HongKong Trip 20/11/12 - 26/11/12

My very first family trip was to HongKong. Although it happened two years ago , I still have fresh memories of it :)

Here it goes~~

Day 1. Arrival , Check In , Avenue of Stars.

The carefree and fluffy sky :) 

Touchdown safely at HK Airport.

The hotel we stayed in during our travel.
They have the BEST service so I would strongly recommend all of you to stay in this hotel when you go HK!!

My sisters and I 's room. (4pax)

My parents' room. 

Spacious and comfortable toilet!
We had two of this toilet because we connected our room through a door in between :) This saved us time as two person can shower at the same time and we had 6pax! 

The view of out of our window. That street there is the Temple Street. Famous for street stalls. I bought all my soveniers there. Together with some clothes for myself :) 

Both pictures show the streets of HK. It's quite busy at times. Alot people and cars. 

Glutinious Rice Dumplings. 

Curry Fishball.
This two items were the first local food we tried. For dinner , we had street foods too. 

This was taken on our way to Avenue of Stars. 

This female statue is seen right as we enter the Avenue of Stars. (P.S. I don't know her name)

P.S. Sorry for the lousy nightview shots! I forgot to bring my tripod there and that is a MUST if you want to capture a breathtaking nightview shot.  

This is the shops you will see at the end of the Avenue of Star. 

Avenue of Stars is a place that has most famous people's statue , handprints and things like that. It's known as the "Hollywood Of The East." It has paranomic view of the city's skyline and it's set against "The Peak".

Usually at 8pm , there will be a light show called the Symphony of Lights. It last for about 15minutes from what i know of. A pity , my family and  I didn't managed to see it when we go there. :( 

Oh and , when you go there , you have to get the dry cuttlefish! It taste D E L I C I O U S !! 

Here's a little help on directory : 

Address : Promenade, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

How to get there : MTR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station, Exit J. Follow the signs to the Avenue of Stars.

Source: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/see-do/highlight-attractions/top-10/avenue-of-stars.jsp#ixzz30LZBb19t

Day 2. Lantau Island. 

The weather on this day was great so my parents decided that we should go to Lantau Island first since this place require a good weather in order to visit. 

We ate Mac for breakfast because most of the shops weren't opened when we get there.
The items they have at Macdonalds are really different from the ones in Singapore!

Tung Chung MTR Station.

This is the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Station that we had to go to in order to reach Lantau Island.

See that island over there nearer to the left hand side of the screen? Don't misundertand , that is just 1/3 of the journey. 

Tickets bought , Next stop , Cable Car! The tickets were rather costly actually. Perhaps because we took the crystal cabin!

The journey starts! It takes about 45minutes to 1 hour to reach Lantau Island and this is dependent on the weather too. 

Guess what , the glass we are stepping on is transparent. It's called a crystal cabin because 360 degree of view is unblocked. All clear glass!

Enjoy the magnificent view taken while on the cable car below!! 

The view is really awesome! But it'll probably not be enjoyable for people with acrophobia! 

We are reaching!!

All this is what we see when we step out of the Cable Car Station!
It was really breezy and cold up here.

As you walk along the streets leading to the Big Buddha , you'll see shops like this. They sell soveniers and all. But , NOT CHEAP!

As we walk , the Big Buddha gets larger and clearer , in our area of vision. 

But before you reach the Big Buddha , you will actually see generals like the ones in the picture above.
These generals represents different zodiac signs. FIND YOURS AND TAKE A PICTURE WITH IT!

This place reminds me of small street stalls , like a kampong.

WE FINALLY REACHED! IT WASN'T EASY CLIMBING THE STAIRS. IT'S CRAZY.
268 steps , you'll be tired halfway through.
BUTTTTT , I would say the climbings are all worthwhile. :') You definitely wouldn't regret. 

The view at the top of the stairs let you overlook almost the villiage of Lantau Island , the unwanted buildings , the mountain , trees and etc. It's definitely a good view. 

The maginificent and gigantic big buddha.

Surrounding the big buddha is statues like this. They probably act as the guardian angel or the underwings of the Big Buddha. If i make sense. Haha.

Going to Lantau Island , YOU MUST TRY THEIR BEANCURD AND VEGETARIAN SNACKS. IT'S THE BEST! I LOVE IT!!
I had these food at the foot of a temple located just walking distance from the Big Buddha. Go venture and you'll find it. 

