Quick Guide to Enjoying Hong Kong

Around 2 hours from Manila, Hong Kong is a popular destination known for its delicious cuisine & delicacies, many shopping malls and fun amusement parks.

I’ve been to Hong Kong 3 – 4 times before but most of them were for family visits or business trips and not for leisure. Because of this, it was rather easy for me to get around as some of the places were still familiar.

Hong Kong is great for solo travelling or for your first international travel, not to mention for a vacation with your family or your friends. It’s very convenient to navigate and most signs have English translations. It’s even easier if you know Mandarin as well. To help you on your trip, here are some of the things I’ve done and places I went to that I think is worth your while.

1. Get Your Own Octopus Card

Hong Kong’s Octopus Card is similar to Philippine’s Beep Card and Singapore’s NETS FlashPay. This pre-paid, re-loadable card can be used on most of Hong Kong’s public transportation such as the MTR, trams, buses and ferries. The card can be purchased at MTR stations at varying prices for adults and children and can be topped up at the terminals there. Likewise, you can load the card at 7-11, McDonald’s and Wellcome supermarkets.

You can also purchase the Octopus Card through Klook.com. Doing so allows you to pick up the card at a booth in the airport and is loaded with HKD 50.00 for immediate use. Although I already have an existing Octopus card, I decided to get another since the one they have in the airport has a design exclusive for tourists.

To know more about the card, you can visit their website here.

2. Experience Ngong Ping Village

Located on the scenic Lantau Island, Ngong Ping Village is one of Hong Kong’s top tourist attractions. Here, one can experience riding cable cars, shopping and dining at various establishments, seeing the Big Buddha up close, and praying at the monastery.

To start your journey, you take the MTR and get off at Tung Chung station. Once there, you simply follow the signs and head for the ticketing booths to purchase your tickets. You can also opt to buy vouchers on Klook beforehand since they have different booths for tickets purchased online. Ngong Ping 360 offers different cabins: the standard cabin, crystal cabin and a private cabin. The only difference between the standard and the crystal cabin is the flooring, wherein it’s made of glass in the latter. As for the private cabin, it allows you to skip the queue and to board the cabin without other guests.

The view would have been great but, unfortunately for us, there was a storm during our stay in HK. The winds were really strong so the entire ride was terrifying. Thankfully, it ended well.

At the end of your cable car ride, you’ll reach Ngong Ping Village which houses a number of souvenir shops, restaurants and cafes. Sadly, we weren’t able to peruse their menu and have a taste of their food due to time constraints.

On your way to Big Buddha, you’ll come across numerous deities, avatars or gods depicting different aspects such as war or victory. At the end of a long flight of stairs, you’ll get to meet the Buddha modeled after Sakyamuni. According to their lore, Sakyamuni achieved enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. Right below its pedestal, you can find an exhibition hall as well as souvenir shops that sells talismans for luck, health, prosperity and many more.

For the religious ones, you can also drop by the Po Lin Monastery. Visitors are free to light incenses and offer prayers. Additionally, their kitchen provides vegetarian dishes and aromatic tea for its visitors.

For more updates and information, you can visit Ngong Ping 360’s website here.

3. Go on a boat excursion at Tai O Village

To complete your experience on Lantau Island, you can go on a boat excursion at Tai O Village to see the houses on stilts as well as an attempt to see the fabled “pink dolphin”. From Ngong Ping Village’s bus terminal, you’ll have to take Bus 11 in order to reach Tai O. The site for the boat excursion is not far off from Tai O’s bus terminal.

Your first stop on the boat excursion would be these houses. If you live in Manila, then this view should be familiar to you. True enough, this has become somewhat of a tourist spot as some of the houses have been turned into restaurants. After going around the houses, you’re off to the sea to try and catch a glimpse of the pink dolphin. I’m not sure how real the dolphins there are but what the heck, no harm in trying! On your way back, you’ll also see military houses that have been remodeled. Once you’re done with the boat excursion, you can take Bus 1 at Tai O’s bus terminal to get back to Tung Chung Station.

Tip: For convenience, the tickets for the entire Lantau island experience can be purchased on Klook as 360 Lantau Sky-Land-Sea package.