hong kong

Oh, what's this? One last vacation before I'm a real uni student? Yes!

So I haven't been to HK in a hot minute. It's been a reallllly long time. So long, in fact, that my baby sister (who is 10, btw) has never been. I vividly remember being a kid in Disneyland, with my kuya who was super upset he didn't get to go on the Toy Story rides. (Spoiler alert: he "healed his inner child" eventually).

We actually went since my mom's friend group all decided to go and have a girls' trip. Girls' trips apparently include entire families too, since people were flying from everywhere, including the Caiman Islands, which I, disappointingly, had never heard of before this trip.

Anyway, I just got back, so here's a massive update:

AUG 22 

I completely forgot how stressful it is to fly with family. Flying alone really does things to you... peaceful things...

Thankfully, we managed to get to HK in one piece. Also, I was led to believe that it would be at least a little colder than the Philippines, but HK was like inferno anyway too. Good thing I reapplied my sunscreen before landing.

landed!

As the eldest daughter, I'm kind of Type A in a...not very good way. I hate not being in control = I booked all the Klook activities, the hotel, the flights, and everything there is to book. Despite knowing this, my family still decided to go to the mall first, instead of unwinding at the hotel. 

I was not in a very good mood. I was cranky and just needed to check-in and dieeeee.

On the bright side, I tried Cafe de Coral for the first time. It was...something...!

When we finally got to the hotel (I checked us in, shocker!) I was dead until like 8pm. There goes our first day in HK...I bitterly thought, as I went back to sleep...

AUG 23

...but it was all good since our first booked activity was today, anyway. We went to Ocean Park!

bootiful

It was also our very first time trying the MTR. It was super easy since I got us Octopus cards on Klook. I am now officially an HK #train pro.

Can I just say I had no idea it would be so big. There was so much to see and my shoes were not comfortable enough to see everything. I thought Ocean Park was about fish! And other aquatic animals! Tell me why it was an entire amusement park.

Not that I'm complaining. The rollercoaster was so awesome.

I actually kind of? remember coming to Ocean Park when I was a kid, but it was either smaller then or we just didn't explore much. I really only remember the shows and the dolphins, not that there was an entire second level (that required you to get on a cable car to get to and from).

I explored with my baby sister and my little brother Sen, and we went around looking at literally everything. There was this absolutely gigantic cylindrical tank that was filled with fish. It was mesmerizing.

one day i'll be reborn as a fish circling a cylindrical tank 

We saw jellyfish in cylindrical tanks too!

maybe i'll be reborn as a jellyfish floating around a cylindrical tank...

Ocean Park also has such pretty merch and I would honestly come back just to buy things from the gift shop. Like. They have literal Jellycats just lying around. 

need them all

My parents got tired pretty quickly - tracks, cuz they're old - so pretty early on we all had a little break and ate some burgers. My sister and I had cute little cakes too!

We saw this absolute unit of a turtle too.

r/AbsoluteUnits

After that we went on some rides like the carousel and the ferris wheel. 

carousel!

We decided to go to the other area via the cable cars and seriously. What a view.

like u can see the entire island...

Like I said above, my kuya and I went to the totally epic rollercoaster too, but my sister was too small to to join us so she sat at the waiting area. No worries though cuz we brought her to the log ride afterwards and she thoroughly enjoyed.

rollercoaster line...

We ate at one of the restaurants before the park closed. It was very yummy.

yumminess

The line for the cable cars going back was absolutely hell though. My feet hurt sooooo freaking bad. 

the view was worth it though

At least the area was really pretty. I love the old town HK aesthetic.

bai!

I had like 19k steps, which sets the tone for this entire trip because I'm telling you right now every single day was like this.

rip feet

AUG 24

I planned today to be nice and relaxing, with lots of breaks in between and lotsss of time to look around and shop.

We overslept.

Actually, I woke up around 11AM which sounds pretty early but...you need to understand my family. If you wake up at 11AM you will leave at 2PM because everyone else will wake up at 1:30PM. The pros of having three brothers. 

So our first stop was at the Citygate Outlets which was my mom's personal request. It was pretty cool and big. We bought lots of stuff which in hindsight was NOT a good idea.

But we sure did take our sweet time. After hooting and hollering I finally managed to drag them all back to the MTR to MAKE HASTE and get to our scheduled tour group. If there's one thing I hate, it's inconveniencing other people.

We somehow got there three minutes late but the tour group was waiting for us so that was a prick to my conscience. We started walking towards the Peak Tram area and we got past the absolutely massive, congested line with our tour guide's VIP badge. It was awesome.

The ride was absolutely magical. Attached is a screenshot* of a video I posted on my IG story.

*the video wouldn't load so yea..

After arriving at the Peak Tower, we said goodbye to our tour guide (who was awesome btw) and he gave me all the QR codes for the Sky Terrace and Madame Tussauds.

Speaking of Madame Tussauds...

We met so many legends.

this is the skin of a killer bella

mr cucumberpatch himself

no i didn't take her home with me.. i say with a suspiciously suzy shaped bag..

CATRIONA MAGNAYON GRAY PHILIPPINES!

We were pretty wiped out after that (steps people... steps) so we decided to eat at a random restaurant. Turns out it was Forrest Gump themed!

