Packing can be a no-brainer but NOT to us. It’s one of our main struggles. Last time in Hong Kong & Macau, the husband exceeded the carry-on limit so we tied the sleeping bags to my bag. We were only traveling for 5 days then. From that travel, I realized that not having a check-in is both cheap and mobile. We didn’t have down time waiting for our luggage. As soon as we arrived at the airport, we were on the go.
When I told the husband we don’t have a check-in for Indochina trip, he was anxious. It made me anxious too thinking I may have underestimated an almost 2-week travel. But the articles online comforted me that it is achievable with the right planning and mindset. I was done packing last Saturday. Thankfully, everything fits inside my small back pack.
Here’s how I did it:
1. Make a list of what to bring.
2. Decide at least a week-worth of clothing. – I brought 2 each of (short, leggings and skirt), 4 shirts, 2 blouses, a dress and a jump suit.
3. Do a dress rehearsal and make sure the clothes you bring can be mixed and matched.
4. Check if you can do laundry.
5. Bring only what you need.
6. Roll and compress. – Early this year Migo bought a compression/organizing bag, Gobi Hobo Roll. I was just amazed that it can contain all my clothing. The best part is that it only occupies the main compartment of my carry-on bag so I still have room for snacks and other stuffs in other compartments.
7. Choose the right bag. – Last year, I bought a 50L bag thinking it would be the perfect bag for this trip but since it was heavier and with more room, I’m afraid that I can easily exceed the carry-on limit if I used it. I choose my 40L Racini bag instead.
Documents here! 🙂#OOTDsPacking in progress!Packed and ready to go!Pink stuffsssss!
Brought my belt bags as well for the important stuffs that needs to be guarded all the time. 😀
Feeling artsy today so instead of putting it into words, I thought of making an info graphic. I’m rather pumped up with the detailed excel planning sheet too but will share it after the trip. 🙂
Here’s what’s inside our planning board:
Plotted – You can see the sked in calendar type.
Aug20_Aug24_CamVie – Detailed itinerary of Cambodia & Vietnam with the accommodation, transpo details and directions. It’s basically our manual.
Aug25_Aug28_Lao – Detailed itinerary of Laos (same template of #2).
Aug29_Sep01_Tha – Detailed itinerary of Thailand (same template of #2).
Transpo – Plotted are the legs of our transpo and the amount per leg.
Accommodation – All accommodation details are here.
Reminders
Preps&ToDos
Clothes&Meals
Checklist
What’s the best part of travel for me?
EVERYTHING. I love the planning and the execution but unlike before, I don’t obsess in following through everything. I have become flexible especially when it comes to travelling with the husband. I’m the researcher and the husband is the explorer. I have always wanted to travel alone but God wants me to do it with the husband instead. I couldn’t be more thankful because I’m SUPER BAD with directions.
So what makes us decide to travel to IndoChina?
Oh well, I have my own reasons, a whole lot of them. The husband is just game. He is the best husband in the whole universe so yeah, he just always supported me in everything that I wanted to do. 😀
So now, it’s 11 days to go. And I’ve been itching to pack my bags already. A countdown to travel and to your 30th birthday is an ultra amazing journey. Enjoying it everyday. =)
One more Friday and the next is the start of another adventure – leaving for our 10+ days of trip for IndoChina on the day of my 30th birthday. In 2011, while suffering from a quarter-life crisis and was utterly envious of peers getting engaged and having a baby, I created a dream – 3030dot5. It was a dream to travel to 30 places in Cebu (my hometown), 30 provinces in the Philippines (my home country) and to 5 countries. At that time, it was too ambitious for someone who barely had enough to buy a decent cellphone. But I was so down I needed something to hold on. I didn’t know how I would achieve it, I just knew that I wanted it.
From my countless blogs full of complains and angst (some are migrated in justkring but most were left forgotten), I decided to create another one. This time, it was for the 3030dot5 project. I started revisiting my pics and realized that compared to what I thought, I was actually not super “luoy” after all. By the time I started, I was down to 20.27.5. The 10 places in Cebu where mostly company outings and gatherings. The 3 places in PH where Migo-paid trips every year since we started in 2008. And of course, no countries.
Around May 2011, without really doing anything about my dream, I read about a peso sale in AirPhil. With no 2nd thoughts, I book not considering how I would raise the money to spend for the trip. The only thing that’s clear to me is that I had to be able to support myself. The trip was a blast. I was able to achieve my first triumph in wanders. It was both my first organized and paid trip since I started working in 2007. Then the rest was history. The last update of my now defunct blog was on “01/31/13” and I had been at “8.16.5”.
