I just got back from my very first international travel in Hongkong. Definitely the highlight of my trip was my visit to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. It poured rain over us but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the attractions in Disneyland. As of this writing, I’m listening to Hakuna Matata just to feed my Disneyland hangover!
My adventure started last November 20, 2016 together with three of my friends and my mom. We board a promo flight with Cebu Pacific which I booked March of this year. Flight from Cebu-Hongkong takes 3 hours. Don’t worry about jet lag because Philippines and Hongkong have the same timezones.
According to Wikipedia, Hongkong is an autonomous territory. Officially named Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. HK was in British control since 1945 until the early 1980's when negotiations between the UK and China paved the way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hongkong in 1997 as a special administrative region. Under the principle "one country, two systems", HK maintains a separate political and economic system from China except in military defense and foreign affairs.
Upon arriving in Hongkong International Airport, the first thing you would do is to purchase an OCTOPUS CARD at the MTR Customer Service. This will be your life when roaming around Hongkong. With just a tap of your octopus card, you can use this to purchase food in restaurants, in 7/11 stores, and as bus and train tickets. The prevailing exchange rate is 1 HKD = 6.45 PH Peso
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| Featured artworks in the airport. |
OCTOPUS CARD = HKD 150
* You will be using only the HKD 100 load since the HKD 50 load will be your refundable deposit. Once you used up your HKD 100 load, you can reload in any 7/11 stores. Upon going back to Cebu or any country you’re from, you can get your refund for the HKD 50 (with a HKD 9 as refund fee so you will only get HKD 41) at the MTR Customer Service located in Hongkong International Airport.
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| Octopus Card |
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| When you are outside arrival hall B, look for this sign. The bus stops written on this signage are Mongkok, Yau Me Tei, Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui. |
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| Bus A21 |
We stayed in DELTA DELUXE HOTEL located within Chungking Mansions 36-44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) which we booked from Agoda.com. To go to TST area from HK airport, proceed to ARRIVAL HALL B LEVEL 5 and search outside for bus route A21 (this will be your bus # when you travel back to the airport when you leave HK). Be mindful with the bus stops and street signs especially when you reach Nathan Road since this is a long stretch of road that if you miss your block you might be having a walkathon.
TRAVEL TIME: almost an hour
BUS FARE: HKD 33
TIP: you can also take the airport express train. It is more expensive than taking the bus though. It will cost you around HKD 50-60.
Chungking Mansion is a building with several budget friendly guesthouses. You will be greeted by several multinational touts at the ground floor. They are intimidating for us first timers. Just ignore and not make eye contact with them. I just knew that Chungking Mansions have a bad reputation. Just ask Google about it. We hopped in the not so big elevator of the building and pressed #16 where Delta Deluxe Hotel is located. The owner of our guesthouse is an Indian national. Upon checking in, the owner asked for the booking voucher from Agoda.com, our passports and asked us for a HKD 100 key deposit which will be returned upon check out.
HOTEL COST: HKD 95/night
* We stayed for 3 nights.... unscathed.
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| This is a decent guesthouse. Despite Chungking Mansions having a bad reputation, in fairness to Delta Deluxe Hotel their rooms are clean and comfortable enough to sleep during the night and this room is air conditioned. The comfort room is also small but what is important is that it is clean. |
After refreshing up in the hotel, we proceeded to our first destination, the street art in Graham Street. Our first day itinerary will be the street art in Graham street, The Peak and Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum. All of those will be in a different blog post so stay tuned! =)
Now I will be summarizing little tips when travelling to Hongkong.
* Prepare your travel tax in Mactan Cebu Airport - PHP 1,620
* Terminal Fee in Mactan Airport - PHP 750
* Bring a pen - you have to fill up immigration forms.
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| Immigration forms. |
* Come to the airport at least 3 hours before your flight. Immigration can take time especially if there are a lot of international flight passengers. When you are in the Hongkong International Airport for your return flight, come to the airport at least 3-4 hours before your flight. HK airport is so huge that you have to board the train to go to your boarding gate. I don't want to risk getting lost and missing my flight but in fairness to HK airport their instruction signs are tourist friendly. We arrived at our boarding gate ahead of time.
* It is a given that airport goods are expensive so don't buy there.
* When in an escalator or walkalator, always stay on the right side or else people will just bump right into you without apologizing because it is a rule in HK to always stay right if you are not in a hurry.
* When in the train station, always follow the signs on which side you walk on. I love how people in Hongkong have so much discipline. I wish this is practiced in the Philippines.
* In Hongkong, people there take the PRIORITY for Senior Citizens, Pregnant Women, and PWD seriously. So always offer your seat to them. Don't do it only in HK, practice it here in the Philippines too.
* When you buy something in HK (in 7/11 and Bossini stores as experienced), they don't put it in a plastic or paper bag like here in the Philippines so don't be surprised if after paying they will just give it directly to you without a plastic bag. So bring your eco bag in HK.
* When boarding the train, always take note on which EXIT you go to prevent getting lost and walking around in circles in HK. It is fun getting lost when you travel but if it's too much it's not enjoyable anymore it's tiring. =D Be mindful of the interchange train stations too.
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| The MTR express map. You can get this once you purchase your Octopus Card. This can be very handy. |
* When you dine in a restaurant in HK, instead of asking "Dine In or Take Out" they would ask "Stay Here or To Go". =D
* If you pay in cash in any transportation in HK, always pay the exact amount. They don't give change to save your travel time.
*Buy your groceries such as water and bread (for breakfast) in INTERNATIONAL grocery beside Bossini and Giordano in TST area. There bottled water is much cheaper.
* Buy your attraction tickets, in Klook. We bought our Ocean Park tickets for PHP 1491! It was a flash sale though. They still sell cheap tickets for other attractions such us Disneyland and The Peak.
* To those who don't like Chinese food that much, I advise to bring cooked luncheon meat and wrapped it in a foil. This can save you from starvation unless you don't mind eating burgers from McDo 24/7 during your stay in HK. McDo in HK have no rice servings. I also brought Oishi Bread Pan for snacks.
* Bring a hat, cap,raincoat or umbrella. It was raining on our third day in HK. It doesn't hurt to be prepared.
*READ, READ READ street signs, traffic signs or almost everything!
I'll update this post if I remember some tips during my travel inn Hong Kong. I'll be brewing my next blog post our first day in HK! See yah!
Day 1 Itinerary Discover Hong Kong! The Peak and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
Jen
2 Thoughts:
Very helpful post Jen! I will surely go back to this page If I eve get to travel to Hong Kong :)
very helpful! especially for our trip this month, not the first time though in hk :) but its great to be refreshed with the tips :)
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