Feels Bad to Be Back

If you think Hongkies are rude, think again.

If you think Hong Kong is like Kuala Lumpur, without a doubt think again.

If you think Malaysia's English level is good, it could be better somewhere else.

If you think Malaysian weather is bad, think again (okay this time must compliment on Malaysia a bit lol =P)

As I mentioned earlier, I flew off to Hong Kong, together with other Malaysian contingents to attend the HSBC YEA Regional Awards and Trip 2 weeks ago, and I bet most of you have been waiting for this post, and for that I apologize.

But I must warn you, I don't know how long this post is going to be. =P

14th June

So it was as early as 5am on that Saturday morning when I sprang out of my bed with anxiousness to prepare myself. My first trip on a plane, so I was rather anxious don't blame me. =D

My dad gave me a lift to Kelana Jaya LRT station to meet up with Pretib and Boey before being sent to KLIA Airport by Boey's dad. Uncannily, all 3 of us look like our dads. XD The journey took us 45 minutes before reaching the airport and meeting the other Malaysians, team guide Andrew and The Star reporter Ee Loo. Eric and Meiyi proved why they were the elocution winners by being there the earliest. Then the Gold Team, our representative arrived with Elizabeth showing the true colours of a Malaysian by being the latest. XD And she came with a tudung, I nearly blurted out the word "Insya-Allah" before knowing what happened to her. Okay no reveal on that.

After breakfast at McD's, we moved on to checking-in and going through the custom checkings on our luggage. Being the first time, I quite embarassingly screwed up the spotcheck section, whereby I daringly searched a passenger's luggage for my wallet. Forgive me lol.

On the way to airplane.

Anxious me. =)

It was a smooth 3 hour flight via the Cathay Pacific Airways, and even better, the service was top-class. Feels good to be flying on air with no stress! To appreciate time, Pretib and I studied Law lol. Apart from that, I thank God for the smooth flight apart from the awkward landing at the airport whereby the sudden jerk of the plane caught me.

I'm in HONG KONG BABY!

Even alighting the plane itself offers a different experience, as after checking in, we walked like celebrities thanks to the crowd standing around the exit lol. After meeting up with the Vietnamese contingent, we departed to the Marco Polo Hong Kong hotel in Tsim Tsa Tsui.

Fantastic view of Hong Kong Island

The renowned Mah Tsing Bridge

By the time we reached the hotel we were all dead tired. Boey and I were arranged to be in the same room, so what happened between us during our stay in the room throughout the week remains confidential okay =P Joking. After a nap from 5 pm, we prepared ourselves for the welcoming dinner by HSBC at the 6th floor of the hotel.

Welcomed by Imelda, HSBC Organizing Chairperson of the event.

The dinner was awesome, and best of all, ALL food is fully-paid. How lucky I can be? Lol.

After dinner photos.

Unfortunately for the Malaysian Gold Team, they will be the FIRST team to present in the regional awards on Monday. That's right after I said,

"Dom, it's good to be first to present." XD

So basically nothing much on the first day, we just had a good night's sleep despite planning to study at midnight. Below was the reason why we failed:

2-4 am

"Eh bro, we set ourselves kay, we set alarm at 4 am then we wake up and study."

"Aite!" (obviously Boey talking)

4.20 am

"Bro what time is it weeh?"

"4 am............ (despite alarm ringing 4 times) Alar bro damn lazy lar. We sleep bit more, til 5.30 am then we study....."

5.30 am

"Bro f*** the ALARM WEH!" SLEEP LAR!" This will bring us to

15th June

Woke up at round 8.30 am for breakfast at the 1st floor of the hotel, and we had continental breakfast for the WHOLE week since then. You might think it's heaven at first, but once you eat such breakfast every morning, you will get bored. And the breakfast costs RM80 per meal. =S Speaking about extravagant living.

Then we proceeded to the half-day city tour around the famous places in Hong Kong, which firstly we went to the Mou Men Temple for a visit.

Pictures of Mou Men Temple and structures around it.

A street for the ladders. 0=0

Vintage picture with the Vietnamese team.

After that we took the bus to the Victoria Peak whereby we took a trem up the hill to reach the peak. Even the hill was full of condominiums and apartments, Genting everyday for them lol.

Ahh did I say the weather sucked? =S

Here is the reason why.

