Macau, Hong Kong & Kowloon

Macau, Hong Kong and Kowloon Holiday Trip
A Travel Journal by K.A. Lim
6th March to 14th March 2007


Day 1 - 6th March 07
We flew out from KL LCCT Airport at 6:30am onboard Air Asia new Airbus A320. The journey took 4 hours and we arrived at 10:20am at Macau International Airport. The temperature at Macau was 16°C. We took a taxi outside the airport for MOP62 to Macau Masters Hotel located at the inner harbour. As English skills of many taxi drivers are limited, we suggest you ask the info counter at the airport to write down your destination for you in Chinese. We had earlier booked a 2 nights stay at the hotel via the internet for USD88. The room was decent, and after checking in, we walked towards Senado Square which is a 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Senado Square is paved with a wave-patterned stone mosaic and with its beautiful restored buildings, is great for photo taking. However, the most photographed structure is probably the nearby ruins of St. Paul, where we saw hordes of tourists. The church, built in the 17th century by an Italian Jesuit, was destroyed in a fire in 1835, leaving behind only the facade and grand staircase. As we walked along the shopping street arcade Largo do Senado, we stumbled upon a building with beautiful pieces of tiled art on one of its outer wall. We walked into one of the shops located just next to the tiled wall for lunch and had beef curry noodles before heading back to the hotel at 3:30pm to sleep till 6:00pm. Through the recommendation of the hotelier for an experience in Macanese and Portuguese cuisine, we had our dinner at Restaurant Litoral. We had curry shrimp with crab meat at MOP138 and mixed vegetables at MOP70. It was not a good choice and was expensive. By night fall we walked again to the Senado Square, then to the Grand Lisboa Casino. We went in for viewing and had a free ginseng tea at the casino. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by a roadside stall and had a chee cheong fun for MOP8, which was cheap and good. We then returned to the hotel for the night.


Day 2 - 7th March 07
This morning, we went to the Restaurante Tou Tou Koi for tim sum for MOP81. After breakfast, we boarded bus #18 as we wanted to go to the Macau Tower. The public buses charge a flat rate of MOP2.50. Fares are dropped into a box upon entry using either local Patacas or Hong Kong dollar coins, there is no change provided. Instead of heading towards Macau Tower, this bus was on its way back to the main bus terminal located at the Barrier Gate. This is the crossing border between Macau and mainland China. We explored the area and saw many people purchasing canned food stuff and later transferring the goods into hand carried bags to bring across the border. We were amazed to notice many women carrying such heavy loads back across to the mainland. After walking around the surrounding area, we again boarded bus #18 and this time it was correct, taking us to the Macau Tower. The tower ticket cost MOP75 per adult. At 338m high, Macau Tower is the 10th tallest freestanding tower in the world. At the viewing platform, there were special constructed glass for one to experience viewing straight to the bottom of the tower while standing on the glass panel. Other facilities include climbing the tower, skywalking, which is a walk around the main outer rim of the tower at 233m above ground. The biggest challenge is the Skyjump, where you jump off the outer rim while strapped to a winch that eases you to the ground. We returned to Senado Square and had the famous pork chop bun at MOP11 each. The freshly toasted buns were delicious. We walked to the ruins of St Paul and took more pictures. We bought the famous Portuguese almond cookies for MOP22 per box of 18 pieces. We bought 5 packets and was given 1 box free. We also bought a special egg roll wrapped with seaweed and meat floss for MOP16 per box. The shop gives out free cookies for testing and we marvelled at the generous offer to all approaching visitors. We later went back to hotel for a rest. At dinner time, we had duck rice and roast pork MOP39 for two persons. There was a slight drizzle so we hurried back to the hotel.


Day 3 - 8th March 07
At 09:00 we again went to the same shop TTK and had tim sum for MOP80. We checked out the hotel and boarded bus #13 in front of the hotel to the Macau-Hong Kong harbour terminal. We bought a Turbo Jet ferry ticket for MOP142 per adult. The journey took an hour to arrive at Hong Kong. After checks at immigration, we walked out the terminal and boarded a taxi for HK53 to CharterHouse Hotel located at Wan Chai area. The hotel rate booked through the internet for 3 nights stay was USD171. We were lucky to have a room with a good view looking out to the Happy Valley. We had a short rest and later walked through the wet market and shops until we reached Causeway Bay area before turning back. We walked to the Wan Chai MTR (Mass Transit Railway) station and purchased an Octopus card for HK150 each (HK50 being the deposit which is refundable). On a flat fare of HK2 per ride, we boarded a tram to Sheung Wan terminal. It was the cheapest form of transportation available in Hong Kong. We were on the upper deck of this double decker tram and enjoyed watching the scene of the streets, shops and the heavy volume of traffic on the road. Walking back, we did some shopping for clothes and continued towards the famous Lan Kwai Fong street. There were pubs on both sides of the street and many foreigners were seen drinking and having fun. We walked to the Central MTR station and boarded the MTR to Wan Chai station. We bought some bread along the way and returned to hotel to rest.


