Hongkong Family Trip 2017: What to bring when travelling with kids

Hongkong Family Trip 2017: What to bring when travellingwith kids

Hongkong Family Trip 2017: Ocean Park Hongkong

Hello there! I’m sharing with you series of stories of our recent family trip to Hongkong, Macau and Baguio City.. I know you don’t have lots of time reading someone else’s family trip but our experience might help you if you’re planning a trip to these places one of these days.

If you’ve already been to Hongkong, Macau and Baguio then these blogposts aren’t for you. But if it is your first time preparing and going to these places then it’s my pleasure to share with you our adventure.

It’s also our first international family trip together. Despite the boo boos along the way, which I believe that’s what made travels extra memorable, we made it back home without major mishaps.

And since there are seven of us on this trip and we’re flying Davao-Manila-Hongkong | Hongkong-Manila-Davao, thought it’s wise to get discounted air fares. It requires patience and a skillful sense of spotting seat sales to do this though, lelz but when travelling in troop this will surely save you a lot of extras. If you're like me who's always short of patience, there are travel agencies that offer fare packages from time to time, go for that one. Just be careful and pick the legit ones.

WHAT TO PREPARE AND BRING WHEN TRAVELLING WITH KIDS TO HONGKONG

Hongkong does not require visa for Filipinos so all you need are the following;

1. Passports (Six months at least before expiry)
2. Printed Itinerary/Ticket To and Fro (I know airline check-in counters just need the booking reference and IDs. But when you get to security and immigration, at times they will ask for the printed ones. So to save you the hassle, print it!
3. Print out of your hotel booking in Hongkong (This isn’t necessary at the least, but you’ll never know the mood of the immigration officer and the security environ at the time of your travel, so it won’t hurt to have a printed copy)
4. Copy of your children’s birth certificate (If children are travelling with their parents these aren’t needed anymore. But then again, as a precautionary measure have a copy)
5. Ballpens (Yes, you’ll thank me for this. You need this when filling up your departure/arrival card)

Important Add-ons

1. Energy Bars
2. Chocolate Bars
3. Crackers
4. Medicines for fever, sipon, headache, diarrhea
5. Band Aids
6. Disposable underwears and socks
7. Pocket Money
8. Credit Cards
9. While in the Phils, activate your ATM card for international withdrawal for you back-up funds

End of March is early spring in Hongkong. It’s still cold so bring thick clothes, jackets, thermal leggings, etc. I didn’t appreciate using scarves before but glad I brought one, it saved my neck and face from freezing. Bring also lip balm to prevent your lips from chapping.

We’re flying 5J on this trip. We checked-in at least two hours before departure, paid our terminal fee of P200. We flew out of Bangoy International Airport in Davao to Manila at 10.10AM sharp. Just wondering why this airport is kind of hot, but thank God, we’re on time.

We brought a lot of Davao pasalubong for a cousin’s family in Manila who will host us for our four-hour layover before heading back to the airport. Thanks Mommy Gloria for treating us to lunch. Kenny Rogers Roasters at Asean Avenue was such a cool haven amid scorching Manila sun.

NAIA Expressway, thanks Raj for driving us to the airport

Our ETD to Hongkong was at 6.10PM. If you’re flying international you have to be at the airport at least four hours before the scheduled flight. I know NAIA is doing everything they could to improve their service, but we’re anticipating long queues at the check-in counters and immigration. We also have a senior citizen with us who can’t run fast to the boarding gate in case we’re short of time, so better leave early than sorry.

PAYING YOUR TRAVEL TAX

If it’s your first time flying international, you have to pay your travel tax first before checking in and dropping your baggage at the counters.When at NAIA 3, the tax collection counters are located at the far left by the wall area upon entering any of the departure gates. When in doubt find someone you feel a worker of the airport and ASK. It’ll save you time and energy walking here and there. I have three minors with me, but only my 9-year old son qualified for a reduced tax. So I only paid P810.00 for him. The rest of us paid P1,620.00 for the travel tax. No senior citizen discount just a priority lane for them to pay. No more terminal fee at NAIA.

Cebu Pacific has self-service check-in kiosks located near the drop-in bay. Just enter your booking reference number and your name will appear then tap to print your boarding pass. When in doubt how to use it, approach the ladies standing by beside it and ask for help. Very convenient to use when you don’t have check-in baggage. But we have few, so we still have to get into the queue and drop-in our bags.