Jackie Chan greeting us at the entrance

Trying to embarass Bruce Lee =P

City view from the peak.

Everything was on a rush as time was limited, plus with the supposingly rehearsal of all the Gold Teams, we went for a brief visit to the Stanley Street where I bought souvenir for Sara. =)

Nothing much after that, with Boey meeting his friend, Pretib and I went out at night to search north and south for food to eat. THANK GOD WE MET ANDREW AND THE GANG! HAHAHA.

Speaking of Andrew, HE FREAKING SCARED ME OFF MY ARSE!

After dinner Pretib and I separated from others(actually we walked the wrong way also XD) then as I was about to take out my wallet, a hand stabbed my waist and at that moment, I thought I was the victim of robbery at foreign land. You can ask Pretib how I stared at him scaringly when I felt the hand,

ONLY TO FIND ANDREW LAUGHING AT MY BACK!

DAMN TRAUMATIZED LAR LOL. But luckily he "bou fan sou" by bringing Pretib and I to Hong Kong Island via the ferry. That's when we caught the fantastic city view of Hong Kong.

Beats KL's city view hands down.

And also that's when we discovered Lan Guai Fong, the famous district of PUBS. And I do mean the WHOLE stretch of pubs. No jokes okay.

16th June

You know how it feels when you are indirectly kicked out from the bus to accomodate spaces for others?

"Will the silver team and bronze team please alight the bus thank you!"

Which of course includes me lol. Apparently there's only one bus that time to take us to the HSBC building for the regional finals, and apparently, there's an offence for standing in the bus. =S

At least Andrew followed us by taking a cab awwwwwwwwwww =D

I shall go straight to the competition.

As I mentioned earlier, Malaysia presented first, so MALAYSIA BOLEH! =)

In support of Malaysia, more pictures for all of you.

But the one stealing the show was the Thai team, which nearly blew off all of us with their model-like presentation. Congratulations for being RM50,000 richer =)

Eventual winners Thailand.

The night ended with the group photos of the Gold Team members as well as others.

A memorable night.

Then we left to the renowned Mong Kok Street to buy souvenirs. Needless to say, it is quite similar to Petaling Street in KL. Perhaps the cheapest stuffs are all available here.

Mong Kok Street

17th - 20th June

I guess I have to summarize since this post is already long lol. Below are the places we visited:

Ocean Park

The most notable one here is the Ocean Park. Yes it's raining cats and dogs again =S By the time we attended the briefing, we were all soaked wet, but thankfully the briefing by the park's CEO was eye-opening. How many times in life you can get a CEO to give such briefing himself?

If not for the rain, we would have taken the various rides there. =( Thankfully we managed to catch the dolphin performance.)

Dolphins showing off their brilliant skills.

Andrew and I

Having a thing for fishes =P

Cathay Pacific City

Even Cantona and Solksjaer took Cathay Pacific Airways.

Meeting of Boey's friend

Dinner @ Mong Kok Street

That's when the classical LAMEST joke of "my fingers" came alive. =S Then I gave a free lesson of Cantonese speaking to the lady in red in the picture. XD

Disneyland

It is actually my childhood dream to see what the world of cartoon is like, and I was really happy to step my feet into this historical ground. Despite the lack of rides (as those are mainly for kids), we still had an enjoyable time under the glaring sunlight.

Daisy and I. Don't be jealous =P

FINALLY HERE BABY!

Farewell Dinner

Finally, a fantastic week had come to an end, and all of us attended the farewell dinner in the HSBC building. Again I felt grand as I never expected myself to be here at all. So to appreciate time left, we posed yet again. =P

Ronnierine vs Ericrine in X-Men

Overall it was a fantastic and awesome event organized by HSBC Bank, as everything was well organized. Who would be so kind to pay for breakfast and accomodation at a 5-star hotel for a whole WEEK? I would like to thank those who made these possible, especially Andrew who made sure we "KIDS" were safe all the time. Zhen Han's "tak jadi" comments, and also Meiyi's "tak tau malu" poses will stick into my mind. HAHAHA. Not forgetting Eric's gullibility lol.

And for those new friends I have met, nice to meet all of you, and all the best in your future undertakings. I'll miss all of you =) Feels bad to come back as I missed the trip a lot.