2008 HK and Macau trip

I come back from HK and Macau trip. It is so wonderful. Here is my trip:

We arrive HK around 12:00PM. You can choose two traffice ways:
1. One Airport Express Single Journey and three days of unlimited travel on the island(港島), Tsuen Wan(荃灣), Kwun Tong(觀塘), Tseung Kwan O(將軍澳), Tung Chung(東湧) and Disneyland Resort Lines(迪士尼線) for HK220. We can get refund HK50 when we return the ticket.
2. 八達通卡for bus and subway. You can to deposit HK 50 for 150 and get refund back when return the card. You need to put money when the money is gone.

Frances and I decide to pay HK220 and choose one way Airport Express and three days unlimited subway. We feel it is more convenient. We don’t need to put money again and again. We leave our luggage at the airport. Within 3 hours, it cost HK40. More than that, it cost HK55. Our co-worker finds luggage box. It is cheaper.

Frances’s Indian friend does the flight transfer at HK and can match our time. We decide to travel together. We take the bus to Tung Chung Station for HK3.5 and take the round way cable to NGONG PING for HK88. The cable is across 3 mountains. It is so spectacular. You also can visit the Po Lin Monastery and Giant Buddha, Monkey’s tale theatre, and Ngong Ping Tea House. It is the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha. You can enjoy the view and be relax there. We go back to airport around 5:00PM and take the Airport Express to Central station 中環站. We stop at Fortress Hill Station 炮台山站 and go to the City Garden Hotel. We go to Golden Bauhinia Square 金紫荊廣場 to view the harbor show at 8:00PM(Only Tuesday, Thursday, and Sat in Chinese, others in 廣東話) and then go to Lan Kwai Fong 蘭桂坊 at night. You can see many foreigners there. There are many shops and bars there.

At the 2nd day, we take the hotel breakfast and go to buy boat ticket to Macau at HK-Macau Ferry Terminal 港澳碼頭 at Sheung Wan Station 上環站. One way is HK134. Then we go to Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀 at Kowloon. We go to Avenue of Stars 星光大道 and take pictures with stars at the floor. We visit the Peninsula Hoel 半島酒店. The afternoon tea is around HK275 plus 10% service charge. Considering the cost and the time, we decide to watch the show(HK32) for 47 minutes at the HK Space Museum(香港太空艙). The film is a Greece Secret. It is a round roof. We also take pictures with five Mascots 奧運吉祥物 for the 2008 Olympics : Beibei the Fish 魚(貝貝), Jingjing the Panda 大貓熊(晶晶), Huanhuan the Olympic Flame 奧運聖火(歡歡), Yingying the Tibetan Antelope 藏羚羊(迎迎), Nini the Swallow 京燕(妮妮). We take the lunch at Starbucks. I eat one vegetarian pie for HK18. Then we go to Ladies Market 女人街 at Mongkok. It is like 西門叮 at Taiwan. You can get a reasonable price there. I buy one watch HK20 and one necklace HK10 and one computer pad HK15. Frances buy lots of necklaces there. We also take one Chinese tea for HK8. We take the subway to transfer the bus 15(HK4) to the Peak 太平山頂. There are two plazas-Peak Tower and Peak Galleria here. We take the dinner and take a walk there. We leave there around 7:30 and take the cable(one way is HK22) to transfer bus 15C to subway. We are so lucky and take the only one bus without roof in HK. We go to the second floor. We are so excited, and enjoy the wind, and night scenery. It is so wonderful to view sights around buildings. Then we go to time square at 銅羅灣站Causeway Bay Station. It is different from the one in New York. Time square is a big mall in HK.

At the 3rd day, we wake up late. It rains. We check out and leave the luggage at the hotel. We take the cable car 噹噹電車 to 太古 Tai Koo for HK2. The car is not very clean. I feel the class of subway and the bus is as following: 1. Subway 2. Bus. 3. cable car 噹噹電車. Due to we don’t know where to go, we go to Kowloon Bay 九龍灣. There is a big mall 福德廣場. We take a France lunch there for HK48. We also shop SaSa there. You can buy brand sample there. It is not expensive. Then we went to H&M at Central Station 中環站. It is like Net in Taiwan. We want to SoHO 蘇活or Central to Mid-Level Escalators 中環至半山自動扶梯. However, we can’t find it. We give up and back to hotel to pick up the luggage. Due to time is short, we run with luggage in the rain to the subway, return the ticket and get refund HK50 back. We catch up the ferry on time. We are so luck. I can’t image if we can’t catch the ferry and what will happen. We take the hotel bus to hotel in Macau. We leave the luggage at room and take the bus back the harbor to take hotel bus to Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel. It takes 15 minutes to there. The hotel is so big. You can find canal and many gift shops there. Not many people takes the boats in canal. You can find the sky inside the hotel. No night at hotel.

The last day travel, it still rains. We take the taxi to 大三巴. Due to it rains, we decide to shop at hotels. We went to MGM Grand and Wynn Resort Macau. When we enter enter into the gambling place, the security guard will check our bag. We have to go through an electronic door to scan us. We don’t feel comfortable. Even though we are in Las Vegas, we don’t need to be scanned. We also watch a free show”吉祥樹” at Wynn. We order one car for HK100 (4 persons) from hotel to airport. Take the night flight back to the Taipei.

It is a wonderful trip. I like Kowloon and Giant Buddha on Lantau. The Ngoing Ping cable car is unforgettable. I like it. You can see many foreigners in Kowloon. When I take lunch at Starbucks, 2/3 customers are foreigners. We don't shop a lot this time. This is my first time to travel by myself. Thanks you Frances to enjoy this trip with me. Although we may have different ideas, we help each other. Sorry to wake you up so early, Frances~ Thanks a lot.

Another message:
1.We need to deposit HK500 at hotel in HK and get refund when we leave the hotel.
2.The clerks are not so professional. You will wait for a while to check in.
3.The sign of restroom is not very clear. Just look at exit, you can find the restroom.