hong kong march 2010 - 4 days

this travelogue has limited pictures, requested by my Missus.

as my faithful readers are aware, i'm a big lover of Hong Kong. Even joked to my girl, maybe we should have a kid holding HK citizenship, learn some good Cantonese and have good skin complexion owing to their seasonal climate. Singapore is just too stressful to bring up a kid, the cost of living is too high even for people holding citizenship. This is something our political leaders keep ignoring....anyway enough of the political mumbo.

day 1

this time round i chose Cathay, the same airline as my very first trip almost exactly 3 years ago. CX710, the early morning flight that required us to be checked in by 6.15am, and the homecoming flight CX735. Both are codeshared flights, so we saw some prominent groups of people, such as Japanese businessmen going home via HK, etc.

CX710

booking via Zuji seemed a bad move though. Not sure whose fault it was; we checked in rather late at 7am and got seats that separated us. Of course the lady was understanding and immediately changed our seats to babyseats (the seats right in front each section, more leg room). Went to T2 to have a quick breakfast at BK, then back to T1 just in time before the gate closed.

we're quite well seasoned travellers to HK by now, so going through the arrival procedures felt almost the same as going to JB. Decided to give Airport Express a miss this time, took bus S1 from the T1 bus terminus to Tung Chung MTR. From there, we took the normal MTR to North Point. Saved lots of money (HKD3.50 vs HKD160, excluding MTR charges), enough for 1-2 meals!

S1 - your normal double decker

checked in at our Ibis hotel at North Point, which offered a decent view of the harbour. In front is a giant carpark and a ferry terminal, that seemed to ferry people to Kowloon City. We didn't try that though. As usual i had problems adapting to the climate there - it was about 15 degrees with some winds, and had a headache.

Ibis - no bells and whistles, but decent accomodation

after a short rest, we went to Shun Tak at Sheung Wan to get our Macau tickets, then walked to Central Pier 5 to board bus 15. Bus 15 offered a really good experience up to the Peak Tower. Most tourists would take the Peak Tram since it's unique. But it's not so special to me by now! Bought tickets to access the Peak Terrace, which offered a reasonable view with some fogs.

Costs HKD25 to go up to the top

our dinner was simple, settled for a cha chan teng (Tsui Wah) at Causeway Bay. Wished the girl happy birthday when the clock struck 12!


day 2

The mess after only a night...

went to Ho Choi at Yau Ma Tei for dim sum, but it was full. I hated the wait, so i decided to forget it and we had normal breakfast nearby.

took the train to Sheung Wan and went on to board the fast craft. We were blur folks, joined a queue which was meant for the next trip. Then we saw people getting up and going direct to the exit gate, and realised we were queuing up for the wrong timing. zzzz...

Once inside the fast craft, not too bad

it's her first trip to Macau, so more attention paid to this part of the trip. She wanted to visit Venetian, so that was done. But before that, we took the Emperor Hotel's free shuttle and hopped over to Casino Lisboa for some Sic Bo. Lost HKD200 there...

Walked over to Lisboa...


The original Lisboa


Senado Square

then we went Ruins of St Paul, and took a cab to Coloane Island. I really loved the place, and wanted to revisit it. Thank god we managed to make this trip, felt happy when she enjoyed the time there.

The original Lord Stow's cafe

after walking through Venetian's nice Grand Canal Shoppes, we hopped over to City of Dreams, which is a relatively new casino that opened in June last year. Managed to recoup my losses, but lost it all plus another HKD200. Decided to stop the stupid gambling and left..

Venetian's bustling gambling fish market


City of Dreams Casino entrance

remembered we queued up earlier? We did this again, thinking it's for us. Then we only realised our foolishness after some people went into the gate directly. The boat ride back was alright for me, but she got seasick. So we didn't have our hotpot and went back to North Point. Happened to pass by a chan teng selling congee, so we happily ordered some nice stuff.


day 3

it's our 2nd last day, and the only actual full day left. But still woke up quite late, decided to give Ho Choi another try. Managed to get in, but had much difficulty ordering dimsum because of the Chinese characters. Can't even find siu mai!

Ho Choi's menu

we took the MTR to Kowloon Tong and transferred to the ex-KCR East Rail. Alighted at Tai Po Market, hailed a NT cab in green to Bride's Pool. Took us quite a while to get there, which was unexpected. And further in surprise was the location - it's in a hilly area, and it was part of a larger hiking trail! Didn't mind much anyway, because the weather was cooling and we had to keep warm anyway.

TPM MTR

Bride's Pool story...


Never knew HK has this right?

i learnt some basics of hiking from this nice little adventure. Lucky it was rather easy to complete, and hope to go for similar trails in future.

after spending few hours at Tai Po, zoomed over to Sha Tin and had some small shopping there. She wanted to see Snoopy, initially didn't find it and thought it was demolished. Then managed to find it, and got no time wasted to take pictures with the dear dog and the companions...

dinner was at Little Sheep, Mongkok branch. Loved this meal as well, although we again had problems ordering the food in Chinese. Cost us HKD313, which is around $58.

