Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Preparation Phase

This is the first part of our 4-days-3-nights Hong Kong-Macau Adventure.

We were able to book a promo fare going to Hong Kong via Cebu Pacific last October 2012 for a total of only 5,448.02php. So that’s just 2,800php/person for a round trip travel which is really cheap. Our flight going to HK is at 5:40 am of August 25, 2013 and our return trip to Manila is at 10:40 am of August 28, 2013.

This is our first trip together going out of the country and we opted to do a DIY trip so that it would be cheaper. We were both a bit nervous about this, though this isn’t my first trip abroad (I was able to go to Singapore with my family last 2012) but this is J’s first trip out of the country so we were a bit of an amateur. We had months and months and months of planning and reading a lot of blogs and reading almost everything about HK in the internet. After a lot of research, we were finally able to plan out our temporary itinerary:

Day 1 (August 25)
3:00 am – arrive at NAIA
5:40 am – flight to Hong Kong
8:00 am – ETA at Hong Kong International Airport. Go thru immigration. Go to Customer Service Counter to buy Octopus Cards. Go to CTS Counter A4 to buy Ocean Park and Peak Tram Tickets
9:30 am -Ride City Bus A21 going to Tsim Sha Tsui
10:30 am – ETA at Cosmic Guesthouse. Leave baggages. Change money at Standard Money Changer. Buy Disneyland and Ngong Ping Cable Car Tickets at Golden Crown Guesthouse besides Mirador
11:00 am – Lunch at nearby food/restaurants
11:30 am – Walk to Star Ferry Terminal
12:00 pm – Arrive at Central Pier. Walk towards Central MTR. Ride Ding Ding Tram to Admiralty. Walk to MTR Admiralty Station.
12:30 pm – Exit at Exit B of Admiralty Station/Lippo Center. Ride Citybus 629 to Ocean Park
1:00 pm – ETA at Ocean Park.
8:30 pm – Travel back via Citybus 629 to Admiralty MTR.

PLAN A:
9:00 pm – arrive at Admiralty-MTR station. Go to Peak Terminus
9:30 pm – ETA at Peak Terminus. Ride Peak Tram going to Victoria Peak
9:45 pm – ETA at Victoria Peak
11:00 pm – Go back to Peak Terminus
12:00 am – Check-in at Cosmic Guesthouse

PLAN B:
9:00 pm – Ride MTR going to Mong Kok Station. Exit at E2.
9:30 pm - ETA at Ladies Night Market
11:30 pm – go back to TST
12:00 am – Check-in at Cosmic Guesthouse

Day 2 (August 26)
6:00 am – waking up time
7:00 am – breakfast
7:30 am – walk to Avenue of Stars or explore TST
9:00 am – Walk to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station. Ride the Tseun Wan Line and Get off at Lai King Interchange. Then ride the Tung Chung Line. Exit at Exit B.
9:30 am – Walk to Ngong Ping Cable Car Entrance
10:00 am – Explore Ngong Ping Village. Go to Giant Buddha
12:00 pm – Ride Cable Car back to Tung Chung MTR. Get off at Sunny Bay Interchange. Switch to Disneyland train.
12:30 pm – ETA at Disneyland!
9:00 pm – Fireworks!
9:30 pm – Leave Disneyland. Go to Ladies Market or Mong Kok Night Market or TST to explore
11:00 pm – Back to Cosmic Guesthouse

Day 3 (August 27)
5:00 am – waking up time
6:00 am – breakfast
6:30 am – Walk to China Ferry Terminal
7:00 am – Board Ferry going to Macau
8:00 am – ETA at Macau. Go thru immigrations.
9:00 am – Walk to Macau Fisherman’s Wharf
10:00 am – Walk back to Ferry Terminal
10:30 am – Ride free shuttle going to Wynn Hotel from the Ferry Terminal
11:00 am – ETA at Wynn Hotel
11:30 am – Walk towards Grand Lisboa Hotel
12:00 pm – Walk to Senado Square/Largo de Senado. Go to St. Paul Ruin
2:00 pm – Travel back to Ferry Terminal
2:30 pm – Ride free shuttle going to Venetian Hotel/Galaxy Hotel
3:00 pm – Walk towards City of Dreams
4:00 pm – Explore Venetian Hotel
6:00 pm – Ride free shuttle going back to Taipa Ferry Terminal
7:00 pm – ride Ferry back to Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal at Sheung Wan
8:00 pm – arrive at HK Ferry Terminal at Central
8:30 pm – Shopping either at Times Square in Causeway Bay or Harbour City in TST

Yes, our itinerary is hectic. No, not just hectic, it’s very, very hectic. We asked for advice in the Pinoy Exchange Forum and they told us the same thing. But we were very stubborn and we still opted to go through our itinerary. Well, we were able to do everything, but there were some bumps along the ways, and lots and lots of blisters in our feet. Haha.

All of this was made possible by a lot of blogs and websites we were able to read and these are some of them:
Pinoy Exchange
Adventurous Feet
Travel Your Way
Trip na Trip Ko
In Midnights
The Hoghie Hub
Adaphobic Travels and Photography
The Lalai Land
Jane Sees The World
The Backpack Chronicles
This Is My Story
Ambot-ah! Travel Blog
Tripadora
The Peak Website
The Disneyland HK Official Website
The Ocean Park Hong Kong Official Website
Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Website
Google Maps

We got a room at Cosmic Guesthouse located in Mirador Mansion. We reserved the Single Ensuite with Windows (1 Double Bed) which costs 280hkd/night which is just around 1500php/night.

Without further ado, read on for our Hong Kong-Macau Adventure!

Read more:
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Arrival at Hong Kong
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Star Ferry Ride & Central Station
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Getting to Ocean Park
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: The Summit Station at Ocean Park
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: The Waterfront Station at Ocean Park
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Peak Tram and Victoria Peak
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car & Ngong Ping Village
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: HK Disneyland & Main Street USA
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Adventureland in Disneyland
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Mickey's Waterworks Parade in HK Disneyland
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Tomorrowland in HK Disneyland
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: The Golden Mickeys Show
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Fantasyland in HK Disneyland
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Toy Story Land in HK Disneyland
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Grizzly Gulch in HK Disneyland
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Mystic Point in HK Disneyland
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Disney in the Stars Fireworks and Souvenir Shopping
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: How to go to Macau
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Macau Fisherman's Wharf
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Senado Square (Largo De Senado)
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Ruins of St. Paul's
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Grand Lisboa Hotel
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Wynn Hotel
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: City of Dreams Hotel
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: The Venetian Hotel
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: IFC Mall and Harbor Times Square
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: Tsim Sha Tsui Area and Avenue of the Stars
Hong Kong-Macau Adventure: The Summary