Inside Hong Kong: All is Interesting Here

Hello…

On this occasion, I will share my trip to Hong Kong last year in June 2019 and I’ve wanted to share this trip since last year actually. I had a very great time there. It was a family vacation and we didn’t use any tour guide. Plus, there is no visa needed to go there, so the preparation is simple. 

We stayed there for 5 nights. The plane ticket was not pricey because we had bought it 5 months before (It’s a ‘hack’ if you want to get a cheap plane ticket). With that not-very-pricey ticket, we already got the chance(?) to feel the comfort in the number one best airline in the world: Singapore Airlines.

Why did I want to share this journey? Because it was both exciting yet silly for me with many unexpected things happening in the process. Love or hate it, it was still a great time being there.

-Approximate reading duration: 15 minutes-

Credit: gettyimage (https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/hong-kong)

About Hong Kong:

Hong Kong is a territory in China and not a country. It consists of 4 territories (or islands): Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, Lantau Island, and New Territories. In 1980s, Hong Kong became the most densely populated area in the world as their economic began growing, followed by many people from mainland China who started fleeing there during the Civil War. Their official language is Cantonese Chinese, which differs from the language used in mainland China who uses the Mandarin Chinese. English is their second language and almost all the citizens can speak English well, so you don’t have to worry to visit there. Hong Kong was transferred back to China in 1997, but stands as a “one country, two systems” country, this is why Hong Kong and China have different flags, currency, etc.

Credit: http://www.chinatouristmaps.com/travel/hong-kong/city/attraction-map.html

Hong Kong was originally an area whose citizens focused on farming and fishing for their economic life. In 1842, it then became one of the colonies of British Empire (Opium War I) and the most successful ones, while Macau became the colony of Portugal. The relationship between Hong Kong and BE was kind of successful as I mentioned above. It got many historical influences from BE back in 1800s. One of them is the financial company known as HSBC (Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation). When visiting Hong Kong, it is also no surprise if the road and street names are mostly related to British stuff, like Victoria Road, Nathan Road, Salisbury Road, Pottinger Street, etc. The iconic transportation in Hong Kong is tram, which is modeled after Double Decker bus in England and still operates until today. (Note: When visiting there, don’t forget to take your moment to ride the tram, because now I regret that I didn’t ride it). As what I read from National Geographic  1997 magazine, there was this interview where one of Hong Kong citizens who preferred Hong Kong ‘collaborating’ with BE rather than with mainland China.  

#Note: Nathan Road is a main thoroughfare in Kowloon, connecting throughout Tsim Sha Tsui to Sham Shui Po

Since 2000s, Hong Kong is a very popular tourist destination, known for its cultural yet modern city. One of the Asia Tigers, Hong Kong is the largest financial center in Asia and 3rd largest in the world. It is believed that it also has more skyscrapers than New York City.  In addition to this, HK is known for its expensive renting and convenience of going everywhere from place to place. Most of the citizens rely on public transportations MTR (Mass Transit Railway). For the MTR payment, remember to purchase the Octopus Card first. It is very helpful in paying everything that you would buy. The busy hour of MTR is between 4 until 5 pm, so make sure you don’t get lost in the MTR station during that time because it is super crowded.

HAPPY READING!

Ok, before we started, please: 

**Warning: while reading this story, please pardon our stupidity**

That's it. Once again, happy reading.

***

June 1, 2019

We departed from Adisucipto International Airport to Changi Airport Singapore first via Silk Air airline. We arrived there at 1 p.m. and we had nothing to do. We just wandered around like kampungan people. There was this awesome Spider-Man: Far from Home exhibition in Terminal 3 Departure Hall, but I couldn’t go there because we had to pass the immigration office first. We chose to only walked from one terminal to another terminal to kill our time. Changi Airport is one of best airports in the world, so it was like there were many attractions there, like the Butterfly Garden and many else (I don’t really remember). 

