26
April 2015
Day
2 – HK Half Day City Tour
6:30 AM - Breakfast at
the hotel.
8:00 AM past - Met up
with tour guide, presented our travel voucher; Boarded the tour bus;
Hong Kong city tour starts. Tour guide introduced tour bus official photographer.
Avenue of the Stars
 |
we can't even take a picture with
Bruce Lee, he's sooo in demand! |
This place is where brass stars of Chinese celebrities are embedded in the sidewalks otherwise known as the walk of fame. I thought Victoria Harbour is breathtaking kinda like the Marina
Bay in Singapore. The tour photographer took pictures of all the tour participants for
souvenir photos which we have an option
to purchase or not.
Jewellery Factory
We visited the TSL
Jewellery Factory. A lot of Filipinas work at this jewelry factory. A
little history about how the company came about then later on they
tried their best to sell jewelries to the tourist. I did not like
this part of the tour that much because I am not into
jewelries. The
jewelries were really pretty but I just don't like wearing gold or
any expensive jewelries per se. Am not a fan.
Factory outlet
(no photo)
This part of the tour
didn't make sense at all. We entered this factory outlet or should I
say small shop that sells everything for 160HKD and up and they
weren't even interesting items. My sister and I did not purchase
anything from this shop because we just don't like them at all, not
much variety in short.
Aberdeen Fishing Village - Sampan boat ride
The
Sampan boat ride is supposedly optional but our tour guide insisted that
all participants of the tour try it as it's just once in a lifetime.
Apprehensive at first because it wasn't cheap at 60HKD (which was
50HKD before). We decided to still go right ahead although at the
back of my mind it'll just be a short boat ride at an overpriced
rate. Unbelievably we both loved the whole Sampan ride thing
especially when we reached the floating restaurant part! That part of
the Sampan ride gave it the eastern/oriental feel. It was costly sure
but sometimes you find happiness in small things such a simple yet
memorable boat ride. This even became our favorite part of the tour.
Mid-level of Victoria
Peak (pass by)
This is literally just a pass by. Our tour bus just stopped by once
we reached half of the peak, some picture taking and there we took
off. I think this part of the tour is just a filler.
This pretty much wraps up our half day city tour with the group. We
did not avail the package with disney tour because we want to stroll
on our own for the rest of the day. Actually, our plan for the rest
of the day is to visit Ngong Ping Village then MongKok for some
souvenir shopping later on. The day is just too short when you're
busy!
Whilst at the Mong Kok area (which we weren't even aware we're
already in Mong Kok) I told my sister to try our atm cards again when
I saw the Standard Charter atm machines close to the Red line MTR
station. Alas! to our delight I was able to finally withdraw money
from my BPI atm card! We were both glad that we started shopping
right away when we saw this local store that sells iphone/android
cables. I bought myself this ipod cable (so I don't have to borrow
one from my sister everytime I need to charge my ipod) for 20HKD
(roughly 120php) which is still cheaper compared back home. We were
both starving so looked for the closest chinese resto with english
speaking employees to make our lives easier. We felt both at ease
with additional money in our wallet other than the ones we exchanged
back home. Thank God we might have a merry birthday tomorrow we
thought.
 |
chicken rice with
mushroom |
 |
| Etude House in Mong-kok |
12:00nn past - Had lunch at this authentic chinese resto in MongKok
which name we can't recall because it was in chinese. We ordered
their Chicken Rice with Mushroom dish. It took me a while to
finish my plate or should I say bowl because I used chopsticks. I
swear to never do that again. My hunger pang just waned out
because I hate using chopsticks really. The food cost? 29HKD each.
It was sumptuous though. Afterwards, my sissy bought this liquid
eyeliner at Etude house, it was sold out back home and yes the price
is cheaper here in HK surprisingly.
