Cityview Hotel

I decided to go ahead and booked 2 Superior rooms with The Cityview after reading many good reviews on the internet.

I had booked the rooms in March for the June trip as I knew the compelling need for accommodation right after the flight booking. For my early booking, I paid HK5236 (Approx S$955)riding on its “15% off 14 days Advance Purchase” promotion . However, I was shocked to realise that 2 months later, it cost only HK4114 (Approx S$750) for the same rooms I paid for.

A lesson learnt: Book your rooms later. Not earlier.

How the hotel looks from the outside

The conceirge

The service was alright. I wouldn't say it's excellent as we rarely interacted with them. We used a mixture of Mandarin and English to speak with them as sometimes I couldn't understand their English or Mandarin.

The cosy bar area, with an electric grand piano at the corner. It plays on its own every evening to night.

The bar area at night.

They gave us the highest floor, with free upgrade to Premium rooms.

The double bed and the big window which can't be opened.

On the other side of the bed.
The small cabinet which contains a safe, a fridge and compartments for clothes and pillows. A bit small I thought. It could only squeeze in one person's belongings.

The bathroom in all its glory

The view from our unit

The back of the hotel, with a 7-eleven in the reflection, just across the road.

The hotel used to be a YMCA hostel. It probably takes too much of a trouble to remove the sign and most people won't bother to look up anyway.

Overall, I think the hotel stay had been a pleasant experience. We had a few unpleasant run-ins with the hotel over a few issues ie. I asked for a 'connecting room' and they replied me saying they 'will arrange an adjoining room for you'. Thinking that perhaps it's just a different word which carries the same meaning, I left it at that, but we were surprised that their 'adjoining' simply meant 'joining' without a connecting door.

The hotel rooms were not ready when we reached there at 12.30pm. I guess I had high expectations when they emailed me asking me for the time of arrival. I thought they would arrange for an early check-in, but apparently, it was for some administrative purpose. When we returned from our hanging around the area at 3pm, only 1 room was ready. The other room was only ready at 4pm. I thought that was very late.

But apart from those issues, we had no problem with the hotel. They were ready to answer questions when you need something, like I was asking one of the staff if there was any good eating places around for wanton noodles.

The guy recommended a char can ting (明苑茶餐厅) nearby.

I asked,"Is it famous for wanton noodles?"

He said,"Everywhere the same. No famous."

Arrival in Hong Kong

We checked in at Changi Airport at 5.40am. I had booked an early flight and a late returning flight with the intention of maximising the enjoyment time at Hong Kong. It proved to be a little tiring when we reached the hotel though.

We reached the gate at 6.11am.

Boarding the plane

The sunrise


Menu on Jetstar

Coco wanted to eat their $10 'Signature Hainanese Chicken Rice'

Verdict: Even though they use drumstick meat for the set, it didn't taste good.

When we reached HK airport, we had to transfer to a bus which drove for 15 minutes before we reached the Arrival Hall

This is the bus we boarded

Waiting for our luggage

This is the counter where you can purchase the Octopus card.

The many repetitive signs at the airport ie. directions to board the express trains to the city, the cabs, the buses

The place we had our first taste of HK food - right at the airport. My sister was asked to pay for the breakfast dish first before making payment for the lunch dish - a weird concept to us altogether. Beef noodles. The beef was good but we didn't think much about the soup.

lor mai kai (糯米鸡) with a chicken wing mid-joint in it. The tastiest lor mai kai among the ones we'd tried in Hong Kong.

In a cab. Before we boarded the cab at the airport, we were given a creditcard-sized card that encouraged us to give comments or feedback about the cabdriver via phone or email. I thought that was a good practice as it would deter cab drivers from being up to anything funny ie. take the longer routes, tell you the meter is faulty, don't know directions.

The cabbie had a lot of things stuffed in his carboot and even on front-passenger seat though. The bulky plastic bag in front prevented me from taking a picture of the meter.

It cost us about HK225 to reach our hotel from the airport.

Our HK Itinerary

Like what I told a forummer, Hong Kong to me is something akin to lost-and-found. I went there thinking that I wouldn't enjoy it, and that I just went there for the sake of my kid and my parents, but to my surprise, I enjoyed it alot. Alot better than when I went to Taipei.

