Hong Kong and Macau
I was able to purchase 0 fares from Cebu Pacific for Cebu to Hong Kong and I scheduled a 3 full day trip with my family and the timing was great as the last day will be my wife’s birthday.
The trip was from Dec. 5 to 9, I had Dec. 6, 7 and 8 as full days to conquer Hong Kong.
Upon learning about Macau being such a short distance away, I though I will try to squeeze it into my already very short stay.
After buying the tickets, I now set my sights on our itinerary.
I scoured the net and asked friends who had already been to Hong Kong for which places we should go to. After awhile, the reality that I cannot get to all the major places in such a short time, sank in.
I then decided to prioritize.
No. 1, 2 and 3 on the list where Disneyland, Oceanpark and Macau. I had to allocate 1 full day for Macau, so that leaves me with 2 full days, I also had to allocate 1 full day for Disneyland and I decided that since the park was close to the airport, I shall leave this as the highlight of the trip and allocate the last day, the flight back to Cebu was at 12 AM and check-in starts at 10PM so that leaves just enough time to travel from Disneyland to the Airport.
I then decided I wanted to go to the mid-levels escalator, victorias peak and avenue of the stars. So, I studied their locations, opening times and all info, I even looked at their locations using google maps and earth. I was able to come up with this day 1 itenerary.
Day 1
Mid-Levels Escalator
Victoria Peak
Ocean Park (Opens at 10)
Avenue of the Stars (synphony of lights show starts at 8PM)
I felt really happy and comfortable with this schedule so I then moved on to researching for my day 2 in Macau.
A Macau visit will be incomplete without a visit to St. Pauls ruins so that is no. 1 on the list, My wife wanted to go to the Venetian and that is no. 2 on the list. I now had to schedule this as well as the other sites. I learned that I could hit 2 birds with one stone by going to Senado Square first and walking up the road will lead me to St. Pauls Ruins. I also learned that the Fishermans Wharf was just beside the Terminal and that the Venetian(as well as other hotels) provide free bus rides. So I came up with this Day 2 itinerary.
Day 2
HK – Macau (Turbo Jet)
The Venetian
Macau Tower
Senado Square – Ruins of St. Paul
Fishermas Wharf
Macau – HK (Turbo Jet)
Since the 3rd day was already dedicated to Disneyland, I only had to research the public travel options and schedules.
Feeling comfortable with the itinerary, I now moved on to studying the public transportation, accomodation and food part of the trip.
I now move on to getting around Hong Kong. Luckily, HK has one of the mos efficient public transportation systems in the world, the bus and subway systems are very well developed, efficient, safe and cost effective to use.
I decided that I will be looking for a place to stay in either Mongkok or Tsim Tsa Tsui, so I based all my itinerary and schedule from these origin, Both are in Kowloon.
First was how do I get to kowloon from the airport, we will be arriving past 12 in the midnight and the airport express train to the city will no longer be available, the next best option is to take the bus as taking a taxi would cost 300 HK$ and the bus would only be 23 HK$ each.
Since it is already after midnight, we will be taking the N21 Bus as this will be traversing Nathan Road, passing by Mongkok and ending up in Tsim Tsa Tsui. If it was day time, the bus route will be A21 and would cost 33 HK$.
That takes care of getting to our accomodation and having a little rest before our first full day at HK.
For our Day 1 itinerary, We had to go to the Mid-Levels Escalator, Victoria Peak,
Ocean Park and Avenue of the Stars. The best way to get to HK island was to take the MTR and get off at Central Station, which would cost 10.5 HK$ from Mongkok. A short walk would bring us to the mid-levels escalator and half-way through the escalator, we can get off and take a short walk/tour to get to the Peak Tram station (48 HK$ for a round trip).
Upon returning from The Peak, the MTR Admiralty station is just a short walk from the Peak Tram station. at Exit B2, Buses to Ocean Park are available, Bus route no. 629, which will cost 10.6 HK$ for a trip. We can take the same bus from Ocean Park to get back to the Admiralty MTR Station.
Getting to the Avenue of the Stars, taking the MTR from Admiralty, we got off at Tsim Tsa Tsui (8.5 HK$). Take exit J and take a short walk, 5 min.
The 2nd day was as tight as the first. We were scheduled to go to Macau and targeted to visit 5 must see places. The Fishermans Wharf, Senado Square, St. Pauls ruins, Macau Tower and the Venetian. Just like what we did the first day, we planned to take the public transportation. Macau has 2 islands and HK dollar was accepted in all transactions. Bus fare on same island was at 1 HK dollar.
