A Magical World Tour – Hong Kong Disneyland (Part 1)

T’was an evening of excitement as we searched for our way to our next destination or pit stop. A month before our trip, we already booked our tickets for a childhood most wanted theme park. Our Standard (1) Day Ticket was priced at HKD 450 or PHP 2,500 + (children’s tickets were about HKD 130 lesser). We decided to take the MTR from Tsim Sha Tsui station (TST Station – Red Line) or East Tsim Sha Tsui station (East TST Station – Hot Pink Line) to Disneyland Resort Station. Here’s Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Subway System map to help:

Following are the routes we considered.

Longer and Expensive Way

Tsim Sha Tsui Station to Lai King Station then change coach to the Orange Line in Lai King to Sunny Bay and switch coach Pink Line or the Disneyland Resort line (MTR Disneyland Resort has only 1 stop).

Shorter and Cheaper Way

East Tsim Sha Tsui Station to Nam Cheong Station then change coach to the Orange Line in Nam Cheong to Sunny Bay and switch coach Pink Line or the Disneyland Resort line (MTR Disneyland Resort has only 1 stop).

We decided to take the Longer and Expensive Way going to Disneyland Resort then took the Shorter and Cheaper Way back to TST station.

It was a fun filled day:

We went to the future with Buzz in Tomorrow Land.

We went around the world in the Fantasy Land.

We've met Mickey and the gang.

Watched Mickey’s Philharmagic performance on a 4D.

I saw the Jungle and Tarzan’s Niche at the AdventureLand.

This is just the first half. I'll tell you more on the next article A Magical World Tour – Hong Kong Disneyland (Part 2). Hope this will give you a little glimpse of what you can see in Hong Kong Disneyland.

If you have any query just let me know. Like my page at www.facebook.com/travelingwithyu or visit and email me at my blogsites: http://travelingwithyu.blogspot.com or https://travelingwithyu.wordpress.com, or twit me at @travelingwithyu anything you have in mind, comments, suggestions, reactions, etc.

Thanks!

Zai Jian Macau! Ni Hao Hong Kong!

View from my seat inside the Cotai Water Jet.

Touring Macau ended as quickly as we stepped on our ferry ride to Hong Kong. We paid for 149MOP for the Cotai Jet ride to Hong Kong <They have trips every 30 minutes but it is still best to get your tickets booked ahead of time>. It was a good experience riding the ferry even we cannot see what is going on outside. It was a little bumpy but a safe trip after all. The whole Cotai Jet gives you a feel of an airplane traveling on a cloudy weather. The stewardess was not as helpful as I expected especially when we asked for a copy of the disembarkation slips, she just waived her hands at us to wait and screamed “I’ll get back to you!” and did not get back at all. I no longer want to waste time arguing with this kind of scenario. I have been walking my feet against the ground the whole day and I don’t want another discomfort. So I let myself to have a quick nap <it’s my way of not to feel sea sick… hehehe> and woke up about 30 minutes before docking. So I quickly fill out my disembarkation slip and noticed that the format they wanted for the date was ddmmmyyyy (28JAN2013) so I need to re-write everything and it’s not only me. Ikhay and Kambal did the same thing.

Upon arriving at the Tsim Sha Tsui/Kowloon Ferry Station or the HK-Macau Ferry Terminal we walked past the immigration and find ourselves wandering around the Shun Tak Centre and China Merchant Tower then lead to the UG1 and took a cab to Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.

You should always keep a copy of your hotel reservation so the cab drivers will be able to read the address and drop you to the right place.

Some passenger keeping themselves busy while traveling.

We rested in our hotel after finding a cheap place to eat which our hotelier informed us “The cheapest food here is in McDonalds!” Yes indeed McDonalds is the cheapest fast food restaurant around our hotel but we rather ate at KFC and tried something different. I ate a bowl size of baked chicken on rice with extra chicken leg part on the side and a cup of soda. I was all starving as there has been no food served during our voyage.

Once we get back to the hotel, we cleaned and readied ourselves for the next day’s plan. Checked what stations we should ride from Tsim Sha Tsui to Disney Land. Indeed, Disney Land day is next and I will write more for you tomorrow.  

Thanks for reading this one. Please do visit my blogsites at http://travelingwithyu.wordpress.com and http://travelingwithyu.blogspot.com, or like my webpage at www.facebook.com/travelingwithyu .

Goldwyn, I did not forget your request. I’m still working on my articles and will get back to you with the budget.

If you have any questions please let me know and I’d be happier to help.

I would like to take the advantage on thanking Ria for giving me a passport holder/jacket. It was very useful! Also, thank you Ate Eileen for the bull cap. I did use it and will still be using it. I had some pictures wearing the cap you gave me and I really like the colour! Again thank you so much for the gifts!

