Experiencing Hongkong should be included in everyone's bucket list because it has everything a tourist can ask for - from a modern city and financial hub, theme parks, skycrapers, cultural heritage places, food, shopping and entertainments! We really had a fantastic time staying there!

So I tried to think of a way on how can I share with you my experience to travel in Hongkong. The list might be short but these are the most important things (for me). So here you go, here are some tips for you to fully enjoy and to minimize hassles on your trip:

Prepare your Itinerary. Jot down all the places you want to go and search for the most convenient way to get there. For example, if you want to go to Disneyland coming from Airport, taking the bus is the most convenient and the cheapest option.
Buy your theme park tickets at Chinese Travel Agency, they give considerable amount of discounts compare to the price on the ticket gates. This includes Disney Land, Ocean park, Cable car and many more. Be sure to check them.
Stuff your bag with food and water. Bring a water container/tumbler as you can refill it from several drinking stations, just be sure that it is clean. Food and bottled water can be expensive depending on the area you stay, make sure you have something you can eat if you don't have the budget.
Buy Octopus card. This is one of the must-buy if you want to take trains and buses going around Hongkong. It has HKD50 downpayment. In our experience, we load an initial amount of HKD150 then we reload another HKD50 on our last day. Don't worry spending too much on the card since you can claim the unused amount at any MTR counter. 
Get a map. Most of the hotels and tourist centers have map of the city. This is important to get an overview of your directions if you want to go from one place to another. For example, If you are staying in a hotel in TST area then you want to go the avenue of stars, you can check the most convenient means of transport you want to use, should it be better just to walk, take the bus or take the MTR. If you have a working GPS on your phone, then you can ditch the map. :)
Use the Public Bus. I personally want to choose to ride at the Public bus over the MTR of course if it just a short route. First is that, you can enjoy sightseeing the city streets and its people when you are at the bus. Second, it is more easy and less walking as it has more stops than the MTR meaning you can get nearer to your destination. Third, I believe it is cheaper than the MTR.
Never hesitate to ask locals. The locals know everything. From the best hawker, best dimsum house, best deals and discounts, best place to hang outs, and the best route for your destination. Befriending a local is one of the most effective way to feel the vibe of the city. Be careful though, not all locals are able to speak english very fluently.

I will share to you the Itinerary that we used in our recent trip. We actually did not explore the city that much that we just want to go to Disneyland, the Peak and the harbour. There are some constraints that we are unable to control though, like time and our budget! haha!

So when you are doing your Itinerary, you need to consider some things: The location of your hotel should be near to your preferred tourist destinations, if not, it should be close to public transport station. The time and place of your flights should be considered as well. You should allot ample time between your tours for some unexpected event such as accidents or traffic jam. Below is the Itinerary we used in our recent trip:

Our itinerary was somewhat very loose but nevertheless we really enjoyed the trip. Sometimes, it is good to miss some famous and exciting destination so you still have a reason to go back and try it in the future.
Hope it helps. So enjoy your trip and don't forget to share your experience too!

You know what's the best part in Macau aside from its beautiful buildings, fantastic foods and casinos? - The FREE bus ride! You can get to anywhere without spending a single buck using hotels' free bus transport, and it is just not free - it also has WiFi on board!

Macau is dubbed as the Las Vegas of Asia, and undoubtedly it is. It has so many hotels and casino on its tiny Island. Being a french colony, it has maintained it beautiful structures and buildings. As one of my friend said "Don't go to Europe, THIS is Europe!". Even my lens can't put justice on how spectacular this buildings are. Surely Macau government done really something beautiful here.


Let's talk about how to go to Macau from Hongkong by Ferry. The ferry station is located at the Central area just near the Tsuen Wan Station. Just follow the signs towards it. We board the Cotai water jet for 334 HKD for two way. The travel time is around 1 hr. The Cotai water jet is pretty huge. It has bar, toilets, entertainment TVs while the seat is pretty spacious and comfortable, that is why we found ourselves sleeping on the entire trip.

After queuing and clearing at the immigration in Macau, we went outside and found all the buses waiting for tourists. You can't be confused since these buses were decorated based on the name of the hotel. We first went to Galaxy hotel since the bus going to Venetian that time already left. One highlight that we saw in Galaxy Hotel was the grand fountain in its grand lobby with a grand show then a grand crystal appearing in the middle with all the grand lights surrounding it. Did I say grand already? It was really that grandiose, believe me.

Galaxy hotel lobby

After that, from Galaxy hotel, we board the bus going to Venetian hotel. I always thought that the Venetian hotel is the highlight of any Macau trip and I was not disappointed. It is really beautiful inside. The design and the interior is amazing! Check the photos below to see what I am saying.

Inside Venetian Hotel

The famous Grand Canal

We also tried the famous Lord Stow's egg tart in Venetian. It is really famous since many people are queuing up to buy egg tarts on this shop, it is not cheap though as it costs 10 MOP/HKD per piece.

We head to the City of dreams after exploring the Venetian hotel. We didn't find much place to see there except for Hard Rock Macau. From there, we board the bus going to Senado Square.

