And so this is the half-awake me, after a night of heavy drinking before my flight. And off we go!!!
Transferred onto a taxi after we settle our Octopus card at the airport
Checked into our 5-star hotel, Cordis Hong Kong. Really live up to its status with near perfect service; what's more, it's right in the city centre (sort of)
Was undecided between going to the Peak or the Harbour, Brandon's decision to visit the earlier made our choice easier.
First stop: 文武庙. Had to climb up numerous flights of stairs before we get to see this temple and pray to the gods. Back in one piece so it's pretty worth while I would say! Haha. Though it's a precursor to a treacherous trip when mum took quite an amount of effort getting up and, afterwards, down the stairs.
Walked past this famous porridge shop on our way to the temple so came down for it. Super excited cos it's porridge and dad's able to eat it! Wanted the first meal to be right
及第粥! But alas, another sign of a daunting trip: the porridge turned out too watery for the palate (or the hole) of my dad... He would manage pass half the bowl
Still pretty lovey though :D
Anyways, decided to just head up to the peak and then find other food for dad from there, so we headed out to the main street to grab a taxi (recommended). At this point in time, Brandon was queueing for the Peak tram to head up to the Peak.
After some confusion, we were rewarded with this view... Way too cloudy to have the amazing view I was anticipating but not too shabby too! And at this point in time, Brandon is still queueing... Haha
Came down the viewing deck to queue up for this famous noodle stall whose Chinese name (second letter) is not a legit Chinese word; only works in Cantonese.
Noodle was... Really not impressive. Didn't like soup noodles to begin with, the dumplings turned out to be pure prawn (minimal meat inside) so dad can't eat again!! So angry with myself by this point in time. Brandon then reached the restaurant with his friends and their introduction managed to tame the situation down a tone...
Queued for about half an hour and got on the tram! Really steep on the way down but not much of a scenery... Glad we didn't spend too much time queueing or even tried queueing for our way up
Night sky of the city center (Central) was nice but felt like Singapore all over again (deserted at night as with Tokyo and our Raffles Place also). This "optical illusion" is pretty nice!
First day and before we thought of using lifts, this was the case almost everywhere cos the MTR stations don't always have escalator... On hindsight, must have been really difficult for mum, but I was abit annoyed at that point in time
And this was the last straw for the night. Asked for help from Hongkong friend, Chingyi, to ask for nice restaurants recommendations that might suit dad's dietary requirements. Found this cafe that served softbread, scrambled eggs and soup macaroni; turns out, laopa was only able to eat the scrambled eggs. Got rather annoyed at this point and said some spiteful words; mum was also at her wits end, and she just led the cafe and went out to get some fresh air. When we called for the bill, the waiter was so disappointed it was written all over his face, to see that the food was mostly untouched. And I was really too full at this point to help. Went back to our hotel and dad manage to feed himself some of the biscuits he brought over... Suddenly realise traveling with parents is no longer about finding them the best and most famous, but finding the best and most famous, that's acceptable for their lifestyle. Tough, but not impossible...
This was on early Day 2. Opens at 10am, got here at 945am and this was the queue. Rather reasonable for Sunday morning (Mother's Day!) and we were rather lucky cos the queue started to became longer after we arrive
And a group of helpful Singaporeans sitting beside us offered to help us take a nice Mother's Day photo!
Took the MTR down to the Avenue of Stars; arrived and realise it's under construction! And that's after walking for quite a bit... Haiz. Times you wish you have a bus and local guide to bring your parents around so that these kinds of wasted trips won't happen...
Survived the walk and reached the jetty at the end of the MTR station along Victoria Harbour. It was less than a dollar but super worth it cos the experience was quite good!
Reached the other end of the cruise route to the IFC Malls but figured these are not the kinds of shopping that suits us so we left after awhile (found a cluster of Filipinos near the MTR making it rather chaotic; not what I expected of the CBD of Asia's financial hub but I guess this is a kind of invisible "cost" to development).
Took the MTR down to the Ladies Street (女人街) which had a lot of random stuff as you would expect.
Didn't buy anything but came across this famous find; pearls were disappointing but otherwise a nice drink!
Got this not very nice fishball and some shell seafood thingy from a roadside stall. Sauce was good but overall, meh.
深井陈记烧烤. Roast goose was SOOO good! Really tasty and not as tough as you would expect it to be (more tender than duck). Mum's comment was: "if we found this earlier, we wouldn't have been so troubled by food options), and that's because they have 靓汤 which basically comes with pork ribs within and is also super tasty, so dad could basically just eat the soup with rice from our dishes (cos it was a huge serving of rice). Doesn't matter, I'm just really glad everything went well with this meal!