3:00pm past – took the train to Tung Chung where the Ngong Ping Bus
Terminal is. We came from Mong Kok so we alighted at the Lai King
interchange (orange line) to get to the Tung Chung line which is
the last stop. The bus 23 terminal was relocated to another area
which is few walks away from the mall.
How
to get to Ngong Ping Village?
 |
| The view of Tian Tian Buddha from afar. |
Look for the exit that says Ngong Ping Village once reached the Tung
Chung MTR station, you won't get lost really just make sure to read
the signs that reads which exit to take (depending on where you're
headed).
From the MTR exit turn right (Ngong Ping Village 360 exit). Across the MTR station there's
this big blue mall. You have to walk past that mall and follow the arrow that
points to Bus #23 terminal. Ngong Ping Village is divided into
different areas. We eagerly would like to see the Tian Tian Buddha and Po Lin Monastery so we have to take bus #23. If you're headed to
other areas in Ngong Ping you definitely have to take a different bus
number.
 |
| One of the Tian Tian Buddha guards |
In our case we did not try the cable car because from below you'll
see the long que upstairs which all leads to the cable car ticketing
booth. We took bus #23 instead because the que is just one eight
compared to the cable car que. The fare cost roughly 20HKD+ just bound to Ngong Ping so make sure
you top up your MTR card enough funds. The
fare is the same on your way back by the way except this time you have to take the Tung Chung bus which sends you back to where you came from when you took bus 23. Roughly 50HKD for a roundtrip to Ngong Ping
Village. Mind you, you could use your Octopus card to purchase
cold bottled drinks from the vendo machine at the bus terminal.
Tian
Tian Buddha
The Buddha is massive and we were amazed when we actually saw it. There were lots of tourist as expected although not as many as I
we anticipated. There's no entrance fee neither to see the Buddha.
We
walked our way up no matter how exhausting it was because you won't
appreciate
Tian Tian's beauty if you will not go up there. The weather
was nice back then, the temperature wasn't so hot and it's windy once we reached the peak. We also saw the Buddha guards encircling Tian
Tian's perimeter and from the top you'll see the bay. It was beautiful.
I read before that the Buddha was strategically placed there to overlook Hong Kong's entirety, some Feng Shui thing. The Buddha's right hand says no to affliction whilst his left hand means giving. I realized what a miss If we did not go to Ngong Ping Village because your HK trip wont be complete without it. I now understand why my sister insisted that we go there by hook or by crook! It was a long train ride from Tsuen Wan to get to Ngong Ping but it's all worth it.
Po
Lin Monastery
The Monastery is also beautiful but we did not go there further
because the smell of the incense is already making me cough out hard
since I already have colds that time. I have a weak immune system
since I stopped taking vitamin C which I regret. I just though that
vitamin supplements makes me gain weight that's all. Nevertheless, it
was trip all worth the walk and all. I really suggest if you're gonna
go to HK to visit Ngong Ping Village. It's your choice if you want to
spend more money by taking the cable car or just take the bus, either
way you'll see the bay anyways.
Mong
Kok
5:30pm past – Bound to Mong Kok/ Ladies Market.
I was already exhausted but my sister seems like an Energizer bunny
who never gets tired of walking almost the whole day long. I told her
that we shouldn't stroll very long after buying souvenirs because I
wasn't feeling well anymore due to too much walking and we've been
out for almost over twelve hours.
Mong Kok is very much alive at night, we got there around 6pm
already. There were shows and stuff, entertainers, skits, live bands
etc. I wasn't so impressed with the souvenir items because they were
pricey compared to Singapore or Cambodia. In Singapore you could buy
5-6 pieces of key chains for 6SGD whilst in Hong Kong if you haggle a
5-6 pieces of keychains could be at 100HKD from 120-160HKD which is
really pricey!
