Hong Kong: Day 1 Part 2 Post 3

3:oo PM. The Peak Tram is few minutes walk from St. John's Cathedral. On our way to the Peak Tram Lower Terminus, we saw many people walking to and from the Peak Tram station. The queue for the ticket counter was quite long. I was really excited! For the first time, I really felt like a tourist! Anyways, when I was waiting in line, I cannot help but notice some things. :)

line at the Peak Tram Station

1. I noticed that Koreans, who were totally made up and made us look like shit (fashionwise that is), love to go to Victoria Peak. Lots of them were queueing up for the Tram tickets.

2. The Yakult in Hong Kong (and Bangkok) are much bigger than our Yakult here in the Philippines. :)

Concession stand beside the Tram Ticket counter

3. You'll save time if you buy THE package (roundtrip tram ticket and entrance to Madame Tussauds, around HKD40+). You will have some sort of special line and the line is usually shorter than the queue for buying the tram ticket.

The tram could get really crowded and the 7 minutes ride up the Victoria Peak is quite steep, so make sure you get to grab a seat.

See what I mean?

I am glad I got to get a seat. I promised myself I'll get a seat on our way down cuz it would be diffcult to stand. Btw, I have read that the Peak Tram has been operating for 120 years and not a single case of accident!! :)

For Single Journey tickets:
HK$ 22 (adult) and HK$ 8 (8 to 12 y/o)
For Return ticket or what we would like to call Rountrip ticket:
HK$ 33 (adult) and HK$ 15 (8 to 12 y/o)

We decided to buy the Return ticket. We don't want to be stuck again in the long line for the tickets on our way down. But there are other ways to go down Victoria Peak, like bus, taxi, or just walk...looong walk.

Victoria Peak. Anyways, once we got off the Peak Tram, the exit lead us to the Peak Tower. There were many shops selling souvenirs, clothes, shoes, jewellries, etc. and restaurants, like Bubba Gump, Burger King, coffee and gelato shops, and juice bar. We saw these souvenir t-shirts and we made a mistake of not buying them. We figured we will be going to the night markets and we might as well buy the souvenirs there. But the thing is we never made it to the night markets and were not able to find the same shirts with the same quality in terms of the fabric.

Tip: Buy the souvenirs at the Peak Tower cuz the price is the same with the stores around Harbour City but better in terms of the fabric. The keychains and bracelets are far better than the ones you'll find at Kowloon and again - with the same price!

Once we got tired of looking around, we decided to go to the top of Peak Tower. It was kinda tiring to go to the top - the elevators were endless!

Escalator to Sky Gallery and top of Peak Tower

It was really cold at the top. But the view was great. You can see the buildings at Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbour. :) You can also find the Sky Gallery at the top of Peak Tower. There were beautiful paintings but we didn't really have time to look at them. We were busy having our pictures taken and looking at the buildings at Hong Kong Island. :)

View of Hong Kong Island from Peak Tower

Then, we got tired of taking pictures and not to mention it was really COLD..we couldn't wait to get inside the Peak Tower! Once inside, we continued looking for souvenirs and some clothes at Giordano and this Hello Kitty store. At the ground floor, there were magicians and they were really funny. :) People had a great time watching them.

The magicians were way down there.

Performers at the ground floor

After almost an hour of walking, we got really tired! This time PAGOD na talaga kami. We went to Burger King to have "some drink". But we ended up buying fries and burgers to go with our drinks. Burger King was kinda popular to teens. A lot of teenagers/highschool kids were there. Maybe they were having gimik with friends. :)

We had enough of this Peak thing and we decided to go to Causeway Bay. On our way to the Peak Tram, we had to get out of the Peak Tower. We saw a new building across the door. But it was too cold to look around. I have read that there are gardens, where you can walk, but maybe we can check out that during summer. There is this queue again to the tram terminus. But everything went smoothly. :)

St. John's Cathedral at night

Lippo Centre Tower can be seen from Garden Road. The walls intend to show koalas climbing a tree.

