27 May 2016 - Hong Kong Day 2: Comix Home Base, Tai Yuen Toy Street

Once the rain got lighter, we walked to a building called Comix Home Base in Wan Chai. The ground floor of this historic building comprises comics and animation-related stores, food and beverage facilities, and a 300-metre public open space.

The first floor is a restaurant. On the second floor, there are art-related stores, exhibition space, and more importantly, a comics and animation resource centre known as "Comix Salon". Spaces for exhibitions and events that promote comics, animation, digital entertainment, art, and culture are available on the third and the fourth floors.

We decided to visit the arts exhibition here since admission is free.

There are many arts exhibits that are made up of different materials.

The following art piece was actually made up of thousands of badges if you look closer.

And following is a wall made up of HK$10.

Here's a video of some of the exhibits that we saw.
As we were about to leave the building, we saw the below sign saying Tropical Cyclone No 1 is in effect.  So now we can say we had experienced Cyclone?  :-P

Before this trip, we had promised Jerlene and Javier to bring them to a toy street where they can each choose a toy they want.  They had been looking forward to this day and that's where we headed next. Tai Yuen Street (Toy Street) is just across Johnston Road from Wan Chai MTR station.  We spent about an hour visiting each and every toy shops along the street.  Jerlene and Javier were overwhelmed by all the toys around and cannot decide what to choose.

They finally got what they want after much consideration.  :-)

Our next destination, The Peak!

27 May 2016 - Hong Kong Day 2: Mak's Noodle, Golden Bauhinia, Ani-Com Park@Harbour

As I've mentioned in an earlier post, we have a list of eating place that we would like to cover in this trip.  So this morning, we decided to check off one more from the list.  It is Mak's Noodle (麥奀雲吞麵世家), one of the world's cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant.  There are quite a number of outlets in Hong Kong and we went to the one located along Lock Road at Tsim Sha Tsui, which is just a short walk from our hotel.

I must say this is probably one of the best noodles I've eaten so far.  The noodles were springy and taste real good.

Not forgetting the Wanton, which is freshly made with shrimp and pork.  However do note that the serving bowl is pretty small.

Want to know the price?  Here it is.....

After the wonderful breakfast, we took the MTR to Wan Chai station.  We then walk along the footbridge of O’Brien Road, pass through Immigration Tower and Central Plaza to Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.  Many tourists (especially from mainland China) came here for the Golden Bauhinia. The Forever Blooming Bauhinia Sculpture was a gift from the Central Government to mark the 1997 Handover.  There were many photographers helping tourists to take photos with the sculpture and charge for the photo,  We decided to just DIY with a wefie!

Shortly after we reach the promenade, dark clouds started to loom above us.

Our main objective of coming here was not to squeeze around the tourists.  We were here to visit Ani-Com Park@Harbour"FUN" exhibits which was based on 30 classic ani-com characters that reflect Hong Kong’s culture and way of life, including my favourite Old Master Q.

As it was about to rain, we looked at the map and quickly went to those exhibits that we like.

Javier practising his Taekwando kicks with the Ding Ding Penguin.

As expected, it started to rain before we could visit all the characters.  However, we decided to put on our "rain gears" and continue our objectives.

Once we completed most of the exhibits, we decided to walk back to Wan Chai station and planned for our next destination.

26 May 2016 - Hong Kong Day 1: Kowloon Park, Temple Street, Yee Shun Milk Company

After our meal at Tim Sum Icon restaurant, we decided to explore around the vicinity.  We heard that there is a Comic Stars exhibition at Kowloon Park.  Since it's just nearby, we went over to take a look.

It's actually called Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars (香港漫画星光大道).  There were around 20 Comic characters, including my favourite Old Master Q.

We then moved to the Aviary, which is located within Kowloon Park.

First time seeing such a huge Aviary in a public park that is free.

From the Aviary, Jerlene and Javier spotted a Children's play area not far away.  And so that's where we went next.

Nice view from outside of the playground.

As the sky slowly turned dark, we decided to walk towards Temple Street Night Market.

If you have been to those night markets in Taiwan, this is actually no big deal.

It's dinner time and we had our meal at Yee Shun Milk Company, which is also in the list of eating places that we want to cover.  This restaurant is famous for its Doubled Boiled Milk With Egg White.