The fact that I had to miss this opportunity. Awww shucks! (Photo credit: https://www.littledayout.com/spider-man-far-from-home-at-changi-airport-from-31-may-to-14-july/)

The Butterfly Garden. (Photo credit: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294265-d8152168-Reviews-Butterfly_Garden-Singapore.html)

Changi is actually popular for its not-very-recent attraction—Jewel—but at some point we didn’t go there because yup the immigration, haha. We were just too lazy to take care of those things so we chose to remain staying in one area that didn’t require any annoying immigration. But, because we were very curious to see the Jewel with our own eyes, my father had this BRILLIANT (and cheap) idea to solve our problem: by taking a sky train. So, there is this one sky train that takes the passengers to get around the iconic waterfall and we will see that from inside the sky train. IT WAS WORTH TO TRY. Very satisfying and doesn’t need any immigration stuff, of course, hehe. We even took three rides way back because we had not been very satisfied, haha!

The view of Changi Airport exterior from the skytrain

The waterfall view from the sky train! Still can witness the beauty. And there is a tiny rainbow too.

Next, we had lunch there and continued wandering around in some luxury stores but we didn’t buy anything. At about 5 p.m., we were called in the waiting room for boarding. And then at about 6 p.m., we finally flew to Hong Kong via Singapore Airlines. This was my first time taking an airbus and Singapore Airlines was super great. The food tasted very delicious with a chocolate ice cream for the dessert. Yeay. During the  hours flight, I spent my time for enjoying my favorite movies, while my family members were all sleeping, haha.

We arrived at Hong Kong International Airport at 10 p.m. and took care of our immigration and baggage etc until 11 p.m. We then walked to the bus terminal to take a bus trip to our hotel’s location. For the payment, Hong Kong provides the most enjoyable way: Octopus Card. Once you get there, it is a must-buy, because it’s very useful in paying almost everything (MTR, bus, supermarkets, etc). My hotel location was in Tsim Sha Tsui, approximately a one hour ride from Hong Kong International Airport. And for the best thing is, the bus here provides free wi-fi for one hour so it is very useful.

The HK Airport interior is superb

The free wifi bus.. Yippie:))

The bus was super full at first, until then my family was the very last passengers to be dropped off, haha. It was past 12 a.m., and the street was already empty. We then walked down in the empty streets, actually confused, but just kept walking like a boss, until then we encountered a guy who asked where we stayed, and the nice guy led us to our hotel location.

Well, I can’t say that it IS like a normal hotel. The building… How to describe it. It was an old building with a kind of like commercial center on the first floor (many kiosk stores) and rented for hundreds of independent low-budget hotels (or guest house) on the 2nd floor until 17th floor. My hotel was on the 5th floor.
Recently, I just checked on Google about that building, and there was this one question popping up on the screen: “Is (Insert the building name) dangerous?” Well, depends on your luck, haha, JK. It was safe actually… It has good reviews on the internet, and yes, usually the people who stay there are pure tourist backpackers who spend their time almost 20 hours in the outside and the rest in the hotel. Yup, I don’t want to mention the building’s name. Clue: It is one of the popular ‘hotels’ for tourist located in Nathan Road.

Ok, first getting inside the building, we didn’t have this good feeling. It was radiating a very weird vibes. My father was actually the one who prepared everything and we wouldn’t be surprised if he chose this very cheap hotel with awkward feels. Yes it was kinda off, but we just kept walking. There was this one young man sitting alone in the corner while drinking beer. I was pretty sure he was super drunk at that time—laughing and smiling at his surrounding while listening to his headset. Then, we took this ‘ancient’ lift that would take us to our hotel. But then SILLY things coming in… 

We arrived in this weird front door hotel alley. It was very quiet and no one was there, and then there was this text put on the receptionist door (It was closed) saying “Hotel opens from 10 a.m – 10 p.m”, and it was frigging 00.30 a.m. IN THE MORNING!!! We were horrified, but then my father said that he actually had made an appointment to the hotel owner that we would arrived there at about 1 a.m. and the receptionist should be ready to welcome us. But the reality, no answer at all from the door. We knocked like fifty times but still no answer. We were super tired at that time and ofc HOPELESS! Like, who was not hopeless in this of situation? Where should we sleep and put our belongings…

My sister then went downstairs to buy a HK simcard for calling the number that was written in the receptionist door, hoping that it would get answered by the receptionist, but guess what, our expectation didn’t go that easy. No answer from the call. At all. We just stood in front of the hotel door like bunch of people who had no hope (actually we were). My sister still attempted to call, for many times, but still no answer.