Tram to Causeway Bay from Central

Causeway Bay. I find it really difficult to walk around Causeway Bay without getting lost, especially during the night. It was like a maze of buildings and stores. From Victoria Peak, we walked to Queens Road Central to ride the tram to Causeway Bay. It was around 6pm. The tram was crowded and there were lots of Filipinos. They were speaking Tagalog, so we listened to their conversations. LOL! Anyways, we didn't have any idea where to get off. Fortunately, we overheard that our kababayans were going to Causeway Bay, too!! So, basically, we just followed them. :)

Causeway Bay at night

Causeaway Bay is like tiny New York. Lots of stores, buildings, lights, billboards, and people. It was fun place for shopping. I sound so cliche! The young salespersons (they seem like a local to me) would say, Bili na, ate! Murang mura lang. LOL! We loved the Giordano Store and Sasa. We spent most of our time there. We also went to Wellcome to buy some food. I was looking for toys for my cousins, so we went looking for Toys R Us. I didn't get to buy anything. I was just tired! I really wanted to seat down and my sister was already complaining. We had our dinner at McDonald's. We noticed that the service crews were quite old, too. :)

A little bit spicy for my taste.

Around 10pm, we decided to go back to our hotel. We hopped on a tram to Kennedy Town. Other trams with signs like, Whitty, were going the same way as the Kennedy Town tram. Just to make sure our tram will pass in front of our hotel, we always ride the tram with Kennedy Town sign. Near our hotel, there was a tram traffick jam! The tram in front of us collided with a bus - or it just looked that way. :) We waited for few minutes. There were cops everywhere, some people were getting off the tram and started walking, tram drivers were yelling, and some people, including us, stayed inside the tram and waited. The local woman beside me kept on narrating to me what happened - in Cantonese! Anyways, the tram started moving after 10 or so minutes. :)

The first day was fun yet tiring. But it is still fun! :)

The Peak Tram
Garden Road, Central
Operation is every day, including Sundays and public holidays
7:00 am to 12:00 midnight.
The tram departs every 10 to 15 minutes.
info@thepeak.com.hk

By Foot From MTR Central Station
Take the MTR to Central and make your way to the J2 exit of the Central MTR station. Turn right, through Chater Garden, cross Queen's Road Central and make your way up Garden Road. You will pass the Bank of China Tower and Citibank Plaza on your left and St John's Cathedral on your right before arriving at the terminus, which is to your left.

By Bus
Board the Peak Tram shuttle bus No. 15C at the Central (Pier 7) Bus Terminus.Daily: 10:00am - 11:40pm (from Central (Pier 7) Bus Terminus)Daily: 10:15am - 11:55pm (from Lower Peak Tram Terminus)
Frequency: 15-20 minutesFare: HK$4.00

Hong Kong Island Tram
www.hktramways.com
Fare: HK$2.00 adult / HK$ 1.00
Time: Everyday from 6:00 to 24:00

Call Customer Service Hotline on (852) 2548 7102
Fax to Hotfax on (852) 2118 6038
Email to enquiry@hktramways.com
Write to Whitty Street Tram Depot, Connaught Road West, Hong Kong

HK: Day 1 (01/28/2007)

12.30 PM. We just arrived from Hong Kong and we were planning to attend the Mass at St. John's Cathedral at 2 pm. The 2pm Mass was a sung service with hymns in Filipino. We decided to have our lunch first before we go to St. John's Cathedral. We found this Chinese restaurant along Des Voeux Road. I forgot the name of the restaurant. What I can remember - once we get out of Ramada Hotel, we turned left.

Chinese menu

We chose this restaurant cuz there were lots of locals eating inside the resto. The restaurant looked normal..you know, like the restaurants here in the Philippines. Square tables with 4 chairs. The waiters were kinda old (mostly men). This was something I noticed about Hong Kong. The service crews were usually old - on the way to becoming senior citizens. I think this is a good thing and I wish we could adapt this kind of employment here in the Philippines.

The waiters were very accomodating. We didn't know how to speak Cantonese so we just kept smiling. Basically, we relied on sign language. We thought they knew we were not locals. The waiter handed us the Chinese menu as shown above. We just couldn't understand the menu no matter how hard we tried to remember the Chinese lessons we had back in highschool. So, we asked for an English menu and the waiter smiled and nodded. :) I cannot complain about the servings in this resto - andami talaga!

Pork in corn sauce and pork with veggies

beef noodles

Since we were not fond of tea, we ordered Coke. I thinks it's Coke Sakto's great grandfather.

St. John's Cathedral. After lunch, we crossed the street to ride the tram to Central. The tram at Hong Kong Island is the cheapest mode of transpo. It only costs HK$2 - doesn't matter where you get off. It was Sunday, so there were lots of Filipinos. They were all heading to HSBC building. I think they had a gathering or something. When we were lost we asked for direction, we discovered that the residents of Hong Kong were more helpful than some of the Filipinos we asked help from. Some Filipinos just totally ignored us!

