Showing posts with label Out of the Country. Show all posts

Revisiting Hong Kong: Lung Shing Dispensary

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The second thing in my "to do list in Hong Kong is a visit to Lung Shing Dispensary in Granville Road.


I've read a lot of good reviews of this store. When we visited, there were a lot of locals shopping. I think we were the only foreigners at that time. 


Lung Shing Dispensary has only one store outlet. It is considered as one of the must go to shops in Tsim Sha Tsui. 


I happen to know about this place by reading forums at Pinoy Exchange. Filipinos in HKG recommended Lung Shing as it is best known for selling the cheapest cosmetic, skin care products, perfumes and so on. Like SaSa and Bonjour, they sell all kinds of international beauty products, from Channel, Dior, Estee Lauder to Japanese or Korean brands like Skin Food and SK-II at the cheapest price over Hong Kong. 
I managed to buy a 50ml Burberry Weekend for only around Php 1,200 when converted (forgot how much it is exactly in HKD).  Lanvin Rumeur 4.5ml for HKD 35 and Flower by Kenzo at HKD 47. 


Next time you happen to be in HKG and crazy about scents, drop by Lung Shing. They only accept cash though. 

Well, that's a good thing. If not, I would have drowned myself to credit card
debt lols. 




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The 20 Things I Did in Hong Kong

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1. Stayed in a decent 2 star hotel away from the hustle and bustle 


2. Eat in a Cha Chaan Teng. Hung Moon Tea Restaurant. 


3. Buy cheaply priced perfumes at Lung Shing Dispensary. 


4. Visit to 3 H&M stores with their 50-70% off sale. (TST, Mongkok & Central)


5. Goof around Kowloon Walled City Park with their comic stars. 


6. Afternoon Walk at Hong Kong Museum, Clock Tower and Avenue of Stars. 


7. Watched and listened to a young singer perform in the street. 


8. Watched Symphony of Lights


9. Star Ferry ride going to Central. 


10. Rode the Peak tram


11. Went up to Sky Terrace for an almost midnight view of Hong Kong skyline from the peak. 


12. Late dinner at Tsui Wah The Peak


13. Day Tour in Disneyland


14. Dinner and pasalubong shopping at Temple Street. 


15. Side trip to Shenzhen

16. Evening walk in Mongkok


17. Street art photo op in Central / Lan Kwai Fong


18. Tour the city via Ding Ding Tram


19. Come out alive from Ikea's maze like store 


20. Filled my stomach with good food before leaving Hong Kong.



It was both fun and another tiring experience to come back in Hong Kong. When I first went last 2010, it was winter time and Chinese New Year. Coming back last July was a different one. It was Summer, so humid that we didn't get to enjoy our day in Disneyland. I think we enjoyed window shopping more because of the great mark down sale most of the shops offer.




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Revisiting Hong Kong: Hung Moon Tea Restaurant and Cha Chaan Teng

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I had the chance to come back to Hong Kong for a 4 days stay last July 11. Of course, we again booked our flights many months ahead. Because of that, we got our roundtrip ticket more or less Php 3,500 only. Thanks to Cebu Pacific deals. 


We were blessed with clear skies, and it was 32-35 degrees hot summer in HKG. Yikes! 

Since I have my own travel agency, I just decided to get a package rather than my usual DIY trips. We were picked up and dropped to our hotel. And we had the whole bus for the 4 of us only. 


Checking in at our hotel, the Bridal Tea house in Kai Tak was a breeze. 


When I first went to HKG, I was so hesitant to try their local food. On my second visit, I promised myself to really push an experience at one Cha chaan teng. A trip to Hong Kong is not complete without eating at Cha Chaan Teng. I checked openrice.com and found one. So upon arriving and settling our things in the hotel, we immediately looked for the restaurant. After going back and forth at Pak Tai Street and checking if the chinese characters are similar, we found what I'm looking for - Hung Moon Tea Restaurant.


Still, much to our surprise, nobody is able to converse in English. And to make it harder, the menu is all pure Chinese with not one picture in it. Good thing, teen Hongkongers were there and offered their translating services. 


3 teens helped us in ordering. We got milk teas, spicy chicken and a noodle dish we immediately liked. It was a superb experience. 


The 2 dish is already ample for us 4 and we only paid a total of HKD 78. Cheap!


Cha Chaan Teng means a tea canteen and is a place to have a quick bite at an affordable price. It's like a hawkers in Singapore.

So next time you visit Hong Kong - do what the locals do. Be a traveler not a tourist. It's one of a kind experience. Especially, when we were all dumbfounded when none of the staffs are able to speak in English and when we were rescued by those teenagers. It's something I would always cherish and it makes a good storytelling whenever you share your travel experiences.





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First Day in Bali | Jimbaran Beach Dinner


Jimbaran is a small town located about two miles south of the Bali airport. 

The airport is very close by, we can actually see aircrafts in landing position. There was even an aircraft (Lion Air) that missed the runway and instead fell off to sea. Scary. Good thing we had a smooth landing via Air Asia.



The beach lining Jimbaran Bay is one of the best in Bali, its fine white sand an absolute pleasure to walk on. The beach's location makes it an obvious epilogue to any visit to the kecak performances at the clifftop temple.

About forty to fifty seafood restaurants of varying price and quality line the shore. Our partner tour operator chose Furama for our dinner.




The dining scene in the town of Jimbaran in Bali is nothing like the fancy restaurant crowd you'll find closer to Kuta or Ubud. Instead of sitting in intimately-lit dining spaces, you'll sit on tables set right on the sand, out in the open, next to the sea.



Your dinner will be simple yet very Balinese: seafood, marinated and spiced according to the island's culinary traditions, and grilled over burning coconut husks. You'll dine in the midst of one of Bali's most romantic dining settings: sitting on the beach with the sound of the murmuring surf in the air, your meal illuminated by candles and the moonlight, penjor waving in the wind.



There were a lot of seafood restaurants in Jimbaran Beach, all of them with the same setting of arranging dinner tables facing the beach where sun sets every evening



We were served

- Welcome Drink
- Balinese Peanut
- Fish Soup
- Grilled Fish 350 gr
- Grilled Prawn 2 pcs
- Grilled Clams 2 pcs
- Squid Calamari 200 gr
- Grilled Crab 250 gr
- Steamed white Rice
- Kangkung Vegetables
- Special Sauce Bumbu Bali
- Slice Tropical Fruits
- One Bottle of Mineral Water












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2012 Eight Day Trip | Day 1: Chocolateville Bangkok

I was looking for something new to try in Bangkok and found Chocolateville via a random post in Tumblr. We took a taxi from Chatuchak market and we're very lucky to have found a friendly and very helpful cab driver. The place is definitely not easy to find. 




























Our driver had to call Chocolateville to ask for directions. And it's so far from Chatuchak. It took us almost an hour to finally see this signage.




























When we arrived. It was just W.O.W. It's like a theme park. But actually it's a restaurant with a European vibe in it. 


It's a small English village restaurant which looks like a mini Disney theme park without the disney characters.  At the entrance you will be greeted by the windmill, strolling down you will see the light house and other pretty cottages. 






We spent probably 6 hours in this place. We left around 10PM. Took a taxi back to our hotel in Pratunam.


If you want to go there, it's better to print this map and give it to the driver.
แผนที่การเดินทางไป Chocolate Ville


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