city lights, metro huesto11.11 entry I woke up at 4 AM today to catch the 7 AM flight with mom's workmates and the 5J babies. The 5J babies, for everyone's information, are the children of those who work in the Inflight Department of my mom's company. SO. Anyway, I was really excited to travel again! Last time I went out of the country was back in 2014. Plus, I've been to Hong Kong once, and I was really looking forward to this trip because of the unfinished business I had on my list: to explore Hong Kong as if I were a local, and to experience their culture through shopping and eating street food. Let's go back to today's adventure. We'll see if I've accomplished what I wanted to happen. We arrived in HKG at 9 AM and made our way to Regal Hotel to check-in. I highly recommend this hotel because of the convenience it offers to travelers: the hotel is just a walking distance to the airport, and it provides a shuttle service to City Gate. I met a Filipino hotelier working there, hello Kuya Gerry! Anyway, he handled our group's accommodation and all that, plus, he gave us some tips about what's fun to do in Hong Kong. After getting our room keycards, we dropped our luggage at our respective rooms and headed to City Gate. City Gate is an outlet mall, with a variety of international brands, from Furla to Kate Spade and Timberland to Nike. A lot of the brands are high-end, and if one is into bargain shopping, then this might be or might not be the right place for you. There was a big sale going on during our stay here, however, I felt that there were more choices for shoppers at Tsim Sha Tsui. Well, what I absolutely loved about City Gate would be the accessibility to the Tsung Chung MTR and the local Sushi Takeout. I'm a solid sushi lover, and seeing affordable, on-the-go sushi made me look forward to going home and buying one or two take-outs for a midnight snack. The MTR station, Tsung Chung, is just one station away from Disneyland, which is the main agenda of the second day of our stay. somber skies, harbor views It was 11 AM when we had our lunch in the fancy Golden Shanghai restaurant. All I can say is, WHAT. A. FEAST. I finally dined in an authentic Hong Kong restaurant. Classy, even. It was a blessing that we had one of our companions literate in basic Mandarin. Since we only based what to order through the pictures on the menu, we didn't know that the servings were more than enough for the whole group. We ordered steamed chicken in white wine, pork cuts, bean buns, and some Mantou (YUM!). After lunch, our group headed towards Kowloon for some shopping. We rode the MTR at Tsung Chung and got off at Kowloon. We boarded the Airport Express bus and went down at Harbour City. We checked out beauty brands such as Urban Decay and Kiehl's in Facesss at Harbour City, and I'd like to give a little shoutout to the woman at Urban Decay who said I was pretty :3 You made my day!!! HAHAHAHAHA. Anyway, so my mother, brother, and I separated from the rest of the group to roam around. We saw a lot of the brands we loved, and went to hunt for the toy my brother wanted (unfortunately, Toys R Us doesn't sell Sesame Street merchandise anymore). After a while, we got tired of searching for our companions and eventually, we ate takoyaki at CookedDeli by City Super and headed back. But wait!!! A trip to Hong Kong isn't complete without dropping by Sasa! Our feet were a bit tired and it was almost 4 in the afternoon but nonetheless, Sasa uplifted our spirits. Sasa is a cosmetics retailing store and what I can say is that I highly recommend makeup fans to visit Sasa outlets because of the variety of beauty products available there. But then.... DUM DUM DAAA. They had a massive line of people by 4:30 PM and it took me thirty minutes to purchase some basic beauty products and get out. At 5 PM, we rode the free Airport Express bus back again to Kowloon MTR station and went to City Gate. morning flights, silent train We stopped over Tsung Chung for a while to get some Sushi at Sushi Takeout and to buy some noodles at 7Eleven. We also roamed around the outlet stores, and I got to buy a Nike sports bra. When we got back to the hotel, we were informed that the group will be having dinner at Terminal 2, since HKG airport is enormous (I'm not joking, they have trains to go around the airport, guys...) , and has enough restaurants for passengers waiting for their departure time. We ate at Hung's Delicacies and I was able to try eating a duck's tongue. Initial thoughts? NO THANKS. I wasn't even able to finish one so I gave it to my brother. He's a champ when it comes to eating exotic food. He ate