eevon.sg

I bought a flat iron some time back from a stall at suntec city mall.

The sales girl did a very good job curling my hair with the flat iron! It looks so simple but when I tried it at home, the curls turned out weird!

Here’s a mini tutorial on how to use a flat iron to curl your hair! Very useful for people like me who really have no idea how to do it without the sales person standing right next to me.

If I have time, maybe I’ll curl my hair tomorrow and post an update. I’m going on a spooky Halloween sky-dinner!

(:

A combination marine park and amusement center, Ocean Park conveniently is located on the south side of Hong Kong island.

To get there, we took the Ocean Park Citybus 629 from Admiralty MTR station.

After a 15 minutes ride, we found ourselves at the Tai Shue Wan entrance which is near to the park’s Headland.

OK here’s how it goes, Ocean Park’s marine attractions, thrill rides and shows are divided between 3 areas: Lowland, Headland and Tai Shue Wan. There’s two modes of transportation to move between the Lowland, Headland and Tai Shue Wan. The Lowland-Headland is connected by cable cars while, the Headland-Tai Shue Wan is connected by the second longest outdoor escalator in the world which stretches over 225 metres!

These were our tickets to a entire day of fun-filled activities!

That’s Chief (Mr.Parrot) and James Fin H2O (Mr.Shark)! Ocean Park has 6 mascots. Besides Chief and James Fin H2O, there’s a waving sea lion named Whiskers (known as Wai Wai in Chinese), Jewel (a butterfly), Swift (a dolphin) and Professor (a turtle)!

With much stuff going on, we decided to plan which attractions, thrill rides and shows we wanted to catch so we won’t be wasting time running all over the park aimlessly. The map was pretty useful.

Despite ‘studying’ the map for few minutes (too distracted), we started our adventure with a terribly wrong choice.

Our first ride was the Space Wheel.

It still baffles me why we went on that monstrous contraption of thrills spills and action before other moderate attractions. Perhaps we were too excited and couldn’t wait to get ourselves in a giddy adventure.

I puked 3-4 times after that damned ride.

That was a really wrong decision, I ended up feeling nauseous and weak the entire outing. Which was pretty upsetting because there’s so much other stuff to do at the Headland! Headland houses many thrill rides, including the Dragon, Eagle, Crazy Galleon, Ferris Wheel, Flying Swing, Raging River, Mine Train, and Abyss Turbo Drop.

I was too weak to go on any rides after the horrifying Space Wheel! Sat at a corner while he tried other rides.

:/

After that hair-raising experience, we hopped on the Ocean Park Escalator to get to the other side of the park. At 225 m (745ft), it is the second longest outdoor escalator in the world and I felt like puking the moment I stepped on the escalator. It doesn’t help that it was a super long way up. Baby laughed at me when I had that manic look, searching for places to vomit!

To make me feel better, he dragged me to watched an ice skating showing with people juggling fire batons, performing acrobats, and dances.

But half-way, we left because I felt like puking. Not that the performance was sucky. It was Space Wheel.

He laughed at me again!

:S

Had to rest at a bench for about 10 minutes before moving on. Lucky the weather was cool and breezy. I felt much better and that was the last time I puked. Thank God.

Eventually we gave up following the map and decided to roam randomly. We found ourselves at the Marine Land. We were hoping to get a seat at the Ocean Theatre but it was totally packed! Well, this show is a family favourite where dolphins and sea lions participate in lively daily shows. Good place to bring your kids and educate them on marine mammals. Probably that explains why it’s so popular. We had to stand all the way at the back. Snap a few pictures and made our way to other attractions.

Ocean Theatre features shows by talented dolphins, sea lions, and a killer whale. How exciting! But we only caught the dolphins. Here’s some shots of the dolphins doing tricks!

Nearby there’s the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium which holds 2,000 fishes from close to 250 species and the unique Sea Jelly Spectacular, where we could interact with 1,000 beautiful sea jellies!

Had to grab a drink near the Pacific Pier. Felt thirsty. Here’s a weird ice drink everyone buys at Ocean Park. A witch hat with a green ice ball!

Since we couldn’t grab a real sea lion to hug, the fake ones were perfect for photo-taking!

