Hong Kong mari Part 2

Okay, am rested and ready to continue the story...where was I? Ohya, Zhuhai...as mentioned in the previous post, we visited Shijingshan Park and the Statue of the Fisher Girl. Well, these two places are linked with a romantic story between the princess of the Dragon King and a simple fisherman. The picture of the statue above is the statue of the Fisher Girl. It is also known as the symbol of the city. Now, the story was that the princess fell in love with a fisherman. They married and the princess went to live with her husband. But the Dragon King disapproved their relationship and hence, killed the fisherman. So, after her husband's death, the princess refused to go back to the sea kingdom and lived her life as a fisher girl. At the top of the hill (which housed the Shijingshan Park), you can go and see a small statue of her husband there. To go up, we have to use the cable car. It was so scary if you asked me...open air bah!! teda lagi tutup2..nah, bergantunganlah kaki di udara...and it was so high!!!

 This is a view of the top of the hill after you alight the cable car. Nice, kan?

 We ended Day 3 at Zhuhai at the Gongbei Underground Mall. I loved shopping here and yes, I spent all my Renmibis here on jewelery, handbag, food and some knick-knacks for the boys at home. Like Shenzhen, you must bargain for your goods here. Then, after 2 hours of shopping spree, we checked-in at Jumbo Hotel, Zhuhai. It is a four star hotel but teda sabun dan freebies disediakan..ironic. Hehe.

Day 4, we are off to Macau! Before leaving Zhuhai, we have to go through another immigration check. Then, we went on a five minute ride on a ferry to Macau.

 That's me on the ferry. And the picture below is some of Macau's township. 

 Macau is another unique city. Look at the picture below. I find it very interesting to have a Portuguese word next to a Chinese name. Wanna know why? It's because Macau was under the Portuguese rule before being handed back to China. Even though Macau is already under the Chinese government, the Portuguese influence was preserved in the city.

 That's one of Macau's famous landmark.

Among Macau's famous tourist attraction is the Ruins of St.Paul. It reminds me of A Famosa in Melaka albeit, the ruins here are well maintained that it still retains the aura of the olden days. The rest of the church building (I think it was part seminary as well) were destroyed in a war ( I need to recheck this, I wasn't paying a lot of attention when the tour guide was giving her briefing). 

I was actually relieved to see signage that I can understand!!

The ruins of St.Paul.

Here's another landmark in Macau. 

The picture below is the Kuan Yin statue. If you look closely, it has a dual image in which it combines the image of the Virgin Mary and Kuan Yin.

A trip to Macau would not be complete if you don't visit one of the casinos there. We had the opportunity to visit The Venetian Casino. Can't take pictures inside the casino though, so these two would have to do :-)

By the way, the sky is fake.

 A view of the casino from the shopping complex. It's actually a casino-hotel-shopping complex.

After lunch in Macau, we boarding another ferry to Hong Kong. Another immigration check...but, an hour after that, we finally arrived at...

DISNEYLAND!!

It's so Christmasey there...the place is so beautiful that I promised myself I will come back to this place again. However, Universal Studio Singapore is still my top favourite! 

 The fireworks at Disneyland. It marks the closing of the park (for the day, I mean).

 The next day, we spent the day at Ocean Park, Hong Kong. The rides are cool!! Ada roaller-coaster (yang sia tidak sempat naik), balloon ride (ni sia sempat naik) and lots more. There's also the Dolphin show, cute-cute tu dolphin :-)

 Above : The view of the park from the balloon ride.

Below : Cable car to get to the other side of the park. At least this one looks like a capsule, and you don't have to worry of having your slipper fall to the ground (cos mine almost did at Shijingshan Park :-P )

One of the cool rides.

The dolphin show!!

A view of some of HK's islands.

So, basically that's it. Hmm..I think the post title should be HK-Shenzhen-Zhuhai-Macau-HK mari..heheh...

In a nutshell, I find that :-

#1. It's always good to be able to converse in another language. Nasib sia masih ingat Mandarin sia yang telah ditinggalkan selama 2 tahun. Ohya, ada satu kali la sana di Splendid China, sia pi cari toilet. I learned that toilet is "cesuo" in Mandarin, but when I asked the guide "Cesuo zai nali?", he showed me a big box. Aisemen...

#2. We had a total of six immigration checks throughout the trip. Now I know how the difference in political system affects the tourist. On the plus side, I got more stamps in my passport now.

#3. There's no place like home.

:-)

Hong Kong mari!!!

First of all, HI EVERYONE!!!! Well, I've been absent from the blogging world for nearly a month. I've been wanting to participate in the 30 day Blog Challenge like my fellow bloggers, Deanona and Rungitom, perhaps next year? hehe...anyways, on 1st Dec I went on another trip outside of Malaysia...If last June I went to Singapore, this month, I went to Hong Kong-Shenzen-Zhuhai-Macau...phew, that's a mouthful!!

We arrived at 8.30p.m (yes, we share the same time zone) and upon arrival, we have to go through 2 Immigration Checkpoints. Why the hassle? It's because Hong Kong is a capitalist system while Shenzen is under a socialist system. So, eventhough these two places are only an hour apart, due to the different political system, everyone (yes, even residents) have to go through the immigration checks. After that, we proceed to dinner at an unknown restaurant in Shenzhen.

One downer about dinner there was the rude waiter and waitresses. Main hempas-hempas ja bah tu makanan...nda pandai senyum lagi tu. Check out the plastic glass above, it's so fragile..macam kena buat guna plastik beg seja heheheh..After dinner, we checked in the hotel and rest for the night.

Day 2, we're up and about and raring to go to...Windows of the World and Splendid China Cultural Village!! We're still in Shenzhen, by the way. So, first stop...Windows of the World..here you can view the miniature versions of favourite or famous world landmarks. Check it out :-)

The Splendid China Cultural Village is another tourist attraction in Shenzhen. Here you could see all sorts of China's cultural identity. I love it here because it's a beautiful place and it's another replica of the Windows of the World but here it focuses on the splendid cultures in China. 

By the way, the snack I'm eating in the picture above is one of the oldest delicacies there. It's strawberry glazed with caramelized sugar and then freezed to make it a candy-like substance. Sedap oh...ada perisa tomato and cherry juga.

We also watched one of the famous cultural shows there, the Shenzhen dancing troupes (if I'm not mistaken). Sia sempat gambar tu pentas ja, tu persembahan nda..tidak bulih dia bilang.

So, with that we end Day 2 with shopping at Tung Men Street. If you asked me, this is not my favourite place to shop. I guess it would be better if you were able to converse well in Mandarin (and thank God I took Mandarin back in UiTM!!!) and if you don't mind crowded places. I didn't buy much here because of the massive crowd. The place is jammed-packed!! Just one tip though, if you bargain for something, make sure you really want to buy it or else it would hurt the vendor's feelings. Nanti kena bawa bergaduh hehehe...and, this is helpful for the ladies..once you bargained but the salesgirl (pay attention to the gender) did not want to surrender to your price, just pat them at the back and say "Ke yi la..wo men peng you ma.." And voila, you'll get your stuff, with your price and with a smile :-) Tapi untuk girls seja ah...yang boys, jan lah kamu pi pat2 belakang orang...hahaha

Day 3, we checked out and made our way to Zhuhai. It was a three hour ride from Shenzhen and I was pleased to hear that we don't have to go to another immigration check. Zhuhai is known for its status as the Romantic city because of the famous love story of the fisher girl. There, we visited Shijingshan Park and the statue of the Fisher girl. 

Bah, I sambung later...penat...