Visited in October 2011
The location can
make or break your vacation – clichéd though it sounds, I have found it
especially true while travelling with kids.
Which is why, I was very hesitant when my husband suggested HongKong for
our vacation this October. I was worried
it would get too boring for us (we are not into Shopping!), and was not sure
about Disney Land experience for the kids (really!). We still went ahead when a lot our friends
said that it is worth it to do the trip for just Disney Land, which is so close
home without having to travel around half the globe. I did my research and came up with a list of
things to do, which was not definitely a packed itinerary, for a change.
And we were in
for a pleasant surprise at HongKong.
Somehow, reading about all those ‘Top 20 places to see in HongKong’ and
other such articles had failed to make an impression that the young girl at the
HongKong Tourism Board stall at the airport managed to do. We spent a good
half an hour at the stall, picking up at least twenty brochures with various
attractions and a good deal of tips on travel itineraries. We were told about Octopus cards, free entry
days to visit the museums, local attractions including malls and kids’
entertainment options, an intro to MRTS lines, and what not!
After a brief
debate on whether to visit the city briefly before proceeding to Disney Hotel,
we decided to directly go to Disney Land from the airport. On hindsight, we would not have done
that. We would have spent a few hours at
the city (may be somewhere near Central), had breakfast, stocked up on food and
then proceeded to Disney Land. Well, the
Disney Land Resorts exist to cater (only) to the ‘crowd that visits Disney
Park’. You do get good deals for the
park visit, if you stay at these resorts.
Otherwise, it is not a bad idea to stay put in the city if you do not
mind the commute through MRTS to visit the park. One does miss the hustle and bustle of the
city at these resorts, with very less (and expensive) options for food. And that is a crime in HongKong with so many
options for food otherwise, as we discovered later.
But that did not
take the ‘Magic’ away from Disney Land, for all of us, including the
adults. Our entry into the Magical
Land began with a ride in the cute Disney MRTS line, with its golden Mickey and
velvet seats. The park itself was a
fairy tale experience, right from the décor to the rides to the shows and of
course the Parade! We were enchanted by
the Princesses who seemed so surreal, from another world. My elder daughter had a big kick in the
Tomorrow Land and Adventure Land while my second one just loved the Castle and
all things in there. The parade and the
Castle light show were highlights which we ensured that we watched on both the
days of our visit. The Halloween parade
was a whacko experience, given that the
participants started hanging out (and scaring) with the crowd later. We watched a few shows, out of which ‘The
Lion King’ was a memorable one, for its moving stage and the wonderful
theatrics. A big attraction for my
younger daughter was the ‘main street’ shopping area, mostly overpriced but
some cute souvenir stuff. She was also happy to get a typical Indian
meal at ‘Tahiti’ inside the park!
After two days
at the Disney land, it was time for us to visit Ocean Park, so eagerly awaited
by my elder daughter for its dolphin show and the pandas. She was also planning to make a scrap book
article on her visit to Ocean Park, for a school project. But
sadly, the Ocean park experience succeeded in snapping us out of the Disney
magic. It is definitely over-rated and
over priced except for the dolphin show and the cable ride. The aquarium is good, but not as good as the one
at Singapore. The much hyped Pandas look
sad, in a very artificial environment.
Funnily, my daughters were not attracted by any of the rides – found it
either too childish or too scary.
The next three
and a half days at the city was absolutely delightful, in spite of the typhoon. Riding the Metro itself was a pleasure. We had our ‘Octopus’ cards and the MRTS map
and we were off exploring. We found it
useful that these cared are accepted in MRTS, buses, ferries and even at ‘Seven
Eleven’ stores! You can load the card
almost everywhere and get the refund on surrender of the card.
One of the
brochures that we had picked up tells us that Hongkong is actually an
archipelago of 260 islands and that you can charter a cruise to any of these
islands and spend the day! Well, we
reserved this idea for our next trip. But we were there at the Tsim Sha Tsui side
waterfront on the Kowloon side to watch the ‘Symphony of Lights’ – a dazzling
light show on the buildings in the HongKong island, as claimed by the tourism
Board. Sadly we missed it because of the
typhoon.
At HongKong
Island, we loved the ‘Mid Level Escalator’.
It is an architectural marvel, a series of escalators covering a length
of about 800m through an elevation of about 450m. Busy, interesting streets criss-cross the ride
(we stopped at one with full of pubs and eateries including 100% organic
cafeteria). Interestingly, the elevator
reverses its direction once a day in the morning but we could not experience
it.
Our trip to the
peak was at the right time – we did it just before the typhoon was announced. We spent the time waiting for the tram to
learn about the history of the peak (courtesy brochure). The peak has an interesting history –
starting out as the pirates’ hide-out beginning of this century to becoming a
much sought after real estate in HongKong, especially by expats. It offers a panoramic view of HongKong and
the tram ride is quaint. The 360° view
at the top comes at an extra cost but worth it for the picturesque views. If you opt out of this view, you can choose other
viewpoints a few floors below. There
are some good places to chill out, eat and shop at the peak and it is worthy of
an afternoon stay.
The next day of
our stay was a complete ‘black out’ as HongKong came to a literal halt due to
Typhoon No 8. To pass time, we went to
Festival walk Mall and did Ice staking; quite enjoyable experience if you can
manage to take a step. If not, it is
miserable, like it was for my husband.
If yes, you will want to go back, as my daughter did.
One of the
off-beat spots we had picked up was the Chi Linn Nunnery - It has a Chinese
temple and beautiful gardens and ponds.
A great place to relax in the midst of the city.
From having a
light itinerary, we finally ended actually missing quite a few places due to
lack of time and the typhoon! Stanley
beach and the market was something we would love to have gone to. We did the space museum but would have loved
to visit the Heritage and science museum.
And the brochures about visits to Main Land China are so tempting – a
very different exposure to the Oriental world!
All good reasons to come back.
Shopping was
mostly at the malls as the local markets closed due to typhoon. Still we managed a few steals at the Ladies
market and at the Fa Yuen Street close to our hotel.
Our kids loved
the whole experience as HongKong is quite child friendly in many ways. The eating options are pretty good and
hygienic, though options are very less for vegetarians.
I still remember
the MRTS ride when a middle aged Chinese lady started conversing with my
daughters and later with us on life at HongKong, how Chinese still hold on to
their religion and tradition, opening up to complete strangers, in a city that
is on a fast track. That is HongKong,
the city that gave us the comfort and luxury of a ‘Developed World’ and the
charm of a place that has been around for more than a century, in the hands of
two large empires of the world!
Resource
File:
- Air India offers very cheap flights from Delhi. Many other airlines fly from all metros in India to HongKong.
- Disney Hollywood Hotel and Disney Resort are the stay options near Disney Land. The former is more expensive but has more entertainment options. The resorts offer free shuttle to the park and also 2 day tickets at one day rate, as part of some packages.
- At HongKong Island, Hotels offering view of the harbor come at a premium but worth it for the view. There are many more options on the Kowloon side, with easy access to MRTS and shopping areas.
- Try shopping at the typical Chinese markets like Fa Yuen Street
at MongKok – it is so damn cheap and offers a glimpse of the local
culture. Bargaining is
accepted! Loved the Chinese tea and
the tea set.
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