On April 2013, I was chosen as one of the 10 employees to travel to our company headquarters in Duluth,Georgia, USA. It was another God’s gift. From then on, God’s graces and blessings continued to pour in. And just this March, the husband and I had our 1st international trip to Hong Kong and Macau. I don’t know where I am now at my 3030dot5 dream but I felt an overwhelming accomplishment. Everyday I am grateful for that fateful day in 2011 that started everything. It was a wake up call to start seeing my life as a gift and not a nuisance. And instead of always looking at the other side of the fence, I started to nurture what’s in my fence. As a child, I was always envious because I had nothing then decided not to be because I am with beauty and brains and then envious again because everybody is settling down at 25 while I was still struggling. It all changed when I started to see things differently and stop looking at what others have. It all started when I realized that there’s just so much in life. That not going with the flow can also become a source of happiness.
Now at 29 and currently looking forward to our longest adventure and realization of a dream, I am much more confident of the things to come. But being confident doesn’t necessarily mean that you will stop planning and OC-ing everything. Haha! A while ago, I just polished all our IndoChina plans. And despite all the plannings that I’ve done especially our DIY wedding, I still get amazed at how a plan could make you feel empowered and inspired. 14 days to go and I’m just glad that the plans are in place now. All I have to do are my dress rehearsals and other stuffs. Hahaha! Need to focus on what to film on a go-pro. LOL
More updates of our IndoChina planning soon. Stay tuned!
25 days to go before IndoChina! Wew! I’m feeling the pressure of both excitement and fear. We just had our 1st International trip in Hongkong and Macau last March but this would be our longest travel EVER. Just thinking of what to pack inside a carry in luggage is crazy.
I might have underestimated it a little because I didn’t get a check-in baggage to the husband’s surprise. Haha! Oh well, we’ve always been unconventional, this trip wouldn’t be any different.
Where We Plan To Go
As a researcher and crazy as I am, I have prepared an option of 6 itineraries but even that weren’t enough ’cause we settle with the 7th. Lol There’s just soooo mannnyyy things that I wanted to do. Good thing I had a reality checker. Hello husband! 😀
So where do we go? We’ll start in Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit the infamous Wats. We really don’t mind that it’s super popular just as long as we see it up close. Then leave on an overnight bus to do a city tour in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Our 4th night would be in Saigon or HCMC, Vietnam. From Saigon, that’s where most of our issues lie.
We just settled the final decision last week but I got so swamped I didn’t had the time to continue booking accommodations. Hopefully, I can continue this week.
Instead of going to Hanoi from Saigon via train then Hanoi to Luang Prabang which would cost us 36 hours for each leg, we opt to go back to Phnom Penh, arrive early at night, find a place to crash and ride the early bus to Ventiane. Do an overnight stay in Ventiane and then Vang Vieng – the land of my dreams!!! Haha! It’s brightside‘s fault why I really wanted to go. Weekend in Vang Vieng is a page in my dream book. I don’t want to miss it ever. 😀
After Vang Vieng, we will ride the bus again to Udonthani, Thailand. Why Udon? Because it has direct access to Vang Vieng. I don’t wanna go back to Ventiane anymore. Since we will be stopping by at Udon, might as well spend a night there. The last stop is Bangkok and it’s the longest too. We both agreed it that way since after jumping from city to city, we need to recuperate before going back home.
Our itineraries will need some final touches. Can’t wait for the weekend to do that. But I do hope I’ll have time before the weekend though. Yay! IndoChina here we come!!! Weeeee!
On our first draft of itinerary, trekking in Hong Kong was not really in it. But a week before the trip, I got a little down when I realized I would miss trekking in March. Our regular trekking group, NCR Trekkers visited Osmeña Peak on the weekend we were on travel. It gave me the idea to include trekking in the itinerary.
The husband, being the husband, was not hype up with the idea. Trekking in a new country with just the 2 of us seems a bit far off. Besides, he wanted this trip to be relaxing. But I assured him it would be nothing but pure awesomeness. Most people only saw the vibrant city life of Hong Kong and going on this trek would set us apart.
