We, then, planned our 4 days/3 nights tour... We decided to go straight to Hongkong and then tour Macau on the fourth day since our flight back to the PHL will be from Macau also...
Accommodation: We ended up booking at USA Hotel Hongkong via www.travellerspoint.com for 3 nights at Php5,969.00/3pax. You can visit their website http://www.usahotel.com.hk/
The room is fully air conditioned,with private bathroom (with hot/cold shower). Not so grand but just enough for a place to sleep...Located at Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, the Manhattan of Hongkong, it's very accessible to the MTR and other tourist spots. But be prepared because the way going up to the seventeenth floor is really scary... The building houses mostly Indians... They're all over the place... At first, we were really scared.. But we eventually get used to it...
Warning: Don't be fooled by what you see in the photos because that might not be the real look of the place...
Departure: Our flight is at 6:25pm via Clark. We left Manila at 2:00PM via Victory Liner (Cubao Terminal) going to DAU (Php139.00) . From Dau, there is a shuttle that goes directly to the departure area of Diosdado Macapagal Airport for Php100.00. We arrived at the airport at around 4:30 then head directly to the check in counter.. Since we're on a go light fare, we just checked in online then proceed to the counter to pay Php600 for the terminal fee and Php1620 for the travel tax. After paying, we filled out the immigration form and head directly to the immigration after which we went to the waiting area for boarding...
Arrival: We arrived at Macau International Airport 25 minutes past 8 o'clock (evening).
After the immigration checkpoint, we ride a taxi going to the hongkong ferry terminal. The fare cost HK$69 so I suggest you just wait for the free shuttle or the bus that goes to the ferry terminal. We took a ferry going to Hongkong via turbojet, the fare is HK$174 one way going directly to tsim sha tsui ferry terminal. But it's much cheaper if you'll take the Cotai Jet, which we just did on our way back to Macau, at HK$142.
Getting Lost and finding our way Part 1
We arrived at the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Terminal at around 10 in the evening... According to our research, USA Hotel is near the ferry terminal so with our map, we walk through the streets of Hongkong... Since it's late already, most of the stores were closed. Thanks to the darkness we couldn't find our way.. We couldn't seem to figure out what the map says, most of the people that we ask says, "NO ENGLISH"... What a welcome... Getting lost on our first night... But after more than an hour, we finally made it to the building where the hostel is located... Too tired to eat, we just went directly to our room and call it a night...
Day 2 : Wake up time is 6am.... after an hour and a half we're ready to go.... Our itinerary for the day, Tsim Sha Tsui Attractions and Ocean Park....
We had breakfast at Mcdonald's just across the street... HK$25 for this meal...
TSIM SHA TSUI ATTRACTIONS
First stop, Kowloon park... Located along Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, you'll see a lot of people doing their exercise routines in the morning..
Avenue of Stars -MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit E. Walk towards Salisbury Road then turn right, take subway (pedestrian tunnel) and you're there.. You'll see the walk of fame of the stars in Hongkong plus the scenic harbour view.
Getting Lost and finding our way Part 2
Ocean Park... The instruction that I downloaded was we need to go to the Star Ferry and wait for the bus 629 that goes directly to Ocean Park.. We ended up walking from one street to another as instructed by those locals that are kind enough to help us. Unfortunately, we didn't find our way until one local instructed us to ride the MTR going to Admirality Station and that's where we could find the bus...
Again, if you're going to Ocean Park, take the MTR to Admirality Station and the bus stop going to Ocean Park is just outside. We even got a discounted Ocean Park ticket in the MTR Station. From its original price of $HK270, we got it for just $HK250.
In the MTR station, we availed of the Octopus Card, you'll just have to load a certain amount and then you can already use it in paying for most of the stores and public transport in Hongkong.
To our destination we arrived.... The bus fare going to Ocean park cost HK$10. They'll drop you off right at the entrance gate.
Here's a glimpse of what you can see inside the park....
THE AQUA CITY LAGOON
THE GRAND AQUARIUM
Inside the Grand Aquarium.. Here, you'll see a thousand of different marine species...
Ocean Express going to the summit.. Unfortuntely, the cable car is under renovation so the only way going to the summit is via the ocean express train...
THE SUMMIT
Here are some of the rides you'll find in the Summit...
Whirly Bird
The Flash- didn't try riding this one.. I'm not really into those "killing me softly" rides..
The Arctic Blast
The Rapids
Other Attractions in the summit are the North and South Poles where you'll find Penguins among the others.
South Pole Spectacular
North Pole Encounter
Now back to THE WATERFRONT
Old Hongkong is where you can find lots of food stalls but mostly local delicacies..
Be sure to check out The Hongkong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasure because inside, you'll see....
I didn't expect to see the lead star of Kung Fu Panda here.. But there's more as you continue with the tour.. ;)
FOOD
We haven't had any decent meal here because we really do not know what to eat.. We started with a piece of Hungarian Sausage ($HK25) with Coke ($HK22).. Then I tried the soya milk (HK$18)... But you couldn't miss the Ice shave with mixed fruits ($HK29) and the grilled korean squid ($HK15)... Forgive me for the freakin photos...;)
Now going back to the attractions... Perhaps one of the highlights of my Ocean Park experience was the Dolphin and Sea Lion Show at the Ocean Theatre..
Ocean Park's talented marine mammals and trainers present a heartwarming and delightful spectacular about the dream of how humans and animals can live together with love and respect.
The flipping dolphins were awesome... Backflip, somersault, name it and you can have it...
Now it's six already and we need to catch the train going back to the waterfront.. The Ocean Theatre, by the way, is located at the Summit and it will be closing in a few so we need to get back to the Aqua City Lagoon and wait for the Symbio,a one-of-a-kind spectacular featuring fire, water, pyrotechnics, music and animation.
The Symbio wraps up our Ocean Park tour.. All of what I showed you is just part of the huge theme park.. If you want to experience everything, put your comfy shoes and shades on and make sure to allot 1 whole day here...
That ends our second day in Hongkong... Day 3 (The Peak and Disneyland) Day 4 (Venetian Macau) to be continued......
