Scott Barronton (00:00)
It's been nearly 20 years since my last trip to Hong Kong and I still remember the view of Victoria Harbor at night, the ringing of the trams and the ferries moving across the harbor.
This time, Melissa and I are heading back for a short visit but a full adventure.
Melissa has her heart set on Hong Kong Disneyland and we've already got the tickets for that. So for me, it's all about the transportation options. I want to take her on a transportation tour of the city, seeing Hong Kong at night through its trams, ferries, buses, and trains. It's the best way, in my opinion, to watch the city come alive after dark.
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We're Scott and Melissa, The Sunshine Travelers.
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Scott Barronton (01:12)
It's amazing to think that Hong Kong changes so quickly. skyscrapers that weren't there 20 years ago that now light up the skyline. And yet it still has a mix of old and new, neon next to the old noodle shops. And that's exactly what I'm excited to show you. Not just the big sites, but how people actually move through the city.
And know, Scott, one of the things that when we were planning this, Hong Kong is actually kind of a stop through,
a way to get from Singapore back home. And it was going to be one of the stops. And you have always talked about your transportation tour there. And I've always wanted to go visit. And what was funny too is not even thinking that although visiting all the Disney parks in the world is on my list, I don't know, just to disconnect there. wasn't like that was the top of mind. And you said, let's stay an extra day because don't you want to go to Disneyland Hong Kong?
So of course, so I'm excited about both of those things. You've seen the city again and doing that transportation tour and then just checking out because the Disney parks are supposed to be completely different.
be staying at the Conrad Hilton Hong Kong in Pacific Place. And this is connected to the Admiralty Station on the MTR, which makes it so easy to get around all of Hong Kong.
So choosing where the hotel was gonna be was a big part of the research, right? Because I wanted it to be convenient to get to and from the airport, get to and from the Disney parks, but also really kind of be in the middle of everything and be in the middle of the transportation. As a matter of fact, I read that it's actually very convenient.
⁓ to the airport to stay at one of the Disney hotels that you could actually consider that an airport hotel that it's so close and so well connected and honestly the prices shocked me because if you think about okay booking a Disney hotel in Orlando or even in California that's gonna be your most expensive option which in Disneyland Hong Kong it wasn't
So I would definitely say if you had more time and you're interested in Disney, don't discount that and definitely look at that and think about how you're gonna like organize your itinerary so then it's easy, like you do that first and then you do Disney or you do that last. Now for us, we really did want to be in the middle of it all for the two nights that we were gonna be there. So the Disney is gonna be a
a part of a day for us. I don't think it's really far outside of Hong Kong. So we might have to go back part of the other day and at least spend a couple of hours checking out some of these hotels because one of our favorite things to do when we go to Disney is actually go around to the different hotels, enjoy going to their different bars and the lobbies and stuff like that. So
Maybe we can spend some time checking that out and then we'll tell you if it really is a good place for you to think about staying or not. That sounds like a fun idea to me. All right. Well, one of the things that I wanted to do and that was important for me to share with Melissa was the transportation tour. When I was last there and it's been, gosh, about 20 years ago,
we did a tour of all the different types of public transportation around Hong Kong. And actually some of these are the absolute best ways to see Hong Kong up close and personal. And since we're staying right on the MTR, which is their mass transit railway, at that Admiralty Station, which is right at our hotel,
we can start there. So we can be able to start from our hotel.
take this MTR and they recommend that you go towards Central or Jim Shea Choy under the harbor. So this is a recommended route for the transportation tour that I'm gonna go through. And our first stop is gonna be there at that Central or the Jim Shea Choy.
One of the things that I have read about the MTR and we did all of it, but like I said, it was almost 20 years ago. I don't remember all of the details, but one of the things they say is how perfectly timed the trains are, how fast they are, and then also how spotless clean that they are. and so you'll hear the bilingual announcement and it kind of will remind us of being in, London, except
There's going to be a Chinese translation there as well of saying, doors closing, please mind the gap. So it's be like on the London underground. the best time to do this is around dusk. And that's when
the skyline views across the water are just absolutely unbeatable. So I have a question real quick. So, I don't know if you remember this, but since it was a British colony, so then I guess the English translation will be in the British accent? Yes, it will be a British accent, but it's a different British accent. Okay. Just curious about the mind the gap. So, okay. I'm excited to see that. Yeah. So when you come off the MTR,
at your first stop. This is where we're going to get aboard the Star Ferry. And so now we're going to go out on the water.