There are a lot of established trails in Hong Kong but Maclehose Trail caught my eye. The 1st stage ends on a beach. Trekking and beaching in one – who’d say no to that? But I, of course, didn’t know the weather in Hong Kong yet.
How to reach the start of Maclehose Trail?
There are 2 ways to reach Maclehose Trail: via Diamond Hill station or Hang Hau. We picked Diamond Hill. Upon arriving we hurriedly look for bus 96R that would take us to Pak Tam Chung, the start of the trail.
We were confused because 96R was no where in sight. It turns out, 96R buses only travel on Sunday. That was our 3rd day and I kind of realized that only a fraction of the locals understood English. We were lucky ’cause we found one who did.
We took bus 92 to Sai Kung. Note that bus 92’s last stop is Sai Kung terminal where you could catch bus 94 to Pak Tam Chung. We didn’t know this so we spent the entire hour of the trip worrying if we would miss the town. Pfft!
Trek Proper
We saw a lot of trekkers when we arrived in Pak Tam Chung. There were lots of trails and we didn’t have any idea which way for Maclehose. If we were in the Philippines, asking the locals would be a breeze. The helplessness annoyed me. I decided to just picked any trail. While walking we saw 2 Americans jogging, I then asked if we were on the right track. The woman directed us to the correct path.
Stage 1 of Maclehose trail is 90% walking on a paved road. It was a foggy day so we mostly see whiteness everywhere. The whole trail is 21 kilometers long, marked by distance posts at 500m intervals along the path. We enjoyed taking pictures each stop.
The paved road ended on a path to Long Ke beach. Stage 1’s last marker was just before reaching the beach. The husband and I had our triumphant pose and continued. After settling for 30 minutes, it was time to go. Initially, the plan was to trek until stage 2 but my feet was already sore and stage 2 is still 3.5 hours away.
We went back and could have taxi-ed to Pak Tam Chung but there were a lot of trekkers competing for the ride. We noticed some were calling for taxis. Because we planned to end at Stage 2, I had no idea of the fare. Worried about our budget and on how to communicate to the taxi driver plus the passengers, we decided to trek back. It was our longest non-stop walking for 2 hours.
With no idea of the last trip back to the city, the husband was afraid that if we’d trek longer than 2 hours, we would miss the bus back to the city. My feet was screaming in pain. I was full of remorse on the way for missing to research the exit strategy. The “Miss Sunshine” spirits totally left me. In that ordeal, the husband has remained strong. He calculated our time in between distance posts. Noted if we have been slowing down and inspired me to hasten my strides. In between managing our velocity, he would crack jokes and tell me stories just to take my mind away from the pain. That experience totally gave me a peek of that amazing side of him. He is not only an explorer but something more if the need arises.
Back to the City
Our efforts were not in vain. Minutes after arriving at Pak Tam Chung, we saw the bus. My feet was still sore but to our surprise, I had enough of energy to run to the bus. When we were safely settled, I kissed the husband and nearly cried of relief.
So how was Maclehose Stage 1?
It was fun even if we missed the views because of the fog. I’d like to come back on a different weather. But my greatest memory of Maclehose was not the trek itself but realizing just how blessed I am to have the greatest husband in the world. It was such a great way to celebrate our anniversary. Travel will indeed open you to more possibilities. The more you travel, the more you will encounter problems that will test your dynamics as husband and wife. =)
Breakfast at the neighborhood!In the train with trekkers and the Pak Tam Chung stop with a lot of trekkers!What you will see at Pak Tam Chung stop!On the way to the starting point of Maclehose Trail!This is where the trek starts!Views on the way and the first distance post!We weren’t that sweaty after 1.5 km of walking yet!
The husband was annoyed for I insist in taking pictures every post. HahaMore foggy views!This was us after 2.5 hours of walking at the end of the road.Yay! Stage 1 ends here!After Stage 1 ends, you will see Long Ke beach. I planned to swim but it was just too cold!This was after our ordeal.This station has an open railway unlike the other stations. The husband and I are quite enamored with Hong Kong’s MTR. It was our main transportation in going to places. We were able to ride 6 out of 12 lines, most of them are traversing in Central Hong Kong. Our farthest was on the green line (Kwun Tong Line) – Diamond Hill to reach Sai Kung.
Trekking in Maclehose was the best part of our trip because aside from giving us a different taste of Hong Kong, we were able overcome an obstacle together. Travelling as a couple is always the best way for the relationship to grow. And for that, I am grateful to God for giving me the best partner. Yay!
