... Nathan was doing this!
He went to catch up with another couple of friends we have in Hong Kong. This is Brett, Kurt - and their families. Hopefully next time I'll be able to see them too!
Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts
Monday, 4 March 2013
Catching up
So yesterday, while I was doing this...
... Nathan was doing this!
He went to catch up with another couple of friends we have in Hong Kong. This is Brett, Kurt - and their families. Hopefully next time I'll be able to see them too!
... Nathan was doing this!
He went to catch up with another couple of friends we have in Hong Kong. This is Brett, Kurt - and their families. Hopefully next time I'll be able to see them too!
A Hong Kong Wedding
On Saturday it was finally time for the wedding, the main reason we'd come to Hong Kong in the first place, to celebrate Grace & Aaron getting married.
It was to be an evening wedding, so after a bit of a morning stroll and light lunch, I went to have my hair done at the salon just across from the hotel. It felt like such a treat, and made me feel so good!
Then it was time to get ready to go. We wanted to make sure we were on time, and since we had to catch a cab and weren't sure how long it was going to take, we set off early. The wedding was at 'The American Club', a Country Club set in Tai Tam on the southeastern shore of Hong Kong Island.
It was a bit of a long trip, but fortunately we made it in good time. Unfortunately, the reception was outside, and it was bone chilling cold! I had checked out the weather report before coming to Hong Kong, but it had said 20+ degrees, not 15! I so was not prepared, I only had a little knitted bolero.
I wasn't the only one who was cold though, I think we all were! We all huddled under the heaters!
Here comes the bride, looking absolutely stunning - and being 5 1/2 months pregnant!! Who would've known, she still looks fabulous!
I liked the Officiant, he was full of humour and made everybody feel relaxed. Luckily the ceremony itself wasn't very long at all, plus the Officiant was very efficiant!
Rings getting exchanged:
The kiss!
Then it was time for the endless photos. I felt sorry for the bride, she must have been cold too? Or maybe she didn't notice..! Everybody had their turn with the bride & groom. Here's Aarons family:
The Bridal Party:
The pilots:
And just look at this little princess, Grace's niece - isn't she the most adorable thing ever? She did a great job being the flower girl, zooming down the aisle:
The dinner was held in the Vista Ballroom which was decorated beautifully.
We got these little favours to bring home, as mementos:
We embarked on a 12 course meal... Yes, twelve!!!
I did quite well, until about number eight... then I started to struggle, and believe it or not, I didn't have the desserts! There was just no more room!
Here's one of the few people we actually both knew at this wedding, Vincent, with his girlfriend Dewi. I remember him too, both from Copenhagen and EasyJet:
Aaron, Scott, Nathan and Andrew - mates going back a long, long time:
The obligatory restroom shot, I was desperately trying to get a good shot of my outfit, but only managed the upper part..:
And of course, no Kiwi wedding without a Haka! Nathan got up there with the others:
They don't do the after-dinner-party anything like we do though... It was the same thing last time we were in Hong Kong for a wedding, all of a sudden, the lights come on and it's just over!
The party had just started, the music was playing and boom - time to go! The bus was ready, and we all got shipped off back into town! Well, even though I could have gotten my dance on, I was quite happy to be going. It still took us a while to get back to the hotel, so we weren't in bed until nearly 2am - and we had certainly had a fun and fabulous night.
Congratulations Grace and Aaron!
It was to be an evening wedding, so after a bit of a morning stroll and light lunch, I went to have my hair done at the salon just across from the hotel. It felt like such a treat, and made me feel so good!
Then it was time to get ready to go. We wanted to make sure we were on time, and since we had to catch a cab and weren't sure how long it was going to take, we set off early. The wedding was at 'The American Club', a Country Club set in Tai Tam on the southeastern shore of Hong Kong Island.
It was a bit of a long trip, but fortunately we made it in good time. Unfortunately, the reception was outside, and it was bone chilling cold! I had checked out the weather report before coming to Hong Kong, but it had said 20+ degrees, not 15! I so was not prepared, I only had a little knitted bolero.
I wasn't the only one who was cold though, I think we all were! We all huddled under the heaters!
Here comes the bride, looking absolutely stunning - and being 5 1/2 months pregnant!! Who would've known, she still looks fabulous!
I liked the Officiant, he was full of humour and made everybody feel relaxed. Luckily the ceremony itself wasn't very long at all, plus the Officiant was very efficiant!
Rings getting exchanged:
The kiss!
Then it was time for the endless photos. I felt sorry for the bride, she must have been cold too? Or maybe she didn't notice..! Everybody had their turn with the bride & groom. Here's Aarons family:
The Bridal Party:
The pilots:
And just look at this little princess, Grace's niece - isn't she the most adorable thing ever? She did a great job being the flower girl, zooming down the aisle:
The dinner was held in the Vista Ballroom which was decorated beautifully.
We got these little favours to bring home, as mementos:
We embarked on a 12 course meal... Yes, twelve!!!
I did quite well, until about number eight... then I started to struggle, and believe it or not, I didn't have the desserts! There was just no more room!
Here's one of the few people we actually both knew at this wedding, Vincent, with his girlfriend Dewi. I remember him too, both from Copenhagen and EasyJet:
Aaron, Scott, Nathan and Andrew - mates going back a long, long time:
The obligatory restroom shot, I was desperately trying to get a good shot of my outfit, but only managed the upper part..:
And of course, no Kiwi wedding without a Haka! Nathan got up there with the others:
They don't do the after-dinner-party anything like we do though... It was the same thing last time we were in Hong Kong for a wedding, all of a sudden, the lights come on and it's just over!
