Monday, September 26, 2016

My Weekend Birthday Trip to HongKong 😎

If you only have three days in Hong Kong, and you want to maximize your weekend, here are some tips (for an average backpacker):

1. Book an outbound flight that will arrive Hong Kong in the morning. 

2. Book a roundtrip airport express travel pass. A roundtrip pass costs 350HKD which includes unlimited rides to MTR, light rail and MTR Bus for 3 days. You may keep the card as souvenir, but you may also return it with a refund of 50HKD. 

3. Stay at a hotel within Tsim Sha Tsui area. This area has several restaurants, shops and attractions that can be reached by foot.

4. Book Disney, Peak Tram tickets and other attraction tickets in advance. Disney one day pass is 539HKD, Tram pass with Sky terrace access is 88HKD.
There are some booking agencies like Klook which offers discounted rates. Our Disney tickets were complimentary passes from our dear friend who works in Disney Florida. Thanks Bry and Vivi. 😎

5. Wear light clothes and have a small backpack with light clothes. The weather is humid and you may need to change clothes or freshen up once in a while.

6. Bring extra batteries for your phones and camera or bring powerbank. With limited time, you may not have enough time to charge batteries. Also, make sure you have travel adapters ready.

7. Have a small MTR map handy. This will help you save time looking for the next train stop.

8. Plan what to eat and where. 

9. Book a return flight that leaves HKG at night.

10. Choose your favorite travel buddy. ❤️

Here's our itinerary:
Day One:

Touchdown HKG: 9:05am

First stop: Immigration clearing; foreign exchange; purchase of train tickets and train ride to city.



Airport Express (Photo above) train ride with bbeyb to HongKong station. Did you notice my bag? That's the only bag I brought with me. Weight: 2.5 kg.

Time check: 10:00 a.m. Brunch at Crystal Jade IFC mall.

Must order: Xiao Long Bao
Their pork buns are delicious, too, though Tim Ho Wan's are better.


Next stop: MTR red line (from IFC mall). Alight at Tsim Sha Tsui station. Follow the signs to the exit of where you want to go.

Our hotel is within the area. After checking in, we roamed around some famous HK attractions.




There are several areas for refreshment at the Avenue of the Stars area (which is closed for renovation when we went there). We had a quick break at Starbucks Victoria Harbour before our next stop - Lantau Island.

(Photo below) MTR to ride to Tung Chung: Gateway to Ngong Ping 360.


From Tung Chung, follow the signs to Ngong Ping 360.

We booked the crystal cabin on our way to Lantau island and the regular one on our return. Rountrip ticket: 240 HKD.




Trip to Lantau by cable car is approximately 20 minutes. 


Last cable car ride back to Tung Chung station leaves at 6:40 p.m. Be sure to be at the gates before closing time.

Next stop: Mong Kok for dinner and ladies market.


After dinner and shopping, we went back to our hotel and spent the night at the Victoria Harbour.



Day Two:

First stop: Breakfast at Canton's Kitchen 


Next stop: Disney Land 
We used purple line (East Tsim Sha Tsui)  to connect to yellow line
(Sunny Bay) - interchange to pink line (DisneyLand Station). We stayed there until night time.







After one long day, we had dinner at Xia Xiao Fai K11 Art Mall.




We also strolled the side streets and hunt for these egg, chocolate and cheese tarts.


Day Three:

We had breakfast at Canton's Dimsum Expert after few hours of outlet shopping.



We checked out at 12 noon and went straight to the peak tram station. 
We used red line MTR and alight at Central station. 


The tram was closed for maintenance and they offered bus ride instead. 


We didn't risk riding the bus as we need to be at the airport before 5:00 p.m. 

We stopped by St. John's Cathedral on our way back to the train station.



We went back to Central station and had some refreshments at Godiva, IFC mall.




We also had few snacks at Tasty Congee, IFC Mall.




Next stop: Airport 

While waiting for our boarding time, we had some frappe break at Starbucks.


I also had a chance to play Pokemon Go while waiting for our flight.


I caught Pikachu, too.


Departure at HKG: 7:30 p.m.
Arrival at MNL: 9:25 p.m.

It was indeed a short trip, but really worth the long wait. 😎 Until our next trip. 

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