Not too fun trip to Hong Kong

I was in Hong Kong for 2 nights after leaving Taipei. My first impression of HK was it looked like Singapore. Multi-racial population, similar mrt system, familiar double-decker buses, expensive shopping & food, limited sightseeing spots and people behaving like kiasu Singaporeans.

I didn't get to eat the supposedly delicious dimsum & roast pigeon coz my stomach had limited capacity and I felt strange to be eating alone in a restaurant. So I ate at their coffeeshops where locals eat while reading newspapers. Love the century egg porridge & milk tea I tried in one of the coffeeshops. Also tried a famous wanton mee. Super yummy. I was looking forward to try the peanut butter toast. It turned out to be a disappointment. Maybe I went to the wrong place to eat. The best is the bo luo bao which I bought from a coffeeshop. People were all buying at least 2 boluobao for takeaway there so I tried too. Oishii! Tried a "longan with chrysanthemum" jelly at a food court. Very refreshing dessert which I will probably try making at home one day.

Shopped a lot but bought only a pair of shorts from Giordano outlet. Their famous Temple St, Ladies St & Fa Yuen St market was a great disappointment to me. Most of the stalls there were selling things commonly found in Singapore's Chinatown & pasar malam -- jewelry, t-shirts, imitation bags, decoration items. It's a very touristy area which I didn't like. Clothes sold in small shops along Fa Yuen St were like those from This Fashion.

My best buy is a pair of soft-toy pigs from one of the night markets. McMug & McDull cost me S$17.50 in total. It's probably a fake version but I don't mind coz they look so cute. An original one selling at Mu-ee in Singapore costs at least $70 each!

On the 1st day I went to the peak for a city view & went to Madam Tussauds. Quite expensive at S$28 with limited wax figurines. The "scream" exhibit which has staff dressed up to scare visitors was interesting but I was so terrified I ended up looking at the floor all the time while holding on to a lady's shoulders in front of me. Heehee ;p

My idol, Leslie Cheung's wax figurine. Too bad he died young.

Next day I went to see the giant Buddha at Ngong Ping via cable car. Nice view of planes taking off & landing from the cable car. Bored & not interested in shopping, I went to Disneyland. I wanted to compare it with Tokyo & US's versions.

It was quite fun at Disneyland, especially coz that day was Halloween Day. Many visitors, esp. the kids, were dressed up in costumes. Adults wore wizard/witch hats or devil horns. The haunted hotel attraction was completely different from the haunted mansion I experienced in Tokyo & US. It was much more scary with live actors jumping out of nowhere scaring visitors. Luckily at the front of my group was 3 teenage girls who screamed loudly, thus preparing me mentally for the coming fright. Other attractions were similar to Tokyo & US. The parade was quite nice & I was lucky to get a good spot for photos. The highlight of Disneyland is the fireworks display at the castle. Beautiful & romantic.

My stay in HK was short but sufficient. Initially I was rather worried about going there coz I can't speak Cantonese but I was quite glad that most could speak Mandarin & English. I spoke in English whenever I can so that I won't be associated with their neighbour. As I've been to most of the main attractions and didn't really enjoy shopping & eating there, I'm not keen to re-visit HK in the near future. Unless it's with a big group of people to eat roast pigeon & dimsum!