Music by Louis the Child ft. Wafia - Better Not // Abhi the Nomad - Somebody to Love
Kōbo has shut down for the week as everyone in the office is off for a holiday, so that means I get a holiday too! Facundo, my friend from home has come for a visit!
This weeks video is sponsored by Klook. Jokes. But honestly, everything that we did this we, we got real good deals from Klook. Klook is an app for booking travel activities across Asia. They work directly with the attraction managers to get you the good good deals that you see on the app. Everything is super easy and convenient. We got our tickets for Disneyland, Big Buddha, TurboJet to and from Macau, Sky100, AquaLuna. Everything. Even the Airport Express! Honestly, if you're in Asia and wanting good deals for tourist attractions or just anything, download Klook!
I went to pick up Facundo using the Airport express, grabbing a deal from Klook, which costed $25NZD for a round trip. Normally it would cost about $40NZD so I'm saving nearly 50%. What a deal.
Wednesday
In the morning before I had to go to work, we went to Cafe Matchbox for some HK Breakfast for Facundo's first meal. We got a breakfast set each; Condense Milk Oats, Ham/Egg Sandwich and a cold milk tea. All of that was less the $8NZD. The Condense Milk Oats were actually really good. The sweetness of the condense milk was just the right amount. It was all at the bottom, so you had to mix it to get a good ratio and spread between the oats. The Egg Sandwich was yum and you can never go wrong with a cold milk tea. I would definitely go back for this set than the macaroni ham. I give it a 9/10.
Afterwork, I saw my first Hong Kong sunset. The weather is either really rainy or really overcast, and it was finally a clear blue sky day. We rode the Ding Dings back from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay. A must do if you're ever in Hong Kong. It's definitely a slower pace and one of the slower transportations, however you get to see Hong Kong Island from a different perspective. We then went to dinner at a Michelin Star Restaurant, Din Tai Fung, for their famous Xiao Long Baos (Soup Dumplings) and Beef Brisket Noodle. It was a really nice place to eat, and they even had instructions on how to eat a Xiao Long Bao which was neat. The Xiao Long Bao was delicious. The method of eating them really changes your experience. Normally, I would just plop the whole thing in my mouth and burn myself. But this way, putting the bao on a spoon, poking out the soup, then slowly eating it is life changing. The beef brisket, my goodness just melts in your mouth. 10/10. I really enjoyed the experience and the food and am wanting to go back before I leave.
It was a Wednesday night so we decided to go to the Happy Valley Racecourse and bet on some horses. We were confused with what was going on and how to bet on horses. But after talking to some kind strangers, we got it in the end and it was fun. It took us awhile to actually walk to the entrance of the stadium so, there was only one race left for the night. No wins for us.
Thursday
Today was Disneyland Day! To fuel us up for the exciting day ahead, we went to Lucky Star for another Hong Kong brekkie. I got a buttered pineapple bun, and a cold milk tea, and Facundo got a set of bbq pork macaroni, buttered pineapple bun and a coffee. The buttered pineapple bun is nicer when it's warm as the butter melts into the bread and gives it additional flavours compared to a plain pineapple bun. Though I prefer a plain pineapple bun.
En route to Disneyland, we took the MTR from Causeway Bay to Central, Central to Sunny Bay, Sunny Bay to Disneyland. Disneyland had their own MTR line so they had their own Disneyland themed train which was epic. The experience started before you even reached the park. The windows were Mickey Mouse shaped as well as the train handles for standing passengers. Once we got to the entrance we went straight to the gates and waited no more than a minute or two to get into the park since we pre-bought tickets through Klook! ;). Once in, we got our maps and were on our way! In Main Street USA, we saw Mickey & Minnie straight away and lined up for about less than an hour to get a picture with them. The heat was present as we lined up, but we've been blessed with a nice day! Once we got hugs and kisses from Mickey & Minnie we went to find the Mickey Mouse shaped donuts! Adorable as ever, they tasted amazing too! Soft dough and yummy chocolate icing. We made our way to our first rides of the day. Riding classics like the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, Cinderella Carousel, It's a Small World and thrilling rides like the Antman & Wasp: Nano Battle, Hyperspace Mountain and RC Racer. To split up our journey across the park, we had lunch at the Beauty and the Beast foodcourt, Banquet Hall, and had Mickey Mouse shaped pizza for lunch.
My Top Three Rides:
1. Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars
This ride was the best as it was the most thrilling rollercoaster that always kept me guessing with what was going to happen next. The wait was not long and the line was always moving as there was more than one group going at a time.
2. Hyperspace Mountain
This was unexpectedly really good. The ride was indoors and in the dark which was really cool and it meant you didn't really know what was happening or where you were going. The ride also just kept on going
3. Lion King Show
Although the show is not a ride, the performance was really well done. The combination of dancing, singing and acting was really good and brought a smile to my face.
After checking off the rides on our list, we went to get our Mickey & Minnie ears as we waited to watch the last two shows of the night; We Love Mickey light show & the parade. At 9pm we finally left Disney content and tired, and went to Shake Shack for dinner.
