My First Hong Kong Trip

Since I don't want to do all my school projects, I decided to write a blog entry about my Hong Kong trip... 

My dream of travelling abroad came true thanks to Cebu Pacific's seat sale promo. I got  a round trip ticket to Hong Kong for October 18-20, 2011 for only Php. 4, 000 with a 15k check-in baggage. I wasn't familiar with Cebu Pacifc's promos so I know 4k is still expensive. I booked the ticket in July but after a month they had a better promo almost 2k for the RT. Damn it! 

A lot of my first happened on this trip. This was my first ever trip out of the country, it's my first time to be on a plane, and it's my first time travelling alone. I was so excited that I wasn't able to sleep the night before my flight. And thanks to HK forum in PEX and Google, my trip was almost a success! 

Here goes the story...

 DAY 1 - Mongkok to Tsim Sha Tsui

The departure time was 7:55 am so I headed to airport around 4:30 am. I arrived at the NAIA Terminal 3 at 6ish (As always, I'm late!). 

After arriving at the airport, I:

1.      Paid travel tax and terminal fee which was still 7++ at that time! 

2.     Went to the check-in counter. Give itinerary and passport and get boarding pass. 

3.      Deposited check-in luggage.

4.     Went to the immigration

5.      Then to the designated gate and waited for boarding.

I was seated near the window and the extra bucks for seat selector is worth it (Sorry first time). After the more that 2 hours, I was in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong International Airpot is huge and so different from NAIA! I was excited and nervous at the same time since I'm all alone. I didn't know anyone in HK. I immediately wen to get my passport stamp. The IO was so rude btw. I changed Php. 3,000 and I got around 400 HKD. I bought the Octopus Card which cost around 150 KHD and then went to the Bus Terminal. I looked for the A21 bus going to Tsim Sha Tsui. They have wifi on the bus. How cool is that! Since my hostel is in Mongkok, I got off at Mongkok bus stop. I thought that I would get lost looking for my hostel, but surprisingly it was just across the street from the bus stop. 

My room. There's enough space for your luggage and to walk around to.

I forgot that I only had 250 HKD so I had to look for a nearest money exchange. I went back to the hostel and check-in. I think I paid almost 440HKD for 2 nights. After changing clothes, I headed outside. I went to New Town Mall which is just across the street from the hostel. I bought a pair of black doll shoe for 180HKD. I saw a Happy Lemon inside so I bought a large Pudding Milk Tea just to check if they taste the same as the ones here in the Philippines. New Town Mall is very small and it looks like it's a Shibuya inspired mall.

Around 2pm, I headed to Tsim Sha Tsui. Since I didn't know which bus to take, I took the A21 bus going to TST. But DO NOT DO THIS CAUSE IT COST ME 22HKD. 

What I did in Tsim Sha Tsui:

 1. Window shopping in Nathan Road and Canton Road

 2. Walk around Avenue of Stars

 3. Watch the symphony of lights.

After the symphony of lights I already too tired from walking so I went back to Mongkok. I bought an instant noodles at 7/11 and a stick of bite-sized hotdogs wrapped in bacon and went back to my hostel to eat them. 

DAY 2 - Peak Tram and Madame Tussauds

After eating breakfast, I headed Hong Kong Island via the subway. I think it cost me 16HKD and I just walk from Central station to The Peak. It was quite a walk I tell you. I bought the combo ticket for the round trip Peak Tram, Madame Tussauds and The Peak. 

The tram ride going up was quite fun but the ride going down was quite a waste of money. So I don't recommend buying the round trip ticket. As for the Madame Tussauds, it was so cool to see the wax figures of famous people. It was a major photo op. When I posted a picture of me and Lady Gaga on facebook, somebody thought that it was actually her. 

I didn't go to the The Peak anymore since I kinda have a fear of heights. I really wanted to go but seeing the view outside from the massive window of the 5th floor I decided not to go because my whole body was shaking.  It even took me  around 10-15 minutes to go down because the escalator is near the huge window. 

After that, I walked around Central and passed by St. John's Cathedral. I went back to the hostel to rest for 2 hours and had an early dinner at a noodle shop in front of my hostel. 

When I had my energy back, I went to the Ladies Market in Hong Kong at around 8pm. Since it was only a couple of blocks from my hostel, I just walk. Ladies Market is like Divisoria but not as messy and dirty as DV. The things that they sell are more Greenhills quality.  I got tired of walking and there wasn't anything that I fancy so I went to the goldfish market. It's like Cartimar but cleaner. They have different kinds fish, reptiles, dogs, cats and they also have pet foods and accessories. 


DAY 3 - Flower Market and Bird Market

My flight is at 7:30pm but the hostel check out time is at 12:00pm. I packed some of my things first and had breakfast. I decided to go the Flower Market so I tried to follow the map but again I got lost. I think I left the hostel around 8:40am but I was only able to find the Flower Market at 10am. The flower market is like Dangwa but again cleaner. 

I went to Bird's Market or Bird's Street since it's like a couple of blocks away from Flower Market. There's nothing spectacular in this place. There's a lot of birds and bird food. It's a small bird market attach to a small park. If you are in the area, try going here especially in the morning. But you are not, then don't go. Better go to Kowloon Park. 

After that, I went back to the hostel to packed my other things and checked out. I asked if I could leave my luggage and they were ok with it. 

I went around Nathan Road for my last minute shopping but I was only able to buy a bag and two packs of noodles for pasalubong. 

I went back to the hostel, grabbed my things and headed to the airport. They have trains to transfer you from one terminal to the other. And it's fast and free! I wish we have one here.

The flight to Manila left Hong Kong past 15 minutes from the scheduled departure time. 


That's the end of it. I can barely remember all the details of that trip since it was 2 years ago. I also don't have pictures of that trip because my phone which I used as my camera, got stolen a week after the trip. 

I'll also blog about my second trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan.