Wednesday, October 21, 2015

9:10 PM 0

Discover Hongkong : The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery

Aug 2015
The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery was actually in my itinerary last 2 years but I cancelled because we were so tired and exhausted. Plus the weather was freaking hot, no wonder shopping in Citygate Outlet is more interesting. 

We went to Ngong Ping in the noon time after having Sunday Mass at Rosary Church. The best way to travel from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping maybe is by cable car, however we took bus No. 23 form Tung Chung Bus Terminus, which is cheaper but takes longer times.

There are no obvious signboards form the Citygate Outlet to the bus No.23 terminus. Turn out the terminus is in the corner, behind Citygate Outlet and next to Cable Car terminus. The bus terminus is outdoors. 

One hour bus journey from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping was very scenic with beautiful hilly island, lush-green forests, and beaches. The bus makes several stop between Tung Chung Town Centre Bus Terminus  and Po Lin Monastery Bus Terminus.

Arrived the Tian Tan Giant Buddha (free entrance fee) in main entrance, there was a series of giant statue of The Twelve Divine General, each represents 2 hours of a day. First thought, I think it was Chinese Zodiac Statue :D

When I arrived, the Buddha was invisible, the fog swallowed up the Buddha Statue. The fog actually gave the statue a haunting image.

The Buddha is ringed by six smaller statues known as the “Offering of the Six Divas”. There were signs in front of every Deva statue telling people not to throw coins in several different languages, however there were a lot of people trying to get the coins into the statues’ hands.

When we finally got down of the Buddha steps, I thought of going straight ahead to The Wisdom Path. Wisdom Path traces a series of 38 wooden steles (upright monuments) containing verses from the centuries-old Heart Sutra (source http://www.discoverhongkong.com). 

We just follow the sign to the Wisdom Path, after 5 minutes walked in the wilderness, we couldn't saw anybody else walking on this path with us, moreover it's rather silent at some point. I was worried that we might have lost out way somewhere in the wilderness..haha..so we decided to went back to the Ngong Ping Village :D

It says ‘village’ because it was a collection of shops and restaurants. Starbucks and Subways also available here. We went back to Tung Chung by taking the same bus number.

Bus No. 23  
Tung Chung Town Centre Bus Terminus - Po Lin Monastery Bus Terminus
Fare Weekdays : HKD 16/person
Fare Weekend : HKD 25/person

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

8:10 PM 0

Disneyland Hongkong : Flights of Fantasy Parade

Aug 2015

When the Lion King Show was done, we rushed to  Flights of Fantasy Parade at Main Street. We were late, so we got a crappy spot and relied on our camera’s zoom function to take photos.

This parade combines classic and new Disney characters with 7 parade floats, accompanied by cheerful dancers. The entire parade will take place for about 30 minutes and they make two stops to perform to the waiting audience along the way.









Location : Main Street, U.S.A.
Time : 3:00 pm
Duration : ± 30 min

Monday, October 19, 2015

2:15 PM 0

Disneyland Hongkong : Festival of the Lion King

Aug 2015

Hong Kong Disneyland has a lot variety of shows, one of the much watch show is Festival of the Lion King - Circle of Life. It’s a performance of music, dance and amazing acrobatic, a mix of Lion King animated story and Broadway Musical production. 

All artists are great, they sang all the songs from the movie. The highlights of the show has to be the fire effects when Simba confronts Scar in the final battle, taking the story to its climax and foreshadowing Simba’s victory.

The artists speak in English, but two actors dressed as monkeys summarize and translate the story into Cantonese. 


The theater was filled with seats in a circle surrounding the stage. To get the first few rows, you have to get into the queue early, 15-30 minutes before show start. 
fire-eaters, and amazing acrobatics, Read more at: https://tr.im/zuA0R
fire-eaters, and amazing acrobatics Read more at: https://tr.im/zuA0R

Since flash photography and videotaping are allowed during the show.
Theater in the Wild - Adventureland
12:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm, 6:00 pm

Friday, October 16, 2015

9:21 PM 0

Disneyland Hongkong : An Introduction

Aug 2015

Back in year 2013, it was my first visit to Hong Kong with friends and we got a promo ticket from Garuda Indonesia. Unfortunately that time I didn't had the chance to visit Disneyland due to time constraint and limited budget.

