A Surprise Face-to-face Encounter with Taylor Swift (Part III)

The International Finance Centre (branded as 2 IFC) in Central

Taken somewhere in Central near 2 IFC. A big DBS Bank (Development Bank of Singapore) billboard there.

A Neoclassical building with HKSAR and PRC flags. It used to be the old Supreme Court of Hong Kong. Behind it is the headquarters of HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited), the de facto bank of HKSAR.

This is the main entrance of HSBC HQ located in 1 Queen's Road, Central. The main banking hall is located on the third floor which is accessible by the escalators. I was here to activate my ATM card. What ATM card ? Well, it's my HKD ATM card. I opened this account through HSBC Malaysia before coming to Hong Kong and i received my HSBC Hong Kong welcome pack along with its ATM card via DHL Express just a week before my actual trip to Hong Kong. And why do i need a HKD account ? Well, you need a local currency card to really feel like you're living here right ? I mean you can exploit the ATM as much as you like. Get HKD cash out from the machine anytime you like. Man ... i do fell like a Hongkonger. lol

See the bronze lion on the left ? There are two of them. One on the left and another one on the right. These two bronze lions are not just some statues, mind you. They are deemed as good feng-shui by this gigantic British Bank and they even have a name, Stephen and Stitt respectively.

Both of the lions were made back in 1935 and had traveled as far as Osaka during World War 2. They were shipped to Japan to be melted down but before this could happen, the World War 2 came to an abrupt end and both Stephen and Stitt survived. Both of them were found in a dockyard in Osaka by an American Sailor. Stephen has shrapnel scars in its left hindquarters resulted from the battle of Hong Kong (when Japanese came).

A DBS Bank branch in Jordan

A Citibank branch in Mongkok. Opposite it is the HSBC building (not in the picture). And Hang Seng Bank (belongs to HSBC - not in the picture either) building is located to the left of HSBC building. Why am i telling you this ? Well, it's to give you a sense that just how close all these big banks are located together. The banking industry in Hong Kong is so competitive that all the banks are literary handing out as much as HKD1,800 (RM707.40) of free cash to you just to open a bank account with them. Man ... only if banks in Malaysia are as generous ...

Hainanese Chicken Rice. It's the combo deal which i paid just HKD63 (RM24.80) inclusive of a plate of vegetables, soup of the day, an extra big bowl of rice, a plate of extra large chicken and a glass of iced milk tea. Don't let the photo to fool you. The portions were so big that i ate only half of these.

This restaurant is located somewhere in Tsim Sha Tsui. I do not remember its name. Actually, i was on my way to Harbour City but then, i was lost. I walked so far that i reached another MTR Station. I was hungry and tired and this restaurant looked good as it was absolutely jammed-packed. Well, when you're in a foreign country and know nothing about the city, it is safe to bet that a restaurant with many people must be serving good foods.

Causeway Bay (銅鑼灣) at night

Inside a very small Shanghainese restaurant located somewhere in Causeway Bay. That's a Shanghainese noodle soup and Shanghai Xiao Long Bao (上海小籠包). Can't remember how much i paid for these. Those foods in the top left are not mine. I was sharing the table with a couple.

The century old tram. Can you see the advertisement on it ? It's a Public Bank advertisement for Public Bank (Hong Kong).

More food pictures to be posted in the next update. Stay tuned !

To be continued ...

A Surprise Face-to-face Encounter with Taylor Swift (Part II)

Hong Kong has a very comprehensive public transport system ranging from tram which has been operating since 1904, subways, LRT, high-speed train linking Hong Kong Station (also known as the Central Station - 中環), Kowloon Station, Tsing Yi Station and the airport, public air-conditioned buses as well as public taxis. Of all these, the tram is the cheapest whilst taxi is the most expensive. You only have to pay HK$2 (RM0.79) per tram ride regardless of the distance traveled whilst the starting meter fare for the red taxis in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is HK$18 (RM7.07) and HK$1.50 (RM0.59) will be added to the base fare for every 200 meters traveled. Oh Mary !!!

Anyway, the subways (they call it MTR in Hong Kong) are cheap and very convenient. You can go to pretty much everywhere with their MTR and it is very punctual, just like Taipei and Singapore's. The train runs once every 3 minutes.

My collection of EPS Cards.

1. Octopus Card (Hong Kong)

2. EasyCard (Taipei)

3. Touch 'n Go (Kuala Lumpur)

4. ez-Link (Singapore)

Airport Express Train Ticket. I bought this ticket online for HKD171.00 (RM67.50) a week prior to my trip to Hong Kong. Did you know that credit cards issued in Malaysia have been flagged as high risk for fraud in Hong Kong ? Buying the ticket online was such a painful affair. My card kept being rejected for no apparent reason. After making 5 different calls to my card issuer, i was told that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my card and they couldn't see any attempted charges from Airport Express Hong Kong in my card's transaction history log. Disgruntled and frustrated, i lodged a complaint to Airport Express Hong Kong's credit card processing agent which is PayDollar. Their action was amazingly fast. I lodged the complaint through email and received a reply 20 minutes later. I was told that they will forward the case to Airport Express Hong Kong and someone will be in touch with me very soon.

