To maximize our overseas trip every time, we make sure that it’s thoroughly planned from the hour of arrival to the minute we bid a pleasant goodbye to the land. And this was how we lived through our very tight Hong Kong tour itinerary in the last week of July 2014. The result? Swollen and very tired feet; nonetheless, happy faces. 😀 This was a trip we booked a year ago, with my family and friends, and was arranged by Happy Sun Travel and Tours, Inc.
5 Tourist Spots We Have Visited in Hong Kong
1. Avenue of the Stars
Two whole days were all we had to cover the prime tourist spots in Hong Kong. Our adventure kicked off at about 8AM last Monday with the first stop: Avenue of the Stars, where the view of the Hong Kong skyline can be immensely seen and appreciated. It’s a great vantage point for those who know several celebrities of Hong Kong. For others like us who are not really familiar with the country’s film industry, seeing the life-size statue of Bruce Lee and the hand prints of Jackie Chan and Jet Li was enough.
Avenue of the Stars in Hong Kong has a wonderful backdrop (even in broad daylight). Our tour guide just suggested that we go back there, if time allows, to take a quick stroll at night as it’s when all the lights of the skyscrapers are turned on. I’ve seen some pictures of it before and I think it’s similar to the view of tall buildings you see when you’re standing from Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay in Singapore.
We had lots of photo-ops and the experience might had been better if there were not so many other tourists around (because we had to wait until there’s minimal “extras” in the frame).
2. Hong Kong Jewellery Shop
Not far away from Avenue of the Stars, our tour bus driver took us to the Hong Kong Jewellery Shop next. It’s the oldest jewelry store and the most popular one for selling good-quality diamonds and all sorts of jewelry (including rings, bracelets, necklaces, watches, bangles, anklets, etc.) at reasonable prices.
Before heading on to the store area, we attended a short briefing where we learned about the origins of the products they have—ruby, diamonds, jade, gold, pearls and other colorful rhinestones. The staff showed us famous personalities like Manny Pacquiao and Isko Moreno who have bought the latest of their award-winning feng shui designs that are blessed by the temple and believed to transform luck and produce harmony in life.
The staff also taught us how to choose which one to buy. When faced with several designs, clap your hand to each piece and bring it to your ear to listen to the sound of the rotating fan in the pendant. The one with the loudest sound, by virtue of feng shui masters’ advice, would be most suitable/best for you.
Because I’m not as superstitious as most Chinese in my circle, I nonchalantly disregarded the meaning and looked at the “fan” feng shui designs merely as designs of the jewelry pieces, and I did not like them at all. Thus, no matter how hard the staff tried in convincing us to buy (lifetime guarantee and exchangeable), they were not successful. 
In other case, I got a crystal apple pendant with silver chain necklace for myself and my sister. It’s a classic design also featured by the Hong Kong Jewellery Store. It’s an absolutely gorgeous apple-shaped crystal adorned with a dazzling silver leaf. My childhood friend also bought one so we’ll look like trios when we wear the same necklace at the same time. 😛
3. Aberdeen Fishing Village
The Aberdeen Fishing Village is said to be one of the earliest settlements of Chinese people and now it represents the old Hong Kong. With boats abound, we toured this “over-hyped attraction” via a round-trip boat ride called sampan (junk fisherman boat) that cost us HKD 60 per person in less than half an hour.
I thought we were going somewhere or hopping off and on the boat but after a while, we realized that we were only going around and taking pictures of the old boats and ones under maintenance was the only activity we could do. Too boring. 🙁
It’s a waste of time to see the rubbish-filled harbor because we’re already used to seeing a similar sight back home (we live close to the Pasig River). Also, it’s a waste of money to ride the sampan because the boats are viewable even from the outside. The tourist guide reminded us to “try to enjoy anyway.”
There’s a floating restaurant in Aberdeen named Jumbo, which offers food with CRAZY jumbo prices. Our tourist guide told us that three pieces of har gow (shrimp dumplings) cost HKD 50. That’s thrice the price of har gow sold in regular restaurants in downtown Hong Kong!
