What Did I Buy In Hong Kong?

I love shopping in Hong Kong, it has so many things to see (not buy). So what did I buy? Actually the right question is what is worth buying. Among all the things, the one that is worth buying is Tim’s transformer toys. He got 2 huge transformers for the price of one. It costs me HKD299.00 for 2. Here one is selling RM200+. He was grinning from ear to ear after I got it for him. It is his Christmas and 2009 Birthday present. Ooh, he wanted a BEN 10 watch and he told me to buy for 2009 Christmas.

As for Emily, I got her a hello kitty doll house, a hello kitty funfair set and a Disney umbrella. Tim also got a small Buzz Lightyear toy in Disney. We had a rule, they are only allowed to buy 1 thing in Disneyland.

As for me, I got myself a Mickey and Minnie. Previously when I was in LA Disney, I got Pluto, Goofy, Donald and Mickey. I didn’t have Minnie. Now I have the full set.

I am not sure why I got these collections from “Lui Yan Kai” (Ladies St.) They are cute and I couldn’t resist. I also got a hello kitty bag.

Both my children wanted to wax their fingers. I must say that they are braver than me. Guess which one is Tim’s and which one is Emily’s?

Lastly, you must not leave Hong Kong without the dry seafood stuff. The can abalone was on promotion price. I will keep that for Chinese New Year, yummy :P~~~~ I wanted to buy the Japanese fresh scallops but I didn’t have a freezer to store it. It is really huge. Sigh.

Okay, there is more stuff that I bought than what is shown. I am just too lazy to take pictures of it all.

Guess what my hubby got for himself & here is a picture of it.

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Room Lighting

I found that my children’s room lighting is not very good. It is getting dimmer and not good for reading. My hubby and I want to add additional down lights that will brighten the room a little. Now down lights come with energy saver light bulb and it is a good way to conserve energy.

If you want to know what types of lighting can help you conserve energy, go to LightingShowPlace.com. It has great designs with energy efficient models. On top of that, you can help you save on electricity bills.

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Reid Supply

I am good at fixing things especially household items. I can fix chairs, telephone, printers or computers with minor problems. The only problem is finding the replacement parts here. I remembered last time one of my chair industrial knobs was broken. I went to every hardware shop and couldn’t find the right match.

I wished I knew about ReidSupply, it has all types of industrial knobs. I loved the search engine where you can specify the size, diameter, depth, material and others to narrow your search. It does save a lot of walking and gas. You can order the knob online and it will deliver to your home in no time.

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Emergency & Safety Demo

My children were fascinated with the entertainment screen in front of them when traveling on the plane. This is not the first time they are traveling so they know what to expect. The first thing they asked me to do was to switch on some cartoons for them.

However their cartoon program was interrupted by the Emergency and Safety Demo. Of coz, they do not know what it was. They made very funny remark loudly and I hope that no one superstitious was sitting nearby.

Tim & Em: Mummy, how come no oxygen masks drop down? I want to put in on. Where is it?

Mummy:

Tim & Em: Can I pull the life jacket out from under the seat? Is it here? *using their fingers to touch the seat below* I want to blow and wear it.

Mummy:

Tim & Em: When can we slide down from the plane? I want to ride the boats too.

Mummy: *donno where to hide*

Fortunately the cartoon channel came back on again and they left me in peace. Such innocence.

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Preparing For Chinese New Year

We Chinese regard Chinese New Year as a great celebration. It is celebrating the coming of new year and there are a lot of preparation to do. First we probably will do some spring cleaning to our homes. We repair anything that is broken or replace if it cannot be fixed.

Chinese New Year period will be a hot season here. We have to ensure that the air conditioning compressor and the air conditioning is working well. I must say that my air condition has been running for more than 8 years and it is still going without any problem. I ensure that it is well maintained and serviced it annually. That’s remind me I must get those filters clean.

CNY is just 2 months away, lots of work to do but so little time. I really have to start planning.

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Be A Child Again

Suddenly I felt like a kid when I walked into Hong Kong Disneyland. I must say I enjoyed most rides. Many will say that it is smaller than other Disneyland but it is the right size for my children. At least I do not have to queue for long time on most rides. More about the rides and videos in parkbay.net.

