3D Museum TST

I'd been hearing about the 3D Trick Art museums since last year.  There is one up on The Peak and there is one down in Tsim Sha Tsui East (TST East).

We decided to take a trip down to the 3D Museum in TST East.

HK 3D Museum Info:

1/F Hilton Tower

96 Granville Road

Tsim Sha Tsui East

Hours

Mondays thru Sundays from 10 am - 10 pm

Website

www.hk3dm.com.hk

Tickets

Adults $149 HKD

Children (3 - 11) $100 HKD

Seniors (65+) $100 HKD

The theme of the TST East 3D museum was One Piece, which is a Japanese anime.  I've not seen the anime, but it didn't matter.  The museum was pretty cool anyhow.

The main areas for the One Piece exhibits:
1.  Where Luffy becomes the King of the Pirates
2.  Classic images from One Piece
3.  Hanging out with the Straw Hat Crew

Basically, the museum has a bunch of backdrops where you can insert yourself into the scene.  If you stand at the proper angle, you are able to take a photo where you appear to be actually incorporated into the scene.

So, the first gallery had a bunch of One Piece backdrops, where you could take photos of yourself in those scenes.

It was pretty fun to be able to pose and make it look like we were really there.  But, it takes a bit of time and practice to get the perfect shot!  I think that there must have been only about 50 people in the museum when we went…and we were all taking our time at each set to pose!

The photos we took just came out rather flat, but still totally fun to jump from scene to scene and try to recreate the moment.

There was a little gift shop in the museum, which lead to two other galleries.

I'm not really sure of the purpose of the mirror maze, but it was a nice little romantic stroll for us.  This area was called Mero Mero Mellow Room.

The mirror maze lead to this life-sized figure, which was pretty neat.  I am assuming that she was Mero Mero?  And I am also assuming that she is apart of the whole One Piece anime.

Besides all of the backdrops, there were suggestions on how to pose (just in case you were unsure).  Such a great idea, I think.  It short of helped with the crowd control…but we all have the same types of photos!

Below is a photo of the layout of the museum.  It's pretty small, but it does contain a good amount of 3D backdrops.

The final gallery, which leads to the exit, was all about Hong Kong:  Modern HK, HK Memories, Romantic Journey, and Chinese Culture.  This was probably my favorite part of the TST East 3D museum.

I eat at the local canteens quite a bit, so I thought it was really neat that there were scenes from that.  I just really love Old Hong Kong things and all things Hong Kong.

Perhaps the most difficult scene to recreate any images…was this one…with the Hong Kong Jockey Club.  I don't think anyone of the 50 or so people in there with us could get this one down.

Overall Impressions:
1.  Going through the entire museum, photos and all, took about an hour, which was good enough for me!

2.  The price for the museum is pretty all right.

3.  The backdrops were pretty clean, but I could tell that they needed to really up the maintenance of the gallery images (you can totally see scuffs from where people had been sitting or posing).

4.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

5.  Lastly, this museum made me want to check out the 3D museum at The Peak!

Story Steak and Pasta

I've heard of a place called Burger and Lobster somewhere down on Hong Kong Island.

There are also a multitude of Fish and Chip places dotted all around the city.

I figured that it's quite the nice option to have a place where you know your options.

In my very own Yuen Long, we have a similar type of restaurant that only offers Steak and Pasta…but, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be...

We got there around lunch time, but we didn't have a steak menu or a pasta menu…we were offered the Burger, Pasta, and Salad menu, which makes me think that this place should be called: The Burger, Pasta, and Salad!

Story:  Steak and Pasta Info:

Shop 2, Ho Shun Lee Building

9 Fung Yau Street South

Yuen Long

Hours

Thursdays - Tuesdays noon - 11 pm

Wednesdays 6 pm - 11 pm

Tel. 24778636

I think this place used to be the Lasagna House, which used to be popular a few years ago.  But, it still is quite the small venue, with pretty chilled service, and chilled patrons.

