Thursday, September 24, 2015

Bride-to-be hailed Prettiest Bride in China as She Tried Valiantly to give CPR to Collapsed Man

A young nurse has been named the 'prettiest bride' by Chinese media after trying to save a man on September 21.  Her name is Guo Yuanyuan, aged 25.  She and her hubby-to-be were in the midst of their wedding photo-shoot on a beach in Dalian, China.

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Others on the beach spotted a man, in the sea, who was shouting for help.  Some swimmers managed to pull the man in, from the waters.  However, the man was barely conscious when he reached the beach.  Mr Zhao, one of the rescuers, said: 'At the time his lips had gone purple and his face was going blue. It seemed like he had a sudden heart attack.' As a crowd gathered around the man, it appeared that no one knew how to perform CPR.

That is when the valiant bride-to-be stepped up and outshone all others with her valiant attempt to resuscitate the man.  Check out this video footage of her trying her darn best to give this unconscious man another shot at life.  It is quite inspiring, even though her efforts were ultimately futile.



It turns out that Ms Guo Yuanyuan was a cardiac nurse at a local hospital.  Obviously, she was not on duty that day. The wedding photo shoot of a bride is a very important and significant milestone in her life.  Yet, witnesses say that when the event occurred, Ms Guo rushed to the aid of this man, without any hesitation whatsoever, while still wearing her wedding gown.  It looked like all her life-saving instincts came into play.

She proceeded to perform CPR on the man, as well as give him the 'kiss-of-life' for over 20 minutes. In the process, she ruined her wedding dress, spoilt her make-up and broke her nails.

Guo's fiancé, named as Xiao Liu, proudly revealed that his bride-to-be enjoys helping people. He also said she had run faster than him when the incident occurred.

Images of the Ms Guo saving the man quickly spread across Chinese social media where she was given the title of the 'prettiest bride'.

Guo said of the incident, 'At that time, I only remember that I was a nurse. My career's responsibilities are higher than that of a bride.'

We salute Ms Guo Yuanyuan for her selfless and valiant efforts!!  Definitely a role model for most people, who prefer to just watch from the sidelines.

Well done!!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Star Ferry Hong Kong, Victoria Peak and Victoria Harbour at Night

Today, we take the Star Ferry, from the Kowloon side (the terminal is beside Ocean Terminal) to the Hong Kong island side.  From our hotel at East Tsim Sha Tsui, we walked all the way to the Star Ferry Terminal.  A very easy walk using the air-conditioned underpass.  Just follow the signs as you can see in the following videos.


Walking to Star Ferry pier.


Star Ferry - Kowloon to Hong Kong
In this video, follow us on our journey on the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour.  The Star Ferry  has a long history and has been serving passengers like us for decades.   We use our Octopus cards for this journey.  On the ferry, the views are wonderful.  It was a bright, sunny and very warm day.



Public Bus to Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
Once we reached the Hong Kong side, we looked for the public bus that would bring us to Victoria peak.  The bus is number 15.  This is the cheapest way to go up to the peak and the ride would take between 40 min to 1 hour, depending on traffic.  Price was HK$9.80 per adult and half price for kids. Turns out that the ride can get windy and passengers may get a bit giddy.

I made two videos to commemorate the bus ride up. Video 1


This is the second video, as we start the ascent.  This is where the road gets windy.


We walked around a bit at the peak, didn't do too much.  Saw some views, went to McDonalds at the Peak Galleria for a drink, and then found our way back to Hong Kong using Bus 15 again.



To be continued....

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Hotel Panorama by Rhombus Hong Kong East Tsim Sha Tsui

We stayed at Hotel Panorama by Rhombus, East Tsim Sha Tsui, during a trip to Hong Kong in September 2015.  From HK Airport, we took the Citybus A21 to Stop number 16.  From the bus stop, it is about a 5 minute walk.

Here is a video clip of the hotel room as well as the breakfast we had. Our room was on the 16th floor.  It had two double beds and could sleep our family of four.



Sky Garden - 40th floor
There is a Sky Garden on the 40th floor that is opened to hotel guests only.  You need to use your key card for the lift to get to your room, as well as the Sky Garden.  Here is some video footage of the Sky Garden that I took, in day and at night.  We tried to check out the Victoria Harbour Light Show from here at night, but we couldn't see very much.  Still better to go to the Avenue of the Stars to watch the light show.



Toilet
The toilet.  I think all of their toilets are designed in this way, with good views.  However, some of the views would be blocked, depending on whether there is a tall building blocking your view of the Victoria Harbour.  In our case, the view was still decent.  In this instance, I even managed to get footage of a Star Cruise ship, the Superstar Virgo, sailing by!



The hotel stay was pleasant, comfortable, and not too expensive.  It is also easy to get to the hotel from the Airport, and easy to get to the MTR.  In fact, we could even walk all the way to the Ocean Terminal from the hotel, using the underground passages, and take the Star Ferry over to the Hong Kong island side.  Pretty neat!

Area outside the Hotel at night
This video clip gives you a glimpse of what the area outside the hotel looks like.  There is a McDonalds nearby and we went there to buy some food for the kids, who were still kids.

Thanks for reading.

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Friday, September 11, 2015

Jenny Bakery Jenny Cookies Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong Long Queues!