Transport
We took the MTR from Central to Sunny Bay and switched to the Disney line. It was free as we got the Airport Express package. It has 3 days unlimited MTR ride. I thought it was 3 consecutive days but it turned out if I didn’t use it on the 2nd day, it was free for 3rd and 4th day. Amazing or there is a bug.

The Disney line train as Mickey shape windows and that excite my children. They love the short ride. It wasn’t very pack either. As we arrived at the station, there are pickup shuttle busses to the hotel. We got that pretty early, drop our bags and straight to Disneyland Park. If you cannot get an early check in, you can leave your bags at the hotel.

Do remember to pick up the daily schedule for shows, parade and firework. It changes from time to time.

Disney Hollywood Hotel
I got a free upgrade to the room with a sea view with no extra charge. In additional, currently there is a promotion to get 1 day park ticket for 2 days visit. We stayed there for 2 nights.

By the way, Chooi Peng discovered that if you get the annual pass, you can also get 30% discount on the hotel rates. I wonder whether we can get an annual pass for child and still get the 30% discount. Check it out and let me know.

Child ticket - HKD$210
Annual Pass for Child Ticket HKD$460 (Difference of HKD$250)

Min Room rate HKD$1200 per night
*Discount 30% - HKD$360, savings of $110 (Do check the discount % as it changes from time to time)
Another night of bookings, savings of $470 if I do my math correctly. Plus other benefits that comes with the annual pass.

If the above works, be sure you get a Disney souvenir for me and Chooi Peng.

The room was spacious and it has a nice view of the sea. The only thing that my children complained about is the missing Cartoon Network channel. They have 3 channel showing Toy Story II in Cantonese, Cars in Mandarin and Incredibles in English, repeatedly. Or was it Toy Story in English, go figure. Day 2, the same movies.

Disneyland Park
First day, we wanted to cover all the shows first. However my children are eager to ride The BuzzLightYear, so we headed to Tomorrowland. We saw Buzz! We took some pictures with him. There wasn’t any queue for the Buzz rides. We went on it 3 times.

We completed Tomorrowland and Adventureland on the first day. We managed to see all the shows except the 3D show in Fantasyland and rides in Fantasyland. Second day, we took the train to Fantasyland and finished it off. My personal favorites are “It’s the small world” ride and the 3D Mickey show.

The parade was ok but the fireworks were superb. It comes with background music.

Food is pretty pricy in the park, it cost at least HKD50+ per meal and drinks cost HKD10+.

Here are the pictures you been waiting for….

Here is what you get at the end of it all…

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Bamboo Blinds

Bamboo blinds are very durable and it comes in many designs. I love them because it is practical, easy to install and easy to clean. Now PayLessDecor.com is offering good deals for bamboo blinds. There are many different style to choose from.

The weather may be getting hotter as it is approaching Chinese New Year. I may need to get the bamboo blinds to make my home feeling cool. It also gives an Asian design to my home to prepare for Chinese New Year.

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Smell of Coffee

After a good vacation, it is really difficult to wake up and go to work. I have to clear 1 weeks of piled up work. Work just does not go on vacation, I guess. Every morning, my colleague will go to the pantry and make a nice cup of coffee. The smell of her coffee really wakes me up. Although I cannot drink coffee but I do like the smell.

She does make good coffee. I bet one of these espresso machines will be a good Christmas gift for her. Now how I wished my company will install a good tea machine too! I need my morning breakfast milk tea. It wakes me up within second.

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Hong Kong Trip Plan

I am back with my family from a week vacation in Hong Kong. Happiness is so short-lived when you are having a good time. I would say my family had a great time in Hong Kong, to be precise Hong Kong Disneyland. I will share some tips with you if you are planning to go there. More pictures when I get it sorted.

Plan
My planning started way back in July when I discovered that SIA is offering a promotion for flights to Hong Kong. Actually, I was planning to bring my family to Bali because I had SIA frequent flyer miles to consume. I ended up finding a better deal to Hong Kong.