Macau City and Taipa, Macau Tour (Part 2) – Ni Hao Macau!

Having beer stirred our tired bodies to sleep and readying up for another walking adventure in Macau City. Our plan is to check out the following:

• Have a taste of Macau by eating and drinking in one of their common and local diner.
• Ruins of St. Paul (Ruinas de S. Paulo
• Buy some souvenirs
• See the view at Wynn hotel in day time
• Fisherman’s Wharf
• Taipa Ferry Terminal
• See Venetian Hotel and other Hotels in Taipa or Cotai Strip

We did tour Macau, we didn’t play in their casino. That’s going to be my next target when I come back <hehehe… $$$>. So we listed most of the must see places and tourists spots of Macau. Waking up having a hangover due to the drinking session with our Kababayans, I walked down to the shower lazily. I had the coldest waters running to get rid of my headache. After preparing we lead our way out of the hotel and walked toward 7Eleven where we get some not so cold water and find our way to the Market Place which our Kababayans informed us where we can get some good Macau food. Shockingly the market place was just around Senado Square so we saw Senado Square in the morning and also the church which is under construction at the rear part. Facing the yellow church, to the left is where we came from looking for the market place. The market place was a sheathed in a building, you would only know it’s a market because of some fruit stand and durian’s smell <it stinks and it smells like market when you get in> we headed to the lift and found ourselves at the 3^rd floor. The whole floor of the market place was all food stands or somewhat karenderya and they serve foods that are staple to Macau people. We looked around and found some Filipino who works at Grand Lisboa and they told us to get food on the food stand in front of the escalator and so we did getting ourselves rice meals, a plate of fried curry noodles, a soya tea drink, and a coffee latte drink. The food was good but the drinks and the curry noodles were bests. We rested a bit and walked in a few towards the street signs pointing RUINAS DE S.PAULO. Along the walk we found some meat jerky or commonly known in Macau as bakkwa stores and had tasted a few and they are all mouth-watering. I saw PIGLET was Filleted <sad… L> and I love the spicy pork and spicy pepper beef. We asked information about the souvenirs such as refrigerator magnets, key chains, poker chips, packed bakkwas, etc. but we did not buy anything yet. We were informed that there were some souvenir shops at the Ruins of St. Paul so we walked to the Ruins of St. Paul which our Kababayan call it “Simbahang Putol”. Literally it was named putol because the Ruins of St. Paul has the front wall of the church remained and a little part on the sides. The front wall serves like an arch which was designed with religious icons. At the back part of the ruins there is a staircase going down a crypt where remains of the priors were kept in a stack of glass and wood while a solemn church song was played as a back ground. Once you left the room another door will lead you to the museum which caters numbers of religious figures such as Christ on a cross, the Virgin Mary, some relics, murals, and other religious artefacts. Going out of the museum is a staircase leading you back to the Ruins of St. Paul’s supposedly church’s inner area where you will find on the side a little gallery of the ruins. We left the ruins where we exactly entered and panned left to check the museum. We did not get inside the museum because we no longer have time left to roam before we check out in our hotel. We came across two (2) souvenir stores where we got cheap prices for our key chains, chips, refrigerator magnets, door hangers, car decors, etc.

We went back to hotel and get our stuff then checked out. Our plan was ruined by an unexpected rain. It lasted for about an hour keeping us inside the hotel’s lounge and so we decided to walk under the drizzles as the rain subside and planned to take a bus to the Taipa Ferry but failed not to take a bus because the bus do not accept bills and change for payments just their bus card or whatever it was called. This happens if you have not properly researched the country you are visiting. It ended us taking a cab instead and the driver took us to the Ferry Terminal which was the Maritimo not the Taipa Ferry. We passed through Fisherman’s Wharf as well which was really ruined as what our Kababayan who informed us during our lunch time. Our taxi fare went up to 95MOP and we were able to get to Taipa Ferry safe and sound with no rain clouds above anymore. We bought a 5:30PM trip to Hong Kong. We’ve also found out that there is no waiting area in the terminal so we decided to take the free bus ride of Venetian Hotel and decided to follow through what has been scheduled.

It was a short ride going to the hotel and we were informed that the bus going back to Taipa Ferry is at the west wing so I abruptly get inside the hotel with my luggage and took some pictures inside the hotel then proceed to the information counter where I spoke with another Kababayan named Joven at the front desk and asked where we can leave our baggage for the mean time and pick them up at the west wing before 5 PM. Joven pointed me to the baggage service on the opposite side of their desk and talked to the baggage counter personnel <I think I spoke with their supervisor because he does not want us to leave our baggage there instead proceed to the west wing to leave our stuff.> I went back to Joven and informed him what their personnel told us and he gave us confirmation that we can now leave our stuff on the same desk. I just informed the personnel that we will pick up our baggage at the west wing and they serviced us appropriately then asked what time we will pick our baggage up. Gave him about 4 PM just to be ready then we started roaming outside Venetian Hotel up to the Conrad’s after we got our baggage counter stickers.

