My last day in Hong Kong 😦 … I had a short 6 hours sleep because I couldn’t sleep too. 😦

We checked out early, there was nothing to pay for (because we bought our own food) and took the Airbus A22. The journey time took about 45 minutes and I was taking advantage of the free WiFi! I love the airbuses. It’s really convenient… I think the UK should consider these type of things.. uh hm, we want free WiFi access in public areas!! Not just the airport!!

Got to the airport too early and again we took advantage of the free WiFi!! Got to love free WiFi!

Finally it was time to check in, we passed security (this time it was me who got checked… I forgot to take off my belt!!) and then it was time to eat food!!

One of my cousins messaged me to say there were some new eateries at the airport but I couldn’t see them, so all of us in the end opted for Chinese food. Mr Stingy queued in this place called Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop 正斗… I should have queued with him but I was tempted to have Japanese food before I decided to have Chinese….

And I queued in this place… Tsui Wah Eatery, I Love 翠華

Bad idea… I REALLY should’ve queued with my brother or eat Japanese food. The people in front of me had ordered all of their food in one big order, and the people serving placed their food on several trays for all of them to separate… It was mayhem for a few minutes and I was getting my British (and Chinese) anger back! It was very annoying… I get temperamental with people who want to argue about service…

Anyway I was going to get the baked spaghetti but they ran out and I would have had to wait for it… I should’ve waited since I had to wait anyway… 😦

I had the shredded pork fried noodles with an iced lemon tea… It was an expensive meal. I think I paid over HK$100 (that’s around £10) just for this!! RIDICULOUS PRICING!!!!!

My geeky rating for Tsui Wah Eatery, I Love 翠華: 4/5 (service was bad, but food and drink was good, although pricing was expensive!)  

Mr Stingy had this. Fried beef ho fun.

And MummyGeek had this. Not sure what it was… lo mein I think…

Can’t give a rating for MummyGeek’s and Mr Stingy’s food. I guess they liked it.

We shopped around for an hour looking for last minute gifts and food… And I spotted a lot of different flavoured wife cakes. They are very popular in Hong Kong!!

It was time to board, and MummyGeek and I were waiting for Mr Stingy… He was late!

He was 10 minutes late as everyone was boarding!! The boarding system wasn’t as good as when we were in Heathrow (I preferred Heathrow’s way of boarding)… Once on the plane, there were a few seats still available and luckily MummyGeek got to the seats in front of us that had more leg room!! I think a few others were eyeing those seats too as you have to pay extra for them… Hahahaha… Mr Stingy also moved to the front and he got at least a 30 minute sleep… I got 3 seats to myself!! Yay!!

It was an ok flight, not the best service as we had during the flight when we went… and again we had a lot of turbulence…

Food was average. They already ran out of the pork dish, and so I had the pasta… It was boring. Nothing adventurous in this dish!

After watching 4 movies, 3 variety shows and listening to some music we had our second meal (I also had a pot noodle in between). This time I again had the pasta. It was a better meal, but I didn’t enjoy it that much… I asked for a coffee and was offered another drink, but I wanted coffee… unfortunately I never got it, the flight attendant had forgotten about it, although she had promised to come back and bring it. It was already 12 hours on the flight AND I needed coffee!!!!!

We finally landed after 8pm on Thursday evening London time (a 13 hour flight!!!!!). Landing is always better on the bigger planes. So happy that some budgets airlines don’t fly out long distances!

We were standing in the European passport line, and I think we always get stared at because we’re Chinese. I’m an ethnic minority in the UK. Was born here. London has a wide population of Chinese people and descendants. Get used to it! 😛

Got to the luggage area after passing the UK border unfortunately Cathay Pacific in HK lost MummyGeek’s luggage!! Oh dear!! My mum was so upset because she bought a few things and her clothes and other things were in there… 😦 (Luckily they found it the next day, and phoned me TWICE about it… I wonder if they saw my tweet…!!).

We called for a cab from Heathrow and it seems I always have to negotiate on prices. They said it would be about £56 (I think) I said we got to Heathrow for £40 and would there be anything cheaper… The guy got me a £40 cab!! Yay!! It’s always good to negotiate prices even with cab services… ^_^

Well, that’s the end of my holiday with my mother and brother… Will be going to Hong Kong again some time in the future when I have more savings! Hope it will be a slightly longer stay next time!

• Compare a lot of websites for a good deal when planning your trip. I chose Lastminute.com, but definitely compare!
• If you’re going to live in a village area in the New Territories bring mosquito repellent and don’t be afraid of other small insects / reptilian species
• Get a visitor Octopus card (it’s similar to the Oyster card), you can pay for goods using this card instead of using cash… The same as a UK Connect Bank card, but the Octopus card is so much better!
• Always bargain at a market stall or in shops that don’t indicate the price of the product… if you don’t know how to bargain, ask for the CHEAPEST product they can offer, then talk prices. Always offer the price you want to pay then bargain/negotiate in the middle… I learnt this from my cousins, friends and MummyGeek… never show weakness in bargaining
• Bring tissue with you everywhere as some restaurants and some toilets will not have any… you may also need to learn how to bend down when using the toilet, as lots of Chinese use the old fashion style toilets.
• Mr Stingy said to find free WiFi!!! It’s everywhere, you just have to find it… Public transport areas, PCCW phone booths and 7Elevens offer this
• Chinese people don’t say “thank you” when you open the door for them, so open the door and leave, don’t hold it for the next person, as you’ll be there forever… (one of my cousins pointed this out to us)
• You can’t eat on public transport (but you can drink), so resist even if you have a tasty chocolate bar or crisps in your bag, save it when you get off
• Always have change (coins or smaller notes)… some shops won’t have change unless you’re in a supermarket
• Download the CityBus app from Android or Apple as it’s impossible to predict when the bus will come. Each bus, train, metro and journey have different prices – there is no one fixed price!
• Bring a shopping bag with you as it costs HK$0.50 Cents (about £0.03 or £0.04 pence) for a plastic bag
• Spending money: bring about £600-£700 for 2 weeks. I didn’t spend as much, but it just depends on how you travel about and what you find to eat…
• Be aware of pickpockets and scammers… Don’t get pulled in by people looking to do business with you
• Learn some Cantonese… Mandarin is not widely spoken in Hong Kong yet so some Hong Kongers might be offended OR speak in English, as there are loads of youngsters that speak English too

If you do plan to go have a safe trip! Think smart, be smart! ^_^

Next Holiday: Unknown… Will start planning next year!