A Photo Canvas

Being the military-crazed person that I am, I made Raphel head to the RSAF Open House with me. And boy was I excited to see all the different fighter planes and choppers =)

From the gloomy skies as seen, it did indeed rain. But at least it didn't pour, as we welcomed the drizzle which helped cool the hot day down. Besides, I do feel that we have been pretty lucky the whole time. The typhoon came to Hong Kong after we flew back, the rain stopped before our fireworks festival event, and the weather only drizzled on the day we went to the open house. Can't really ask for more =D

Anyway, we caught the aerial display, as we watched scenes of the fighter planes taking off, a chinook carrying an army vehicle, cross fires, and an array of flying air crafts.


And then, there is the lucky draw, which gave us a chance to board the C130 for a flight around Singapore! We were amazingly lucky, as I managed to drop the coupon in after frantically searching for a pen, my pen being 'stolen' by another idiotic participant, searching for another pen, and filling up our details with just 20 seconds to go!

It was our first time watching a play with each other. Knowing that Nahele has a huge interest in the military, I knew that I had to watch the production ‘Own Time Own Target’ with her at all cost =D

Divided into 3 main plays: Full Tank!, Radio Silence, Botak Boys, I would say the whole show was simply fantastic. From the beginning of the first play to the very last bit where the actors bowed to show their appreciation, Nahele was bursting with laughter throughout the entire time!! Boy, her mouth must be feeling really sore that night =P Plus, she was totally amused by the musical part which got her really excited. Men in skimpy and tight clothings gyrating their hips to the music really got her into the mood. Haha... (Too bad it was an army play where there are no women in skimpy clothes =P)

I must really give credits to all the actors and the producer of the play. Not only are they versatile actors, they are also talented singers! It was a wonderfully written play, which really reminded me of my National Service time; the time which I went through thick and thin with my "bros". It showcased the times that we've gone through. I was pretty amused by the Hokkien and vulgarities included in the show though. I would say these are two main languages used by soldiers and sergeants during our NS time =)

Overall, it was wonderful Sunday night for us, for which I thank them for their creativity and ingenuity for a marvelous production! =)

I can't seem to get enough of spending time with Raphel, as we made plans this time to catch the Fireworks Festival.

However, the highlight of the show was the fireworks, of which my breath was taken away by the spectacular performance choreographed by France.

Venue: Hort Park
Credits to Raphel

Day 3: I got to meet my one of my best buddies in Hong Kong!

Having a flight to San Francisco via Hong Kong, my buddy and I made plans to meet up for some dim sum breakfast! Her recommendation was Chao Inn Restaurant, a restaurant high atop a tall building, with a lovely harbour view and the cheap food that is 50% off before 12 noon. However, the restaurant is marred by poor service, as waitresses who have seen your cue still choose to ignore you, so much so that you have to desperately signal to get their attention.

But heck, I shall just enjoy the food =)

After the sumptuous breakfast, it was off to shopping, shopping and more shopping for me at Lai Chi Kok!! Raphel was quite indignant actually, as he was truly amazed at the numerous shops that sold only female apparels and accessories. I think he resigned to fate, as he volunteered in the end to take on the role as my personal assistant when it comes to carrying of bags =) Can’t say how appreciative I am of him to be such a nice shopping partner.

Anyway, we had plans to head to The Peak today. So up we went via the steep tram service, to capture these scenes.


From this night on, there was actually a typhoon warning. This day was the first time in my life where I felt that the wind was really strong enough to blow me away. And given my size, of which I’m not the scrawny type, it was scary!
But then, it was a good risk to take, as Raphel was able to capture the above lovely scenes.

Day 4: Packing up

Our last day was a no-brainer again, as we spent whatever remaining time that we had on shopping again. This time, Raphel was the shoppaholic!! I thought that it wasn’t fair if I was the only one who bought stuff from Hong Kong. So I made sure we headed back to Mongkok, to the sports area, where Raphel could finally buy a pair of sports shoes that he had been eyeing on. And thankfully, he bought two pairs!! Of which I thought were really nice anyway, especially the Converse one. =)

And before you know it, it was seriously time to check in to the airport, as we rushed our silly little selves to the airport, and whisk our little butts back to Singapore...

Sigh... I so miss the days we spent in Hong Kong. Raphel was a pretty good GPS system! Haha =D

Last but not least, here's some of our works as memories.

I have to declare first - I almost died on this day due to extensive walking!

It was a planned shopping day, as we headed off to Causeway Bay. Now, if you thought Lucky Plaza on Sundays in Singapore can be bad, it’s 10 times worse at Causeway Bay. Surrounded by hoards of domestic helpers, who chooses to bump into people to get their way across, or just being plain rude, my day was quite spoiled. Especially when both of us were starving, and with MacDonalds the only cafe in sight then, it was a horrendous feeling to be looking for seats when you see many of them planting themselves on the chairs, just chatting, with no plans at all to order anything, or have the decency to move.

But thankfully, after spotting a seat where both of us had to share in order to eat our lunch, we decided to escape Causeway Bay by walking. So yes, we walked the whole of Henessy Road, all the way from Causeway Bay to Central MTR station! (That’s a distance of 3 stations by the way.)

In short: I almost died. Thank goodness for my decision to wear flat heels on that day. If not, he would have to piggy back me all the way back to the hotel....

And if that wasn't enough, we decided to check out Li Yuen East and West Street as well, as it was advertised on the Hong Kong shopping brochure that it was a good place to check out. Little did I expect that in order to get to Li Yuen Street, I had to climb a long flight of stairs!

But nevermind, for the sake of shopping, I hung on to dear life. On we went walking around, as we passed by the famous H&M store with its mega sale going on, before we went back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

If you think that was all, nooo... It wasn't! With Raphel wishing to grab some pictures of the night scenes of Hong Kong, we headed out again, this time to the Avenue of Stars.


Our last stop just before heading back was Lan Kwai Fong. With our hotel situated near it, it would be weird for us not to take a look at it. (Well ok, it was mainly me, for Raphel did explore it before when he went to Hong Kong).

Overall, it gave me the Holland Village feel, as midway into the exploration, I was surprised in seeing someone dressed as Batman 'flying' around!

A last minute decision saw Raphel and myself packing our bags to fly off to Hong Kong from 2-5 August. Deciding to utilise our days fully overseas, we decided on the earliest possible flight, which in turn saw us heading to the airport at about 5.30am!!

You can really see my zombie face here as I did not have a good night's rest the previous night.

So after a 4 hour flight, in which I was treated to the film 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian', we were finally in Hong Kong! I was really thankful that upon reaching Hong Kong Island by express train, we decided to take a cab to our hotel, The Garden View - YWCA, for it was situated up on a hill!! Imagine carrying our luggage up the steep slope...

After checking in, we dropped our luggage and went exploring. That's when I found out that Raphel is a super huge fan of 许留山.

(I believe that it was from there on that he had to have his daily dosage of mango desserts. If not, who would know if he might just turn crazy with the lack of his mango medication?!?! It simply brings him back from the dead upon tasting his mango desserts!!)

So, while he has his mango medication daily, I had my shopping daily too! Muahahaha... Mongkok here I come =)

When: 2-5 August 2008

It's time to shop! =)