After days of being asked by Dawn, "Is today Monday?", today is finally the Monday that we are going to Hong Kong for our holiday!!
Our flight - SQ 856 is scheduled at 9.30am. As we need to check in 2 hours before our flight, we had to wake the kids up at 6.30am so that we can leave for the airport at 7am. Surprisingly, I have no problems waking up the sleepyhead Dawn. It's probably the thought of going to Disneyland that made her wake up. :p
Once we are ready, I went to call for a cab. The ride to the airport was very fast as it was before the peak morning rush. Once we reached, we went to check our luggage in.
Daryl, Kel & Dawn in the queue to check in our luggage since we had already check-in online.
A close up of the kids.
After checking in our luggage, we entered the Departure Transit Lounge to have our breakfast at the 24 Hour Food Gallery.
Daryl was sooo hungry.
I was trying to tie Dawn's hair so that she can eat her bread without her hair getting into her mouth.
Me & Dawn. Well, obviously I didn't succeed in tying her hair AGAIN... :p
Daryl & me. He's sooo hungry that he can't bear to put down his bread to take a pic with me. :p
After breakfast, we went to walk around the Departure Transit Lounge.
Daryl with his many poses. :p
Soon it's time for us to board our plane.
Daryl sulking coz he got scolded by me for running around the boarding area like a mad man.
Me & Dawn
Kel was trying to take a pic of the 3 of us. He didn't succeed coz both kids refused to cooperate.
Waiting to board the plane. We were 1 of the last few passengers to board coz I refused to queue up. :p
Inside the plane
After a 4 hours flight, we finally reached Hong Kong!!
Me & Dawn on the travellator with our luggage. Kel & Daryl was ahead of us as Kel wanted to take our pics while Daryl was too impatient to stay still.
Once we cleared customs & claimed our luggage, we went to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Visitor Information Centre to find out how to get to our hotel. The lady suggested that we take the Airport Express to Kowloon Station, from there, we can take a taxi to our hotel. We decided to take her suggestion & Kel went to buy the tickets.
A still sleepy & grouchy Dawn holding her 'precious' Hong Kong Disneyland leaflet which we took from the Visitor Information Centre. She had slept during most of the flight, but I think that she's still sleepy as I woke her up when the plane was going to land at Hong Kong International Airport.
A grouchy Daryl who refused to let me take his pic.
When Kel came back with our tickets, we went to find the train station to take the Airport Express.
Dawn got tired of sitting on our luggage & decided to come down to stretch her legs.
Our train arrived soon & we boarded it. I must say that I am pretty impressed with the Airport Express. We didn't have to wait long for it & it was very clean.
We tried to take pics with the kids in the train. Obviously we didn't succeed. In the end, I took pics of the kids & the scenery instead.
I love this pic of the 2 of them chatting with each other.
See how blue the sky is.
The only pic that I managed to capture of their high rise apartments.
Soon, we reached Kowloon station. We exited the station to board a taxi to our hotel. Our ride to our hotel was quite uneventful. Our taxi driver was quite reckless as he was swerving in & out of the lanes. He was also very rude. Kel was sitting in the front passenger seat. During the ride, he was checking out the brochures which we took from the Visitor Information Centre. I suspected that the brochures had blocked his view of his left side mirror during the ride. Instead of telling Kel nicely that he was blocking him, he told Kel off. That's not all. When we reached our hotel, he helped us to take our luggage out of his boot & Kel paid him for the ride. Instead of giving us the change back, he walked back to his taxi & drove off! We were dumbfounded!
We had booked
Kings De Nathan hotel due to its location. As touted on its website - "The hotel is accessible to shopping arcades & commercial centres. In addition, traffic network is very convent such as MTR, taxis and buses. Our Guest can go anywhere in minutes" Note : the typo is not mine, it's actually on the hotel's website! When we reached the hotel after walking a short distance from where the taxi had dropped us off, we were a bit shocked to find that it's more like a budget hotel with no facilities. There were no cafe, no restaurant, no swimming pool, etc. There goes my plans of ordering room service & letting the kids play in the swimming pool. However, after discussing, we went ahead to check into the hotel as we find that we don't really need those facilities. Another shocker was the room rate. After conversion, we were playing about S$125 per night! For that kind of price, I am sure that I can get a much better hotel in Singapore. Apparently that kind of price is very common in land scarce Hong Kong.
After checking in, we were given a Deluxe family room on the 13th floor. Our room no. is 1303. We waited for a while for the only lift in the hotel. Apparently there is only 1 lift which serves all 13 floors! I told Kel that we better keep our fingers & toes crossed that the lift do not break down during our stay as I have no wish to climb up or down 13 floors. When we opened our room door, we were quite shocked to see how small the room is. Let's just say that the photos on its website doesn't do it any justice! The photos on the website are so nicely taken. In reality, the room sucks. It's so small that there is not much space for us to walk after putting down our luggages. I told Kel that it's the 1st & the last time that we would be staying at this hotel. :p
We decided to shower the kids, then go out to explore our surroundings. Initially we plan to walk to the
Ladies Market which is quite near our hotel on the map. However, it was further than we thought. Halfway, we walked past
Langham Place & decided to walk in to rest & have our dinner. After checking it out, we decided to have our dinner at
Chee Kei which serves wanton noodle & congee.
We ordered 3 of their set meals to try. The food was quite good & we finished everything up. However, the kids, especially Daryl were quite cranky during dinner as I think that they were tired. Daryl even fell asleep while waiting for us to finish our food as he didn't have any nap since morning. Thus, we decided to walk back to our hotel to rest instead of going to the Ladies Market.
During the walk back to the hotel, Dawn refused to walk, thus Kel & I had to take turns to carry her. She was so tired that she fell asleep during the walk back. Luckily Daryl was sensible enough not to ask us to carry him & walked back to the hotel by himself.
When we reached our hotel room, I woke up Dawn & showered the kids. The I changed them into their pyjamas so that they can turn in for the night. However, both the kids' 'batteries' seem to have been recharged & they started playing in the room. *faint* I was so fed up that they both got a scolding from me.
At about 10pm, my tummy started growling. Kel was tasked to go & explore the hotel downstairs to find food for me. :p He came back soon after with our supper & tell me that our hotel is very near to
Temple Street. It was only like 2 blocks away. Since it's so near, I planned to visit it either tomorrow night or the night after, without the kids. :p