St. John's Cathedral

A person at the tram station told us that we get off once we saw the HSBC Building - the one with lions at front and Bank of China Building. The woman got it right! The tram stopped after we passed the Bank of China Building. Bank of China Building is different from Bank of China Tower. This is the Bank of China Tower, which you will also see before you turn right to St. John's Cathedral.

Bank of China Tower

The Mass hadn't started yet when we arrived. Since it was Candelaria, we went outside with our candles. The Mass started there, then we all went inside.

It was cold outside and we were kinda sleepy in the middle of the mass. My aunt had Bonamine during our flight, so during the sermon, she could hardly open her eyes. LOL!

Inside St. John's Cathedral

Close up of stained glass at the altar in St. John's Cathedral

St. John's Cathedral is an Anglican church and the building was built in the shape of cross. During Communion, we dipped the "bread" into the cup of wine. That's a first for me! :) The people in the Church were mostly Filipino and those helping in the Church were Filipino as well, which was kinda great. It's like attending a mass here in Manila.

St. John's Cathedral
4-8 Garden Road, Central
general@stjohnscathedral.org.hk

Public transport:
- Buses, 12A, 40, 40M stop on Garden Road in front of the Cathedral.
- MTR, Central Station, Exit K which leads you to HK & Shanghai Bank HQ. Cross the HSBC building through the open Ground Floor to Queens Road Central; Cross Queens Road Central at the traffic lights to the Cheung Kong Center; Go up the escalator, then the stairs to the Cathedral.
- Sunday Car parking is available at Cheung Kong Center, Citibank Plaza and in Murray Building.

Hong Kong: The trip I built from scratch

Our trip to Hong Kong last January 28 to 31, 2007 was a very memorable one. Actually, I consider it as the happiest moment of my life. This trip made me realize I am really good in geography and I could have a career as a tour guide. :)

My bestfriend left for UAE last January 2006 and for the whole year (2006) I never left Manila. Not even one out of town trip! So, by September I was going crazy! I had to get out and for whatever reason Hong Kong became my target. All I knew then Hong Kong has a Disneyland, Ocean Park, there is this Kowloon side, and that’s it. Oh, it is the best place for shopping and it used to be colonized by UK.

So here is the fruit of my 3 months of research – the trip from scratch as I would like to call it. =)

Manila is couple of hours flight to Hong Kong. We flew to HK through Cebu Pacific. They had a promo and our tickets were like Php 6000. Since we bought our tickets online, we had to pay the Php 1620 Philippine Travel Tax at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Terminal 1) after we checked in our luggages. Then, we paid the Php 750 Terminal Fee before we proceeded to the Customs area. We forgot to fill out the Immigration Form! Btw, Cebu Pacific is now at NAIA Terminal 3.

From Manila to Lantau Island, Hong Kong

We arrived at Chek Lap Kok Airport at around 11 am. After we got out of the plane, we just followed the passengers from our plane. I am pretty sure they are not going anywhere we do not want to go. We boarded the train to the Customs area. The train had a couple of seats - seriously! Well, it was just a short train ride.

At Chek Lap Kok Airport to A1 counter

After we got our stuff, we proceeded to counter A1 for the shuttle to Ramada Hong Kong Hotel. We printed the name of the hotel in English and we showed it to the ladies at the counter. We wanted to make sure that we would be going to the correct Ramada Hotel cuz there is a Ramada Hotel at Kowloon and our hotel was at Hong Kong Island. The shuttle fee to Ramada Hong Kong Hotel was HKD 120 per person.

Tip: Once you get your luggage, the exits are at your left and right. We went to the left exit and that’s where we found counter A1. I suggest that you exit to your right. This way you can make your reservation for the shuttle at counter B1. This is nearer to the shuttle waiting area. Btw, as of August 2008, the shuttle fee is HKD150 per person.

Waiting area for the shuttle to Ramada HK Hotel

The shuttle was like a smaller size bus with comfy seats. There were only me, my sis, my two aunts, a guy, and 2 other couples in the shuttle. The driver was very helpful but he doesn't talk to us. He was talking on the phone in the entire trip. The trip from airport (Lantau Island) to our hotel (Hong Kong Island) was more or less 20 minutes. This is what we saw on our way to our hotel.

The door of the shuttle from my seat.

You'll see a lot of these buildings in residential area in HK.


Bridge to HK island *I think*!

Nice View! =)

Highway!