To be fair, I did a more detailed research on Hong Kong, especially where food is concerned, and I was more experienced when it comes to planning an F&E trip to a small country the second time round.

Our actual itinerary was quite different from my planned one.

My planned itinerary included trips to trying out all the recommended eats, but it turned out that my family members were not keen to go places to try the food out. And they woke up kinda late. I planned that we would wake up at 8am and set off to our designated places by 9am but oftentimes, my family members woke up at 10am and we would be on our way only by 11am earliest!

So, our actual itinerary is as below:

Day 1
1pm - Arrival
2pm - Women's street
Lunch - street food (肥姐小食店’s 大墨鱼and braised pig intestines, 源记's roast pigeon)
4pm - checked into Cityview Hotel (Yau Ma Tei MTR)
5pm - The Peak
6pm - Mdm Tussaud's Wax Museum
8.30pm - dinner at Yung Kee Restaurant (Central MTR)

Day 2
10am - Breakfast at Tim Ho Wan (Yau Ma Tei MTR)
12 pm – Reached Times Square Shopping Centre (Causeway Bay MTR)
12.30pm – Snack time at Toastbox (Times Square Shopping Centre)
12.45 – 3.30pm – Shop at Times Square Shopping Centre (Causeway Bay MTR)
4.20pm – Lunch at foodcourt (Lok Yah Lau) at Silvercord Shopping Centre, next to H&M Shopping Centre (Tsim Sha Tshui MTR)
5 – 6.30pm – Shop at H&M Shopping Centre
7 pm – Dessert at Harbour City Shopping Centre foodcourt (level 3)
7.55pm – Take Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Wan Chai and watch Symphony of Lights from Ferry ( Symphony of Lights starts at 8pm).
8.45pm – Back to hotel

Day 3
9.30am – Breakfast at Tsim Chai Kee Noodle (98 Wellington Street, Central MTR)
10 am – Walk back to Lan Fong Yuen for pork chop bun
10.30am – Tai Cheong Bakery for egg tart and 沙翁
11.15am – Buy tickets for Macau
1pm – Reach Macau, take bus No. 3 to Senado Square for the Façade
3pm – Lunch near the Façade
4.30pm – Wynn Casino, Star World Casino
11pm – Dinner at源记(Yau Ma Tei MTR)

Day 4
8.30am – Breakfast at Tim Ho Wan (Sham Shui Po MTR)
10 – 11am – Breakfast Part 2 at Nan Long Porridge Shop (Yau Ma Tei MTR)
12.30pm – Ocean Park (10 am to 6pm)
8pm – Dinner at shop near hotel (Yau Ma Tei MTR)
9pm – Supper at Australia Milk Company (Jordan MTR)/Temple Street

Day 5
8 am – Breakfast at Australia Milk Company
10.30 am – Breakfast Part 2 at noodle shop near hotel (Yau Ma Tei MTR)
12.40 pm – Reached Disneyland Hotel, deposit luggage
1pm – Reached Disneyland
Lunch at Disneyland
8pm – Dinner and watch fireworks at Disneyland
8.20pm – Shopping at Disneyland and checking out the hotel

Day 6
8.30am – Pack luggage to deposit at Baggage counter after breakfast
9.30am – Breakfast at Sorcerer’s Lounge in Disneyland Hotel
11 am – Set off for Ngong Ping 360
12pm – Bought tickets at Tung Chung Cable Car Tower
1pm – Reached Ngong Ping 360
Cable car ride approximately 20 to 25 mins
1.50pm – Climbed up the steps, view Buddha
2pm – Dessert – Tau hu huay
2.10 to 2.30pm – Shop at Ngong Ping Village and take cable car to return
3.30pm – Lunch at Citygate Outlet Shopping Centre
4 to 5pm – Shop at Citygate Outlets
6pm – Return to Disneyland for more rides
7.30pm – Return to Hotel to get luggage
7.50pm – Set off for airport

The issue of Giving

I have been reading up on City Harvest Church saga. Because it bothers me.

The church was so much a part of my life. I believed it totally when they said it's the devil's work when my parents persecuted me. We even had a short form for it: P. O. which stands for 'parental objection'.