Stay tuned to more posts. The husband and I are quite smitten-ed with Hong Kong’s beauty that we might come back soon. We haven’t really see the city at all since we mainly used MTRs in travelling to places. Hehe!
While we were roaming the vast area of Ocean Park, Migo made an interesting comparison of it to Disneyland. It stuck in my head and planned to create an entire post of that idea. But I found an interesting comparison from one of the likers on my Disneyland post. He made quite a comparison. Read here.
Fortunately for us, we never get to choose between the two. From the start, Disneyland and Ocean Park were our non-negotiable. Our life together has been such an adventure and what better way to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary than to have it the way we survived our years together – travel, trek and anything FUN.
We visited Ocean Park on the 2nd day. Unlike other items on the itinerary that has been re-scheduled and dropped entirely, it was constant. As planned we arrived early but wasn’t able to went home before the closing time. We enjoyed a lot that we totally ditched going home before the crowd does.
Armed with a hack for beating the crowds, despite it being a Friday, Ocean Park was still full-packed. We even didn’t get the chance to take our timed photos on the entrance. We did at closing though. Yay! Following the hack, we proceeded to The Summit right away via the Ocean Express Waterfront Station.
Picture at some nice places on the way to Ocean Express then inside the train!
Ocean Park has 2 main areas: The Waterfront and The Summit with 8 adventure places to explore. 3 in The Waterfront: Aqua City, Amazing Asian Animals and Whiskers Harbour. 5 in The Summit: Thrill Mountain, Polar Adventure, Adventure Land, Rainforest and Marine World. The area was so big that if we ever visit again with the mini-us, we would probably get a 2-day pass. We totally missed visiting Amazing Asian Animals and Whiskers Harbour at The Waterfront. We only get a glimpse of Aqua City too.
So how did we spend our day at Ocean Park? Ridessssssss, A LOT of walk in between and shows. We were especially proud to have tried most rides too. We had 3 roller coaster rides and Miga only miss one ride in Thrill Mountain – the Whirly Bird while Migo opt out riding The Flash and the Whirly Bird too.
Enjoying the view right after getting off The Ocean Express. Migo posed before getting on an escalator to out first rides of the day in Thrill Mountain.Just as the name suggested, the rides in Thrill Mountain were quite thrilling. Rev Booster seems to be friendlier but as it turns out, looks is always deceiving. A must-try indeed. Also don’t miss The Flash.It looks really scary but it is not that scary at all.Aside from enjoying the rides, we had our lunch at the Thrill Mountain and explored Polar Adventure. While enjoying our lunch, Miga noticed her phone missing. We traced it back to Bumper Blaster. Turns out, it was left at one of the cars while Migo took a picture of Miga. Good thing it was Hong Kong, her phone was returned after some verification.Our next stop after lunch was Rainforest. Enjoyed the Expedition Trail and got somewhat wet in The Rapids.Marine World is our next stop and this was us taking a selfie while enjoying the view at Ocean Park Tower.Dolphin Show at Ocean Theater!Marine World was the biggest. We left it for a while and road on a long escalator down to Adventure Land where we ride our 2nd roller coaster: Mine Train which Migo find more scary than Thrill Mountain’s Hair Raiser. Since Raging River looks like Enchanted’s Log Jam, Miga decided to pass.We left Adventure Land after Mine Train and walk the long way passing the Marine Mammal Breading and Research Centre. We passed by more rides and decided to miss another one of Marine World’s ride “The Abyss” which is somewhat similar to Enchanted Kingdoms “Ekstreme Tower”. When we passed another roller coaster ride, there was no line at all so we decided to hop in.Sight seeing and photo shoot after The Dragon!And then it was time to head back down via the Cable Car. The line was long but Miga was too tired to walk to the Ocean Express station. Glad we endured though or else we would have missed the view.Goofing after the Cable Car ride back at The Waterfront.We had some time left before closing at 6:30 PM to take pictures outside The Grand Aquarium.After Ocean Park, we were famished. Decided to ate at Jolly Thinker’s Board Game Cafe. Miga was happy because she was craving for rice. Migo was overjoyed. 🙂
And why would Ocean Park be a must again? Because, Disneyland’s facade might be superior to Ocean Park in the details but the rides are definitely more fun. You will probably have more beautiful pictures and have immersed in a whole new world in Disneyland but you will certainly get your adrenaline pumping in Ocean Park. But for us, going to both is definitely a must. We have definitely enjoyed both. I just wished Ocean Park extends until 9 PM like Disneyland though, it would have given us the time maybe to explore The Waterfront. 😀
Ocean Park Itinerary
10:00 Be early.