Ok, maybe some of you might have this question: “Why didn’t you go the 1st floor and asked for some help there?” Well, it was already 1 am in the morning and there were only few stores that were still opened, and most of them were not affiliated with some of the hotels upstairs, so yup, that was it. Or, maybe this question: “Why didn’t you just leave and looked for another hotel?” No, we didn’t want that. We wanted to feel the pure confusing moment, lol JK. (Note: The building actually looks BETTER in the morning and afternoon. Probably because it was at midnight and it was very empty or something, so we got this weird vibes)

Alright, continue. After that, there was this one lady, probably one of the merchants in the shop downstairs, who coincidentally passed us. We then told our UNLUCKY moment and blabla, and then she was like “Oh, ok, I don’t care.” and then just left us. Another hopeless moment. However, ten minutes later, she miraculously came to us again and gave us a  phone number, saying that there was this one hotel whose receptionist was still available to be contacted. We quickly called the number, and minutes later the receptionist approached us. He was a super friendly nice guy. Goodness, he was like an angel to us in this kind of hopeless situation. Luckily there were two empty rooms left. They were super tiny but at least we got the time to take a rest, haha. At about 2 a.m., we finally could sleep after those hours.

Below, I attached what my hotel room looked like. I’m pretty sure the other low-budget hotels in that building are similar to this one. It was super tiny, with more more tinier bathroom, and no window. Cool. They were actually very clean and tidy, so yup I enjoyed it. It was cute to be honest hahaha.

The size is probably 4m x 2m? Idk (this size doesnt include the bathroom)

Well, our hotel accommodation expenses were super super cheap at that time. There was this one HK tourist advisor who interviewed my sister about our hotel expenses and he was like SUPER SURPRISED and didn’t believe it: “Really?? Only that cheap??” Hahahah. Nice.

***

June 2, 2019

We woke up in the morning and came again at the hotel we should be staying in. This time, the receptionist was there and gave us the chance to put our belongings inside the room. We then left the hotel and started our first day in HK.

First destination was The Peak. It is one of the must-visit attractions in HK: famous for its 360° view of Hong Kong from a hill, and to go there, we will take a train. It is an absolute dream, but things didn’t go as it was.

This is the train that would take you to the peak (Photo credit: https://www.viator.com/tours/Hong-Kong-SAR/Peak-Tram-Sky-Pass-Tram-Ticket-Hong-Kong-Sky-Tour-and-Sky-Terrace-428-Entry/d35959-26072P1)

We arrived in Central (because it was the bus starting point that would take you to the the train station of The Peak). We walked and walked for minutes, until then we saw this BIG BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT on the big road, saying “The Peak is in renovation from April until July”. WOAH. It was June at that time. My family went from “Yeay, can’t wait to see beautiful view!” to “Ok, let’s just go somewhere else.” It was like a dream crasher, haha. (Note: some of you might be thinking that my family was careless (and stupid) enough not checking up on the internet first or anything before going there, but, well, we ARE naturally careless)

And this is the view that I was supposed to see on that day... (Photo credit: https://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/explore/attractions/best-vantage-points-on-peak.html)

For the rest of the day, we just wandered around in Central and Causeway Bay. As in Central, first we went to Central Mid-Levels escalator. Yup, it is the longest indoor escalator that connects one area to another, and also it was used for the filming locations for The Dark Knight 12 years ago! And the filming location for Running Man episode 72 (Useless fact: I was an avid fan of Running Man back then, from 2011 until Gary left). I was super excited and took pictures there. 

Yup the scene from The Dark Knight. Happy 12 years!

We took a long walk in the indoor escalator, just enjoyed every moments of it (when it actually they were all the same escalator haha) and coincidentally found this one stairs attraction worth for taking photos. We didn’t even know what this place is called.