4. Hong Kong Ocean Park
I’ve heard rumors that the Manila Ocean Park is way better now with its modernized and improvised facilities than Hong Kong Ocean Park. With that in my bubble thought, I looked forward to visiting HK to see if it was true. Lo and behold, Manila Ocean Park is nothing compared to the size and attraction centers in Hong Kong Ocean Park! 😆
This world-class theme park is so large that we have not had the chance to get to every part, watch all shows and try all rides. At least, we had completed the activities we desired to accomplish. We rode the cable car to The Summit, rode the Ocean Express (speedy train) back to The Waterfront, watched the dolphin show, tried one ride (The Rapids), ate at the Old Hong Kong Street food stalls, take pictures everywhere, shopped for souvenir items and spent our remaining time queuing for our turn then actually enjoying the darkest depths of the ocean floor in the Grand Aquarium.
Our Day 1 packaged tour itinerary ended at 6:30PM. We reached Tsim Sha Tsui after an hour and had dinner at Yuen Kee Restaurant before shopping. Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST) is a shopping haven like the Orchard Road of Singapore or Ginza in Japan.
5. Hong Kong Disneyland
Disneyland was the main reason for my excitement, anticipation and eagerness to fly to Hong Kong. It’s a wonderful and magical place with activities for all ages: Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Mainstreet, Toy Story Land, and Grizzly Gulch. Lines for the rides were on average 45-60 minute wait, so we had only tried two rides: Toy Story Land’s Slinky Dog and Grizzly Gulch’s Grizzly mountain mine cars.
Chinese mainlanders were just about everywhere, estimating to 90% of the crowd. It almost seemed that the place is catered for them. We braved the hot summer sun, stayed patient with poking nuisance of umbrellas and experienced being kids again. My advice is to try and go there in the cooler months and definitely out of holiday time.
The highlights for me were the Disney characters parade at 3:30PM and the spectacular fireworks show at the end just before the park closed at 9PM. I was so happy that I almost cried seeing my Disney friends. All in all, it was a whole day of fun and pleasure. Indeed, Disneyland brings everyday magic, magic every day! 😛
(Read about our lunch at Crystal Lotus Restaurant inside Disneyland Hotel here.)
Wrap Up
This is the end of my trip report. Two days was nowhere near enough time to see everything that we wanted to in Hong Kong. But as someone else had said, two days is better than nothing. Anyway, we have survived rushing through exploring its main attractions without wasting any of our precious time. We worked out the most efficient ways of getting from one place to another. Hong Kong is a small city yet we barely scratched a large part of its surface. We have to be back someday soon! 🙂
Have you been to Hong Kong? If yes, which places to eat and tour do you recommend? Feel free to comment down below! 😀
About Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco
Health and technology freak. Food and lifestyle blogger with a large appetite for food and travel.
Wonderful pictures. Never been to this part of the world. Looks fabulous.
Hong Kong is a great city to visit when you want to experience first-class everything in Asia. As it’s rated as a first-world country, you can find vibrant culture featuring a unique fusion of east-meets-west sort of thing.
The fishing village looks amazing. I’d love to visit Hong Kong. There’s so much to see there.
I agree. Hong Kong is among Asia’s leading travel destinations offering a multitude of great experiences within a single trip. I think a week’s time would suffice to visit its famous landmarks and also get to shopping centers and the best local dining places.
It looks like you had an amazing time even if it was only for two days. I would love to go visit Hong Kong especially after seeing some of the places you visited. It looks beautiful.
Thanks, Rachel. Yes, we definitely had an amazing time while we were there. I just hoped that we could extend our stay a bit more to sample more of its local cuisine (and then compare to Chinese-Cantonese food served here in the Philippines). 🙂
Looks like you had a really fun trip!
Yeah, we did so. We were also especially amazed with the huge infrastructure and tall buildings surrounding all over the city. Truly, Hong Kong is short of space so they are maximizing their land capacity by establishing tall everything with highly tantalizing prices.
