This vacation has been a unique experience for me, mostly because of mobile technology within my palm. For the first time, I am updating my whereabouts via Twitter and Facebook so that you people can get my latest status and photos.
And for those that missed my tweets, here's a chronological compilation over the past 5 days, plus additional footage (hahaha sounds like I'm marketing some "special edition" or "best compilation" or sorts).
Day 1, 26 Nov 2009
- 5.30am, i'm up, and so is the coffee shop. 5:47 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
Queueing to check-in manually at T1 Row 1. The self service counter is buggy, cannot process our e-tickets. 6:49 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
In the queue, i see everyone's irritated faces, and it really spoils the whole vacation experience for me. 6:55 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
Flight is overbooked. The staff requested us to volunteer for the next flight at 1010hrs with compensation. We agreed n now processing. 7:33 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
For the inconveniences, we were compensated with S$90 cash and US$75 in-flight vouchers. Each. 8:02 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
On top of that, they gave us breakfast vouchers to consume at the cafeteria. But the vouchers wrote for 5 pax, and the cashier lady so cute 8:21 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
She insisted that we utilise the full value, even if it means take-away. And so we ordered an American breakfast, 2 croissant, 2 coffees 8:23 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
- ...1 tea, 2 mineral waters, 1 fruit punch, 1 can drink. Total worth about $33. And here's the photo of it all. 8:25 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
We didn't finish the tea and coffee, they tasted horrible. The tuna croissant was good but too salty.
Of all places, i found the SD card reader i've been looking for, in the airport duty free electronics shop. 9:36 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
Regarding this entry, I have been trying to find a small SD(HC) card reader that I can carry around with me. I have like over 20GB worth of SDHC cards lying around and I don't even have an electronic device that uses SD cards. This particular SD card reader is very compact, reads other formats, and is from MobileGear, a brand that I can at least rely instead of some bogus cheapo OEMs in Sim Lim. The exact model is CR4-03. http://www.mglifestyle.com/product_detail.php?item_no=317
Just boarded the Cathay Pacific plane. Over and out, Singapore! 9:59 AM Nov 26th from Gravity
After an hour of take-off delay, we only managed to touchdown Hong Kong at about 3pm. After a long wait at the baggage counter, we took the airport limousine coach, checked-in Hotel Panorama along Hart Ave, and by the time I settled down and figured out the China Mobile Prepaid IDD SIM card...
Live reporting from Kowloon, Hong Kong!!! Got my unlimited data pack activated. 5:59 PM Nov 26th from Gravity
China Mobile doesn't have a strong 3G network, now connected on low bandwidth and can't open too many connections on the phone. Bleah. 6:24 PM Nov 26th from Gravity
In fact, China Mobile HK doesn't have a 3G network, it's probably just EDGE. Who says Singapore's telco provide lousy network? You go Hong Kong and you get confused with all these operators and their what-nots. However, I must applaud their IVR for helping me do all the activations. And from the service offering point of view, CMHK is pretty comprehensive. You can sign up many VASes by just punching some # service commands.
Personally, I choose to purchase People's IDD Talk Stared Value SIM Card because they offer free IDD to 30 countries including Singapore. Only local airtime of HK$0.25/min is charged. So for my SIM, I activated the unlimited data pack for HK$78, leaving HK$20 for my IDD/local usages. By the time I left HK, I still have HK$10 remaining.
With data connectivity in my hands, I left the hotel and roamed the streets. We came to a shopping mall along Nathan Road. Forgot which mall was it, we just walked in.
- Ingenious shop name! Can read front to back. 6:31 PM Nov 26th from Gravity
Then after a quick meal at Cafe De Coral at the same mall, we headed to the "Avenue of Stars". There, we caught...
- A magnificent view of the skyline! Great xmas lights!!!! 7:12 PM Nov 26th from Gravity
Here's another shot on the Samsung ST550.
HK weather was around 20s degree. The breeze is rather chilling but not freezing. If there is no wind you could comfortably walk around with a t-shirt. But it is a must to carry a windbreaker just in case of sudden climate changes.
From there, we walked to Hankow Road where the ESPRIT outlet was, and dropped by HMV to get "The Very Best of Enya" CD+DVD album.
- My newest enya compilation CD album, bought only becoz of the DVD music videos included.
I already had a bootleg Enya DVD years back, but this album contains new music videos. I didn't like the track selections. Actually, the track listing is different from the CD-only version, very puzzling why Warner Music did that. This is the first compilation album I bought of Enya. I had all her studio albums and a dozen of her singles, meticulously collected to avoid duplicates, as many of her singles contain unreleased tracks.
After a quick shopping spree, we headed back to hotel and had a good rest in preparation for the next day trip to Macau, which I will continue in my next blog entry.
Labels: Hong Kong, Twitter
