had our hk trip this past march 10 - 13. malamig sa umaga and gabi pero mainit na sa tanghali. puwede na shirt & pants pero bring light jacket na rin. we stayed in City Econo Guest House in Jordan, got a triple room for 650hkd. The place was easy to locate. paglabas mo ng C2 exit ng jordan, just cross the street and makikita niyo na yun building ng cumberland house. Take the elevator to the 6th floor to see Jenny - the owner (dun kasi office nila pero sa city econo din yun 5th flr). Parang halong residential area with a mix of some shops ang jordan. If ayaw niyo ng masyadong maingay/matao yun place, this is a good spot to stay. The room was clean and big enough for us 3, with a double bed and single bed, spacious & clean CR and strong water pressure. Towels and toiletries are provided. May tv pero old style tv, pangit din signal so di rin namin nagamit. May free wifi and mabilis signal. They have hairdryer, thermos, and free use cups sa may hallway. They also sell discounted tickets for disney, the peak and other spots sa office nila. Jenny can speak english well so if may questions kayo you can speak with her.
1st day
ETA is 10:50PM of 3/10/13 via dragon air at terminal 1. paglabas ng plane, diretso na kaagad sa immigration. pagkakuha ng IO ng passport, tinatakan kaagad wala na tanong tanong. sa labas ng immigration yun mga maps, get them para magamit during the tour. went to the customer service counter for the octopus cards, 150hkd for adults & 70hkd for senior citizens. didn't look for CTS counter since hanggang 10PM lang sila. after, takbo na kaagad papunta sa bus terminal. kailangan maabutan namin yun A21 bus to Jordan dahil after midnight eh N21 bus na ang sasakyan namin. almost same route but mas marami stops so mas mahaba ang biyahe. buti na lang naabutan pa namin ang A21, pagkasakay namin, wala pa 5 mins umalis na rin kaagad. arrived at jordan (prudential centre) before 1AM. looked for bowring street dahil nandun ang hostel namin (city econo). mabilis namin nakita yun cumberland house (bldg) so we went straight to the 6th floor for check in. door was locked pero nag doorbell na lang kami. after a few seconds, lumabas na si Jenny and led us to the 5th floor for our room. we got room 527 and diretso bihis ng pantulog and rest na kami.
2nd day
- woke up at 7AM, had coffee (may baon kami na nescafe hehe, humiram na lang ng cup sa hallway ang may hot water naman na libre). shower, and prepared for the days' itinerary.
- at 8:30am, rode the mtr to tung chung for Ngong Ping. pagdating namin ng tungchung, saw a bakery sa gilid ng mtr. bought some breads for breakfast. masarap parang breadtalk lang ang peg hehe. di pa bukas ang cable car,so we lined up na lang sa gilid along with other tourists. after around 15mins, dumating na yun staff ng NP. we bought our RT tickets for 130hkd/adult. no discounts for senior citizens. di na namin kinuha yun package since di kami interested with "walking w/ buddha and monkey tale" cable car ride was a nice experience. the view was definitely worth what we paid for, you'll see yun hike/trail na puwede gawin if you would want to walk to NP village, sobrang pagod nga lang dahil ilan bundok ang dadaanan mo. you'll also see HKIA and kung gaano siya kalawak.
when we arrived at NP village, konti pa lang ang tao. had time to take lots of pictures around the place and may mga restos so in case magutom ka, meron naman makakainan. went to the monastery and climbed the steps to the big buddha. nakakapagod sobra pero ang saya ng pakiramdam when you reach the top. mahangin ang ok rin mag picture taking dito. also bought some souvenirs here for display sa bahay. mura lang naman wala pa 500pesos yun ibang souvenirs. ate some street foods sa may stalls malapit sa NP village. medyo mahal lang coz half ng corn cob is 35hkd(!?!) pareho lang naman ng lasa ng nandito sa manila haha anyway, nawili kami sa kakapicture so around 1:00PM na kami bumalik ng tung chung.
we went around city gate to shop. bought some good buys sa esprit and giordano outlet. naka more than 1,500 hkd kami combined for these shops, natuwa masyado sa bargains haha. may libre pa kami na bag sa giordano dahil naka 1T kami sa kanila. may nagustuhan ako na 2in1 jacket sa adidas 500hkd lang pero wala na size. sayang... sa kaeenjoy namin mamili, 3:30PM na nang naalala namin mag lunch hehe just ate at food republic sa city gate. lots of choices naman ang masarap lahat ng order namin. we ordered xiao long bao, chami, porkchops w/ rice and diced vegetables, etc. konti pahinga then at around 4:30PM rode the mtr to central for the peak.
took exit J2, meron na signages dun papunta ng peak tram, we walked around 2 blocks. pagdating ang daming tao na nag nakapila. bought 3 tickets RT including sky terrace, 2 adults (75hkd) & 1 senior citizen (30+hkd - can't remember the exact fare). mga 20 mins din kami naghintay para makasakay, mabilis lang yun travel around 15mins nasa the peak ka na. since may araw pa pagdating namin, we just went around the mall. madam tussauds is also here ang naglabas sila ng wax figures na libre magpapicture (pierce brosnan and kelly chen). after that went to the sky terrace na. the view is breathtaking especially at night. eh ang lamig pa so nag enjoy talaga kami dito. stay rin siguro kami dito ng 30mins then we went down to the galleria na. bought coffee at mccafe bago pumila sa peak tram pababa. we even bought a fleece jacket for my mom at baleno - around 70hkd (di kasi nagdala ng jacket, akala niya kakayanin niya yun lamig). it took us 15mins bago nakasakay, marami na kasi tourist yun pauwi kaya nagkasabay-sabay.