Wow you did all of that in 2 days. It looks like so much fun! Disney is fun no matter where you are in the world! Glad you had such a good time with your friends.
Yup. I could have never thought of spending this HK tour with anyone else than my family and these close friends. 😛 They were such fun and jolly company throughout!
I’m coming back to Hong Kong this year. Except for Disneyland and shopping, I have vague memories of the place. I was just a little girl the last time I was there.
Oh I think most people who have been to Hong Kong (or to any country, for that matter) would have vague memories of their stay in foreign lands when they were kids. 🙂 Hope you would have better memories this time as you get to capture them by camera and by blogging!
What a blast you are having. I would love to go to Hong Kong, so exotic. I love the jewelry shop!
Haha be careful of the sales staff in the jewelry shop as they would bug you until you buy a piece of jewelry they are selling. Call me obnoxious if you want, but my patience wears thin fast when salespeople aren’t tired of repeating the same things over and over again convincing me to buy stuff I don’t want and I don’t need. Ugh. 😛
I love all the pictures, but the fishing village especially. And I did not know Hong Kong had a Disneyland. Funny, “Disney” looks like “Disney” no matter what. 🙂
Whaha Hong Kong Disneyland has been there for years! It was opened on September 12, 2005. If you’re going to HK, it’s good to visit Disneyland once and experience being a kid once more. 🙂
It looks that you enjoyed your stay at HongKong…nice of you.
Sure, we did. Realistically, I know that I don’t prefer going back to foreign countries I had already been to. I would rather spend time and money elsewhere new to my sight. However, Hong Kong may be an exception since it’s close to the Philippines and we haven’t been to more restaurants/dining places I want to try.
Looks like you had a great time even though you only had 2 days to visit all of it. Would love to visit there someday.
While time was limited, we had fun and pleasure anyway. Lesson learned is that we should not choose to fly red eye or catch a late-night flight so we can experience touring around the country more during daytime or the mid noon and also not choose to depart in the morning. We could have added more days to this HK trip!
I’ve never been to Hongkong but this gives me a preview of what to expect and where to go.
Yup, that was what I was aiming for – share our experience and letting this post be a guide to anyone who plans to travel to Hong Kong without a solid itinerary yet. 🙂 Hope you find this useful.
I worked in Hong Kong in mid-1980s when most of the tourist spots you mentioned were not yet around. I hope I could visit back the area soon. Wish me luck!
Hi Ed! Good luck to you! That’s an advantage to already know most of the places there. With the convenient MTR, I’m sure it would be easy for you to roam around Hong Kong just like in the old days. 😉
Nice photos.. My wife visited Hong Kong and she bragged about her experience sa mga places na ito. Hope next year makapunta rin dyan.
Sana nga, Papa Leng. Ganda rito! Be sure to bring your camera so you can also brag the sites you’ve travelled to her. 😛 Hahaha.
Disneyland is my dream destination when I’m in Hong Kong and I want to be there when it’s winter time.. 😀
Wintertime is at the end of the year, if I’m not mistaken. 🙂 Check out great rates at promo fares of flights to Hong Kong scheduled December.
Sure, you really enjoyed your time at HongKong. Congrats and have a happy life always.
Thanks, Fernando! This Hong Kong trip had put a little hurt on my wallet but I didn’t feel guilty at all because I know we deserved all the fun we got. 🙂
OHHH i miss Hong Kong!!! I was there with my little family last Feb (i think you read some of my travel entry, didn’t you?) and you’re right, Disneyland at cooler temp was heavenly! I too almost cried at Disneyland (WTH), i guess it brings out the happy children inside of us haha. Since we made up our own itinerary, we ended up to absolutely different places than yours except for Disneyland and Ocean Park. Would love to come back to HK ASAP… And oh, i like to buy the same items with my BFFs and wear them together (we often joke that we’re like orphanage kids with our uniform stuffs)!
