Day 4 Hong Kong

We decided to return to Harbour City as we did not explore much of it previously. So we walked from The Mira Hotel to Harbour City.

There are lots of high-end boutiques at Harbour City. These are all the authentic boutiques of course. We walked around and shopped. We stopped by a cafe for coffee. The cafe was overlooking the harbour and we saw Superstar Virgo docking. It was a beautiful sight. 

Beautiful view

Then we shopped some more. We returned to our area along Nathan Road and explored the shopping centres around there. Thereafter we returned to our hotel.

We really wanted to try halal Hong Kong food. Afterall, if you are in a country, you have to try their food. We saw that Ma's Restaurant was located between Prince Edward Station and Sham Shui Po Station. To go there, we need to take the MTR and it is about 3 stations away. But after searching some more, we discovered that there is a 2nd Ma's Restaurant branch in Tsim Sha Tsui itself! And this was just a short walking distance. It is at H8 Building, on the 8th Floor. The address is: H8, 8F, Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui. We called to confirm that it was opened and indeed it was. Ma's Restaurant is a halal-certified restaurant.

We had a delicious and satisfying meal. We were so glad to have found this gem!

How to get to Ma's Restaurant at Tsim Sha Tsui:
From Nathan Road, enter Granville Road. As you walk down, you will pass by Carnarvon Road (do not enter this road). Walk a little bit down. You will then spot Cotton On on your right. Walk into the alley next to Cotton On.

Walk down the alley and you will come to this:

H8 building is just behind me as I took this picture. In other words, I am standing in front of H8 Building where Ma's Restaurant is.

Go to H8 Building and take the lift to the 8th floor. There is a security guard at the lobby. The minute he saw us, he told us : "8th floor". Haha, I guess that must be the only halal restaurant in that building.

So go up to the 8th floor. The door will open up to this:

And you are at Ma's Restaurant! They have all the halal certificates and newspaper articles displayed. The waitresses and the chef are very nice people indeed.

The restaurant layout

Our orders:

We really enjoyed eating at Ma's Restaurant. In fact, Auni and hubby requested to return to this restaurant again.
p/s: They have baby seats too ;)

Day 2 & Day 3 Hong Kong

Day 2

We planned to meet up with my brother's ex-maid who is now working in Hong Kong. It was her day off and she really wanted to meet up with us. She came over to Mira Hotel with her friend and was so excited to see us.

She took us to Kowloon Park. It is a big park. There is an area where you can view birds. There is also a children's playground. We saw a swimming pool there but it was closed for construction. Anyway, December is too cold for swimming.

After that we walked to the Star Ferry Pier to have a look at that area and take photos there.

Later on we went to Harbour City. I love Harbour City! It has all the big brand names. So we shopped. Not much though since we had company. We swore that we were going to return to Harbour City to shop again.

We then returned to our area and proceeded to the same Mediterranean Restaurant at Chungking Mansion to have our dinner.

Day 3

We woke up early to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. 

We purchased the On-Loan Octopus Card from the counter at Tsim Sha Tsui station for 2 kids and 2 adults. Ulfa is already 4 so she needs a card too.

Adult - HKD150

Child - HKD 70

Each card holds a deposit of HKD50 which will be refunded to you along with the unused amount minus an admin fee of HKD9. The amout above is inclusive of the deposit. So initial stored value for adult is HKD100 and HKD20 for child.

We took the MTR from Tsim Sha Tsui, stopped at Lai King and switched to the Tung Chung Line. We stopped at Sunny Bay and took the special Disneyland train.

Cute Disneyland train

When we reached Disneyland, we took some obligatory photos at the entrance. Then we proceeded to purchase the tickets. We paid for 2 adults (HKD499 each) and 2 kids (HKD355 each). Nuha gets free entry as she is below 3 years of age.

It started drizzling then and some people rushed to get umbrellas and ponchos. My kids and I were wearing hooded jackets thus we were undeterred by the slight drizzle. We saw Mickey and Minnie and a whole lot of people lining up to take photographs with them.

We ate here. This is Explorer's Club at Mystic Point.

There are two halal restaurants at Disneyland. One at Mystic Point and the other is Tahitian Terrace at Adventureland. We ate at Explorer's Club at Mystic Point. Japanese, Indonesia, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisines are served at Explorer's Club.

We got on the rides at Disneyland. Ulfa enjoyed the "It's a Small World' boat ride at Fantasyland the most while Auni enjoyed the Mystic Manor. Nuha enjoyed everything of course, though she did say that she was a little afraid at Mystic Manor. 

At Citygate Outlet. Nuha having fun with the
Minnie Mouse Trolley Bag we got for her at Disneyland.

We spent about half a day there since Hong Kong Disneyland is pretty small.

After Disneyland, we went to the Citygate Outlet which was very near Disneyland. From Disneyland, we took the train back to Sunny Bay. Then switched to the Tung Chung Line and stopped at the next stop - Tung Chung.

We did some shopping. Bought stuff from Kate Spade and Guess. By then it was nighttime and we headed back to the hotel.

Day 1 Hong Kong

For the trip to Hong Kong, I booked a flight with Scoot. The flight was scheduled at 0155 HOURS. However, about 6 hours before the departure time, I received an SMS and an e-mail that the flight was delayed. The flight was now due to depart at 0520 HOURS from Singapore and will arrive in Hong Kong at 0900 HOURS. We did not fret much about that as it worked to our advantage. Our original flight was to reach Hong Kong at 0535 HOURS. What were we supposed to do in Hong Kong that early?

Anyway, I prefer night flight or early morning flight when travelling with the kids they will fall asleep during the flight. Whenever we take the aeroplane, I normally have lollipops with me. I will give them to the kids during take-off. I will also bring extra just in case their ears get blocked during the flight. When that happens, I will offer them the lollipops again.

