Argyle Centre

Chelsea and I were huge shopaholics back then; after lunch, we quickly found ourselves in Argyle Centre, situated in the middle of Mong Kok, famed for its cheap shopping! We also visited Sneakers Street, Langham Place, and Ladies' Market, all of which are within walking distances from each other. I didn't take photos of all the places because I was, uh, busy shopping.

Argyle Centre

Address: 688 Nathan Rd, Mong Kok, Kowloon
Opening Hours: 12:30pm to late night
Nearest MTR: Mong Kok Station (Exit D2)

Sneakers Street

Address: 75 Fa Yuen St, Mong Kok, Hong Kong
Opening Hours: 11am to 11pm
Nearest MTR: Mong Kok Station (Exit D3)

Langham Place

Address: 8 Argyle St, Mong Kok, Hong Kong
Opening Hours: 11am to 11pm
Nearest MTR: Mong Kok Station (Exit C3)

Ladies' Market

Address: Tung Choi St, Mong Kok, Hong Kong
Opening Hours: 11am to 11:30pm
Nearest MTR: Mong Kok exit D3/E2

I hung around Hong Kong International Airport waiting for Chelsea to land while leeching on the airport wifi. Once she arrived, we got our Octopus Cards and began our journey!


First stop: Citygate Outlets, the biggest outlet mall in Hong Kong. Like I mentioned in my Gold Coast outlet shopping post, I enjoy travelling to each city's outlet malls so heading to Citygate Outlets made sense since 1) it's near to the airport and 2) it wasn't time for us to check in to our hotel yet.

We were a little disheartened that we didn't buy anything because, unlike in Gold Coast, there wasn't exactly any crazy good deals screaming at us in Citygate Outlets.

Citygate Outlets

Address: 20 Tat Tung Rd, Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Nearest MTR: Tung Chung Station Exit C 
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm daily



We left Citygate Outlets after an hour or two and, typical of Chelsea and me, we stopped somewhere along Tung Chung Station to take photos with our luggage. Forgive us, we were fresh grads who were stepping out of Singapore for the first time in forever!

 I stayed in their Premier Room (Barrier-Free) for four nights. Le Prabelle Hotel's Premier Room (Barrier-Free) room came with a bathtub, which is extremely rare for hotels in Hong Kong, and a king-sized bed. I paid HKD 3,317.60 (approx. SGD $592 in March 2016) for the room.


Because Le Prabelle Hotel's Premier Room (Barrier-Free) room is meant to be wheelchair-accessible, its bathroom is spacious. Although the bathtub is a little shallow, it's good enough. The bathtub would be marvellous during Hong Kong's colder months; I had a good time soaking in the bathtub in March and didn't want to get out!


Le Prabelle Hotel provides free breakfast of a small snack and a packet drink every morning till 11am. They have free coffee, tea and some cookies in the room for your enjoyment too.

The room came with hairdryer, kettle, towels etc. For more facilities, you may to go Le Prabelle's website.


I doubt I'll go back to Le Prabelle Hotel, and strongly advised my friends against booking a room with Le Prabelle Hotel despite their excellent location.

I haven't been to Hong Kong enough to know if all hotels are like that, but Le Prabelle Hotel was inflexible with changing of booking dates, and check-in check-out timings. All of which I understand since I booked my room with the early bird price.

But I cannot accept Le Prabelle Hotel's insistence that we leave HKD1000 as deposit at the front desk. That messed with our budget quite a bit, especially since we were on a short trip and didn't bring a lot of cash. I travel a lot but I have never stayed at a hotel that requires a cash deposit, especially when it wasn't stated in their website.

For that very reason, I will not recommend Le Prabelle Hotel to my friends travelling to Hong Kong.

Le Prabelle

Address

372 Portland St, Mong Kok, Hong Kong
 

Email

booknow@leprabelle.com

Phone Number

 +852 2263 1263

Nearest MTR Station

Prince Edward Station Exit C2

Website

http://www.leprabelle.com/


Note: I paid for the hotel room with my own money. This post is neither sponsored nor paid for by Le Prabelle Hotel. I wrote the review based on my own experience with the hotel.

one memory always stuck out: me, huddling on my sides in the middle of the night, weak from your sweet-nothings.

now, with my knees pulled up to my chest, my shoulders trembling, and my cheeks wet, i see what your words were — nothing.

i was stupid.
unforgivably, stubbornly stupid.

