Day 1 - Australia Dairy Co., Ladies Market, Fa Yuen Market, Kam Wah Cafe & Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

Sunday, 23 June 2019

Having been to Hong Kong at least twice (or was it thrice?), I decided to take the road less travelled this time.

I wanted to do the things I had not done the previous times, such as going to the various markets that I didn't go, eat the food that I missed out on and go to the places that I didn't go.

A pocket wifi, the first thing we got right outside the arrival hall in Hong Kong

After that, we proceeded to this counter to get our Octopus Cards that would be on-loan for the next 5 days

3 adults and 1 child

The counter staff at the Octopus Card was not helpful. When asked where to take the bus, she pointed downward and said coldly,"Downstairs." 

Downstairs where? We followed the Bus sign and exited on the far right of the arrival hall.

My previous itinerary stated to take bus number A21 to get to our hotel.

It was Bus Stop Number 12 for Shamrock Hotel. 

A 50-minute long journey. Didn't feel that long though.

There you are, right opposite us

We deposited the luggage with the hotel and headed straight for Australia Dairy Company which was just a stone's throw away from the hotel.

That was the first time I had to queue at Australia Diary Co., and a long queue at that!

It moved really quickly though so we had no complaints.

Our comfort food

 The egg-milk pudding and sandwiches with various fillings: 

egg and ham, egg and cheese and simply egg

All were scrumptious as the scrambled eggs were soft and nicely done.

Do ask for toasted bread as it tastes better than plain bread.

The egg-milk pudding needs no introduction. Except for William, the rest of us were all craving for and looking forward to taste the sweet curdled milk that crumples on your tongue.

I used to feel that the staff at Australia Dairy Co. were curt, to the point of being rude, but this time round, I didn't get the feeling of being hurried. In fact, the staff taking the order was trying to use the language we were comfortable with,"Chinese? English?"

He ended up speaking Mandarin with William and me and English with Coco.

After that, we headed to Ladies Market which was 2 MTR stations away in Mongkok.

Lighters in the form of iPhones

Pedi-Mani kit in doll casing

Interesting undergarments

Lots of counterfeit bags and wallets

Tempted to get the pretty salt and pepper shakers but I remembered the plain ones I got from Bangkok or Australia are still sitting idle in one of the cabinets!

Pretty colourful 3D cards

Have always wondered how they did it

Coco mused,"Pussy on the panties to cover the pussy."

I wasn't sure if the vendors would allow photography so my pictures were taken in a hurry.

After browsing through Ladies Market and decided that there was nothing worthy to buy, we walked to Fa Yuen Market which was also in the vicinity but in the other direction. Unfortunately, it was even more of a market, selling clothes and fruits. Nothing much for us to buy too. I didn't even take any pictures as it was not much of a difference from Ladies Market - just another street market with aunty and uncle vendors.

 

By then, everyone was complaining of tiredness and aching feet.

I was determined to visit Kam Wah Cafe which was, incidentally, quite near to where we were.

A cafe frequented by celebrities that I don't know

The place was very tiny and it was very cramped. 

We were allocated a small table and had to share it with a lone customer.

We were not hungry but Kam Wah Cafe's Pineapple Bun with butter (HKD 10) was touted to be 'the best' so I had to try it.

William had the Pineapple Bun sans the butter (HKD 6) as it was stated on the menu that that's what it's famous for.

Verdict: We were disappointed.

Me,"This is 'the best'? Have those people eaten a pineapple bun before?"

William,"Maybe never, so this is the only, and so 'the best', bo lo pau they have eaten."

There was a minimum order per person so we had to order a chicken chop bun to make up the numbers. We packed it back in the end but it probably ended up in the dustbin.

For all the hype that it's worth, we feel that the Pineapple Bun was just average. 

I would not recommend hassling a visit to Kam Wah Cafe. If you are near there, no harm trying just to experience the cramped and supposedly popular cafe, but it's not worth a special trip there for the bun.

It was almost 3pm so we returned to the hotel to rest our feet. Coco decided to stay in for the rest of the day as she was tired from all the Marketing and viewing pirated goods.

The rest of us continued with our Marketing adventures to Temple Street Market which was just 5 to 10 minutes' walk from the hotel.

The cheena signboard

Baby bought a toy dog for herself and two smaller ones for her cousins

I thought this building, which William believed was a mahjong house, looked somewhat more 'orderly' compared to the rest of the buildings that we had seen so far. 

Then William decided that it was time for dinner before we headed back to the hotel for the day

We ate at Mak Man Kee Noodles, just a shop or two away from Australia Dairy Co.

I had pig's trotter noodles. 

Lots of huge bones in the way, as usual

Mak Man Kee's famous wanton noodles

Shrimp dumpling noodles

We are not big fans of Mak Man Kee Noodles. 

This is my third try while it was William's second. 

Edible for sure but we didn't think it was fantastic. 

Where to go:

Australian Dairy Company

G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street (Jordan MTR Exit C2)

Opening hours: 7.30am - 11pm (Closed on Thursdays)

Ladies Market (Mongkok MTR, walk 260m to Tung Choi Street)

Fa Yuen Street Market (Mongkok MTR Exit E2)

Kam Wah Cafe

G/F, 47 Bute Street (Prince Edward MTR)

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

G/F, 51 Parkes Street (Jordan MTR Exit C2)

Opening hours: 12pm - 12.30am

Scooted!

We went to Hong Kong for a 5D4N trip, which explains the lapse after my last post on our Venetian stay.