Go to The Summit via Aqua City’s Ocean Express
Thrill Mountain
-> Rev Booster, The Flash, Bumper Blaster, Hair Raiset
Polar Adventure
-> South Pole Spectacular, North Pole Encounter
Rainforest
-> Expedition Trail, The Rapids
Marine World
-> Ocean Park Tower, Ocean Theather (show at 3 PM)
Adventure Land
-> Escalator, Mine Train
Marine World
-> The Dragon, Garden of Joy, Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium, Sea Jelly Spectacular
6:00 PM Leave The Summit via Marine World’s Cable Car
For hack and tips? It’s definitely just the same with how we survived in Disneyland. You need a very good explorer to save you a lot of trouble in navigating. 🙂
Migo (d’husband) and I have a fascination for everything fun and adventure – that is maybe the reason why when there’s a theme park in our target destination, putting it in our itinerary is a must. Visiting them enables my adrenaline addict self and his thirst for something new. Hong Kong Disneyland was our 2nd theme park experience.
On our first draft of itinerary, we put Disneyland on the last activity day (Monday) but since it was the nearest to the airport, we decided it’s gotta be our first stop. We plan our theme parks to be on a weekday to stay away from the weekend influx of tourists. Disneyland was everything we expected and more. The park was huge, with a lot of things to do. Yet despite the limited time, we were able to maximize our experience.
Here’s how we aced most of our list of magical things to do in Hong Kong Disneyland in 1 day!
1. Be aware of the crowd.
Unlike our Ocean park adventure that has a detailed itinerary of what rides to check, we only have a list of what to try. But the crowd was going in the same direction so we decided to go the opposite way. On arrival, visitors will often head straight through Sleeping Beauty Castle so we started our adventure by riding the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad from (1) Main Street station to (49) Fantasy Land station.
2. Don’t queue more than 15 minutes.
What’s good about queuing in Disneyland is that you can see the estimated time of waiting. Probably our longest time of wait was 30 minutes in (69) Autopia. We slightly regretted it ’cause it wasn’t that fun.
3. Be strategic and have time management.
Go get a map of the entire park and plan your route. If you go around trying and taking pictures of everything, you will end up missing a lot.
4. Stay until the fireworks.
Disneyland has a lot of things to do, by 8 PM, we were literally slump in the sidewalk waiting for the fireworks, too tired to check more spots ’cause our feet already had enough.
While writing this post, I needed a snap of the guide map. I wasn’t able to take a picture of ours. It was too big for scanning so I searched online. I saw a good one but it was slightly different from our guide map. Fantasy Land station is 48 on this map while in our map, it is 49. Another tip: Before going on an adventure in Disneyland, after having a list of what to visit, it might be good to create a route plan based on this guide map. Make sure it is updated.
What To Do?
Enjoy the attractions, watch shows and immersed yourself in a whole new world. 🙂 Right after visiting Ocean Park on our 2nd day, the husband commented that Disneyland and Ocean Park is not in competition at all. Disneyland is very pretty and most of the rides are kid-friendly. The whole park’s details is very notable. Visiting each of the 7 areas is a different visual experience. Photographers will love Disneyland.
We arrived at the park around 10:30 AM and started our adventure by 11:30 AM. When we had lunch around 1:30 PM, we have visited 5 places already: Main Street, Toy Story Land, Mystic Point, Grizzly Gulch and Adventure Land. After lunch we continued with Adventure Land then went across to Tomorrow Land. Fantasy Land was our last stop where most people starts.
Info: It’s good to visit Disneyland first but quite costly to leave your baggage. You will have to pay 40 HKD/item. In our case, my bag was small so we chose to carry it around and only pay for the husband’s bag. It was too big to carry.
Below is the snaps of our Disneyland adventure. 🙂
10:30 ETA Disneyland via S1 bus (3.5HKD) then MTR (Tung Chung->Sunny Way->Disneyland 13.5HKD)
Disneyland: -> Main Street, U.S.A
01 Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad – Main Street Station
-> Fantasy Land
49 Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad – Fantasy Land Station
-> Toy Story Land
38 Toy Soldier Parachute Drop
-> Mystic Point
34 Garden of Wonders
33 Mystic Manor
-> Grizzly Gulch (All rides are closed)
-> Adventure Land (Festival of the Lion King is closed. Shows on weekend’s only.)