Yes, I remember reading your post about HK trip! 🙂 We booked this flight because of the one-peso fare of Cebu Pacific, without knowing what the temperature there will be at the time of our stay. Whaha it was great that you went on your own as we had to follow the scheduled itinerary of our tourist guide (which was okay as first-time travelers here). The last thing we wanted was to be lost somewhere we couldn’t be found! 😆 I guess wearing the same stuff was just normal when we were kids.
I haven’t been to Hong Kong yet so it’s really nice to see the tourist spots you and your family have visited. I’m planning for a trip to Hong Kong some time next year though, and Avenue of the Stars, Ocean Park and Disney Land are part of the itinerary! 🙂 If time will permit, we’d love to visit Ngong Ping 360 and The Peak, and maybe go on a quick trip to Macau.
Ohhh! 🙂 We wanted to also visit Macau for a day trip but because my mom holds a Taiwanese passport, she has to pay additional fee to process her visa to Macau (and to every country outside the Philippines). Sometime soon, I hope she gets her nationality to be converted to Filipino so she can stay free from those hassles. Yup, those three tourists spots you picked are highly recommended!
Wow, looks like you a great time. I had no idea Hong Kong had Disneyland.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who didn’t know. 🙂 Aside from HK and Japan, Philippines (we heard) is also building up our very own Disneyland. Watch out!
Looks like you had a wonderful two days. It looks like you had fun playing with the toys too. The fireworks are always the best part I believe.
The Disney characters parade was the best for me. The fireworks lasted for only 10 minutes and the presentation wasn’t as good or anywhere good as the pyromusical firework competition we have yearly at SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines.
Wonderful family pictures all over HK! Glad to see everyone had a fantastic time. The places you visited are must see places and when you go back then time to try others. My recommendation would be hike or bike Lamma Island or Lantau Island or go to Macau or Shenzen. There’s also Victoria Peak and partying at Lan Kwai Fong.
And what about shopping? I feel each train stop has some form of tiangge!
Thank you very much for the recommendations, Karen! I appreciate it. We were almost heading to Victoria Peak after Abderdeen Fishing Village but we had lack of time. Shopping is everywhere? I have to prepare lots of pocket money next time then! 😀
Avenue of the Stars is like the LA Hollywood Boulevard where they have the pavement with stars! I’m putting Hong Kong on my list of must visit places!!
Yes, that’s correct! We only know a few celebrities so we also didn’t spend a lot of time reading through the rest of the stars’ names and hand prints. Oh you better put it on your travel bucket list. 🙂
I so envy you! Looks like you had a blast! I have Hong Kong on my list, but right now I have other priorities.
Hong Kong is easy to navigate but you still have to prepare for your itineraries before going. Check out the signature attractions and I suggest you visit HK when there are timely wonderful festivals going on.
I’ve never been to Hong Kong before, though I would love to go one year!
Try going to all these places listed here. 🙂
My brother will be going to China this semester, so I’ll have to share this post with him! Thank you so much for the great tips and recommendations!
You’re much welcome, Ashley! Send my regards to your brother. 🙂 Stay safe.
Hong Kong looks amazing, what a fun time!
Yup. Hong Kong is essentially Asia’s world city, a dynamic yet compact one, filled with fantastic sights both at day and night time. Feel the pulse of the modern, cosmopolitan center when you’re there. 😀
Wow, looks like you had an amazing time! I would totally visit that floating restaurant and Disneyland 🙂
Nice to hear that you have the urge to visit Jumbo. 🙂 Haha, as I said, expect high prices of food. In other case, Disneyland for sure will be you happiness!
LOVE your photo of things to do in Hong Kong. I would love to go there someday.
Thanks, Sandy. I have more photos in my Facebook album however the access is only limited to friends. 😛 HK will leave you with memorable impressions of a city you might always want to call your own. 🙂
I have never been to Hong Kong but it looks like a fantastic place to visit. Thanks for sharing. I had no idea that was a Disney Land there.
You’re welcome, Ann! It’s good to visit Disneyland in Hong Kong although those who have experience Disneyland in Paris often have negative comments on this one as it’s small.