For a starter, we were offered a mushroom soup, which I feel is the most common soup served in an abundance of restaurants around the City!  It was pretty good.  It reminded me of the Portobello Mushroom soup cartons that I buy from Park N Shop every so often…but I liked it.

We got the Porcini and Spinach Risotto, because what is life without rice!

And, lastly, we got The Classic Burger and Fries.

The food was actually quite excellent.  I was totally digging the burger and fries.  The risotto is not my cup of tea…just because I'm not the greatest fan of rice, but it was good.

If asked whether or not I'd return to this place, I'd answer, "Totally!"

Story Steak and Pasta (a.k.a. Burger, Pasta, and Salad), you get two thumbs up from me on my first experience to your little eatery!

Kai Tak Runway Park

At the beginning of the summer, my husband and I were looking at cruises that launched out of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.  Either the tickets (+suites) were sold out for the dates that we were available or the prices were way out of our price range.  We decided to head to Macau instead.

A few months ago, I just kept thinking about what a bummer it was to not be able to take a cruise this summer…we totally have to book a longer time in advance next summer.  (Finger's crossed!)

Low and behold, one of our extended family members sprung on us that he was hosting a huge birthday celebration at one of the restaurants at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal…

I guess it was Fate calling to us that we had better jump on the opportunity to see what the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal was all about.

Getting out here was quite the distance for us.  We rode the MTR all the way out to Kowloon Bay MTR Station, exited into Telford Plaza, found minibus stop No. 86, and rode the minibus out to the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.  It was actually the same place where we'd visited the Wine and Dine Festival last year.

The Kai Tak Cruise Terminal is where the old Hong Kong International Airport used to be.  The other cool thing about the Cruise Terminal is that one of the runways was turned into a park.

We got here at sunset and discovered a lot of people picnicking, playing music, playing with children, and just having gatherings along the grassy patches of the park.

There were no cruise ships really close by, but there were two or three that were anchored a bit aways in Kowloon Bay.

Around the park, there are little homages to the old Kai Tak International Airport, which is pretty fascinating to see and read about.

While we were out there watching the sun set, we also saw a play flying overhead towards the newer Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island.

This runway, where the park was built on, was known as runway "one-three."  I thought it was pretty awesome that "1-3" was featured as a statement of the past airport.

This was such a nice little serene spot to chill and stroll around before heading into a massive birthday celebration of a thousand people whom I hardly know!

Hong Kong is such a small city, but I still have a lot of ground to cover!

Macau Trip: Greyhound Racing

Tonight, we ventured outside of the casino zones, shopping zones, and usual tourist zones and to the way northern part of Macau.  My first impression of this area of Macau was that it looked pretty similar to Hong Kong, with the huge residential estates and all.  

We were up here to check out the greyhound racing at the Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrone Co. Ltd race track).  

It's nice to just wander the streets.  We were actually on the hunt for a place to eat, but came across a beautiful (though closed) temple…

We also came across a hotel that looked like a blast from Macau's past…

How'd we get out to the northern part of the city?

From The Galaxy, we hopped onto a shuttle which took us to the northern border crossing bus terminal.  

Conveniently, if you want to return to the Taipa/Cotai or main tourist areas of Macau, you can just hop on one of the hotel shuttles and they'll drive you right back.

For dinner, we headed to Sun Yick a.k.a. 新益美食 (which you can find more photos of the food here).  

The location

Shop 1B, G/F, Block 1 Povocao de New Village Mong-Ha

Pampa dos Cavaleiros, Mong-Ha

Hours

6pm - 4 am

I couldn't find an English review, but my husband read in our guide book that this place was famous for:

1.  The interestingly named dishes

2.  Unique fusion of Chinese/Portuguese dishes

We heard that this place was flooded with locals daily, so we got there exactly at 6pm and were totally able to get a seat.  

We ordered a curried beef and noodle dish...

Sorry for the blur...

…a seafood and veggie dish...

