Hello everyone!~~
This is the 1st part of my travel documentation post to our recent trip in Hongkong (and a day tour in Macau). We decided to do our own 5D4N DIY tour & managed to save some money while enjoying our tour at our own pace. Traveling around Hongkong is pretty much easy.. thanks to their very expansive & tourist-friendly public transportation system. Since we're in a DIY tour, we purchased our Octopus Card right at the airport to make our travel more convenient.
at Hongkong International Airport
For first time travelers of Hongkong, Octopus Card is a very convenient way to pay fares in Hongkong's public transportation such as the MTR, Airport Express, Trams, bus and can also be used for purchasing goods in Convenience stores, car park fees, paying bills for dining in restaurants like Mcdonalds, starbucks etc. We purchased HK$150 worth of Octopus card; HK$50 for initial deposit and refundable upon return of the card before you leave Hongkong & Hk$100 load. And on our 2nd day we top-up additional HK$50. In our case, HK$200 worth of Octopus Card was already sufficient in our 5days of commuting around Hongkong.
With Octopus Card and MTR guide map, we're ready to explore Hongkong! Yay!
We went straight to the bus stop from the airport and rode the A21 bus to get to our hotel accommodation in the heart of Tsim Tsa Tsui and alight at the 14th bus stop as instructed in the hotel website. Bus fare is HK$33 & the ride takes about less than an hour. Buses in Hongkong have number codes so even riding buses to get around Hongkong is just so easy. From the bus stop, we walk around 50 meters backward and viola.. we're in our hotel accommodation.
A21 Bus
We stayed in Modern inn hotel in our entire stay in Hongkong located at the Mirador Mansion. It was a surprise to us that Hotel/hostels in Hongkong share the same building. We availed their Family room via agoda and paid Php2,500.00 per night. Our room is small which is typical in Hongkong but very cozy with basic amenities, hot&cold shower, hair dryer and a 220volt 2 lines electrical socket provided (They used rounded shape socket in Hongkong). The hotel also have communal pastry area with mini ref, coffee maker & free purifying water. Availing a family room for just the two of us was a brilliant decision because it gave us enough space for our luggage and a bigger bed. I could not imagine how we would move around our room for 4 nights if ever we availed the double room as we initially planned. Overall, we had a pleasant stay in this hotel with superb location -- walking distance from the MTR station, Avenue of Stars, Museums and China Ferry Terminal to Macau.
See how small our room was
Other side of the room
comfort room with glass divider
After we had settled our stuff in our room, we went out for our late lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant and had our first [and bad] dinning experience in Hongkong. In the middle of eating our meal, the waiter throw the bill in our table carelessly. He also don't observe proper serving etiquette and his finger was already swimming in the milktea ordered by a group of girls sitting beside our table. Ewww. We just decided to buy our drinks at 7/11.
We went back to our hotel for a restful sleep and ended our day with a hearty bowl of noodles in a restaurant nearby. I dont know how the restaurant is called because its written in Chinese character. The soup has shrimp dumplings and fish balls. It tastes so yummy. The waiter in this restaurant was way better than the previous one and can speak English quite good.
Yum yum!
Afterwhich, we headed for a night stroll in Avenue of Star with the beautiful City lights of Victoria Bay in our background. I told myself, "We're in Hongkong, indeed"..
Beautiful City Lights of Victoria Harbour
To be continued.
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