10 Basic Travel Tips for Filipinos Traveling to Hong Kong for the First Time
Filipinos often choose Hong Kong as their first out-of-the country trip due to its close proximity from the Philippines: merely 1 hr and 40 minutes away from Manila and maybe also because of Disneyland.
My sister and I have chosen Hong Kong as our first family trip because of these reasons and also we thought that HK is cheap. Well, in reality, HK is not cheap! According to Business Insider, Hong Kong is the 11th most expensive city to live in the world in 2018. The prices of the stuff in HK are very different from what we have here in the Philippines. This is why I made this basic travel guide to give you tips on how you could save money while you are in Hong Kong.
1.Bring your own three-pronged plug
The standard electrical voltage in HK is 200V. No problem with that since it’s just the same as we have here in the Philippines. However, it is the electrical outlets where we will be having a problem. HK takes a three-pronged UK-style plug which is also same with that in Singapore. You can buy this kind of adapter in major hardware stores like ACE or Handyman. There’s Omni and synergy brand which will cost less than 200 pesos.
My sister and I bought this brand at Handyman which was on sale (less 20%) for about 150 pesos. In case you have forgotten to bring your own, the easiest place to buy this kind of adapter in HK is 7/11. One costs 99 HKD which is around 693 pesos to 700. You wouldn’t want to spend that much on an adapter won’t you? The hotel where we stayed in indicated that they could lend us the adapter for 25 HKD per piece (175) but it’s a lot safer to bring your own since there are usually many guests in the hotel and you can’t always be sure that there’s an available unit for you to borrow.
2. Find a grocery store to buy your bottled water and other stuff.
The hotel where we stayed in is called the Rambler Garden Hotel. It’s a 3 star hotel which I discovered is the common hotel where travel agencies in the Philippines bring Filipino travelers to. I am thinking that if you’re a Filipino and you arranged your HK trip through a travel agency in PH, there’s a big chance that you’ll be staying in this hotel as well. The hotel will provide you the basic stuff (I might discuss about the hotel on a different blog entry) but bottled drinking water is not always included. We found three small complimentary bottled water in our parent’s hotel room while there weren’t any in ours. One 500 mL water in 7/11 is 9 HKD while 2 1L of bottled water in a grocery store is more or less 15 HKD ( they usually offer discounts when you buy two items).
3. No food and beverages allowed inside the theme parks (Disneyland and Ocean Park)
Yes. You are compelled to buy your food inside these theme parks because you cannot bring your own. The only exemption is bottled water. We were told that each person can bring one bottle of water inside the park. In relation to number two, I highly recommend that you buy your bottled water in the grocery store and bring them inside the park because one 500 mL bottle of water inside Disneyland and Ocean Park is priced at 28-32 dollars each (196 to 224 pesos). And yes, it’s just the same brand “Bonaqua”. My sister also used her ninja moves by sneaking biscuits for our snacks inside in case we got a bit hungry in between meals.
4. Do not bring your luggage to the theme parks (Disneyland and Ocean Park)
Luggages/huge bags are not allowed inside the theme parks. You will be instructed to leave them in lockers which is priced at around 100 dollars (700 pesos). If you could check in first in your hotel before going to theme parks, please do so to avoid these unnecessary expenditure.
5. Download the theme park apps to get the most of your stay
Disneyland and Ocean Park both have apps which you can download for free from the app store. These apps are very useful because it is where you can find the schedule of the shows and parades inside the theme parks. For Ocean Park, schedule of feeding the penguins/pandas/dolphins/sea lions, etc. can also be found here so you will know what time you should go to these attractions.
6. Monopods are not allowed inside Disneyland
Yes. You will be instructed to put your monopod inside the lockers for they are not allowed to bring and use inside Disneyland.
7. Food inside theme parks are expensive.
While you can get a decent meal for around 40-50 dollars (280-350 pesos) in other places, inside the theme parks, meals cost at around 100-150 dollars each(700-1050 pesos). Of course, we cannot control these prices but let me share you a simple trick. Though food inside the theme parks are expensive, they usually come in large servings. If you are a family of five (like us), what we did is we only order for three persons. With this, we are able to save money. Sometimes, two servings for five people is enough. In the end, it will depend on how much of a big eater your family is. hehehe. Also, there are deals in apps like Klook where they offer discounted prices for meals. (this is not paid advertisement.. hehehe) Also, just a heads up, 1 Mickey popsicle (chocolate variant tastes like Magnum) is 40 dollars in disneyland (280 pesos). We bought 5 pieces for 200 dollars (1400 pesos). The key here is not to think about it.
Do not convert if you want to have a picture like this. LOL
8. Eating or Drinking inside the bus is not allowed
I am not sure if this is also applicable in MTR/ public bus but we were told by our tour guide that eating or drinking inside the bus is prohibited and we could get fined by doing so. This actually happened inside our tour bus where I just finished eating my breakfast (we were late for breakfast so we had a take-out which I silently eat inside the bus but the tour guide only noticed me when I was already about to finish drinking my coffee. lol). I was reprimanded for that.
9. Exchange your Pesos to HKD in the Philippines
If you will explore HK through a group tour, most tour guides will offer exchange from pesos to HKD or USD to HKD. Though their rates is much better than money changers you will find in the city (1000 pesos = 135 HKD or around 1HKD = 7.41) deals in PH is still a lot better. I don’t know about your area but when I asked the exchange rate in a money changer inside Robinson’s Lipa, theirs was 1 HKD = 7.8 pesos (that’s too much!!). I didn’t buy my HKD from there for I already learned my lesson when I travelled to SG in 2017. Exchange rate in NAIA was better; 1 HKD = 7.1 pesos.
10. Include an umbrella, cap/hat and jacket on your travel essentials.
The weather in HK is very unpredictable. Always check their weather status before your trip. We went there in August which is summer and their rainy season as well. LOL. There were times that it would rain for about 30 minutes then the sun will be up and shining oh so brightly after the rain stopped. Always be ready for you to get the most out of your trip.
I hope these tips would be helpful. Enjoy your trip! :)