We then continued our walk to Times Square, the most famous and fancy shopping area in Hong Kong, similar to NYC’s Times Square. Unfortunately it was raining and I couldn’t take pictures of it from the outside because we just stayed inside the mall and waited until the rains went a little bit down.

This is what Times Square looks like. I didnt take picture here because of the raining. (Photo credit: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294217-d2173838-Reviews-Times_Square-Hong_Kong.html)

Next area was Causeway Bay! The biggest shopping district in HK, and there were many Indonesians there, even there was this famous Geprek Bensu, hahaha. While in Causeway Bay, it suddenly rained again and yep we luckily brought umbrella and raincoat. There was this one comic book store in Causeway Bay so I definitely went there. For the next activity, we just randomly entered one mall to another mall without buying anything.

The iconic circular bridge in Causeway Bay

At about 6 p.m., we decided to go to Mongkok Market, one of the famous tourist destinations in HK where it sells souvenirs and stuff with inexpensive price, so we just went there and spent one hour buying goods.

Mongkok Market in the evening. (Photo credit: http://hongkongtraveltip.com/about_us/Hong_Kong_shopping_guide_the_markets_of_Mong_Kok.html)

We then rushed back to Tsim Sha Tsui because there was this scheduled light performance called “Symphony of Lights” (featuring the view of Hong Kong Island) at 8 p.m. at Avenue of Stars area. Worth to watch and to take some photography! 

Very crowded, yes. Make sure you get the good spot.

On the way to our hotel, this is one of famous and luxury hotel The Peninsula. It is located in Salisbury Road. As what I read in Wikipedia, the hotel has been opened since 1928 and has the architectual combined of colonial and modern elements.

We arrived in our hotel at about 9 p.m. and that was the end of day 1 (in HK). 

HK the city of lights (taken by my mirrorless camera)
***

June 3, 2019

The next day, we visited Ngong Ping 360. Yup, I would say that this is the most recommended place to visit in HK, and an absolute MUST-VISIT. It is a famous tourist destination and also a religious site for Buddhist, located in Lantau Island. First, we took an MTR to Lai King (Tsuen Wan Line), continued to Tung Chung (Tung Chung Line). This is where the cable car station is located. To go to Ngong Ping 360, we take a cable car ride. VERY EXCITING. I’m a huge fan of cable car. In taking the cable car, there are two options: the standard cabin and the glass cabin. Of course the glass cabin is more expensive because you can see the more breathtaking view of the hill (or mountain?) from the bottom glass. While taking the cable car, you are also able to see Hong Kong International Airport from up above. What a beauty! (Useless fact part 2: This destination was also used for filming Running Man ep. 73 where Jackie Chan guest starred)

The mountain view

The airport view from the cable car

For about 30 minutes later, we finally arrived in Ngong Ping 360. The most popular attractions in this area are the bronze statue “The Big Buddha” (the statue of Buddha Shakyamuni) called Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. First, we have to walk for meters passing through many kinds of gift shops and restaurants. We were very lucky to get a nice weather on that day. A fresh misty weather and not the very hot one. We then entered the entrance gate of Tian Tan Buddha. Next, we had to take 268 stairs to get to the top.

The 268 stairs

Minutes later I arrived at the top. Huft, finally. I did sweat a lot and super tired because I rarely did sport hhahaha. Luckily the weather was getting colder and yes it was very fresh.

Tian Tan Buddha

Completed in 1993, the Tian Tan Buddha statue stands in 34 meters tall and symbolizes the harmony between human and nature. It is the 100th highest statue in the world. As you can see there, he sits on a top of lotus flower In addition to this, there are other symbols to learn: lotus flower symbolizes purity, the soft feature of the face expresses compassion and wisdom, each palm has the Wheel of Dharma symbol (Dharmachakra) symbolizing his teachings and eternal truth. On his chest, there is a reverse swastika symbol (“sauwastika”) showing that he possesses all virtues. The word actually is defined as “well-being” in Buddha and Hindu religions. However, during the World War II, the meaning had been twisted by the Nazis and became the logo of them [Nazis].

