My Japanese Pen-Pal came to Hong Kong (2)

After lunch I took Kaori and H to China Travel Service at China HK Centre HK-Macau Ferry Terminal for booking HK-Macau return ferry tickets and hotel room. The cheapest was HKD880 departed from Sheung Wan HK-Macau Ferry Terminal, HKD976 if departed from China HK Centre. I spoke up, "I paid only HKD760 for Christmas package for 2, how come it costs so much this time?" the staff replied that was impossible, I said, "I bought it, it won't be impossible." Immediately a flash back on my mind "that HKD760 was for a double room indeed, excluded ferry ticket…" of course I did not let the truth slip. I chose the Taipa Hotel which was the cheapest packet for them and led them to the Shun Tak Centre, just made sure they could find their way to get aboard.

After that, we did not have much time left, so I cut down the number of places. Here are the places we visited that day:-

12:10 pick them up from a guesthouse at Chung King Building
13:00 lunch at Kung Tak Lam at One Peking Road
14:30 China HK Centre HK-Macau Terminal
15:15 MTR to Sheung Wan Shung Wan HK-Macau Terminal by ==> Western Market
16:30 Tram to Admiralty Pacific Place for tea
17:40 Hong Kong Park (where I joined drawing competitions during secondary school period)18:25 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens (very dark, so animals part closed, I had primary school trips there for drawing competition)
19:00 Peak Tram (~8 mins) ==> Peak Galleria
19:55 top floor of the Peak for Hong Kong nightview
20:00 Symphony of Lights (beautiful! Nightview is gorgeous! It could be clearer if no smog)20:25 Burger King for dinner, starving… I missed Burger King
21:30 Minibus downhill, cheaper and faster than bus, no queue too
22:00 New Star Ferry Pier in Central. Honestly, the new clock tower has failed to make a nostalgic style, the old one was far better
22:20 Start ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier
22:35 TST MTR Station and said goodbye
22:40 took coach to home
23:30 backed to home, FoOtSoRe~

Although I am a big girl now, it was my first time to be a local guide for my foreign friends. Due to the tight schedule, I selected only a few places according to their requests. And these places are representative. Both Kaori and H adore Hong Kong's gorgeous night view. H who loves to photograph took lots of photos too.

What is more, it was a chilly day… Kaori did not bring any thick clothes because she thought we were having warm winter, as I told her in last December. Luckily, I took my windbreaker with me just in case, and let her had it, it did help a bit though could not stop her shivered on the Peak.

My Japanese Pen-Pal came to Hong Kong (1)

In the afternoon of Saturday 6th Jan 2007, I received an email from my Japanese Pen-pal Kaori, who is currently working in Sri Lanka. She is coming to Hong Kong, she is already on the plane! It is really thrilling! In the evening I received her call that she was staying in a guesthouse at Chung King Building. How did she find these guesthouses?

After confirmed with Kaori the meeting place (Tsim Sha Tsui MTR A1 entrance) and time (noon) of next day, I started my planning. Kaori is different from other Japanese girls I know, she is not crazy about LV, Gucci, Burberry, etc. On the contrary, she loves to visit historical places, temples and churches, to see real life of various cultures.

Therefore, after we met up the next day, I firstly took them to lunch. I planned to take them to Canton restaurant for our wan ton and tea with milk, but H wanted to have tea at Chinese restaurant and Kaori wanted something not greasy, so we went to Kung Tak Lam at One Peking Road for lunch. The table was opposite to the sea, the view could be the best if there was no smog. Kaori and H ordered Sichuan noodles with peppery sauce, Shanghai cold wan ton, Shanghai dumplings (in steaming basket), fried green onion pancake, steamed barbecued pork bun and egg tart with puff pastry crust. The Sichuan noodles was with peanut sauce instead of peppery sauce (vegetarian does not eat spicy food), so I who do not eat spicy food can have it; cold wan ton was nothing like Cantonese wan ton and was not tasty; the stuffing for dumplings was so loose… then I remembered the stuffing was not pork but vegetable; egg tart with puff pastry crust, well, I never liked eating the puff pastry crust; fried green onion pancake was not greasy, what it used seemed not green onion (vegetarian does not eat green onion), but it was still tasty; steamed barbecued pork bun is always my favourite, it was small and delicious.

The quality of the lunch was average. 5 dishes of dim sum, 1 noodle plus 3 tea cost almost $200, but luckily, I presented my HSBC credit card which gave us a discount of 15% off, so the net payment was $166. This lunch was not cheap yet. Probably we ate with the sea? The food of Ka Choi Seafood Restaurant located at Sam Shing Estate where my family and I normally go are tastier. 4 to 5 dishes of dim sum for 3 with tea only cost $50 to $60.