This is really a long overdue post, and now I’m outside the
momentum of sharing all the specifics during our first ever international trip
as a family (Tatay was with us in spirit <3 HEHE) for Mama’s 50th
birthday celebration, that’s why I’m posting this very photo-heavy blog post!!
Haha.
DAY 1 (25 September 2015)
Upon arrival at the airport, we of course took a lot of photos and selfies, being the tourists that we were. HAHAHA. Upon seeing HK's, I therefore conclude that the Philippine airport definitely sucks at being an airport! Hahaha anyways.. We immediately purchased our octopus cards, and headed to the bus station. We rode the A21 bus going to our airbnb, which was I think 10 stations away from the landing strip.
We booked an airbnb family room which costed more or less Php10k good for 4days and 3nights! I believed this was a pretty good deal, given the decent room we got. It was not that spacious, but big enough for the four of us to fit into. The location of the building was also strategic since it's located along Nathan Road, specifically in Alhambra, which is adjacent to MTR trains and even the Sneaker Street (which was my brothers' kind of Disneyland).
After settling our luggage and other stuff, we quickly strolled around the streets of Nathan Road. Funny thing was, we had our first meal in HK at Mcdonald's! It was so funny that Mcdo became our safe haven because it has the most decent internet connection. HAHA
Our first day came by quick since we arrived at Hong Kong at almost 8pm. Before booking our tickets, I thought I still have work in the morning that's why I opted for a night trip. But the 25th of September eventually became a holiday last year so it was not my wisest decision. HAHA Anywayzz
DAY 2 (26 September 2015)
For our 2nd day, we were up early to maximize our technically 1st day of mosey. We went to Ngong Ping to check out the Tian Tan Buddha, shopped at Citygate Outlets and strolled around Victoria Park the whole day. It was a day full of walking and getting lost around the city! Haha!
We really loved the MTR stations because they were very tourist-friendly. Those were also waaaay better than the Philippines'! Every time I entered the train stations, I always wondered when will the Philippines ever have a very systematic transportation system like that of HK's. Oh well...
Strolling around Ngong Ping was no joke! Good thing I pre-purchased our cable car tickets online, so we were exempted of the hassle on queuing along the ticket booth.
Even before reaching the stairway towards the Tian Tan Buddha, we were all dead-tired and dehydrated from all the walking and due to the scorching heat!! Good thing we brought water and light snacks with us.
I forgot how many steps we took just to reach the peak! The view from the top was nice tho, however, be sure that you're fit to walk towards the Buddha. Slow down your pace if ever you feel dizzy and tired. I got a bit nervous when my Mama started to complain in the middle of walking. I thought she was gonna collapse.
Mama got so happy to see my Tatay's name in one of the bakeries near the MTR station. Hehe, Cute <3
We then headed to Causeway Bay and Victoria Park since I heard there will be a dragon dance show at the latter. Apparently, September 27 is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which explains why there were chinese lamps all over the place!
We didn't got the chance to watch the dragon dance tho!! My brothers were so famished they cannot wait for the program to start. So instead, we strolled around Victoria Park to look for a decent place to eat.
It was a bit difficult to find a place where we can have dinner in peace. Not all restaurants were tourist-friendly i.e. no english translations of the menu, and the locals were a bit snob. Good thing we found this restaurant (think it was La Nang? Not sure.) I really loved what I ordered!! I was in a no-rice diet that time so it was a bit hard for me to satisfy all my pansit cravings, but my order was topnotch!! No enough photos of the food tho, we were all so so famished!
After dinner, we headed back to Nathan and did a bit of strolling at Sneaker Street. The prices of the shoes in HK were really way cheaper than the Philippines'! I wanted to buy one but I cannot seem to find the perfect pair. I just helped out my brother in choosing pasalubong for his girlfriend.
Only when the vendors were already packing their stuff did we realize it was almost 11 pm! That's when we also finally felt our feet aching from all the walking we did the whole day. So we headed back to our bnb and called it a daaaay.
DAY 3 (27 September 2015)
It's my Mama's birthday!!!! Which also means, it's Disneyland day!!!! I was so excited that I was the one who got up early! But before heading to HKDL, we quickly dropped by Citygate Outlets again since my brother wanted to buy (FINALLY) the shoes he saw yesterday (my brother has this trait that he's very wise(?) in buying stuff for himself!!! He canvasses from different stores for several times before he could finally decide which one and where to buy!! Are all men like that???) Anywayz..
Upon arrival at the airport, we of course took a lot of photos and selfies, being the tourists that we were. HAHAHA. Upon seeing HK's, I therefore conclude that the Philippine airport definitely sucks at being an airport! Hahaha anyways.. We immediately purchased our octopus cards, and headed to the bus station. We rode the A21 bus going to our airbnb, which was I think 10 stations away from the landing strip.
We booked an airbnb family room which costed more or less Php10k good for 4days and 3nights! I believed this was a pretty good deal, given the decent room we got. It was not that spacious, but big enough for the four of us to fit into. The location of the building was also strategic since it's located along Nathan Road, specifically in Alhambra, which is adjacent to MTR trains and even the Sneaker Street (which was my brothers' kind of Disneyland).
After settling our luggage and other stuff, we quickly strolled around the streets of Nathan Road. Funny thing was, we had our first meal in HK at Mcdonald's! It was so funny that Mcdo became our safe haven because it has the most decent internet connection. HAHA
Our first day came by quick since we arrived at Hong Kong at almost 8pm. Before booking our tickets, I thought I still have work in the morning that's why I opted for a night trip. But the 25th of September eventually became a holiday last year so it was not my wisest decision. HAHA Anywayzz
DAY 2 (26 September 2015)
For our 2nd day, we were up early to maximize our technically 1st day of mosey. We went to Ngong Ping to check out the Tian Tan Buddha, shopped at Citygate Outlets and strolled around Victoria Park the whole day. It was a day full of walking and getting lost around the city! Haha!
