HK & Macau Trip -20 Apr 2007 - 24 April 2007

Hi folks, I am back from my holiday from HK & Macau and of course I do have loads of photos to share with you and the fun which I had in the two Special Administrative Reigons of China.

There are also several firsts which I gained from this trip:-

1. 1st visit to Disneyland.
2. 1st time my flight was delayed & I was stuck on a non-flying SQ plane for about 2 and a half hours at the HK Airport. I was so tired after the 6 hr plus flight that I decided to take a day off to rest at home today.

Day 1

I have reached HK on time for this flight - SQ 892 at 7.10pm. My mum and I loitered around the airport concourse as our ferry to Macau was at 10pm. We continued our dinner at the airport before boarding the ferry at the ferry point which was a shuttle bus ride of about 10 mins from the airport. We reached Macau at about 11.15pm. We hailed a cab to bring us to the hotel, which Wendy recommended, Metropark Macau located near the Macau Finance Centre. The taxi driver took us to a wrong hotel with a similar name. Luckily, the wrong hotel staff was kind enough to help us hail another cab & led the cab driver to the right hotel. Because of the error, it cost us about an additional MOP$20 in cab fare.

This also taught me that we should try to get the Chinese name of the hotel as Macau & HK are Chinese populated cities. I think this is the drawback of internet booking of hotels, not being able to show the Chinese name of the hotel on the website. Reached the hotel at about 12mn and called it a night.

Day 2

The start of the adventure, which saw me and my mum taking the buses from the bus stop about 5 mins away from the hotel and went to the Macau Jockey Club and the Olympic stadium nearby. After that, we headed for lunch at a nearby eatery, where we met by a Hongkonger, who recommended us to stop by the busy nearby street to find the Portguese tarts. Unfortunately, we didn't find any there

After the shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a short break before taking the bus to the Go Kart Centre & Botanical Garden in the other side of the island. A passer-by tried to deter us from going by saying that the ride to the 2 places are pretty long, when long means about 25 mins. But I must admit that the bus ride was very crowded. It is a small Bontanic Garden that had some unique seashells & stones, with the 12 animals of the zodiac signs. We took some photos and walked around, before the sky started to turn cloudy, and we decided to head back to the hotel.

We had our dinner at one of the eateries near our hotel, before heading to a nearby casino to take a peek. Mum was saying that this was her first time in a casino. We only got to know later from a phone card saleswoman that all the casinos in Macau are beautiful in looks, as they compete with one another for the tourist dollars.

Day 3

Our last day in Macau. Took a bus to Centro to get some souveniors and gifts for our friends and relatives. Some of the items are of a bargain. We witnessed a church wedding taking place in a church as well.

After that, we headed back to the hotel and collected our luggage before taking the hotel shuttle to the ferry terminal to board a ferry to HK.

I am quite pleased with the hotel service and the location of the hotel. If I have the chance to visit again, I will stay in the hotel again. The people are friendly too, especially to people with special needs like me.

The ferry ride to HK was about an hour plus. We hailed a cab to our hotel in HK, the Metropark Mongkok. My friend, Peggy said I made a good choice for this hotel as it is near to the MTR station and shopping belt. The taxi driver was very friendly, and even offered to pick us up to the airport on our day of departure. My mum was saying, maybe he saw my condition, as a result, he decided to make the offer. The offer came with a price, but it was slightly cheaper, compared to a normal cab ride that was running with the taxi meter on. My mum eventually took up the offer.

As we checked in to the hotel, the hotel staff offered to change us to a bigger room at no additional charge. Since there was no additional charge, I took up the offer. I guess the S$470 was well spent for a 2 nite stay.

After putting down our luggage, we went around the Prince Edward MTR station and walked around and did our shopping before calling a night at 8pm and returning to the hotel as we prepare ourselves for a tour to Disneyland the next day.

Day 4

After breakfast at the hotel, we took a train to Disneyland, where we toured the whole day. Please see the photos taken above to see how much I enjoyed myself. Mum was saying that I still behave like a child at heart.

After the one day tour to Disneyland, mum & I headed to 中环 for our dinner and we did some shopping before calling it a night as I was very tired. Initally, we had wanted to go to The Peak, but my camera battery went flat after the Disneyland tour, so we decided to postpone to the last day.

Day 5

Alas, the last day was really an unlucky day as:-

1. Mum could not open the luggage bag that we bought as the one which we carried, the handle had snapped. In the end, we headed back to the shop that we bought the bag from and got the salesgirl to open for us.
2. When it was finally done (The lock was cut open by the salesgirl and we got a replacement bag.), it started to rain heavily. There goes my trip to the Peak. We did some shopping in the end at the other side of the MTR station in the end.
3. When we checked in our luggage at the airport, I noticed that the boarding pass did not show the gate number for us to board the plane. Mum and I were nervous when the gate didn't show up on the computer screen at 3.20pm, when our flight was supposed to be at 4pm. We decided to proceed to the departure gates and check the screen later, after clearing the immigration as there are 80 departure gates at the HK airport. After clearing the customs, the gate showed up, we quickly ran to the gate, Gate 15, only to find that the boarding was delayed to 4.30pm. We boarded the flight at 4.30pm, but I was surprised that the plane did not take off. The Captain then announced that the flight could not take off due to the extensive cloud cover and we were the 40th in queue to take off. It was an agonising 2 hr wait in the plane. Fortunately, there was in-flight entertainment on the SQ flight, otherwise it will be a complete boredom. The plane finally took off at 6.30pm and reached Singapore at 10.15pm. A 3hr 15 min flight turned into a 6hr 15 min flight. I must say the crew did a good job to handle majority of the passengers who were waiting to their connecting flights to other cities in the region. SIA is really a great way to fly. I also got to thank one of the stewardress who took the trouble to find the B777-300ER model for me as I wanted to purchase it.

Eventually, mum and I reached home at about 11.30pm. After unpacking the luggage, it was close to 1am.