8 – 12 December 2010
I had promised my niece, la niña, a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland if she did well in her UPSR and to our surprise, she did exactly that. I had wanted to take her on the trip at a later date, maybe during one of next year’s school hols, but decided to bring forward the trip. So, on 19 November, I booked a Hong Kong SuperCity Package from Cathay Pacific (the package included a return trip, a 3-day 2-night hotel accommodation, return airport transfer either by coach or Airport Express Line (AEL) and complimentary half-day city tour among others). If you are planning to go to Hong Kong, I really suggest you take up this package as it’s really good. I extended our stay to a 4-night stay and paid only a bit for the extra two nights.
We left KLIA on Wednesday evening, 8 December 2010 (24 hours after I arrived from Medan!), and landed at 9.30 pm local time (Hong Kong is in the same time zone as Malaysia). We had to board a train from the arrival area to get to the main building, go through immigration and collect our bags. It was 10.30 pm when we finally boarded our coach but thankfully the traffic was kind to us and we reached our hotel by 11 pm. I chose the coach as if we had taken the AEL, we would still have to find our own way to the hotel and some cabbies don’t speak English.
It was a bright and sunny day on Thursday. We took the hotel shuttle to Pacific Place and made our way to Admiralty MTR station. I bought a Tourist Day Pass (it entitled us to HKD30 off Disneyland ticket price). We stopped first at Tsim Sha Tsui station as I wanted to perform prayers first at Kowloon Mosque. We then boarded the train and finally reached Disneyland after changing trains twice.
There are only three lands at HK Disneyland and I had thought we’d breezed through them all but although the queues were considerably shorter, we still found ourselves rushing here and there (we decided to watch some shows and had to turn up early for those shows to secure good seats. Those shows, in turn, lasted up to half an hour each). We finally sat down for a meal after 7 pm (the park closes at 8 pm, unbelievable I know) and then rushed to buy souvenirs. Things didn’t cost cheap there of course.
We decided to take the tram back to our hotel. Unfortunately, we got down too soon and had to walk the rest of the way back.
I had booked to join the city tour on Friday morning so we woke up early on Friday and took the hotel shuttle to Hong Kong station. We then navigated our way to Central MTR station and took the train to Causeway Bay, the nearest station to Park Lane Hotel for the city tour coach pick-up.
First we drove to Aberdeen on the other side of the island and went on an optional boat ride around the harbour to see the fishing village. The ride lasted about 30 minutes. Then we hopped back on the bus and went to a gem showroom. Next, we went to Tin Hau Temple at Repulse Bay Beach. We stayed about thirty minutes there and I wandered up and down the pier, enjoying the hazy sunshine. It was neither too hot at 23C nor too cold (wind factor).
We gathered back on the coach after 12 noon and drove to The Peak; after my first trip, I had planned to visit The Peak again anyway (although I’m not too happy about taking the tram down the hill) and I was chuffed when I found that it was included in the tour. And no trams for us, hurray. We spent another half an hour here looking down at the spectacular view of the city skyline. Too bad the day was a bit hazy.
I asked the guide to drop us at Kowloon Hotel instead of Park Lane and after having lunch at a vegetarian restaurant, we walked to find Esprit Outlet. Turned out it had been relocated from Hankow Road to In-Town Outlets at 33 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. It’s located near Harbour City (and that’s another gigantic mall – no, wait, it’s the biggest mall in HK; seriously everywhere you look, there are shops, shops and more shops! I kept wondering how people there could fit anything in their pigeon-hole apartment. Yes, consumerism is very much alive and kicking in Hong Kong). I didn’t find anything interesting at Esprit though (too many winter clothes) but managed to find some scarves at the Tie Rack outlet. After that, we headed to Haiphong Road to get to the mosque.
After prayers, we took the MTR to Mong Kok to check out the Ladies’ Market and Fa Yuen Street (aka Sports Shoes Street). We left empty-handed though as nothing particularly impressed us. I persuaded la niña to check out The Avenue of Stars and A Symphony of Lights (recognised by Guinness World Records as the World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show). There were a lot of people taking a stroll along the waterfront. We walked until the Clock Tower then turned back to find a good place to sit for the Symphony of Lights show. The show starts at 8 pm every night and we were lucky that it was conducted in English that night.
The show lasted about 15 minutes and we then went into Sogo. We stumbled upon Food Paradise at Level B2 and only then realised we hadn’t had dinner yet. After a hot bowl of seafood udon, we window-shopped and I ended up buying a pair of Skechers sports shoes (they would have cost me more in KL and even other brands would cost me more even during sale in KL). We finally left at 9.30 pm and took the MTR back to Central. As the previous night, we took the tram back and this time, alighted at the right stop (Hill Road).
