Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disneyland in the world. That's the fact. But for us, it was the first in our life, so, we didn't mind to start from the smallest. Going to Disneyland from our hotel was easy- we took MTR from Olympic Station to Disneyland Station, with an interchange at Sunny Bay Station. The whole journey took us around 35 minutes.

We were travelling from Olympic Station (upper left) to Disneyland Station (upper right). We were surprised by the Disney-themed coach, which took us from Sunny Bay Station to Disneyland.

 This is how the coach looks like.

Disneyland is a place with many Disney cartoon characters, designed specially for children, which might drag the visitors away from the real world into the world of fantasy. Those were the good things that we heard about Disneyland. We did hear about the bad things happened in Hong Kong Disneyland as well. However, this is our personal feeling after visiting Hong Kong Disneyland- it is not more than a cartoon-themed park, where we paid to enjoy the facilities inside. Whether it's good or bad, it is pretty much depends on the personal impression. For us, the experience was good. So, we would say that it is a must visit place in Hong Kong, at least for those who haven't visit Disneyland before. The original ticket price for the park was HKD399 per person. However, we managed to buy our one day ticket with 10% discount, as we bought four tickets together and paid with Visa Card.

Hong Kong Disneyland is divided into a few zones, which the junction is just in front of the castle of Sleeping Beauty- Tomorrowland on the right, Adventureland on the left, Fantasyland at the center (just behind the castle), and Toy Story Land is far behind Adventureland. We would like to share our walkthrough the Disneyland with you with our photos taken around the park.

Once getting out from the station, we could see the arch of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on our left. From the arch, we walked around 100 meters to the fountain of Disney, in front of the ticketing counters. The queue was not too long. Maybe it was early Monday morning. After we got our tickets checked, we saw Disney vintage train station from the outside (lower left). However, we could only get into the train from the inside. Main Street of USA was the first area that we came across.
 
We need to walk through Main Street of USA in order to visit the other parts of the Disneyland. Main Street USA is basically built with the theme following the "vintage" western town.

The entrance of the Fantasyland is right behind the Main Street.

Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, and some other well-known Disney characters are just right behind this Sleeping Beauty's castle. From where we were standing, we could turn left to Adventureland and Toy Story Land, or turn right to Tomorrowland. However, we decided to go straight into Fantasyland.

Cinderella Carousel (uppermost left and middle) is located at the center of the Fantasyland, surrounded by Winnie the Pooh (uppermost right), the Disneyland train (middle left and center), Dumbo the flying elephant (middle right), and many more. It's a Small World presents eyes dazzling tour around different countries and themes of puppets and decoration (lower left and middle). The Fantasyland is well landscaped.

We grabbed our opportunity to take photo with Mickey Mouse, icon of Disneyland at Fantasy Garden. Other characters such as Winnie the Pooh and Pinocchio were there too. We queued for almost 20 minutes to take this photo. 

Then, we went to Tomorrowland, where Stitch (not with Lilo), Buzz Lightyear, and Autopia were highlighted.

This is the design of the entrance to the Tomorrowland (right). The Orbitron (left) is the center of the Tomorrowland, which encircled by other themed buildings.

The Orbitron and the spaceship (the left column),  Buzzlight Year (middle column), and on the right, the Autopia.

The Flight of Fantasy caught our attention on our way from the Tomorrowland to the Adventureland. The huge amount of crowd gathering at the Main Town area showed us how attractive the parade was.

The Adventureland features the story of Tarzan and Jane and Lion King. We went into the Adventureland at around 5 pm. Unlike "barren" Tomorrowland, Adventureland is filled with dense vegetation. We saw this huge Tarzan Treehouse at the middle of the Adventureland.

 
We crossed the river using the raft to visit Tarzan's Treehouse (upper left). The treehouse is big. After strolling around for a few minutes, we met Tarzan and Jane in one of the chamber on the treehouse (lower right).

 
Then we joined jungle river cruise. Along the river, we experienced "Hollywood-feel" scenes, such as the safari (upper right), the rhino that defeated the evil troops (lower right), and the presentation of fire and water. One thing that spoiled the adventurous mood- the tour guide that apparently drifted our mood away with funny talks. 