I believed whatever it delivered throughout my 6 full years there. Even after I had left, I never thought it was evil or anything like that. Like I mentioned, I just couldn't attend the church with my mind bursting with question marks and disagreements. I attributed my 'fallen away' or 'backsliding' as the church calls it to my own weakness in character.

The friends who gave along with me, also gave big-time. None were pretentious. None were hypocritical. As far as I know, everybody in the church had been most kind. I found the sincerest form of friendship in that church. Yes, even now, I still feel that the friends I made in that church are one of the best people around. They truly believe in the kingdom of God. A friend gave me a card that read 'In my father's house are many mansions. I hope yours is next to mine.' It's been many years, but I remember it fondly because the first sentence is quoted from Jesus and I thought it a creative to follow it up with a personal statement. I appreciated that friend's gesture because she has always been very faithful and staunch in her beliefs and had always been encouraging and never despised my weak foundation. Today, she's working full-time in that church, leading songs in worship on Sundays.

That same friend agreed to sing at my wedding without asking any questions. She didn't judge me or refuse to sing because it wasn't biblical for me to have a church wedding. For that, I'm forever grateful. It tells me I have a true friend indeed.

I was reading the comments online about Yeow Sun's home in LA when one of the comments struck a chord with me:

'Make your sacrifices for the church fund, to build a house for God!

Downgrade from a $28,000/month apartment to a $14,000/month apartment and give the difference to the church building fund!

Sell off your apartment and move back to a HDB flat, IF you REALLY believe God will honour your sacrifices.

And if you don’t, don’t tell others to make their sacrifices. You have no right to…'

How spot-on is that?

That's exactly how I feel. You've been preaching on giving to God cheerfully, giving to Him till your heart breaks, but there you are, living in the lap of luxury, and not giving to Him.

I remember Pastor Kong asking us to 'downgrade' the products we use so as to give to the church,"Instead of Lancome, use Max Factor." It left a very deep impression on me because I could not afford Lancome products then since I was a student. When you preach like that, it induces guilt in people even when they can afford the better things in life.

But you don't suffer a tinge of guilt when you spend like nobody's business. Yeow Sun showcased her favourite brands of clothings to the reporters who visited the couple at their River Valley home 5 years ago. The only brand I have heard of is Fendi.

And Pastor Kong's Boss suits were in that walk-in wardrobe as well.

I mean, the pastor who had worn his handicapped sister's self-sewn suits wears branded stuff now? Wouldn't it have suited his preaching better if he wore something not so expensive and gave the amount he saved from those suits to the church-building fund?

He and Yeow Sun are global icons and it does fine if they have a bungalow in Sentosa - this is what someone said in defence of them. It sounded fine as long as they could afford it, until the word 'building fund' comes in. He has been asking people to sacrifice so as to give more to the building fund. My question would be: what kind of sacrifices have they made to give to the building fund?

Remember the poor woman who gave her all at the temple? Jesus defended her when her contribution was scoffed at, saying that it beat the contribution of a rich man who gave many times more than she.

Likewise, even if they have given millions to the building fund, have they much more to give?

The church members are often challenged to give to the building fund, even beyond what they can give. Are they challenged to give much more than the average church members, or beyond what they can give, too?

I truly truly hope that they are not what the public have portrayed, because if they are, many Christians, including myself, will be stumbled.

Sun's home in LA

Yesterday, I was walking past the provision shop below my flat when the headline of The New Paper caught my eye. It read 'Ho Yeow Sun's $28,000-a-month Hollywood Home' with an accompanying picture of a huge mansion.

I bought the tabloid paper without hesitation and devoured the article.

On the immediate pages, there was a full write-up on the house, size equivalent to 5 five-room flats, and pictures of the beautiful and luxurious house.

The following page is a report on the history of the couple's transaction of units in Singapore, from a humble five-room flat in Tampines, they upgraded to a River Vally unit with a private lift, 2 living rooms and 4 bedrooms, and paid $200, 000 for its renovation and furnishings when Sun's sister and brother-in-law are both interior designers who had helped with the unit-designing. Earlier this year, they sold the unit and moved into the $2.6 million The Suite at Central, which is an apartment with a private lift (again) and in THE prime area of Singapore, Orchard Road.

The write-up blew my mind away.

