden Cafe & Restaurant but go before 5.30pm because as we left, around 6pm, the queue to get in was at least 6 parties, it was very busy.
Judy had to leave to meet some other friends so we decided to head home and have an early night as we had to sort some things out for the trip to Beijing in just a few days.
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Packing
26-06-09
Tomorrow i'm going to Beijing and needed to get some currency, Chinese RNB, the first stop of the day was the HSBC Bank in Central. Antonia had gone out before me today as she had an appointment, I had to meet her in Central so called a cab. I was told to meet at Landmark and that was it, without a phone, I didn't expect to find her. The cab I took was painfully slow, the bus in front or the traffic didn't help either but I got to Landmark in time, as I looked out my eyes caught Antonia's, nice job Cab Man!
It was a 10 minute walk to the HSBC Bank in Central, walking through a posh shopping center to take advantage of the air conditioning and passing the disappointing 'A Bathing Ape' store, we made it to the bank just as it started to rain.
The building seems way too big for a bank so I assumed I would get lost in there but a kind secuirty guard pointed me to the right desk for cashing Travelers Cheques but asked me kindly to stop taking photos. I only managed to get one photo of the inside which is a shame as it's a really nice building inside too.
We took nearly an hour in the bank because of a small line and a dopey cashier who seemed to take forever getting my money sorted. While we waited I noticed each counter had a Wacom Touchscreen Tablet but sadly, no paint application to occupy waiting customers. I was glad to finaly get my money after nearly an hour and walked back to meet the driver but the rain was unexpected, it was heavy and had already created deep puddles, we got soaked.
Our next stop was Wan Chai, a shopping district. Antonia had to get some stuff from the pharmacy and I needed to get some stuff too for our trip. Of course, I wandered off towards the sweet sections in every shop. In one store, there was a Pucho Amusement Park! Not as exciting as it sounds but exciting none the less. A colorful display with a wide range of Pucho flavors.
Here's everything I bought from the first shops. A variety of Pucho sweets, Lemon, Watermelon and Yoghurt flavor. Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's which are now rare in HK and lastly, a box of Vitamin C tablets, see, i'm healthy too!
We passed a cake shop in a hurry and we got a few. There was so much I wanted to try but we only got a few slices and a cake for desert. I couldn't believe how cheap the food was in here, the slices and bun I got was only 40p!
No pictures of the cake shop as we were in a hurry to get back as Antonia's father needed to be picked up. We got home in time for lunch, I had the Sweet Barbeque Pork Bun from the shop warmed up and had that, it was lovely!
It tasted like a soft steak and kidney pie but softbun made it different in texture. The sweetness comes from a topping that goes cripsy when baked so a nice mix of textures creating a perfect lunch snack. Still feeling snackish, I had another cake we bought, Papaya Cheese Cake.
The cheese cake was tough and very spongey. It seriously felt like I was eating a sponge from the bathroom but tasted really good. It's texture was strange, never had a cake so tough yet springy before, delish! I was full after this highly compressed super cake.
We packed our suitcases and made sure we had everything done before dinner time. The maids had cooked Lamb Shank today, it looked amazing and tasted great too.
I really enjoyed the Lamb, I had two pieces as it was so damn good. The sauce was nice and thick, full of flavor and low on vegetables. For desert we had the cake that Antonia bought at the cake shop, it was a type of Cheesecake from Hokkaido.
The cheesecake was very thick with a strong base. It was a really nice cheesecake but not very soft yet full of flavor. I struggled to eat all of mine after the two Lamb Shanks but managed it. One member of the family was not happy with all our eating, Pudding!
I realised I haven't posted many Pudding pictures recently so here he is. You might notice he looks a lot less fluffy and much slimmer now, he had a haircut.
After dinner we all watched a Michael Jackson concert that was being shown on tv. The news wasn't in the morning papers but I woke up to a message on MSN informing me of the sad news. I can't believe he died so young, it's tragic and really sucks for those hoping to catch him for a last time on tour. I think MJ was heavily misunderstood, robbed of a childhood I think he was just a big kid at heart. As a child, I used to listen to a lot of Michael Jackson, especially on long car journeys, we'd have the music loud and it's one memory that really sticks in my mind. Such a loss, he was a great musician and an excellent performer.
RIP Michael Jackson.
We had to wake up at 3am the next day so we got an early night, or at least tried to, there was always things we realised we had forgot to pack. With everything finally ready we got to sleep around 11pm.
Leaving for Beijing
27-06-09
It's 4am now, we've had our breakfast and Antonia has gone to go get ready, I will go shower after and then we will leave. I don't think the maids were happy having to wake us at 3am or make breakfast, I feel bad but we'll bring them back a nice gift.
Sadly, I don't think I can continue posting on a daily basis while in Beijing. We will be staying in a 5 star hotel which surprisingly doesn't offer free WIFI, instead it's $40 a minute, that's around £4! I will write my daily blog posts and upload them in a batch when I get back so you guys have a massive update coming in around the 3rd.
Aparently there is a heatwave in Beijing at the moment but thankfully it's dry so shouldn't be too bad, made sure to pack lots of suncream and silly sunvisors from the early ninties. I'm hoping it doesn't rain today as we're on a typhoon warning, we were told by our guide the plane will take off unless it's a level 6 or 8 typhoon which is pretty much the worst.
