"one more trip to hong kong, bitin" that’s an unanimous decision we have made after our 4 day hong kong- disneyland trip(feb 6- 9). it was too short to hit some of scenic spots and must to do stuffs , the trip was not really considered 4 complete 24 hr- days because we arrived at the hotel at around 8:30 in the evening and left for departure early morning on the final day. anyways, we arrived at the chep lak international airport at around 6pm.
aesthetically speaking , this airport is far from NAIA2 as it is clean, modern and it’s huge that you need to board a driverless electric train inside the airport for a short ride to get your baggage!. (all other filipino there were asking each other where to get the baggage hehehe pasensiya na, wala sa pinas na ganun ewan ko dun sa pending NAIA 3).
alongsides of the arrival area, there are plenty of kiosks displaying variety of brochures of tourists info, these are very helpful especially the map if you’re traveling by your own. after the immigration, we boarded on the coach for a transfer to hotel in kowloon. we got the chance to have quick view of some of the impressive hotels in lantau /disneyland area as there were passengers with us in the coach that were dropped by in that area. as we were routing to our destination we noticed cluster of towers and more towers after another that were still lighted up that night, my SIL first thought if it's usual that the offices in HK are staying late but as a matter of fact those sky scrapers pala are for residential. we had enjoyed seeing the sight of the harbours, bright towers, hanging bridges, double deck buses and luxury cars. (our france was still frenzied that night, taas pa ng enegy level throughout the journey) as we were approaching the downtowns the locale were becoming congested but the flow of the traffic were still moderate (wala pa rin tatalo sa manila!). that time, we were puzzled how our hotel will look like (though we saw the pix iba pa rin yun actual) as some of the hotels in the vicinity are not that stunning as compared to lantau/disney area, maybe because they are a bit old and jam packed) but thanks God! the metropark hotel is nice.
the ODD #1: two days prior to our departure, sasa, my SIL called up and broke the news that this hotel was the link to SARS spread out, a BIG OH MY! she got the info from their tita hazel (sister of papa) who’s working with cathay pacific airlines and w/ her british family residing in HK for years now. she’d asked us why she was informed late about our plans. back to SARS, i was a bit paranoid when i learned about it, indeed, i even researched about this and it’s true! i tried to cancel the hotel booking and book for another hotel. btw, asiatravel has the facility to amend or cancel the booking but it’s too late, the date was beyond the cancellation period which is about 3-7 days prior the first day of accommodation., py and sasa told me there’s nothing to worry about. actually, that was 4 years ago and whole area had been disinfected completely and no more similar incidents has been reported since then. sa awa naman ng diyos we’re still healthy hay naku umandar na naman ang paranoia ko.
lesson # 1: when booking for a hotel, try to be even more resourceful and there’s nothing to loose if you consult someone who’s far knowledgeable about something.
at the hotel, we registered and checked in at the executive room. however, we were not able to catch any of complimentary evening cocktail (for executive room) which was schedule 5pm -7:30pm only as we were out of the hotel during the specified time.
lesson # 2: we should book an early flight and late departure to maximize the stay and to avail the full rate benefit of the hotel. nevertheless, we gorged ourselves with their daily western and asian buffet breakfast (dun na lang bumawi).
the shuttle for HK disneyland tour arrived on time on the following day. we headed to lantau island for an hour drive with an english and mandarin speaking tour guide giving a brief info about disneyland. there were still few guests in the park when we reached the it before noon. moreover, the park was not that crowded throughout the day, a weekday schedule makes sense somehow. of course we had our video and picture taking, ang walang katapusan picturan! we had pictures taken together with almost all of the popular disney characters thus, we were not able to complete all the disney attractions and rides. generally, the park is more of fantasy and dreams especially designed for kids. not so much of thrilling rides except for 2 to 3 attractions of tomorrowland where i got the chance to ride on the space mountain, it has a thrilling factor combined with a good visual effects as if you're riding in the rocket through the space. the winnie the pooh adventure was one of france’ fave rides. other main attractions that we had witnessed were the disney parade and fireworks display and undoubtedly, we shopped, shopped and more shoppings at the souvenir stores (selected items nga lang kasi medyo expensive)
the ODD # 2 : py and i had petty quarrel – tampuhan blues before we entered the main street USA of the park chiefly because of misunderstanding on the comments he made regarding the quality of picture we had shot (toink! ang babaw ba?). thanks to my SILs gay and sasa for patching it up.
the third day was a free day for us. tita hazel had asked her yaya minda , her trusted and dependable kasambahay to accompany us to mongkok market (where i found for as low HK$5- HK$50 shirts and sheathing) and mall stores for more shoppings. there were not much of bargain items pala because it’s winter season. after some window shoppings in the telford mall, we went to dey’s (uncle ian, tita hazel & their really big kids jessica & cameron) residence at clearwater bay, actually, their place is far off from the congested locale of the downtowns. learning about our length of stay in HK, tita hazel was persuading us for an extension, but it’s too late to rebook the flight as it will already be considered as ‘no show’ like it will cost us buying new sets of plane tickets, whew! malaking amount yata yun, hence, we decided to visit hk again plus trips somewhere outside the HK border maybe in macau and shenzhen(pagiipunan ulit). before the day ended, we had our hot pot/shabu shabu- dinner at korean resto inside citistore mall tseung kwan o.
we had an early breakfast at the hotel on the final day and bought some more pasalubong (beating the time as usual) at the grocery store just across the hotel before the coach picked us up for departure to airport. and that’s it! balik pinas.
home sweet home again....hanggang sa muling paglalakbay....