Next, the hotel bookings. Hotels are very expensive in Hong Kong especially for a family of four. Most hotel will required you to have 2 rooms because at most they can accommodate 3 in a room, 2 adult and a child. Fortunately for me my company had corporate rates for Hong Kong hotels. I had a great deal with Park Lane hotel and I stayed in the most happening place too that is Causeway Bay. Their service is superb. They even gave me an extra bed without any charges in a Deluxe Room. By the way, Ikea is just next to the hotel.

My children wanted to stay in Disneyland too. I booked Disney Hollywood Hotel for 2 nights. Now they are having a promotion, if you stayed any of the 2 hotels in Disneyland, you get 2 for 1. You pay 1 day park tickets for 2 days in the park. Trust me, if you want to enjoy yourself in Disneyland without the rush, you need to spend 2 days in the park. You need to walk, queue, walk, queue and walk. Talk more about Disneyland in the next post.

Transport
Taxi is pretty expensive especially when you have to cross over from one island to another. It is about HKD$350-400 to go from airport to the hotel.

I chose to travel by train. I got the Airport Express tickets which allow us to travel from airport to Central. From Central, it cost HKD$50 for taxi to the hotel. Airport Express return tickets cost HKD$300 (with $50 refundable deposit). It also includes 3 days of free MTR rides. I can use it to travel from hotel to Disneyland free and other MTR rides. MTR is a great way to travel around. It is fully connected to most places of interest. It has a good display on every train unit on the current and next destination to minimize confusion.

Money Changing
I was very fortunate to get a good rate for Hong Kong dollars. The day after I changed, the Hong Kong dollars went up. Phew. You can start to monitor the Hong Kong dollar exchange rates before you go and start changing when it is a good rate. Do not wait else you will regret. In July, I got 2.3 and in Nov, I got 2.15.

I heard from my mom that the money exchange from Mid Valley gives a very good rate. Always ask the agent to give you a good rate and sometimes they give a better rate than what it is publish on the board.

Interesting Places To Visit
Disneyland – A place when your dream comes true and your pockets go dry.

The Peak – A place when you get a good view of Hong Kong. At this time, it is pretty cold and windy up there, be sure you wear thicker clothing. Bring your gloves, tripod, good camera and patience. There was a long queue when we went up but the train came pretty fast. There is also a wax museum which we didn’t go because my children were not interested. After you come down the peak, take the double-decker open top bus to travel back to Central Station.

Ocean Park – We didn’t go there but another good spot for children. You can see dolphin show, panda, rides and cable car. Most rides are for teenager and above.

Mong Kok Ladies Street – A street full of bargain-able stuff, just like Petaling Street. The trick to get a good price is always survey what price you can get by asking a few stores. Do not start bargaining at the first few shops because somewhere down the street, the price will go down. Do not act desperate to buy but stay cool. Try to ask the price of other items too. When they cannot give you the price you want, don’t say anything but walk away. If they can go lower, they will call you back. If not, that is the price you can get. Try to use that price for other stores.

There was one item when I ask the first store, the seller told me the price was HKD150. I didn’t say anything and was looking at other things. She offered HKD120. I asked her for the best offer, she said HKD100. As I walked away, she shouted HKD90. I went to another store and I got it for HKD85.

Mong Kok also has a street full of food. You must try out the beef tripe noodles, steam Hong Kong Kai Lan, the stinky fried bean curd, fish/meat balls and other good stuff.

A Symphony of Lights – You can watch lights and sound show at either sides of the Victoria Harbour. The best view would be along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront at Avenue of Stars.

Ferry Ride – We took a ferry ride from Central Pier to Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. My children adore the ferry ride.

Sai Kung – Good place for seafood especially lobster. Yummy :)~~~

Causeway Bay – A good place to shop! It has Sogo, Times Square, Sasa, Causeway Bay Plaza and others.

Windsor House has toys r us on 7F. I got 2 huge transformers optimus prime and megatron that make sound for HKD299.00. It is 2 for the price of 1. One cost RM200 in Malaysia.

Dim Sum Places – You must try the dim sum in Hong Kong, superb! Again food is expensive but it is worth it. :P~~

Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po – Electronic stuff.

