I made my second visit to Hong Kong, a bustling city brimming with activities for travelers. Having been to Hong Kong before, this trip felt a bit like coming home, giving me the chance to explore new places that I yet to discover and revisit old favourites. It left me feeling even more captivated by the city's charm.
It drizzled the entire morning as we made our way to Changi Airport Terminal 3 and arrived at 11.30am for our flight at 1.05pm. As our boarding gate was a distance away, we took a sky train and walked to our boarding gate.
Meal was being served at about 3pm and I enjoyed Black Pepper Chicken with Steamed Rice and Seasonal Oriental Vegetables. The black pepper chicken accompanied by a flavourful sauce was delicious. The meal also included an appetiser, bread and juices. Udders Salted Caramel Ice Cream for dessert was served after we were almost done with the meal.
Eating was a bit challenging due to minor turbulence and some shakiness as we flew over the South China Sea.
The view of Hong Kong slowly came to sight. We landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 5.25pm. Visitors are required to fill out an arrival card, which we completed on the plane. Customs clearance was efficient, taking only about 15 minutes. However, we had to wait a bit longer for our baggage, which took around 20 minutes.
My exchange rate was S$1 : HKD5.74.
After we collected our baggage, we walked towards the taxi station outside the arrival hall. There are three types of taxis available:
- Urban taxis (red) operate in most areas in Hong Kong
- New Territories taxis (green) mainly operate in the north-eastern part (i.e. north of Sha Tin) and north-western part (i.e. north of Tsuen Wan) of the New Territories.
- Lantau taxis (blue) operate only on Lantau Island and Chek Lap Kok
We went to the third lane designated for blue taxi and we were the second in the queue. While there were plenty of red and green taxis already waiting, no blue taxis were available at that moment. We had to wait for one to arrive. Thankfully the wait was not too long, we got into the taxi within 5 minutes.
The taxi ride from the airport to our hotel was about 10 minutes drive and the fare was about HKD60 (or S$10.45). I spotted our hotel, Novotel Citygate Hong Kong, in front of the hill with the blue wordings.
Our room was situated at the furthest end from the lift lobby, right next to a large window. The lobby was a little dim with only spotlights from the doors and natural light streaming in from the window at the edge.
As we were outside our room, we were treated to this sea view from the large window at the side. With our time in Hong Kong limited to just two full days of exploration, one day in Disneyland and another day in central area, we chose to stay in Tung Chung, an area conveniently close to the airport and just two MTR stops away from Disneyland.
We stayed in standard room (28sqm) which was spacious by Hong Kong's hotel standards. It was a cosy room located minutes away from everything. Though it was a 10 minutes walk from Tung Chung station, the hotel was directly connected to Citygate Outlets mall, allowing us to shop along the way while heading to the MTR station.
The bathroom was quite spacious, featuring a well-thought-out layout. On the left, there was a bathtub accompanied by a rain shower. The basin was in the center and on the right was the toilet bowl.