 Our last stop was the Toy Story Land. We met several characeters in the story there.

We didn't wait until the fireworks presentation as we were really exhausted, after staying for more than 7 hours in the park. We went back to our hotel around 6:30 pm.

Visited the park in middle of May, the weather was really hot and humid. We could endure the high temperature, but high humidity made us sweated a lot. So, if you visit the park somewhere around summer time, please ensure that you drink enough water to maintain hydrated.  Once we paid the entrance fee, everything inside the Disneyland can be accessed free of charge, except the for the drink and food at the restaurants. However, we can always refill our bottle at the water dispensers around the park, free of charge. We found that the food inside the park is really expensive, so you might wish to bring some food into the park.  

The queuing time was the killing factor inside the park. We spent more than 1/3 of the time in the queue. Well, that was on normal working Monday. So, we anticipate that the queue during the public holiday or local school holiday will be horrible. Umbrealla, confortable footwear, sunblock, hat, snacks, drinking water, hat, and maybe, extra clothes are essential to survive a whole day long of queuing.

More information can be found at Hong Kong Disneyland Official Site. The intereactive map of Hong Kong Disneyland can be found here.


We went to Macau on the fourth day of our trip. However, we wish to share our experience on our Hong Kong Island Trip first. Or know more about our complete 7 days 6 nights itinarary here.



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Hong Kong Island Trip

Fifth day in Hong Kong. We spent our time to visit a few places in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. We would like to focus our sharing on three places- the Peak, Golden Bauhinia Square, and the Symphony of Light presentation. For our complete itinerary, please click here.

Our first destination of the day is The Peak (山顶 / 太平山顶) at Hong Kong Island. We found some refer The Peak as Victoria Peak. We walked from Hong Kong MTR station to Chater Garden through J2 exit. From J2, we went straight to Bank of China Tower, then towards Citibank Tower. The Peak Tram Station is located at the ground floor of the building next to Citibank Tower. It was a gloomy morning with heavy downpour. We used covered-pedestrian walkway most of the time to avoid getting wet. Lucky, we brought our umbrella, as there were some gaps between the walkway which were not well covered. We spent about 20 minutes to travel from Hong Kong MTR station to the Peak tram station. The normal fare for the tram was HKD28 per single trip or HKD40 per return trip. We used Octopus Card to pay for the tram. The journey to the Peak took about 10 minutes.

The Bank of China Tower is a prominent landmark in Hong Kong Island (upper left). Most of the walkways from Chater Garden to the tram station are built with covers (upper right). Private Banking was the sign of the tram station during our visit (lower left). We could get to the tram from the ground floor of the building.

This is how the building of the tram station looks like from a distance away.

Our photo inside the tram to the Peak. The whole journey took around 10 minutes.

More than 400 meters above sea level, the Peak is really a good location for everyone to enjoy 360 degree view over Hong Kong Island. We later discovered that instead of Peak Tower, which we always see in the advertisement and tourism booklets, there is in fact another shopping mall beside it- Peak Galleria. Peak Tower opened the top floor to the visitors with an additional of HKD29 (we could opt to buy the ticket together with the tram's ticket), while Peak Galleria offered its top floor to us free of charge. So, we chose to take the generous offer from Peak Galleria. It was extremely foggy when we reached the Peak in the morning. So, we roamed around the shopping malls, enjoyed the cooling air outside the building, and after 2 hours of waiting, the view was getting clearer and eventually, we saw view that we had expected to see.

We could see many of the skyscrapers below us from the Peak Tower.

This is how Peak Tower looks like, from Peak Galleria.

Peak Galleria has a less fancy look than its counterpart. However, it offered a free observatory platform to us. Photo taken from the exit of Peak Tower.

Hong Kong Island and Kowloon from the observatory platform of Peak Galleria.

Another side of the platform offers different view of Hong Kong.

We would like to drop few advices. To get to the Peak Tram Station, first, follow the Bank of China Tower and Citibank Tower as these two buildings are prominent and easy to recognize. The tram station is located beside Citibank Tower. Second, try not to buy the ticket to the observation platform of Peak Tower at the foot of the hill. Take a look on what Peak Galleria can offer free of charge, before you make your decision to proceed with the payment for Peak Tower. We couldn't find much choices of food at the Peak. However, Starbuck, Burger King, and a few coffee houses were there for us. By the way, not all the food and souvenirs available at the malls up there were expensive. We found that a few souvenirs sold were in fact cheaper that what we could get in Temple Street. Must visit? Definitely!

