Snapshot on the road: Wisdom Path, Hongkong

Wisdom Path - Lantau Island, Hongkong

Sample Itinerary for Hongkong - Macau

Below is a 3D/2N itinerary for Hongkong - Macau.  Hope this helps those who are planning their trips.

DAY 1 

Hongkong Disneyland

The Peak

Madam Tussauds Wax Museum

Hongkong Disneyland 

Tian Tan Buddha or the Giant Buddha in Lantau Island

DAY 2  

Lantau Island which covers the following:

Ngong Ping 360 cable car ride

Giant Buddha

Wisdom Path

Monkey's Tale Theatre

Walking with Buddha Museum                                   

Tsim Tsa Tsui and Mongkok area which includes:

Hongkong Museum of Art

Avenue of the Stars

Symphony of Lights

Mongkok Night Market

DAY 3 - Macau
Fisherman's Wharf
Ruins of St. Paul
Senado Square
St. Dominic Church
Grand Prix Museum
Macau Tower
Bubble Show at the City of Dreams
Michael Jackson Museum
Hotels and casinos (The Venetian, Grand Lisboa, Wynn Hotel, Sands Casino and Galaxy)

                                 
                

Macau Tips:

1. Don't forget to try out the delicious egg tarts in Macau - the most famous I think are the ones from Pastelaria Koi Kei (since I saw a lot of people carrying boxes of egg tarts from that store).  Or you can   search for "Tea Plus" near Ruins of St. Paul.  Tea Plus is one of the location for the Korea novela "Boys Over Flowers". It is where we got our egg tarts and the Boys Over Flowers theme song is playing while we were eating our egg tarts. It's really cool! :-)

2. Free samples of beef jerky

3. You can ride the different hotel shuttles in Macau in order to save and explore the city for free. 

4. If you're coming in to Macau by ferry, there are a lot of tour guides waiting outside the ferry terminal, some of them are Filipinos.  You can bargain the rate and tell them if you have an itinerary already.  Most often, they would give some suggestions and can also give you discounts on some shows that you may want to watch.

5. Some memberships on the casinos are free if you register.  They give you a membership card that can also be your souvenir.

An attempt to sleep in HKIA

For backpackers, sleeping in airports is a common practice.  At first I felt that it may be a bit embarrassing to do it, letting the whole world see you as you drift into la-la land and dream of all the other places you would want to visit.  Well, I had the pleasure (and displeasure) of trying to sleep in an airport during my Hongkong trip last year.  

After arriving at the Hongkong International Airport (HKIA) at around midnight (red-eye flights are cheaper), I was surprised to see that there are actually a lot of people that does sleep in the airport!  All of the stores and restaurants are closed except for 7-eleven and the airport has dimmed some of the lights for a conducive sleep.  I called our hotel to tell the Chinese lady that we have already arrived and said that they can accommodate early check-in but not until 7am.  I said it's ok and we can just stay in the airport and wait for the trains to the city to open at around 6am.  

It was (supposed to be) summer when we arrived in Hongkong but I was wearing a jacket and jeans in anticipation that we might be sleeping in a cold airport.  And I was glad that I came in prepared because it was indeed cold in HKIA.  My friend and I looked for vacant seats and parked our bags near it.  Since we are a bit paranoid that our bags might be stolen if we were both asleep, we decided to take turns watching it.  As I was waiting for my turn, I looked around and wonder how the airport would look like when all the lights and shops are open.  I was glad that I had a chance to see it before it became busy and people start coming in.

After an hour or so, it was my turn to sleep.  And just as I was getting ready for some shut-eye, two men came and seated behind us.  They opened their laptops (HKIA has wi-fi) and started talking, loudly!  Some people woke up and looked at the two men but they didn't seem to bother.  They just continued talking and  I was getting irritated by their lack of consideration.

This would have been what I would look like if I was able to sleep in the airport (Image from travelblog.viator.com)

Thirty minutes have passed and my hopes of getting some sleep were shattering into pieces.  I have to sleep because I need the energy for our day's activities. Hours later and the two men were still talking. Jeez!  Before I knew it, it was almost 6am and some personnel were already opening up the doors to the train station. We picked up our bags, lined up to get an Octopus card and waited for the train to arrive.  I was excited to explore Hongkong but I'm just not sure if I will have the energy.  I looked at our first itinerary - The Peak, oh that should keep me awake!

* Find out more information about sleeping in airports at http://www.sleepinginairports.net/