Anyway, a lady from Airport Express Hong Kong called me a day later as promised. She kept apologizing and explained to me that they have blocked the use of Malaysia credit card to buy ticket online as Malaysia belongs to the "dangerous" region (her choice of word, by the way).

The high-speed train ride from Hong Kong International Airport to Hong Kong Station (also known as Central) took only 24 minutes with a brief stop at Tsing Yi Station (青衣) and Kowloon Station (九龍). Upon arriving at Hong Kong Station, i took the complimentary shuttle bus to my hotel provided by Airport Express.

Harbour Grand Hong Kong. It's a 5-star hotel located in Hong Kong Island near Fortress Hill, which i paid just US$107.64/night (RM343.91/night).

The lobby

keycard

It's a bit small but very common in any hotels in Hong Kong.

The alternative bed

A see through tempered glass separating the bedroom and bathroom. If you're the shy type, you can always close it using the electric curtain.

Toiletries

A small TV inside the toilet

The view towards the Kowloon Peninsula from 36th Floor

More pictures of the room

My first dinner in Hong Kong. It's 京都排骨. There were many whites eating at this place (Temple Street - 廟街). This dinner cost me HKD63 (RM24.76). Mind you i did not order drinks or any other foods.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Tsunami Hit Sendai Airport : Rare View From Inside

A rare video showing the moment when Tsunami hit Sendai Airport four days ago. As you can see in the video, there were still many people inside the terminal building then.

A Surprise Face-to-face Encounter with Taylor Swift (Part I)

I did it again. Traveling alone, to a foreign soil, a country that i never stepped into. This is the first part of my 5 days 4 nights trip to Hong Kong last month. Just in case you are wondering, Hong Kong is awesome and the weather was great. There was no rain at all and it was colder in the morning and night due to the strong wind from north. The temperature was lingering around 14 - 17 degrees Celsius.

What do you need to prepare prior entering Hong Kong ? The Hong Kong Dollars of course. I exchanged all these at the money changer located on the Lower Ground Floor in Mid-Valley Megamall Kuala Lumpur at the rate of HK$100 = RM39.30.

Just like UK, Hong Kong Dollars are issued by commercial banks (with the exception of the HK$10 bill). Three banks are licensed to issue banknotes in Hong Kong namely HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of China (Hong Kong). HSBC logo is clearly visible in the bottom right of the banknotes posted above. Each banknote issued by different banks bear a different design (for the same currency denomination).

This is the HK$20 bill issued by Bank of China (Hong Kong). I have not come across any banknotes issued by Standard Chartered to date. The HK$10 is issued by the government of Hong Kong SAR itself and is made of Polymer just like the Aussie Dollars banknotes and our very own RM5 bill. Just so you know, all other Hong Kong Dollars banknotes (HK$20, HK$50, HK$100, HK$500 & HK$1000) are made of cotton fibre, thus do not fluoresce under ultraviolet light.

Airlines : Malaysia Airlines

Date : 20 Feb 2011

From : Kota Kinabalu

To : Hong Kong

Scheduled Flight Time : 2 hours 55 minutes

Actual Flight Time : 2 hours 40 minutes

Scheduled Time of Departure : 11:35am

Actual Time of Departure : 11.45am

Scheduled Time of Arrival : 2.30pm

Actual Time of Arrival : 2.25pm

Boarding pass and Enrich Card. I was assigned seat 14A but later changed to row 26 so i can have the whole row of 3 seats (26A/B/C) to myself :D

Did you know that Kota Kinabalu is much nearer to cities in North Asia compared to our capital, Kuala Lumpur ? Going to Hong Kong from Kota Kinabalu is like going to Kuala Lumpur as Hong Kong is like only 10 minutes further away by air compared to Kuala Lumpur.

Decent meals on this short-haul flight

- Prawn Salad

- Fish with noodles

- Chocolate Cake

- Bread (Butter & Orange Marmalade)

Bon Appétit

Our plane docked at the North Satellite Concourse. Beside our plane was this Dragonair's Airbus.

That's the plane that brought me to Hong Kong. Also in this picture - Dragonair, Royal Brunei and Garuda Indonesia.

Inside the shuttle bus that "ferried" us to the Main Terminal Building

The immigration clearance hall. Someone shouted "NO PHOTO NO PHOTO" in a heavy Chinese accent once i snapped this photo. Luckily she did not confiscate my digital camera. It once happened to my friend that they requested him to delete everything inside the camera ... Phew ... lucky me !

Try to find me inside the picture. I have got to be in there somewhere :D

Here is what happened. Once i cleared immigration and got my checked-in luggage back, i went to the tourist counter to get all the maps as well as some flyers that a tourist can definitely find useful. All of a sudden, there were people shouting outside like there is no tomorrow. I knew there could be some celebrities out there but i thought he/she/they could be some TVB actors. Anyway, being as curious as i was. I decided to go out and have a look. I couldn't see who he/she was at first. All i can see then was just the back of a few freaking tall bodyguards who can crush me to death with just one hand. So i just stood still behind the bodyguards and tried not to push into the crowds. And then she turned, oh yeah, now i know it's a she. She is Taylor Swift who just walked past me. I can get a much better picture than anyone else because she practically was just beside me. Anyway, it was already too late when i took my own camera out. A lesson learnt. Always get your camera ready in such situation.

TO BE CONTINUED ...