I even brought my newly acquired MacBook along, naively thinking that I would blog about the trip day by day at the end of each day. Really silly of me. We ended up going back to the hotel quite late every day, and we were exhausted at the end of the day just about every single day! It also means that we woke up late, like close to 10am, and getting out and about after 11am or 12pm. Quite a shame to have 'wasted' the holiday like that.

It was a last-minute decision to travel. I booked the flight and hotel just about a week before we flew. The itinerary was not even completed. I was not very sure what I wanted to achieve or where to go. I just wanted a trip out of Singapore, but I did not want to plan much, so I chose a familiar place I had been to a few times.

I don't know what got into me, but I probably wasn't thinking when I booked the air tickets. I chose a 6am flight!

Coco asked,"Wouldn't we need to be at the airport at 4am?"

Quite a few hiccups too.

I have always booked Scoot ever since the first time I tried it. In spite of the bad press that it has been getting lately, my experience with Scoot had been quite good. However, this time round, the experience was less than stellar.

1) I thought I had booked a FlyBagEat ticket for William while the rest of us just FlyEat as we didn't need 4 big luggage for a 5-day trip to Hong Kong, but I got a shock of my life when we tried to print the luggage tag and we didn't have the option to print it. The staff at the Scoot counter informed me that I didn't buy the check-in luggage for both trips. We had to pay $58 for the luggage in cash in Singapore and buy the luggage option online at $30+ in Hong Kong.

2) Then I thought I bought meals on board for all of us. However, when Baby tried to look at her meal options, no box was checked, which suggested that I had not bought the meals.

I tried to tick the boxes and found that every tick added additional payment to my ticket prices. That 'confirmed' my suspicion that I really had not bought the meals.

I told the girls,"Well, it would be really early. Let's take it that we would go there on an empty stomach and work up an appetite after we reach the hotel." The girls agreed.

It turned out that I did purchase the meals. The Scootee (Scoot's flight attendant) serving us requested for our boarding pass and served us the meals!

Well! Not sure what had happened but it was an unsettling experience for me.

3) When we boarded the return flight, we were one of the last few passengers to board the plane. We got a shock when we found that our luggage cabin were filled with other passengers' luggage, when they were seated elsewhere.

We managed to put one luggage in the cabin above our seats in Row 3 and 4 but had to stow the rest at Row 11!

I spoke to one of the Scootees and understood that luggage cabin space is on a first-come-first-serve basis. While I appreciate that most things in life are in that order, but isn't it, or shouldn't it be, common-sense that your luggage ought to be in the cabin space at your seat? Sigh.

I ended up having to squeeze through a dozen men's backsides to get to our luggage so as not to end up being the last passengers to get off the plane. Never mind that my tummy and butt were equally squashed by them. Aunty already. It's okay.

Thankfully, a nice young gentleman with a million-dollar smile helped me to get the luggage down. My saving grace amidst of the unpleasantness!

Palazzo Odoni - A Totally Lovely Venetian-Stay Experience

We took a morning train from Florence to Venice Santa Lucia Train Station.

All happy to be at the legendary city floating on the water

A dark, scrawny man approached us and offered his service to push our luggage to our hotel.

We were intrigued by this simple machine that the man used to manoeuvre up and down the many step-bridges of Venice. Each time, we wondered how he was going to do it but every time he moved the carrier quite effortlessly up and down the steps without pausing for a breath.

It certainly wasn't an exaggeration when I read from the internet that Venice has 'many bridges'!

We stayed at Palazzo Odoni, a beautiful Venetian apartment that felt homely and comfortable.

It was situated along one of the many canals. I should think just about every apartment or building in Venice is just next to a canal!

It looked unassuming from the outside and we could have missed it if not for the luggage man who told us this was it.

It looked a little run-down after we pushed open the door. I was a little worried.

The many steps up the apartment

The luggage man left after we reached the apartment so we had to lug the heavy luggage ourselves up  the stairs. Then ...

we were shocked to find another long flight of stairs, albeit carpeted one, awaiting us on the inside!

Needless to say, we huffed and puffed by the time we reached the reception counter.

It was a cosy reception though.

We were given the keys promptly and directed to our room.

The girls wowed when we entered the room.

Both wanted the canopied bed but I told Coco that Baby had helped me choose this place and I had given her my word that she would have this bed.

So Coco settled for this nonetheless lovely bed

 And this is William's and mine, just back to back with Baby's bed

Of course, had to inspect the bathroom

Nothing Venetian about the bathroom, but it was fine by us

The pretty breakfast room

Very thoughtful and delicate arrangements and decor

Someone raved that they served 'the best croissants'. 

It was good indeed.

Cereal corner

Did I mention that even the room key is beautifully accessorised?

Just outside the stay

While Venice is radiant and beautiful like a young maiden in the day, she could be quite eerie when night falls. And we are not talking about just the steps up our stay.

Would I recommend this place? The location is not that near to the tourist attractions. I knew that before I booked it. Although others maintained that it was 'walkable', 'within walking distance', but to someone who prefers to stay within a 3-minute walk to the train station in most cities, a 15- to 20-minute walk, even if it's leisurely, to the central area is quite far for me.

I chose the place for the experience and I was not disappointed. Really lovely place! Staff were helpful and pleasant. This place makes for one of the reasons I have fond memories about Venice!

Palazzo Odoni Santa Croce 151 - Fondamenta Minotto Venice 30135 S$1066 for 3 nights for 2A2C