Fluffy white clouds

When we arrived at Hong Kong Airport, we took the maps and the brochures just past the immigration. Mira Hotel provides shuttle service from the airport to their hotel but it was rather expensive. There are many ways to get from the airport to your hotel.  You can take the Airport Express, the airport bus service or the taxi. You can find out more about all these on this TripAdvisor site (click here). 

We chose to take the taxi instead and proceeded to the taxi waiting area. There are staff there to guide you if you are unsure on which taxi to take. In Hong Kong, there are 3 types of taxi to choose from. Which one to take will depend on the area that you choose to go to. 

Red taxisRed taxis operate throughout most of Hong Kong, except for Tung Chung Road on Lantau Island and on the entire south side of Lantau Island.

Green taxisGreen taxis only service the New Territories.

Blue taxisBlue taxis only operate on Lantau Island.
Source: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/plan-your-trip/practicalities/transport/getting-around/taxi.jsp#ixzz3MGY2kuwQ

View of Hong Kong taken in the cab

We took the Red Taxi (Urban Taxi) as Mira Hotel is situated Tsim Sha Tsui. The total cost of our cab fare is HKD 260. Do ask for a receipt (as informed by the airport staff). Our room was not ready yet when we arrive and check-in is only at 3 p.m. So we left our luggages with the bellhop as was told that our luggages will be placed in our room when it is ready. 

We then walked around our area a little. Mira Hotel is located along Nathan Road, next to Miramar Shopping Mall and Mira Mall. It is very near Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. Mira Hotel is surrounded by shopping malls. You can also walk to Harbour City from Mira.

Opposite of The Mira

We walked around to search for halal restaurants. Heard that there is a lot around the area but we could not find any. Finally saw a sign for a halal Indian restaurant and we settled for that. However, the food was pretty disappointing. We explored the area a bit more. By then it was 2.30 p.m. We returned to Mira Hotel and our room was ready. Our luggages had already been placed in the room when we entered.

We love Mira Hotel so much. We opted for a room with two twin beds. The room comes with a Samsung Handy smartphone. You can make FREE international and local calls with it. It comes with unlimited 3G data connectivity. So we used the Handy around Hong Kong, accessed Google Map, checked out restaurants and promotions and made calls to Singapore with it.

Didn't take a picture of our room but it looked like this. We opted for 2 twin beds.
Source: http://www.themirahotel.com

The room also has a 40 inch LCD TV which you can also use to access the internet. The minibar was free for us. There is a separate bathtub and shower area. I also loved the fact that the sink is outside the washroom!

Since our hotel room was fun, we spent some time in it. Later in the evening, we went out again. Met a guy who gave us a brochure for a halal Western and Mediterranean food. So we checked out the place. It is at Chungking Mansion, the building next to the mosque. There will be someone standing nearby to key in the passcode for you to enter. The restaurant is at level 2. Can't remember the restaurant name thought. Was it Al-Maedah? The waitresses are Filipinos. Very nice ladies. The food was awesome. We had Chicken Pizza and lamb rice. We packed the food back since our girls were already asleep.

So that was the end of our Day 1. Pretty uneventful. 

Trip to Hong Kong & Seoul

I had originally booked a trip to Hong Kong for the family (Hubby, me and the 3 girls) for the year-end school holidays. I was not really interested in going to Hong Kong but I thought that it would be nice to let the kids experience Hong Kong Disneyland since it is the nearest Disneyland to Singapore. 

So the flight was with Scoot since we got the flight at a good deal (or so I thought) during one of the promos. The hotel we booked for our stay there was The Mira as it was situated in Tsim Sha Tsui, along Nathan Road, one of the shopping districts. Our stay in Hong Kong was to be for 6 days.

Thereafter, I started to get the itch to go to South Korea (must be due to all the Korean drama series). I managed to convince Mr Hubby to continue our holiday to South Korea after Hong Kong ( the kids helped with the convincing too). Furthermore, Hong Kong and South Korea are not that far apart. Our flight to Seoul was with Hong Kong Express and our flight will be from Hong Kong Airport. Our stay in Seoul will be with Pacific Hotel as it is located in Myeongdong, one of the shopping areas in Seoul. 

Singapore to Hong Kong via Scoot Airlines. Stay in The Mira hotel in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong to Seoul via Hong Kong Express. Stay in Pacific Hotel in Seoul.

Seoul to Singapore via AirAsia. Transit in KL for 1h 40 min

I normally choose the hotels that have rooms big enough to accommodate the family. I will also tend to select hotels that are in the shopping districts. Travelling with 3 young children with no other helpers can be quite challenging (as most parents would know). Therefore, when the location of the hotel is within the shopping area, we can always go back to the hotel to leave our purchases and continue with the shopping again later on. My girls are now 2, 4 and 7 years old. Nuha and Ulfa are still very young and would definitely not be able to take long hours of shopping (but shopping must still be done... Hehe). Hubby and I agreed that this holiday trip will be a relaxing one and we will not rush. As such we had our itinerary carefully planned out. 

In the next few blog posts, I will share on our trip to Hong Kong and South Korea. Watch out for them! In the meantime, check out below for some tips on getting a cheaper airline fare.

Tips On Getting a Cheaper Fare

When booking for flights, I noticed that there were times when taking a return flight with the same airline can actually cost much more. 

1) I would normally use websites such as Skyscanner and Kayak to compare prices. 

2) I would also sometimes type in one-way to my destination and one-way back as it can be cheaper that way. 

3) Get alerts from the different airlines for promos.

4) Book your flight way in advance as it is cheaper than most last minute bookings.