Next morning went to the famous 金华冰厅 for breakfast
Their 奶茶 and 菠萝包! Once again, dad kinda struggled :/
And then we took a Long train ride (an hour)...
To China! And it's shopping time!
First stop was to fulfil my needs of working clothes; wanted to do them in Hongkong but a lack of time meant a change of plan. Read online and the reviews for clothes here were good, so made 4 shirts and a pants while I manage to get laopa to make a set as well. Was initially worried that their promise to send over would not be fulfilled but one (anxious) month on, it reached us! Was overseas by then and dad said his set fitted to a tee! Went back to try after my SEA trip and found my to be pretty fitting as well; recommended haha.
Lunch was at a nice Chinese restaurant that dad could eat but we sadly over ordered but still good nonetheless! Before that was dad and me wandering around while Mom got her foot message.
Also found this interesting notice along the way when we were buying even more exciting toys for the kids
Loot at the end of the day when we finally return back to our 5-star hotel for one last night..
Went out one last time after dinner at the roast goose place with dad to buy Wife's Biscuit while mum rested at the lobby (it's 3 streets away and about a 10min walk away at Ladies' street). And got this; no wonder it's fame!
And then it's finally time to bid this busy streets goodbye after the nightfall...
Left early next morning to the cruise center in my ever colourful attire and it's time for China (again)
Reached Zhuhai and had some issues with the transfer to the hotel so took a taxi instead. Reached the hotel, dump our stuff, and off we go to shopping! But... Turns out the shopping was pretty disappointing. And so...
We changed our plans and crossed the border, Macau we go! Border was conveniently AT the port plaza where we were shopping. From out spa resort to the port plaza, there was a shuttle; and once we cross the custom, there were many buses waiting to pick gamblers to their casinos as well! So the impatient dad boarded one of the nearest one before I could check my map...
So here we are, an island off the main Macau island!
Galaxy! Where my virgin casino experience was taken. Papa mama loved this casino too! (Cos they won abit here haha)
Got back to the China side of the border and went for a full body massage (cheap top up with the voucher they gave); and found some bubble tea before that!
Next morning was a similar routine, and caught this on camera! Hehe
This was along the custom crossing... Hmmm
And then on the Macau side, there were protest banners along the street 
And we headed to the Grand Lisboa this time round! Elegant little pineapple
And this was the "old" Lisboa that's built like a cage (behind), supposed to trap gamblers, and also have tiles from all around tilt towards the center so the money flows in and gets kept within... And many more fengshui stuff. Still, bet my first chips here in Grand Lisboa and lost almost all except one ad souvenir. Mama and papa lost quite a bit though! But all is in good fun...
Pangseh-ed them (or they pangseh me) after awhile to explore the city on my own since they don't wanna walk and much rather do their favourite activity. Sun looks deadly here but the lack of humidity meant not much sweat so all's well!
Lots of colonial style houses!
And even MORE people!
And then finally, the classic St. Paul's ruins! Portuguese really leave ruins everywhere lol.
Went up the hill to catch this amusing sight: canons aiming towards the casino... Well, that's also where the coast is but still a rather peculiar scene
Went back to the casino to meet my parents and this was the final memory of the Macau experience. Finally after three Portuguese colonies in half a year, I found a nice Portuguese egg tart!
Headed back to the hotel after dinner at this eatery that sells nice pork ribs meal set that dad could eat and its massage once again cos they gave another two new coupons for our second night of stay. Don't feel like I need a full body massage this time round so got the foot one. Pack up our bags and then ready to move out the next morning! And this is goodbye; time to head back home...
Ferry back to Hongkong was pretty cool cos it's a direct check in for our flight! So we were stuck in the airport once we check in from Zhuhai's port to take the ferry back to HK. That's more than boredom; it means we can't exchange our Octopus card back for a refund of our money, and also means I can't get stamps for my postcard cos there isn't any vendor selling it from within! But the concept of getting to check in from the ferry was pretty cool. Oh and also, Samurai burger, PORK style! From the HKIA. And this marks the final photo for the trip...
Remembered a mixed feeling when we were waiting for the plane to go back. Partly cos I know it's a precious trip, and partly affected by how troublesome I felt along the way (and the guilt that comes with this feeling). And a main part of the mixed feeling was cos there were many trips coming up soon (at that point in time) so it didn't have the "hangover" effect or the "return home blues". But still, it'll be a trip I'll remember in many years to come...
