Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong to Cebu

The last day of our trip. Our flight wouldn’t be until 12:45am the next day so that meant we had to be at the airport before that time. Since this was our last day, we did some more shopping on items that a couple of colleagues requested for us to buy.

Check out time at the Tai San Guesthouse was at 12 noon so we freshened up and left our baggage at the receiving area so Ate Yolly could clean and scan the room.

September 7, 2010
Hong Kong Trip Day 6: Hong Kong to Cebu

cebu pacific hongkong
at the Hong Kong International Airport — Cebu Pacific Counter

Places mentioned:
Mongkok Center
Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA)
Citygate Outlets
Healthy Dessert store (Hui Lau Shan)

We went back to Mongkok center in order to buy some hard drives (I bought a portable 750 GB hard drive for about 4650 Php — here in the Philippines, the cost is only good for a 500 GB). Logan bought another tennis racket and Cindy bought some other souvenir items.

We also bought some chocolates at one of the MTR stations. The chocolates did NOT come out cheap when we computed it.

souvenirs hongkong
Okashi Land for chocolates and sweets

We got back to the hostel to collect our things and bid our farewells to Ate Yolly. We also met some other Filipinos who just arrived for their vacation — my, my, the guesthouse is always booked!

bus hong kong
Logan with his tennis backpack while waiting for the bus.

So we carried our luggage (and it was a lot!) and proceeded to the A21 bus stop near the building of our hostel. We waited for about 20 minutes when we had to ask questions if it was the proper area to wait — and it was NOT! We were advised to cross the road and stay in front of the Parklane Shopping area bus stop. Sweating profusely, we waited for another 25 minutes before the A21 route bus passed.

We arrived at the airport and headed directly to the baggage counter in order to leave our stuff as we needed to go to the CityGate outlets afterward. But we were unaware of the huge rate that came with it.

baggage counter airport
baggage at HKIA

We had about 10 bags and luggage when we tallied it at the airport and we were shocked at the fees of the deposit. Leaving 10 bags at 10 HKD per bag per hour would be insane. If we’d be gone for 4 hours, we’d have to pay 400 HKD or 2400 Php — that’s crazy!

We stepped aside and had to reevaluate our items. Luckily, with Cindy’s backpacking skills, we were able to compress some items. The rest of the bags, we figured that we’d just carry them while shopping. So we were able to trim down the number of bags to 3 from 10. It’s amazing what pressure and money can do to maximize baggage space. hehe.

Baggage Counter Fee: 10 HKD per hour per bag!

s1 bus route
S1 Bus Stop for Citygate Outlets!

I was covered with sweat because of the heat and all the carrying that I had to change shirts at the airport. It was about 2pm already and we needed to drop by the Citygate Outlets one more time in order to finish some pending shopping requests.

The cheapest transport from the Hong Kong airport to CityGate would be the S1 bus. It’s really cheaper according to the officer whom we asked for directions. We did some last-minute shopping and then ate at the Food Republic again.

food republic citygate
Food Republic at City Gate Outlets (38 HKD)

We took the same route to get us back to the airport from CityGate (Bus S1). We also surrendered our Octopus cards and I got an 87 HKD refund because of the 50 HKD deposit as well as the remaining credit left in the MTR card. The Octopus card is really a convenient item that you should not forget in Hong Kong!

We still had time to kill so we hung out at Hui Lau Shan or Healthy Dessert and spent our remaining hong kong dollars eating.

healthy dessert hongkong
Hui Lau Shan: “Healthy Dessert”

airport terminal food
mangoes and more!

29 HKD – Sago with Pomelo and Mango
29 HKD – Strawberry and Mango Crystal Jelly
34 HKD – Sago in Mango Juice with Extra Mango

We used up most of our hongkong dollars to also get rid of the excess change and then proceeded to check in our luggage as we were going to wait at the airport lounge for our flight.

hong kong airport
getting inside the airport for Hongkong to Cebu flight

We checked in our luggage for the plane and brought some hand carry items. However, there was a problem in the scanning section because Cindy forgot to put a Swiss knife back in our check-in baggage. We didn’t want to throw the knife away so we had to bring out a bag and then had it checked in again. Only, since we already went beyond the number of kilos (15), we had to pay extra for the excess baggage – around 600 Php for that Swiss knife alone (bummer).

We burned the time using our laptops with the remaining hours that we had. HKIA has a very nice airport and the seats are all comfy too.

laptops
left with their own devices

The plane departed around 12:45am and we safely landed on time. We arrived in Cebu at about 3am and Doi fetched us. The first place we stopped since we were a bit hungry was Jollibee! All the food eating in another country made us crave for some good old Langhap Sarap meals, hehe.

jobee
Photo courtesy of Doi

It was a great experience and I’ll be rounding up a few more entries on some food shops as well as my thoughts on our trip to Hong Kong. This was my first trip abroad and surely, this is something I’ll truly remember.

