Hong Kong/Macau 2008 - Shopping in Shatin

Monday blues in full force. Let's reminisce on happier things in life. Let's continue on my September's Hong Kong/Macau getaway. (For the whole story, click HERE). Let's temporarily forget about the impending 4 days of mundane & routine work life.

FINALLY it rained. Heavily after sooooooo many days ....

A wet, gloomy and cloudy Friday morning. The rainfall was relished with utmost gratitude, washing away our phobia for scorching hot days, and extreme humidity levels. (Somehow, the heavens above must have emphatized with us, as the subsequent week saw heavy rain and typhoon in Hong Kong, a definite letdown for travelling on foot).

Breakfast at REALLY GOOD NOODLES & CONGEE (don't laugh, that IS their real name)

All 3 of them were armed with umbrellas. Silly me brought along 3 disposable raincoats. But to imagine wearing/stripping the coats everytime entering/exiting any premise. Slapping my forehead in disbelief, I unabashedly shared shelters. =P

And my poor sense of direction led us in circles, all the while splattered by the rain. Whoopsie. I was in fact searching for an outlet serving HUGE you tiao (yau char kwai/Chinese cruellers) paired with fresh soy milk. (But we succeeded the following morning though. Hehe, saving grace?) For today's breakfast, a rather highly rated cafe named, Really Good Noodle and Congee Restaurant, @ Shop C, G/F, 21 Soy Street, Mong Kok.

Famous for their Soy Sauce Fried King Noodles

Western Set of Fried Pork Chop, Bacon, Hash Brown and Toast, with Milk Tea

Pan-Fried Cheong Fun with Egg, Dried Shrimps, Soy sauce and Peanut sauce.

Food's generally good, the rice noodle rolls (Cheong Fun) stealing the limelight completely from the other noodle dishes. We ordered Seafood Porridge, 2 noodle soups, the Western Set and the Cheong Fun for a total of HKD86/RM38.70. Then we were off for some shopping.

New Town Plaza @ Shatin

For shopping, we followed the advice of a fellow Hongkie, or rather, a young man working at Dragon Hostel. Though shopping at Central/Causeway Bay is tempting, and much posh-er, the goods are considerably pricier than most outlets in other areas, as these places are mostly frequented by tourists.

Therefore, he suggested Shatin instead, where he claimed 7 shopping malls are within each's vicinity, and suitable for low-mid range clothings and accessories. Rest assured these are NOT the lowly (read : "La La") shopping malls selling fake Adidas or Quiksilver, by the way.

From Mong Kok East MTR, we took a train on the East Rail Line, to Shatin station for HKD4.90/RM2.20 per way.

Snoopy's World @ Level 3 of New Town Plaza

The cloudy yet cool weather was comforting, what's more with "Lucy In The Sky" sang by the PEANUTS characters at the background ....

New Town Plaza is a shopping centre right in the middle of Shatin, Hong Kong. Previously one of the biggest shopping centre in Hong Kong during the 80's, amazingly the plaza has not lost its lustre, yet regaining its sparkle with intense renovation works.

The place is connected to several other malls, and we scouted Citylink Plaza, Shatin Mall, and some other during the few hours we were "chilling" there. The retail outlets are far from being too high-ended, hence shopping was less taxing on the pockets. And there are MANY restaurants in the complex as well. The famous Maxim's Palace chinese restaurant is at Level 5 of the complex as well.

FAIRWOOD Restaurant - A famous chain of fast food restaurant in China and Hong Kong

Lunch was at a fast food chain branded Fairwood, a household name along the lines of Cafe de Coral and Maxim's MX.

Teriyaki Chicken Burger+Chicken Wings Set (HKD24/RM10.80) and Soy Sauce Chicken Set with Noodles (HKD30/RM13.50)

MBoy's Roast Duck Noodles (HKD25/RM11.25) was a "disaster", or so he claimed. The Soy Sauce Chicken Drumstick was good, but the accompanying noodles was too saltish, claimed TallGal. My Teriyaki Chicken Burger was tender and juicy, but the BBQ Chicken Wing was simply GREAT. Goes to show that ; thou shalt only eat fast food at fast food joint? :)

Geez, I forgot the name of these. But really good stuff from A1 Bakery in New Town Plaza

The above buns from A1 Bakery were really tasty. Chewy, a bit like a cross between mochi-bread, the buns come in various flavours. From chocolate to cheese,and milk to Kim Chi. A rather different type of bakery product. The other selection of breads, cakes and etc were VERY tempting to say the least. If you're here before a meal, you're bound to be attracted and purchase a few. Not too pricey either.

From Shatin, we departed ways. Team TallGal continued shopping in Mong Kok, while Team Glutton went to Central for more .... & the infamous night scene at LAN KWAI FONG

to be continued ...