Hong Kong 2012 - Chapter 1: Going over and Royal Plaza Hotel

2 February 2012

* I really wish I had the leisure to sit down properly and blog about my everyday experiences before they become stale news, the way I used to when I was studying.. sigh.. too bad working has killed most of my brain cells by the time I get home everyday T__T

After working in this company and hearing lots of horror stories about my bosses, I was a bit sceptical when they announced that there would be a company trip this year.. Heck, some my colleagues have been around for 3 years already and have never experienced any company trip before. We were all so wary that we weren't even enthusiastic when asked to choose a suitable place to go to (In the end it was an easy choice as the final choices were Goa and Hong Kong!). In fact, we only definitely confirmed that we were going 2 days before the departure date @.@

Had to work for half a day on Thursday since ours was an afternoon flight scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong just in time for dinner there.. 4 hour flight and Hong Kong is 1 hour behind KL/Singapore, go figure~

The tiny immigration form

Up until the last minute before we were scheduled to leave for the airport, our boss was still doling out work to us :S Anyways, all of us had already brought our luggage to work and we just took a taxi to Changi Airport Terminal 1 to catch our Jetstar flight (which was delayed 1 whole hour, damn Jetstar, grr..)

The luggage that started it all..

I remember thinking when I borrowed this suitcase from my cousin that it looked so common, it would be very easy for someone to take the wrong bag at the baggage claim area, seems like I can go into the fortune telling business.. After going quite a few rounds round the baggage carousel and everyone had gotten their bags except me, I had no choice but to make a report at the baggage counter T__T

I remember asking myself many times why I had to go and think of such stuff since its a known fact that thoughts are powerful.. I was starting to panic but somehow, I don't know when, maybe when the guy told us that the staff at the airport will call me once they locate my missing luggage, I just started to feel very zen and calm and just kept telling myself that I would see my bag soon. Maybe someone had taken the wrong bag, then left it somewhere and I would just walk past and spot it? The worst thing would be that I had to go to bed and go about the next day in the stinky clothes I was wearing and just grab some daily necessities from the nearest Watsons outlet..

I didn't really have time to really panic either, since it was already 9pm++ after the flight delay, immigration and running around the baggage claim area, and I couldn't afford to waste much time as everyone was really hungry and looking forward to checking into the hotel. In the end, we had takeaway burgers from Burger King for dinner on our first night in Hong Kong.. :(

Incredibly though, I got a call just when we were preparing to go to our shuttle bus to the hotel telling me that they had located my luggage and I had to go back to the immigration area to claim it. I felt like I was in some reality show as I was running the length of the airport while on the phone with the officer who was giving me directions to his office ~ I remember it was 9.50pm when the officer brought me to enter through the back door of the immigration area, as the guard at the door said that we had to hurry as he would close up in 10 minutes.. (just 10 more minutes and I would have had no pyjamas that night!) Turns out stupid Jetstar had mislaid my bag, grrrr (damn Jetstar! x 2).

The only picture I took on the way to the hotel as I was still trying to take in the sights around me after such an eventful evening.. Its a fire-station by the way :)

Finally checked into The Royal Plaza Hotel at around 11pm.. Its the building in the background by the way.. (only realised my camera's lens can't zoom after I got it @.@)

These were taken on day 2, cause no mood whatsoever to take photos the day we arrived~

Hotel lobby with chinese new year decor since it was still cny when we went :)

Can someone tell me what fruits these are? so cute~ like the 人参果 in Journey to the West!!

View from my room on the 13th floor 1352~

In the lobby before setting out for dinner on day 2~

The room was a deluxe room and it was huge! I started to miss the room already before leaving HK.. Due to a twist of fate, we ended up with 1 room each when it was supposed to be twin or triple sharing because many people ended up not going on the trip.. Incredible right?! First time I've heard of 1 room per pax for company trips... O.o...

Two beds all to myself~

Huge toilet with long bath.. not that I had the leisure time to enjoy it though...

View from the entrance~

Pantry area.. one of my colleagues got the family room, and it even had a cooker and a microwave @.@

far end of the room

Everyone loved the hotel so much! even those who had been to Hong Kong before agreed that the rooms were bigger than the standard HK hotel rooms.. Its located right next to the Grand Century Place shopping mall and near to Mongkok MTR station, very convenient.. and it was only about SGD250 for 4 days 3 nights.. will seriously consider staying there next time I go, hehehe...

