Hong Kong Trip
This is a long overdued post. After the wedding, Merrill and I went to Hong Kong for a couple of days just to get away from it all. Seeing as we won't be going on our honeymoon until May, we decided to treat this as a mini honeymoon and splurged at the fancy schmancy Four Seasons Hotel. It was a great decision as we loved our minute of our stay there, in fact it now ranks up there as my favourite hotel ever. We only had a deluxe room but it was really spacious, huge in fact for HK standards. The contemperory design, plush king size bed and large, luxurious bathroom complete with L'Occitane toiletries made our stay an extremely comfortable one. Not to mention the hotel had an awesome pool area and spa, both with great views of the Victoria Harbour to boot. There's nothing like sitting in a hot tub on a cold winter night, better still when the view is of the HK skyline and the Star Ferries travelling to and fro. As for the spa, I don't even know where to start. We went there twice and both times enjoyed ourselves immensely. You can get your treatments done in the VIP spa suite for an extra HKD$1000, which we opted for our first night there. Basically you get another hour in the suite after your treatment to enjoy the facilities there which includes a steam shower room and a jacuzzi with a giant rain shower. It was well worth the splurge I say. The spa also had various other facilities in the changing room like a large vitality pool, steam room and sauna etc but unfortunately we didn't have time to enjoy them. Oh before I forget, we also bumped into Edison Chan while waiting at the spa (he came out while we were filling out some forms). He was hanging around for quite a while waiting for his companion to come out so I managed to sneak a few peeks at him and can say that he's just as cute in person as on the big screen. *teehee*
Anyway I visit HK fairly often but this was Merrill's first trip so I decided to spare him the tiring routine I usually do, which basically consists of non-stop shopping from 12pm - 12am with breaks for meals when I get hungry. We took it easy with the shopping and did some touristy stuff like going up to the Peak, going on the Star Ferry (I've always loved taking the ferry at night), having high tea at Peninsula hotel etc. Unfortunately this also meant that my shopping haul was smaller than my previous trips. In fact I didn't buy any shoes at all this trip except for a pair of flat boots which I needed coz all I had with me were summer sandals. Compare this to the 6,7 pairs which I bought during my 2006 HK trip. I did pick up some good buys though, which included a cashmere/wool blend coat from Club Monaco, a wool/angora blend jacket with fox fur trimmed hood from Max & Co, and a chocolate leather trenchcoat style jacket. The cashmere coat was reduced to around AU$600 on sale, quite a good price really considering it's 90% cashmere, great quality and really warm. I also picked up a chinchilla scarf which is oh so soft. Initially I kept going into Lane Crawford to check out the fur section coz I love the chinchilla stoles/cropped jackets they had. But there's no way I can afford to drop AU$3000 on a stole which I probably won't even get a chance to use so I was happy when I found the scarf which is a lot more practical and a hell lot more affordable at AU$300.
It was a great trip overall, as I got to spend quality time with my hubby in one of my favourite city. We even got upgraded to business class on our way back to Singapore. Woohoo! Unfortunately the short 3.5 hours flight was enough to spoil us and now whenever we travel we'll be lamenting the fact that we can't afford to go business class. Ah well......maybe I can get my dad to spare some of his Krisflyer points to upgrade us to busines on our honeymoon. :Þ Business class on the A380 would be sweeeet...
First view of HK (or rather, Lantau Island) fresh off the plane
On the Airport Express train
Our lovely hotel room
We didn't get a room with the Harbour view so all we saw outside were buildings
Super comfy bed
The spacious bathroom
There are mirrors everywhere!
The infinity pool
You can see the hot tub in the middle of the photo
Cool floating Xmas tree at the IFC mall. The bits & pieces are attached by strings from the ceiling
The Crystal Spa Suite
Day bed in the spa suite to lounge on
Control Panel for the blinds, lighting, hot tub etc
Steam shower room
City skyline
Giant rain shower!
