#BrgyAlano Goes to Hong Kong - Day 1

A few weeks ago our family went to Hong Kong. This is a milestone for us as it's our first time to travel as a family of five, it's Javi and Nina's first plane ride, it's also their first out of the country trip. We travelled with my parents and my brother for this trip. Suffice it to say, we were all excited!

Nina's first plane ride! She sat on my lap while Ate sat between me and Daddy

Kuya's first plane ride - he sat with Lolo! 

I was hoping the kids would sleep during the flight but Nina did not sleep a wink! Miya and I switched seats so she could look outside the window. Miya fell asleep after takeoff, Javi also slept during the flight but I heard him cry a bit (his ears hurt, I think) but he was okay again after we landed.

The baby who did not sleep the entire flight! And she pooped! 

This is after we landed - so glad to see him okay. 

I lost P1,000 at the money exchange counter! Grrr! I exchanged an x amount of Pesos to HKD when I absent-mindedly put a thousand pesos on the counter. And then I left it there! Hay naku! Joema told me to forget about it and not let it spoil our vacation. So I did.

We were brave because we took the Airport Express and transferred trains in the MTR instead of taking the taxi from airport to our hotel hahaha!

Good thing our hotel was just a few meters away from Prince Edward MTR station. When we got to our room, I put Nina down and told the kids, "Okay, go wild!" and they did!

Nina, Joema and I stayed behind while the rest of the family went out to eat dinner. When they got back, Joema and I ventured out. We ate at an authentic HK restaurant, the owner didn't speak English, but unfortunately we ate a so-so dinner for almost HK150 (that's almost a thousand pesos!).

To be continued...

Where to Stay in Hong Kong: Le Prabelle

Stayed at this hotel in our recent trip to Hong Kong with the whole family. And I fell in love with this hotel. The room was big and big windows unlike other HK hotels. Our toiletries and complimentary water were replenished everyday. We were very near the Prince Edward MTR station, there's a 7-11 downstairs and a Watsons around the corner. You can choose from a line of restaurants just across the other streeet. Super duper convenient for our big group. I booked our room via Agoda. Our room had two king sized beds and we paid for an extra bed for my brother. The room has 1.5 baths - one full bath and a powder room with a toilet which worked well with us.

Sorry all my photos have my family lying or lounging in the room because we were all tired from the transfer of trains from airport to hotel haha!

King sized bed for my parents and the single bed for my brother

At the other side of the room is another king sized bed. There's also a TV but the kids were complaining that they can't watch anything hahaha! But that's okay since we didn't really have time to watch anything. 

You can see all three beds in this photo. Beside the bed where my husband is seated is a wardrobe cabinet (not seen in photo).

This is the full bath complete with toiletries

The shower area - I love that the water gets hot immediately. My little boy doesn't like taking a bath with cold water so I really appreciated the warm water immediately dispensed plus the shower head spews small and gentle water stream. My little boy enjoyed taking a bath here hehe. 

The toilet in the powder room (with its own lavatory) AKA my husband's throne hahaha

Where to Stay in Hong Kong: Disney's Hollywood Hotel

As mentioned in previous posts, this is where we stayed on our last visit to HK. We never really ventured outside Disney, only once for a dinner and a little shopping in Tung Chung but that was it. We wanted convenience to the park and that’s what we got. But aside from that, I don’t really think I got my money’s worth.

I booked us a Garden view room (got it for HKD1,520 from their early bird offer, that’s roughly PHP9,120 per night).

 

The room has two double beds

Sorry I have no photo of clean beds - what with a toddler and my parents in tow

The large Mickey and Minnie plate in between the two beds

In front of the beds is a flat screen TV

 

To the right of the TV is the bar which holds the coffee, ic bucket and kettle. All other things there like the food, we brought in. That's a good thing about this hotel, they're not strict if you bring in food.  

 

This is the open cabinet. Shelves on top and then a rod to hang your clothes.



The entryway

 

Tub and shower area

Toilet

Mirror in the bath room

Toiletries. The cup on top with the Mickey cover holds some personal necessities like cotton balls, cotton buds, etc. Those two bottles at the bottom are shampoo and liquid bath soap.

This was our view if you look at the far left

 

ALthough immediately below our window is this

The room was a bit small since there are 4 of us (adults) who stayed there together with a toddler. Maximum number of persons inside is 4 adults which I think sort of made up for the price of the room. But if it were only us - me, Joema and Miya - the price of the room will turn out to be a bit pricey. The room rate does not include daily breakfast. I was not awed by the room itself. If it were for the room alone and for that price, I wouldn't recommend this hotel. But considering that they allow 4 adults inside the room, the convenience to the park, leniency in bringing in food and the wide sprawling lawn at the back of the hotel, I think it was still worth staying here. I would recommend this hotel if you're like us - 4 adults in a group (because atleast the price doesn't end up so pricey if you compare it to other hotels who only accept 2 adults in a room) and wanted to get the Disney feel all throughout or the convenience of the park to the hotel is really a concern for you.

