The Craziest Trip to Hong Kong

I know the title sounds a bit too much. But for a first timer like me, it was indeed crazy as hell. Warning: This is going to be a very long post.

It was a 3D2N trip from the 5th-7th September 2016 and I went with a hometown friend, Faiz. So let's start !

Flight ticket?
Mine was bought a year earlier during one of the AirAsia Promo sale. I got mine for RM300+. But Faiz bought his a day before the trip and got his for RM800+ (Lol. Ikr? Crazy!). Both of us didn't buy any luggage weight/space. But I would recommend you to buy some. In case you decided to do a lil shopping in HK.

Pocket Money? Other budgets?
Well, personally, I think RM800 is enough. But since I had more than RM800, I spent more than just the essentials. Let me break things down for you.

Transportation = RM 150 (MTR.Teng-teng, bus)
Budget Hotel = RM200 (2 nights, twin room, aircond, wifi, heater, hairdryer)
Food = RM 150 (Arab food)
Disneyland = RM 270 (But I got it half price, courtesy of a friend working there)

Total = RM 770

You can save more through food. Our initial plan was to bring some instant noodles but we forgot. So we had to eat outside throughout the trip.

DAY BY DAY ITINERARY

Day 1 - 5th September

7.00AM
Flight at 7.10am and we almost missed it because we thought, AirAsia was definitely going to have a delay. It was a heart-thumping 3 minutes waiting for the gate-keeper to ask for the pilot's permission to let us in. Morale, always be early for your flight.

11.00AM
We arrived around 11.15 am and straight away took a train to Kowloon. We took the airport speed train,(similar to the one we have going to KLIA from KL sentral/TBS) which costed around RM 85 for a round-trip. Unless you're in a rush, this is not recommended because you can just take the free bus at the airport. Bus=1 hour. Speed Train=25mins.

2.00PM
Arrived in Kowloon, walked around Tsim Sha Tsui looking for Nathan road, and found a budget hotel. We searched this place on Trivago and the reviews were quite good. We had a bit of communication problem while dealing for a room with the reception lady, but once we were in, everything was great.

4.00PM
Walked around TST in the evening, to Kowloon Park, Royal Pacific Hotel & Towers,late lunch in an Arab restaurant, made an 'Octopus' card in TST MTR station and went back to hotel. Couldn't walk much actually because it had been raining since morning in HK.

The restaurant name is Ebeenezer and the food was soooo delicious. Trust me !

11.00PM
Woke up from a long nap to find dinner but most shops were closed already. So we went to McD and found no pork content from the menu. We had our meal there. I had Big Mac and Faiz had Doube Cheese. But later we found out that McD serves pork in sausage mcmuffin. So McDonalds a big no-no for the muslims okay.

Day 2 - 6th September

9.30AM
Got ready and took a train to Disneyland from Tsim Sha Sui. You can just google which station you should stop and change or you can just drop at any MTR stations near you and look for the train maps. It's super helpful and so easy. Trust me. Arrived in Disneyland around 10,30am and waited for the tickets from a friend who is working there. Take your breakfast first if you don't want to spend RM30 for a pack of sandwich and a mineral water in the DL.

11.00AM
THE DISNEYLAND ADVENTURE STARTS !
Look for the time and map guide at the information kiosk or you can just download the Disneyland app on your phones. Take note of the timings. Parade, Lion King play, fireworks etc etc. We started our tour from Adventureland to Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point and up to Tomorrowland. There are several Halal restaurants inside and consult the City Hall for the prayer room. They'll explain to you where to go.







8.30PM
After the firework, we went back to Tsim Sha Sui and dropped by at the Temple Night Market for some souvenirs. The stuffs there were quite cheap. You can find fridge magnets, keychains, signature shirts etc etc there.



10.00PM
Bought dinner at Ebeneezer and ate it in our room because we were too damn tired.



Day 3 - 7th September

9.00AM
Got ready and checked out, brought our bags as well. Walked to the Star Ferry Station and took a ferry to the Central Hong Kong. Stored our baggage in Hong Kong MTR Station (RM22 per item for 3 hours, RM30 per item for more than 3 hours.)

11.00AM
A friend of mine, John, joined us and guided us to the Peak Tram station.  We took the street tram (Teng-teng they called it) to reach there. The Peak is similar to what we have in Penang, Bukit Bendera. Taking the bus would cost you cheaper but it takes a longer time to reach the peak. The Peak tram will cost you around RM28 for a round-trip.

1.00PM
Had a coffee at the Peak and had a catch-up session with John. There's a shopping mall up there. Got our Hard Rock cafe and Madame Tussauds souvenirs there. On normal days, you should be able to see the view of Hong Kong city from above. But during my visit, sadly, it was raining and the mist/fog was too thick. We couldn't see anything.

3.00PM
Went down and walked around the Central. Saw the Zoo and dropped by. It was a public zoo, no entrance fee but still it is well-managed by the authorities. Not much animals there but considered okay for a family visit.

4.00PM
John left for work and we went to visit the Man Mo temple. On our way there, we took a cigg break by the street. 4 police officers approached us and asked for our ID. Guess what, I left mine in my backpack at the luggage storage. I was dead scared and worried. But after a short interrogation, they let us go. Lesson, always bring your passport anywhere you go, or at least a copy and put it in your wallet or purse.

Only one officer was willing to take a photo with us.

In front of the Man Mo Temple

6.00PM
Went to the airport using our speed train ticket from HK station. Our flight was at 9pm but we didn't want to be late again. We checked our baggage in. Since we brought back more stuffs compared to when we first arrived, we had to pay for some weight. RM90 for 15kg.


Overall it was a wonderful trip. Our first time travelling on our own and hopefully many more trips to come. If you'd like to know more, in depth details about our short trip, you can just tweet me @mkhairinazli. I promise I'll reply ! :D