Order freely at HKD128/pax, not inclusive of service tax

day 4

we had to be at the airport by 12pm, so we didn't do much. Decided to opt for the in-town check-in at Hong Kong MTR, and realised an Airport Express ticket is required. Wanted to go Yuen Long since there's spare time, but she suggested not to due to the distance.

so we went to Sogo to get our biscuits, had lunch again at Tsui Wah. Then it was home sweet home!


afterthoughts

i hope my kid will be a Hong Kong citizen! (just joking...)

random

this year's CNY is a non event for me... simply no time to enjoy new year shopping and the actual new year.

some pictures from my camera...

Silver is in


At Geo-Tele


After work...


Removal of door panel...


Panel over here...


Centre - solenoid and motor driving the power window


Crossover buried beneath the door panel for the speakers...

75,000km servicing

wanted to do a minor checkup through Riverview's standard servicing package at $160, so they can help me identify any stuff that needs changing at 80,000km. I was more interested in the fan belt and rear brake pads check, the rest were alright... so i thought.

The candidate for this round

on reaching there, told Vincent i brought my own Redline oil, he jokingly said should use his oil. As cheeky as he was (and myself), i proclaimed my interest in trying different oils and specified that i could skip the engine bay and car wash. So instead of the standard package, he just charged me the oil filter + standard checks for $38, brake checks for $27 and a surcharge $15 for bringing my own oil. This is perfect alright, because i'm rather impressed by their mechanic's technical skills during the first visit.

then the checks started at 1.30pm, and ended at nearly 5pm. Reasons being...

1. Drain plug out of stock. The aluminum plug become thinner after few rounds of engine oil change. Sourced from their partners, still don't have. Small problem actually, the mechanic Ang used white tape to prevent leaks.

2. Rear brake pads worn out. One was finishing, the other just finished. So got it changed, and surprised that they used OWS Quit Squeal on the brake pads when taking them out. No additional charge.

3. Tyre damaged, discovered during rotation. The inner sidewall of one of my Falken ZE522s started to tear in 4 spots. According to them (and 2 more tyre shops) it's a explosion risk. Changed to a brand new set of Yokohama S.drive at Chen Jin Trading. More on this later...

4. Too much gap on NGK Iridium sparkies. Ang offered to re-gap for me, but i declined - no more Iridium plugs that cost $80-150 for me. Asked for a set of copper plugs, only $22.

The iridium plugs from NGK, Huat Lee charged me $85 1 year ago


Too big a gap...

5. Coolant filled incorrectly. I remember from the 70,000km servicing it was done at the tyre shop at AMK Ave 1. My reserve coolant tank was empty, and the main tank was still not full. Apparently it needs to be drained via vacuum, otherwise it's not properly done. That tyre shop overfilled my engine oil too, so i've learnt a great deal - never use a tyre shop for servicing.

6. Other checks - third brake light bulb burnt, they charged me $3. Quite alright, but should have told them i'll switch to LED one. And they checked the spare tyre too.

the trip to RV cost me $180, which wasn't expensive considering the extensive checks and change of sparkies and brake pads.

the tyres cost me $145 each, with unlimited free rotation and balancing at their Serangoon and Woodlands branch. Learnt something from this shop as well - the tyre shop i went to did their tyre balancing on the outer side only, not the inner side. Scary stories ....

S.Drive

thinking aloud

have been a while since i posted anything here, been somewhat busy after clearing my leave.

i just read a facebook update that my buddy alerted me. Felt rather angry upon reading it. I must say it's her right to post whatever she likes, so i'll keep my comments right here.

even if there was no good ending from a previous chapter with my friend, i would rather she kept her mouth shut and not risk hurting the feelings of her ex. Does making that comment online on her facebook make her a superior mortal cum lover than before? I guess it does.

on the same note, i hope the guy who dumped another friend of mine can be kinder on his words. Not going to mention names here...

some lessons to learn from car grooming...

shall compile some important lessons gained from own muscle grease...

1. change of microfibre cloth occasionally. How to know it's time to change? Compare a MF cloth brand new hanging on the shelf in Autobacs or Homefix, and yours. If the cloth is coarse and has lots of large particles stuck in between, better not risk creating swirl or scratch marks on the paintwork.

This also explains why you shouldn't use tissue to wipe off dirt...

of course, i always advocate not using sponge, especially used ones, on the paintwork. It's a big no-no.

2. rinse before shampoo. Some of us do it to our skin, hair, etc - same principle; get rid of the dirt before using soap. For cars, it prevents dirt from clogging up the microfibre cloth, making it more lasting.

There is a difference between 1st and 2nd/3rd bottle. The first strips wax.