Guess I should run get ready now, catch up with you all in 5 days.
26-06-09
Tomorrow i'm going to Beijing and needed to get some currency, Chinese RNB, the first stop of the day was the HSBC Bank in Central. Antonia had gone out before me today as she had an appointment, I had to meet her in Central so called a cab. I was told to meet at Landmark and that was it, without a phone, I didn't expect to find her. The cab I took was painfully slow, the bus in front or the traffic didn't help either but I got to Landmark in time, as I looked out my eyes caught Antonia's, nice job Cab Man!
It was a 10 minute walk to the HSBC Bank in Central, walking through a posh shopping center to take advantage of the air conditioning and passing the disappointing 'A Bathing Ape' store, we made it to the bank just as it started to rain.
The building seems way too big for a bank so I assumed I would get lost in there but a kind secuirty guard pointed me to the right desk for cashing Travelers Cheques but asked me kindly to stop taking photos. I only managed to get one photo of the inside which is a shame as it's a really nice building inside too.
We took nearly an hour in the bank because of a small line and a dopey cashier who seemed to take forever getting my money sorted. While we waited I noticed each counter had a Wacom Touchscreen Tablet but sadly, no paint application to occupy waiting customers. I was glad to finaly get my money after nearly an hour and walked back to meet the driver but the rain was unexpected, it was heavy and had already created deep puddles, we got soaked.
Our next stop was Wan Chai, a shopping district. Antonia had to get some stuff from the pharmacy and I needed to get some stuff too for our trip. Of course, I wandered off towards the sweet sections in every shop. In one store, there was a Pucho Amusement Park! Not as exciting as it sounds but exciting none the less. A colorful display with a wide range of Pucho flavors.
Here's everything I bought from the first shops. A variety of Pucho sweets, Lemon, Watermelon and Yoghurt flavor. Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's which are now rare in HK and lastly, a box of Vitamin C tablets, see, i'm healthy too!
We passed a cake shop in a hurry and we got a few. There was so much I wanted to try but we only got a few slices and a cake for desert. I couldn't believe how cheap the food was in here, the slices and bun I got was only 40p!
No pictures of the cake shop as we were in a hurry to get back as Antonia's father needed to be picked up. We got home in time for lunch, I had the Sweet Barbeque Pork Bun from the shop warmed up and had that, it was lovely!
It tasted like a soft steak and kidney pie but softbun made it different in texture. The sweetness comes from a topping that goes cripsy when baked so a nice mix of textures creating a perfect lunch snack. Still feeling snackish, I had another cake we bought, Papaya Cheese Cake.
The cheese cake was tough and very spongey. It seriously felt like I was eating a sponge from the bathroom but tasted really good. It's texture was strange, never had a cake so tough yet springy before, delish! I was full after this highly compressed super cake.
We packed our suitcases and made sure we had everything done before dinner time. The maids had cooked Lamb Shank today, it looked amazing and tasted great too.
I really enjoyed the Lamb, I had two pieces as it was so damn good. The sauce was nice and thick, full of flavor and low on vegetables. For desert we had the cake that Antonia bought at the cake shop, it was a type of Cheesecake from Hokkaido.
The cheesecake was very thick with a strong base. It was a really nice cheesecake but not very soft yet full of flavor. I struggled to eat all of mine after the two Lamb Shanks but managed it. One member of the family was not happy with all our eating, Pudding!
I realised I haven't posted many Pudding pictures recently so here he is. You might notice he looks a lot less fluffy and much slimmer now, he had a haircut.
After dinner we all watched a Michael Jackson concert that was being shown on tv. The news wasn't in the morning papers but I woke up to a message on MSN informing me of the sad news. I can't believe he died so young, it's tragic and really sucks for those hoping to catch him for a last time on tour. I think MJ was heavily misunderstood, robbed of a childhood I think he was just a big kid at heart. As a child, I used to listen to a lot of Michael Jackson, especially on long car journeys, we'd have the music loud and it's one memory that really sticks in my mind. Such a loss, he was a great musician and an excellent performer.
RIP Michael Jackson.
We had to wake up at 3am the next day so we got an early night, or at least tried to, there was always things we realised we had forgot to pack. With everything finally ready we got to sleep around 11pm.
Leaving for Beijing
27-06-09
It's 4am now, we've had our breakfast and Antonia has gone to go get ready, I will go shower after and then we will leave. I don't think the maids were happy having to wake us at 3am or make breakfast, I feel bad but we'll bring them back a nice gift.
Sadly, I don't think I can continue posting on a daily basis while in Beijing. We will be staying in a 5 star hotel which surprisingly doesn't offer free WIFI, instead it's $40 a minute, that's around £4! I will write my daily blog posts and upload them in a batch when I get back so you guys have a massive update coming in around the 3rd.
Aparently there is a heatwave in Beijing at the moment but thankfully it's dry so shouldn't be too bad, made sure to pack lots of suncream and silly sunvisors from the early ninties. I'm hoping it doesn't rain today as we're on a typhoon warning, we were told by our guide the plane will take off unless it's a level 6 or 8 typhoon which is pretty much the worst.
Guess I should run get ready now, catch up with you all in 5 days.
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