I bought 300HKD worth of keychains and I was done after that I told
myself I'll stop. I was just really squeamish to get something for
myself for a souvenir so I bought this cellphone case which I haggled
for 35HKD from 38HKD, oh wow 3HKD discount need I say more? I'm not a
big spender really so spending that big of money made me sweat so I
just told my sister that we should go back to our hotel because I was
really tired and I don't want to spend everything on souvenirs
because I honestly would like to go back to HK someday and just visit
Mong Kok to buy more stuff for myself. It's finally a wrap after I
told my sister that I can't walk anymore and I really wanna go back
to our hotel room asap and get some rest she wouldn't stop strolling
Mong Kok. My God, I was absolutely tired! I spent less than 350HKD in
Mong Kok. That made me more sick lol.
After sorting out the souvenir items I immediately sipped some
Twinnings red tea and took Bioflu to make me feel better. I just need
rest that's all.
Aldiko - my new eBook reader, I deleted my old one because It does not have a built-in Dictionary which I despised. Let's face it, reading is a way to expand your vocabulary and how are you supposed to do so If your eBook reader app does not have one right? It should come handy with all eBook reader app anyways. One thing I miss about ios is iBook which is their built in eBook reader. It's just seamless compared to eBook reader Apps that Android has to offer. But then, never the less, I kind of like Aldiko because it kind of replicate iBook interface wise. Aldiko by the way supports ePub, pdf files.
Alas we got to the place around 11AM past. It was a private resort which seemed like a vacation house on the beach. The resort is facing the ocean so the view is breathtaking. There's one kiddie pool about 4ft deep and a second pool about 6ft. The house is big with one bedroom, an open attic room, 1 bathroom, outdoor kitchen, one shower room by the pool, 2 living areas, a dining area and an old radio. If you may ask what's not available, no aircon, no TV, no other amenities except a full sized fridge. No for finicky vacationers because it's nothing fancy, just for a typical friends or family summer getaway. 
It's also best to bring your own vehicle because we almost head past the resort as it is along the road and there's no visible signage and last but not the least, bring everything that you need such as water containers, food to grill (yes they have a griller and ready to use LPG and 2 burner stove), kitchen condiments and all ingredients that you need for cooking. There is this wet market which is minutes away that sells tons of sea foods definitely because they're close to the ocean if you want fresh sea foods. 
I know it's pretty late already but I just want to share that I was as disappointed as the rest of the country (or should I say the world) for Floyd Mayweather's feat against our very own Manny Pacquiao. I purposely did not watch the fight because first, I was confident that It would be an easy win as it was with his other fights and Second, social media is faster than TV to the point that they have already turned into spoilers.
28 April 2015
Today is our birthday! I'm still feeling a bit sick but better
compared yesterday and like I said ample rest is all I need to feel
better. Our last itinerary for this trip is to go to Hello Kitty
Garden Cafe in Ormsby but it was a Monday so the cafe is
unfortunately closed so we just decided to visit their Le Petit Cafe
in Causeway bay which is just few stations away from Tsuen Wan.
We bought ourselves our little birthday cakes since were old we don't
need to celebrate anymore like kids do during their birthdays lol. I
bought myself this apple cake for 48HKD whilst my sister got herself
this cake with a crown for 35HKD. We were solved with that and
decided to bring them to our hotel room instead since there isn't any
food court where we could devour our cakes anyways.
The
Sampan boat ride is supposedly optional but our tour guide insisted that
all participants of the tour try it as it's just once in a lifetime.
Apprehensive at first because it wasn't cheap at 60HKD (which was
50HKD before). We decided to still go right ahead although at the
back of my mind it'll just be a short boat ride at an overpriced
rate. Unbelievably we both loved the whole Sampan ride thing
especially when we reached the floating restaurant part! That part of
the Sampan ride gave it the eastern/oriental feel. It was costly sure
but sometimes you find happiness in small things such a simple yet
memorable boat ride. This even became our favorite part of the tour.
Mid-level of Victoria
Peak (pass by)
The Buddha is massive and we were amazed when we actually saw it. There were lots of tourist as expected although not as many as I
we anticipated. There's no entrance fee neither to see the Buddha.