Under the statue, there are three doors to enter the exhibition hall of Buddha. Moreover, in the outside, you can enjoy the enchanting beauty of mountain and sea from the towering statue. This was the moment when I could feel the peace—very peaceful and definitely positive vibes only. I would really love to spend one day just to wandering around here. And because I’m a huge admirer of Buddha and his teachings, I hope to visit more magnificent places like this in the future!

The mountain and sea view 

Po Lin Monastery from above

The next place to visit was the majestic Po Lin Monastery, a praying site for Buddhist. Some areas are restricted here (only for monks), but we can still see the two areas: The Main Shrine Hall and the Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The latter was opened in 2014 and becomes the house of ten thousand golden Buddha statues. From what I know, we are not allowed to take pictures inside. Until today, Po Lin Monastery remains being a significant role of Buddhist in Hong Kong.

#Note: In Po Lin Monastery area, there is also a cafetaria serving healthy vegetarian food with inexpensive price. 

Po Lin Monastery (Photo credit: Unsplash)

After getting back from Ngong Ping, we went to one of the famous shopping outlets in Hong Kong: Citygate Outlets. It's very close from the cable car station, probably 2 minutes walk. It's a big shopping mall with branded outlets like Adidas, Giordano, Swatch, etc. There is also a kind of supermarket named Food Republic where it offers you various delicious meals. Both dine-in and take away is available.

Credit: South China Morning Post via gettyimage

We then went back at 4 pm, but decided to take a MTR stop to Central, because we just didn’t want to go home so early, but didn’t want to walk more kilometers either, so yup just stopping by at Central and wandered around there. 

Hong Kong Ferris Wheel, Central

We walked through an elevated walkway and we decided to take a trip back to Tsim Sha Tsui by ferry. Yup, there is this one ferry experience that you must try too. This is a ferry named Star Ferry that takes round trip from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui. We had to go to Star Ferry Pier first, bought the ticket, and chose the earliest departure. Enjoying the blue sea with the background of Central's skyscrapers and high-rise building is the best indeed. Very exciting and enjoyable.

Yup this is the kind of sea view to enjoy while taking Star Ferry

Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui

About 20 minutes later, we arrived in Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. This time, we went to Avenue of Stars (3 mins walk from the promenade). This is a popular destination too and the version of Hollywood Walk of Fame. There are statues of legendary like Bruce Lee and many handprints of prominent figures in Hong Kong film industry. At this place, you are able to enjoy the modern landscape view of Hong Kong Island. Also, if you visit this place in the afternoon, you will get a bonus of the sunset view. Super beautiful!! 

The Clock Tower, Tsim Sha Tsui (one of Hong Kong's landmarks)

Duk Ling: HK's traditional ship

Hong Kong Island 

One of the handprints

The sunset view at Avenue of Stars!! Beauty!

#Useless fact part 3: The west side in Kowloon was used for filming location of Transformers: Age of Extinction, where this was one scene of Optimus Prime and other autobots standing majestically in the final shot, with the background of Hong Kong Island.

Yup this is it

We took a very good rest there for like 1,5 hours and then continued our walk. On our way back to hotel, we passed by many luxury malls and sometimes we just randomly went inside and went out after 5 minutes. Yup, we were just super bored and didn’t know what to do hahaha. 

While going back to our hotel, there was this bubble tea drink called The Alley. It is a very popular boba drink there. Many variations here with the price range from $14 HKD to the price of Starbucks drink. A must-try if you're a boba lover!

Ok end of day 2.

***

June 4, 2019

Third day in HK, we went to Hong Kong Disneyland. YEAAAAYY. Yup, we spent almost 12 hours here and it was a blast. Hong Kong Disneyland is a very popular theme-park with their unique and exciting rides and entertainment. The destination is in the same island as Ngong Ping 360: Lantau Island, but the MTR route is different. First, we took a little bit long MTR ride to Lai King (Tsuen Wan Line), stopped at Sunny Bay (Tung Cung Line), and then we continued our last trip with a special Disneyland Resort train. Wow, it is filled with a complete Mickey Mouse design and interior inside lol. Super cool.

