Hi again, Singapore - A Touch of Elegance @ Antoinette

Meeting up with A in Singapore was one of the highlights of this trip. A picked Antoinette, a french restaurant which is famous of desserts and elegant settings.  


Marinara - I liked the al dente texture of the home made pasta.

















Concorde - This savory crepe with chicken really rocked. (oh this sounds not so elegant. hohoho). Don't forget to further enhace the taste by the mushroom sauce.

















Here is the A's favorite. The first on the stage was Charlotte- The red shell is made of sweetened finger biscuits, good combination to the slightly sour cream inside.

















The second lady was Chocolate Marshmallow Meringue - The adorable sweety tasted beyond sweet and we failed to finish it.

















We settled down at the hotel after having the big meal. It's the view from the room of V Hotel where we stayed. V Hotel is a typical city hotel, small but neat. It's strength is easy accessible for the hotel is just above Lavender MRT station and there are bus stops around the corner.

Johor Bahru - Unexpected Excitements @ Legoland

Legoland is the only checkpoint today. I gave up my free admission to Hong Kong Ocean Park (this birthday offer is for HK citizens only and is subject to terms and conditions) for this. Let's check out if the deal is worth.

















My friend has ride frenzy and planed to try every ride in the theme park while I tried to skip this kind of excitements. So my friend said the ticket is cheaper than mine.

















This pony only walk on track, no flying no running. My friend bet I could manage it. However, it's a pity that the staff replied it's only for kids.



















Observation Tower is for everybody, regardless of age. From the tower, it's clear that Legoland is the sole attraction around.

















After tried several rides, my friend suggested to watch 4D movie. A staff announced the theater experienced some technical problems after a 15-minute wait. When we walked out, we found out that the enter Legoland had blackout.

No ride? No worry. We could take photos of the bricks.

 




Thanks the balloon master for making this beautiful heart-shaped balloon as special birthday gift to me. Balloon art isn't an easy job as balloons are easy to break. He tried twice to get it done. Thanks again.






















Another 2 hours passed but there was no sign when the blackout would be ended. By the way, it's lunch time. The food pricing in Legoland is much reasonable than that in Universal Studio Singapore. Each set below is under RM10 (excludes drinks) and tasted good (rice is better in my opinion).


A staff informed us the park was going to close while we were hiding from the hot sun. We both felt so disappointed. Lots of unhappy customers were queueing up at services centre to figure out what do. Another staff mentioned it's the first time for the Legoland to have blackout since it's open (for 8 months) because the area was out of power. They would send us email to arrange another tickets for us. (we are still waiting for the email).

My friend said the staff is well trained because they were patient and sent a dragon mascot and balloon master were out to calm down the unhappy customers.

Legoland, would you offer us complimentary one night stay at Legoland Hotel together with admission tickets? Your customers would be impressed.

















On the other hand, transportation arrangement was damn bad. We bought a package and our travel agent in Singapore didn't receive any news about the blackout. So, we had to arrange our return transport. We waited for a bus travel between Legoland and JB Sentral. There was an empty one but the driver didn't allow anybody to get on. People were disappointed again. To escape from the hot and humid weather, my friend and me had no choice but took a taxi to the hotel. Hope Legoland will add transportation into their contingency menu though I don't wanna to experience any crisis again.

Johor Bahru - Unexpected Excitements

To ensue we could arrive Legoland on time, my friend and me planned to stay at Johor Bahru the night before the visit. My friend booked a Legoland package through a Singapore travel agent. Unexpectedly, this brought us a trip of excitements.

A hotel staff told us there was no such booking when we arrived the hotel in Johor Bahru. Lucky I had a printed hotel voucher so the staff finally granted us a room. The accommodation was fixed. Then, how about our Legoland admission tickets? The hotel staff said there was no ticket kept at front desk and suggested us to check with Business Centre the next morning.

Well, we go another no from the Business Centre at first in the morning. I said I worried we couldn't go to Legoland as scheduled. The staff searched again and found the tickets. Hurray.

The package included return transportation, so we waited for the coach. Yet, no car pop up for almost half an hour. My friend checked with the Business Centre again. And the car finally appeared to save us. "Legoland, we are coming......"

The view from our hotel room. 




The taste of the Fujian noddle was better than the Japanese style meal. 


There are many Fujian and Chiuchau people immigrated to Southeast Asia. So, it's better to order the food of these styles if you have no idea what to choose.

"City Impression @ Tsim Sha Tsui" @ City Gallery, Central

"City Impression @ Tsim Sha Tsui" is an exhibition to showcase the current and the old Tsim Sha Tsui in Lego bricks.

Impression of Tsim Sha Tsui in 2011, which is not very different from that in 2013. From left to right: Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier, Harbour City, the Clock Tower, Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Hong Kong Space Museum. The tall grey building at the back is the new block of Peninsular Hong Kong. The big rubber duck will visit HK during May-Jun 2013. Only one 2011 photo here as you can still explore the scene in real now.














The followings are photos of the impressions of Tsim Sha Tsui in 1970. There were quite many junks in Hong Kong. Now, you can charter a similar one for party. Pls note the big rubber duck was not yet born at the time.














Ｔhe current clock tower was a part of Tsim Sha Tsiu Railway Station.














View of the old Tsim Shai Tsui Railway Station from another angle. Note the type of buses are replaced by modern and more eco-friendly models.














The 2 boats in the water reminded us Hong Kong was once a fishing village. The rickshaws on the left are disappeared. You may rent some through Hong Kong Tourism Board. The 5-flag pole on the right was once a popular meeting point. Now, nobody would bother to wait somebody there because of heavy traffic.

Easy Hiking on Lamma Island

How to spend weekend? Play a visit to an outlying island is a choice. It takes around 30mins from Central to Sok Kwu Wan, a point of Lamma Island by ferry.

Fishermen around So Kwu Wan. Not sure what they are doing.

















The island is famous of seafood and you can check out from any restaurants there.

















I hope HK can have more fish farms for I have stronger confidence on the local food quality.

















Overlooking the little fish port.

















Abandoned cement factory reflects part of the past.

















Kiting in Hung Shing Yeh Beach, near Yung Shue Wan, where another ferry pier of the island located.