3. claybar, polish, seal, wax. My major cleanup every 2-3 months involves all 4, or skip polishing in between. An excellent article by Meguiars is here.

my claybar: soft99 077 metallic ($19)
my polish: Autoglym Super Resin Polish, red label ($30)
my sealant: Autoglym Enhanced Gloss Protection, yellow label ($25)
my wax: Meguiars Ultimate Quik Wax ($19)
my cloth: Mr Clean Wax on/off cloth, pack of 3 ($3/pack)

The tools

most of these items, except the soft99 claybar, can be bought from Autobacs, Homefix or NTUC AMK. Costs about $100, which is about the cost of a single session of grooming by professionals. But this $100 can last you a year at least!

now to the technical side:

the claybar removes all the odd large particles that got stuck over time. Some say it also removes the sealant, and a non-waxing shampoo will remove previously coated wax. I believe in the latter but not really the former... but still use the claybar.

heard that polishing actually removes a layer of the clear coat, so i only do it when necessary. Such as paintwork getting dull, some stubborn spots like the ones caused by tyre gel.

a good sealant is self explanatory, it protects the raw layer of paint after polishing. So far, i'm finishing my bottle Autoglym gloss protection sealant, and will be moving on to Meguiars #21 Synthetic Sealant 2.0 next year.

to top all the hard work off, wax is required. In fact for lazy people, you can skip everything above BUT not wax. Singapore's weather is hot and wet and there are bird waste and tree sap, which will cause big problems with the paintwork if there's no wax to take the first blow from these elements.

there are various forms of wax available, from paste wax (longest lasting) to liquid wax (less lasting) to spray wax (least lasting). I converted from liquid to spray recently, because it's just too tiring after the polishing and sealing rounds. Although it wears off easily, i can easily respray on a weekly basis. It's so simple that i go around recommending friends to use them.

4. quick detailer. I'm still trying out this product. It claims itself as the missing link between washing and waxing.

5. foam vs silicon/gel tyre shine. I have not tried any foam based shine yet, only Meguiars Insane Tyre Shine (petroleum based) and Endurance Tyre Gel (silicon based). I prefer the petroleum based, because it didn't blacken my fender area. And the blackened parts can only be polished off. Beware...

other kinds of solutions i use

1st ICT - 7 to 9 dec

my buddies have already completed 3 high keys and this is only my 1st low key, not even high key! SIAN!

anyway this ICT was meant for IHL peeps, so i met all the nice people that are studying in NTU, NUS. A small number of us are finished with studies, so we'll join the gang for a major exercise in 2011.

over the 3 days our DyS3 briefed us on the training programme and some expected events for next year and year after. In 2010 the division will be occupied with SYOG, so no military callups except for range in Sept. There's also mob manning in Mar/Apr, which they claim high possibility of activation. In 2011 there will be a major exercise.

other stuff, there was ippt and healthy lifestyle run. Plus a CO conference where we got to interact with all the key appointment holders. But my company's OC and CSM went off early... so never got to talk to them personally about my appointment. Hopefully there are no hiccups with it...

polishing...

just done a 5 hour marathon on the car, the usual polishing, sealing, waxing and quick detailing. The bottle of Autoglym sealant is almost used up, time for a new one. And also the dashboard protectant and a set of microfibre cloths...

Shine #1


Shine #2


Organised mess


Side indicator


Sometimes when one is too itchy handed... it's not so good - broken clip


Direction indicator - big bulb!


My colleague should put his 9288 beside this...

70,000km servicing

i realised i'm servicing the car much quickly compared to normal schedule. To be exact, every 3 months. With my new implementation of servicing every 8,000km, actually there's quite a bit of cost. For simplicity, i round up the numbers instead of saying 58,900km, 67,000km... etc.

the last servicing at 60,000km was really dull, simply change of engine oil and transmission fluid. Used up 4 quarts of Amsoil 5W-30, with 1 quart still lying around at home. The transmission fluid is Honda ATF-Z1, to prevent incompatibility issues. Will be doing the tranmission again at around 80,000km.

this 70,000km, i changed the choice of engine oil yet again. This time, OWS NA racing oil, thinner at around 5W-20. Plus, change of coolant and front brake pads, which i used original Honda Type II coolant and OEM Nissin pads from the Honda stockist Thian Seng. The left front pad was fully used up, thank god this was discovered early...

Packaged just like normal cooking oil...


Direct replacement, no need to mix with distilled water...

the only problem out of this servicing - the engine oil seemed to be overfilled! When the engine was warm, the dipstick still showed oil at the max indicator! Need to drain off some of it...


the next 80,000km will be a nightmare, since it's a major servicing point. Reminder for me...
- tyres (inspect)
- rear brake pads (inspect)
- transmission fluid (change)
- brake fluid (change)
- spark plugs (inspect)

gonna be broke...