Hot tub and infinity pool at night
The rooms above the pool are actually spa treatment rooms
I love how cabs are so easily available in HK unlike Singapore
Neon signboards of HK
This is Causeway Bay at 12am
Us looking for food late at night
Yummy (but artery clogging) toasted buttered buns with condensed milk
My fave HK dessert place, Hui Lau Shan
Sago dessert with bird's nest, although it probably isn't real bird's nest coz it was all broken up
The Star Ferry pier at Central
HK gets clear blue skies like in Australia, pity about the pollution though
Us on the ferry
Me looking sleepy while waiting for lunch at a random Teochew eatery
Merrill tucking into his first Teochew meal
The beautiful lobby at Peninsula Hotel
Christmas high tea menu
High tea platter for 2
City skyline from the Star Ferry
Another shot of the city, up on the Peak
Posing for touristy shots
Dinner at Cafe Deco
Merrill's entree: Beef carpaccio
My entree: Pan fried foie gras
My main: Lobster Mornay
Merrill's main: Some sort of pizza
The outdoor area of the restaurant
Merrill imitating Astro Boy
Merrill molesting Astro Boy
Some wet market that we stumbled across at Causeway Bay, quite cool really
Merrill with my newly bought chinchilla scarf
On the flight home
Merrill enjoyed the leg room business class has to offer
Anyway I visit HK fairly often but this was Merrill's first trip so I decided to spare him the tiring routine I usually do, which basically consists of non-stop shopping from 12pm - 12am with breaks for meals when I get hungry. We took it easy with the shopping and did some touristy stuff like going up to the Peak, going on the Star Ferry (I've always loved taking the ferry at night), having high tea at Peninsula hotel etc. Unfortunately this also meant that my shopping haul was smaller than my previous trips. In fact I didn't buy any shoes at all this trip except for a pair of flat boots which I needed coz all I had with me were summer sandals. Compare this to the 6,7 pairs which I bought during my 2006 HK trip. I did pick up some good buys though, which included a cashmere/wool blend coat from Club Monaco, a wool/angora blend jacket with fox fur trimmed hood from Max & Co, and a chocolate leather trenchcoat style jacket. The cashmere coat was reduced to around AU$600 on sale, quite a good price really considering it's 90% cashmere, great quality and really warm. I also picked up a chinchilla scarf which is oh so soft. Initially I kept going into Lane Crawford to check out the fur section coz I love the chinchilla stoles/cropped jackets they had. But there's no way I can afford to drop AU$3000 on a stole which I probably won't even get a chance to use so I was happy when I found the scarf which is a lot more practical and a hell lot more affordable at AU$300.
It was a great trip overall, as I got to spend quality time with my hubby in one of my favourite city. We even got upgraded to business class on our way back to Singapore. Woohoo! Unfortunately the short 3.5 hours flight was enough to spoil us and now whenever we travel we'll be lamenting the fact that we can't afford to go business class. Ah well......maybe I can get my dad to spare some of his Krisflyer points to upgrade us to busines on our honeymoon. :Þ Business class on the A380 would be sweeeet...
First view of HK (or rather, Lantau Island) fresh off the plane
On the Airport Express train
Our lovely hotel room
We didn't get a room with the Harbour view so all we saw outside were buildings
Super comfy bed
The spacious bathroom
There are mirrors everywhere!
The infinity pool
You can see the hot tub in the middle of the photo
Cool floating Xmas tree at the IFC mall. The bits & pieces are attached by strings from the ceiling
The Crystal Spa Suite
Day bed in the spa suite to lounge on
Control Panel for the blinds, lighting, hot tub etc
Steam shower room
City skyline
Giant rain shower!
Hot tub and infinity pool at night
The rooms above the pool are actually spa treatment rooms
I love how cabs are so easily available in HK unlike Singapore
Neon signboards of HK
This is Causeway Bay at 12am
Us looking for food late at night
Yummy (but artery clogging) toasted buttered buns with condensed milk
My fave HK dessert place, Hui Lau Shan
Sago dessert with bird's nest, although it probably isn't real bird's nest coz it was all broken up
The Star Ferry pier at Central
HK gets clear blue skies like in Australia, pity about the pollution though
Us on the ferry
Me looking sleepy while waiting for lunch at a random Teochew eatery
Merrill tucking into his first Teochew meal
The beautiful lobby at Peninsula Hotel
Christmas high tea menu
High tea platter for 2
City skyline from the Star Ferry
Another shot of the city, up on the Peak
Posing for touristy shots
Dinner at Cafe Deco
Merrill's entree: Beef carpaccio
My entree: Pan fried foie gras
My main: Lobster Mornay
Merrill's main: Some sort of pizza
The outdoor area of the restaurant
Merrill imitating Astro Boy
Merrill molesting Astro Boy
Some wet market that we stumbled across at Causeway Bay, quite cool really
Merrill with my newly bought chinchilla scarf
On the flight home
Merrill enjoyed the leg room business class has to offer