Cable car to Ngong Ping 360 at Lantau Island

The shuttle dropped us at the side of the hotel cuz there was no way the driver can park the shuttle in front of the hotel. It's Hong Kong, you know. They lack space. The Ramada Hong Kong Hotel is at the Sheung Wan area of Hong Kong Island. The tram and bus stops are just in front of the hotel. The Sheung Wan area is not that touristy. You can see how the locals live and it is a great way to immerse with the locals. There were lots of convenience stores, fruits and herbal meds vendors, salon (just in case you need an emergency haircut), and restos around. That’s a good sign. :)

So we checked in at the hotel. The people at the hotel were nice and young. They looked like my 15 year old cousin. We booked our hotel online – through Octopus travel and unfortunately, my aunt left the credit card we used for booking here in Manila! But it was ok – we just had to leave HKD 1000 or USD 100 at the cashier. We got our money back when we checked out.

Ramada Hong Kong Hotel. It's gold so you won't miss it.

Hotel Lobby


You can see the bus stop is just in front of the hotel.

Our room's door.

Oops! It's a mess.

View from our window.

Tip: Octopus travel can be found at the website of Cebu Pacific. However, you can also have your hotel booked at HotelTravel. They have more hotels to choose from. If the owner of the credit card you will use to book your hotel is not coming to the trip, HotelTravel will ask you to photocopy the front and back of the credit card and the owner’s signature. Then, you have to fax it. If you do not have your own fax machine, RCPI has an international fax service. O dba may silbi pa din ang RCPI. :) It was around 200+ pesos back in 2007.

Who am I?

I am Peachink.
I am 29 years old.

I cannot swim.
I don't know how to drive a car.
I do not dance.
I cannot ride a bike.
I cannot sing.

But I can try.
I'll try anything once.


Here are the things I want to try in this lifetime:

1. Ski in Harbin, China
2. River rafting in CDO
3. Mountain climbing / river rafting / spelunking in Tuguegarao
4. Enter a cave - Hanoi, Vietnam
5. Zip line - Great Wall of China
6. Walk the Great Wall of China
7. Try to check out the 7 Wonders of the World
8. Skyjump - Macau
9. Ride a hot air balloon
10. Cruise ship
11. Ice Skating - mall
12. Rollerblade
13. Scuba Dive
14. SkyDive for real
15. Go karting
16. Be part of war game
17. Up close and personal with a volcano
18. 4X4 trekking - Pinatubo or Laoag
19. Whale watching
20. Up close and personal with a dolphin
21. Up close and personal with tiger
22. Surf
23. Road Trip / Cross Country
24. Go to Kinabuhayan
25. Go to Africa
26. Be on a Vinta in Mindanao
27. Ice skating in real lake
28. Go to Palau
29. Deep sea fishing
30. Go to North or South Pole and see aurora borealis
31. Kayaking in Palau
32. Outback in AU
33. Fly a kite
34. Picnic in a park
35. Chase a tornado
36. See an erupting volcano - Live
37. Horseback riding
38. Watch Cirque Du Soleil
39. Visit Rome and/or Jerusalem
40. Watch boxing - Live
41. Be part of a Marathon
42. Ride a bike in the country
43. Watch a show in NY or London West End
44. Watch football Live in EU
45. Go Great Barrier Reef
46. Check out Everglades in FL
47. Hug a panda
48. Visit Rainforest - Amazon, Costa Rica (Memorable Costa Rica), Khao Sok National Park, Thailand, Sabah, Malaysia, Bear Rainforest, Canada
49. Stay in Ice hotel in Canada or Alaska
50. Stay in Undersea Resort - Poseidon Undersea Resort and the one in UAE and China
51. Space Tour (who knows?)
52. Afternoon Tea
53. Go to Desert
54. Desert Safari
55. Safari in Africa
56. Go to Greece
57. Attend Awards Night in Hollywood
58. Visit Alaska
59. Visit Prague
60. Check out Louvre, Paris
61. Go to Brazil (Jesus Christ the Redeemer)
62. Watch bull fight in Spain
63. Visit Guilin, China
64. Tea party with friends
65. Visit all regions of the Philippines
66. Ride an elephant in a jungle
67. Part of Reality Show (Big Brother, Amazing Race, Fear Factor, or Survivor)
68. Do Charity Work
69. Go to Japan!!
70. Visit North Korea
71. Walking tour of Carlos Celdran
72. Scuba Dive
73. Train across europe/asia - wherever.
74. River Cruise
75. Watch Summer / Winter Olympics
76. Participate in World Youth Day
77. Stand on a Sand Bar
78. Visit the 7 natures of the world *especially the ones in the Philippines*