It was barely two months ago when my mom told me she and Papa talked about going to Hong Kong. I  thought at first she was just joking since we had just come home from our Cebu-Bohol Trip (which I was not able to blog about here). So when I saw the Cebu Pacific seat sale announcement, I immediately sent her a text message to let her know about it. She said yes, and she instructed me to book for a round trip flight for her…and 10 more! That meant she, my papa, my sister Anne, me, Daddy Bong, Ate Kara, Jeremy, Cassie, my sister Iyoy, her husband and my niece Freya would all go. Yes, you heard it right, all eleven of us were going to HK.

I was able to find a flight that would accommodate all 11 of us, and it was on October 6′s first flight out of Manila to HK (at 5:40 am!) that we left for HK. It took 2 hours to reach the HK International Airport, and another hour or so for the immigration check, and to get our bags. After that, we bought Octopus cards to be used for our trips within HK, aboard buses, MTRs, and even Star Ferry!

Before 9am, we were on our way to Tsim Sha Tsui’s Taisan Guesthouse, which is managed by Ate Yolly, a very nice Filipina who has been working in HK for the past 21 years. Where we stayed, the MTR station was a few steps away, and outside the building was the bus stop. It was also very near shopping places, (found a Bossini outlet and sports house outlet within the vicinity), and other tourist spots like the museums and the Avenue of Stars/Star Ferry station.

Although Daddy Bong and I had a hard time taking care of two overly active kids who wanted to be carried when they got tired walking (In HK, you will do a looooooooot of walking, which I didn’t mind, actually, if not for carrying Cassie), I still wanna go back to HK. Soon, I hope.

Anyway, I am posting photos, actually, which is the very reason for this so I won’t bore you with the other details of the trip. I hope the photos would do justice to the fun we had during our 4-day, 3-night stay in HK. Oh, we went home on the morning of Sunday, October 9.

As promised, here are the photos…

Arriving in HKIA.

On our first night in HK, after a bit of rest, we went to the Victoria Harbour/Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront/clock Tower to watch A symphony of Lights, it’s a light and sound show participated in by about 40 buildings on both sides of the Harbour. It’s on every 8pm, and it’s really a sight to watch. Many tourists flock to the place.

On day 2, we started it by going to Tung Chung to board the cable car that would take us to Ngong Ping. Ngong Ping 360 as it’s called, is a 5.7 km cable car ride which gives you panoramic views of the HK International Airport, the South China Sea, and the Tian Tian Buddha. I am not particularly fond of heights so it took time getting used to it. What was nice about the experience was the cool breeze as we traversed the whole thing. It was also amazing to see other cable cars making their way to Ngong Ping. The experience was nice, tho to me, it was a bit too long. Parang saken, 2km, ok na. I’m not fond of heights, remember?

After Ngong Ping, we headed to Disneyland. It was pretty late already but since Disneyland closes at 11pm on weekends, we decided to proceed to Disneyland. As expected there were practically no more characters except for a few which had really long lines. But what was important was we had our photo op with Tinkerbelle who is the kids’ most fave character. To get to Disneyland from Tung Chung, we took the MTR to Sunny Bay, where we alighted for the connecting trip via MTR to Disneyland. You’d know you’re riding the Disneyland MTR because there were Disney characters everywhere inside it. It was also Haunted Halloween time so when the darkness sets in, the scary characters come out of hiding. We also witnessed the Glow-in-the-dark parade.

The following day, we brought the kids to the HK Science Museum which was a really smart move because they enjoyed themselves so much. The Museum is just a short walking distance from where we were staying in TST. The Museum is soooo big. The third floor houses the Children’s Gallery where the kids played with the bubble hoops, the slow bubble machine, and had fun at the kiddie play area.

It was fun watching Jeremy and Cassie interacting with the other kids. One insight I got was that language was not a barrier for them. It didn’t matter that mine are Filipinos, and the others, Chinese, some Americans/caucasians. All it took were innocence and the ability to have pure fun. Some kids accidentally hit others but I noticed they didn’t mind. In fact, they even became instant friends, laughing and playing after being hit by the other. I wish it were the same for us, adults.

After the HK Science Museum, we went to the Victoria Peak. First, we boarded the Star Ferry at the Victoria Harbour on Tsim Sha Tsui, which took us to the Central Pier. From there, we rode the open top Bus 15C which took us to the lower terminus of The Peak Tram. There we rode the Peak Tram to the Peak Tower, then we went Madame Tussauds to see the wax figures on display.

The following day, October 9, we took the first flight via Cebu Pac out of Hong Kong at 8:25 am. From the guesthouse, we took a van to the HKIA. We were just in time for our flight!

As I have said, the trip to HK was too short, but it was still enjoyable. Since Daddy Bong and I weren’t able to really really enjoy it, we’re hoping to go back soon, without the kids this time. We need a break, after all. When it would be, let’s just wait and see.

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Thanks to the thread Hong Kong for Dummies found in the Pinoy Exchange Forum, arranging our trip to HK was a breeze. Read everything to get acquainted with HK. The people who made that thread are geniuses, and much of the credit for arranging our itinerary goes to them. Maraming salamat po sa inyo!

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