Hong Kong’s journey begins and ends with the MTR -metro. Easy to use, stops everywhere, and very clean. As you arrive in the airport consider getting a 1-3 Day Tourist Pass MTR Card - unlimited rides for 1-3 days on the metro for $10 per day or just get the Octopus card -$7 deposit and then re-load it as much as you would like. The Octopus card can be used for food, metro, buses, ferry’s and basically anything you want to buy. Most one-way rides are around $1, if you don’t plan on riding that often.
While in Hong Kong we took advantage of Klook which is an app that offers discounted transportation and other touristic activities throughout Asia the only downside is that you usually need to book your excursion/tour 48 hours in advance. To get a good sense of the city we booked the Rickshaw Tour Bus, which offered us double-decker views of the city for $15 per person for two days including traveling on both sides of Hong Kong!
Kowloon-Hong Kong Mainland
For the first few days we stayed on the mainland side of Hong Kong which they call Kawloon at the Holiday Inn Express Mongkok. This is a great location to get a feel for the markets, street food, and more local side of the area. We explored Temple street where you can buy anything and everything for under $5. While walking, we made sure to try some fried balls, yes deep fried anything fish, meat, lobster, tofu you name it, a local favorite.
Eventually, we wondered to the water’s edge of Victoria’s harbor where we enjoyed the breathtaking view of the Hong Kong Island, whose skyline rivals if not surpasses any other iconic cityscape in the world - home to the most skyscrapers as well.
At night the city gets lit up by thousands of lights known as “A Symphony of Lights.” The show begins every night at 8pm – it is free to view so we made sure to watch it from the Kowloon side for the best view.
While on this side of the river, we tasted dim sum (type of dumplings) at a restaurant called Tim Ho Wans Dim Sum. The meal was exotic but definitely delicious and inexpensive.
Hong Kong Island
After departing the mainland, we took the Star ferry ($1) to the Hong Kong island where we decided to spend the rest of our time. We checked into the Conrad Hong Kong which opens up a beautiful view of the harbor and surrounding mountainous peaks.
This side of Hong Kong is ritzier and more glamorous as it offers shopping and restaurant options that only a few of us can afford. But, the good news is that there is still plenty of amazing food and local culture to explore that won’t break your budget. We wondered through the Hong Kong botanical gardens and Hong Kong Park, each of which sits on the edge of the “city” and the mountain – both are free.
On our final day in Hong Kong, I was planning on hiking up the old peak road to Victoria peak and Julia was going to take the tram up. However, she later decided to stay at the hotel and enjoy the spa, so I went on my own. I started up the hill but somehow I ended up on the Central Green Trail which took me to a different peak. Continuing to walk along the peaks I finally made it to the Lions Pavillion- which opened up a gorgeous view of the entire city and onto Victory’s Peak for ocean views. If you do opt for the peak tram, be aware of the long lines both up and down. For me the 1-hour hike up and 20-minute hike down were more peaceful and enjoyable.
Hong Kong was perfect and quickly climbed up both Julia’s and my personal lists of favorite cities – it had so much to offer. It felt like if New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago were mixed together with an Asian touch.
Macau
If Vegas is known as the gambling Mecca of the west, I would call Macau the gambling Mecca of the east. It doubles the gambling revenue of Vegas. In fact, the city makes so much money, that they donate that money back to its citizens.
We were able to fit Macau into our trip at the last minute. It only took us a short one hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. There are ferries going every 30 minutes all day to and from Hong Kong and if you book ahead (with Klook) you can get a round trip ticket for around $30 per person.
Right off the bat, I can say some good and bad things about the Macau public transportation. On the downside, their public buses run irregular, do not offer transfer tickets, don’t give you change if you have larger bills, and the bus drivers don’t speak English. On the upside, the casino’s offer free regular shuttle buses from the ferry station and the airport to any casino hotel and resort. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Macau which offered great views of the water and of course had a free shuttle as well.
Eager to save money and to avoid buses, we took advantage of the free shuttle buses. From the ferry station, we hopped on the first bus we saw which took us to the Venetian casino located on the south island, called the Coati “Vegas” Strip. The strip had a very familiar casino feel to Vegas but something was missing for us. It didn’t have the glam, the grit, the people, and the feel that Vegas had. Eventually, we caught a bus from the MGM Coati to the north island “Macau.”
We enjoyed the north island way more as it seemed to have all the amenities, casinos, and sightseeing as Vegas does. The casinos were not as glamorous as the South Island but they felt more alive. They even had a Wynns version of the Bellagio fountain show.
To get a good taste of the old Macau – a former Portuguese colony – we deviated from the main streets deeper into the local neighborhoods, just a few blocks away from the casinos. The lights and glamour died down, but the streets picked up with local shops and restaurants leading us down every narrow alley way. We were on a mission to visit the Ruins of St Paul. We passed by the lively Senado Square, which looked like it was lifted straight out of Mediterranean Europe. We finally made it to the church or what was left of it – the front wall. The church itself burned down in fires caused by a typhoon in 1835. It was a blissful scene, which we topped off by tasting a much-recommended Portuguese pastry called Serradura and by enjoying the sunset.
No comments:
Post a Comment