The party had just started, the music was playing and boom - time to go! The bus was ready, and we all got shipped off back into town! Well, even though I could have gotten my dance on, I was quite happy to be going. It still took us a while to get back to the hotel, so we weren't in bed until nearly 2am - and we had certainly had a fun and fabulous night.
Congratulations Grace and Aaron!
More fun in Hong Kong
So, what do you do on a city holiday, when you don't have to accommodate two little kids (you know: "I need the toilet", "I'm hungry", "I want to go back to the hotel", "My feet hurt", "How many more shops are we going to" etc etc...) - well, you walk a lot, you cover every shopping mall in town and you have a nice, long gorgeous lunch - aaahhh!
I must say, shopping let me down a bit though, it's tricky when you don't know where to go! I didn't seem to find any of my normal favourites, just the very upmarket brands. But ah well, the shopping wasn't our main objective this time and we still enjoyed the walking about and being able to continue to do whatever we wanted, for how long we wanted!
Friday night we ventured out into the Hong Kong nightlife (another thing you can't do with kids in tow!) and had a late dinner with some longtime friends of Nathan's, Ryan and Richelle.
Fantastic food, great company and with a very lively atmosphere at this place we had a fab night.
I must say, shopping let me down a bit though, it's tricky when you don't know where to go! I didn't seem to find any of my normal favourites, just the very upmarket brands. But ah well, the shopping wasn't our main objective this time and we still enjoyed the walking about and being able to continue to do whatever we wanted, for how long we wanted!
Friday night we ventured out into the Hong Kong nightlife (another thing you can't do with kids in tow!) and had a late dinner with some longtime friends of Nathan's, Ryan and Richelle.
They had suggested dinner at this really lush restaurant in Wyndham, 'Wagyu'. It was nice and close so we walked over there. It's supposed to be one of the more popular restaurants in town, and it certainly didn't disappoint. We had such lovely food... mmm... I chose the barramundi, since I had overdone it a bit with the meat the night before - but the others went for their famous Australian wagyu steaks. It all was absolutely delicious.
The boys had some special coffee for dessert, and I had one of the best Pavlovas (one of, Nikki, one of!) I've ever had. It was sooo good! Total food coma, again.
Fantastic food, great company and with a very lively atmosphere at this place we had a fab night.
A Hong Kong surprise
Look who we found at the airport when we arrived on Thursday!
Such a nice surprise! Jason had arrived from Singapore at the same time, and was going to spend two nights in Hong Kong before heading off to Dubai.
Obviously, we decided to meet up later that evening for dinner. We ended up in a Mexican restaurant in Wanchai, and had some nice spicy drinks (Tojitos?) and lovely, hearty Mexican food, mmm!
Jason had googled for "best ribs in Hong Kong", and that's how he had found this place. So obviously, we had to try those out! Not bad, but not the best we've ever had. Don't forget, ribs is our thing..!
After having eaten far too much, we continued down the road and had a nightcap (or two) before calling it a night. Really good to see Jason!
Such a nice surprise! Jason had arrived from Singapore at the same time, and was going to spend two nights in Hong Kong before heading off to Dubai.
Obviously, we decided to meet up later that evening for dinner. We ended up in a Mexican restaurant in Wanchai, and had some nice spicy drinks (Tojitos?) and lovely, hearty Mexican food, mmm!
Jason had googled for "best ribs in Hong Kong", and that's how he had found this place. So obviously, we had to try those out! Not bad, but not the best we've ever had. Don't forget, ribs is our thing..!
After having eaten far too much, we continued down the road and had a nightcap (or two) before calling it a night. Really good to see Jason!
Compact living
We didn't quite know where to stay in Hong Kong, since last time we were there we stayed with some friends, in one of the suburbs. We asked advice from Nathan's friends, but they all kept naming these very fancy (and very expensive...) hotels - and to be honest, we didn't mind going a bit more low budget on the hotel, and have more cash to spend!
So, after some research we ended up staying in this very cool little hotel in Queen's Road Central, called the Ovolo Hotel. It was great; nicely decorated, super clean, modern and with fantastic amenities. The room was certainly "compact", actually probably the smallest room we've ever stayed in - but it's not like we spent a lot of time there, so it didn't matter at all.
We had the room to the right in this picture, small but functional! Free internet and Apple TV, all good! Here's a view into the room from the entrance door:
Here's the "desk" to the left, the free (!) minibar and on top of that, the wardrobe:
We even got a free Loot Bag upon checking in, with chips, breath mints, chocolates and other snacks!
We would definitely recommend a stay here if you go to Hong Kong. Probably not with children, as space is limited, but for a quick little get-away - perfect!
So, after some research we ended up staying in this very cool little hotel in Queen's Road Central, called the Ovolo Hotel. It was great; nicely decorated, super clean, modern and with fantastic amenities. The room was certainly "compact", actually probably the smallest room we've ever stayed in - but it's not like we spent a lot of time there, so it didn't matter at all.
Here's the "desk" to the left, the free (!) minibar and on top of that, the wardrobe:
We even got a free Loot Bag upon checking in, with chips, breath mints, chocolates and other snacks!
We did go down to the lounge every morning to enjoy the free European breakfast, and every now and then we enjoyed a coffee there too. The hotel put on free 24hr snacks (Nespresso and brownie anyone?) here in their lounge AND - and when we discovered that drinks were all free during 'Happy Hour'... well...! What more do you need?? :)
We would definitely recommend a stay here if you go to Hong Kong. Probably not with children, as space is limited, but for a quick little get-away - perfect!
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