This time my second visit to Hong Kong, Disneyland is a not to be miss in my itinerary. Regardless how old you are, Disneyland is always dedicated to the young and the young at heart :D

We decided to head to Disneyland on Monday because we heard it's crazy crowded on the weekends. Weather that day was bright and insanely hot. I brought the ticket from Jacky-Comfort Guest House E (Flat C5 10/F, Block C, Chung King Mansion) for HKD 450/pax, saving HKD 49/pax from the publish rate.

Upon reaching the Disneyland Resort station, just head up these escalators and follow the crowd towards Disneyland. Before entering the theme park, we have to get our bags checked and after that the officer will scanning our tickets.

Souvenir shops selling Disney products can be found everywhere, the biggest shops is located at Main Street. We got 10% discount cause we shop before noon and you can taking picture with the merchandise without fearing that you will get scolded or stopped.

Lunch took slightly longer than what we expected as we had to queuing for food and got a seat. We took lunch at Royal Banquet Hall at Fantasy Land.

We can't manage to cover as much ground as we would have liked to. Long queue and scorching sun made us unable to enjoy the park. One day simply wasn't enough.

We met a lot of tourist from mainland here, what I do not like about them is they don't considerate us when we are taking photo. They just walk in front of the camera and queue jumping is common.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

11:00 PM 0

Hello Hong Kong Again

Aug 2015

This past August, I had the opportunity to go back to Hong Kong for the second time. One of the high point of my Hong Kong visit this time is Disneyland and this will be a simplified guide of my recent trip to Hong Kong.

When to Visit Hong Kong?

Both my visit was in July and August where is rainy, hot and humid, which makes the trip uncomfortable. Typhoon can also inhibit the trip. Typhoon season begins in May and ends in November. The ideal travel season is late Autumn, from October to around Christmas time.

How did we get around?

We simply use train and bus to get around and bought a OCTOPUS card, a prepaid card for public transportation. It’s available at airport and any train station for HKD 100 plus HKD 50 for deposit. The MTR is generally efficient, the maps and signs available within every station are very user friendly.

Where did we go?

We had only 3 days and lot of places to cover and the first day was at leisure, nothing planned considering our midday travel.

- Disneyland
Disneyland had been on the very top of our itinerary for this trip. There are a couple of ways to head to this place (cab / bus / train), yet I think the fastest and most economical way is to take the MTR.

- Avenue of Star
Since we stayed at Chungking Mansions, we just need to walked along Nathan Road, until reached Sheraton Hotel at the end of Nathan Road. Then, crossed to the other side of Nathan Road before crossing Salisbury Road. From Salisbury Road, continued walking toward Avenue of Stars.

- Jusco Living Plaza Mongkok
This shop formerly known as Jusco $10 Store (Daiso), the price is now HKD 12. We walked form Chungking Mansions to this place.

- Citygate Outlets 
A outing to Citygate Outlets is a must on my shopping list. This place basically houses international brands be it luxury, average and affordable brands all in one place. The body shop dan Giordano are my favorite shop, they had nice bargain stuff.

- Tian Tan Budha
From MTR Tung Chung Station Exit B, we took New Lantao Bus 23 from Tung Chung Town Center, which takes less than 1 hour. The bus cost much cheaper then cable car but takes longer times. Just be prepare for fast driver, curvy and hilly ride.


- Rosary Church Kowloon
We joined the Sunday English Mass at 08.45.  

What did we eat?

- Dim Sum 
It says that dim sum can't taste any better from its root, the Cantonese. Therefore We went to cheapest one michelin star Tim Ho Wan in IFC Mall, sadly it wasn't as good as remembered, I prefer Duck King's dim sum. It quite uncomfortable to dine there as the queue is very long, moreover the space is really small and compact.

- Wanton Mee 
Wantons filled with 70% shrimp and 30 % pork,  so it's non halal. What I love is the shrimps were really fresh, and soup base are really tasty. The serving size was pretty small in Mak Ming Noodles and quite big in Prince Noodles
Prince Noodles

Mak Ming Noodles