After a tiring day , we took the Crystal Cabin back to HongKong Island. This time round , we had the entire cabin to ourselves. Unlike when we first took the cable car , we had to share it with 2 other people. It wasn't as cramp though , the cable car was spacious and had no issue with 8 pax being in it. 

Lantau Island is probably more for the Buddhist people as the main attractions up there are buddhism related. I doubt it will suit young travellers like teenagers since they are more of an adventure traveller. 

Of course , there are other attractions at Lantau Island , not just the Tian Tan Big Buddha. They have Po Lin Monastry , Heart Sutra Pillars. That you'll have to go online and check them out as I didn't visit them. 

Day 3. Macau. Venetians :D

Macau is not far from HongKong Island , just a boat ride for 1 hour or so? So my family decided to go Macau to sightsee. 

Before we set off to Macau , we had Dimsum at one of the Restarant just at the side of our hotel. It was classy. 

Char Shao Su

Chee Cheong Fun.

Chicken Feet Rice

Porridge , Carrot Cake.

Meat Dumpling.

Prawn Dumpling.

Guo Tie.

Char Shao Bun.

Siew Mai

The food was D E L I C I O U S!!

Turbo Jet Tickets.

Our boat.

Upon arrival. It was kind of messy once we made it out of clearance. Tour guides everywhere , pushing you to themselves , wanting you to buy from them.
My family met this really nice tourguide , a lady , so we bought from her and she cruised us around Macau. 

Architectures above is what we saw after she brought us out of the terminal and we walked a little. All scenics architectures. 

This few pictures above was captured while i was on the coach of hers as she ferry us around. 

She dropped us off at the place for a little sightseeing and stuff. We had wanton mee at one of the stall just around the corner of this building and it was great! This place was also kinda packed with tourist. 

The Holy Church of Macau. 

Managed to see part of the Grand Lisboa of Macau , a renowned hotel and casino. 

GUESS WHAT! She brought us to see the remains of St Paul's Church , the place where Jihoo and Jandi of BOF came! I was ecstatic! Beautiful Sight. 

She then brought us to a temple to pray. 

Tallest Bungee Tower in Macau. Of course , I didn't tried. I would be scared to death. Haha.

The Grand Lisboa!

The tourguide then brought us to see this Guan Yin Statue that was surrounded by sea water at the sides. It is known to resemble both Mother Therea/Mary and GuanYin. Both elements are in.

GUESS WHERE! YES! VENETIAN!! THE PLACE WHERE BOF FILMEDD!!!
This was the best part of the Macau Sightseeing. We stayed for a long long time in there. It was just beautiful , scroll down! 

Above are the views at the entrance. 

The inside is just breathtaking. I used to thought the sky was real but i was wrong haha. STILLL , inside was really pretty and classy. It has this elegant aura , an undescribable one. You have to be on site to feel it.

You must never miss out the famous Macau Egg Tarts. It's awesome!

More photos of the inside because there's no limit to the beauty. You can never take enough pictures of it.

Always wanted to buy this kind of masks but we didn't had anymore time , so i didn't manage to buy it. Such a pity. 

Just before we exited. 

As we left in the coach , the outside of this building had a musical play going on. It was played through the outer walls of this buildings. Many gathered to watch. It was indeed nice but we couldn't stayed and watch because we had to rush for our ferry. :(

The night of Macau.

Slowly savouring the taste of these egg tarts after we reached our hotel. 6 egg tarts for 6pax , so not enough! :( 

Macau will be suitable for all if you guys do not have any other plans in HK. It is nice to step out of HK island and see how Macau looks like , for those who have not been there before. It will be more awesome to stay the night at Venetian Hotel because from what i heard , it's huge and great! I would love to do so if i got the chance!

A little help for directory :

Where to get ferry : Central 

How to get there :  MTR Sheung Wan Station, Exit D

Source : http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/plan-your-trip/practicalities/transport/getting-here/by-ferry.jsp

Day 4. Ocean Park. 

Breakfast was at the usual dimsum restaurant , then we walked down the streets and snacked a little. This is the egg waffles! Wanted to get their smelly toufu but was kinda ex , not worth it.

This is our bus ticket to Ocean Park. 

We reached Ocean Park after around 30-45 mins.

Bought our tickets for entrance! 

