Chi Residence 279

Now that I am back in Singapore. I just want to do a quick roundup of my recent Hong Kong stay at Chi Residence 279. Just to qualify, this is not a sponsored post. I write this purely for sharing purpose.

To me, I feel that the location is great. It is just a stone's throw away from Yau Ma Tei MTR. It is very near to the famous Temple Street.  For more precision, it is opposite the Silka Seaview Hotel.

Cross this road and you could enjoy the famous dessert chain store - 许留山. Turn right and walk a little, you would reach Chi Residence. 

 

This is the frontage. In fact, you should be able to see it at the traffic junction near Silka Seaview Hotel.

As I mentioned in my previous blogpost, the apartment size is pretty decent by Hong Kong standard. I love the kitchen, living room space which one cannot find in the usual hotel rooms. There are also some basic cutleries, cups, plates and bowls as my boys would have cereals for breakfast. There are also complimentary coffee and tea sachets as well as mineral water.

On the whole, I am very happy with my stay there. Thanks to fellow net citizens for sharing your experiences. And this is really my way of saying thank you - keeping up the spirit of unbiased reporting.

Cheers!

Oblivious Ocean Park

"Please stand behind the line." The commanding voice of the train marshall was loud and clear.

 

We were wondering why the MTR to Admiralty was packed to the brim until it struck us that it was 10 minutes to 9 am on Monday. We were jostling with the office crowd in the MTR!

Thereafter we continued our journey to Ocean Park via bus. On board the bus, we were treated to the scene of the busy street roads. Look the electric bus!

When we reached Ocean Park, we realised that the park would only open at 10.30 am. With much time to while away, we took photos of the surroundings.

From the hoardings and signboards, it would appear that Ocean Park would soon be accessible by MTR. 

There were exhibits outside true to Ocean Park's environmental theme.

Ocean Park was a mishmash of stuff. Meet the pandas and monkeys.

There were the Emerald trail, animal performances, game carnival and thrill rides. However, in my opinion, Disneyland was definitely better. For a theme park, I would prefer a defined focus.

In terms of food, Ocean Park did this right. Presenting the panda custard buns...

My younger boy simply loved taking photos with the mascots.

One thing that Ocean Park stood out was its sea creatures, which was unfortunately diluted by the other misfitting concepts added on. I thought the Old Hong Kong Street stood out like a sore thumb.

After a relaxing day, we took City Bus 629 again to Central. Tonight we managed to dine in Maxim's Palace...

The food here was great. Well worth the trip!

Flight to Fantasy in Disneyland

We woke up at around 9 am and enjoyed the city view of Hong Kong. We had real views compared to the curtains that opened up to face another wall. At a high floor, we enjoyed a quiet night too.

We revisited Disneyland and were transported to our childhood days again. The journey itself had us looking forward to our adventure. That was a great marketing move by Disney.

With all the anticipation, the travelling time whizzed by and we were thrilled when we arrived at the park.

Star attraction for my younger boy was the photo shoot with his idol, Phuto. Just look at his contented expression!

I was also having fun goofing around while my elder boy was trying to shadow me.

The various attractions that we revisited did not disappoint. Hey, this is Disneyland. We expect no less.

And I definitely had great bonding time with my family.

Some new attractions, at least to me were the Grizzly Gulch - thrill ride with mining theme, Mystic Manor - quite family friendly ride along the supernatural theme, Toyland - after the crazily successful runs of Toy Story with more thrilling rides, and It's a Small World - quite mild rides.

I still enjoyed the parade which featured an ensemble of different characters marching around the park. At the halfway point, the crew had asked for child volunteers to dance along. 

And of course, my all-time-favourite - the night time firework. To me, Disneyland fireworks was the best, not to be missed and should be watched live!

It was such a magical day!

In Hong Kong in Search of Good Food

Greetings from Hong Kong, my dear readers.

Weather here is a cooling 16-18 degree celicus. My family used to stay at Metropark Hotel at Lai Chi Kok for the longest time. However with my two boys growing up fast, I will need a bigger space yet one that is friendly to my pocket. So this time round I cast my net for accommodation wider to include service apartments. Whoah here we are staying at Chi Residence.

I am quite happy with the apartment size at around 650 sq ft. It is a 1-bedroom unit with kitchen, living room with sofa, TV, DVD player and a single bed setup. The fittings and appliances are pretty new and in tiptop working conditions. The staff are also very friendly and helpful. Security is also good as we will need the access card in addition to the room key to get up to our unit.

Anyway back to my sightseeing. Today we headed down to the Avenue of Stars. The skyline of Hong Kong has remained enchanting. The cultural centre has also seemed more vibrant than yesteryear. 

Thereafter we started our journey, well in search of good food. My dear friends have shared with food not to miss when in Hong Kong. Today, we were determined to check out Maxim's Palace City hall. 

We took a longer than usual route before we arrived at City Hall. Our exhaustion turned exhilaration when we saw the restaurant.

We hastened our food steps and were eager to order our food. However the menu turned out to be western dishes. Perturbed I asked the server if it was because they only served dimsum in the day time. To our amusement, we were in the wrong restaurant.

Our zeal for good food saw us apologising profusely for the mistake as we made our way out to Maxim's Palace which was one level up. However, the full house banner greeted us. The restaurant was fully booked for an event to celebrate International Women's Day on 3 Mar.

We then decided to try Tim Ho Wan and we saw the following...

Undeterred, we paced further up and our perseverance was rewarded.

By then we were hungry and exhausted. Our hearts sank when we saw the queue. Our attention was quickly turned to the Itacho. 

And yes, we had a hearty dinner there.

Burp....

My Brother's Wedding

I never really understood the need for wedding dinner until my brother's. 

There were a lot of planning and logistics involved. Not to mention that it also came with a big price tag. 

However the passing of time made me wiser and more circumspect. I saw that our relatives made great effort to travel far and wide to attend the wedding. 

To the elders, they were happy just to see their long-time relatives. There was an understanding that if you could afford to, give more in terms of angpao money. Otherwise a smaller amount. The hosts were just elated to see each other and indulged in talking about the good old times.

Just see how happy my mother, her dear brothers and sisters, most had travelled from Malaysia to attend. Many were not in exactly pink of health but attend they must.