Next, we took for like 10 minutes ride, maybe? And abracadabra… We arrived in the Disneyland but minutes later, it suddenly rained. I felt like my family was a little bit doomed or something because unlucky things happened a lot to us during our trip.

Ok, like 15 minutes later the rained stopped, but the sky was still cloudy. We just continued walking, passing the iconic Hong Kong Disneyland gate.

Btw, for the ticket, we already bought it online with a dinner package too. So, we just got in the amusement park as quick as we could. Nothing more that I can say about this place. It’s a famous theme park…, and what else? Maybe also a must-visit if you are are an amusement ride maniac. Honestly, my family members are not a fan of those kind of scary rides, especially me. I’ve never rode anything like that in my whole life, lol. Don’t hate me. I’m just not into these adrenaline stuffs.

Before getting into the main area of Disneyland, there was this Jazz Band performing. As you can see in the video, the iconic Cinderella Castle was in renovation, so yeah, it was kinda sad hohoho.

I didn’t really know what music they were performing, but I think it was the arrangement of Disney opening, and they kinda mixed it(?) I don’t know hoho, but I heard some of Monsters, Inc. jazzy vibes “If I Didn’t Have You” in it, so maybe that was it. And what we must have during our ‘adventure’ is the Disneyland Guide Map so we won’t get lost (or if we do, we will find the way back home hoho). It is also useful for giving you informations of certain performances schedule.

But yes, because Hong Kong Disneyland is such an iconic place, so we just went there to add our experience. There, we only walked around for many kilometers, not riding any ride. Again, don’t hate us. We only wanted to get the Disney vibes and everything about it, but yeah, it was still magical for us because we watched a lot of art performances. THEY WERE REALLY REALLY GOOD. The 3D one was my favorite and there was this Disney live-action musical performance and I always got goosebumps. In my opinion, The Lion King performance was the best among all. They were so talented and super duper cool, plus the legendary Lion King songs were performed by the actors: He Lives in You, Be Prepared, Circle of Life, Hakuna Matata, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight?. Kudos to whoever performed those. I really enjoyed it. A magnificent throwback of my childhood memory.

The Lion King musical performance

Another hype moment was the Marvel experience. Woaaahh, super cool. They really built those kind of buildings with S.H.I.E.L.D and Iron Man logos on it. At that time, there were many fun rides, including the 3D roller coaster in Iron Man and the Nano experience with Ant-Man and the Wasp edition. What was funny was we also took a ONE HOUR LONG QUEUE (or maybe more) just for taking a photo with (not real) Iron Man (Note: we didn’t know if that long queue was for that lol because we just randomly entered. Once again, pardon our stupidity). And ok, it helped killing our time there actually. Thanks a lot. (Note: It was weird actually taking picture with Iron Man at that moment, because he, technically, has died in the movie).

Next,  I entered the Marvel gift shop and bought an Ant-Man t-shirt. Outside, there was this coin vending machine standing there, but no one approached it, and I was confused: “Does this thing even work???”. I pressed the button and alright, no response at all from the machine. Welp, the machine was broken. I rushed to the staff and yes he then called out his other friends to fix it… and yup minutes later, the coin vending machine worked. Excellent service from the staffs. Huge thanks.

There were the options for the coin design. If I’m not mistaken there were 3 options: Ant-Man, Iron Man, and Captain America. I bought the Ant-Man coin one because he is very underrated!!! (I’m an Ant-Man fan but yes he needs more appreciation in MCU really). It was worth $15 HKD, about 30,000 in rupiahs (I remember it exactly) and I paid it with my octopus card (this is why Octopus card is very useful)

Skip, hours wandering around the Disneyland and seeing Disney characters that were so accurately pictured and performed. Very professional it is. We had dinner there as we ordered meal package. Here it is I took picture of it. It was the kind of food that junk fooders have always been dreaming of hahaha. Well, if you are healthy-oriented person, don’t worry because there are other meal package that are way healthier than this.

Actually I took this picture because it had the Ant-Man and the Wasp design edition on it hahaha. Coollll!