So we're going to get on at the Jim Chachoy Pier and we're going to cross over to Central or Wen Chai. The recommendation here that they have was to sit on the upper deck, right hand side towards Central to get the best skyline view. So we've got to remember to do that. And the crossing takes about 10 minutes. And while you're on the water, you can see the lights reflecting and
At 8 p.m. they actually have what's known as the symphony of lights. So we're probably going to want to try to time this and everybody else I'm sure as well to be out there around that 8 p.m. time frame. this one though we're going to have to think about because it's going to really hit the budget pretty hard. it costs like 50 cents to take this ferry.
So it's like taking the bus in Cancun You know, 20 years ago when I saw this and kind of what is in the back of my mind, I remember the Bank of China tower being kind of that central glowing figure. But now the skyline has lots of new icons like the ICC tower. And so it's going to be interesting to see that skyline all lit up again.
But so we're going to take the ferry over towards Central or Wenchai. And then we're going to get on the peak tram.
So the Peak Tram is these red carriages that glide up at a really sharp angle and it feels almost like you're tilting into the skyline. as you climb up to Victoria Peak, the city below really starts to unfold. And then when you get up there, you can get ⁓ a coffee at the Peak Lookout or stroll to the Peak Circle Walk.
to get some of those really breathtaking views looking back down over the city. Now that sounds really cool because that's one of the things I love to do. Well, anywhere really, but like in London, right? There's so many places that you can go up and see out over the skyline and over the water. So that sounds really cool. Yep. So we'll take that back down and now we're going to get on the ding ding. And these are the Hong Kong tramways. And so from central
We'll hop on a tram heading east toward Causeway Bay. the recommendation here is that you sit on the top deck in the very front. So these are double decker trams and they've actually been around and running since about 1904. kind of slow moving, very charming and nostalgic. And you'll hear that, you know, iconic ding ding as you troll through the Wenchai and Admiralty. the fare here is going to be about
⁓ three Hong Kong dollars. So once again, really expensive, about 40 cents, to ride this, this tram. And then we're going to get on a double decker bus, from Causeway Bay and we'll catch the city bus route 15 C back towards central. So remember central is going to be kind of the hub of everything, probably why they call it central. but once again, the best seat.
They recommend being upstairs and on the front row. I don't know if we can work that or not, but this is definitely what they recommend. And they say it's kind of like being on a moving movie. You've got the neon skyscrapers, the glowing Harbor, it is air condition. And, it's just a really neat site. It's a good way to see the city as you're going around.
And then we're going to do something really different is we're going to take the world's longest outdoor escalator. And so this is called the mid levels escalator in SoHo. And so from central, we're going to ride it up through SoHo. you know, lots of buzzing bars and open air restaurants in SoHo. It's the perfect spot to end the night with either dinner or drinks.
if you want some different places to try out, go to Hoi Li Phuc, which is kind of a modern Cantonese restaurant or, Tai Goon, which is a complex, with the rooftop bars and art exhibits to walk through. And then they also recommend PMQ as another good choice, which, has
various creative studios and cozy cafes that you can go into in that area. And then at the end of the night, we'll just take the MTR back to Admiralty and go back to the hotel. There is one bonus transportation option, which is the Airport Express. And so if you're either coming in or leaving to go to the airport,
It's a 24 minute ride, to go either way. And you get to see the glowing skyline as you're making this trip in from the airport. I guess you can kind of see it on the way out as well. But, a lot of people are probably going to talk about that. There are a few other transportation options. Like I think they have the little tuk tuk, type things and stuff like that.
and we'll see what else we can find. But we definitely want to try to go through these, which is very similar to what I did when I went 20 years ago. So that airport express sounds like the Heathrow Express, but with a view. And so we probably will do this when we first get there because we'll have our bags and we'll want to get to the hotel to drop them off before we start exploring.
Yeah. ⁓ there were a couple of other things, that stood out cause we, talked about some of the restaurants, but a few other places for late night eats and drinks. and this is something you can do after the transportation, tour. you're, if you're not too tired, is yacht lock, which has, roasted goose.
And this is a Michelin star local favorite in the central area. Lan Feng Yuan, which is the birthplace of Hong Kong milk tea and pork chop buns. Colin talked to us about the milk tea in Malaysia. Well, this is the Hong Kong milk tea. So a little bit different. And then finally, aqua or ozone bar.