It was passed 4 when we decided to go and get our stuff on the west wing which was really a long walk from the main entrance. We passed through the hotel’s casino area and the dinosaur exhibit showing a huge T-Rex skeleton standing under the chandelier. The walk made us hungry so we decided to look for something to eat and drink which lead us to getting a Pepper Sausage at 10MOP and a coffee for me at 12MOP while Ikay and Kambal shared over a Coke at 16MOP. After stuffing our stomachs we took our baggage and went to the bus going to Taipa Ferry. We arrived 30 minutes early at the terminal and waited more outside before we were advised to get in and ready for boarding.

Upon boarding ends our short but fun and full of surprised Macau Trip. Thanks for following and reading this article. Just leave a comment or email me whenever you have any question about my trips such as budget, where to go, and the likes. Please visit my blogsites http://travelingwithyu.blogspot.com or http://travelingwithyu.wordpress.com, like my page at www.facebook.com/travelingwithyu , and/or follow me in twitter @travelingwithyu.

Have a great day!  

Macau - Asia's Vegas (Part 1) - Ni Hao Macau City!

Known as the Vegas of Asia, Macau came to my list as a must see out-of-the-country trips. Doing my research about Macau, I came across about traveling the whole Macau City and Taipa within a day, therefore going on a short vacation is not as cost effective as my travel budget logs shows. So we (Rica “Ikay” P., Jonathan “Kambal” R. and I) added Hong Kong to the trip list.

Things I have noted when I get to Macau:

• Their money is called Macanese Pataca or Pataca (MOP).
• Pataca and Hong Kong dollars are almost the same in value 1 MOP = 1.01 HKD.
• Services and products are higher if purchased at night. They have night rates.
• There are 2 main islands in Macau, including their wildlife reserve, Macau City and Taipa.
• Most of the tourist spots and main casino were in Macau City.
• Venetian Hotel is in Taipa.
• There are 2 ferry stations in Macau, the Ferry Terminal in Macau City and the Taipa Ferry in Taipa. Both have trips through and from Hong Kong and China.
• We stayed in an area they call villas which shows old Chinese like district.
• Macau Mandarin is not exactly the same as Hong Kong Mandarin.
• Do not ride a bus if you don’t have a ticket. <the driver will scream at you in Mandarin that you don’t totally understand unless you have learned the language>
• I love their Beef Bakkwa especially the spicy pepper. <yum yum>
• Touring in Macau City is all good by walking. <it’s not to get some exercise too… hehehe>
• Transportations are bus and taxi.
• Taxi plug down rate is at 15 MOP.
• Driving wheels are at the right side like Thailand. <as people leaving in a left driving wheel, you might get disoriented for a bit and worry not seeing any person on the left side of the cars, it was not just the car driving. J>

We left Manila around 9 PM <our flight was late> and arrived at Macau International Airport around 11 PM. Our hotel (Man Va Hotel) is located 7 km away from the airport so we took a cab costing us about 90 MOP because of the added tax at night. <so this tells you that there is an addition to you cab rate at night, even the food>. Most of the streets were named in Portuguese but most Macau people understood the Chinese writings faster and know exactly where it is.

Arriving at our hotel, I did not expect more for a 2 star Man Va Hotel, it is an old hotel which nestled at the Villas area near the Senado Square. After putting our bags we did not waste any time and we went out to see the lights of Macau. Why we did so, because we will be leaving to Hong Kong the next day around 7 PM. Our taxi driver before getting to Man Vah Hotel was talking in Chinese about the LISBOA which we don’t understand and just said “so this is one of the well-known casino in Macau, yes we will go to that later… :D”. It seems that we understood each other. <hehehe> So after unpacking and freshening up, we walked towards Avenida de Almeida where we saw a plaza with a huge Chinese lantern that looks like a house. We really did not know that we were in the Senado Square by those times we just saw the big lantern and it’s a good scene to capture. There are old buildings around the plaza including halls, church, and the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macau City just across the street. After taking numbers of pictures, we walked down southeast trailing Avenida de Almeida before the roundabout. Grand Lisboa is noticeable due to it lights and a humongous tulip like structure. The big bulb shows moving ads if you wanted to get a bigger view. You also know that you are in Grand Lisboa if you have seen most of the flickering lights just like Vegas. Then we moved towards the rotunda and saw Wynn and MGM on the left side and took a picturesque view of their bridge going to Taipa. After which we retreat to our hotel where we met our Kababayan’s, Kuya Robin, Kuya Aries, and Kuya Ronald whom we asked where we can buy some bottled water and when we got back to where they are drinking, they invited us for few drinks. I just knocked down 3 Tsingtao cans. This is going to be good for a first in Macau. Ikay and Kambal had their cans too and it was fun talking to our kababayan abroad especially the new heroes of our country, the OFW’s. We heard some of their stories, like Kuya Ronald have his daughter finished college and now working. Story about Kuya Robin’s experience about getting pirated AUTOCAD software installed in his machine and him being an Architect working as a driver in Macau. While Kuya Aries who is working as a supervisor in a hotel we went to take photos earlier. They all did. It was fun and sad to know this things and how our New Heroes feels every time Filipino tourist come to Macau and careless about them.