Expect a lot of tourist and a lot of walks when you go to Senado Square and eventually when you head to the St Paul Ruins but we didn't mind since we ate a lot along the way before we reach St Paul Ruins. There was a lot of shops selling beef jerky and meats offering free taste. There are also bakeries and a lot more shops. It was fun walking while fighting your way just to get there.

Kaite at the St. Paul Ruins

The next on our Itinerary was the Grand Lisboa hotel and Wynn hotel so we just set our GPS to that place only to find out that it was roughly 1 km from the ruins. We walked for 20 mins before we reach the Grand Lisboa hotel then walk again for 400 m to reach the Wynn hotel. We didn't have the chance to explore Wynn hotel as we already want to head back to the ferry. So we board the bus from Wynn hotel going the the Ferry station.

We arrived at a totally different ferry station, bigger than the ferry station where we arrived that morning, only to find out that we were in a wrong ferry station. Cotai water jet is located in Taipa island. So from there, we board the bus going to galaxy hotel, then board the bus again to Taipa ferry station. We are not in a hurry so we really didn't mind boarding from one bus to another since it has A/C and most importantly, WiFi.

We arrived at the ferry station in Taipa island at around 6pm then an hour ferry travel going back to Hongkong. Again, we just slept on the whole trip, saving some energy since we still want to go the Victoria peak after.

I really enjoyed Macau! I was amazed, surprised and admired the beauty of Macau. It has a lot of cool stuffs to offer to tourist from free bus, free WiFi, free milk tea from casinos and free tasting at Senado square! I definitely want to come back and spend a night there!

I would really want to believe that the name Segadas literally means Hidden Paradise or Beautiful Beach as it is way better than the more mainstream beaches in Pangkor like Teluk Nipah or Pasir Bogak.

It was an unexpected plan to go to Pangkor that I just suddenly think of going out of town for CNY. It was already 7 pm when I invited Jane and Ate Vhie if they want to join me and my girlfriend to spend a day in Segadas. I explained to them that Segadas is a secluded beach in Pangkor and we need to trek some 15 minutes to reach the beach and they both agreed. Yay! So it was already late at night that we really didn't have time to prepare or buy some food to bring for next day, luckily, my girlfriend found a kilo of chicken in their freezer that she cooked chicken adobo in the morning for our lunch in Segadas.

We took our breakfast first at McDonalds, refueled my car then we start our long road trip to Marina Island where we will ride a jetty to Pangkor.

That tiny island called Potipot..

It was a memorable experience to be cast-away and to be amazed by a little tiny island in the Philippines which is known to have 7,100+ islands. Used to have celebrated holidays in resorts and swimming pools, we then decided to try something new and to challenge ourselves to experience what it has to live in an island.

Potipot Island is well known to beach campers around Luzon and has established its name as laid back, far from city and has beautiful sand and water.



Although there are other islands to choose from, we decided to pick this island over hundred of islands in the area of Zambales and Pangasinan. Since this area is already kind of a touristy place, it has been nearly developed to have electricity (powered from batteries), fresh water from deep wells and a couple of cottages and rooms.

Potipot Island is located in the town of Candelaria in Zambales.

We started our holiday on October 3, 2014. Most of my friends were staying in the metro so we decided to meet up at Robinsons Pioneer. We started our travel soon as we finished our breakfast at McDonalds. Total travel time from manila to Subic took us 3 hours, we had a short stopover in a gasoline station then proceed for another 2 hours to reach Candelaria town proper to buy our foods and stuffs to bring in the island. Since there are no stores in the island, we made sure that we bought all the things that we need. Potipot Island is 5 mins away from  Dawal Beach resort. We chartered only 1 boat, thus half of our group went there first and the other half needed to wait for the boat to come back.

The ride was not bumpy or scary since the tides at that time is not that huge though there are news that a certain typhoon was hammering the northern part of Luzon. Overlooking the small island from the boat was overwhelming, you can see the both end of the island and how beautiful it is. My friend Arthur still can't stop taking his super selfies from his super beloved stick.


We arrived at the island at 3pm, since the boat will still need to go back to the main land and fetch the other half of the group, we decided to explore the area and find a good place to set our camp. There are maybe two groups of tourists when we arrived. The whole island is so small that it will just take you 20 minutes to explore it. In the other side of the island, there is a huge fallen tree on the shore. We can't stop ourselves climbing unto that tree and take what? selfies! Arthur and his ever useful reliable monopod. We went back to our camping site to fix our belongings first, set our camp, wash our foods and then relax. It was a really great time to take some relaxing moment, de-stressing from all the workloads in the metro and enjoying ourselves to this secluded and beautiful island with clean water and fine sands.

They said that these sands are comparable to that of Boracay and other beaches, but since I haven't yet to discover those places, I can't really say. All I can say is that this is better than beaches in Malaysia.