Two days doing visiting all these places is amazing enough. I had 5 days and I just went to the trail and the rest is relaxation because I’ve been able to visit most of the attractions already.
Awww good for you! We wanted to go to the local market, some of the temples, museums, more shopping centers and restaurants. Too bad we could not because of time. You must have had a great stay anyhow because the trail was your main purpose of visit. 😀
Been to Hong Kong twice but I we didn’t visit The Avenue of the Stars and Hong Kong Jewelry. Planning to go back there soon and will definitely visit both.
Nice! There are many souvenirs for sale on both locations. You can either go to Avenue of the Stars at daytime just like we did or at night as you will get to see the buildings lighted on a side of the Victoria Harbour.
It has been a long time since I’ve been to Hong Kong, would love to go back and visit the same places you went to.
Yup, this is a good list as reference to set your Hong Kong itinerary. 😀
Hoping to visit Hong Kong someday! The first stop will be Disneyland 🙂 Second will be Hong Kong Ocean Park. Will save money 🙂
Sure! A trip to Hong Kong would not be as fun without more money to spend because everything is expensive here (well, more expensive than same items in the Philippines except for some jewelry, electronics and branded bags).
Hi! I just want to ask how many hours did you spend for the day tour? And if you can still remember, what time did you leave for Ocean Park and how many minutes before we can arrive there? And how many hours did you even stay there? I am actually planning our itinerary for our free time. But since hotel check in is still at 2pm, so I don’t know how to squeeze in the places which are not included in our package. I’m torn between Victoria Peak and Ocean Park. Huhu.
We spent all afternoon to night in Ocean Park. If I remember correctly, it was about past lunch time when we got there and left at around 7:30PM-8PM. If you’re coming with kids, I think you should really spend time exploring inside Ocean Park. Victoria Peak is good to visit if you want to buy souvenirs.
I hope the next time I visit Hong Kong, I’ll see your star in the Avenue of Stars. Go Roch!
Hahaha you’re funny. I’m super far from being a superstar in Hong Kong (and not looking to become one either). 😛
i am so dying to go in disneyland haha and ocean park hahaa a looks so fun there
These two places might require more than than one day each to visit completely, especially if you want to experience the rides. 😀
We visited those places too – I kind of miss them in a way! So much fun!
I think these are the standard list of places one should visit before leaving Hong Kong. 😀
I’ve been to HongKong before just for training purpose of our company and really enjoyed the train ride. Even for a week, I just couldn’t roam around. You’re very lucky indeed.
You’re lucky as well because I believe your trip was charged to the company and you have tried riding their trains (while we never got the chance to). 😀 We will make sure to experience MTR next time!
It’s a waste of time to see the rubbish-filled harbor because we’re already used to seeing a similar sight back home (we live close to the Pasig River). Also, it’s a waste of money to ride the sampan because the boats are viewable even from the outside. The tourist guide reminded us to “try to enjoy anyway.” Trulala. My wife said it too. Ang baho raw ng water . Another more, There so plenty of clothes lines sa mga houses sa HK. Parang Pinas lang daw.
Ahh we have not been to that part of the city to see where most of the residential places are. Oh well, every country I guess has that area that’s not good to see for tourists. I also heard that the Abderdeen Fishing Village will be gone in a few years; it disappear with more reclamation work.
The floating restaurant is cool (even if the prices are not). 😉 I’d love to visit Disney in Hong Kong. The pictures are so nice, perfect weather for nice, bright backgrounds!
Haha yes, there’s a lot of maintenance and men put to work to run the floating restaurant. Jumbo is listed as a prominent restaurant in Hong Kong. The weather was too hot but a sunny day during travel is always better than a rainy day.
So glad you enjoyed Hong Kong! Planning to visit this place
maybe next year.
Start planning for the trip now to avoid last-minute panic moments. 😉
I’m loving all your pictures, it looks like you had a blast!
Thanks, Alyssa! We were so tired and I still have sleep debt till now because we wake up at 5AM and go to sleep at 11:30PM-1AM during those days.