This images was what we saw after we entered the entrance. 

We decided to go to the aquarium first , since it's right in front of us. Definitely amazed at the marine creatures we saw inside. 

Stingrayss , my favourite!

Lobster.

Starfish.

The cutest crab i've ever seen! 

Scary Octopus :(

Sea Horseee!

Weird looking sea urchin. 

Schoolfish? We saw this nearer to the exit. 

Biggest Crab I've ever seen. 

Didn't managed to see any dolphins other than these plushies :(

After we stepped out , we went to see the pandas at their enclosure!

Lazy cutiepie panda.

I forgot what's this. Haha. 

Afterwhich , we went to take the cable car to the higher parts of Ocean Park. Meanwhile , this are photos of the view!

I really like this photo and the one above it cause it's so beautiful with sunrays beaming through the cloud. 

The scary ride that i didn't take. 

The Arctic White Fox!

Seals ^^

   

Last shot of the nightview from the cable car as it stops midway. Haha. It was kinda scary but hey , there was breeze and the view is great , so why not make use of it!

Ocean Park is definitely getting older , the facilities and all didn't seemed as new as i thought it would be. But my parents said it did change a little as compared to last time when they came. So i guess , all is considered new still. Haha. It will be enjoyable for kids and adults as they get to see creatures they would not be able to come upon in daily life. Educational for them too. 

Day 5. DisneyLand.

This is the train we had to take in order to reach disneyland. Ain't it cutee? 

This is how the inside looks like. 

Disneyland Station.

Here we are!

The fountain that stood at the entrance to Disneyland Resort. 

First thing that all will see and take photo at once they stepped into Disneyland gantries. 

The inside of disneyland is more of shophouses. Some are real restaurants and shops while some are just there for show. 

Everywhere we go , we'll see cartoon characters , the "real" ones :) 

The part of a Disneyland that i love the most will probably be the castle because it's so princess-y :)

At certain timing of the day , there'll be a disney characters parade , it's really interested and you'll see all of the disney characters that were spread across the entire disneyland during photo taking. At this point in time , all phototaking stops and will resume only after the parade ended.  

This is the inside of a shooting game , where you sit in a moving chair. As it guides you around , you have to shoot at targets to earn points! Rather interesting and competitive!

All time love , the carousel. 

This is the outside of a Musical House , pretty ain't it? 

The inside of musical house :)

This is a roller coaster ride that my family enjoyed the most because we took it twice or thrice! It was hilarious! 

Tree house of Tarzan's I think! Haha. 

Nightview was amazing with all the lights around. 

The inside of the sovenier shop is pretty and classy i would say.

As we exit , everything looks so much prettier when they are lit up as compared to in the daytime. We spent a whole day here , feeling fatigue after reaching the hotel. 

If you ask me if Disneyland is suitable for older kids like teenagers , i would say not much , unless they don't mind little adventure for them to venture. Disneyland main focus will be for younger kids or let's say , 13 and below. It will attract them more.

Check this link for directory: http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/tools/transportation/detail?name=ByMTRDetailPage


Day 6. Huang Da Xian.

Being a buddhist , my family like to visit temples and monastary etc. So we went to the well known Huang Da Xian Temple. They even had a MTR named after him.

As you can see , the weather wasn't at it's best on that day. Rain and rain and rain. I didn't even managed to take much photos on that day cause of the rain. 

After leaving the temple , we went to a mall and shopped a little before going to Temple Street again for more shoppings. Haha. Last day was kinda slack and wasted to me. 

Day 7. Check Out , Departure , Home Sweet Home. 

Time to depart and leave. Sadly. Can't bear to go back to a humid weather when the weather here is so cooling.

Hotel Lobby

Hotel's Bus Bay.

Flight back home.

Overall , I would say i enjoyed going to Hongkong , since it's my first time therer and I experienced several things. The hotel staff were great and friendly , where i stayed was convenient , whatmore can i fuss about? Everything was at its best!  

Few tips when you go HK : 

Learn some cantonese , it will help. 

Bargain and bargain , you will be amazed at how much you can deduct off the actual price!

Where comfortable clothes and shoes , it will help since most of the time you'll be walking around. 

Get a coin pouch , you will need it. 

Be careful of theives , of course. 

Last but not least , bring a camera! Haha.

That's all for now , toodles! ^_^