Remember I mentioned in my Gold Coast graduation trip travelogue that travelling makes or breaks your friendship? I shared my worries with Chelsea before we departed, but we were fairly certain that we'd do fine since we shared the same interest and were the same kind of travellers (i.e. damn kiasu, everything also must try HAHA).

By the end of our Hong Kong travels, I was so glad I brought her along because travelling together defined Chelsea and my friendship and we've been closer than ever since our grad trip... two years ago. I can't believe I'm so behind my backlogs I'm only writing about my Hong Kong trip now when I already look very different from the photos taken then :')

I actually wrote this post in 2017 but never got down to publishing it for god knows what reason. Our travel dates were 7 March 2016 to 11 March 2016 for reference, so you know how much I procrastinated. I also lost the psd file to my cover photo so only the prelude post will have a cover photo hahhahaha.





This Hong Kong travel was significant for me because it was my first time taking a flight alone! There's a long story behind why Chelsea and I flew separately despite heading to the same destination — this epic story, which most of my ex-colleagues were familiar with, was probably my friends' favourite story in 2016 because I was filled with so much salt I possibly had higher salinity level than the Dead Sea.

You have time? Good. Grab some popcorn, it's story time.

我们的距离 到这刚刚好
不够我们拥抱 就挽回不了
用力爱过的人 不该计较   我们的流浪到这刚刚好 趁我们还没到 天涯海角 我也不是非要去那座城堡   天空有些暗了暗的刚刚好 我难过的样子就没人看到

有人说爱情是一种冒险，赢了相守一生，输了连朋友都没得做。我觉得爱情很难，时间错了也只能擦肩而过，时间对了也要遇到对的人。

我想每个人心里，最不下的人就是那个命中注定偏偏只能插肩而过、忘不了却求不得、有缘无份、最热售的陌生人。

那晚只能望着你，提醒自己， 这虽然是我曾握过的手，但他不是一辈子会牵着我的伴。

"Returning to where dreams began"

Caught Take Me to The Moon a few days ago, on my birthday. It's obvious by now that I love everything Taiwanese so watching Take Me to The Moon was naturally a requisite on my birthday. If I can't travel to Taiwan, then I'll bring Taiwan to me. I won't drieve too much into the movie yet because I want to keep the movie review for another day but Take Me to The Moon spoke to me.


For those unaware, my decision to quit my job and go back to studying for a degree full-time was heavily influenced by my love for Taiwan. I wanted to work in Taiwan but in a country with more than 5 million degree holders, it was difficult to secure an interview with just a diploma. Without a degree, even when I got a job offer, it was near to impossible to negotiate for better pay.

I used to be an advocate of following your dreams. I was so sure that I could do anything as long as I put my heart into it. I believed unless your dreams scare you, they're not considered dreams. I didn't care if relearning Chinese was going to be tough or that chances are slim, I was bent on furthering my studies for a remote possibility of working in Taiwan after graduation.

As I worked towards relocation, I met many obstacles that eventually waned my enthusiasm. People constantly told me to be realistic. The salary in Taiwan will never be comparable to Singapore's. I won't be able to send money home or live comfortably. I have family and friends in Singapore who love me, I shouldn't leave them behind.

I ended up in the paper chase. I forgot what was I working for. I accepted that my dreams were unrealistic, and I should stay in Singapore to be a filial daughter, a good friend. I stopped speaking of my dreams to move to Taiwan.

Take Me to The Moon reminded me that dreams were never about money — it's about your happiness, and nothing makes me happier than Taiwan. It's not about leaving the people I love behind to start anew. It's about forced independence, getting out of my comfort zone, and me growing as a person. Most importantly, it is about being in a place that comforts me.

Watching Take Me to The Moon felt like I was returning to where my dreams began. I still can be that wide-eyed girl who believes dreams do come true.