Otherwise, better opt to stay in a hotel in Kowloon or HK island. I do hope they put up new hotels in the Tung Chung area. Atleast from there it’s only a train ride away to and from Disney (and no multiple transfers compared when you book in Kowloon side or HK island). .

Hong Kong Disneyland 2013 – Day 3 and 4

Let me continue our HK Disneyland stories. Links to my previous posts are here:

Day 1
Day 2

+++++++++++

5 November 2013

For our second day at the park, we actually got to spend most of our time with the Fongs and Bernartes. Our first agenda of the day, have our photo taken with Mickey and Minnie Mouse! Because of the long queue, we finished right around lunch time.

So after lunch, Miya took her nap. It was our time (Joema and me) to explore the park again on our own. We rode the Grizzly Gulch and then went back to Miya so that my parents can do their own exploring.

Grizzly Gulch's theme is Wild West. This is a new attraction of the park.

Miya would have loved to get wet here

We usually stay outside the Starliner Diner because it has plenty of seats and the fan is strong enough for the heat

When Miya woke up, we stationed ourselves for the parade. TIP: We had a very good spot for the parade. We sat down just before the entrance of the Adventureland. The start of the parade line stopped in front of us during the performance and it was a good spot for taking photos.

You can see our position from this photo

While waiting for the parade to start

 

More photos of the parade after the jump...

Hong Kong Disneyland 2013 – Day 2

4 November 2013

We started our second day early to have breakfast with Chef Mickey. This is one expensive breakfast buffet but seeing Miya’s face so excited to have her photo taken with Mickey was priceless. By the way, once seated you are given a stub that you need to present so that you can have your photo taken with Mickey. Kami kasi we went straight to Mickey to have our photo taken, hinanapan kami nung stub hahaha.

 

MIckey even hugged her. Sulit na!

High five, Mickey!

During breakfast. You would think my daughter was all smiles during breakfast. But no, she didn't want to eat the whole time and wanted to go out. Haay! Di namin nasulit yung buffet.

Since Miya didn't want to eat, Joema took her outside after he ate. So I followed them after I finished and had some photo op outside.

We just sat there and made lambing with each other while hubby took the photos. Love these shots!

 

 

We went up back to our room to refresh before heading out to the park.

This was taken at the mini-lobby on our floor.

 

Elevator shot

We missed the Ajeros and de Guzmans.

More photos after the jump...

Hong Kong Disneyland 2013 – Day 1 (Prelude)

Two more days before Christmas! I can't believe it! I feel I've never been around here for so long. I have so many things to share with you. I’ve had problems uploading photos here in Blogger but now, I’ve finally found a solution. So expect a few posts from me during this Christmas break. First up is our trip to Hong Kong Disneyland last November. We prepared for this trip for almost a year as we wanted our whole group to come along. Unfortunately, only three families pushed through with the trip and we encountered a few mishaps along the way but we’re all so happy we finally got the chance to travel abroad with each other and our families. Our last out-of-the-country trip was to Kota Kinabalu and that was a few years back.

 

3 November 2013

We took one of the earliest flights out of Manila (via Cebu Pacific) and arrived in Hong Kong around 8am.

We had breakfast at McDonald’s first and then we ventured out to Disneyland Hollywood Hotel where we are booked to stay.

That's Miya saying "Weee"

 

TIP: We bought our Disneyland park tickets from China Travel Service’s booth at the arrival section of HKIA. We got 15% discount from the regular rates. But they only accept cash payments so be sure to have your money changed first before heading to their booth.  

From the airport, we rode the bus going to the MTR Tung Chung station where we rode the MTR to Sunny Bay station and then rode the connecting train to Disneyland.

With Lola during the bus ride to Tung Chung station

From the Disneyland entrance, we walked a few meters to go to the parking bay for the shuttle buses where we rode to take us to our hotel.

With Mommy Charline and Mommy Janice

 

Cute photobomber behind us

Unfortunately, we arrived too early for check-in. It’s the hotel’s policy that they really give out rooms at 3pm no matter what time you arrive. You can opt to go straight to the park to explore or like us we opted to explore the hotel grounds (or take a nap which most of us did). TIP: Time your arrival at the hotel so that you won’t waste any time. For us we wasted almost half a day just waiting for our room. We didn’t have the energy to get out of the hotel grounds and explore Tung Chung or mainland HK so we opted to rest at the hotel lobby. The kids were able to nap and some of the adults. But for me, I was exhausted chasing after Miya and waiting to get comfy inside our room.

Miya had a grand time exploring the grounds of the hotel. She particularly loved the play area.

 

 

 

More photos after the jump...