19 Raft to Tarzan’s Treehouse
20 Tarzan’s Treehouse
-> Mystic Point 34 Garden of Wonders33 Mystic Manor-> Grizzly Gulch (All rides are closed)-> Adventure Land (Festival of the Lion King is closed. Shows on weekend’s only.) 19 Raft to Tarzan’s Treehouse, 20 Tarzan’s TreehouseLUNCH BREAK 24 Tahitian Terrace (Food were around 100 HKD, we saved some money by buying a ticket with food).
LUNCH BREAK
24 Tahitian Terrace
21 Jungle River Cruise
22 Liki Tikis
-> Tomorrow Land
69 Autopia
66 Stitch Encounter
65 Space Mountain
-> Fantasy Land
52 It’s A Small World
53 Mickey and the Wondrous Book (Show)
51 Mad Hatter Tea Cups
54 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
45 Mickey’s PhilharMagic
* Missed 46 Fairy Tale Forest
-> Main Street, U.S.A
Waiting for the fireworks and checking the shops
21 Jungle River Cruise and Fantasy Land’s “It’s A Small World”. We weren’t able to take pictures in Tomorrow Land.Inside “It’s A Small World” cruise!-> Fantasy Land 53 Mickey and the Wondrous Book (Show)It’s a small world at night and 51 Mad Hatter Tea Cups54 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh45 Mickey’s PhilharMagic (A 4D theather experience)Waiting for fireworks and home sweet home!
The husband like Mystic Point’s Mystic Manor ride. I love Fantasy Land’s “It’s A Small World” cruise. Both shows were good: Fantasy Land’s “Mickey and the Wondrous Book” and “Mickey’s PhilharMagic”. Tomorrow Land’s “Space Mountain” and “Stitch Encounter” were good too.
What we’ve missed:
Because we were busy with the rides, we weren’t able to meet any Disney characters.
It was also Disney’s 10th anniversary but we weren’t able to see the special shows.
Missed the 3 PM parade at Main Street
Fantasy Land’s “Fairy Tale” forest by Pandora.
Taking a picture with the fireworks on our camera. I told him to record it. 😀
Bringing food. Our ticket has food but we got hungry at dinner. We stayed until almost 9 PM.
Visiting Disneyland in 1 day is possible but just like with our experience, it’s very tiresome. Next time, I’ll still opt for one day but will have to wear a comfortable shoes.
And that’s it with our Disneyland adventure. Now that I’ve written it, I’m quite surprised since it seems we weren’t taking much pictures at all. We even don’t have picture on our cam at the Sleeping Beauty castle. Whoah! I’ll have to check my phone. Huhu!
Have you been to Disneyland Hong Kong? What’s your favorite memory? I’ve read that there are 6 Disney Kingdoms in the world, how many were you able to visit? I wish to visit 3 more. 😀
M&M 1st Int’l Travel HK Macau (1st Wedding Anniversary): Summary Hong Kong Disneyland Hacks & Tips
Why Hong Kong Ocean Park Is A Must
Trekking In Hong Kong in 1 Day: Maclehose Trail
Grandiose Macau: Hotel Hopping & More
Touristy Macau: A Cold Welcome
10 Things Why You Should Travel As A Couple
Unlike our Indochina trip this August, our recent escape in Hong Kong & Macau on March 17-22 was decided on January when Cebu Pac had another seat sale. And even if it comes first before Indochina, I was more fired up to plan the latter. In my mind planning a 5-day trip to Hong Kong & Macau should be a breeze. I was also confident since the husband has a friend in Macau.
We had tons of fun and some notable bloopers and fails. But overall it was a great trip. This was our first international trip as husband & wife, and it certainly goes beyond expectations. We’ve learned more about each other and appreciated our strengths and weaknesses more. If you are planning your own trip to HK & Macau on your own, don’t fret. Hong Kong is very friendly to tourists. Signs are everywhere.
Before embarking on your own adventure, please note on the following list. These are our fails (or just mine since I am the researcher).
Check on the weather of your travel dates. There are a lot of online sites where you can go check the weather of your destination. We neglect this one and suffered somehow. It was 18-degree cold when we reached Hong Kong and we only had our windbreaker on.
