Hong Kong and Macau

Officially known as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, home to many Filipino OFW and shopping paradise to some. For me a city that offers culture, food, and adventure. I feel like I am still in the Philippines because of many Filipinos living and working in Hong Kong. 

Weather depends on the season so better check the weather first before packing your bags.

Upon arriving Hong Kong International Airport, an airport bus will take you to your respective gates, everything should be a breeze from here. You can either get a cab that will take you to your hotel or bus outside the airport, for us we took the bus option. The bus stop is just outside the airport.

(photo courtesy www.worldcrunch.com)

You have plenty of options when it comes to accommodation. There are budget hotels, luxury hotels and if you plan to stay longer than one week you can rent an apartment or rooms if you know someone who can help you find one. We stayed at a budget hotel in Chungking Mansions, if you have sensitive nose like mine I will not recommend this place to you, first it stinks inside the building especially on the elevator it smells like armpit. Though the rooms here are cheap most of them are incredibly small too, I mean literally small. You can barely fit your luggage and walk around your room. So my suggestion is explore your options and always check the reviews.

Depending on your time of arrival, if late night better get plenty of sleep and reserve your energy for tomorrow, since we stayed at Tsim sha tui we placed the symphony of the stars last on our itinerary because it's just a walking distance to our hotel. It is best also if you will pick a hotel near the train station for convenience.

Ngong Ping

On our first day, since the weather is very nice we decided to visit Ngong Ping first because it's not sunny and hot to climb the mountain to see the huge Budha on top. Getting there, you can either walk the Ngong Ping Trail or if you want the easy part you can take the cable car going to the mountain, for people who have fear of heights better conquer your fear because of the height of this cable car plus it is a little old and it will pass by the river so it will surely give you more challenge to conquer your fear hehe!

 After conquering your fear of heights on Ngong Ping 360 cable car you will reach the Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. From the station of the cable car you will see the huge budha on the top of the mountain, you will pass by shops and souvenir stores so take your time to look around and take pictures.

Tian Tan Budha
One of the most significant tourist attraction in Hong Kong, it will take you to a sacred land tour of enlightenment as they say. With the perfect weather you will appreciate you visit here for sure.

Victoria Peak
After eating lunch at Subway at Ngong Ping, we went straight to Victoria Peak for some sight seeing. An overlooking attraction that gives you the panoramic view of Hong Kong. There are shops and dining areas too when you reach the top. If you want you can visit the Wax Museum too which is inside the building but not really much attraction if you will ask me.

You can reach the The Peak by taking the Tram going to the top, this tram is one of the world's oldest and most famous funicular railways, the tram rises to about 1,300 feet above sea level. It is so steep that the buildings you pass look like they are leaning. I enjoyed taking the tram more than the wax museum to be honest with you guys.

 Make sure you know what the weather is before heading to Victoria Peak because if it is cold down on the City it is much colder at the top of Victoria Peak. Unfortunately we brought the wrong jacket, on the forecast it will drizzle so we brought rain coat instead of sweat shirt so at dawn I am already freezing to death so we head down and have dinner instead.

We passed this building with nice lights on our way from Victoria and took my opportunity to take a shot to share it to you. This is the Bank of China building(on the left) one of the most recognizable tower in Hong Kong because of it's unusual architecture and amazing lights at night. Besides is the Cheung Kong Centre(on the right) enclosed in a sheath of reflective glass interwoven with a rich tapestry of stainless steel. A computer-controlled optic lighting system wraps the 283m building in an ethereal glow at night.

You have plenty of option with regards to where you can eat your meal, you have plenty of option when it comes to fast food joints but of course why not experience local foods. So after eating dinner we just went shopping around the area of our hotel and explore the shops around us.


Disneyland
The following day, we went to Disneyland. I admit I am a little excited that day because it's my first time to go there. So I woke up early and prepare for our Disneyland trip. I always carry a water every time I go out of the hotel, you can either bring the bottled water that is provided on your hotel every day or grab one on 7/11 stores. For me I bring a canister with sling on it so it's more convenient to carry around because beverages on theme parks are a little pricey compare to stores outside so bring one. We always choose the train or bus option when traveling, it is easier on country like this and Singapore.



Make sure you schedule your theme park activities on a regular day to avoid this scenarios. I'm pretty sure you will enjoy more if your park trip is a breeze.

For  it's a breeze hehehe! That's why I grabed the opportunity to take pictures while there are no photo bombers.

 Also do not forget to bring extra shirt and towels depending on the weather if it's summer I'm sure you'll be soaked in sweat while going around the park so it's better to have extra shirt and face towel. Upon arriving on the Disneyland Station, you can either buy your tickets there or do online booking which we did to avoid cuing on the ticket booths. All you will do as soon as you arrive is take pictures and enjoy!

As soon as you enter the park the kid inside you will definitely come out. But if you will ask me about my opinion on this park, it's more for the kids than young adults.

Aside from the park attractions there are also some shows held inside the park just check the park schedule for what show, what time and where is the location because some of it has it's own venue like the lion king show and some are not indoor like the highschool musical.

The Lion King Show

After these shows you can wait for the parade, starts at 3:30 pm so I suggest you get a good spot before it starts to get a better view and set up your camera early if you want to take some pictures.