After tiring and exhausting ourselves playing that ultimate frisbee, we took a quick time to rest then prepare our dinner meals. All of us are assigned to do some chores so we can finished preparing and cooking the meals soon then we can have our dinner right away. While the ladies are cooking Sinigang and the rice, I am preparing and lighting the charcoals for the Grilled Liempo and Tilapia. Just before we start our dinner, one unfortunate thing happened. It rained hard during that time then we realized that there was really a typhoon in the nearby area. Good thing was there are some couple of cottages that can accommodate us and the care taker of the island gave us a battery so we can have light on the cottage. I can't remember how much we paid him for the battery for one night. After calming ourselves because of the rain, we sat down inside the cottage and start our dinner. Even it was still raining that time, we still had a very happy moment when we are finishing our dinner, then followed with a liter of Emperador Light. We just had a lot of laughter when we tried to reminisce our college days, our kulitan days, those boyfriend-girlfriend on again-off again relationships. I hadn't seen these people for a year and we sure have a lot of things to talk about. :)




DAY 2
I actually planned to rise up early in the morning to catch the sunrise and try to take photos of it but then I woke up around 8am, but still, I was not the last person to wake up. :) The ladies again started to prepare our breakfast meals: Scrambled egg and hotdogs! After eating breakfast, we took a little rest then we found ourselves swimming in the beach again. Some of my friends opt not to swim again since the sun was already up there and maybe they didn't want to burn their skins out. We didn't realized that the time was running so fast that it was already 12pm and we have to prepare our lunch before we go back. Hazel cooked the Tinolang manok while we grilled the remaining pork liempo and the gigantic squid. After lunch, we fix our things out, fold our tents and we are already to pack-up. It was already 2pm when we call our boat operator and the rain was about to fall down again.




We left the island with a lot of smiles in our face with Arthur still taking pictures while in the boat. We were all exhausted that we all fell asleep on our ride back to Manila. We just had a short stopover in one of gas stations in NLEX to have our dinner. Some of us including myself were going back to Batangas while the others will just stay in their apartment in the metro. So I just told the driver to drop us in Cubao so we can catch a bus there going to Batangas.

It was a really fun experience to be secluded and away from the metro from time to time. It was really a needed break for all of us. Hazel got to introduced her new boyfriend. Gil in his new job. Neil and Ladee together. My travel buddies: mayor, Gracielle, Arthur and Jerome. Although there was a slight misfortune when it rained, it didn't prevent us for enjoying our night out there. Even before we head back to Manila, we were already planning and talking about what and where our next adventure will be. :)

This was the very first time I have experienced to climb a mountain standing at 1711m and mind you, it was not a very easy hike.

Gunung Chabang is located at Pos Slim, Simpang Pulai with coordinates of N4.53806 E101.26790. It can be reach using Simpang Pulai highway going to Cameron Highlands when coming from Perak.

The Gang

We started our day hike early in the morning and reached the starting point at probably 6AM. The start of the trail is approximately 500masl. It was still very dark that we still need to wear headlamps to start our trek. There is a bridge at the starting point and before we start to trail, we met these groups of students crossing the bridge. It was still very dark but they were already walking their way to their school, with some of the children not wearing school shoes and school uniform. It was such a beautiful sight, seeing them with smile on their faces and gracefully stamping their feet. We really hope that they'll have a bright future ahead of them. :)

When we crossed the first river, we still saw some students coming from other side of the river. Imagine everyday, every morning that these children needs to cross the river, do some trekking just to attend their school. I just really admire them. 
Okay, enough with the children, let's go back to the trekking. We then reached one of the Orang Asli wooden house that serves as a land mark but we can't find the right trail. After observing and looking for some trail, we decided to go to more wooden houses and found the water pipes along the trail. We followed the water pipes for an hour only to find out that we are trekking the wrong way. haha!



We then trek for another 2 hours then we reach the second river. The water was very cold and inviting but we still need to continue our trek. I sometimes stop and take a rest from time to time whenever I feel my legs are about to give up.

The view of the summit

After another 3 hours, we finally reached the false peak. The view from the false peak was spectacular. From the height of 1700m: fogs and clouds just beneath our heads, the cold winds, the amazing terrain on smaller mountains - it was breathtaking. Too bad it was surrounded by thick clouds so we really can't see the trees and mountains below, but still it was amazing.

Taking some rest at the false peak

After we finished our lunch, we need to trek another 30 effing minutes just to reach the Chabang summit and the infamous pyramid roof/metal/whatsoever. The trail was mossy and muddy that time that I really didn't care if my shoes get submerge to mud or to get dirty or what, I just need to reach that summit and go back. haha!

1715m mark at the peak

Mandatory group photo

After mandatory summit pictures, we decided to head back as it was already past 1 in the afternoon and we don't want the night to catch us going down. I assumed that trekking down will be a lot easier than going up, but it was not. It became worse! My right knee betrayed me and I feel cursing every time I step it forward. The whole time that we are going down feels like forever for me and I just kept thinking and thinking that we soon finished the trail, but it was not! It took me almost 5 hours to reach the first river. And thankfully, I finished it! Success! A dip to a cold river was my ever needed reward, it was really relaxing that I don't want to get up. It was almost 7 in the evening when we started to go back to Ipoh, and a really nice and superb dinner at tesco back concluded the very tiring and action-packed day.

Back to the starting point

Below is the trail map of our trekking. The short line at the beginning shows our wrong trail.

Photos by Cherry & Ian.