For someone in her mid-thirties, I find myself feeling disillusioned.

I still remember vividly how Pastor Kong said,"It's no fun giving to the building fund!" when they wanted to build the first building in Jurong West. He assured the church that it would not be forever and that he would not live in the lap of luxury while the rest of us live in squatters.

That was what he said. Of couse, nobody in Singapore lives in squatters now, but who else lives so luxuriously like him and his wife?

I am not saying that it's wrong to live so luxuriously. It's definitely not out of jealousy that I'm questioning the lifestyle. The first question that popped into my head when I finished reading the article was: Did Sun's singing career, her Skin Couture business and Pastor Kong's sermon-giving sessions pay for the $28,000 rent and their branded clothes and rich-and-famous lifestyle?

If they did, they certainly have made it on their own.

I'm just wondering, is there no better option than to live in such luxury? They are involved in humanitarian works. They should know the sufferings of people in other parts of the world out there better than the average Singaporean. Sometimes I wonder if I should have splurged on trips when there are others who don't even have food for months - and I am someone who has never done any humanitarian work in my whole life. I would think for people like them who have been highly involved in compassionate works, they would feel the sting of splurging excessively on themselves when at the back of their mind, they remember the sufferings of the people they have helped. Wouldn't this kind of money be better used if it's used to help the destitutes?

I'm not saying that we are compelled to help the poor and destitutes the moment we have money. We have the options of helping or not helping others. The issue is excessiveness. The article stated that the area that Sun lives in is for the millionaires and rich and famous. Brad Pitt and Angelina owned a property there too.

Is it a necessity to live up there? I always thought Christianity emphasises on necessity and not excessiveness. God blessed David, Solomon and Job with prosperity - did the couple equate themselves with these people?

I have to admit. I am disillusioned.

I was from CHC

I'm back from Hong Kong. We touched down at 1am on 12 June 2010, but only got home at about 3am as we went for our dinner before going home.

I will have to go get an external hard disk today (today's the last day of PC Show) so that I can 'export' all my pictures and memories on another source before this old faithful computer crashes on me again.

What prompts me to blog now is not the wonderful Hong Kong, but what I read on the internet about City Harvest Church.

Truth be told, I attended CHC services and cell group meetings when I was thirteen.

It was then known as as Ekklesia Ministry. "Ekklesia" in Greek (or was it Hebrew?) means 'the called out ones'. It originally refers to the Israelites who were called out from the ancient Egypt. Led by Moses, they went through various trials and tests before they reached their promised Land of Milk and Honey.

It's always reported that the church started with just 20 people in 1989. I'm not sure where Pastor Kong got his figure from, but when I joined them in July 1989, there must have been at least 200 people in the congregation.

As I recall, Pastor Kong had always been a man of integrity. Very intelligent. Dressed smartly (and still does) and knew his own strengths and weaknesses very well. For so many years, he has preached in the services faithfully, almost every week without fail. In his early days when building the church, he preached a few times a week. I remember him preaching the same message at least 3 times, consecutively, on the same Sunday, because there were 3 services, one after another. And within the same week, he had to share the cell group sermons with the cell group leaders, have prayer meetings. These are just the few things I knew as I never was in a leadership position. But I knew it wasn't easy. It takes a lot of passion, the right kind of passion that drives you on all the time, and effort to keep it going. Many fell away, but he continued to be fervent in the love of God. You can tell he truly loved God.

True. He preaches in an emotional way. Perhaps that's the way he attracts people, or perhaps that's his style. But can't a preacher choose the way he wants to preach?

He was only 25 then. The only working adult among us. The next oldest youths were one or two undergraduates and a few others like his then-girlfriend-turned-wife-to-be who completed A levels but did not manage to go to the university.

There were 'confirmed' and 'unconfirmed' members. You have to be very committed to the church, attend cell group meetings, prayer meetings, church services and other church activities, pray for an hour every day and exhibit positive attitude towards the church before you can become a confirmed member. After becoming one, you would be asked to tithe. Back then, the cell group leader explained to me, using bible verses on how the newer churches were asked to tithe additional amount on top of the usual 10% of your income. It was 23.something percent then. On top of that, you would have to make a monthly pledge of an amount of money you would like to give.

