Travel diary: Hong Kong 2013

Last year, I visited Hong Kong in April with my officemates. This year, I went to Hong Kong again with my family. Obviously, I could never get enough of that place, even if I've been there numerous times. This post is about last year's Hong Kong trip - a repost from my old blog. Hope you like it!

As I mentioned, I went there with my officemates. Good thing my old company allowed all of us to go on leave on the same day. We were 7 in the group so it was fun, sometimes stressful, but most of all, memorable. :)

 

Here are photos of what we did and where we went to in our 3-day trip. 

1. Airport Camwhoring

It was our first time at the Clark Airport, Pampanga so we went camera-crazy.

That's me with my college-work buddy/image consultant (haha!)

With J. Check out her blog here.

2. Hotel Camwhoring

Look at that cute carpet! So colorful. The lobby also had a beautiful wall that's perfect for impromptu photo shoots and #selfies haha! We stayed at Newton Hotel.

3. Din Tai Fung - very much recommended! 

Food: ★★★★★ || Price: ★★★☆☆ || Ambiance: ★★★★☆ (we felt somewhat rushed) 

Quite expensive but the food was delicious. My favorites were the drunken chicken and xiao long bao. Offhand though, some people said the food's better in Singapore. Haven't tried it yet, but I was able to go to their branch in Taipei 101. Same delicious food. :D

From top left clockwise: logo, xiao long bao, drunken chicken, fried pork chop (I think). We ordered other dishes, but we weren't able to take photos.

4. Hullett House and A Symphony of Lights 
I highly recommend this. Going to Hong Kong, you automatically think: Shopping! Food! Disneyland! But there's more to Hong Kong than just those. They have hidden gems that are not your cookie-cutter tourist spots. For example, have you guys heard of the Hullett House? It's a very beautiful place - pre-nup shoot kind of beautiful. :) Here's a brief description from their website: "Situated in the colonial white-stucco building that was formerly the Marine Police Headquarters on Canton Road, Hullett House comprises an intimate design-led heritage hotel, five restaurants and bars, a souvenir store and a performance area specially created as a venue for showcasing traditional festivals and celebrations." One of the restaurants, Stables Grill, was an actual horse stable before! Cool, right? The waiters were kinda strict so we just sweet-talked them to let us in for a quick photo op. Haha!

From left to right: Hullett House, guy doing some exhibitions on the street

5. Lan Kwai Fong 
Street par-tay! The street was full of people of "every color and every hue..." (I'm singing now haha! Only Filipino readers will get this though.). If only people were like this every single day, there would be no wars, hatred, crimes and discrimination.

6. Compulsory Tour

The tours I joined in the past were different from this one so I actually enjoyed.

Golden Bauhinia Square

Aberdeen Harbour

7. DISNEYLAND!!!

I LOOOVE Disneyland. It's the best place to be at! Whenever I'm there, I always feel free and alive. I also got teary-eyed with the different lands and all the shows. I was transported back to my childhood. Life was so easy back then... not much computer games and all that. Just good ol' Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Barney and the like... *sigh* Moving on...

8. Ocean Park

I also love this place,. Obviously, I love Disneyland more with my all-caps and exclamation points haha! The pandas were so cute! Buhay baboy, kain-tulog hahaha! 

Overall, it was a great experience for me and this trip made me fall in love with Hong Kong... so much so that I went back again this year! Watch out for that post! For now, I'd like to leave you with some tips to make your Hong Kong stay stress-free and more enjoyable. 

1. Canvas and book in advance 
From airlines to hotels to tours, you should always canvas to get the best price. First off, you should decide if you want a packaged tour or DIY trip. DIYs are definitely cheaper but you've got to be prepared to do everything yourself. For packaged tours, you're paying for convenience. Don't worry though. There are already many travel agencies that offer very affordable rates that are almost at par with DIY ones. You can check out Google. For this trip, we booked with Alisto Travel & Tours. Our package, which costs around PhP12,000, includes the following:

• Roundtrip tickets via Seair
• 3D/2N stay at Newton Hotel, Kowloon - Recommended if you're not that picky about location. It's cheap, but kinda far from tourist and shopping places so you really have to weigh your options. Which is cheaper and more convenient for you: staying in a cheap but far hotel (higher transportation costs) OR staying in an expensive but very accessible hotel that's a stone's throw away from your favorite go-to places?
• Compulsory tour
• Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center with the Golden Bauhinia Squar
• Hong Kong Jewelry Factory - They sell really nice pieces so it's a good stop for those who are into quality jewelry. Before they let you inside the actual store, they first have a short lecture about the place, what their most popular pieces are, where they source their precious stones, and who their most famous customers are. After which, there's a mini quiz where you can get a prize! Being a freebie lover that I am, I listened intently and raised my hand at the first question. I won a garnet stone! Woot! The only catch is that it's really just that, an effing stone. You have to pay extra for the pendant version. It's much cheaper than the actual selling price so I went for it. I still don't know what to do with it haha!
• Sampan ride in Aberdeen - This is where you can see actual boathouses with TV sets, aircons, hanging laundry, and the like.
• Outlet store - Not impressed with this one but it's a nice experience for first-timers. They also sell cheap Disney merchandise that's great for pasalubongs.
• Daily breakfast at McDo
• Roundtrip transfers to and from the airport
• Disney tickets

You can contact Alisto Travel & Tours at +632-4742683. They offer many affordable packages, both local and international. Check them out and look for Janice Santos, she's very nice and effy. 

2. Know where you're going 
When traveling in big groups, there's a high chance that you have different interests. Instead of feeling disappointed and sulking at the sidelines, best to research in advance, go your own way and just decide on a specific meet-up place and time. 

3. Always be on time 

People in Hong Kong are very particular about time. NEVER, ever be late especially when you're part of a tour group. It's very irritating because while you apparently don't care about your time, you're wasting other people's so please BE CONSIDERATE at all times. Unlike in the Philippines where being late is the norm, in Hong Kong, they can actually leave you if you're late. I mean honestly, if you were in their place, won't waiting for late, inconsiderate people annoy you? 

4. Follow local rules and practices
Be respectful. If you see a stop sign, then please stop and don't embarrass yourself. Walk fast if you don't want to experience hard bumps and irritated grunts. When riding escalators and you're not in a hurry, always stay on the right side. Don't hog the whole space. 

5. Octopus card 
If you're going to visit a lot of places, I suggest getting the Octopus card. It's only HKD150, I think, and almost all of it's refundable except for HKD6 or 9 for processing. Aside from MTRs, you can also use the Octopus in buses, convenience stores and other restaurants. It's very useful. Side note: Don't you ever wonder why they call it "Octopus" card and not, say, MTR card or, I don't know, Panda card? If you know why, hope you can comment on this post and let me know. :)

6. Other places I suggest you visit

• Madama Tussaud's
• Ladies' Market or Temple Street Night Market
• Avenue of Stars
• Victoria Peak
• Soho, IFC Mall, Granville
• Ikea

 Also, don't leave without eating in authentic Chinese restaurants (unless you have freebies, of course): 1 fine dining and 1 hole in the wall restaurant. You can always eat McDo in the Philippines, or wherever you are hehe!

'Til the next post, y'all. XO 

PS. Some of the photos are from my friends. 
Photo credits: Mili C., Jean Q., Ben E.