We arrived in Shen Zhen via tiger airways at night and was picked up by the driver back to my uncle's apartment. My Mum was waiting for us there as she had been in Hong Kong a few days before due to a company meeting. The next day, we had lunch nearby and off we went on our shopping trip to Lo Wu.
krys acting cute
LoWu Shopping Centre
After shopping, a store owner recommended a restaurant on the fifth floor, 'Dan Jia Xuan'. She said that apparently it is open by a famous Hong Kong chef and it is always packed to the brim. Well it turn out to be true as we had to wait for close to an hour for a table. The food was delicious. hahah. After she went back to sg, we had to fill our stomachs with roadside food.
My mum didn't believe that there is such a thing called smile detector and so she tested it out along with shuz and xing. hahah.
After eating, we went to Dong Men. Another shopping district. But as it was already quite late and my mum needed to pack her lagguage, we walked around for awhile and went back to my uncle's apartment. We found mahjong and we tried to play. However we realize that there is no flower and animal! So after randomly playing for 2 games, we gave up and went to watch some movies that we bought from the shopping centre.
The next day, we took a bus into Hong Kong and we went to check in to our hostel. Well frankly, it was well valued at $20 per night. hahaha. We accompanied my Mum to a shopping district near the airport and shopped with her at the Esprit Warehouse and left late in the afternoon.
After which, we went to '女人街 Nu Ren Jie' night market and '花園街 Fa Yuen Jie' which is filled with sports goods. We tried alot of roadside food too. We had an early night that day. No photos for the day as we mainly shopped through it, splurging on Esprit goods.
The next day, we continued our shopping near the hostel on Nathan road.
We found something godlike - 'Hui Lau Shan Healthy Dessert' through shuz recommendation. Their drinks are the best! Even better than Pao Pao Cha. But it is not cheap at almost $4 a cup. We limit ourselves to one a day.
We went to hardrock cafe in TST and continued shopping.
For lunch, we checked around for the most affordable Dim Sum. The table of food is only half of it and we each paid around $10? I can't remember.
After some warehouse and H&M shopping, we went to the peak.
try spotting xing
As expected, the view on Victoria Peak was astounding. The highest point of the island really presented the best view of the city and the Victoria Harbour.
the view
We chilled around the shopping centre behind the tram station while waiting for the ridiculously long queue of people waiting for the tram down to subside.
It was already 10 plus when we finally got the ride down. We went to a Mac near our hotel to have our dinner and we chatted there till it was around 1am and we headed back to the hostel to do some packing as we were checking out the next day.
We woke up and checked out before 10am. We were lugging along our bags filled with gold. (Well it weighed like gold) We had a very traditional lunch nearby and we went to the most famous temple in Hong Kong - '
車公廟Che Gong Miao'. Actually that is based on my own assumption as it must be famous to be on the MTR(mrt) line.
After praying, we splitted up with shuz and krys going to buy some lao po bing and me and xing went to the adidas warehouse. The adidas warehouse was really hard to find being located in a normal living estate. However we took a enjoying walk through the streets, seeing how the people lead their normal life. We also passed by a mahjong club and took the Xiao Ba - minibus for the first time. hahah. We end up buying 3 pair of shoes, with each of us getting a adiZero at under $50! Time to start exercising!
It was already late in the afternoon when we met up with the girls in a coffee club at the New World Centre which is along the famed avenue of stars
星光大道. It honours chinese celebs with a place for their palm print on the ground. However our purpose in meeting there is to catch the famous fireworks celebration. The day itself was China's National Day and there is going to be a 23min fireworks display.
This is the view of Victoria Harbour along the ave of stars. Before the fireworks display, there is also the daily laser lights display - A Symphony Of Lights.
We arrived at least 4 hours before the fireworks display and the place was already packed with photographers!
The fireworks ended slightly after 9.30pm and we had to rushed back to Shen Zhen, this time by the MTR which is linked to the custom at LoWu. We were tired out by the day activities and we had a early night.
On the fifth day, We took a cab to She Kou Ferry Terminal and we went to Macau! You know you are in Macau when the signboard is in chinese and portugese.
We walked along the streets trying to locate places of interest on the map. The delightful European-styled architectural buildings are really beautiful. It is hidden among rundown housing blocks and this contrast brings out the beauty of the buildings which some is at least 300 years old.
This is the St. Dominic's Church build in 1587. That is a crazy 421 years ago!
Beside the church, there is museum called the 'Treasure of Sacred Art' which contain mainly catholic relics. Not sure what these exhibits were. lol.
Lunchtime! We had a local delight. A pork bun. hahah. A really short snack before we visited the ruins of st paul.
The ruins of St. Paul is really a sight to behold. It is formally part of the biggest catholic church in Asia.
Next stop, we tried to find our way to the highest point in Macau where the Guia Fortress is. We were lost for awhile but well, Macau is too small to be lost for long. We search
and search
and search
before xing decided to camwh0re
and we found it. haha. Guia Fortress - it is build on Guia Hill and it is the highest point in Macau along with the lighthouse which is just beside it.
Next up, we went to the casino in Grand Lisboa to try our luck! haha. The building itself was a attraction. How can it not be one when it is gold in colour and almost 60 stories tall. haha. Well we only tried the jackpot which is quite boring. We went to Sands after that but it pales in comparison with the Grand Lisboa.
That concludes our trip to Macau. We went back by ferry and went home straight after a tiring day walking through the streets of Macau.
The following day was our last day in Shen Zhen. We went for some last min shopping around Dong Men, Lo Wu and Hua Qiao Jie. hahah. That is the end of our tour.
It is really a fruitful trip as i bought a lot of stuff for my impending university life. hahah. Shen Zhen and Hong Kong are really shopping paradises while Macau presents a breather with some sightseeing and architectural marvels. Will do up the Perth trip when I am free!