Can't wait to get into the nitty gritty of my trip after this.. :D

Missha's Princessy Wedding~ ^o^

Sunday 20.11.2011

You know you're getting old when you start getting invited to weddings and full moon parties *groan* I'll have to admit, this wasn't my first wedding invitation, but the first that I actually looked forward to attending :) 2 big reasons:

i) The bride was absolutely sincere and had asked us to book the date for her since February, not someone who contacts you out of the blue just to tell you that they are getting married; and

ii) The venue of the wedding was Westin, KL, which is located right next to Starhill Gallery, and a 5* hotel no less! Im your neighbourhood 'jakun' (i.e. country bumpkin) who hasn't stepped foot into any 5* hotel since god knows when, so just had to jump at the chance to do so =)

My outfit.. a rare chance to dress up, but ruined by the huge bruise on my arm T.T

My chauffeur and me~

The backdrop at the stage area. I really loved the shimmering effects created by the strands of lights!

A closer look at the gorgeous cake.. I seriously thought cakes like this only appeared in dramas =)

my beloved fellow ex-Tricorians..

Wedding favours were chocolates from Westin KL and wedding photo bookmarks~

and the very crowded table settings.. I really didn't dare move much in case I knocked anything over and despite me trying to move as little as possible, i still had quite a few near misses with the wine glasses *groan*

Everybody went to get their hair set and looked so glamourous except me T.T

The menu was full of stuff that I'd never tried before and the dessert was completely unpronounceable -- fine dining~ :)

We were all pretty hungry already by the time the first dish appeared at 8pm++ This is The Westin Combination Platter. Clockwise from top: Spinach Mushroom Parfait~Calamansi Chilli Marinated Taiwanese Shell Abalone~Star Anise Ginger Marinated Salmon~Spicy Prawn Tartlet~ My favourite was the slightly smoked salmon followed by the pastry of the prawn tartlet, hahaha.. The abalone with the greenish coloured seaweed just tasted too fishy for me and the parfait was interesting without being especially yummy @.@~

Braised Shark's Fin. Dry Scallop, Shredded Seafood with Twin Melon Broth (which did nothing much to satiate our hunger, the waiter didn't even fill our bowls properly, as you can see, my bowl was only 2/3 full)

Steamed Red Grouper Hong Kong Style This was quite good, but I wished the portion could be a little bit bigger, I think I would need supper after having a dinner fine-dining style =.=

Esmei! I miss you immensely!!

Honey Mustard Glazed Spring Chicken with Braised Black Plum and Rosemary Juice. Quite nice, especially the plum which I had thought that I wouldn't fancy since its all mushy..


Braised Abalone with Hong Kong Kai Lan and Premium Abalone Sauce. I loved this, but strangely enough, not because of the abalone, but because of the kai lan, which I love =)

Roast Duck and Garlic Rice Cake with 5 Spice Duck Gravy. This I found rather weird,. Would have preferred the duck to be served alone, I couldn't finish the rice as glutinous rice has a way of sinking in your stomach and making you feel very full, especially when we were so far into the meal. I think I would have enjoyed this dish more if it was served earlier..

Gateau au Chocolat Chaud, Creme Glacee au Yaourt
Hot Chocolate Cake and Yoghurt Ice-cream. The completely unpronounceable dessert, hehehe..basically nice and warm moist chocolate cake and youghurt ice-cream, hehe..

The beautiful bride finally came round to take a group picture with us.. I don't know why but it felt like I was in the room with a super star... =) So proud of her... Congrats Mish!!!

This pic damn cute! ^^ I failed to get a picture of her in her first dress, which was even nicer than the green one.. but very hard to capture her while she was walking down the red carpet and with so many other tables in front of us.. T.T wasted..

The newlyweds cutting the cake~

A very fun night marred a little by the service at The Westin, I'd expected better service at such a high-end place.. The waiter had to be told repeatedly to refill your glasses, until we were quite fed up at the end.. and they made us wait for quite long intervals between dishes, which made the dinner drag on for more than 4 hours.. argh... We only finished at around 12.30am... Furthermore, the servings that he dished out to us were so obviously different that we couldn't help complaining amongst ourselves.. i.e. some of us got a plate full of fish and some got a plateful of bones @.@~

Anyways, can't complain too much else it would seem like I was there more for the food than the celebration, which wasn't the case.. We still managed to have quite a nice little gathering :):)

Aww.. I'm so glad that I got to know you guys...