I haven't been able to mention it but I brought a very important person along to HK...

who am i if not someone who loves naoi rei

The food was soo good. Bubba would be proud (he spoke to me I swear).

After everything, we finally made our way to the Sky Terrace. The view was absolutely breathtaking. We took pictures and had them framed before we went on our merry way.

I SWEAR ITS BETTER IN PERSON MY IPHONE 13 BETRAYED ME

Except...

The line to the Peak Tram going back was as congested and crowded as it was on the way, but this time we didn't have our VIP badge tour guide. RIP.

the entire courtyard was filled

We decided we didn't want to wait 1000 hours to get on the tram so we found a bus and rode it back to the station. 

As soon as we got back to the hotel I blacked out.

Then I woke up before midnight to do my Duolingo, obviously. My streak shan't be broken.

1417 days opposite of sober

AUG 25

DISNEYLAND DAY!!!!

Oh how I've missed this place.

Getting here on the MTR was so cool. The train was Mickey Themed and positively cute!

One thing though....... HK is so freaking hot. We survived the best we could with UV umbrellas and mini handheld fans. Getting in was super easy cuz I bought the tickets on Klook in advance = we just waltzed in after getting them scanned.

sweltering heat....

As soon as we got there my parents spotted a double-decker bus that brought park goers to different parts of the park. We eventually all went our separate ways - my parents with their friends, my kuya and my middle brother to godknows where - Sen, Zia and I went around the park doing absolutely everything we laid our eyes on. 

castel

OF COURSE though, the first stop was always going to be Hyperspace Mountain. 

Fun fact: as a kid my nanny bought me toys while we were in Disneyland and I put them into the open pockets of my hoodie before going on Hyperspace Mountain. Needless to say... they fell into the void. 

We went on a bunch of different rides - memorable ones include the Big Grizzly Mine Cars, Mystic Manor, Nano Battle, the Sliding Sleighs, the Toy Soldiers Drop, RC Racer, and of course the very very classic It's a Small World.

uy feelipines

bruni!

We also watched Mickey's Philharmagic which was super nostalgic to me. I may have cried a little.

seeing donald behind us was so full circle to me because i absolutely fell for it when i was a kid

We finally met up with each other before the Momentous show. We ate at the futuristic burger place and it was super yummy.

my hydroflask bc we stay hydrated

I loved seeing my mom with her friends. It really reminded me that they were once girls together too, even after 25 years. I hope my friends and I go to HK with each others' families when we're their age too lol.

The Momentous show was super amazing btw. Absolutely worth the wait.

Unfortunately, I wore the shoes I got yesterday without properly breaking them in first so...my achilles heel went through some serious blood loss.

we'll be going up like neon lightz

I slept soundly anyway.

AUG 26

Heh.... of course one day at Disneyland wasn't enough, so my sister and I went back again!

We actually got 2-day passes for the entire family but I guess they had enough excitement and decided to just go shopping for the day. 

Zia and I flawlessly got from the bus, to the station, to the MTR, to the next station, to the Disneyland station, and into Disneyland. Right after we entered, though, someone from the staff approached us and made us do a survey. I actually really like doing surveys so I said sure ;)

It didn't take more than 3 minutes and she gave us stickers after!

idk where i'm using these

Anyway, Zia and I ran towards the Frozen ride because everyone else was. It was actually super worth it cuz we didn't wait that much to get on it. 

It was SOO COOOL. The Marshmallow animatronic was so impressive. Actually, all the animatronics looked so freaking cool and lifelike. 

i swear i tried attaching a video at first but it wont WORKKK

We went to all the rides we couldn't go to yesterday and watched Mickey and the Wondrous Book as well! We also... may have... rode the Grizzly Mine Carts two more times. Sue us!

tangled x little mermaid crossover

Zia and I also watched the Lion King show, which was also really nostalgic for me because I remember watching it for the first time as a kid. My heart was pounding so fast. I cried a bit too.

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

We walked through the jungle biome (idk what it's actually called) and ate some sausages and dried squid because it smelled absolutely amazing. We didn't wanna stay until closing this time so we said bye to Disneyland at around 5PM.

cheese sausage ft. longchamp purse

We rode the MTR to meet the family and my parents' friends at Citygate again. We ate at a really yummy place with XLB and had a blast for our last night in HK. 

AUG 27

We woke up early to check out and said goodbye to our rooms. It's always a little bit emotional to leave the hotel room for the last time. Hopefully we come back soon!

We got a taxi to go to the Airport since we had a lottt of luggage. It was really easy to check them in and get past immigration and everything. Please take notes PH. Plzzz.

i saw the goat lee dongwook too (who i only got introduced to from starship game caterers...)

So now all that was left to do was wait.

And wait I did... at Chloé. Where I got a brand new wallet as a reward for planning and taking care of everything on the trip myself. Heh.

it's pink in person trust me

The flight was uneventful since I slept through the entire thing again lolol.

Our driver picked us up and I ordered Jolibee for us to eat when we got back. After getting home though, the first thing I did was flop on the bed and hug my cat (who got suspiciously chunkier....side eyes the nanny).

Five days remain before I become a uni student. I can't believe it's actually happening. I'm glad I got to take care of my inner child before I dive in headfirst. Wish me luck!