…and a pumpkin, cabbage, and egg plant dish…

The proportions were a bit big for just the two of us, but it was absolutely delicious.  My favorite dish was probably the platter of eggplant, cabbage, and pumpkin.  The curry was pretty good and would probably come in second for me.  I'm not too big a fan of stir fried seafood, but the broccoli and the sauce with that dish was pretty good.

After dinner, we walked over to the Canidrome (a.k.a. 逸園賽狗場), which was the main goal of our evening!

The races took place from Sunday through Thursday.  The races begin at 7pm.

[A view of the track and the betting board across the way]

It's really similar to the Hong Kong Jockey Club horse racing…without the horses.  But, it was fun to bet on greyhounds that we thought were sprite and active.  Turns out, all of our bets fell through.  But, it was a pretty fun night, none the less.

Watching the races (there are 18 a night, I believe) is a pretty nice way to still get the gambling itch scratched and to also get away from the casino scene.

The plus about our night at the Canidrone:

1.  There weren't a terrible amount of people in the stands.

2.  You could get snacks in the kiosk near the betting booths

3.  There was a nice little mix of tourists, who were there to just see the races, and locals, who were casually betting on the dogs.

4.  It was the perfect end to our stay in Macau and also a nice little date night

NOTE:  You cannot take photos in the stadium.  The security guard will let you take a few, but then he'll tell you to put your camera away.  Which is pretty nice, in retrospect…because I (and the other tourists) could still get some photos…but only a few.

[View of the exterior of the sports stadium next door]

This experience made me really want to set a time to watch the horse races in Hong Kong!

Macau Trip: Water Park

The last time I was at a water park was when we went down to Bali's Waterbom.  So, when we discovered that there was a water park in The Galaxy, we left aside one day to just chill out and enjoy the amenities.

Firstly, the awesome thing about The Galaxy's Resort Deck is the Wave Pool.  It's basically the man-made beach of my dreams.  

Real SAND!

"Real" waves!

During the mornings, when the pool area opened up (8am), there were no waves.  So the little beach was a dream to swim laps in (when you walk out to the deep end).  The laps will be short, but there aren't a lot of people who are up at 8 am.

NOTE:  We went down to the Grand Resort Deck each of the three days that we were staying in The Galaxy…all three days, there were hardly any people who were up at 8 am!!!!

When the waves did start being generated, though, the life guards will let you know with their whistles and also have all kids (who can't swim) put on their life jackets.

The waves didn't seem that dangerous or big, but, more so, a good "wave" height to bounce over and to splash around in.

The beach got pretty busy towards the afternoon hours.  All the beach chairs and spaces in-between were covered with people's beach gear.  I'd totally recommend to visit the beach when there are less people, so then you can really enjoy the ambiance…but, if the early morning isn't for you, the Grand Resort Deck stays open until 10 pm (and that's a great time to have a romantic beach swim with your significant other!).

The second awesome thing about The Galaxy's Grand Resort Deck was the Adventure River Ride, which floated you by some waterfalls, under some water cannons, and through heaps of falling "rain."  It's a leisurely ride, where we just got onto some inflatable donuts and floated along with the crowd.  

The awesome thing about the Adventure River Ride was that there, like the entire Grand Resort Deck, wasn't a lot of people around before lunch time.  So, we got to go through the River Ride as many times as we liked without much hassle.  

This was definitely a great little ride for young people and old people….for everyone.  

***A clip of the Adventure River Ride***

Lastly, (THOUGH I HAVE NO PHOTOS), the really awesome thing about The Galaxy's Grand Resort Deck was the Waterslide.  There were three slides, which were all equally awesome.

One slide I would classify as the fastest one.  This slide was smooth and mostly a straight shot to the end.

Another slide I would classify as a pretty windy one.  It slid me left and right like no tomorrow.

The last slide I would classify as quite similar to the windy one mentioned above, but you had a view.  The other two slides were dark, but this one you could see through the slide…if that makes any sense.

I'd return to stay at The Galaxy just for the purpose of hanging out in the water park again!!!!!  I think this was what really made our stay an amazing one.