Early in the morning, taking the MTR, straight to Sheung Wan station, interchange station Central, $10.5 . Just above the Sheung Wan station was the Hong Kong – Macau Terminal. One way tickets were at $146 each. Turbo Jet is clean and efficient, the travel took roughly about and hour.
From the Macau Terminal, beside it was the Fishermans Wharf so we decided to hit that first. The multi-theme entertainment center was big enough to get lost for about and hour or so. This is also where we ate our lunch. Weather in Macau was similar to HK, really cold.
After Fishermans Wharf, next stop was Senado Square and St. Pauls ruins. It was a bit hard to talk to Macanese as they were not as english proficient as their Hong Kong counterparts. After moving from one bus stop to another, we finally were able to ride a bus, with eagle eyes, I monitored the map and where the bus was going, amusingly, I was able to follow the route, the street signs in Macau are in Portuguese, Chinese and English so it was pretty easy to get around. After spotting the Senado Square we hurriedly pressed on the bus stop button and got off.
It was a Sunday and it seems that everyone in Macau was there. The place was packed. A short walk up and we got to St. Pauls ruins. We stayed there for a while, taking pictures and feeling the ambience. We also got to taste a lot of beef jerky for free as all the stores where handing it out, we decided to buy some for pasalubong and for our own consumption. We also bought the famous egg tarts, and much to my wifes chagrin, I also bought what seemed to be a pork chop sandwich and ice cold milk tea. I saw all the locals enjoying the treat and I decided to join in the fun. It was a delightful experience indeed.
We then headed back to the Macau Terminal to catch a free bus ride to the Venetian. As it was already late in the afternoon, we had to forego going to the Macau Tower and schedule it for another visit. The Venetian was as big as I imagined, the bus took the scenic route and we were able to see the entire structure.
Inside, the Venetian was as big as you can estimate from the outside, we needed to look at the map to know where we needed to go. The first floor was the casino and we headed to the second floor to get to the shops and the canal. It was indeed day time 24 hrs a day inside, the ceiling was painted and lighted to mimic the sky and we enjoyed strolling around the shops, I got a picture of the Manchester United concept store.
It was really late and we had to get back to HK, we took the free bus to the terminal and had to scramble for tickets as the day visitors to Macau, like us, also headed back to HK all at the same time. We were not able to get Turbo Jet tickets, we got to ride with a separate company. The travel was not as pleasant, the vessel was smaller and the waves seemed to be more turbulent, everybody was throwing up all over the place, Connie and I even had to muster up all our energy not to get dizzy and throw up.
Everyone was so relieved when we docked in HK, as we were in kowloon rather than in Hong Kong island, we headed to the nearest red line MTR, which was Tsim Sha Tsui station. We got a good night stroll on our was to the station, HK was still so alive and BZ even though it was already 10 in the evening.
Before hitting the sack, we decided to stop by the ladies market, adjacent to our Hostel as we would have no more time on the next day coz we were already heading out to Disneyland and straight to the airport afterwards.
The stores where already in starting to pack and close but we were still able to stroll down and Connie was able to buy a hand bag. We then hit the sack with with really tired and abused feet.
We were so excited when we woke up on our 3rd and last day, we were heading to Disneyland. We started it off with breakfast at McDonalds and we then headed to Disneyland. By MTR, from Mongkok, interchange to orange line at Lai King and then ride the Disneyland Line at Sunny Bay. The Disneyland line had special Disney trains, with Mickey windows and hand rails, Disney characters where also on cases inside the trains.
Disneyland was as expected, admission was at $295 each, after depositing our large luggage on the left side of the entrance it was just the right time when the park opened. We had a blast at Disneyland, it was the smallest of all the parks but it was still the happiest place to be in. The It’s a small world attraction recently opened and I made sure we all got to enjoy it, it is a must. We enjoyed the shows and the different rides and to cap it all of, the main street parade.
The highlight of the day was the 7 pm fireworks display which lasted for what seemed to be 30 minutes, what a spectacle it was.
We headed straight to the airport after that, taking the Airport express train at Tsing Yi. At the airport, we had a couple of minutes to grab a bite before checking-in, so we were able to indulge on Popeyes, my favorite fastfood, the large coleslaw was really large and I sadly was not able to finish it.
That was our 3 very full day vacation in Hong Kong and I hope to visit it again for atleast 4 days and get to enjoy it leisurely.