Quick Trip to Macau

As Macau is just one ferry ride away from Hong Kong, we decided to pay it a quick visit. We were most excited about visiting the hotels and casinos there so we booked the Cotaijet ferry as it docks near the casinos at the Taipa terminal as opposed to the other ferries.

We booked our tickets the night before so we headed to the Sheung Wan terminal in Hong Kong just 45 minutes prior to our departure to claim our tickets and clear immigration. The terminal is connected to the MTR station so you won't get lost. Try not to be extra early as there is nothing to do at the departure gate. If you're hungry, grab a quick bite outside as there's also no place to buy food inside. 

The ferry looked new and the seats are quite spacious. I managed to get a glimpse of the first class seats and there's really not a lot of difference from the regular seats so save your money. 

The ferry ride lasted an hour. Upon exiting the terminal, we were greeted by different free shuttles that would take you to any one of the major hotels along the Cotai strip. Take your pick! Naturally, being the most famous of all, we boarded the shuttle going to the Venetian. The shuttle ride took just about 10 minutes.

The Venetian is huge but we didn't marvel at it as much as we thought we would. I guess, from looking at a lot of photos, it has become all too familiar.

We grabbed a quick bite at Fat Burger and I stared in surprise at how they prepared our burgers using bare hands. You could say that I'm already a bit wary as I don't want to experience the ordeal that we had during our Bangkok trip.

We went outside and headed to Conrad just across. Their lobby is even more impressive.

They also have this huge space that could be described as a shrine to whoever that god is.

We also met the cutest and playful gingerbread man.

We then hailed a cab to take us to the Ruins of St. Paul. It was relatively near as it took us less than 30 minutes to get there.

By the way, we passed by MGM hotel on our way to St. Paul and I must say, they have the coolest hotel facade that I have ever seen.

As we were pressed for time, we didn't get to visit any other tourist spots as they were out of the way. The last place we checked out was Galaxy Macau and their lobby blew us away.

We took the shuttle back to Taipa ferry terminal and we cleared immigration in less than 10 minutes so if you're heading back to Hong Kong, don't rush. Allot a maximum of 30 minutes and you should be fine. 

Exploring Hong Kong: Asia's World City (Day 2)

The next day, I skipped the hotel breakfast and headed back to Cafe de Coral to sample their breakfast menu.

We then passed by the Apple store which was just walking distance from our hotel.  The people lining up outside were waiting for their chance to get their hands on the iPad mini which was just being launched that day.

I loved how spacious their store is, there are three floors of store space similar to the one pictured below.  They are also changing the way they do business as they processed our transaction using an iPhone right there in the middle of the store.

As part of our itinerary for the day, we wanted to take the Star Ferry to see Hong Kong's coastline. 

The actual ride is quick at just about 7 minutes but the view is spectacular.  I was in awe the whole ferry ride.

There are two terminals where you can take the ferry:

Wan Chai which takes you to Tsim Sha Tsui 

Tsim Sha Tsui which takes you to Central

Tip: Board the ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui as the terminal in Wan Chai is quite far from the MTR.  It was a good 15-minute walk to reach it.

There is a Jollibee in Central near BDO and that's where we had lunch as Em-J was craving chicken joy. To get to Jollibee, follow the walkway to Connaught Road, get down as soon as you see BDO and you'd see the store in an alley near it.

Elements mall in Kowloon was our next stop as Em-J wanted to check out H&M. 

We then proceeded to Avenue of the Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, Exit J.  It is essentially just a boardwalk which provides stunning views of the coastline.  We didn't pay much attention to their Walk of Fame as we didn't know their celebrities.

When we couldn't take the cold anymore, we hurriedly looked for a place to stop which led us to Harbour City.  We didn't know where to eat and my feet was already killing me so we ended up in Food Republic. I didn't know there were tons of great restaurants there. :( Oh well. 

We ended the night shopping in Mongkok.  I chanced upon this interesting experiment of free conversation in the middle of the busy street.

Wilson also queued for this stall's pretty popular curry fish balls. 

What's great about the city is that shops are open till very late, photo below was taken at around 10:30PM and the streets were still bustling.  

Star Ferry

www.starferry.com.hk

Jollibee Hong Kong

G/B Eurotrade Center

13-14 Connaught Rd.

Central, Hong Kong

Elements

1 Austin Road West

Kowloon, Hong Kong

Exploring Hong Kong: Asia's World City (Day 1)

We headed to the airport at around 3 in the morning and since I was coming off a tiring, long shift from work, we looked for a comfortable place to rest at the airport while waiting for our flight.  It's not impossible to find a perfect spot with Changi's impressive facilities.

We were greeted by this huge plane as we were disembarking in Hong Kong.

The airport is huge but it's easy to find one's way.  To get to the city, there is an Airport Express train that we considered taking; the fare is about 100 HKD (16 SGD, 520 PHP) per person.  We opted to take a cab when we found out that it would approximately cost us 300 HKD which is roughly the same amount as that of our train ride since there three of us. 

We stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Causeway Bay and the location is perfect as it is right across Times Square.  Since it was still early to check in, we left our bags there and explored the area before settling to have lunch at Cafe de Coral. 

Cafe de Coral is a pretty popular Chinese fast food place and while it is so, they gave some thought to their interiors so the place looked cool.  There was a long queue when we got there but they were pretty efficient as we didn't have to wait long.

       

We then took a much needed quick nap after checking in before heading out to Victoria Peak at Central station. 

We were greeted by a throng of people waiting to go up at 5 in the afternoon.  We nearly backed out when we saw the crowd but since we didn't have any place to go, we decided to wait it out.  It actually didn't take long as the line moved pretty fast.  (Tip: Book your tickets online)

After exploring the Peak, we decided to take a bus ride down instead of the tram as the queue is crazy long and we couldn't bear the cold weather.  We got off at Pacific Place where I saw a really cool restroom. 

Before calling it a night, we made a quick stop at the night market over at Temple Street.