New Years Day 2011~

Missing my guy awfully bad right now... T.T... Here's some pictures of us waaaaayy back during new year's day 2011 (ok i exaggerated a bit, its still 2011, lol)

That was the day we celebrated his birthday 2 days early and oso the day we kena tipu by San Francisco Steakhouse at Tropicana City Mall... Actually can't blame them oso, since we were the ones walking headfirst into what we knew was a trap... :S

You know how these restaurants serve a 'special' menu during big holidays like Valentines, new years day, christmas, etc... well it was the same at San Francisco, only abt 10 choices from the 'special' menu with 'special' prices oso.. grr... and no turning back for us as we'd walked right into the far end of the restaurant, and we'd been wanting to have western food since forever.. grr x 2...

still, we made do with what we had and had fun anyways~~ ^^

Don't ask me what exactly we ate of drank cos after more than half a year, i seriously can't remember... XD

My medium rare something something steak...

his chicken maryland...

birthday boy~! :*

That was also the day I fell in love with 2 unexpected things.. One was the Bollywood movie called 3 Idiots (it was so funny and touching, it made me sniffle a little... aww) and the second:-

Ninja Joe pork burgers~~ :P

tried original, teriyaki and black pepper that day.. i liked original the best.. cos im a boring person like that... @.@~ funny, if you take note of my next post, you're going to think im a very big porky lover, but that's usually not the case.. hmm..

Anyways.. i think my ninja joe craze has passed ever since it opened at The Gardens Mall and suddenly wasn't that special any more, since I could have it any time i wanted... XD

To my dear, I think I miss you <3<3<3 sighh...

Lil's Birthday Part 2: Dessert at T Forty Two~

After lunch at Canoodling, I was telling Lil abt this place selling macarons (I used to spell it as macaroon but then read in wiki that most ppl use the French spelling macaron @.@~) in Bangsar Village II that I'd heard abt the last time I was there.. and being very suaku and not trying it before, I just had to find the place! We were very dumbo, cos we circled the whole building quite a few times searching for the shop, well to be fair BVII isnt that big... After quite a lot of walking, we decided to read the directory more carefully and realised there was a shop listed under cafe/confectionery that we didnt see at all...

Rupanya we'd already passed it quite a few times, but just the area outside and not the actual shop and shop window... T.T how stupid *facepalm*

Finally hit paydirt!! :)

The place is called T forty two.. and the decor is really nice... :)

got grand piano some more leh~! :P

Queen of the day in her high backed chair... the seats were damn comfy i must say~

another pretty dining area separated from us by glass windows :)

the menus were interesting, know why?

cos they had different quotes in front... Pink says "Tea is water bewitched" - Lu Wah, and Blue says "Love and scandals are the best sweeteners of tea" - Henry Fielding~ means anything to you???


Taadaa~ the stars of the day, heck they got even more photos than the birthday girl~ :P

L to R: Bittersweet Chocolate, Strawberry, Green Tea and Passion-fruit

My favourite surprisingly was bittersweet chocolate, cos i usually don't choose chocolate when it comes to flavouring i.e chocolate ice cream or chocolate pudding, etc... The strawberry and passion-fruit ones were surprisingly fruity, exactly like the real fruit itself, very fresh... the green tea one tasted a little to strong for my liking tho..

What surprised me was the texture of the macarons themselves.. I'd expected them to be cake-like, since they look like little cakes but its actually more like marzipan, and I was a little surprised when I took my first bite.. O.o... For RM3.90 each, they are pretty pricey, and very indulging.. not something tat I would consider for teatime any other day lor... hehe...

We also ordered the chocolate fudge cake (RM9.90) which looked crumbly but was actually very gooey and yummy and warm inside... :) nice... but better not eat it in front of someone you secretly admire cos the cocoa powder tends to stick to yr teeth :P

Other tantalising desserts.. chocolate tarts, passionfruit cheesecake slices, lemon meringue tart, chocolate fondant, strawberry shortcake etc etc etc.. A dessert lover's dream come true, sighhhh... The pink one in the middle is the rose macaron which costs a crazy RM13.90. omg! I can have a full meal for that price :S but secretly wondering whats so special abt it...

Other baked stuff with canggih-ranggih pronounceable names like croque monsieur, turkey ham and gruyere muffin, Spinach feta and pine nut briquette O.o..... extremely saliva inducing oso... *eyes glazing up*

We reached the cafe at around 2.15pm and were given a 25 minute window to finish playing around and eating as they were having an event at 2.30pm, a baby shower =.= I know kids nowadays are damn 'ho mia' but babies as well?! Gah.. But no worries, we still managed to finish in good time and had 2 refills of warm water each :P

A little something that deducted some marks from my macaron experience.. I saw a baby roach under the table! Arghhhhh... didnt say anything cos we'd finished eating at the time and I dont think the birthday girl noticed it... shocking eh? but not as shocking as seeing a full grown one in the middle of The Gardens Mall one fine day when we were going back to the office from lunch... *True story* This goes to show that high end places are not safe from nasty pests as well @.@~

So, YaY! cos I finally tried macarons after hearing abt them so long.. but i guess its just a fad, like cupcakes and donuts.. :P