Love all your destinations. Specially Disney Hong Kong. Looks different from the one in Orlando.
It’s interesting to know how Disneyland Hong Kong compares to the other Disneylands in other parts of the world. Regardless, I bet it’s still the favorite place on earth especially for kids.
Wow. I would really like to go and visit. It looks like you are having a great time.
Yeah. Disneyland attractions, they say, are a bit dated now and the management should work on upgrading their facilities soon. Also, adding in more characters and performance would be great.
[…] I wasn’t only excited to go to Hong Kong Disneyland for the theme parks’ attractions and rides. Of course, as a foodie, I was over-the-top thrilled for the highlight…and you guessed it right—food! Seeing cute pictures of Disney Character Dim Sum Lunch Set being served at Crystal Lotus Restaurant (Disneyland Hotel, Hong Kong) 大嶼山香港迪士尼樂園酒店 made me want to pack my bag and travel to Hong Kong right away! (Read the rest of our activities in Hong Kong and two-day trip itinerary here.) […]
These all look like wondering places to check out on vacation, i like the boat the most, so colorful.
It would be a better experience (ideal, even) if we could go to a number of boats just to have our pictures taken. But nope, all we did was stay and look around.
That avenue of starts looks fantastic! I wouldn’t want to pay those prices at Jumbo though :S Was the food great at least?
Oh sorry, we haven’t tried the food at Jumbo because we weren’t given the chance to even drop by at the restaurant. I hated the boating experience at the Aberdeen Fishing Village. It was, as I mentioned, boring.
I would love to see all these places with my family.
Plan a good trip on cold months.
Hong Kong is one of the easy-to-go places these days and shame on me kasi until now, I haven’t been to this place 🙂 I missed my HK trip last year because of some school stuff but I’m planning to visit it by 2015. Hopefully matuloy ang acad shift 🙂 Anyway, will check this post again by that time para may guide 🙂
Yup, Hong Kong is only like 1 hour 40 minutes away from the Philippines. It’s relatively closer — than say Malaysia, Singapore and other neighboring Asian countries. Don’t know about the acad shift but good luck on that one. 🙂 Hope you also have a blast there! Thanks for the visit.
I haven’t been to Hong Kong, but it looks like a very beautiful place. I would love to try the floating restaurant! 🙂
Oh yeah I think the food’s quality and the entire dining experience will be worth the price anyway so try it!! 🙂
[…] Rambler Oasis Hotel is not a tourist destination in itself and not one that provides guests much pampering, but it’s generally a good hotel if you’re staying in Hong Kong for only a short period and if you have a packaged tour service. If not, then traveling to places may be a hassle. Since the location is away from the city center, you need to take a 20-minute cab ride to go to the prime shopping areas because there’s also no nearby MTR (train) station. (Read the rest of our activities in Hong Kong and two-day trip itinerary here.) […]
I bookmarked this because so I can have a guide when I go to Hong Kong. I love it 😀 Hopefully, one day, I can go here 😀
Thanks, Hainrihi! Yup I’m sure one day you’ll do that. Enjoy! 😀
[…] first day of our itinerary in Hong Kong was so jam-packed but still we found a weeny bit of time to explore Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and go “panic […]
[…] first day of our itinerary in Hong Kong was so jam-packed, but still we found a weeny bit of time to explore Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and go “panic […]
This is why I don’t like joining some travel packages, it’s a mandatory thing that they bring you to jewelry/souvenir shops. We joined one on our 1st trip to HK, they even sold to us souvenir photos in plates for 100 HKD, lol.
Yeah I think they earn some commission from purchases.
I love these places, except that on our last visit we were not able to visit this jewelry store. My sisters were dying to see the jewelries but we don’t have time anymore and they have no choice because I am the navigator.Lol
Haha great job being the navigator! 🙂 The jewelry store may seem a paradise only for those who are fond of accessories and those who like investing in unique pieces.
do u have the website of the hongkong jewelry ? thankyouuu
No, this wasn’t shared to us by our tour guide. I also didn’t take note. Sorry!