I’ve put off writing this last installment to my three-day Hong Kong post series simply because there’s really nothing interesting to write about.

Back at my Couchsurfing host’s flat, we spent hours chatting about a lot of things, looking at our photos taken during the trip and drinking Belgian beer (well, them at least). We finally ended at 1am, and since I plan on leaving the flat early to explore Hong Kong Island on my own, I bade them goodbye.

Sayuri and her new friends. The small plush toys were the Belgian’s travel gnome. The bear has a backpack that a friend of theirs hand made for them, which has the logo of Antwerp, their home city.

Read the rest of this entry »

After much tossing and turning, I was finally able to sleep soundly around 4am. I awoke around 8am, wondering what time we would be heading out, and where we’ll go for breakfast. Vincent went out of his room around 9am, and by 10am, we were heading out his apartment.

Mmm, roast. Never did get to try these though

Read the rest of this entry »

The flight from Manila to Hong Kong was smooth enough. Because of the limited selection of shows that I can watch on PAL’s personal AVOD system, I was able to nap on the short flight across the South China Sea. I awoke to see nothing but fog outside my window, as the captain announce that we will be landing shortly. We land smoothly, and excitement replace the exhaustion that I was feeling.

First foggy view of HK

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m back from my trip to Hong Kong over the weekend. Since I always keep track of my expenses for every trip, the budget is always the first entry to be finished.

This Hong Kong trip was certainly one of the cheapest trip I’ve had lately, specially since it was an international trip (coming close to Batanes and Boracay in terms of value). I’m quite proud that I was able to stay below my budget. I even have extra money! I guess the perk about being so exhausted is that I’m not in the mood to buy anything.

I was so used to seeing prices in US, Australian and Singapore dollars that when I see the prices in Hong Kong, it all seemed expensive to me. The average rate for US$1 is Php 48, AU$1 is Php 30.84, and SG$1 is Php 31.42, while HK$1 is only Php 6.3.

Another thing about this trip was that we avoided the usual tourist hotspots. We did go to the Temple Street night market, but that’s about it. Our major activity was watching the local festival, and hiking on the Wilson Trail in eastern Hong Kong.
Read the rest of this entry »