Hongkong 2016

I just want to share what happened to us during our Hongkong trip last September 2016.

We availed Shadows Travel and Tours package (not a paid blog) worth Php12,000+++. That includes the following:

-RT airfare Manila-Hongkong

-RT airport transfers Hongkong International Airport to Hotel 

-Hotel for 4 days 3 nights, originally Rambler Garden then they upgraded us to Silka Sea View. Breakfast included.

 

Our room for 4 days and 3 nights

 

Bathroom

 

Silka Sea View is near Yau Ma Tei station 

 

-City tour (optional) includes: Garden of Stars, Jewelry Shop, Souvenir shop, Aberdeen Fishing village, Victoria Peak mid level (pass by) and Magical World 3D museum

With mandatory fee of 50HKD, 

 Based on our experience you may ditch the city for the following reasons:

1. Yes it is fre but you still need to pay for a mandatory tip of  50HKD 

2. Garden of Stars is very accessible from Tsim Tsa Tsui station

3. If you don't have spare money no need to visit the Jewelry shop, it is quite expensive

4. Souvenir shop is kinda pricey, I'd rather buy souvenirs in Ladies Night Market or Temple Road which I can haggle

5. Aberdeen Fishing village doesn't have any entrance fee or anything but if you want to ride the boat it costs 60HKD each. 

6. Lastly, there is a photographer who will sell you your photos and put it on a plate. It costs 120HKD for the plate and 60HKD for the printed photo only. We did not ask for it, he told us the pictures taken are for the agency's website. We did not avail the plate and he was mad at us.

For some reasons you may also avail the city tour:

1. The tour guide told us as many as possible facts about Hongkong

2. Convenience, no need for long walks because the bus will drop you off from one point to the other

3. Comfort, just sitting in an airconditioned bus

4. You may pass by some bridge or tunnel that the regular bus couldn't get thru

 

Under water tunnel

Our itinerary in Hongkong goes:

Day 1: Arrival in Hogkong 

 

• We met the Hongkong agency counterpart in the airport, we showed to him our Shadow Travel and Tour voucher. He offered a good exchange rate from USD to HKD compared to the rates of money changers outside the hotel.

• We redeemed our simcards in the airport terminal 1 counter A13. I was amazed on how preapred and accommodating the staff was. She explained everything to us. By the way we purchased our simcards in klook.com. Oh, btw the simcard costs Php346 each that 1gb data for 5days within HK only.

 

• Airport to Hotel transfers via bus (included in the package) 

• We had our lunch in a Japanese restaurant named Ca-Tu-Ya near our hotel, the food and price were good. We thought the restaurants along Temple road are expensive and we were wrong. :( 

 

Inside Ca-Tu-ya

 

• Explored Ladies Night market in Mongkok via MTR. Bought souvenirs for love ones and bought something for ourselves

 

I'm quite scared getting lost. 

 

MTR Single Journey 

Please consider having an Octopus card it will be much easier than buying a ticket everytime you ride the train. Less time needed also, less costs. 

 

 

 

• Went back to hotel to rest and prepare for tomorrow.

Day 2: Half day City tour and Disneyland Hongkong

• Early Breakfast in the hotel (included in the package)

 

• 8:30am is our call time in the lobby of the hotel

• First stop- Garden of Stars 

It was previously known as Avenue of Stars. 

 

 

 

 

More photos here

• Aberdeen Fishing Village

 

As mentioned above Aberdeen Fishing Village has no entrance fee but if you want to ride the boat for some experience and also get  close to the largest floating restaurant in Hongkong it costs HKD60.

 

 

Photo taken after the tour

We were the first to finish the tour so we asked the tour guide if we can walk and take some pictures, and she agreed. Yay! 

Here are some photos:

 

 

Click here for more photos.

• Jewelry shop

No photos taken because it was literally a jewelry shop and the sales ladies are very equip on persuading  you purchasing their stuff. I promised to myself that when I have enough money I will go back to that Jewelry shop and buy the pendant I really like. 

• Souvenir Shopping 

We did not buy any souvenir from that store since we already have them from Ladies night market

• Magical world 3D art museum

 

Click here for more photos

• Disneyland

We pre-purchased our Disneyland tickets in klook.com it was Php200-300 cheaper. I recommend it because it is hassle free, no need to line up on the counters to buy tickets. 

We just gave our tickets from klook directly to the entrance. 

I love the halloween theme in Disneyland. The parade was replaced with parade of the villains. 

Mickey and Minnie on their halloween costume.

 

 

More photos here. 

We waited for the most awaited fireworks display, and I was crying the whole time (lol!).

• Temple Street

Since Temple street is near our hotel we've decided to explore it and we tried some foods too. Some of the items are cheaper in Temple street compared with Ladies night market, but some are expensive compare to Ladies night market.

Day 3: Macau and Failed Harbour Front Lights and Sound show in HK

Again, we pre-purchased our roundtrip ferry tickets at klook.com. We redeemed our tickets in their booth at a certain mall where it happens to be the port. 

 

We tour Macau for around 5-6 hours, we regretted it because  we didn't know Macau will be wonderful it should be 1 full day or 2 days.

More details of the Macau day tour right here. 

More photos of Macau day tour here.

After our day tour in Macau we went back to Hongkong, we want to witness the lights and sound show in Harbour front. We kept on tracking where is the Lights and sound show that we actually walked around 10km!! When we finally made it we were on the wrong side. :( 

But here are some photos: 

 

 

More photos here.

Day 4: Going back home

Our flight was 10pm so we've decided to roam nearby places from the hotel and that includes the watch tower, Harbour front (side where you can watch the show), Hongkong cultural centre. We did the right thing spending some more time than staying long hours in airport. There was also a newly open Korean store where we found good stuff, it was a last minute shopping. Then we have a scheduled transfer from our hotel to the airport around 4pm-5pm (included in the package) but our flight was 10pm so we still have the time to explore HKIA.

More photos here during our last day in Hongkong.

I will definitely go back to Honkong for Ocean Park, Disneyland (again) during Christmas season, Victoria Peak and Ngong Pin.


Tips:

- Buy mineral water in Circle K it is cheaper
- Do not buy to stores or sellers when they say they are cheaper because it is not true.
- Haggle as much as possible
-  Bring the water you purchase from Circle K all the time
- Purchase Octopus card
- Pre-purchase your tickets in Klook.com