We really loved the MTR stations because they were very tourist-friendly. Those were also waaaay better than the Philippines'! Every time I entered the train stations, I always wondered when will the Philippines ever have a very systematic transportation system like that of HK's. Oh well...
Strolling around Ngong Ping was no joke! Good thing I pre-purchased our cable car tickets online, so we were exempted of the hassle on queuing along the ticket booth.
Even before reaching the stairway towards the Tian Tan Buddha, we were all dead-tired and dehydrated from all the walking and due to the scorching heat!! Good thing we brought water and light snacks with us.
I forgot how many steps we took just to reach the peak! The view from the top was nice tho, however, be sure that you're fit to walk towards the Buddha. Slow down your pace if ever you feel dizzy and tired. I got a bit nervous when my Mama started to complain in the middle of walking. I thought she was gonna collapse.
But then she still managed to do the "Pabebe wave" upon reaching the top! Haha! We stayed for quite a while at the top to rest and cool down. Cold beverages were available upstairs so our thirst was immediately quenched!
When we got down, we passed by numerous temples, took photos, enjoyed the view, and went back to the cable car station to finally go to the Citygate outlets and do some window shopping. HAHA
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| View from the cable car! |
Mama got so happy to see my Tatay's name in one of the bakeries near the MTR station. Hehe, Cute <3
We then headed to Causeway Bay and Victoria Park since I heard there will be a dragon dance show at the latter. Apparently, September 27 is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which explains why there were chinese lamps all over the place!
We didn't got the chance to watch the dragon dance tho!! My brothers were so famished they cannot wait for the program to start. So instead, we strolled around Victoria Park to look for a decent place to eat.
 |
| Meanwhile in one of the streets.... HAHA |
After dinner, we headed back to Nathan and did a bit of strolling at Sneaker Street. The prices of the shoes in HK were really way cheaper than the Philippines'! I wanted to buy one but I cannot seem to find the perfect pair. I just helped out my brother in choosing pasalubong for his girlfriend.
Only when the vendors were already packing their stuff did we realize it was almost 11 pm! That's when we also finally felt our feet aching from all the walking we did the whole day. So we headed back to our bnb and called it a daaaay.
DAY 3 (27 September 2015)
It's my Mama's birthday!!!! Which also means, it's Disneyland day!!!! I was so excited that I was the one who got up early! But before heading to HKDL, we quickly dropped by Citygate Outlets again since my brother wanted to buy (FINALLY) the shoes he saw yesterday (my brother has this trait that he's very wise(?) in buying stuff for himself!!! He canvasses from different stores for several times before he could finally decide which one and where to buy!! Are all men like that???) Anywayz..
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| Can you see our excited faces? HAHA |
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| Quick breakfast at Subway |
After all the vanity and shopping shizz, we're finally going to DISNEYLAND!!! The train to Disneyland was so cute! I regretted not checking in at the Disneyland Hotel even for just a night! Next time, I'll definitely stay there!!!
We spent the rest of the day in Disneyland so the next part would definitely be filled of group photos and selfies!
I can't share all my favorite photos from our HKDL experience here since this post would be super long. But I hope I'm able to show how happy I was during this day! HAHA
DAY 4 (28 September 2015)
It's our last day in Hong Kong!!! Since we only had a limited time, we chose not to go to other amusement parks but instead utilized all that was left from our octopus cards. We went to other places the train may lead us. My bad, I already forgot the name of the area. But we ate our breakfast at Yoshinoya and did some shopping at Sassa! Think we panicked buying perfumes from Sassa. HAHAHA I also got to buy a new luggage priced at HDK200 only!!!
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| My not so happy meal at Yoshinoya! |
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| View from our BNB |
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| I always love night flights because of this <3 |
- Wait for promo fares to save up on plane ticket costs. I was a bit impatient upon booking our tickets for this trip, and I thought a 4K-worth of plane fare per head was a pretty cheap deal. My friends said I should have waited for the upcoming sale since tickets can be as cheap as 2K per head!
- Book tickets online. I booked our HKDL and Ngong Ping tickets at KLOOK. This does not only enable you to save money (since tickets are cheaper here) but also it could allow you to save time on queuing on the ticket booths.
- Book an airbnb. As I have mentioned previously, it was Mid-Autumn Festival when we arrived at HK, hence hotels are fully-booked. Fortunately, booking on AIRBNB is as easy as booking on hotels! You can learn more about this on their website! :)
- Check weather forecasts. Before packing our stuff, I first checked the weather forecasts for our specific travel dates. This is beneficial since I knew what kinds of clothes to pack. For this instance, the forecast was sunny all throughout our visit so we mainly brought clothes with light fabrics.
- Comfort >>>> Fashion. When travelling, always always wear the most comfortable outfits! Opt for sneakers instead of doll shoes or complicated sandals especially if you know you're gonna stroll a lot!
- Always bring maps. Maps are available at the airport so make sure you grab them! These are very useful especially when looking for the trains and other landmarks.
- Do your research! Do this not only to know the must-visit places but also to know what kinds of food you should try out, especially if you're a foodie!
- Travel with your best buds/family. I always find it hard to travel with other people who are not that close to me. So make sure you're travelling with the right people for you to make most out of your vacation!
- Bring lots of energy and enthusiasm! Need I say more? :)
xx
Faye
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