We met Bruce Lee at the Peak Tower, and he didn't mind to pose with our parents :p

After we came down from the Peak, we took the electric tram from Chater Garden to Wan Chai (弯仔). Then, we took a 15-minute walk from Wan Chai tram stop to Golden Bauhinia Square (金紫荆广场). To reach the square from Wan Chai, what we did was keep walking towards the sea (north).

This is one of the electric tram (with Picasso painted on it). We can see Chater Garden behind this tram.

Golden Bauhinia Square. We can see Kowloon commercial area far behind on the other side of Victoria Harbour.

Closer look on the sculpture of bauhinia with Hong Kong Convention Centre at the back.

Well, about Golden Bauhinia Square, there was really not much thing to see, except the 6-meter tall sculpture of golden bauhinia which was given by Central Government of China to Hong Kong on 1st July 1997, as a symbol of forever growing and prosperity. Historical value was what we could find at the square.

To be frank, the square was not an attractive site. We walked a little bit north to the esplanade by the strait to take a rest. We found that the scenery of Kowloon on the other side of the strait was much better than the square.
Kowloon from the esplanade.

We went to Causeway Bay (铜锣湾) in late afternoon, followed by Tung Choi Street (通菜街) and Ladies' Street (女人街). We took our dinner at Ladies' Street before we went to Avenue of Stars to witness the world's largest light and sound show- The Symphony of Light. For us, the avenue itself was lack of attraction, while the light and sound show was a little bit disappointing as well.

However, we would like to put things in this way- the admission for Avenue of Stars is free, so as for the show. So, if you have a night to spare, then it will do you no harm to take a leisure evening walk down the avenue and enjoy the night scenery of Hong Kong Island, then find a nice place to sit and watch the show. Well, just don't get dissapointed if you can't catch these two attractions in your itinerary.

The iconic sculpture at the entrance of Avenue of Star.

Sitting at the avenue, the night scenery of Hong Kong Island can clearly be seen.

The night scenery itself is the best part of the show.

We used MTR to go to Avenue of Stars. The avenue is just next to Tsim Sha Tsui East Station (尖东站). It can be assessed through the underground walkway from Tsim Sha Tsui Station (尖沙咀站) as well. The walk from Tsim Sha Tsui station to Avenue of Stars took us around 10 minutes. Rain started a few minutes before the show started. As we brought our umbrella with us, we won the advantage of getting a good open place to sit and watch the show, while many others were busy running and hiding to avoid getting wet. We went back to Mong Kok to continue our shopping after the show.

Sixth day, we travelled north to Shenzhen in the mainland of China. However, we would like to share about Accommodation, Food, and Shopping in Hong Kong first. Follow us now.



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Accommodation, Food, and Shopping in Hong Kong

We stayed in Bridal Tea House Hotel at Li Tak Street, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon (利得街, 大角咀, 九龙) for six nights (please read our post Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen Trip for our complete itinerary). Li Tak Street is around 50 meters long, with several workshops located at the sides of the street. The workshops make the street really greasy and filled with the smell of iron work.We were shocked for a moment when we saw the scene at Li Tak Street, and started thinking that the driver must had brought us to the wrong place. Then, the Bridal Tea House appeared in the middle of the street.

The hotel was small, but in good condition. We felt a bit comfortable after we realized that our room looked nice and it's bigger than we had expected (around 10 x 15 square feet). Room service, comfortable bed, tea making facility (sorry no coffee available), air conditioner, LCD flat screen TV with local channels, and hot water shower were available. When we started to explore the area in vicinity, we found many food stalls, eateries, convenient shops, and restaurants were located only one or two streets away from our hotel.

Then, on the second day, we realized that Olympic MTR Station is located just about 10 minutes of walking from our hotel. Third day, we discovered that Mong Kok MTR Station is just about 15 minutes away. Well, we would call the location strategic. FYI, the Olympic Shopping Mall is located next to Olympic station, while Mong Kok station itself is located at the major shopping area in Hong Kong.


