Exploring Hong Kong in 12 Hours: Our Mommies Day Out Trip


I have never thought that a daytrip to Hong Kong was doable. Hong Kong is 4 hours by plane, and a daytrip would be totally insane! But somehow...we had just come back from our Hong Kong's mommies day out trip. And yes it was a return trip from Jakarta to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific.

Our original plan was a daytrip to Cirebon, but the train tickets cost the same with a return airfare from Jakarta to Singapore:p So We changed our plan to visit Singapore. I calculated that a weekend getaway to Singapore would cost IDR 3,000,000 per person, which includes: airfare, hostel for two nights, meals and transport. But we've been to Singapore and Johor Bahru on a mommies' day out trip already.

Hong Kong crossed my mind, so I checked Cathay Pacific's website. That time I found a "One Day Special Offer" from Cathay Pacific, and I told my friends if they are interested visiting Hong Kong for a day, with an estimated budget of IDR 3,500,000 per person (all in). Everyone said YES! Hahaha, I am not sure who was crazy, is it me who had the idea, or my friends who agreed to my idea? Well, so we went to Hong Kong for one day, instead of a daytrip to Cirebon or a 2 nights stay in Singapore.


It all started with this promo from Cathay Pacific



Flying With Cathay Pacific For The First Time

It was my 5th visit to Hong Kong, but the first time using Cathay Pacific. I love the aircraft, the entertainment and the welcome smile from the television! Hahaha..


That smile:D

We ordered moslem's meal when we booked the ticket, and we had a breakfast menu on our way to Hong Kong. It was served around 6 am, Indonesian time. The portion was enough for me, as I like this kind of breakfast. But it was not enough for my friend, Alisa:D



Our moslem's meal

On our way back from Hong Kong to Jakarta at midnight, Cathay Pacific only gave us sandwich. Hmmm, in term of the food, I prefer flying with Garuda Indonesia rather than Cathay Pacific.


Arriving at Hong Kong International Airport

At 11.00 am we arrived at Hong Kong International Airport. I told my friends that we had to go directly to the immigration, to avoid the long queue. Somehow we made it, within 30 minutes, we were already outside the arrival hall.

I went to the counter of Airport Express Train, and bought a same day ticket to Hong Kong Station cost HKD100 per person. This train took us in 24 minutes to Hong Kong island, and it provides free wi fi!

Our time was limited, we had to take the fastest transportation to the city 
Busy with the free wifi, inside the train:D
Arriving at Hong Kong Station
Then we took taxi to Wanchai


Lunch at Halal Dim Sum in Wanchai

We took taxi from Hong Kong Station to Islamic Center in Wanchai. I had prepared a screenshoot of the address of the Islamic Center, and showed it to the taxi driver. "We would like to go to this place" I said. The driver looked at my smartphone and said "Ok", he knew the place already.

Taking taxi in Hong Kong that morning was a scary experience, the driver drove really fast and carelessly. Gosh! We arrived safely though, and paid HKD42 to the driver. We didn't give him any tip. Sorry, mister!

Then it was time for our dim sum party. If you are Muslim, you should visit and try this canteen, which provides halal dim sum in Hong Kong. 

Read our review of this halal canteen: Halal Dim Sum in Hong Kong



They are all yummy!
We also tried their fried noodle


Mr.husband and myself love to visit this Islamic Canteen at Wanchai. I took away some dim sum for mr.husband, and sent him a note on path. "Wish you were here" (I don't have to translate the words in the bracket, right?:D).




We did our midday prayer at the Islamic Center, the ladies musholla is located on the 3rd floor. The musholla was very nice, it was spacious, clean and cold. We also met lot of Indonesian female worker who were doing their midday prayer at the musholla.






Japanese Snack at 759 Store Hong Kong

It was time for shopping! My friends said that I am "gagal move on" from our #JPFamTrip as I wanted to buy Japanese snack in Hong Kong hahaha. But it is one of my fave store in Hong Kong. I used to visit this store, when we stayed at JJ Hotel, Wanchai.


Buying Japanese snacks at 759 store

I underestimate Hong Kong's service standard, especially comparing to Japan's. But I was proven wrong. When I was at the cashier of 759 store, the staff asked me whether I had a member card. I replied that I didn't have any. Then in Cantonese, she asked me to take another two packs of Milky matcha candy. I thought that it was "buy two get two" kind of thing, as I had bought two packs already. But then, she scanned a member card, and my bill decreased by HKD80! Wow, she was so kind to give me the member card!

Later on, I knew that the additional two packs of Milky candy is needed to fulfil the minimum amount to get the member card. And as the member, I got huge discount on my bill. The cashier was so kind!


I bought many things at 759 Store: chocolate, biscuits, candies and even a teapot!