Considering how small Hong Kong Disneyland is compared to the others, there was still a lot to do, depending on what you're looking for and what you're wanting to do. Hong Kong Disneyland has really good parades and shows and I think it's definitely worth it for that. In terms of rides and thrills, there isn't a lot, but it's enough as Disneyland isn't about the rides, it's more about the experience of being in the world of it.
Friday
We went to Choi Hung Estate for a 1v1 in basketball. I won. Since we were in the area I took Facundo to the Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery. We also checked out an outdoor temple, Sik Sik Yuen Temple. After playing and walking in the 30degree heat, we gave in and decided to go indoors for the air conditioning. On our way back home, we ran into some of my friends from home, who were also here! It was such a coincidence! As small as Hong Kong is, there are a lot of people, so finding a familiar face, unexpectedly and unintentionally, is like one in a million. We quickly had wonton noodle soup from Mak's Noodles and watched the highly anticipated, Avengers: End Game. After 3hours of pure amazingness, eating away at the best chocolate and salted popcorn I've ever had and crying, we had dinner and called it a day.
Saturday
A late start to the day, we went Tim Ho Wan for brunch. Then headed to Lantau Island to ride the gondola to Nong Ping. There was a lot of nostalgia going back to the Big Buddha, being here four years ago with my school mates. We were tired from our long flight from Sorrento, Italy, so we were a bit dazed the whole day we went around Hong Kong. Even though we were exhausted, it was the best day ever. Back to the present, we arrived in Nong Ping and went to the beautiful Po Lin Monastery and headed up to the Big Buddha.
We decided to go to Tai O whilst we were here. Once getting to the fishing village we caught a $30HKD ($6NZD) boat ride to see the pink dolphins and the town of Tai O.
A thick black cloud surrounded us as we went further away from civilisation. The waves were choppy and no pink dolphins were to be seen. As we rode back into the fishing village, fat drops of rain started to fall, next thing you know there was a massive down pour. Thunder and lighting rolled in. The captain, told us to get off in the town village, a different location to where he was suppose to drop us off. With no umbrella and the desire to just go back home, we ran in the streets of Tai O back to the bus station. We saw hundreds of dried fish hanging off the stalls, lots of tarpaulin and lots of boats. Once we got to the bus station, we waited another 20mins for the bus drenched. We then got back to the Nong Ping village and got drenched yet again running to the gondola thinking that it would still be open in this torrential rain for our free ride back home. We waited yet again another hour in line for a shuttle bus replacement undercover from the rain. Looking like we were about to get hypothermia, the team at the Nong Ping 360, gave us some heat packs, water and salted crackers to keep us going. The heat packs didn't work, but we got on the shuttle, and arrived at the MTR an hour later. Took us another 45mins to get back home to have a shower and wear warm dry clothes.
Sunday - Macau
For breakfast Frankie, Facundo and I went to Australian Dairy Company, a place I've had on my Hong Kong Food List. The whole menu was in Chinese, but we ended up having some nice table neighbours who helped us order what we wanted. What we thought was going to be peanut butter on toast with condense milk, turned out to be French Toast. Not mad, as french toast in Hong Kong is amazing. I would even say it was the best french toast I have had! Facundo and I then headed off to Macau. We got onto the TurboJet which was pretty much like an aeroplane but a boat and ended up running into the same people I ran into on Friday. After an hour, we reached Macau and were swarmed by expensive bus tour promoters wanting to take us around. We caught a free shuttle bus to City of Dreams in Cotai and went to the exhibition in the hotel, Ferrari Under the Skin. We then walked around this huge hotel with its own shopping centre, casino and entertainment theatre. It honestly had everything, just like every other hotel on the Cotai strip. We ended up getting into the Casino. Not sure if we are of age or not, we got in and played a few games. We then went to explore the Venetian, the largest casino in the world. The interior was insane, with fake Venice Canals inside. It was beautiful. We then tried Macau's famous egg tarts and man, they were delicious. 10/10 we had to go back and get more. We then kept walking and saw the Eiffel Tower by the Parisian. We decided we had enough, so we caught another shuttle to Senados Square and then headed to Grand Lisboa for a shuttle bus back to the ferry.
Monday
After work we went to Sky100. The tallest commercial building in Hong Kong. One of the coolest views of the city. Definitely worth having a look!
Tuesday
After work we went to catch an Aqualuna Junk Boat. It was perfect timing as the sun was setting across the Victoria Harbour. Definitely one of the highlights to see Hong Kong's skyline. After our little boat ride we went meet up with the rest of the HK5 crew to get Joy Hing Roast Meats. I've heard a lot about this place that they had the best BBQ Pork in Hong Kong. We also got some roast goose. This was legit roast goose. The night was still young so we decided to go back to Central and ride the AIA Ferris Wheel.
Wednesday
We went to Tsui Wah for Facundo's last brekkie in Hong Kong. We then headed off to Man Mo Temple to get our fortune sticks read. Had last minute yarns and eggettes and then he was on his way back home to New Zealand. I spent the rest of my day just chilling and taking it slow.
It was super fun having a friend from home come for a visit. I got to check off a lot of things that I had on my Hong Kong bucket list and I got to do with one of my closest friends which was awesome. As much as I have grown to love Hong Kong, I really do miss people back home. They just get me haha. Not long to go now. Just three weeks left and this will all be over.