Awesome Hong Kong-Macau Weekend (Part 5)

The "10 stops in 1 Day" Challenge



It's our last day in Hong Kong. When we got home in the morning from Rein's, we just had breakfast, sort of cleaned up the condo, and dressed up for an ultimate "tour-and-shop" day! We thought we'll go to places all together, but seemed like two of our friends got some other plans. So again, it was Dianne, Pam, and I who went out together to go around Hong Kong for photos and some good shopping finds!:)

The three of us were prepared. We wore the coats we bought from Mango the day before, ready to face the low temperature outside. But it seemed like the weather was playing with us because when we were out there walking, it didn't feel as cold as the previous days. Actually, it's kinda warm outside! Oh my, another "fashion fail". However, we didn't surrender and chose "fashion-over-comfort" haha!:))

FIRST STOP: Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car

Since we were staying in Tung Chung where the cable car ride to the Big Buddha was, we chose it to be our first stop. We took the package of a roundtrip cable car ride, one -way of which was inside the crystal cable car, which had a glass floor. It was awesome!

SECOND STOP: Big Buddha

We walked from the cable car station to the Big Buddha. Imagine, we went up to the Big Buddha through hundreds of steps. Yikes, but it's worth it. There were a lot of tourists there too.

THIRD STOP: Victoria Peak (Tram Ride)

Using just our maps, we were able to find the tram station to Victoria Peak. Along the way, we passed through a plaza where there were a lot of OFWs. It's where they meet and get together every Sunday. That huge spot made us feel like we're in the Philippines (with a better ambiance lol). We were so happy when we found the Peak Tram after a lot of walking that we did.

FOURTH STOP: Madame Tussauds (Wax Musem)

We had so much fun taking photos with the real-life wax statues of famous people that seemed so real. Since we were in a hurry, we just took a quick tour around the museum. Since we've been running around the whole day, we haven't had a single meal; so we had a quick breakfast-lunch-snack in Burger King.

FIFTH STOP: Hong Kong Central (H&M)
And we had to go back to the Central to shop for some H&M clothes. And it took us a long walk from the Peak Tram Station to the H&M Shop. We found lots of nice clothes and accessories there but we only had limited budget and limited time (since we had to catch our flight that night). There were a lot of shoppers just like that of every Forever 21 branches I've been to (Manila &Tokyo).

SIXTH STOP: Mong Kok (Night Market)

It looked like Divisoria of the Philippines. It's where the cheap stuff were. There we did our last-minute shopping for stuff to give to our friends in the Philippines who were aware that we traveled to HK. We did a lot of bargaining since we felt that the stuff there were overpriced. I just didn't like the fact that the vendors even arrive to a point that they grab you and insist that you buy their product at their lowest price offer. Yikes, I was culture-shocked when I experienced that.

SEVENTH STOP: Citygate Mall

The mall was already closed, but we were there to grab some groceries to replenish the food that we got from the condo unit of our friend's aunt. We also bought some snacks and a bottle of brut rosse to at least have a toast for an awesome HK-Macau weekend.

EIGHTH STOP: Condo Unit

We went back to the unit to pack up our stuff and cleanup the place. Then we had late dinner and some "Goodbye HK" dramas. haha! Then our ride to the airport came so we went down the building, rode the cab, and went to the airport.

NINTH STOP: Hong Kong International Airport

We checked in, and it took us long walks inside the airport just to get to the waiting area. When we got there, we waited for quite a long time. So while waiting, we entertained ourselves with our books, gadgets, and chitchats. And finally, it's boarding time!

FINAL STOP: Reality!
The fact that the entire weekend trip was over, we were officially back to reality! No more postcard-like photos, fashion hype due to cold weather, and currency conversions. haha! It has been one of the best weekends I've ever had!:)

Awesome Hong Kong-Macau Weekend (Part 1)

In January, my girl friends found a seat sale and impulsively booked themselves on a round trip flight to Hong Kong at Php 4000 each. Before they booked, they invited me but I had to say no since I was trying to save money at that time. But after a day or two, I finally decided to go with them, but only the flight back was on sale, and my round trip fare amounted to Php 7000+. Gosh, if I only knew I'll be coming, I should've asked them to book for me the same time they did. But during the trip, I realized that my plane fare was worth it!:)

March 17 was our flight. I had to go through an earlier flight ('coz it's cheaper). My flight was at 7pm while my friends' flight was at 10pm. But again, I had no choice but to go to the airport alone. Unfortunately, I left my other cellphone in the cab as I went down the airport. I forced myself to feel okay despite what happened. I read a book while having coffee and waiting for my boarding time.

The time of my arrival in HK was the time of the departure of my friends from Manila. One of my friends came from Singapore and had a connecting flight from Manila to HK. I waited for 4 hours in Hong Kong International Airport. Thank God they got a really nice airport. Plus I was so thankful that BBM worked on wifi. Because of that, my friend Rein who's living in HK met me up in the airport with her mom. They even treated me for dinner.

w/ my friend Rein

  dinner

My friends arrived at 1am. God, it was freaking cold as we got out of the airport. We didn't pack right because according to my research, it was not as cold in HK  anymore at that time. It was only when I got in Manila International Airport Terminal 3 that Rein texted me that temperature in HK suddenly dropped. Gosh, I was kind of in trouble since I didn't pack any thick clothes. All I had to save me from that weather were just a couple of cardigans and a pair of jeans. I even left my stockings/leggings at home.

 travel buddies

We took a cab going to the condo unit of Thina's aunt who works as an FA in Cathay Pacific. Good thing she's in Manila so the place was all ours.:)

inside the bldg elevator

When we arrived in the room, we freshened up, had dinner and watched a DVD movie. We slept at around 4am looking forward to fantastic day when we wake up.

(To be continued)