The start of a much awaited trip is usually met with excitement and nervousness – hoping everything will go as planned. More importantly, it usually means having to get up early if your flight is at one of those ungodly hours so that you don’t be late 🙁
Hong Kong Trip
Just to share, my Hong Kong trip was a pretty sudden decision and it was only made possible – thanks to Mastercard, because I won a pair of flight tickets to Hong Kong from their like and share contest on Facebook!
This means saving on a huge bulk of expenses because flights are usually the most expensive portion of a trip thus, keeping my costs lower than usual! #feelblessed
Read the rest of my 5D4N Hong Kong Trip Report here:
- mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip Summary from Instagram (@mitsueki)
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip 23 – 27 January 2015 – Summary from Instagram
**Partially sponsored by Mastercard - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 1 (Part 1): Singapore – Hong Kong / Airport Express / Eaton Hotel
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 1 (Part 1) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 1 (Part 2): 7-11 / Lan Fong Yuen / Tai Cheong Bakery / Ding Ding Tram / The Star Ferry / Avenue of Stars / Tsim Sha Tsui
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 1 (Part 2) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 2 (Part 1): Yee Shun Milk Company / Hong Kong Disneylandmitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 2 (Part 1)
**Partially sponsored by Hong Kong Disneyland - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 2 (Part 2): Crystal Lotus Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 2 (Part 2)
**Partially sponsored by Hong Kong Disneyland - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 2 (Part 3): Hong Kong Disneyland Exploration
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 2 (Part 3)
**Partially sponsored by Hong Kong Disneyland - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 2 (Part 4): Character Dining at Enchanted Gardens, Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 2 (Part 4)
**Partially sponsored by Hong Kong Disneyland - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 3 (Part 1): Mongkok Station / Mui Kee Congee
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 3 (Part 1) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 3 (Part 2): Mongkok – Fa Yuen Street Market / Kee Tsui Cake Shop / Mongkok Streets (Pet Street) / Hong Lin Restaurant & Kim Wah Cafe
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 3 (Part 2) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 3 (Part 3): Argyle Centre / Bai Wei Cold Noodles / Sham Tseng Chan Kee Roasted Goose
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 3 (Part 3) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 3 (Part 4): Temple Street Night Market / Tsui Wah Restaurant / Hui Lau Shan / Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 3 (Part 4) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 4 (Part 1): Australian Dairy Company
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 4 (Part 1) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 4 (Part 2): The Peak Tram / Sky Terrace 428
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 4 (Part 2) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 4 (Part 3): Honolulu Coffee Shop / AIA Great European Carnival 2015
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 4 (Part 3) - 5D4N Hong Kong – Day 4 (Part 4): McDonalds Hong Kong
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 4 (Part 4) - 5D4N Hong Kong Trip – Day 5: Hong Kong International Airport / Maxim’s Jade Garden / Home Sweet Home
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Day 5 - 5D4N Hong Kong Trip BONUS: Hong Kong Souvenirs
mitsueki Travels | 5D4N Hong Kong Trip January 2015 – Hong Kong Souvenirs! [BONUS
Prior to the Flight
Anyway, back to trip – as mentioned, I woke up pretty early to do last minute checking on my things such as travel documents and most importantly, the passport!
Pulled on my cute Maku Store socks, winter boots (bought from Qoo10 last year) and I was ready to head down to meet the bf to grab a cab to the airport.
Here’s a quick ootd for Day 1 – made the forever suffering bf take it for me right after we got out of the cab before heading in.
Oh then I couldn’t resist one more with my passport. So bhb omg hahahha!
We were there earlier than expected so we waited for abit till our check in counter was open.
Check in was swift and hassle free at the Singapore Airlines check in counter. Plus, I had preselected our seats a couple of days prior to our departure so we were already assigned the seats then(: Definitely been awhile since I’ve taken an SIA flight because it’s usually the more expensive option as compared to budget airways nowadays XD
Prior to heading into the departure, spotted the row of SIA stewards and stewardess heading in for their flight – wonder if it was ours?
Before the Flight
Oh and since we still had some time, we checked out the Disney themed CNY display pieces – very pretty!
Headed to Burger King for breakfast as it was one of the only (and closest) option available to us at that time.
