Hello Hongkong! (Day 1) Watching Signal Number 8 Typhoon Merbok At SKY100
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| A view of Victoria Harbour taken from Sky100 |
Travelling to another country is one of the things we wish to do at least once in our lifetime. That's why it should be carefully planned ahead of time. This trip is extra special for me because it's my first time to be out of the country plus I'm flying with my family (husband, Riri, Mama & mother-in-law). It all started with a discounted ticket from Cebu Pacific. 😁 I am sure you can all relate. After securing all the tickets, I begun doing my homework. Meaning, I searched, searched and searched everything about Hong Kong like the tourist attractions, hotels, and transportation. I also tried to consider getting a travel agency but I just dont like their itinerary. I don't wanna go on a city tour or on a jewellery factory. That's way out of my interest and I think I won't enjoy it. Additionally, you'll have to pay a tip to the tour guide for each pax each day. So, since we're somewhat a big group, our goal is to save but will still enjoy the trip and of course, praying for us not to get lost. 😂
I organized our tour 6 months in advance. That's the day I paid for our tickets. Then, I looked online for the best hotels in Hong Kong that met my requirements. After many comparisons to various hotels using many search engines like Trivago and Booking.com, I ultimately booked Li Cheng Guesthouse. Check here why. Now, the next thing that I arranged is our itinerary. Where should we go? Just a tip. Since Hong Kong offers many things from themed parks to nature trips or extreme sports and a whole lot more, always choose what's on your interest so that you won't be overwhelmed with all the activities. I'll tell you more about our itinerary as we go on. Okay. Lastly, I studied the transportation system in Hong Kong and it seems like their most convinient way of travelling is through MTR (Mass Transit Railway). This is the part that I got very scared because their train is somewhat complicated as I can see online. But, whatever! I'm almost done with my To-Do List so I noted all the addresses of our destinations and just go!!!
I prayed for this trip that I planned for a long time to be successful. However, it's not always rainbows and butterflies. Guess what! I checked on Hong Kong's weather 3 days before our flight and it looks like it going to rain hard... Really hard the whole week. I got sad and felt like all of my dreams were shattered. We've got no choice but to push through. 💔
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| Double decker buses in Hong Kong |
The big day came, thankfully our flight wasn't cancelled and we successfully arrived in Hong Kong without any hassle. We chose to ride on a bus going to our hotel which will take for about an hour. Why did we prefer this instead of a train? Because it's like going on a city tour already! What amazes me is their double decker buses from the airport is very modern. It has pre-recorded message in Chinese and English (Yes, in English!) that you can hear everytime the bus stops. It will tell you all the name of the roads you're passing through and a brief information about it including the tourist destinations in the area. It's actually a great choice because we got to experience being on the second deck. Woohoo!
It didn't feel like an hour bus ride, but Voila! We've arrived in our hotel without knowing it. After checking in, we rested for a few minutes and headed to our very first destination...The SKY100.
What's SKY 100?
Sky 100 is the only indoor observation desk in Hong Kong that offers stunning 360° panoramic views of the territory and the amazing Victoria Harbour. It's located on the 100th floor of International Commerce Center (ICC) the tallest building in Hong Kong.
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| Elevator to Sky 100 |
It has many amenities like a high-speed elevator which will take you to 100th floor in just 60 seconds! Cool! 😱😱😱 So, don't worry about any long queues.
They also have an advanced telescope which will give you a much closer look of the harbour. Well, unfortunately it's not for free. You'll have to pay 20HKD to use it but it's surely worth the penny.
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| Riri innocently staring at the 3D painting of Bruce Lee |
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| Afternoon tea, anyone? |
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| Students roaming around the souvenir shop |
In addition, if you wanna buy something to take home with you as a remembrance or gift to your loved ones back home, they have tons of captivating souvenirs in their shop. By the way, good news! If you're battery drained they offer free charging stations and Yayyy!! 🆓 WIFI.
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| A cruise ship docked in Victoria Harbour |
Ultimately, their main attraction is the 360° panoramic view of Hong Kong. I chose to go here on our first day so that we would have an idea of the interesting buildings and landmarks of Hong Kong.
At around 4 in the afternoon, it's getting darker and the clouds are starting to form massively. But here we are,still taking pictures non-stop then suddenly the attendant of Sky100 informed us that there's a signal no.8 typhoon. She apologized and politely asked us to leave and go home for our safety because they will be closing the establishment. She then handed us a ticket valid for a month so we can revisit if the weather is already fine. We got very disappointed because of the weather. Our next activity which is a dinner cruise is apparently going to be cancelled.
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| Still happy despite of the bad weather 😍 |
Regardless, we are still thankful that we arrived safely in Hong Kong and at least we we're able to go to the highest building in the city. I just told myself to think positive then headed to the train station. Ang gulo-gulo, sobra! 😆 It's like a riot. People are swiftly walking, almost running in every direction. Everybody wanna go home right away. Thank God, we got to our hotel quickly. When we went out of Tsim Sha Tsui Station, it's already raining hard. Good thing our place is just few minutes away from MTR. Since our dinner cruise was cancelled, my husband and I decided to take out authentic Chinese dishes to fill our tummies. No Filipino food for the mean time so we can experience what it's like to be citizens of Hong Kong. It feels so good to be here and still excited for tomorrow come what may. Then a stormy rainy night came... 🔚🔚🔚
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