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HongKong - Macau Trip 131207 - 191207

Hi all, sorry friends, I've been M.I.A. for so long.
First excuse: I'm too busy working! (10.30 am to 9.30 pm..or 10 pm on saturdays)
2nd excuse: I need my free to time play Hell Gate: London.
Thirdly: I'm spending my free time on Heroes, Season 2 (Just trying to save the cheerleader..ok!)

So.. as you can see, I've been.. and still am... pretty busy!!!

So just wanna share with everyone.. my FIRST TIME to Macau and Hong Kong! Well, this is the first time I've gone anywhere more 'North' than Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. Because Disneyland is one of the biggest part of my trip (one of the few fond memories I have of HK), I'm dedicating most of this post to HK Disneyland.

Day 1: Took an afternoon flight to Macau. Arrived there at night. Dinner.. followed by sleep.
Day 2: Morning. We took the ferry to HK.. Yay! This is where the journey of Magic and Adventure begins! (Lol.. Typical Disney)

The view from the ferry leaving for HK.

So weird.. a VOLCANO beside a Tang Dynasty structure.. This is Macau for you..

HONG KONG!!

Getting through the subway was terrible! I always thought Singaporeans walked too quickly.. but it turns out that HongKongers are practically jogging to work! Here's the view as I stepped out of Central MTR station...

A beautiful 3 storey shopping centre.. with a pretty run down residential block above.

The view from street level @ Central. Everyone scattering about like ants in a colony.

Who needs trees for shelter when I've got these wonderful signboards!


This was where we re-charged before heading out for Disney! Clockwise from 12o'clock : Dad, Mum, Ah Lin Gu2, Aunt Esther, Stranger in yellow, Gong2 and Uncle Kok Tai.

Yay! We're going to Disney! Me and ma' Bro..

Everyone's excited!

Finally, we're here! HK DisneyLand!



So this is where they GROW Mickeys!

(in HK, Mickey is pronounced as 'Meh-kay', Goofy is pronounced as 'Gao Fei'.. LoL)

The Disney Trademark life size replica... in full Technicolor!

Wee! Welcome to DisNeeeeyy!

The plaza was littered with quaint little shophouses, coupled by the paved cobblestone streets.. It truly brings out the retro feel.. am I in Sovereign hill (Melbourne) all over again?

This ride is a life storybook, whereby a little train ride brings you into a storybook featuring Winnie the Poo +h.

Next, we wandered into FutureLand!

Me, Posing with Buzz Light Year, from Toy Story.

Next we headed to a cafe for some refreshments...

After a shag day.. it was time to take a break.. So I stoned for a few sec.. before crashing beside my Ah Gong (who totally skipped the stone phase).

After Re-Fuelling at the Space Station, we headed to.

AdventureLand, Home of Tarzan and the Lion King!





Boeat ride to Tarzan's Tree House.



We also played with Simba's food =)

My ah Gong taking over... after Simba devoured everyone else. Bad Lion!.. with Cheese.

The beautiful Disney Castle at night.. Followed by a dazzling display of Fireworks (not featured in this blog).

After a wham-bam goodbye with a bang display.. we headed back towards the MTR.

I don't know if you noticed.. its freakin' snowing in HK!.. (fake snow lah.. Parkway Parade also)

Sadly.. all good things come to an end... Bidding a tearful good bye to my new friends, Mei-kay and Gao Fei.

After another gruelling MTR ride.. we made it back to town.. this was the start of my Nightmare..

We made our way to Temple Street to meet up with parents for dinner..

A foodstall in Temple Street... THE foodstall which I probably got food poisoning.

Smile everyone! The next dish, Salmonella Supreme coming right up!

HK DisneyLand

JJ Rating: 3.5/5

HK Disneyland is pretty small.. but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We managed to finish it in a single day! I loved the shows especially the Lion King and the 3D show feat. Donald. Golden Mickeys (similar to Golden Horse Awards) was quite nice as the characters come to life! Disneyland is really packed with Family friendly entertainment for both the young and old. Thrill seekers would be greatly disappointed though.. All in all, I totally enjoyed myself and its the single most fun experience I had in HK.

Royal Melbourne Show (2007)

The Royal Melbourne Show
Take me out to the fairgrounds...

