2 June (Sun) Dinner at 麦奀

Notice that, in HK, the wontons of the wonton noodles are not served on top of the noodles, but put at the bottle of the bowl, topped by the noodles; not served with vegetables, but some spring onions. So, vegetables aren’t part of it, but order as a separate dish. 

It tasted like the one that Tim Ho Wan sells. Some chewy texture. The wonton tasted good! I also learnt the difference between 云吞 wonton and 水饺🥟 dumpling. Look at what’s stuffed inside the dumpling! Not just more prawn & fish paste, but comes with black fungus and mushroom! 

2 June (Sun) Hong Kong Space Museum

By name, I was hoping for something more exciting. Maybe my expectations had levelled up, over the years, after having more exposure to what an exhibition could present. 

The ground floor was primarily talking about the solar system. Not new, isn’t it? But come to think about it, I had forgotten (at that point) that’s the introduction to space, isn’t it? 

Similar to any good museum, experiential learning is an essential component to learning. Quite like the ‘weight’-feel to illustrate gravitational pull from various planets. In addition, the illustrate the proportion of the different gas elements in the atmosphere of each planet, the colour beads is a good illustration to see how prominent or rare each element is. In fact, it generated an idea on an simple assessment question related to ratio and proportion.

2 June (Sun) Hong Kong Cultural Museum

A museum that documented the culture scene in Hong Kong. Not just the main exhibition about martial arts world of Jin Yong, but also dated all the way back to the Chinese Opera and the local contemporary musical scene. 

It is less accessible than I thought it is. Am grateful for my local guides, cousins Annie and Ricky. 

Not just my navigator, I got commentary of a great fan (Ricky) - what’s most memorable is the knowledge and passion through the articulation. 

I confess that I’m not a big fan of Jinyong. Nevertheless, thanks to HK TVB, I “watched” (instead of reading) his novels through the various dramas - which was a definite hit in the 1980s-1990s. There’s when the 5 “tigers” were “born” - playing the various lead roles in his novels. The only novel I read was 射雕英雄传. Nevertheless, many of the characters left lasting memories. That’s the power of the writer.

Got to learn more about Bruce Lee, who’s definitely the pride of the Chinese community, in particular, Hong Kong’s. His faith and the belief, and influence through the cultural scene.

Had the opportunity to see and yes, see it closely, the kind of costumes that artistes like Anita Mui, Roman Lo wore at concerts, too. These costumes looked so unreal - showy… but that’s what marked that era of showmanship. 

Learnt something that’s entirely new - the pre-show presentation that announced the cast before the actual show. Does that apply to those shows outside HK?

2 June (Sun) Lunch @Kah Wah Kitchen, Shatin

It’s a Tsui Wah equivalent - a typical HK cafe serving the locals. Nothing beats eating like the locals :)

It’s a filling lunch… the serving was big - each set was enough to serve 2.

2 June (Sun) Getting Ready

First thing in mind was to prepare transport arrangement - what I meant was MTR. Its network is pretty comprehensive and the map is easy to navigate and plan. I had the “old” Octopus cards but decided not to use them because it required activation (HKD50) before topping it up with whichever amount I plan to use. However, the key is…. The top-up has to be in CASH! Ops… that’s easy to decide - opt for the single day TOURIST card that cost HKD60 each - for unlimited travel.

One advantage of staying near Tung Chung station is, it’s the terminal station - it makes planning quite straightforward, though it took time to travel out to the main islands. It took almost 30 min to travel out from Tung Chung to Lai King, the first station in the Kowloon island. 

Another important thing to do is to re-familiarise myself with the route from the hotel to the MTR station, also what are some shops around.

2 June (Sun) Checking in

The plane landed approximately 10 minutes late. My baggage came late - probably because it followed the first-in-last-out rule. By the time I reached the bus bay where the hotel shuttle was, I missed the last bus. 

Managed to catch a cab (the blue one that runs in Lantau island). It cost me HKD62. Slightly less than SGD 10. Still, cheaper than what I spend between my home and the airport.  

Oh, I was glad that I carried cash - reason being cab only accepts cash. Indeed, I noticed there’s provision for the passenger to pay by credit card, but requires one to activate the app at the point journey starts. I guess cab drivers preferred to collect cash, that’s why the driver did not check whether I want to pay by cash. OK, there’s another assumption, he assumed that I had cash? 

Choose Novotel Citygate, because of its the location and shuttle service. Though a bit far from the City, with the MTR, it’s still considered convenient. Quite like that it’s away from the crowd yet it’s linked to a big shopping mall. 

By the time I checked in, it’s just after 12 midnight. Took a while to unpack my stuff for the next 4 days. 

Good night.