Wear comfortable shoes suitable for walking A LOT! It’s good to be beautiful in your photos with a cool boots but make sure it won’t kill your feet. It’s good to bring some extra shoes as well for back-up. I did brought a trekking sandal but didn’t have any appropriate socks to pair it on. In Hong Kong, you will have to walk a lot in between MTR stations and bus stops.
Grab a map, plot your adventure and manage your time. When you are visiting theme parks like in Disneyland and Ocean Park, everything is nice but if you want to maximize your experience, you have to know how to navigate wisely. We actually don’t have a problem with this one since the husband was such a good explorer.
Know your exit strategy. In your research, make sure to include how to go home especially if it involves walking to reach your destination. On our visit to Maclehose Trail, I assumed we can just trek back but we started at 12 PM already. We reached Long Ke beach by 3:30 PM. We stayed for half an hour and back to the paved road at 4:30 PM where the locals hired taxi back to Pak Tam Chung, the bus stop to Sai Kung town. It’s a 2-hour walk. Unfortunately, I was too hesitant to ask about the fare. And seeing there are a lot of passengers, I assumed the worst so we trek back instead. Minutes after walking, the husband raised concern about the last schedule of the bus to town of which I neglect to include in research as well. When we realized the repercussions of trekking instead of just taking a taxi, the husband make it our goal to constantly check our time against the section stops. We had an average of 6 minutes/section. We arrived at Pak Tam Chung some minutes before 7 PM, just in time to catch bus 94 heading to Sai Kung.
Plot your spending daily. We included money estimates in our itinerary but we forgot to check the actual. We had some unplanned spending for the jackets as well. Before going back to Macau, we were shocked because we only have little money left. Good thing we didn’t spend that much in Macau since our host was very generous. Thanks God! Tip on the next travel: Divide and store your money per day in different container. Make sure there is ample extras per day and don’t ever get money planned for other days.
Now that you have the reminders, let’s go to what you can see & do. The husband and I enjoy theme parks a lot so visiting Disneyland and Ocean Parks were must-dos in Hong Kong. Since his best friend is in Macau, going there is a must too.
But we set our itinerary to be flexible. It’s good that it is because we have freedom to adjust accordingly. Tips: If you plan to visit Hong Kong & Macau, it might be best to do a multi-route flight to Cebu. Do everything that you can in Hong Kong and when you’re done, go to Macau and take a flight back home from there. You can save time and money. And since we are not able to do a city tour or shopping in Hong Kong, we might be back in the future.
More tips…
Buy theme park tickets online and be there as soon as the park opens. Because the ticket is very costly, you have to maximize every bit of your visit. The husband and I arrived in both parks as soon as it opens and were the last ones to leave as well. The ticket we bought at Klook was already good to go. We didn’t have to endure the long ticket queues.
Use MTRs. It’s a bit costly from the buses but you will be amazed at how organized and tourist friendly it is. There are maps and info stations where you can plot your next destination. We mainly use MTRs going to places except for the ones that don’t have like the trip to Maclehose Trail. In total, we spent around 180HKD in MTRs. We got an Octopus card at the airport for 150HKD and reloaded it with 50HKD.
Use AirBNB to book your accommodation. You might find a good deal on other sites but what I like about AirBNB is that it could track all my travel details in one place. Besides, it’s also where we host our M&M. And I feel secure to transact with AirBNB because I’ve been doing it for a while now.
Make your itinerary flexible. You will be surprised at how good it is to just go with the flow.
Get A Baggage Allowance. Though we were able to manage without any check-in baggage, it was quite a hassle when we had to get things out of the husband’s backpack to comply with the 7-kg requirement. But going with out a check-in baggage is very convenient. We didn’t have to wait for our baggage.
Sleep at the Airport. But make sure to research first if the airport you are going to stay the night can accommodate you. On our first draft of itinerary, there was an accommodation for our last night in HK but later on, after researching that it’s safe to stay at Hong Kong airport, I suggested it to the husband who was very supportive of the idea.
Get the trip schedule of buses, MTRs or any transport. On this trip, we mainly use buses and MTRs. But since we always go home before 12 AM and don’t have activities that requires night travel, we forgot to check the trip schedules. We were stuck in HK on our last night for about 3 hours, waiting at the wrong stop and looking for the right bus station of the bus that travels to airport at night. We arrived from Macau at around 12:30ish and hurried to the Airport express MTR station. We assumed that since it’s an express, it might be running 24 hours. We arrived just in time for the last ride to leave. We then proceeded to the nearest bus stop but didn’t check the bus schedules right away. We waited for about 30 minutes until I got impatient. When we checked, it turned out, we were waiting for nothing. We then proceeded to our target bus stop, sketched by the husband’s friend. Still no luck there.
