Planning Your Hongkong Vacation

from http://www.abercrombiekent.co.uk/china/hongkong/

It ain't no easy feat to plan your vacay, especially when you are considering the likes and dislikes of your travel buddies. Hongkong is a city bustling with night life, good food, tourist spots, and shopping. And putting it all together in your constraint trip is the challenge.

Anyhoo, I have been lucky enough to travel outside the Philippines for four times already since I started working. And this November, I will be availing of our Company perk for a trip for two to HongKong. Yahooooooo! And this will be my second time there but with different companions this time.

First things first.

1. Budget. Moolah, moolah, and moolah. Set your budget. Decide for how long your vacation will be given the budget you have and how long you can leave your work. Here are the basic things you need to account for:

• Air Fare Ticket
• Travel Tax (PhP 1,620) + Terminal Fee (PhP 750)
• Accomodation for __ Days
• Food for __ Days
• Transportation for __ Days
• Entrance Fee on spots you want to go
• Shopping and Pasalubong Money

2. Book your plane tickets! If you are not constrained with a budget, booking your tickets anytime wouldn't be a problem. But since I am following a budget, checking airline promos everyday is a must. Being a fan on Facebook and a follower in Twitter of Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines are the best way to know of their promos. The downside, on the other hand, of availing the promo fares is that the travel period is months ahead so there is a risk that something may occur on your flight sched. I booked my Roundtrip ticket to HK for PhP 4,200 on promo. Not bad, right? The earlier you book, the cheaper the tickets you can get.

3. Reserve your Accommodation. It's best to look for an accommodation in a central location, i.e., transport and tourist places accessible. For me, it would be Tsim Sha Tsui in Hongkong. Next, choose whether you want to stay in a Hotel or Hostel, then again, your budget comes. In my opinion, Hostel will do (especially I am on budget) since you are mostly out and will just be there to sleep. So a decent and clean sleeping bed and private bathroom are  more than enough for me. Hence, I booked to Golden Crown Hostel where I got the room for HKD 350 a night!

4. Itinerary. Hmmm the hard part especially if you are not only considering what you like but also the others' and if you're with Senior Citizens who are not into too much walking and need rest time. I'll be travelling in a pack of 7 and with seniors. A-huh. Good thing, I have the liberty to choose where to go since I am in charge with the Iti and they don't know much about HK so they can't comment much. Haha! But of course, I took into consideration where they want to go and all.

My vacation will be on November and our Iti is 95% done already. Haha! Excited much? It was hard at first to organize this trip where you want to cramp so many places in a few days. But you just have to set your priorities and where you really want to go and all will be well.

Here are some helpful links to plan your Hongkong Trip:

1. Pinoy Exchange Forum for HK Dummies - super helpful site especially Page 1. Everything you need to know is there already. You can also ask other forummers if you have further questions about HK. Kudos to those who made this thread!

2. Official Hongkong Tourism Site

3. MTR Fare and Journey Planner - You can play on this so you'll know the exact transportation costs and travel time you will incur during the course of your travel.

4. Google Map and Street View - I just discovered the Street View recently, and this is the best thing ever! You can actually see the streets of Hongkong at 360 degrees view! Just drag the Human in the zoom panel to the street you want to view and voila. In the map, you can also calculate the distance and how much time you need to walk or to drive from point A to point B. Fabulous, isn't?