I read that members were pressured to the extent of being chased after by their cell group leaders, and asked to see their payslips to make sure they are paying the 'correct' amount. During that time, we were just students receiving pocket money from our parents, so the issue wasn't so compelling. However, I did feel the invisible pressure of giving too little compared to a cell group leader who was also my friend and a schoolmate. She would ask,"No income huh?" as she would know the amount I tithed. But being a miser as I always have been, tithing has always been an issue with me, so it never occurred to me that the problem could be with anybody else.

I read from the various forums and posts that the members are asked to tithe 10 percent of their income now. I'm not sure what happens but perhaps the church decided at some point that they had too much money and could afford to lower the amount they asked people to tithe. I don't see the move as an inconsistency. Any move to reduce the financial strain on anybody is a good move.

Towards the end of my departure from the church, there had been more and more of prosperity gospel preaching. I didn't know what to make heads or tails of as like many others, I was just an impressionable teenager. But it did sound right that pastors do not need to be 'as poor as a church mouse', and God wants to prosper us. It sounded right that princes and princesses ought not be dressed in rags. Give 10 fold and receive a hundred - doesn't that sound biblical? I have to admit that I am not rooted in the bible, nor do I study deeply into the verses, so I'm not able to discern if these lines are really of God's will, but they do sound right, don't they? If Christianity is meant for us to live in poverty, then who will want to be a Christian? If Buddhism is meant for one to suffer without attaining any form of enlightenment, who will want to be a Buddhist?

I left the church when I was 19. I didn't think that the church was horrible or anything like that. In fact, I made some great friends there. They were, and still are, the greatest people I ever know. I just could not attend the church with all the questions in my head anymore. I remember the church started out advising us not to visit nightspots or be involved in sexual, provoking dances. In terms of dressing, girls were banned from wearing tight-skirts - it was a kind of short, denim skirts with a little split at the hem at the back of the skirt. But when I attended its service at the Indoor Stadium one day, Pastor Sun was dancing on the stage, dressed in skin tight tops which emphasised her well-endowed chest. To a certain extent, I was disillusioned. I couldn't appreciate or understand the intent of the changed messages, spoken or unspoken. I have nothing against the pastor I once knew personally. Despite my disillusionment, I never for once doubt her personality. She was a jovial, warm and helpful person despite her cool apppearance.

I didn't know if The Straits Times had misquoted her, but in an interview, Pastor Sun was quoted as saying that she never addressed herself as a pastor, when all the while, she was introduced as Pastor Ho, or more affectionately to the members, Pastor Sun. However, I would give her the benefit of doubt as The Straits Times is notorious for misquoting or quoting the interviewees wrongly. I had an expatriate NIE lecturer who told us he was very angry with The Straits Times for quoting him wrongly and he vowed never to be interviewed by The Straits Times again. And I think he really meant it, because he left Singapore for another job in another country after that.

In my heart of hearts, I hope that Pastor Kong will come out clean from the investigation. No ordinary man would feel untempted in the face of millions of dollars. It takes a God-knows-how-much amount of integrity to be stoic with this kind of money. But still, I hope that Pastor Kong has stood the test.

Bags and a woman

I've decided to buy another bag. This time, an LV bag.

I'm never a bag person.

But recently, perhaps what my colleagues and a friend said made me relook at the way I treat myself.

Sometimes I wonder if my pinning of all hopes on Coco is doing her more harm than good. I've saved for her, spent every possible penny on her and expected her to deliver what I want. When she falls short of my expectations, I get exceptionally angry and disappointed.

I really want to see Coco as an ordinary human girl. She's bright for sure, but not exceptionally bright.

Sometimes I wonder if the way I bring her up has made her the way she is - laid back, sloppy, irresponsible, can't care less.

Of course she does have strengths. But these are the few traits in her that trigger the volcano in me. Every time.

So I decided to let go, and splurge on myself somewhat.

My colleagues and friend think I'm too thrifty and stingy on myself. I'll spend money on myself. And after buying that Kate Spade bag, I find that I feel better about myself. I don't feel so utterly deprived, a destitute mother. I thought it's therapeutic somewhat. It's in fact good for self-esteem. I know the talk about not needing designer bags to pull up self-esteem, but so what if it does my self-esteem some good?