And from those, you have incredible skyline views while having cocktails. don't think we're going to get much sleep when we're in Hong Kong, do you?
depends on whether that knee scooter arrives before we leave or not. Yeah, that's true. Well, Melissa, why don't you take us through the part that you're most excited about, which was doing that day at Disney. Yeah, so I'm definitely excited, ⁓ obviously, about seeing the city and doing the transportation. you've told your stories for, for years. But I do think that...
this is something that I'm super looking forward to. also, it's so interesting because you tell a story, I think when you were there that this had recently opened, that Hong Kong Disneyland had recently opened and that you tell a story it would sell out every day. It would be just oversold. People couldn't get in. You couldn't buy tickets. People would throw their kids over the wall to try to get them in so they can enjoy the day at Disney and then just like meet them, I guess. I don't know. That's just a craziest thing to think about.
But yeah, I could never think about taking my young kids and throwing them over the wall and saying, Hey, we'll see you later. But, ⁓ yeah, that's, heard that story a lot. was the story anyway. Right. so we want to spend, at least half a day or more if we can, I guess it really just depends on how much, of the city that we have seen the day before at Hong Kong Disneyland. Now Scott knows it's hard to, hard to pull me away.
But it's on Lantau Island. Like I mentioned before, it's close to the airport. And so we can ride the Disney MTR line. And so apparently even the train has Mickey shaped windows. So some of the things I think that I'm excited about. So this will be my fourth park. We've obviously spent a great deal of time at
Walt Disney World in Orlando and I've been to Disneyland out in California and to the one in Paris and really the Paris one was because of a flight cancellation. I'd have a ton of time, but I really did enjoy just walking around and seeing, hearing everything in French and that kind of thing. And so just having that experience. So I don't think we plan to necessarily ride everything, but I think that some of the highlights is to see the world of Frozen because it is
exclusive to Hong Kong. Mystic Manor, which is another ⁓ unique original attraction. And that one kind of looked to me like the Haunted Mansion. I don't know what the inside's like, but the outside looked like they had kind of ⁓ themed it after the Haunted Mansion, right? Yeah, it looked like it, but just different and unique. And then of course, the Iron Man experience that they don't have.
anywhere else and we'll see. We'll see like I said how much we get done. They do have a nighttime spectacular that is drone has a drone show and stuff like that but the other thing that I found interesting is it's not like Disney opens super early and it doesn't stay open super late so very different because I feel like in Orlando
It's like you have to get there at the crack of dawn and then it stays open really late a lot. And so we're also excited just to see like all the treats, because that's the big thing is how different the food is as well. So yeah, so stay tuned because we definitely are going to share some of this in video format too. And then we'll obviously have a recap and talk about our day at Disney Hong Kong. So then I'll have two left to go after this.
Well, maybe then instead of going back there on another day, maybe what we should think about is just going over early, going and checking out some of the hotels, which maybe, they'll be decorated for Christmas or whatever. don't know. Yeah, maybe so. And then we can go into the park. Yeah. that's a good point. So we'll have to look at the hours, but that was just one thing that just struck me is, is the hours are much shorter.
than they would be in Florida. Well, this is going to kind of wrap up our planning episodes where we're talking about going on to this trip. So the next episodes are really going to be about our experiences and our adventures in these different places. And so I really can't wait to come back and share more about that. Share some of our stories that we've experienced along the way in
really helped to bring this trip to life for you. for sure. And so, yeah, we leave in two days from the time that we're recording this. So really the day after that it comes out. So definitely follow along with us on Instagram and Facebook, both at Sunshine Travelers podcast. And then we'll also I'll put some some highlights on Instagram anyway. So if you were listening to this later and you are, interested in.
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, what it's like to do an Australia cruise where you hit those different highlights. You could go to those and kind of see that in a video format as well. And then if some of our YouTube videos are out in the future, I will go back and link those in the show notes. So if they're not there now, definitely check back on those and check back on those other different channels as well.
Well, 20 years ago, I rode the same trams and ferries, but now expect that everything is going to feel new again. Kind of like when we went to Berlin earlier this year and how it took me a long time to get my bearings because everything was so different. It's also changed hands since I was last there. Previously it was a British colony, but has since been returned to Chinese rule and
From what I can see in pictures, Hong Kong still glows brighter and seems to move faster and yet somehow has some of the same heartbeat as it did back 20 years ago. From the clang of the ding ding to the hush of the Victoria Harbor, This city in motion is timeless.
Whether your adventure takes you to Disney or just across the harbor, remember, the world is full of sunshine and surprises. Get out there and explore.
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