4D3N in Hong Kong (part 1)

Hi peeps! This post will be as per the title - A very short trip to Hong Kong. 

My trip to Hong Kong could be said a sudden family trip, but actually not one. Hong Kong is a place  that my father has promised to bring me since I was 12. It's a promise fulfilled 10 years later! Kudos to my father for remembering the promise!

Here's our itinerary and the attractions opening hour:

Day 1

Hong Kong Museum of History (10am - 6pm)

Hong Kong Science Museum (10am - 7pm)

Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade 

- Clock Tower 

- Symphony of light (8pm - 8.13pm)

Day 2

Hong Kong Disneyland (10.30am - 8pm)

Ladies Market

Day 3

Ocean Park (10am - 6pm)

Times Square

Day 4

Walk around Sham Shui Po

As you can see from the itinerary above, it's a theme park trip, suitable for those who seek for adrenaline rush, nothing complicated.

For the first day, we chose to be more relaxed. So, we took a 14HKD bus from airport to Wong Chuk Street, Tsim Sha Tsui - a bus station near our hotel, after we bought the essentials - octopus card and sim card my dad (not sure why he wanted a sim card instead of a pocket wifi, but I remembered it costed 80 HKD). 

The octopus card costs 150HKD per card and is preloaded with 100HKD for your own used. 50HKD could be refunded but not the whole amount in case you overused the preloaded amount. There will  also be about 10HKD charges applied for any refunds.

If you opt to travel by bus, do take note to find out the bus number to your destination in advance, as finding the station could be a bit of a hassle. I would definitely suggest anyone to take the bus, especially if you are new to HK, as you can see more of HK at a cheaper price. Make sure to stay alert (the announcement is quite soft) and press the bell before your station to avoid getting scold by the driver.

Amazingly most buses in HK are double deckers

We stayed in a pretty nice, compact hotel - Minimal Hotel Culture. It's to be expected that the rooms in Hong Kong would be small, but never would have thought that it is this small. The smallest room I have ever stayed! Thankfully, it is very clean and neat.

The funniest thing about this hotel is that there is only 2 rooms in 1 floor. Can you imagine how tall is this building? Very tall. So, it is fairly easy to find. Another thing to take note is that this hotel uses storage type hot water, meaning that the shower water will only be heated up for 15 minutes per use. You have to wait for another 15 minutes for it to be heated up again after the first 15 minutes, eliminating shower hogging.

After a short rest, we went to our first meal, a very late lunch. The restaurant that is so lucky to be our first, is this fancy looking restaurant, that sells roasted goods, mainly goose. They taste and smell fantastic!!

Since we had a bit of time left, we went to this Hong Kong Museum of History, which is located together with Hong Kong Science Museum. Every Wednesday, the entrance fee is FOC for these 2 museums. So, it is worth a go.

The Hong Kong Museum of History features the origin of Hong Kong, its environment and its culture. I couldn't believe that a small, little Hong Kong has such a great history. If you are not fancy of history, definitely visit the Hong Kong Science Museum. The Science Museum is suitable for all ages as they are really fun and interactive. Adults can refresh their knowledge, while kids gaining them. So, even adults will turn to kids. If you are rushing for the day and had no time for both, go for the Science Museum!

Later that night, we went for a walk in Tsim Sha Tsui while waiting for the night show - Symphony of light.

We passed through this amazingly luxury hotel while in search for the old English clock tower.

To reach to the clock tower, walk along the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Keep walking until you reach the end, where you can see lots of people gathering for the light show. Alternatively, you can walk along the Avenue of Stars (closed for renovation) to reach the clock tower.

Right at this place too, you can see the, supposedly, beautiful night view of the city. However, it was too hazy that day and this is what I got.

At 8pm sharp, a loud music is played, indicating that the light show is starting. We were looking around to see where the lasers are. I had a hard time understanding how the show works, the sound system worked just fine, but the light show, apparently it's like 360 degree. So, I wasn't sure where to look at (maybe lying down would be a better way?). There were a lot of time where we were looking at nothing. It was quite a disappointment as I was expecting the lots of lights dancing to the music.

The lit up clock tower, however, does look spectacular at this view. Oh, by the way, the tall building on the left and the light board at the middle are part of the show, I supposed.

After the show, we went for a little walk around and ate some snacks, like fishball, siew mai and the egg waffle.

We also took this chance to try their McDonalds, but there were nothing special. So, we ordered a double-flavoured sundae and a box of chicken.

We also came across some beautifully drawn stairs in one of the streets on the way back.



As we got up really early that day, we were all too exhausted and decided to went straight back to the hotel. Guess that's all for the first day.

Will continue the rest in the next post, else it goes too long.

Till then~