I told la niña that Saturday would be a shopping day so we started off the day with a tour of Pacific Place. Still not satisfied, we left and took the train to Tsim Sha Tsui. We walked to Sogo (yes, again!); I left la niña there and went to check out The Avenue of Stars again as I didn’t walk all the way to the Bruce Lee sculpture the evening before. It was a windy noon at the waterfront promenade and after having found Bruce Lee, I hurried back to Sogo. We had lunch at Food Paradise and feeling energised, went to check out the boutiques at the posh Peninsula Hotel.
Still feeling unfulfilled, I persuaded la niña to check out Harbour City, passing the beautiful Heritage 1881 along the way (The original site of Heritage 1881 was the headquarters of the Hong Kong Marine Police from 1880s to 1996). OK folks, Marks & Spencer stuff cost less in KL so don’t bother. Then I popped into H&M at Canton Road (crazy crowd in there but the queue was fast). After that, we headed to the mosque for prayers. There was an introductory course on Islam every Saturday – in Cantonese – so there were a lot of people in the mosque when we got there.
After prayers, we hopped onto the train for Jordan to check out the Temple Street Night Market. The market opens from 4 pm (the Ladies’ Market starts from noon) and we were very glad we didn’t buy anything at the Ladies’ Market as we managed to find better bargains at Temple Street Night Market. By no way am I saying that Temple Street is cheaper or is a better bargain but do shop around and bargain, bargain hard.
La niña wanted to return to the hotel and not eat out so we headed back to Central and took the tram to Hill Road stop.
Our coach pick-up on Sunday morning was at the ungodly hour of 5.30 am so it was a ridiculously early morning for us. I had to perform prayers at the airport as morning prayers was at 5.34 am. We reached the airport at 6 and after checking in our bag, went straight to immigration. We had a light breakfast (I was already famished by then) and walked around the shops. I don’t think there’s a significant difference between the prices of goods downtown and at the airport as HK is a duty-free city anyway. We then took the train to the departure area and walked to gate 43. Turned out there’s a multi-faith prayer room near the gate anyway so if you have a noon or evening flight to catch, you can always perform prayers there.
We took off on time and landed at KLIA at 1245. My bag however took its time to get out (it came out more than ten minutes after la niña’s bag although we checked in together). Akak was already waiting for us and drove us back to Ampang.
That was my third trip to HK, so will I return? And although I have now visited all Disneylands and Disney World (syukur alhamdulillah), I wouldn’t mind visiting Disneyland Shanghai (yes, inside me is still a kid who wants to play and doesn’t want to stop playing). Wait, people are evicted to make way for the park?? Hmmm... and it’ll be smaller than HK Disneyland. OK, scratch that idea then.
I had promised my niece, la niña, a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland if she did well in her UPSR and to our surprise, she did exactly that. I had wanted to take her on the trip at a later date, maybe during one of next year’s school hols, but decided to bring forward the trip. So, on 19 November, I booked a Hong Kong SuperCity Package from Cathay Pacific (the package included a return trip, a 3-day 2-night hotel accommodation, return airport transfer either by coach or Airport Express Line (AEL) and complimentary half-day city tour among others). If you are planning to go to Hong Kong, I really suggest you take up this package as it’s really good. I extended our stay to a 4-night stay and paid only a bit for the extra two nights.
We left KLIA on Wednesday evening, 8 December 2010 (24 hours after I arrived from Medan!), and landed at 9.30 pm local time (Hong Kong is in the same time zone as Malaysia). We had to board a train from the arrival area to get to the main building, go through immigration and collect our bags. It was 10.30 pm when we finally boarded our coach but thankfully the traffic was kind to us and we reached our hotel by 11 pm. I chose the coach as if we had taken the AEL, we would still have to find our own way to the hotel and some cabbies don’t speak English.
It was a bright and sunny day on Thursday. We took the hotel shuttle to Pacific Place and made our way to Admiralty MTR station. I bought a Tourist Day Pass (it entitled us to HKD30 off Disneyland ticket price). We stopped first at Tsim Sha Tsui station as I wanted to perform prayers first at Kowloon Mosque. We then boarded the train and finally reached Disneyland after changing trains twice.
There are only three lands at HK Disneyland and I had thought we’d breezed through them all but although the queues were considerably shorter, we still found ourselves rushing here and there (we decided to watch some shows and had to turn up early for those shows to secure good seats. Those shows, in turn, lasted up to half an hour each). We finally sat down for a meal after 7 pm (the park closes at 8 pm, unbelievable I know) and then rushed to buy souvenirs. Things didn’t cost cheap there of course.
We decided to take the tram back to our hotel. Unfortunately, we got down too soon and had to walk the rest of the way back.
I had booked to join the city tour on Friday morning so we woke up early on Friday and took the hotel shuttle to Hong Kong station. We then navigated our way to Central MTR station and took the train to Causeway Bay, the nearest station to Park Lane Hotel for the city tour coach pick-up.