After enjoying the parade you can wait for their firework it usually starts at 7:30 pm but always check their events calendar on their website to verify the schedules or simply ask the staff of the park. After the last event which is the firework, the park will close so you still have a few minutes to do last minute shopping at the souvenir shops before you exit.

Ocean Park

The following morning we went to Ocean Park, for me this is better for young adults. Disneyland for me is for the kids, for young adults I think you will enjoy more on ocean park because of the park rides and attractions. Ocean park is one bus ride from Admiralty MTR Station, you need to take Citybus Route 629 it runs daily so no worries.

There are lots of souvenir shops here so if you are on a budget learn to ignore them but I find some irresistibly cute and funny, perfect for your niece and nephews or for your friends.

After entering the park you need to take a cable car or an underground train going to the other mountain where the other attractions are, I suggest you try both like cable car on your way there and underground train on your way back so you can experience both. 

You can also watch the show on the Ocean Theater wherein they showcase the skills of the dolphins and seals. 

Of course my theme park visit is not complete without experiencing their roller coaster, The Mine Train and The Dragon, too bad The hair raiser is still under construction when I visited the park, upon trying the two roller coasters I enjoyed The Mine Train more than The Dragon. It took me 3 tries before I really felt the adrenaline on the The Dragon unlike in Mine Train even if it has no loops it will give you the adrenaline as soon as it drops.

The Dragon, for others they get headache for me I get adrenaline.

This ride gave me more adrenaline than the other roller coaster I tried which is The Dragon

After trying these rides one way of relaxing is experiencing the Ocean Park Tower which gives you an overlooking view of the park, you can que and sit down once inside for a relaxing ride to the top.

Your visit to China is not complete of course if you will not visit the Panda habitat, if you are tired because of the heat of the sun you can check out the Pandas to cool off inside the habitat and enjoy these amazing creatures as they play and climb the branches. It is better to try the indoor attractions when the heat of the sun is on it's peak for you to be able to get some shed and cool off, the park offers lots of indoor attractions so when you arrive at the park in the morning take the rides first then when it's sunny try the indoor attractions and visit some souvenir shops.

After exploring the other side of the mountain where most of the extreme rides are, you can head back to the main entrance for some attractions, rides and souvenir shops. You can also enjoy the fountain lights at night and take some pictures before you head back to the city.

Day Trip to Macau

After a day of tiring adventure and excitement we head back to the city, grab dinner and went back to the hotel to get plenty of rest for our Macau day trip, if you are visiting Hong Kong I suggest you give Macau a day trip since it is just a ferry ride from Hong Kong. You need to go to Harbour City where the ferry terminal for trips going to Macau, they have ordinary ferry and the jet ferry which is of course faster, as soon as you get your ticket, I suggest you grab your return ticket too or check the time of the trips coming back to Hong Kong to avoid getting stranded on the terminal, which happened to us because we waited at the ferry terminal in Macau for hours because we missed the last trip going back to Hong Kong so learn from our mistake my fellow travelers :)

As soon as you arrive in Macau you will pass through their immigration make sure you have your passport with you for the stamp, after that you are on you way to exploring Macau. 

Sight seeing in Macau is such a breeze as long as you know which hotel is near the area that you want to visit, just board the hotel buses which is free and enjoy which makes this trip to Macau the least expensive destination on our Hong Kong trip.

Aside from free transportation you can also enjoy free taste of the food that they sell on your way to the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral so if you really are a cheapskate your Macau trip will be almost free except for the ferry fare of course heheh!

A visit to the Venetian and other hotels like Hard Rock Cafe is just for the sake of taking pictures if you are not into casinos, fancy restaurants and high end shops, so we drop by to take some pictures and explore what's inside.

After exploring the hotels, we took a hotel bus near the Plaza Senado or Senado Square one of the famous tourist destination in Macau. Located in the central area of the Macau Peninsula. There are shopping centers and traditional Chinese restaurants around the square. Fashion clothes, famous snacks and the scenic environment make it a famous attraction and a good picture taking spot.

After shopping for souvenirs we head back to the ferry terminal to get a ticket for the last trip of ferry going back to Hong Kong but like I mentioned earlier we missed it so we got stuck at the ferry terminal until early morning the following day. Good thing we have no more schedule left for the following day except for the symphony of the stars which is just a walking distance from our hotel, so we rest as soon as we arrive the hotel and got up late morning for some shopping around the area and after lunch we prepared ourselves for our last destination.

Symphony of lights

Victoria Harbor was a dazzling city escape on its own but wait till it gets dark at night and you will see the Symphony of Lights; the nightly multimedia show, which involves more than 40 buildings on both sides of the harbor.

After some sight seeing and picture taking at Victoria harbor we went shopping for souvenirs and clothes in the area and prepare luggage for our early flight the following morning.

My Hong Kong travel is truly special aside from I celebrated my birthday on this travel I visited two country in a minimal expense, so if you plan to visit Hong Kong why not give Macau 1 whole day for you to experience two cultures in one trip besides you only need to pay the ferry ride everything else is free of charge on most of the attraction unless of course you want to shop or dine with style.

See you on my next boarding pass!