Day 4 - 9th March 07
We woke up late this morning. After a quick breakfast we took the tram and stopped at the Hong Kong Bank building. Going up some slopes, we reached the lower Peak station. Using the Octopus card we tapped and passed through the gate. The journey took only 10 minutes to reach the mid point station. There was this Madame Tussauds wax museum at the station and we bought our tickets at HK110 per adult to enter. There were many wax figures of celebrities from entertainment, film, TV and Presidents of new and old. Walking out the wax museum, it was very misty and cold outside. Due to the heavy fog at the mountain top, we were not able to see the view of the Hong Kong harbour below. Coming down the Peak, we sat at the upper deck of an open-aired double decker bus for HK3.20 each heading to the Star ferry terminal. We took pictures of the harbour and ferries before returning to the hotel.


Day 5 - 10th March 07
We had chee cheong fun HK5 for breakfast and walked to the Admiralty MTR station, where we bought a day entry pass to Ocean Park for HK165 per adult. It would cost us HK20 more per person if the ticket was purchased at the park entrance. At the bus terminal above the MTR, there were long queues for bus #629 heading for Ocean Park. The bus fare was HK10.60 single way and it went through a tunnel crossing to the other side of the mountain and arrived at Ocean Park in 15 minutes. We spent the whole day at the park and had a wonderful time watching the dolphin and seals performance show held at 11:30am. Next we visited the aquarium, where there were three levels of viewing floor. There was a separate sharks only aquarium in the park as well. We boarded a cable car and descended to the other side of the park. There were more amuseme nt stalls, a go cart track, an air balloon ride and such. We boarded bus #629 on this end of the entrance and returned to Admiralty MTR station. From there we walked to the seafront where the Hong Kong Convention Center is situated, just next to the Wan Chai ferry pier. It was misty and we could not do clear photo taking at the harbour. After dinner, we walked to the Time Square at Causeway Bay and had some photos printed on an instant printer for HK2 for each 4”x6” piece. We then went back to hotel and called it a night.


Day 6 - 11th March 07
After breakfast, we checked out from the hotel and took a taxi for HK15 to Wan Chai ferry pier. The star ferry crossed to Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal at Kowloon for a fare of HK2.20. We boarded a taxi for HK30 to Hotel Stanford www.stanfordhongkong.com/en/ at Mong Kok area. This hotel cost us USD183 for a 3 nights stay. We explored the Mong Kok area and reached the Gold Fish Market where we saw many types of fishes including marine fish displayed for sale. We took a MTR ride from Mong Kok station to Tsim Sha Tsui station. Arriving a little bit late, we saw the laser display from buildings at the Hong Kong harbour. It was a spectacular sight watching from the opposite shores at Kowloon. We walked along the busy street till we reached Jordan MTR station and boarded the train back to Mong Kok. The streets of Mong Kok were equally busy with lots of people and activities. We then returned to the hotel.


Day 7 - 12th March 07
After breakfast, we went to the Hong Kong Bank to exchange some traveler cheques. I was asked to show my passport and I changed USD to HKD. We boarded the MTR at Mong Kok to Lai King station and transferred to another line to Sunny Bay station. This train took us to our next destination, the Hong Kong Disneyland. Disneyland’s entrance fee is HK295 per adult. We spend the whole day at this park. We had photographs taken with Mickey and friends. We watched the street parade, rode the jungle river cruise and finally waited till 7:15pm to watch the fireworks display at the sleeping beauty castle. It was a magnificent sight. The park closed at 8:00pm, so we returned using the same mode of transport back to Mong Kok. We had “luk pou fan” at a Maxim outlet for HK26 per plate as well as a plate of club sandwich for HK20.


Day 8 - 13th March 07
This morning, we took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui station and walked to the harbour side to the Avenue of Stars. We took pictures of famous celebrities hand prints on the concrete walkway and the statue of Bruce Lee. We walked along the harbour front till the China Hong Kong City at Canton Road. This is the departure point for ferries from Kowloon to mainland China including Macau. We spent the rest of the day doing last minute shopping at Mong Kok.


Day 9 - 14th March 07
Today is our last day of our holiday trip to Hong Kong. We walked around the area of Mong Kok, checked out from the hotel and took a taxi HK30 to China Hong Kong City located at Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. We bought a concession First Ferry ticket for HK132 and boarded the ferry to Macau. We went through the immigration check point and took a taxi MOP50 to the Macau International airport. We waited at the airport until 5:30pm before registering ourselves at Air Asia check in counter for flight AK53. The flight scheduled at 7:30pm was delayed to 8:10pm. We arrived at 12:15am Kuala Lumpur LCCT airport.

Overall, this trip to Macau, Hong Kong and Kowloon was indeed a happy and memorable one, filled with good experiences of the food, culture and beautiful sights.

Coming up soon will be a travel journal of my trip to Italy, French Riviera and Europe! Tune in for the update!