Burger King was located beyond the Singapore Food Street at Level 2. Didn’t choose to eat at the latter because it was basically overpriced local food and I didn’t want anything that heavy in the morning! Surprisingly quite a number of tourists there tucking into satay, bbq seafood and such in the early morning though :X
Burger King wasn’t the best choice for breakfast and I slight regretted it. We ordered the breakfast platter each as seen below and everything was pretty disappointing except the hash browns. Oh well – wishing McD was closer but it was at the next terminal so boo.
Keke check out our bird friend accompanying us for breakfast that morning!
Also headed into the Butterfly Garden just behind Burger King near the toilets to check it out since we still had a bit of time. Very pretty place with loads of butterflies around – but remember to close the doors behind you so they can’t escape!
Spied our flight from the windows as we were entering our departure gate and started to feel even more excited about our trip!
On board the flight
Sure miss sitting on a full fledged airline with all the material comforts including a pillow / blanket, bigger seats and more importantly – free entertainment during the flight! Best of all, nowadays most of the planes come equipped with the USB port so I can do my charging T_T
All aboard and ready for take off with plenty of selfies as we were pretty bored.
Remember to fill up the immigration form on the flight for a hassle free experience at the Hong Kong immigration counters ya?
Was glad that we had a lighter breakfast earlier because we had brunch served on board the flight. For your reference – this was the menu for that particular day with 2 choices to choose from, Asian or Western.
Naturally since we were pretty much going to have Asian food daily, we both opted for the Western selection as below. Wasn’t fantastic but still alright for brunch!
Meanwhile, we entertained ourselves with 2 movies – really like their entertainment system onboard because there were so many selections and movies to choose from!
Our flight took a slightly longer route than usual and flew in funny loop because there were too many arrivals at the airport so I guess they had to delay abit.
Hello Hong Kong!
It wasn’t too long before we finally landed in Hong Kong International Airport!
Headed towards immigration where we were met with a long queue. In terms of efficiency, I would have to say that it wasn’t that fast but acceptable and we were through about 20 minutes later or so.
Picking up the Essentials – The Octopus Card
Thanks to my sponsored portable wifi device by VisonData, I had no further need to look for a place to pick up a SIM card since I was already pretty much connected the moment I landed.
Instead, we headed on to look for another important item on the list – the Octopus Card and the airport express train tickets after we picked up our luggage.
There are 2 counters where you can purchase the tickets and Octopus Cards from – one located the moment you step out of the arrival hall and the other located in front of the airport express station. Personally I think it’s better to pick it up from the former as there are less queues.
Oh and just to share – the Octopus Card is somewhat like our EZlink card in Singapore where you can use it for all modes of transportation as well as payment for many places as they accept it (including 7-11 if I recall right). It’s a MUST have so do pick one up ya?
The prices for all the cards, tickets and passes sold at the counter is as below.
We bought an Octopus Card (140 HKD each) and a 1 way Airport Express ticket to Kowloon (70 HKD each).
How to get to the City from the Airport
There are various ways to get to the city / central area from the airport – cab / bus / train! The fastest and most cost efficient (plus popular) choice is the train of course. You can refer to the map below which shows the way to each of the transportion options.
As you can tell from my previous comments, we bought the 1 way Airport Express tickets. Depending on your destination, you can choose to stop at Hong Kong / Kowloon / Tsing Yi / AsiaWorld Expo Station and then, board the complimentary shuttle bus.
For our case, we were staying at Eaton Hotel and based on the schedule, we had to take the train to Kowloon before switching to the shuttle bus that would drop us directly outside our hotel. You can see the full list of bus stops from this link HERE!
The airport express station can be easily located – just follow the signs below (or just walk straight) and you will be able to see it.
For some weird reason, there is no gantry at the entrance of airport express station, so you just go straight into the station directly. But yes, you still need to purchase the tickets as you need to tap out after you reach your destination though.
Their MTRs are very much like our MRTs back in Singapore and even this station below looks look any station we have here as well. Oh and like Singapore, no eating or drinking is allowed onboard the train either!
The airport express reminds me of the HSR back in Taipei except that the seats here are much harder. The seats are pretty clean and there’s plenty of luggage space for you to stow the luggage. I’m quite used to putting them in front of me so that’s what we did!
If it’s too crowded, you can always place your bags at the designated areas there as well.
Getting to Kowloon Station would take about 24 minutes or so if I recall right. The time surprisingly passes by really fast while we were onboard the airport express as the city area grew closer to us.
