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 4)

We we're really starving after our whole day activities in HK Disneyland, good thing we're bound to our friend's Italian restaurant in Wan Chai, where we'll celebrate her birthday in advance.

Our friend Rein's family owns an authentic Italian restaurant named La Piazetta, with branches in Central HK and in Wan Chai. Rein actually works in the Central branch but her step dad works in Central so she had to take us there for our FREE authentic Italian dinner. And since its her advanced birthday celebration, she was the one who chose our food. we were served with lots of authentic Italian dishes, from soup to pasta to pizza! (How I wish I could recall their names haha!) We even had several bottles of wine! I consider this night the most unforgettable dinner of my life! All the food we had were actually expensive but it came unlimited and free! We're really lucky to have such a good friend.:)

 on our way to Wan Chai (do we look hungry here?)

 red wine to start the night

 sparkling wine after meal

 Rein's 25th birthday

 girl friends

 THUMBS UP!!!

After dinner, we decided to have a nightout. We went to Rein's apartment in Central where we had a couple of drinks then we proceeded to Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) for a fun Saturday night party. It was a cool place 'coz it's where all the party places were. There were lots of expats, tourists, and locals who were drinking and dancing everywhere!

pretty cool that Rein's coat and bag matched the train station's theme

first stop: a freezing bar - fur coats were available for use

 it's where we had a round of vodka, courtesy of Rein

 we were trying to spell L-O-V-E-!

Then we kept walking around LKF to try other places. We had a stopover at almost every bar we saw. But since we're already so tired of walking, we settled at The Basement. A Filipina waitress who's working in that place invited us there 'coz it was ladies' night and all the girls were entitled for free drinks. That's how lucky we were! What an all-free night! haha!:))

 random people who crashed in our picture

 pls. don't get bothered of the image in the background lol

 clubbin'

 LKF!

 people dancing outside the bar like Step Up!

 Lan Kwai Fong

 The Basement

After a great night, we headed home. Since the MTR was close, and there's no bus trip going to our condo, we had to stay at rein's place for a sleepover. We woke up after a few hours of sleep and headed home. It was a blast!:)

(To be continued)