We then continued walking there and here, without any direction. Well, because it was still around 7 pm and we had to wait 1,5 hours to enjoy the final closing performance of Hong Kong Disneyland: Disney Paint the Night Parade. The closing performance includes the light  and electric stuffs featuring Disney characters (Ah, how to describe it. I’m really bad at describing things). In short: it is VERY VERY WORTH TO WATCH and SUPER AWESOME, so yeah waiting until 8.45 pm until the show began. Yup the show must go on~

We can feel the magic more in the evening

Here I attached one photo from the night parade (because I don’t want to spoil it hoho). It was around 20 minutes long and yes this kind of thing that will give us the most magical moment from our journey in Hong Kong Disneyland! Thank you for the magic, Disneyland!!

Since Monsters, Inc. is my fav animated, so here it is

You're welcome...

All right that's all from our Hong Kong Disneyland experience. We then went back to Sunny Bay by Disneyland Resort's Mickey Mouse train, and continued our way back to Tsim Sha Tsui. 

***

June 5, 2019
This day, I went to Macao by ferry. However, things didn't go that easy for us. It was a super silly experience and we were very careless too (as always), but yup very unforgettable one. Click here to read the full story. Thank you!

***

June 6, 2019

Last day in HK, we went to Ocean Park, a similar attraction to Disneyland. It is one of most popular tourist destination too in Hong Kong, but I guess today, the attraction is not as popular as years ago. First, we took an MTR ride from Tsim Sha Tsui (Tsuen Wan Line) to Admiralty (South Island Line), and then continued to Ocean Park MTR Station. Yup, again, we didn’t take any ride there. We just wanted to enjoy the cable car ride and the beautiful view of an island. This time, we were kinda unlucky because the weather was not very supportive (It was insanely hot). And yes, it was really crowded at that time. Like, SUPER crowded. Just take a look at this picture below.

The amusement park is not only about crazy and adrenaline rides. Additionally, it is also a conservation park housing some of animals and the endangered one like panda. Yes, we can see the cutie panda here. Upon arriving at Ocean Park, because we had ordered the entrance ticket online, so we just entered it quicker. What’s unique about this place is there are two areas (more like islands) “The Waterfront” and “The Summit”, separated by some kind of a hill, and to go there, we have two options: taking a train or a cable car.

In The Waterfront area, we are offered to see some attractions: Whiskers Harbors, Amazing Asian Animals, and Aqua City (this one looks like Ancol’s Sea World). Meanwhile, The Summit area offers more varied things such as Marine World (sharks), Polar Adventure (polar bear, penguin, arctic fox), Rainforest, a one area full of crazy and adrenaline rides, and still many more. Oh, there is also a ferris wheel too.

We took an hour visiting the attractions in The Waterfront, and next we took train “The Ocean Express” to The Summit. The train was designed interestingly: it was made as somehow we were in a submarine, with the train ceiling displaying sea view. We then arrived in The Summit, and there it goes… Once we went out from the train station, we were welcomed by this super beautiful view from a top of the hill. 

We didn’t visit many places in The Summit. Yep, because the weather was unpleasant and we did sweat a lot there hahhaa. But overall, this place is nice and entertaining especially for those ride maniacs. And also, I loved seeing the cute panda here!

So yup, we only walked around from one area to another without specifically doing anything. Anyway, despite the hot weather, this breathtaking view helped us through it a lot hahaha. I always love this kind of view.

Hours spending time in The Summit, we went back to The Waterfront via cable car at 3 pm. Yup, this is the moment I’ve been waiting! From the cable car, we will be served with the thrilling view of the hill and also breathing the fresh air after the hot weather.

We finally arrived in Ocean Park MTR Station and still confused about what we were about to do next because we finished our schedule a lot earlier than we expected hahaha. My father recommended to go to Causeway Bay again and spent time there until evening, and ok we agreed.

We arrived in Causeway Bay and because it was around 4 pm, woaaahhh it was very very crowded. I wanted to go to this one store located in Causeway Bay. We then walked outside from the MTR exit and saw one store across the street… Yup, a Harry Potter store! If you are a Potterhead, don’t miss this one tiny store. The store’s name is Museum Context, and if you want to go there, take the Hysan Place exit. Many Harry Potter merchandises here and they were so cute, but yep I didn’t buy at all because the price… hohoho.

