This is probably the most challenging trip I ever had in my life. Taiwan and Singapore were a breeze, though this is not my first time in Hongkong. My first one was company sponsored so I did not have to worry with the itinerary nor the language. It was a series of unfortunate events, wrong decisions that made it more challenging.. but we did enjoy it.
Day 1:
Arrived at the Manila airport at around 530am, paid our travel taxes and went ahead to check-in our luggages. I decided to withdraw before going to the immigration but the ATM Machine had no cash! To tell you honestly, I did not withdraw the night before for fear of holdup or robbery.
My friends and his family decided to eat breakfast first in tapa king just before going to our designated gate. I went to the nearest money changer but they are closed due to the ongoing audit.. pheww! Another Malas..
Good thing the Airasia flight was on time..really on time. We experienced a lot of turbulence on our way to Hongkong. And with the weather forecast of 6 degrees Celsius, we were expecting a cold vacation. So upon arriving at the HK International airport, we were quite surprised to see a lot of Chinese wearing bulky clothes, complete with thermal jacket, boots, scarves and gloves. And compared to our Baguio-ish outfit, just plain jacket to beat the cold, we must have came unprepared.
But that was not the thing that messed our first day in HK. My friend Rain got held up in the immigration. We waited and waited for like forever... We don't know what the fuss is all about. My tummy is rumbling and I could see my son, almost losing his patience for all the wait. We arrived on time in the airport around 10:30 AM but only left there around quarter to 2. It was traumatic... None of us really don't know why they held him up. In the immigration, he was asked about basic questions and was dismissed when they found out he was travelling with his family.
We went to Mcdo to take our lunch but the place was so full, we could not squeeze ourselves in. We decided to eat at the place where we are staying, At that time we just contented ourselves with the cookies we munched while we were waiting for Rain earlier.
We purchased the Octopus Card in the Customer service Centre inside the airport and I took that chance to grab some bread for my precious one. It was like HK$26. Then headed down and went to the A21 Bus.
The A21 bus is a double decker bus. It has free wifi and it has an area where you can put your luggages. There is a cctv on it and the images or video is feed through the monitors on both decks. I have not experienced the double decker buses in Edsa so it was actually my first time.
We were to alight at Argyle st. Mongkok but to some reason we landed at the wrong place. Malas! We asked the bus driver but he does not even understand us.
With the luggages, 2kids and 2 oldies in tow we searched for anyone who can give us direction. It was drizzling at that time so just imagine how cold can 3.3 degrees be , with the cruel wind blowing from time to time. Desperate, we searched for free wifi so we can at least communicate with Alice ( the owner of the place).
The address I got from google for Excelsior home is the one in Sai yee street but the one actaully assigned to us is the one in Fa yuen Street. I did not know the owner has many apartments! I do hold accountable for that as I did not check with Rain. So it all messed up the maps and the screenshots I have prepared.
To cut the story short, Alice and his cute son Lawrence accompanied us all the way to the apartment. It was a lot of walking, crossing of streets that it's hard to remember. With time no longer at our side, we took our time out to familiarize the vicinity and headed to shop for some clothes, gloves, and bonnets to beat the cold. Ocean Park has to be moved to our last day.
Shopping in Mongkok is hard. The vendors don't mind you as they don't understand English.
Tip#1 Look for stalls that have their goods with tags/prices. In that way, you just pay and avoid that pain of having to go through that communication barrier.
Day 1:
Arrived at the Manila airport at around 530am, paid our travel taxes and went ahead to check-in our luggages. I decided to withdraw before going to the immigration but the ATM Machine had no cash! To tell you honestly, I did not withdraw the night before for fear of holdup or robbery.
My friends and his family decided to eat breakfast first in tapa king just before going to our designated gate. I went to the nearest money changer but they are closed due to the ongoing audit.. pheww! Another Malas..
Good thing the Airasia flight was on time..really on time. We experienced a lot of turbulence on our way to Hongkong. And with the weather forecast of 6 degrees Celsius, we were expecting a cold vacation. So upon arriving at the HK International airport, we were quite surprised to see a lot of Chinese wearing bulky clothes, complete with thermal jacket, boots, scarves and gloves. And compared to our Baguio-ish outfit, just plain jacket to beat the cold, we must have came unprepared.
But that was not the thing that messed our first day in HK. My friend Rain got held up in the immigration. We waited and waited for like forever... We don't know what the fuss is all about. My tummy is rumbling and I could see my son, almost losing his patience for all the wait. We arrived on time in the airport around 10:30 AM but only left there around quarter to 2. It was traumatic... None of us really don't know why they held him up. In the immigration, he was asked about basic questions and was dismissed when they found out he was travelling with his family.
We went to Mcdo to take our lunch but the place was so full, we could not squeeze ourselves in. We decided to eat at the place where we are staying, At that time we just contented ourselves with the cookies we munched while we were waiting for Rain earlier.
We purchased the Octopus Card in the Customer service Centre inside the airport and I took that chance to grab some bread for my precious one. It was like HK$26. Then headed down and went to the A21 Bus.
The A21 bus is a double decker bus. It has free wifi and it has an area where you can put your luggages. There is a cctv on it and the images or video is feed through the monitors on both decks. I have not experienced the double decker buses in Edsa so it was actually my first time.
We were to alight at Argyle st. Mongkok but to some reason we landed at the wrong place. Malas! We asked the bus driver but he does not even understand us.
With the luggages, 2kids and 2 oldies in tow we searched for anyone who can give us direction. It was drizzling at that time so just imagine how cold can 3.3 degrees be , with the cruel wind blowing from time to time. Desperate, we searched for free wifi so we can at least communicate with Alice ( the owner of the place).
The address I got from google for Excelsior home is the one in Sai yee street but the one actaully assigned to us is the one in Fa yuen Street. I did not know the owner has many apartments! I do hold accountable for that as I did not check with Rain. So it all messed up the maps and the screenshots I have prepared.
To cut the story short, Alice and his cute son Lawrence accompanied us all the way to the apartment. It was a lot of walking, crossing of streets that it's hard to remember. With time no longer at our side, we took our time out to familiarize the vicinity and headed to shop for some clothes, gloves, and bonnets to beat the cold. Ocean Park has to be moved to our last day.
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| Me and Xander at Bute Street |
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| As if the cold is never enough |
Shopping in Mongkok is hard. The vendors don't mind you as they don't understand English.
Tip#1 Look for stalls that have their goods with tags/prices. In that way, you just pay and avoid that pain of having to go through that communication barrier.
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