Sign says we have to go to Vicwood. Unfortunately, it took us a while to find the right bus stop. It was hard since not all people speak English. We asked a 7/11 attendant, pointed us to the east and another one pointing to west. I got more impatient and decided to just take the taxi instead. But we saw an N11 bus before we got to a taxi. We weren’t able to ride that bus but we knew the direction it was going. Good thing we didn’t take the taxi though because the bus to airport took around 1 hour. Just imagine the cost if we took the taxi. 😛 All throughout my rampage, the husband remained calm and collected. Gosh! I just love how he is. =)
Money Matters If you want to visit Hong Kong & Macau, be prepared to shell out around Php25K/pax. See below the breakdown. Only the accommodation is shared. All other entries are for each person.
This trip involves a lot of walking and up to now, my feet is still aching. But it’s all worth it. =) I wouldn’t want to spend our 1st wedding anniversary other way. 🙂
M&M 1st Int’l Travel HK Macau (1st Wedding Anniversary): Summary Hong Kong Disneyland Hacks & Tips
Why Hong Kong Ocean Park Is A Must
Trekking In Hong Kong in 1 Day: Maclehose Trail
Grandiose Macau: Hotel Hopping & More
Touristy Macau: A Cold Welcome
10 Things Why You Should Travel As A Couple
Due to excitement, I was done with the itinerary by mid-January. But as I was looking at it today, I could no longer recall the details. 🙂 Unlike before, I am more open to changes in plans nowadays. I don’t mind scrapping a whole day of itinerary for something better. With that said, I think it’s just fitting to write our plans ’cause God only knows if we will be able to wholeheartedly follow them all. 🙂
Day 4 Ngong Ping 360, Giant Buddha, and Ngong Ping Village in Lantau Island
Ngong Ping 360Giant Buddha
Day 5 Disneyland
DisneylandFireworks
Day 6 Home Sweet Home
Aside from being our first international travel, this is our first wedding anniversary trip as well. 🙂 Yip! The super DIY wedding of Migo&Miga will turn 1 on March. How time flies indeed. 🙂 It’s still 17 days to go but as I was about to end this post, the excitement swells. We better start re-visiting our plans and see to it that everything is taken cared. Yayyyyyyyyyyyy!
How ’bout you? Have you been to Hongkong & Macau? Did we miss some special place you might want us to check out? As long as it will not require a lot of money, we might be able to change our plans but—- Ocean Park & Disneyland are non-negotiables. You see, the husband and I are just a fan of kid-dy things. Hahaha! So, comment away friends. 🙂
As summarized here, it has been quite a while since our last touristy trip outside of Cebu. 2015 was mostly spent on trekking. Last 2014, we had a grand time motorbiking Siquijor on our 6th anniversary. After that, we went on a hiatus.
Migo & Miga’s DIY Pic in Cambugahay Falls, Siquijor
We were supposed to resume travels after the wedding but we were blessed with so many treks. We didn’t have a choice but to enjoy the blessings. 🙂
This year, we made it a point to include travel in our goals. Inorder to seal the deal, we booked tickets as soon as they went on sale. Booked a multi-city ticket that starts in Cambodia and ends in Thailand via Cebu Pac’s yearend sale. Finally, the long overdue travel to Asia would soon come into fruition. Yay! The best thing about it is leaving on my birthday. It’s gonna be an awesome start to my 30th year in this world! Weeeee! But of course, our honeymoon trip is the best of the two since it will be the husband and I’s first trip abroad. Plus it’s on our wedding anniversary. Hooray!!!
And because of these trips, we are trying to tone down our expenses and focus more on saving which means no more taxis, binge-eating, mood-induced shopping and even my fitness allowances are gone too.
Last year we had our wedding to think about. This year we had our travels. By 2017, it’s gonna be babies or…a trek in Nepal. Everyday is getting more awesome, alright!!!
How about you? What are your travel goals this year? Will 2016 be a TRAVEL year for you as well? Let’s exchange itineraries. 🙂
The WANDER (FULL) LIFE 