Tips

1. Do not be over ambitious when traveling with young children. A lot of places required them to walk and they can only walk so much.
2. Do not go to MTR station during peak hours, it has lots of people.
3. Hold on to your children because all day long on the street, there is a crowd.
4. Remember to bring extra memory card for your camera and backup batteries. We used up 8G of memory for video taking in Disneyland.
5. Pack light so that you can carry more stuff home.
6. Purchase the Octopus card. You can pay anything with it and get discounted MTR rides. This way, you do not need to dig money out and end of with a lot of coins. The airport express card can be used as an octopus card too.
7. Get a good Hong Kong map from the airport. It is free! If you want more maps, email me.
8. Bring plenty of cash because food & drinks are not cheap. If you are going to shop in the flea or street markets, cash is preferable.
9. Get rid of your remaining HKD by paying the hotel bill. You do not need to carry any HKD back to Malaysia. Remember to keep some for taxi fare if you are taking the taxi to airport.
10. Have Fun!

More post about the trip later. Now I need to clear 120 emails, work never go on vacation!

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Having Too Much Good Food

One thing I enjoyed about Hong Kong is the food. There is so much good food in Hong Kong and the food is so tasty. I must say that I didn’t feel any MSG inside the food. If you are there, you must really try the food like abalone, lobster, scallops, beef, goose and peking duck.

I must say that I have gain a little bit of weight from having too much good food. Maybe I need Phentermine to get back to my normal weight. I am sure some exercise would help.

Oh no, Christmas is coming and I guess another round of good food.

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Travel Insurance

How many of you get travel insurance when you are going for vacation? I bet you do not pay attention to it. It is best to be safe than sorry. Imagine if you go on a vacation and something happen. Medical fees at other countries can burned a hole in your pocket. I know Hong Kong medical fees are expensive. My doctor told me it is cheaper to stay in the hotel than the hospital.

Now you can buy International coverage travel insurance at WorldTravelCenter.com. I am sure with this travel insurance plan, you can have a peace of mind during your vacation. Have a safe trip!

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Waking Up Problem Gone

Remembered I blog about Emily has a waking up problem during school days. This week, she didn’t have any problem waking up. You wanna know why? I am sure. This week, the tadika has planned a week full of interesting activities.

Tues: Teaching children to buy and sell.

Wed: Butterfly farm excursion.

Thurs: Marcus Birthday celebration.

Fri: Last Day of School Party.

With all these exciting activities, she woke up instantly. She slept early on Tuesday night because she had to wake up at 7am. The bus will leave school at 8:15am. Guess what, papa found her sleeping outside the bedroom at 6:30am. She must have been afraid that we forget to wake her up and miss the excursion.

Lastly, today will be the last day for Tim to attend kindy. Next year he will be in primary 1. The days have passed so fast. I still remember the day when I delivered him. He was so tiny and he smiles a lot! Once I sang to him and he was giggling in his sleep.

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Work Force

Everything is uncertain as the global economy meltdown. Many are afraid that they will lose their jobs. If you are one of them, start planning now. Do not wait till it hit you. It is always wise to have plan B. In IT terms, I called it Disaster Recovery Plan.

There are many jobs in business and it is no harm searching for it. Even if you are not affected or you think you are not affected, it is good to always measure yourself with the job market today. Find out what you are worth. You may be surprised.

One of my colleagues told me that there will be a lot of new companies emerging in Penang. I am not sure whether how true but it is definitely an opportunity there.

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Papa Bloopers

Read the previous post to get the story below.

Day before yesterday while I was having a shower, shampooing my hair to be precise, papa came knocking on the door. He asked me why did I put the lip balm into Emily school bag? Obviously I didn’t know what he was talking about. He opened the door slightly to show me. I told him, this is a glue stick.

After the shower, I told my children that papa thought the glue stick is a lip balm. They giggles and Tim make a funny remark.

Tim: Papa, why do you want to put glue on your lips? You want to be quiet?

Actually he made the blooper because I told him I got the lip balm today and he thought I put it in Emily’s school bag.

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What Is This?

Can you tell what are the pink stick and the blue stick? Have a guess? I will tell you a funny thing someone did, in the next post.

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