(:

Oh there’s plenty of choices for food here. We grabbed some BBQ spring chicken and BBQ sausages from the Light House Grill somewhere near Pacific Pier. Pretty ok but a little over-priced. Hmm there’s McDonald’s with typical hamburgers, french fries and soft drinks at Headland rides. Over at Adventure Land, you can find this stall, Raging River Squid which offers delicious-looking fried squid and drinks. Chinese food is available at Noodle Bar (somewhere along Tai Shue Wan entrance). They serve Chinese soup noodles, wanton, dumplings, Chinese dessert and beverages.

Took a quick stroll to one of the tallest observation towers in Southeast Asia, the Ocean Park Tower! This tower gave us a 360º gently rotating view that enables us to see clear to Aberdeen and the outlying islands. I think my body is better-suited for this sorta ride. sigh. sad. I’m just not made for zany rides.

That was our last stop at the Headland, shortly we boarded the cable cars for a spectacular 8-minute ride over a hill to the Lowland. The cable car system offers a convenient and exceptionally panoramic route between Ocean Park’s Headland and Lowland.

The view of the rocky coastline was spectacular.

The lowland is also subdivided into several areas and attractions. But most of the stuff here are more suitable for kids. We were thrilled only at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Giant Panda Habitat (?????????) where Le Le, Ying Ying, An An and Jia Jia, greet visitors!

Adorable! If you want to see what they are doing now, check out the Giant Panda Live Broadcast!

After about 4 hours here, we rushed off to catch a church service at Cain Road. Yup, to do Ocean Park justice, plan on spending at least 4 hours here, but you’ll probably stay the whole day if you’re travelling with kids.

Note: never NEVER go on crazy rides first and do plan your trip beforehand.

My tram ride experience in Hong Kong brought back memories of a poem by John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn.

Hong Kong’s tram has been around since 1904. When I hopped on this retro machine, it appeared that time has little effect on it and I wondered if aging has become a slower process. To me, this capsule in time was capable of being seen as an eternal piece of artwork that tells a story with the sights  from it’s cold, metal window.

Hong Kong Tramways operates 6 main routes running between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan everyday from 6:00 to 24:00. Since we are staying at Causeway Bay, we went on the Causeway Bay-Kennedy Town route. This must be the most affordable transportation ever. Regardless of distance, only HK$2.00 will be charged for each adult passenger.

Here’s a picture I took of a fellow backpacker from UK, Shaun Cabey who joined us for a tram ‘story’ experience.

We quickly got into the drama happening along the tram trail. Shaun looked so reflective.

Unlike Keats who passively wondered about the ‘story’ engraved on the urn, we were thrilled at the frenzy action portrayed along the streets. Everyone looked purposeful, in pursuit of something. Where were they rushing to? What was their story? We could only guess.

Looking at the crowd from the tram, they painted fleeting pictures of a vibrant city and we wondered if Hong Kong would be a good place to stay for the better. Then again, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Having no idea who the actors were actually doing, or where they were going, we kinda reveled in this mystery. Another reason why the tram ride was so entertaining.

I thought that the heart and soul of Hong Kong lied amid its bustling streets and local markets. Well, not sure how the locals feel about tram rides but I prefer it so much more than other modes of transport on the island. It was a breezy, romantic way to see the bustling city. Time passed slower when I’m on this noteworthy public transport.

It was a wonderful experience to see Hong Kong at my own pace. Another reason why I prefer to plan my own trip instead of going with a tour. Well, go on the tram ride with a relaxed mind! You’ll be intrigued by the ‘story’ which will unfolds along the tram trail.

(:

Last Wed, 24Seven hosted a social media sharing session with Kevin! Remember I had a post with Kevin‘s video to our cosy office? Yes the video with Yuniko, the fat cat?

So yay, off to tapas bar we went on a sunny Wed afternoon. This place is a die-hard supporter of social media junkies. Have you been to Zsofi Tapas Bar? If not, you should.

Yes Mole Mole here deserves a TIGER!

Dunlop Street is just a street away from Sim Lim Tower. We booked the 2nd floor! Lovely pictures and frames along the staircase.

Oo check out the graffiti on the wall. Pretty arty-farty right?

According to Chris, a suave gentleman from Zsofi, today will be the last day the white wall at 2nd floor will be available for projection. WHY. Ah-ha. The 2nd floor is gonna be a boutique gallery. Hence, the walls will be adorned with artistic paintings! You can have your beer, chill and buy paintings off the wall. How cool is that?

