meeting the man (21 sept)

I woke up slightly later today to stroll with Peter over to the catholic church at the edge of Sheung Wan. English mass was at 9.30 and we managed to reach there by 9.25.

As mentioned before, mass felt pretty awesome - thinking how much we have managed so far in a week on our own :) I would have taken pictures of the interior since it was a cathedral too, but that obviously wasnt possible. It was just different yet familiar :)

After dropping a note off to the laundry store that they've to send our stuff from yesterday to the hostel cos we cant pick up up within their opening hours, we took a bus to meet Peter's friend, Jeremy and his room-mate-church-friend who has been working in HK for like 8 years, Uncle Yee Shang - who is really a funky bachelor with a sense of style and character :) and DOES NOT look 40ish.

Jeremy was from NP too, but took the tourism course instead (might've been his classmate if not for Mass Comm!) and was being paid really well at Shangri-la now though the hours are nightshift and 6-days a week. He handles the Front Desk and knows zero Canto too (ok fine, much more than us la oooook jeremy!) haha

Uncle Yee Shang has been here for like many years, working as a salesman for Bloomberg. He's really quite a cool cat. I mean, I guess cos he's a bachelor, he has the high independent spending power to live very comfortably here. Slightly linked to his generosity too, though I'm sure it's his character and amazing self that keeps him youngish :)

Anyway, we had our first yamcha that Uncle Yee Shang brought us and really filled us quite abit. And also refused to take any of our cash.

char siew chee cheong fan
(nitha! remember what you told me about chee cheong fans! haha)

siew mais (littles tim and joshua's fav!)

siew yoke (dad, here is thicker and usually leaner. you'd like it!)

Later on we took a bus that leads us towards Stanley Market - a touristy market area, pretty much like a more organised and less cramped Bugis village.

It was at the south end of HK island but the bus ride there was quite a scene. Cos we got to go pass the rich areas - apparently where most celebrities stay. And all facing the sea!




There are shops, restaurants and pubs along the jetty, which made it seem so american-like, california-like, totally out of HK. But view was great nevertheless.


Don't have a picture, but I did realise one really nice socialising habit of some of the more well-to-do people living in HK. Sometimes they'd bring their dogs for a walk and also have meals with friends, al fresco style, with their dogs waiting patiently with them at the seats. In occasion, it's usually dog owners sitting together so the dogs get to kinda 'socialise'. How cute is that! Imagine it like Holland V pubs, with dog owners sitting at the tables just chatting and drinking. :) I would do that, if tehping wont be so eager to just go back after pooping. :)

We took quite abit of time taking pictures by the huge huge rocks. The boys were mean la, climb here and there (some like monkeys, others like grasshoppers) - i would!

There you have them: Ruiming, Peter and Jeremy

But i was conveniently wearing a dress (see, decent), which was very prone to dancing with the wind, so well, i turned down the chance. Thus, you see many pictures of them, really small.

We also commented that the bus-drivers in HK would probably do well in circuit driving. They turn almost-impossible turns without hitting a thing, speed up at bends and what not, but gets us to where we want to in almost like a roller-coaster. It was almost frightful!

So well, we reached Stanley Market.


I made another frivolous purchase of two handbags (buy one get one free!) at about S$26 for each. It was quite hard to bargain around Stanley Market cos it's a touristy place and managed only a HK$5 discount.



The bus ride was another adventure, with the superb turning, winding and whirling by the driver. It was even more thrilling to be sitting riiiiiiiight in the front of the bus. And us trying to capture what we can of the disappearing scenary, through the glass windows, as we move towards the city.

On the ride back

Weather was hot and we had our first gelato at Stanley. Considering we cant go back to our hostel cos the groundsman had to be somewhere else, Jeremy and Uncle Yee Shang had to think up of not-so-tiring ways to babysit us, he brought us to Festival Walk - which is actually a shopping mall with brands like H&M, Uniqlo, Agnes B, Kiel's, Puma, i.t., etc. I resisted and did not buy :)

I tell you, I LOVE the retail decor in HK stores - they are pretty amazing :) I loved the one at Izzue, with a rustic, monochrome, sensual designs with large mirrors, old wooden doors and knobs, cut-out-sort chandeliers. Too bad I couldnt take a picture :(

Uncle Yee Shang brought us to a italian place, which we insisted we didnt need, called Amaroni's Little Italy, which served HUGE one-portions - instead a shared mushrooms, a chicken, pasta, unlimited bread basket and 2 HUGE desserts. We were totally bloated but well-fed :)

Well, after that, it was rushing to be at the hostel by 11pm - our 'curfew' while the two of them took their own transport towards Lantau island.

Today was a good day :) though it was already Monday the next day :/