Hong Kong - CONCLUSION

On the whole, the trip was quite a satisfying trip, especially for the kids.

Matthew surprised me many times.
. He walked and walked and walked with me, holding my hand. Only thing was his endless questioning on whether we are reaching our destination, but he did not complain.

. He ate quite a lot. He ate food which he had not tried before - wanton, BBQ chicken wings, roast goose.

. Walking the entire way up the hill to see the big buddha at Lantau Island! Never once complaining along the way. But he insisted Mike carried him down.

Joanne did not have a very good time, because she was teething (meaning she ate less), she was sick before the trip, BUT there were a few good points to note:
. She is very brave and daring, dancing in front of the crowd at Disneyland.

. Her memory is good, she could recall which rides we sat in the 1st day we were at Disneyland.

. Like Matthew, she can walk a lot too. She held my hand and walked, till she was tired or when it got too crowded and requested for me to bao bao. Lucky for me, she still wanted to squeeze into the baby pouch :)

Below are a few points to note for my friends who are planning a trip to Hong Kong:

DISNEYLAND
. If you are planning to stay at Disneyland, make that your final destination before leaving Hong Kong. It is definitely a fantastic finale to your trip.

. Opt for a garden view if you are going during off peak. High chance of getting a free upgrade to sea view. According to one of my mommy friends who went, they could see the fireworks from their garden view room. Not too sure about that. Anyway, you will be spending time at Disneyland, not in the hotel room.

. MUST STAY for fireworks. The whole fireworks show was accompanied with songs and music and got us swaying to the music.

. Try to go during off-peak season. We queued max 20 min for 2 rides. There were not much queues at the popular rides too. In the mornings, expect more crowds as tourists come in by bus loads and so expect to queue! Our 1st day at Disneyland started at 5pm and we did not need to queue long at all.

OCEAN PARK
. Go early to avoid the crowds.

. Must go for young kids - Pacific Pier (Seals, Sealions), Ocean Theatre (Dolphin show), Ocean Park Tower, Atoll Reef (Aquarium), Cable Car, Panda exhibit, Skyfair and Lowland (where all the kiddy rides are. We missed that because we started from the rear entrance and it was raining when we got there).

. Be prepared to eat awful food. Bring bread for kids, if you worry there's nothing for them to eat.

THE PEAK
. Go for the peak tram / viewing gallery package. The viewing gallery is worth going, though we couldn't see anything due to the mist. Have dinner at Hong Kong Day (cha chan teng) and go up to the viewing gallery to see the harbour light show, which starts at 8pm.

. There are two malls at the Peak. Go earlier and spend some time walking around. We went near dinnertime and Matthew was already hungry.

LANTAU ISLAND
. Go early to avoid crowds. The cable car ride is really cool. Very different from our Sentosa one.

. Just get the entrance fee to the budda at the top. The vegetarian meal we had was so-so, nothing fantastic. There are quite a few places to eat in Npong Ping village.

. Do walk all the way up. It's actually not difficult. Matthew and I had fun counting the steps going up.

. Must go - Citygate at Tung Chung. It's next to the MTR station / Cable station escalator. We love the New Balance outlet and the kids got themselves new shoes. Mike got himself polo tees from Timberland. Do check the local prices. Not all prices are attractive, unless it's something you cannot find locally (like Jo's new NB shoes)

FOOD
. Check out openrice.com. It's a very very comprehensive guide for eating in HK. There are lots of comments from Hong Kong people. You can even zoom into the area you are staying in for the eating option available.

. Yung Kee. Roast Goose is good. Don't order the char siew, not worth the money. Century egg is a must-try.

. On the plane. If your kid is not interested in nugget or spaggetti, it may be a better option to opt for an adult meal. For our flights, we opted for oriental, seafood for the adults and Matthew. Jo had kid's meal, as she's not particular.

. At Disneyland. Research the available eating places. Most of the available options are foodcourt style. Mainly fast food. Not much available in the evening. Be prepared if you are planning dinner in the park.

. At Ocean Park. As I mentioned earlier, be prepared for awful food. Bring bread for the kids.

TRANSPORT
. MTR is the most accessible. We were glad we stayed near TST MTR station, but the room was really small. Ocean Park, however, is only accessible by bus, but the latest infrastructure development is bringing MTR right to Ocean Park in 2012.

. Star Ferry. Do go for a ride on the HK attraction.

. Peak Tram. It also amazes me how they build the tram and the buildings!

. Open Top Bus. We didn't plan for this on this trip, but you can, you should.

That's all I can think of for now. If you need more information, do leave a note in the comment page. :)

PostScript:

WEATHER
. Do check out Hong Kong Observatory website. According to my colleague, it's very accurate. It correctly forecast rainy weather for all the days we were in Hong Kong.