One of the most interesting things we did for our recent Hong Kong trip was to join the queue at Jenny Bakery (Tsim Sha Tsui) branch, for the famous cookies.

We stayed at a nearby hotel (Hotel Panorama), so the bakery was about a 5 minute walk away. After checking in at our hotel, we went out for a walk. Made our way to the bakery and we were confronted with this line.


Seeing is believing. And the weather was really hot! They were standing in the sun.  Since our hotel was nearby, we decided not to queue in the sun (not with the kids in tow).  So we went to walk around and would go back later in the evening.

We returned to the place around 6:30pm that same evening and this time we joined the queue.  Fortunately the queue was much shorter and I don't think we had to wait for more than 20 minutes.  Here is a video showing our experience.



Overall, the experience was very interesting indeed.  I was amazed at the length of the queues during the day.  There was a constant stream of purchasers.  Already, inside the store, the workers cleared the lines as fast as possible, rushing you along.  You can see many customers buying as many boxes as they can carry.  On that day we were there, they restricted each person to buy only 2 small boxes, however, large boxes had no limit.

Were the cookies good?  Yes they were.  Something different.  Our kids loved it.  We loved it and we gave away the small tins to some friends and they also loved it.  So it does make for a very nice snack and good gift, just watch the queues!

Here I am, back in Singapore, enjoying some cookies for afternoon tea.



Thanks for reading!

Hong Kong Airport Taking Citybus A21 to Tsim Sha Tsui #HKIA

After a neat breakfast at Tsui Wah, at HKIA, it was time to head to the airport.  Here is the video of scenes from the very comfortable bus ride Citybus A21.



We took Citybus A21 to Tsim Sha Tsui area, where our hotel would be. This is the bus stop at HKIA. Easy to find. Just follow the signs. There are many Citybus A-series airport bus. Check out their routes and make sure you take the correct one to your destination!
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Some pictures of the road scenes, as we enjoy the very smooth bus ride.
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You get a good view from the upper deck of the bus. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Saw this advertisement on a bus on the opposite side of the road. Woman in bikini. The words - Firm and Fit. What was the advertisement for? Light beer!

We have reached Nathan Road. This bus goes along much of Nathan Road. Citybus A21.
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Many people got off at this stop. Not us. Image and video hosting by TinyPic We have reached Tsim Sha Tsui station, but not getting off just yet. We get off at stop number 16. Our hotel for this trip (Hotel Panorama by Rhombus) is closer to East Tsim Sha Tsui station.

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Tiger Airways Singapore to Hong Kong Flight Review, Tsui Wah Breakfast plus HKIA #Tigerair

We flew to Hong Kong and back recently on Tiger Airways, budget carrier owned by Singapore Airlines. Based in Singapore, TigerAir operates a fleet of 25 aircraft (Airbus A320) to almost 40 destinations.

This is the first time we are flying with Tigerair.

Overall, the flight for 4 pax (2 adults and 2 kids) cost us SGD $530 in total including taxes, return. This is about USD 375 or US93.75 per person. The flight from SIN to HKG takes almost 4 hours and the return leg about 3.5 hours.

Our departure was early morning, 0605hrs.

In this video, I show you snippets of Singapore Changi Airport that morning.



Check-in counter at Terminal 2, Singapore Changi Airport. Common check-in for all Tiger Air flights. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

This is in the restricted area, after immigration. The time was around 5am. Many stores were still closed, though most of the eateries were opened. This is Singapore Changi Terminal 2. Well, we don't have a 24 by 7 airport, unlike Dubai. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Beautiful floral display at Singapore Changi. Early morning, but still many tourists taking photos. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

In the line to board the plane. This was taken while waiting in line on the aerobridge. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

On board the aircraft, at my seat which was an aisle seat. Aircraft was a single aisle Airbus A320. This is a Budget carrier. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Cockpit door was not yet closed. Passengers were still boarding. I could see the cockpit crew doing preparatory work for this flight. Image and video hosting by TinyPic


This video shows you the flight itself. Pretty smooth. We ate breakfast before boarding the aircraft, so we did not purchase any food while on board.  We ate some breakfast before the flight.  After landing at HKIA, we also we had some food before making our way into town.

 

This video shows you some footage post arrival at HK International. We were at a satellite terminal and we had to take an airport bus to the main terminal. It was a very bright and sunny day. HK was going to be hot!

 



Some pictures of airplanes upon arrival at HKIA. This was the Airbus A320 that flew us to Hong Kong. The livery is neat. Image and video hosting by TinyPic


HKexpress.com. I've not tried this Airline before. Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Before taking the airport bus A21 to Tsim Sha Tsui, we had breakfast at an eatery called Tsui Wah, at the public departure area of Terminal 1 HKIA. Image and video hosting by TinyPic They do breakfast sets. Easy to order, easy to eat. The kids loved it. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Hot milk tea in Hong Kong is a standard drink. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Here is a video of the walk to Tsui Wah and what we had for breakfast, after landing at HKIA.

This was taken from the Airport bus at the satellite terminal. Yes, we had to take an airport bus from the satellite terminal to the main terminal. Check out my video for the bus ride. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

After arrival at HKG, we had some food at an airport eatery called Tsui Wah. Once our stomachs were filled, it was time to head into Hong Kong. We took Citybus A21 to Tsim Sha Tsui area, where our hotel would be.

Back to Hong Kong & Macau Landing Page.