I’ll discuss about our Day 2 in Macau on the next post. Let me know if you have any question and hope to be of any help.

Please check my blogsites at http://travelingwithyu.blogspot.com or http://travelingwithyu.wordpress.com or like my page at www.facebook.com/travelingwithyu and follow me on twitter at https://twitter.com/travelingwithyu.

I Ain’t Rich… I’m just thrifty…

“Money are just numbers, if you know how to count and play with the numbers then you should be able to outwit the costs.” To simplify this – no poor people is poor unless they know how to be thrifty and use their money wisely.

 

I’ve heard people telling me that I’ve gone rich and they can no longer reach me. I always tell them, I’m the same old me. Never been rich just got mature.  I have my simple formula for my trips which I wanted to share to those who really want to travel.

Travel Savings = Unnecessary Expenses per Pay Period

The equation is to literally translate the Unnecessary Expense into a travel savings (TS). You can get the variation of percentages from the regular bills you take out of your salary like utility bills, rent, etc. then put a certain percentage for your Travel Savings. Start doing it after getting your 13th month bonus. After which recalculate your savings and eye for a good flight date and as well as places by then you will get the chance to travel.

Here’s what I do as an example:

Let us say that my Christmas bonus is paid at the 2nd week of December 2013.

December 10, 2013 – I put about Php 2000 on my TS and will eye for an April or May vacation to Palawan approximately 3-5 days and start looking for flight promos, hotels, and trip details. Better do some little research as part of your planning.

1st Cut off of December – I will allot 12% of my Salary on my TS

- If I have not seen any flight promos yet then I will keep checking the fares and see if it is on the budget. I will put at least Php 8,000 – 10,000 on the flight and Php 800-2500 per night on the hotel. Always book the flight first before the hotel.

2nd Cut off of December – I will allot 15% of my Salary on my TS.

I saw a promo for flights on April and it’s a great deal for Php 5,000 and I have enough savings for it <BOOK IT! And don’t look at the flight fares again, why? Cause you don’t want to give yourself a heartache.> and decide to get a 5 day leave. Take note of the booking and the flight details then scout for the hotel. You can book your hotels as early as match but you may want to consider your trip itinerary.

1st Cut off of January – I will allot 12% of my Salary on my TS.

Get my hotel booked.

2nd Cut off of January – I will allot 15% of my Salary on my TS.

I will start creating my luggage list and start filling the roster.

1st Cut off of February – I will allot 12% of my Salary on my TS.

2nd Cut off of February – I will allot 15% of my Salary on my TS.

1st Cut off of March – I will allot 12% of my Salary on my TS.

Revisit your itinerary. Double check your flights if there are any changes only, flight change issues, etc.

2nd Cut off of March – I will allot 15% of my Salary on my TS.

Never been bad not to do the same thing you did from the last cut off. This time call your hotel too. Asses as well if your pocket money will be enough for the whole trip.

On the Day before your Flight make sure all things are packed and all papers needed are in a pouch or an envelope. After which enjoy the rest of your vacation! Just make sure you don’t over spend. 

Just say you already enjoyed your vacation and went home happily, it just don’t stop there. You better plan ahead where your next vacation. Start banking on your Travel Savings and you’re up for the next trip.

To summarize:

1. Plan your vacation.
2. Save for your vacation.
3. Book flights, hotels, etc. ahead of time. The earlier the better but PROMO’s are the best.
4. Prepare a list of stuff you will bring (toiletries, meds, etc.), you might always pack light especially on 2 nights 3 days trip.
5. Review your bookings the week or at least 2 days before your flight or trip.
6. Go to the airport on required hours before departure. Domestic will be at least 1 hour while International flights at least 2 hours. The earlier the better to get a better seat unless your purchased one.
7. Enjoy!

Hope this helps. I’ll give you more the next time. Write your request and questions to me so I can be of any help. Have a good one! 

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