Expenses:
Food: 13 HKD each – Late Lunch at Citygate Outlets (38HKD for 3 people)
29 HKD – dessert at Healthy Dessert

Miscellaneous: 120 HKD – airport baggage counter for 3 items in 4 hours (10 HKD per bag per hour)
–87 HKD – Refund from the Octopus Card

* 1 Hong Kong Dollar at 6 Philippine Pesos

Check out my blog posts about my Cebu to Hongkong trip here:


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soloflightEd.com is a travel blog by Edcel Suyo. He enjoys performing headstands and crazy stunts during his trips in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Now based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and working to earn a living, he takes time to enjoy the city and travel during weekends.
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For questions, advertising, and other concerns, shoot an email to ed@soloflighted.com.


15 thoughts on “Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong to Cebu”

  1. hello, I learned a lot from your posts. anyway, I woould like to ask if meron pa bang babayaran frm HKIA na terminal fee and how much would it be?thank u

    Reply
    • @reyn: hi reyn, no need for terminal fees et.al. when you arrive at the HKIA and even other airports because the taxes are already included in the ticket that you purchased. sa Pinas lang naiba. 😀

      Reply
  2. thank u so much… such a helpful blog! Oo nga, sa Pinas lng talaga na mga airports maraming babayaran. We'll be flying to HK 2mrw, and i do hope we'll have a wonderful experience dr same wd urs. Thank you again!

    Reply
  3. i just want to ask kasi nkabayad na ako ng reservation sa taisan…tumawag na rin ako ke ate yolly…pano ko ba marereceived ang confirmation letter for my accomodation for my travel on dec.11-14…i just wrote mr.ken for him to send the confirmation letter tama ba ginawa ko?thanks
    pls let me know your suggestions and infos for the expenses…
    1.terminal fee from cebu-HK
    2.ideal octopus card loaded
    3.Day 1-Dec.11-going around the city…mongkok,city gate etc.Pls let me know if any place na malapit lang sa guesthouse…If meron pls let me know the entrance ticket/fee if meron man…
    4.I’m planning to put the DISNEYLAND TOUR ON MONDAY(DEC.12),is that a gud choice of date?how much is the reservation ticket with ate yolly sa disneyland?
    5.dec.13(tuesday)–day tour at MACAU…ok ba yun?how much is the ticket and if there’s any fee please let me know…thanks…
    6.any suggestion sa shopping area…for men and women…mura mas maganda…either branded or hindi will do..
    Thanks badet…God bless us all…

    Reply
  4. @Sarah: please contact ate yolly or who's incharge to get a confirmation letter from them. it's my friend who processed the booking in our case.

    1. 500 Pesos
    2. 200 HKD
    3. lahat ng lugar malapit lang basta may MTR.
    4. ok ang Monday kasi hindi weekend pero marami pa rin tao.
    5. nagday tour na rin kami. not sure how much na yung binayaran namin. it's in the list of expenses.
    6. depende na yan sa budget. you can go sa ladies market sa Mongkok. everywhere sa HK you can shop. 😀

    Hi Sarah, I apologize but the information I can only remember at the top of my head. This was done a year ago but i gave VERY detailed information on a DAILY basis. Please READ through the rest of my article links posted in each of this series. You should be able to find the info you need. here’s an expense report: https://soloflighted.com/2010/11/09/total-budget-expense-in-our-hongkong-macau-trip/
     

    Reply
  5. thanks for answering my querries…omg!!! that's gud that it's your friend who processed your accommodation…can we asked your friend too to process the accomodation i have?…:)i will just pay him or her hehehehhehe for the help…

    Reply
  6. Good day sir.we are planning of going to hk.is there terminal fee in hk to cebu?how about immigration fee hk to cebu?how much is the immigration fee from cebu to hk?thanks.

    Reply
    • @daniel: Hi. There’s no immigration fee. Probably you’re talking about the Terminal Fee (500 Pesos in Cebu for International Flights) and the Travel Tax (1620 Pesos). as for HK to cebu, no need to pay for anything as the terminal fee is already included in the ticket as well as the tax. 😀

      Reply
  7. i heard this octopus card.did you used this on paying the bus fare and MTR?do they accept cash payment if I don't have the card for buses?

    Reply
  8. @Daniel: yes, you can just tap the bus with your octopus card as well as the MTR. The Bus, they don't have any change if you pay using cash. better if your just reload the octopus card, anyway, you can just surrender it at the airport to get your money back.

    Reply
    • Good eve ask ko lang sana ano ang process sa departure from HKIA to cebu? Saang level ako ng HKIA terminal 1 pupunta? Thnx

      Reply
  9. Good eve ask ko lang sana ano ang process sa departure from HKIA to cebu? Saang level ako ng HKIA terminal 1 pupunta? Thnx

    Reply

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