Hong Kong highlights (1) - sights & scenes

I went to Hong Kong recently...again! (twice in less than 6 months). This time with friends. It was surprisingly sunny, with rather fair weather and I must say this was more like a eating trip (to be covered separately in another post) more than anything, with some little time for sightseeing and shopping (mainly snacks and some clothes). Well, I've finally uploaded my photos and thus am ready to talk about the trip, though I've not really added description for the photos.

I admit that the last time I went, in October, I didn't really do that much sightseeing. Well, this time neither, but I did go to some areas I hadn't gone before.

Hong Kong Disneyland
My last experience with Disney was end Dec 2008, when I went to Disney Sea in Tokyo. This time round, our first stop in Hong Kong was a night stay in the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, where we could visit the park and watch the fireworks. What greeted us was the parade. I had thought we wouldn't catch any parades, but I guess I didn't check the schedule.

Well, we were rather hungry since it was already 3 plus by the time we reached there, and the airline brunch had more or less digested, so after a bite at the fast food joint, we started exploring the "land". It wasn't very big, and not that many rides, but with my friends' recommendation, we checked out a few. Well, most were on the more kiddy side. But I'm fine with that coz I think I'm not so geared up for rides these days, unlike my childhood days. The supposedly most exciting ride in the park, as my friends said, was the Space Traders (which was supposed to be Space Mountain?). That was quite fun, with its speed and roller coaster effect. The "centripetal" force left us a bit wobbly as we tried to find our "straight line" walk. It wasn't that scary lah, just our bodies getting back the balance. We had wanted to go again at the end of our visit, but there wasn't enough time. Other rides we took were Buzz Lightyear with the fun shooting, the regular It's A Small World full of childhood memories (I must say there were a lot more dolls here than LA; but that was long ago when I went), Winnie the Pooh with the hunny pot ride, and the Jungle River Cruise with an excellent storyteller (loved the pyrotechnics). We also caught Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 4D film, which I enjoyed very much.

Well, of course the highlight of the night were the fireworks. Took a video of part of it. Gave up trying to take photos and turned on the movie function.

On the whole, it's true that HK Disneyland is much smaller and doesn't have that many things as compared the others. Ah well, for the short time we had, it was not too bad.

Victoria Peak
It's my 2nd time on the Peak within 6 months. Things were quite different this time round. It was shrouded in fog this time, so we couldn't see anything. See the difference:
This time:

Last Oct:

It was pretty cold, but good thing I had a good windbreaker and scarf.

Street scenes
Ok, I didn't really get to see much, but I took my first tram bus ("ding ding" bus) in HK this time. Don't think I've taken it before. It's a much cheaper option then the regular buses and you can do some sightseeing, even though it has fixed routes using the circuit.

Lamma Island (南丫岛)
As suggested by a friend, we decided to do a trail on Lamma Island, by which we would end with a sumptuous seafood dinner. We took a ferry from Central Pier and alighted at Yung Shue Wan (榕树湾), and made our way (via the trail) towards Sok Kwu Wan (索罟灣). We took a 1-2 hours stroll, through the hills, and took in the sights. It wasn't tedious actually and settled down to a sumptuous dinner at just HK$900 plus for seafood like abalone, bamboo clams, fish, scallops, etc. among the 4 of us. And guess what! We stumbled upon a library while waiting for our ferry back (talk about 职业病). Woah, the library is only open on Tuesdays & Fridays.

 

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Well, that's most of the sightseeing we did in Hong Kong, sans food, which will be another sight. :)
Macau in another post.

Rapunzel (Tangled)

I watched Rapunzel last weekend and enjoyed it. This was so much better than Princess and the Frog which I watched last year. Rapunzel was one of the stories I liked when I was a child, how eventually, through hardship and pain, the lovers finally got together. And of course, the hair. Who doesn't know "Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair".

And the hair was beautiful! I heard that the hair looked very real, probably in the 3D version, but it looked great too without the 3D effects. Ha! The things we can do with our hair. It was always a wonder how the head can withstand the weight of all that hair, and even ferry people up & down!

Ok, this post isn't about hair, but of the animated musical movie by Walt Disney. It's great they still do these for that fairytale magic, even though it's getting less "traditional" in the content. The music at some point was a little "out-of-place"...hmm...maybe too pop. Well, after all, Rapunzel was voiced by Mandy Moore.

A quote I remember from the movie was when they were at the boat watching the lanterns (孔明灯).

Rapunzel: What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?...And what if it is?
Flynn (Eugene): Well, that's the good part. You get to go find a new dream. 

Wow, now that it's spoken, how true and positive it is. Don't we always wonder what happens after?

The Princess and the Frog

Disney!

Well, how would I describe this latest animated film by Disney? First thing first, the graphics was in the likes of the older animation films, which was nostalgic. Songs-wise, hmm...I wouldn't say there were really memorable ones. It's a different style from previous ones where somehow, you usually have some overriding theme song that was "magical". You know, Disney magic. Set in the jazz/soul district, it could have been better.

Of course, Disney shows will always have happy endings where the couple will end up together eventually and live happily ever after, with all dreams fulfilled (except this time, a friend dies). The only thing was that I found the show too "short" in the sense that the characters were not strongly portrayed enough.

I enjoyed some of the laughs nevertheless. I think my favourite Disney animation would be The Little Mermaid which has 1 of the best soundtracks in my opinion. I've always loved the story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, even though Disney's version has a happy ending.