BTW time for group picture! Krisandro, Claudia, Mole Mole and I played around with the camera before setting up the area. Haha. I love my wacky team!

Claudia and Ben can’t decide who should have the Tiger. Lol.

Guests who came early/on the dot had some fun chilling out at Zsofi‘s out door balcony. I like the setting.

My special ladies from Hill & Knowlton! Thanks Mariko, Debs and Xiu Wen! You girls are sweethearts!

The session with Kevin begins! Kevin’s talk is very useful to anyone who wants to know more on engaging different users in the social media space. Kelvin, not Kevin has a really great summary on Kevin’s sharing. Do check it out and digest it while I shall show you some pictures!

We have lotsa wonderful people in the crowd! Did I mentioned already that I love my job?

That’s me and Kevin! I think he will make a really good social media lecturer at NUS! CNM quick grab this talent!

Well since the event is about social media, I shall share a little about this emerging tool for PR/advertising.

I’m sure everyone (at least those who were at the event) is now aware that Facebook is NOT the answer to every social media campaign. Why? Well, certain media are more intimate and more appropriate for certain types of communication. Thus, we need to consider how private and intimate the communication should be. Should it be exclusive? If so what is the best tool to use? Also, does the campaign needs a higher level of synchronicity? If so, which tools allow real-time communication?

So it seems like we are getting better at discerning which social media to use. In fact, most of the time, the perceived and actual properties of a social media tool determines just how the campaign could possibly be run! In other words, we’ve become too obsessed with the tool rather than strategies in engaging users of the tool!

Here’s where Forrester Research’s approach to social media comes in.

The P O S T (1. People , 2. Objectives, 3. Strategy, 4. Technology) methodology is extremely helpful! We should really start by mulling over the strategic choice and use of social media by our targeted audience.

People are strategic not just in how they select the media, but also how they use the media. We should digest different aspects of the user influence i.e. user characteristics (gender, age, experience with medium) or user motivations (some people seek affiliations/company while others seek meaning be it in life or self-understanding) before moving on to the form the objectives and strategy of the campaign. Remember, technology comes last!

Isn’t it logical that various aspects of users influence how we can choose and use specific social media tools? Well, in essence, social media is really all about people. A lot of care is needed to run a true social media campaign. Which is why I think that short-term campaigns are sucky! They don’t value-add the community in the long-run. People who join these groups don’t form real relationships. They just come and go. You want friends like that? Pretty sad right?

:/

Before I end, I shall share this interesting article by a Web Shaman. This article will shed some light on how to work magic on blogger engagement.

OK Enjoy! And thanks for reading through this very long post!

Dai Pai Dong is where you encounter street-side eating culture in Hong Kong! You can find al-fresco food stall operating on the roadside with foldable tables and plastic chairs. Dai Pai Dong may not very hygienic but here’s where you should be heading for decent tasty local grub.

So we were feeling peckish after shopping so it’s time for supper! Found a Dai Pai Dong somewhere near Temple Street in Jordan (next MTR station to Tsim Sha Tsui). and there was a healthy local crowd there so we decided to grab some food here! First up, Roasted Pigeon with crispy golden brown skin!

It was so-so only. In fact, the one we had in Guangzhou was better. The meat has some weird bird taste! Yeah it’s a bird but it shouldn’t taste so strongly bird-ish right? Guess pigeon meat is too wild for me. I think the roasted chicken wings at Taman Pelangi hawker center is better (Will blog about it soon).

Anyway we still gobbled down the bird and shortly our plate of incredibly fresh steamed fish came. Most Dai Pai Dong which operate at night usually sell seafood.

Ah the fish steamed with ginger and onion topped with a dash of soy sauce was more delightful than the pigeon. It’s a pretty simple dish but it taste so good because of its ultra freshness and sweet yummy soy sauce. I can taste some sesame oil too.

BTW You can choose to have both dishes with steamed white rice but we decided not to. Want to leave some space for desserts before we head back to the hotel. Ah our appetite just keep growing in Hong Kong. My face is getting rounder and rounder.

:/

Spent about sgd30 for this light supper! Quite similar to hawkers in Southeast Asia but in Hong Kong, it is more extensive because they also offer live seafood that was just swimming in mini aquariums before being served on the table. It’s a good thing that cooking fresh is revered in Hong Kong.