Simplicity

Simple, unique, friendly. That’s the Harris style. They had me at just the first word - simple.

When we first reached the Harris resort, we were greeted warmly by the ’smiley sunpeeps’ (a term which I denoted for the Harris staff). They are casually dressed in their orange colour code. What I like most about the sunpeeps is that they smile genuinely at their guests. It’s like happy lala-land. Think it would be really fun to work there.

So far, so good. So, where’s the imperfections, you might wonder. Well, there were quite a number of imperfections during our stay there. For instance, the room had a couple of black spots in the room. Part of the mirror was rusted with black spots, the room just wasn’t as clean as I hoped it to be. The 3 hour spa was also cut short into just 2 and a half hours. The food there was quite expensive, and the live band wasn’t that fantastic either.

Can you spot the error?

However, despite all these imperfections, I still found it to be a perfect trip for me. The room was comfortable. The spa was reinvigorating, especially doing it together with Mr Poto. He even slept through the spa! Food was expensive, but they provided great fun and atmosphere for the guests. The themes were rather unique and creative. I love being a onlooker where other guests get saboed to play games. The sunpeeps will come and offer their handy hands to help you take pictures, and they were really quite pro at it! Live band may not be orchestra-material, but their music make you want to sing together with them. More importantly, every second was magic when it is spent with the person you love.

Our spa under the sky

Entertainment wise, it was much better than Holiday Inn. Bowling practically filled Mr Poto with soooo much joy. I almost won him, if not for that stupid shoelace! Swimming was great, except that I was practically causing a tsunami with my turbo kicking legs.

National team bowlers??

Shopping was fantastic! (clear throats) I meant supermarket shopping. Everything was sooooo cheap, especially the pads! I shan’t disclose how many packets did I bring back, but I’m good for a few months at least. Hee. At their Batam town, we had our fill of the ever-so-delicious-and-i-oh-so-missed-it ROOTBEER FLOAT!!! In addition, our stomachs express their gratitude for introducing to them the yummilious J.CO doughnuts!

We were shopping at one of the bookstores in Nagoya Hill, and I came upon something very interesting. I just happened to flip through some of their greeting cards, and guess what. There are really some very intriguing cards in Batam. They have break-up cards! There are also cards made for chasing after the opposite gender, as well as cards for rejecting them. It was simply hilarious! I would have loved to buy back all their cards for keepsake. Hee, here is a sample!

There was one funny incident. As I was trying to take a picture of the Harris resort logo, an angmoh looking guy saw us and offered to help take a photo of us with the Harris logo. I was pleasantly surprised at how other fellow guests are sooooo friendly. Have we all been influenced by the Harris gene? Well, we agreed to his offer. Mr angmoh started walking further and further away, until Mr Poto was worried that he would take the camera and run. Then, mr angmoh asked us to step further back too, in order for him to capture the logo. I was already picturing in my mind how the picture will turn out. Haha, here it is.

Definitely a keepsake! (Taken by GM wo..)

And guess what, Mr angmoh turns out to be the general manager of Harris resort! He even passed us his namecard when we were checking out. I have never seen a more amiable GM at any other hotels or resorts. This goes to show that when your management is good and proactive, you get motivated staff!

Lastly, never leave a beach without your imprints!

I know it’s been a term since my hong kong trip, but I just haven’t gotten down to really blog about it. So here it is! (Warning: lots of photos coming up!)

Day 1:

Mr Poto and I reached the airport around 4am, full of excitement in our hearts! We always look forward to taking the aeroplane. Can you imagine, his first air experience was with me…hee.

In no time, we arrived at the land of dim sum. The weather was lovely, it was rather cooling. I have heard so much raves about the wanton mee from wm that it was my first food tasted in Hong Kong! And boy, it was quite nice! The wanton mee is different from Singapore’s version. Their wanton mee only came with soup and there isn’t any char siew.

After that, we just roamed around the various shopping centres and night markets around the Mong Kok area. Hong Kong feels just like Singapore. We felt right at home. However, the streets were a little confusing for us, as they have a zillion street signs. The crowd crossing at each road junction was equivalent to the twice the passerbys at our Orchard Road.

When you are at Hong Kong, it’s as though you are re-living the commercial. Shop and dine, shop and dine, rest……then shop and dine again! We had at least 5 meals in a day. Haha. Supper was great! We found this amazing claypot rice shop at the night market near our hotel. The oyster omelette was phenomenal! I love the sauce!!! We had that for supper for at least 3 nights there!

As we were walking to our favourite supper place, we came upon a couple of aunties and uncles performing by the street. They were having their own mini karaoke sessions, in public! How cool is that? Here’s a picture of them.