On our way back to our hotel, we bought a cup of Curry Fish Balls (鱼蛋) from a street side stall.

Javier spotted a cat wearing a spectacle by the roadside which he found very interesting and insisted that I take a photo of it.

26 May 2016 - Hong Kong Day 1: Holiday Inn Golden Mile, Tim Sum Icon

We embarked on a short trip to Hong Kong today.  From Chek Lap Kok airport, we took CityBus service A21 to Tsim Sha Tsui where our hotel (Holiday Inn Golden Mile) is located.  Other than the good location, the other reason we chose this hotel is that it allows 4 people to stay in a room which has two double beds.

One unique service provided by this hotel is that in every room, there is a mobile phone that allows hotel guest to make local call and comes with several useful apps.  More importantly, it's FREE!  I am just wondering if this is going to be a trend in future.

Before this trip, Tracy had compiled a list of recommended eating place and we will try to cover as many as we can.  First we walked to a nearby mall called The ONE where there is a restaurant known as Tim Sum Icon.

This is the World’s 1st Gudetama Dim Sum Restaurant.  Gudetama (蛋黄哥) is a yellow lazy egg character from the Japanese Sanrio family.  As today is a weekday and we were there around 4pm, there were no queue.  We heard that over weekends and during lunch/dinner time, the queue can be up to an hour.  The following are some of the Tim Sum that we ordered.  Aren't they adorable?

Oops.....isn't this looks like.......  :-P

I highly recommend the following dish.  It is soft (肠粉) on the outside and crispy (腐皮卷) in the inside.  Really yummy!

People who eat at this restaurant usually will "play" with the food before eating.  Want to know what I mean?  Watch the following video!

25 May 2016 - Ever thought of planting with dragon fruit seeds?

As part of the school's assignment, Jerlene and Javier had tried planting bean sprouts, which I believe most of us had tried it when we were kids.  Have you ever thought of planting using dragon fruit seeds?  Tracy had recently dug out the uncountable seeds from a dragon fruit and planted them on a tray with cotton wool.  Few days later, following is the result.

In fact, we just came to know that the "happy plant" (similar to the one below) that we bought previously was actually from dragon fruit seeds.

23 May 2016 - What's the Saying?

For those who are into mobile gaming, you should have heard of a game called "What's the Saying?".  How the game works is that based on the picture shown, you need to determine what is the underlying word or phrase.  There are also random letters at the bottom for you to choose to form the answer.  Jerlene and Javier have recently been addicted to this game.  Javier, in particular, is so obsessed that whenever he doesn't have his mobile device, he will invent his own "question" on a piece of paper and ask me to guess.  I received the one below today.  Can you guess it?  :-)

Scroll down ONLY if you give up and want to know the ANSWER!












































Answer:  Ghost Month

Did you get it correct?  :-)

15 May 2016 - Just Dance Kids!

Javier invited his friend over from next door for a dance party.

They were so adorable!  Nice moves, kids!

15 May 2016 - Wushu: Fan Form

Javier started learning Wushu moves with a Fan today.

It reminded me of a Kungfu drama series (楚留香) that I watched when I was a small kid.  Haha......

14 May 2016 - Our favourite Prata Shop, Srisun Express

Previously, we used to go to the prata shop at Sembawang for lunch during weekends.  However, we have now switched to another prata shop at Kovan which is so much nearer.  Other than the location, this shop has a lot more variety and most importantly, the food here taste GOOD!

Jerlene loves the Egg Prata and Garlic Naan while Javier loves the Hotdog Prata.  For me, all its Goreng (Nasi, Mee, Mee Hoon, Maggi etc) tastes fantastic.  Mommy likes the thosai the most.

This shop is called Srisun Express, which is located at the following address.

7 May 2016 - Practising Taekwando Kicks

Today, Javier started practising Taekwando kicks during his class.  He seems to be able to kick a lot higher as compared to few months back.  Nice kicking, Javier!

2 May 2016 - It's time for some Art and Craft

Jerlene and Javier decided to do some art and craft this morning.  Glad that they initiated this instead of asking for electronic devices.  They said they are going to make a castle with tissue boxes.

I told them I'll rather they messed up the place than whole day having their eyes glued to the screen of electronic devices.  They had a good two hours session doing the painting.  :-)