back to hostel, took the mtr back to jordan. my bro bought a rice toppings na lang for our dinner at a nearby resto, pagod na kasi si mama, ayaw na lumabas for dinner. after, sleep na coz disneyland naman the next day. =)
3rd day DISNEYLAND
- 8AM out of hostel for breakfast. undecided kami kung saan kakain so naglakadlakad kami. saw Australia Dairy Co along parkes street, read about this online and sabi eh sikat daw itong breakfast place. sa dami ng taong nakapila, naengganyo na rin kami kumain dito. got a table for 3 and ordered what everyone else were ordering - macaroni soup with sides of toasted bread & eggs. when I tasted the food, i was quite dissappointed. it tasted bland, need mo lagyan ng pepper and other condiments para magkalasa. i guess kanya kanyang trip talaga, pero medyo naghinayang ako sa binayad ko dito. when i read about it online, it seems that comfort food ito ng mga taga HK, parang champorado siguro sa atin. hehe hindi siya sumakto sa panlasa ko. oh well, charge it to experience. at least na try namin.
rode the mtr to sunny bay after. dami na kaagad tao pagdating namin. mahaba na ang pila. they started letting people in at 10am. since we've been to disneyland before, inuna na namin yun new rides nila (toy story land & grizzly gulch). "grizzly runaway mine car" was a joy to ride. its different to other rides in that at one point, the cars would go both forward and BACKWARD. Pretty exhilarating and not too scary for most people. paglabas namin, nakita namin si mickey and minnie mouse na nagseset up for photo op so pila kaagad kami. they used our camera and meron din photographer from Disneyland but siyempre may bayad na yun. 130hkd yata per pic if sa kanila ka nagpaprint so di na lang. dito na lang sa manila namin paprint lahat hehe went to geyser gulch din, a play area for kids.
sa toystory land naman, we tried slinky dog and parachute drop. RC racer was under maintenance so disappointed brother ko hehe di bale may next time pa naman. parachute drop was nowhere close to the "Abyss" of ocean park pero for a kids' ride ok na rin ito. you'd get to see the full view of toystory land from the above with a bit of thrill. toy soldiers also walk around the park a lot to entertain tourists and perform. what i like about the place though is ang daming mo puwedeng picture-an like lots of lifesize disney toys. meron din shop sa loob if you want to buy some souvenirs. went to barrel of fun to take pics with jessie. sayang lang wala si woody pero ok na rin.
we had lunch at the royal banquet hall. medyo mahal yun food pero gutom na eh so me and bro got the 98hkd beef, porkchop with rice combo and mom got the 70hkd ramen soup with chicken wings combo. mukhang kukulangin sa rice so we ordered extra rice, 15hkd per order. coke was 22hkd.
next up, we went around the other rides & shows like tarzans' treehouse, buzz astroblasters, space mountain, winnie the pooh, philharmagic, golden mickeys, its a small world, disney parade, etc.
didn't get to see festival of the lion king and stitch encounter this time so meron na namin kami babalikan. yehey!!!
at around 7:30PM, nag umpisa na pumunta ang mga tao sa harap ng castle so sumunod na rin kami. got a nice spot in front and naghintay. maya maya pa nagstart na ang fireworks. it was really really nice. iba talaga ang disneyland, it makes you feel like a kid again. hehe after, nag alisan na yun mga tao. kami naman we went to the souvenir shops to check if meron magandang mabibili. lots of nice toys/souvenirs pero ang mamahal naman so di na rin kami bumili. diretso na kami mtr and went to mongkok to buy i love hk shirts (pansalubong). got a deal for 6shirts for 100hkd. puwede na rin, lumalabas under 100pesos/shirt. saktong pangsalubong lang. at least magagamit talaga ng pagbibigyan namin.
diretso na kami hostel after, bumili ulit ng rice toppings for dinner and rest na for the next day.
4th day
- woke up late since wala na kami itinerary for this day. decided to just walk around causeway bay and TST area. had our breakfast at causeway at a hole-in-the-wall resto there. had xiao long bao, sticky rice, noodles and bread. total at around 98hkd, medyo mahal pero may xiao long bao kasi (42hkd). we then went to sogo to look for a cheap leather bag, wala nakita na good buy so we then went to TST. would've wanted to go see avenue of stars pero ayaw na ng mga kasama ko. nag ikot ikot na lang kami dito. at around 12pm, went back to the hostel to check out. ayos na naman gamit namin so di na kami nagmamadali for our 5:55 flight back to manila. stayed muna sa room and nagpahinga, after ibalik yun susi sa office, we asked them kung saan sakayan pabalik. malapit lang pala, sa jordan road lang in front of DBS. mga 2 blocks lang from pilkem street. along the way, may nakita kami nagse-sale na shoes, 99hkd lang. bought 1 for myself hehe humabol pa ng gastos eh pauwi na lang. bought some drinks while waiting for the bus. after 15 mins, dumating na yun A22 bus (30mins travel). arrived at the HKIA at around 2:30PM. self-check in then checked in our baggage. had a late lunch at the airport at FOOD (beside mccafe). cheap pero masarap. for 42hkd, may rice, roasted peking duck, white chicken, soup and drinks na kasama. busog!
nag ikot ikot muna kami bago pumasok ng immigration. wala naman tinanong basta tinatakan na kaagad yun passport. sa loob meron din mga kainan and shops so puwede kayo bumili ng shirts dito if di kayo nakabili sa city. went to gate 513 for our dragon air flight to rest. got back to manila at 7:50PM. traffic kaagad ang sumalubong sa amin. oh well, home sweet home. =)