Exploring Causewaybay

The rest of the day, we explored Causewaybay area, started with basement floor of Sogo. I looked for another Japanese snack, while my friends bought a baked cheese taart that taste awesome!

The queue was so long to get this baked cheese taart, and one person could only buy 12 pieces. But the queue was well worth it. I didn't find it in Japan, but fortunately I ate this in Hong Kong.


You shoudl try this!


Then we went to Windsor House for the Toys R Us (buying toys for our Kiddos, of course!), and just stroll along the area to do a window shopping. Causewaybay was very crowded on Saturday.


Ikea Hong Kong at Causewaybay 
My fave supermarket in Hong Kong
I also met Deasy and her princess, my friend who lives in Hong Kong,
and wrote Family Backpacking Hong Kong with me


Watching A Symphony Of Light at Bauhinia Square

I thought it was going to be awesome to see the Symphony Of Light lasershow while watching all the building with their lights on. So I took my friends to Bauhinia Square, and we got lost!:D

We were supposed to take bus number 25X from Hennesy Road, but we choose another bus going to the same direction, because we had waited so long for bus 25X and it didn't show up. At the end, we had to walk quiet far to Bauhinia Square (so sorry girls!) and it turned out that the lasershow is no more interesting (:

I reckon it was a great show from my previous visit. Read my story: Symphony of Light from Avenue of Star.

Beautiful Hong Kong at night
My awesome bestfriends: Rona, Iin and Alisa



Light Rose Garden at Tamar Park, Admirality

Before going back to the airport, we visited Tamar Park Admirality to see the beautiful Light Rose Garden (it's free!). The LED rose flowers come from Korea, and how lucky we were, that we could see it when we were in Hong Kong!

It was one of the last day of the Light Rose Garden, the place was really crowded!

We had to take turn to go to the first row


We stood at the 4th line from the roses, we only could take a picture of the light rose garden from a distance. We gave up!

The park was so beautiful!
Taking picture with the crowd,
I mean with the park:D


Back to Hong Kong International Airport

Around 10 pm, we were at Hong Kong Station ready to go back to the airport. It was a tiring day, but happy to be back to Hong Kong with my bestfriends, even only for a daytrip!

Hong Kong Station at night


Our togetherness started with four Starbuck cups at Soekarno Hatta Airport, and ended with a sleeping beauty position on the airplane:D

Thank you Iin, Alisa and Rona, for saying yes to my crazy idea. You girls rock!

I was the only one having a cup with "Ibu" on it! Aaargh!
 


Budget for our Hong Kong one day trip per person:
- Airplane ticket USD181
Starbucks at Soeta: complimentary from ANZ travel card:)
- Same day Airport Express Train-return ticket: HKD100
- Taxi from Hong Kong Airport to Wanchai: HKD10,50
- Lunch at Halal Dim Sum: HKD50
- Bake Cheese Taart: HKD27,50
- Bus to Bauhinia Square HKD4,50
- Taxi to Tamar Park HKD7,50
- Budget for shopping: as always, it's a mom's secret!


written on Februrary 26, 2016 by @tesyasblog


Purchase our published book: Family Backpacking Hong Kong (Published by Elexmedia).

34 comments:

  1. wow..keren banget mbak..one day tripnya jauh amat sampe ke hongkong

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    1. Iya nih Bubu, dari awalnya ke Cirebon malah ke Hong Kong hahaha..

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  2. Wooowww....you rock mbak. Keren mbak kapan2 aku mo nyonto ah :)

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    1. Ayooo Mba, seru deh, dan hari Minggu nya kita udah bisa maen sama anak-anak lagi di rumah:D

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  3. Makasih ya bu 😜...😍😘😘 yuk plan our next mdo. ~rwi

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    1. Makasih ya Rona, oke next nya Jepang ya *gagal move on beneran!

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  4. Wooow, what a trip! For the duration of time you took for one-day-trip to Hong Kong, it seems that you're only sent to Blok M Plaza, LOL. Very nice ide.

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    1. Hello Bunda Yati, thanks for stopping by.
      Hahaha yes it was like a dream to have a one day trip to Hong Kong:D

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  5. Coba tolong diralat itu makanan bukan "not enough for me" tapi emang ga doyaaan... hahaha..
    Kalau beef fried noodle dan cheese tart nya itu doyan buangeeet..

    Makasih Bundu selalu jadi tour leader kami dengan ide2 kreatif, mudah2an plan next MDO bisa terealisasi dan pastinya lebih seru lagi..