Putting one small double bed and one single bed side by side, there is not much space to move around in the room (upper left). The hotel has utilized the limited space to squeeze in as much as the utilities as possible (upper right). Lower row shows the streets in vicinity of the hotel.


Streets around Tai Kok Tsui.

Generally, the food in Hong Kong is good. At least, suits our taste, except the wantan noodle at the Peak. We tried many local food, porridge, soy milk with you tiao (fried bread stick or fritter), wantan noodles, dim sum, roasted duck, roasted goose, steamed chicken, stewed pork, as well as some Japanese food, Vietnamese food, Taiwan delicacies, etc. We had our meals at many restaurants, shops, eateries, and small stalls, which most of them served nice food. 

In fact, we didn't really get into any shop with terrible food. Beside the taste, another good thing about eating at Hong Kong was all the eateries and restaurants that we had visited in Hong Kong were operating with air conditioners. So we could escape from the hot weather for a moment while we enjoying our food inside the shop. Now the down side- the price. A normal meal in Hong Kong can easily go up to HKD30. The price jumps double or triple in many tourist spots, such as the theme parks.

We took our breakfast in local eateries in vicinity of our hotel. Rice noodle row with beef or prawn (upper right), you tiao with soy milk (lower left), and different types of porridge (lower right) were some of our favorites.

Hong Kong dim sum is one the famous food in Hong Kong. We managed to find an eatery with delicious dim sum at Tung Choi Street (DimDim Sum Dim Sum Specialty Store, 112, Tung Choi Street). The taste of dim sum there was different from what we have in Malaysia.


We tried many types of noodles, such as wantan noodle (upper left), da-wan noodle or the noodle in big bowl (upper right), noodle with abalone (lower left) and Japanese noodle. All of them tasted good.

This is where we took our first dinner in Hong Kong. The eatery was small and everyone had to squeeze in the shop. Luckily, the food was delighting. It was located beside Tai Kok Tsui Road, about 70 meters away from our hotel at Li Tak Street.

We tried these pan-fried delicacies (upper row) from a food stall by the roadside at Mong Kok. We bought the roaster duck, goose, and chicken wing from a food stall at Tai Kok Tsui (lower row).

Tang yuan in ginger soup (upper left), mixture of beans and potatoes (upper right), almond papaya with snow fungus (lower left), and durian pancake were some of the desserts that we would like to recommend to all of you.

We spent most of our shopping time at Temple Street, Tung Choi Street (or Ladies' Street) and the area in vicinity for several times. Those are where the night markets are located.

Nathan Road is a happening place at night. We could see many shops with dazzling neon signboard stretching along the road. These photos were taken along the road when we were on our way to Mong Kok from Temple Street.

Tung Choi Street (or Ladies' Street) is really a red hot place for shopping, saturated with signboards and discount banners (upper left). The photo was taken right at the exit of Mong Kok MTR Station. The crowd started to form around 6 -7 pm (upper right) and the street became extremely crowdy around 9:30 pm (lower right). We bought several good quality Hong Kong themed t-shirt with HKD30 per piece from the market.

Compared to Tung Choi Street, Temple Street was less crowded during our visit. The northern side of the street is marked with this arch.

Temple Street was not crowdy even it was 8:30 pm (upper left). However, we could see some people were gathered at the food corner (upper right). Many items were sold with fair prices. Well, our parents bought a tea making set with HKD110, cheap if we compared to what we could get in Malaysia.

Overall, Hong Kong's night markets were not much difference from the night markets in Malaysia. In case you wish to buy anything from the night markets, please haggle vigorously. For example the tea making set, the original price was HKD300. We expressed that it was too expensive and we would only consider to buy at HKD60. After a few negotiation, we bought it with HKD110 (reasonable price for us). However, we did bought some items with the price a little bit higher compared to another stall. So, a survey might helps in ensuring a lower price.

We stayed in Hong Kong for 7 days 6 nights. Please visit this post to know more about our itinerary. We spent one day to visit Macau and Shenzhen as well. Let us start with Macau first.



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