Complimentary Airport Shuttle Bus
As mentioned earlier, the train’s gantry is located at the destination’s train station so you will need your card to tap out.
Just look out for the signs that denote the airport express shuttle bus – and yes, it’s free! You can see the full list of bus stops from this link HERE!
For your reference, the free shuttle bus to Eaton Hotel is K1 (correct at this time of posting) and there should be sufficient space for you to place your luggage, except that it’s rather squashed and the drivers are quite reckless in their driving T__T
The journey from Kowloon Station to the Eaton Hotel was a pretty long one because ours was the last few stops before it makes the round trip back to the station. So feel free to take a nap, but keep your ears peeled for the driver to shout out the name of the stop.
Eaton Hotel Hong Kong
For my choice of hotel stay, I chose one that was a familiar (and popular) name among Singaporeans – Eaton Hotel because of it’s proximity to the neaeest train station, the great location at Jordan, good reviews, decent prices and because I spotted that the shuttle bus stop is opposite the hotel. LOL!
Eaton Hotel
380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong
The funny thing about Eaton Hotel is that you have to take the lift up to the hotel lobby which is located at L instead of walking straight in because you are technically at B2.
A few shots of the hotel surroundings, but you can check out the full features of the hotels HERE! And yes, it does come with a rooftop pool and fitness center.
A long queue awaited us at the check in counter but it moved pretty fast.
Hello Hong Kong with a selfie in the queue, lol.
Got our keys and were ready to dump our luggage into the room before starting our exploration of Hong Kong! Oh and here’s a room tip – ask for a newly furbished non-smoking room with a view. I got that from someone who posted on TripAdvisor and the hotel was able to accommodate to my request!(:
There are 21 floors to the hotel, assuming that the prices are more expensive the higher it is. We were on the 6th floor if you were wondering. Oh and you can see the breakfast area from the lift – note that we opted out of the daily buffet breakfast because we wanted to find our own breakfast instead. Cheaper, and I think a whole lot nicer 😛
Eaton Hotel Room Tour
Before our exploration in Hong Kong, let me give you a quick room tour of our room at Eaton Hotel. I booked a double bed at Eaton for 4 nights (5D4N) and it was about $770 – which works out to be about $192.50 per night. Also had some of the amount offset thanks to ZUJI as part of the MasterCard giveaway prize so all in all – a good deal!
Our room was located right at the end of the hallway below.
The regular Eaton Hotel deluxe room looks somewhat like this below as seen from TripAdvisor, so I was quite prepared for the small size. Plus after staying in the tinier rooms in Japan – this would be a piece of cake!
Was pleasantly surprised when I opened the door to find a much bigger room with a wider window as well. This meant more space for our luggage of course!(: Other places to store the luggage can be found in the cupboard near the door that comes equipped with the stand to place your luggage, hangers and the safety deposit box. It’s a pity they don’t provide the hotel slippers though!
And this is how the rest of the room looks like. Very clean, neat and comfortable looking. The bed was good too and we had 4 wonderful nights of sleep on the bed – but surprisingly, we didn’t overslept, unlike our time in Taiwan XD
If you were curious about the view – here you go. I know that most hotel rooms on the level would be facing the row of houses next door = no view, so this was a pretty decent one compared to those.
The toilet was stark white and polished. No bathtub but a showerhead and they come with the usual free bathroom amenities such as soap/shampoo. The other bathroom amenities provided are really basic such as a toothbrush kit but that’s pretty much it. I believe the other amenities (comb, etc) are only provided upon request to reduce wastage since they are going for the environmentally clean factor.
Oh and a bottle of free drinking water is provided, placed in the bathroom for your drinking needs.
I recommend forgoing the free shower gel/shampoo and purchasing some decent quality ones from 7-11 or any shop around the area(:
Other features in the room include the flat screen tv with a number of channels to choose from.
You can find the mini fridge, water boiler with free tea and coffee below the TV.
Plenty of power plugs in the room on both sides of the bed with free adapters that you can make use of. Singaporeans don’t need to worry about the adapters though because the same plug/pin is use here in Hong Kong as well.
The very noisy alarm clock that was sufficient to wake us up in the morning.
And most importantly, I was glad that there was a mirror in the room for my daily OOTDs. HAHAHA! Here’s us going out to finally embark on our Hong Kong exploration!
Stay tuned for Part 2 as I share more about where we explore!