Day 2:

Our 2nd day at Hong Kong was spent exploring Causeway Bay. This is like Orchard Road of Singapore, where all the branded goods and upclass shopping are. Uh-hmmm, this is also where I bought my first GUCCI bag!!!

Look what I found…..Krispy Creme Doughnuts!!!! They are soooo soft and yummy!

We also did some shopping at H&M before heading for the peak. We walked for quite a while to get to the Peak Tram station. On our way there, we saw a lot of reporters gathered in front of an art gallery. I thought that we were going to see some big shot Hong Kong superstars, maybe Andy Lau! Gasp! But, in the end, all we saw were some female models. Chey!

Here we are at the Peak Tram Station. Mr Poto and I had a blast there! We took a lot of funny photos at the Madame Tussle musuem. Some of the wax figurines looked really real. Gradually, we learnt the technique of taking good pictures with these ‘big shots’. It’s all about the eye! My favourite is Andy Lau!!!! I wish I could bring him home.

After LOADS of pictures taking, we went out to the peak. Oh my, it was REALLY COLD! I was practically freezing in my pathetic cardigan. I thought that this was the best time where the female lead can cuddle up to the male lead for warmth, like in any good old movies. Guess what? Mr Poto became more like Frosty the snowman! Who ask him to act so ‘garang’ in the morning and refused to bring out his jacket.

Day 3:

One word to sum it up…DISNEYLAND!!! I’ve always loved Disneyland. This is my 2nd time at this magical land (first time was in Japan). But, it has always been my dream to go to Disneyland with my prince charming. And there I was, with him. I felt right in my element there, as I know that I’m an eternal child. And I’ve finally managed to take the Winnie the Pooh ride, which I have missed in Japan’s Disneyland. The Disney parade was fantastic! There is something about these familiar and fuzzy characters, that can always bring a smile to your face. The Magical Christmas fireworks display at night was SPECTACULAR!

Day 4:

We had the most amazing dim sum this morning at this Hakka restaurant. We were there before it actually open as their dim sum is 50% off in the morning. The service was really fantastic! The waitresses were so friendly, that even their own people were amazed at their politeness. (Yeah, don’t expect the people there to treat you nicely. It’s their culture.)

We did some SERIOUS shopping at the Espirit warehouse, where everything just seemed so cheap. I could see little birds flying around my head. Hee. We had dinner at this famous Macua restaurant. You should see how they eat over there. Their dinner order was like breakfast, lunch and dinner combined! No kidding! I really wonder how  the ladies there stay soooo slim. Do they all have tape worms inside their stomachs. Envious! And they should really have quite high salaries, in order to feed themselves to a feast for every meal.

We went past Peninsula Hotel, and it was simply amazing! The lightings were so beautiful!

Our next stop was to ‘The Arena of Stars’. Feels weird stepping on the handprints of those celebrities. Why would they want to be stepped on? Funny. The symphony of lights was quite nice. It really showcased the skyline of Hong Kong.

Day 5:

Breakfast was at our favourite dairy restaurant. We saw this really funny guy at the airport. He was dressed in this cute white bunny suit and singing Christmas jingles on the airport shuttle bus. If only everyone was more spontaneous and happy like him! I would love to wear a bear suit, with a cute furry bob tail at the back. Here he is! (Only managed to capture the backview.)

And now, for the finale to this long long blog, here is my favourite photo to close it off. I took this photo while on the bus to the airport. 

Till the next vacation!

A lazy monday afternoon. Down came a heavy rainfall, which made me recall something. When was the last time you have walked in the rain? I mean really taking a slow walk in the rain, without any umbrella or raincoat. Just walking normally in the rain, despite of the heavy rainfall.

Well, the last time for me was during my Secondary school days. I remember that I walked back once from school in the rain. I was in a bad mood and just wanted to walk in the rain. It was quite a long walk home from school. I did not bother about the funny looks that onlookers gave me. I did not care about how cold I felt. I did not even care if my clothes were drenched. I just wanted to walk in the rain, and feel the rain, as if every step I took in the rain will wash my troubles away. Those were the days…

Now, it seems as if I can’t wait to get to a shelter zone when there is a heavy down pour. It seems like I am escaping from being caught in the rain. What happened? Why have I changed, I wonder. It seems as if adults no longer enjoy the pleasure of walking in the rain. Perhaps it’s all those designer clothes, expensive shoes, branded bags that adults are binded with, that pulls the adults from the rain. Or perhaps, adults can no longer really afford to fall sick due to their big money-paying jobs. Or perhaps adults do not wish to be viewed as crazy cuckoos walking in the rain. Or perhaps adults do not walk their thousands of dollars spent on facial products or skin care to go to waste.

Well, as for me, I just haven’t found a reason to walk in the rain yet. Till then, let me just enjoy the little splattering droplets from my window pane.