After Museum Context, we had not decided yet where to go next, as if our thoughts was “If there was a mall there, then we just entered it”, and yep it really happened lol. First mall we found after we went outside from Museum Context was Hysan Place (3 mins walk), a huge department store in Causeway Bay. It was across the street, so we only had to cross the street and entered the mall. We spent hours wandering there—windows shopping. It was interesting really.

We went back to Tsim Sha Tsui to take a little rest blabala at 6 pm. At around 7 pm, we went outside for having dinner and entering some department stores nearby: K11. We entered this one supermarket “Market Place by Jasons” that sells imported products. Even I found this one Starbucks chocolate drinks. Gulp, they looked really delicious and tasty, but the price was not tasty… (I don’t know tho whether they are sold in Indonesia or not).

In this supermarket, my family started learning a meaningful lesson. What is it? Moral lesson incoming...
Hong Kong citizens are aware of the environment and ALMOST all of them bring their own shopping bag while going to convenience store or supermarket. I was very amazed by this and definitely inspired. In the supermarket’s cashier, we saw this one cute foldable and reusable shopping bag with polyester material and my mother quickly bought it. Since then, my family always used the reusable shopping bag to reduce plastic use. It was super difficult at first because we often forgot to bring it, but gradually it becomes a habit until today!

We continued wandering around in Tsim Sha Tsui area, especially Nathan Road. There were many interesting small stores there selling cool stuffs. While walking around, I also saw this majestic mosque: Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Center. At about 9.30 pm, we returned to our hotel.

It was a super nice last day spent in Hong Kong although we got through many unexpected silly things in the process, but THESE made our trip became super enjoyable and memorable. In conclusion, Hong Kong is a very interesting city to visit. They almost provide everything too in a good way and VERY CONVENIENCE. Yup, the convenience is very awsum and useful. There is always this one 7 Eleven store there, and then we walked like 400 meters ahead, and there is this one another convenience store. The MTR stations are like they all around you, in every corner, so it's very easy! The pedestrian walkway is neat and of course it supports you to walk for dozen kilometers. I’d even love to visit this city again because I still have to visit The Peak, hahaha. 

The next day, we went back to Indonesia. Our flight to Changi was at 6 pm via Singapore Arlines. We arrived at Changi at 11 pm and next thing we did was looking for a place to have a decent sleep. We went by skytrain from Terminal 4, to Terminal 3, followed by Terminal 2 just for looking a good sleep area, but zonk. The Terminal 4 was the best place to sleep because it was the 'emptiest' area and not as crowded as the other terminals. We finally slept at 1 am, and there was this unexpected thing during our sleep. At 3.30 am, we suddenly were woken up by some people wearing soldier suit and holding snipers. We were startled at first, but oh it was just a passport and immigration check to make sure that we would be taking a flight there (I don't know how to describe this duh). The last flight to Adisucipto International Airport was at 8 am and yup it was a great flight!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, HONG KONG!

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Ok, that's all from me! Thanks for reading! So, will you plan to visit Hong Kong once this corona virus ends? Freely leave comments below!

-Additional informations-

In Tsim Sha Tsui, there are some recommended culinary to experience. Here is the list (these 4 are my top favorite):

1. Café de Coral: a fast food restaurant serving Chinese and Western meals. Delicious with a budget price.

Address: Cke Shopping Mall, Nathan Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong (beside Chungking Mansion)

2. Canton’s Kitchen Dim Sum Expert: a Chinese food restaurant serving authentic dishes. Cozy place and great food.

Address: 11 Humphreys Ave, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

3. Shek Kee Wonton Noodles: A casual restaurant with a specialty in Wonton noodles. Super delicious with inexpensive price.

Address: Ichang St., Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

4. Liu Liang San: A Taiwanese restaurant serving variety of noodles (ramen and udon noodles). The ones with the beef addition is the best here. Cozy and comfortable place.

Address: Ichang St., Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong