Seoul Korea in 3 Days (Day 1)

Seoul, South Korea
Day 1 (25 - 26 November 2010)

It has been months ever since I last blogged a proper entry and I suppose it is about time otherwise I will lost track of all the events that has happened for the past few months. I last left off in September and one of the things that I would like to share is about my virgin voyage to Seoul, South Korea. The reason for the trip is simply to recce Seoul prior to the annual trip with my tenants and family. Autumn is about to end during that period but thank God we managed to savor what's left of it and yet, it is still a beauty to behold.

We stayed in Renaissance Hotel located in between Seoul Leung and Yeoksam MRT. It is not exactly the most convenient place and in fact, it is quite far from most of the main attractions but heck, most of the big names are too E.g. Ritz Carlton, JW Marriott and what not.

Our room in Renaissance Hotel. Comfortable enough and considering
that you'll not be staying in it for most of the days, its good.

Hong Kong Revisited: A Gastronomic Vacation

22nd - 26th May 2010

Hong Kong. Whenever that name comes to my mind it will always reminds me of their reputation as the Hollywood of Asia, the food and more importantly for the fairer sex, shopping! We managed to purchase a 2-for-1 return flight on JetStar from Singapore to Hong Kong for a bargain of S$350 net and a couple of friends P and C is joining us for the trip. My goal and the goal of the ladies are clear and so I have to compromise a little, besides, one couldn't eat 24 hours running, right?

In order to make it more pleasurable to read, I will blog instead of what I have done rather than a day to day journal in this posting. Let's start with accommodation first. Throughout the 5D4N trip, my wife and I have stayed in 3 hotels... the reason being, we couldn't get a room for all 4 nights in the Marriott Hotel in Admiralty. Since we only have 2 nights in Marriott for night 2 and 3, we put up in Wesley Hotel in Wancai, which is within 3 minutes walk away from the Marriott Hotel itself on night 1 and the Royal Pacific Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui on night 4. Needless to say, the Marriott is the best and I feel so upset that we couldn't get all 4 nights. Wesley Hotel is pretty clean and convenient if you don't mind walking a little to take the MTR in either Admiralty or Wancai. The food around the hotel is pretty good and like most other hotels in Hong Kong Island, the room is small but at a rate of HK$600 per night, I guess I wouldn't complain much. The Royal Pacific Hotel is average although the rates they charge is slightly higher than the other hotels at HK$765 per night for a Premier room. Disappointed with the room in the Royal Pacific because the furnishing are old and the bed, not comfortable at all and if you are making your decision based on the hotel website, do not be deceived! The only thing good about this hotel is its location which is situated near to the Kowloon Park.

Hong Kong in 6 Days (Day 6)

Day 6

Cheung Chau! I know many of you have never thought of going to the remote island of Cheung Chau during your visit to　Hong Kong and let me tell you something... lean closer yet... You are missing out big time!

Hong Kong in 6 Days (Day 5)

Day 05

We planned to a little further today. Our plan is Stanley! It is on the southern part of Hong Kong island and is famous for being the place where rich people stay and ironically the prison. To go to Stanley, you will have to take the mini bus from Causeway Bay.

Before we head to Stanley, we had breakfast in Wan Chai again as it is within walking distance from our lodging in JW Marriott. We had breakfast at a local eatery that was frequented by many white collar worker and the wisdom is, eat where the local eat and you will get good food at good price. This eatery is located 3 shops to the right from the Crocodile Outlet Stall as shown in the map below.

Hong Kong in 6 Days (Day 04)

Day 4

Day 4 is a more adventurous day as we are more daring to try out other areas that are not so touristy that way, savouring the local culture of the country state. We had intended to travel from one MTR to another since we bought the 3-days unlimited octopus card. We traveled from Prince all the way down to Kowloon for the light show in the evening and ended it off with a ride on the ferry across the Hong Kong straits.

The gem lying in the dust... Apliu Street

Hong Kong in 6 Days (Day 3)

Day 3

Today is the day whereby my wife and I will take a trip down to our childhood memories and where else would it be if its not Disneyland Hong Kong? During my childhood days, Mickey mouse and gang is the best thing that could happen on TV and my brother would record the cartoon down on our then sophisticated VCR to watch. Watch we did! In fact for so many times that we could memorize the dialogue/lines from the start through till the end and perhaps that was one of the ways that my siblings and I learnt our English.

Our morning breakfast spread consists of (Clock wise from 12 o'clock position)
Chicken porridge, stocking tea, hotdogs + toast + eggs, French toasts, Rice dumpling in soy sauce

Hong Kong in 6 Days (Day 1 - 2)

Day 1 and 2

Come the end of this year, both my wife and I have planned for a vacation to Europe. Well, someone once asked where's the rest of my Hong Kong honeymoon posting which happens like one year ago, so before I go for my Europe trip, here's something that happened last December.

Room view of our Executive room in
JW Marriot Hong Kong
(Great location! The Admiralty MTR is just opposite the road)