Flinders Station: Our first train ride since coming here.. *wow*..

*ding dong* Next stop... FairGrounds... We have arrived!

Abstract from Wikipedia: Royal Melbourne Show

"The Royal Melbourne Show is an agricultural show held at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds every September. The Royal Show began in 1848. The focus of the show is the display of rural industry, including livestock and produce. There are associated competitions and awards. It is a time when the country comes to the city, and the foundation of Australia's economy in rural industry is celebrated."

Definitely something we don't get in urban Singapore! Thing is.. we don't have a 'countryside' except Lim Chu Kang Countryside , which is too busy being filled with granite, leaving little space for a carnival ground.

Hoho! Here we gooOoo....

Party time!

There were rides... many many rides! None of which we took, save for the giant ferris wheel (later).

The fair was really vibrating with so much life and energy. On the way here, we saw a super long queue.. but had no idea what it was. Later on we discovered that they were selling mega show bags. A 'showbag' is actually a bundled product, whereby they throw in lots of candy and chocolates and sell it to you at 'below market price'. It doesnt necessarily have to contain sweets, u can buy angel costumes, magazine bundles, poker chip sets, skateboards etc... I guess showbags are the highlight of the Show.

They also had spidey races, where people shoot water onto the target (like a men's urinal, where we aim for the fly) and spidey/venom climbs.

What I love about this carnival is that everyone comes here to have FUN! Yes.. the kids come here to get their face painted, looking like cats, dogs, pigs while others simply look like mischievious monkeys... even without face paint.

The girls walk around with Devil Horns (hairbands) and carry menacing forks as they roam the carnival grounds. We also had a great number of Angels, complete with halo and wings.

We walked on...and bumped into this.. outdoor display. Everything here is for sale.. yeah.. it's like an outdoor furniture shop.

'Fancy a drink? JD's on the House!'

We roamed into an indoor display gallery.. with live chickies! Everything for sale here too, except the chooks.

There were also animals... like these poor Llamas.

And sheep! Little did they realise.. that they were so gonna feel the cold of winter.

Maa..Maa.. The sounds of a Silenced Lamb.

They also had... *gasp* logging competitions! To see who could kill the Earth faster. This is so wrong.. I hope these trees didn't die in vain.

One of my favourite parts of the Fair. The petting area! We get to touch all our favourite foods!

Hehe.. I'm choosing meat.. just like I do in Queen Vic market..

Nice hair.

Cherry sympathising with her 'brethen' haha

Wow.. look what happen to your grandma! (notice our blue and red sweaters..)

Finally! The queue for the Showbags have let up.. so we got ourselves a few yummilicious Cadbury Showbags!

Introducing.. THE WHEEL!

Arguably my favourite part of the Royal Melbourne Show.. being able to see the entire showground from a bird's eye view point. (And also to rest our tired feet!)


We are lucky enough to get the entire cabin!

Wow! It moves!

The view from above:

We also had time to take photos of each other!


Hao Na and Jasmine showing off their loot.


Elmo (in blue) holding Jasmine (in red).

Kanga with Piglet.

Haha! All mine!

We could also see the city from up here.

Good shot of the fairgrounds. There's a really scary looking ride which goes up about 1/2 of the ferries wheel height.
Soaking in the sights and sounds of the sprawling masses below.. really gets you in the mood...

...for more Photos!


Hehe.. lucky me!..


Got to take photos with so many girls..

Finally we landed.. Well rested, full (we snacked on our showbag items) and ready to conquer the remainder of the Royal Melbourne Show.
.

We continued our journey.. into the food tent. It was basically a foodcourt. A TV crew was present and in the midst of filming a cooking contest (Aussie Iron Chefs?).

We met our friend.. and decided to take pics with him.

So cute!

Soon it was nightfall...

In a corner of the fair, we noticed these 3 Bouncy Castles.

After 1000 shots, we finally got this one right:

'Ahaha!' (Chun Li Victory dance)

After a whole fun filled afternoon.. Much as we dread it.. it was time to leave.

Following shots show us clutching tightly to our 'spoils'

' Argh! Show em' our treasures '


So HAPPY.


Cherry with matching Elmo.

yet.. so SAD.

As they say, all good things come to an end.

See you at the next Royal Melbourne Show =)