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    1. Hahahah karena enggak doyan, jadi laper ya Lis:D
      Sama-sama Lis, makasih selalu bilang yes kalau diajak MDO ya. Aamiin semoga next nya kita sampai ke Jepang *keukeuh

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  6. Jalan2nya sebentar...persiapannya yg lamaaaaaa...mau pake baju apaaa...celanaaa apa...cuma untuk 12 jam doang..wkwkwkwkw...

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    1. Hahaha iya nih Iin, kita emang super lebaaaay:D

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  7. Uhhmm..itu Pocky nya kluaran jepang ya? Pernah ngecek klo Pocky keluaran Jepang itu ga halal..yg halal kalo kluaran Thailand dan Indo loh..info aja sih

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    1. Hai Vari, thanks a lot untuk infonya ya. Nanti aku bagi temenku di kantor aja kalo gitu. Pas beli aku baca ingredientsnya itu padahal, kan imported ke HK, jadi ada bahasa inggrisnya.

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  8. Kirain cuma bisa gini kalau punya jetpri.. hahaha. Meski cm sehari tp kayaknya puas bgt yaa

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    1. Hahaha, ternyata orang biasa juga bisa ya. Enggak puas, tapi seneng aja bisa reunian gini hehe..

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  9. Masih terkagum2 nih ngebayangin ibu2 ke Hongkong PP :-D

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  10. Waaa seruuuu... mau dong kapan2 ikut. Tapi aku extend ya krn pasti gak puas ;D

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hahaha iya ini emang enggak puas Kak...

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  11. awesome short trip! I wanna try it too. thanks for sharing it

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    1. You're welcome, it was awesome indeed :)

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  12. Starbucks nya mba Tesya pesen yg iced green tea latte yaa..jadinya "ibu" sendiri (if that makes sense..hihi..).. Mba buat trip yg mommies day out for all dong.. Ntr aku daftar..😍

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    1. Mba, udah Mba, jangan dibahas hahaha..
      Sebetulnya pengen Mommies Day Out Trip buat umum, enaknya kemana ya Mba?

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  13. Ihhh..kapan2 aku pgn ikutan kalo kamu punya trip murah meriah lagi mbak :D.. Blm prnh nih ke HK..kalo kesana itu yg pgn aku cobain memang dimsumnyanya itu lohhh.. penyuka dimsum banget soalnya ;D

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    1. Ihhh ayoook, tar kalo ada promo lagi aku email ya:D
      Tapi baby mu gimana? Hahahha
      Iya emang dimsum nya itu to die for:D

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  14. Menarik banget mbak, blognya. Kagum euy bisa backpacking sama anak2. Kebetulan kami mau ke HK Juli nanti sama anak2 juga. 2 remaja dan 1 toddler (hahaha..susah deh ngatur jadwalnya). Boleh bertanya enaknya kalau sama anak2 nginep di HK di daerah mana ya?

    Makasih banyak Mbak. I thoroughly enjoyed your blog. a lot.

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    1. Hai Mba, thanks for your nice words. Kalau mau backpacking ke HK ama anak-anak, jangan lupa beli buku Family Backpacking Hong Kong ya. Banyak yang bilang bukunya membantu, ya semoga aja sih.

      Kalau saya selalu sarankan keluarga yang muslim, menginap di dekat Islamic Center Wanchai, supaya gampang cari makan. Saya enggak tau Mba harus cari makanan halal atau enggak, tapi kalau enggak sih, ga masalah nginep dimana aja yg sesuai bujet dan deket MTR station. Daerah favorit saya Hong Kong Island dibandingkan Kowloon.

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  15. Hai Tesya...mau tanya kalau beli snack murah meriah untuk dibawa pulang ke Indon paling asyik di mana di HK ? Thanks so much ! - @Nala

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    1. Hai Mba Nala, bawa pulang ke Indonesia maksudnya?
      Aku suka ke toko 759 Store yang aku foto di atas, tapi enggak tau murah atau enggak ya. Terus aku juga suka supermarket di bawahnya Sogo.

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  16. Mbak Tesya, untuk penginapan Sy kasih saran salah satu penginapan terbaik menurut Sy adalah Metro Winner Hotel di Yu Ma Tei. Hanya 5 menit jalan kaki dari stasiun Yu Ma Tei. Kamar Hotel luas banget diatas rata2 kamar hotel di Hong Kong. Depan hotel halte bis jadi kalau dari Bandara naik bis bisa turun langsung didepan hotel. Ke Ladies Market, ke temple market kemudian ke mongkok cukup jalan kaki saja. Desember 2016 Kami sekeluarga dgn 2 anak menginap di Metro Winner ini dan Insya Allah Januari 2018 nanti Kami akan ke Hong Kong lagi dan menginap di Hotel yg sama.

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    1. Thank you untuk rekomendasinya. Wah asyik banget jalan-jalan ke HK terus nih. Have fun yaaa :)

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