First we drove to Aberdeen on the other side of the island and went on an optional boat ride around the harbour to see the fishing village. The ride lasted about 30 minutes. Then we hopped back on the bus and went to a gem showroom. Next, we went to Tin Hau Temple at Repulse Bay Beach. We stayed about thirty minutes there and I wandered up and down the pier, enjoying the hazy sunshine. It was neither too hot at 23C nor too cold (wind factor).
We gathered back on the coach after 12 noon and drove to The Peak; after my first trip, I had planned to visit The Peak again anyway (although I’m not too happy about taking the tram down the hill) and I was chuffed when I found that it was included in the tour. And no trams for us, hurray. We spent another half an hour here looking down at the spectacular view of the city skyline. Too bad the day was a bit hazy.
I asked the guide to drop us at Kowloon Hotel instead of Park Lane and after having lunch at a vegetarian restaurant, we walked to find Esprit Outlet. Turned out it had been relocated from Hankow Road to In-Town Outlets at 33 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. It’s located near Harbour City (and that’s another gigantic mall – no, wait, it’s the biggest mall in HK; seriously everywhere you look, there are shops, shops and more shops! I kept wondering how people there could fit anything in their pigeon-hole apartment. Yes, consumerism is very much alive and kicking in Hong Kong). I didn’t find anything interesting at Esprit though (too many winter clothes) but managed to find some scarves at the Tie Rack outlet. After that, we headed to Haiphong Road to get to the mosque.
After prayers, we took the MTR to Mong Kok to check out the Ladies’ Market and Fa Yuen Street (aka Sports Shoes Street). We left empty-handed though as nothing particularly impressed us. I persuaded la niña to check out The Avenue of Stars and A Symphony of Lights (recognised by Guinness World Records as the World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show). There were a lot of people taking a stroll along the waterfront. We walked until the Clock Tower then turned back to find a good place to sit for the Symphony of Lights show. The show starts at 8 pm every night and we were lucky that it was conducted in English that night.
The show lasted about 15 minutes and we then went into Sogo. We stumbled upon Food Paradise at Level B2 and only then realised we hadn’t had dinner yet. After a hot bowl of seafood udon, we window-shopped and I ended up buying a pair of Skechers sports shoes (they would have cost me more in KL and even other brands would cost me more even during sale in KL). We finally left at 9.30 pm and took the MTR back to Central. As the previous night, we took the tram back and this time, alighted at the right stop (Hill Road).
I told la niña that Saturday would be a shopping day so we started off the day with a tour of Pacific Place. Still not satisfied, we left and took the train to Tsim Sha Tsui. We walked to Sogo (yes, again!); I left la niña there and went to check out The Avenue of Stars again as I didn’t walk all the way to the Bruce Lee sculpture the evening before. It was a windy noon at the waterfront promenade and after having found Bruce Lee, I hurried back to Sogo. We had lunch at Food Paradise and feeling energised, went to check out the boutiques at the posh Peninsula Hotel.
Still feeling unfulfilled, I persuaded la niña to check out Harbour City, passing the beautiful Heritage 1881 along the way (The original site of Heritage 1881 was the headquarters of the Hong Kong Marine Police from 1880s to 1996). OK folks, Marks & Spencer stuff cost less in KL so don’t bother. Then I popped into H&M at Canton Road (crazy crowd in there but the queue was fast). After that, we headed to the mosque for prayers. There was an introductory course on Islam every Saturday – in Cantonese – so there were a lot of people in the mosque when we got there.
After prayers, we hopped onto the train for Jordan to check out the Temple Street Night Market. The market opens from 4 pm (the Ladies’ Market starts from noon) and we were very glad we didn’t buy anything at the Ladies’ Market as we managed to find better bargains at Temple Street Night Market. By no way am I saying that Temple Street is cheaper or is a better bargain but do shop around and bargain, bargain hard.
La niña wanted to return to the hotel and not eat out so we headed back to Central and took the tram to Hill Road stop.
Our coach pick-up on Sunday morning was at the ungodly hour of 5.30 am so it was a ridiculously early morning for us. I had to perform prayers at the airport as morning prayers was at 5.34 am. We reached the airport at 6 and after checking in our bag, went straight to immigration. We had a light breakfast (I was already famished by then) and walked around the shops. I don’t think there’s a significant difference between the prices of goods downtown and at the airport as HK is a duty-free city anyway. We then took the train to the departure area and walked to gate 43. Turned out there’s a multi-faith prayer room near the gate anyway so if you have a noon or evening flight to catch, you can always perform prayers there.
We took off on time and landed at KLIA at 1245. My bag however took its time to get out (it came out more than ten minutes after la niña’s bag although we checked in together). Akak was already waiting for us and drove us back to Ampang.
That was my third trip to HK, so will I return? And although I have now visited all Disneylands and Disney World (syukur alhamdulillah), I wouldn’t mind visiting Disneyland Shanghai (yes, inside me is still a kid who wants to play and doesn’t want to stop playing). Wait, people are evicted to make way for the park?? Hmmm... and it’ll be smaller than HK Disneyland. OK, scratch that idea then.
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