frogs without hesitation back when we stayed at the province. During dinner, Ate Ba suggested that we go to Mongkok after dinner for some night shopping. Being the adventurous yet caged lady I am, I used my puppy dog eyes at my mom. She let me go! (YES! YES! YES!) It was thrilling because it was my first time to travel around without my mom in a foreign country and I definitely enjoyed my time with Ate Irish and Ate Ba. We shared a lot of stories about Hong Kong and life. We left early, though. At 9:30 PM, unfortunately, Mongkok shoe outlets were closing by the time we arrived. Ate Ba and I were able to buy Hong Kong's trademark street snack, bubble waffles and I guess that my initial disheartened feeling of not being able to roam around more disappeared because of bubble waffles. HAHAHAHA. Ate Irish got to buy shoes, which were in fact, fashionable. Really. Nice. Adidas. Shoes. Mongkok had a lot of Adidas outlets, they were literally everywhere. I think we went into around 12 Adidas outlets that night. After the Mongkok adventure, we headed to the airport for some McDonalds. Mini story alert!!! So while Ate Ba and Ate Irish were buying their food, there were these loud teenagers who were playing music over their speakers. We headed off to the farthest bench and boy, do those speakers reach the ends of the world. Kids these days. Ugh. Kidding!!! Haha. At 12 MN, we called it a day. I ate my sushi after, and it was 1 AM when I was finally able to catch some Zs. high-end price, absent rain11.12. For the second day, we woke up at around 7 AM and had some breakfast at McDonalds. I was really excited because D I S N E Y. You guys~ that explanation, should be enough. It was just the right kind of hot that day and the sun was just there. Of course that means that it's a good day to have fun! No weather downers like the night before; it rained during the evening. We arrived at Disneyland at 10 AM, split the group, and my family hurried off to have a picture with Buzz Lightyear. After that, I made a small should-be regrettable move to buy a headband with Minnie's ears... AND I STILL HAVE NO REGRETS. First, we blasted targets at the Buzz Lightyear ride where you just sit and aim at the glowing Zs, then we rode Space Mountain and OH. MY. GOODNESS. Mom wasn't aware that the ride was going to be a little bit extreme, so when the ride was over, we didn't get to ride on the other speedy rides. Thanks a lot mom... We love you, though. Always!!! We rode the Jungle River Cruise, like we did the first time mom and I went to Disneyland. We then ate some Dried Squid, rested (since mom was still dizzy) and watched The Lion King performance at 2 PM. Jsyk, the first time I went to Hong Kong, I watched the same show, so I can say that the magic still feels the same. THANK YOU, DISNEY. We hurried to watch the parade after the show, and I used my puppy eyes again for us to go back to the Pandora Disney Princess garden. I took a lot of pictures!!! I won't post them though, I want to go back and retake those pictures. HAHAHA. We roamed around and Mom bought me a Hong Kong Disneyland charm for my bracelet so that I'll always remember how close we've gotten through this trip, and my brother got a Mickey Mouse plushie because... he didn't get his Tickle Me Elmo (He still looks forward to get an Elmo plushie, though). When the sky dimmed and night was approaching, we decided to go back to the hotel. We were very tired, and our flight going back home was at 8 AM the following day. We ate the remaining food we had left, and after an hour, decided to sleep in since we had one more thing to buy before we headed back to our beloved MNL. airport sounds, shopping cruise11.13
At 6 AM, we bid farewell to Regal Hotel and quietly checked-in our baggage at the airport. We ate some chicken for breakfast, then roamed around the airport outlets where we bought my Clarins toner and hydrating moisturizer, and a Zara bomber jacket. I have to say though, this trip made me feel blessed because mom really gave a thumbs up when it comes to purchasing the makeup, the gear, and the additional pieces I need for training. For that, thank you mom!!! I owe you a lot. At 8 AM, we flew back home to MNL and well, that concludes the short, bitin, HKG trip we had. I think that it wasn't much of an adventure yet, because I haven't truly explored the city however, I enjoyed this trip because of the people I love the most. For that, I can say that this trip was one for the books!
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sophieA college student who has a severe case of wanderlust & binge buying instax film. ArchivesCategories |