NOTE: Do not lost the bar code copy of your checked-in bags. The one’s manning the check-in counter will give this to you. You need them to trace your baggage if and when they’re travelling somewhere else and not with you

Now that you’re done dropping in your baggage. Proceed to the immigration area. There are shelves before you enter the immigration line, find a clean copy of departure card and fill it in. This is where you need your glorious pen.

TIP: In principle, as a mother I want my kids to know about filling these things up. But in reality I just want to get things done smoothly and without delay. I suggest before leaving home, write all the travel document info of your kids in a piece of sturdy paper. This will save you time flipping one after the other their passports looking and copying the number, dates and other info.

Now that you’re done, it’s time to pass through immigration. Have your passports and boarding pass ready. I don’t know with the others, but father-first- then-oldest-then-myself-with-the-two-kids-in-tow order work for us without any fuss. Answer the officer politely if s/he asked questions.

NAIA Terminal 3 International Departures

We’ve passed immigration. It’s now time to find our boarding gate. The thing with airports is that, gawwwd, one has to walk forever. You’ll be dang hungry and sore before reaching your boarding gate. If you’re on a budget, this is where your Nutri-bar add-ons are useful. But if you have a lot of extras to spare, by all means, indulge. NAIA 3 International Departures have several shops already so take your pleasure's pick.

Boarding Time!

Again, take out your travel info ‘codigo’ and fill-up the Hongkong Immigration Arrival Card. The PAs will distribute this while airborne. Have this ready along with your passports.

Our little field tripper was hungry so he had rice meal on board. Love the Cheesy Bun by the way. If you’re flying in time for meal time, you can include meal orders at Smile Cafe upon booking.

Cebu Pacific Inflight Meal

We landed at Hongkong International Airport minutes ahead of ETA. 

TIP: Wear comfortable walking shoes. You’ll be doing a lot of walking around Hongkong, starting off at the airport.

Hongkong International Airport

At Hongkong International Airport with Gelo, who was vblogging but forgot about it coz he's already tired.

Hongkong International Airport with Liea

Even if there is train at HK Airport, a good part of it is still walking until you reach the bus bay. When at the Immigration concourse, find the Visitors lane. Still doing the same order as I mentioned above we passed without a fuss. Always take heed and read signs. Then go find your carousel number and wait for your bags.

Hongkong International Airport evening rush to immigration counter

Hongkong  International Airport Train System

Honkong International Airport Immigration Hall

As soon as you emerged out from picking your bags at the baggage carousel, the MTR counter is the first stall you will see. This is where you loan/buy Octopus Cards. We subscribed to one adult and one child only. The other three cards were loaned to us by a generous heart from Davao who are frequents of Hongkong. We loaded HK100 each and went out to the arrivals concourse.

To know more about Octopus Cards, what kind of card to buy, how much to load, where you can use it and where to load it; visit this website: http://www.octopus.com.hk/home/tc/index.html (just Google translate it when it opens in Chinese characters)

TIP: Have a minimal Hongkong Dollars ready, we have ours exchanged at ALDEVINCO Shopping Center back in Davao. The rest are in US Dollars we bought from the bank. US dollars have bigger exchange rate when you’re in Hongkong so just do the math.

Octopus Cards

Our Fieldtrippers

I bought two Hongkong SIMs over at https://www.klook.com/ before leaving The Philippines. The counter number indicated at the voucher where to claim it was not hard to find. The man at the counter was ever so kind. He installed it and made sure the SIM was working before we left. I called the guesthouse we’ve booked informing them we’ve just arrived using the new Hongkong SIM and it worked well. Thanks a lot Klook.com.

March is early spring in Hongkong and yeah, not as biting but it’s still really cold. For someone whose staple temperature is 27 degrees and rising, wafting a drastic 11 degrees drop was something to double shirt about. 

Taking the right wing, we walked through the bus terminus. We look for bus stand with A21 on it. It didn’t take us long to wait, our A21 has arrived. We tapped our Octopus Cards for the fare, it’s HK$33. Our 9 year-old always has to pay half the fare of the adult.

Hongkong International Airport

On board A21 bus from HK International Airport

We’re alighting at the 13th stop. Our hotel is along Nathan Road just near Cameron Road. I actually played on Google street view before booking on this guesthouse. It’s accessible to everything, so despite the price difference with the other options, I still went with Golden Crown Guesthouse.

Golden Crown Guesthouse, Nathan Road, TST, Hongkong

Golden Crown Guesthouse, Nathan Road, TST, Hongkong

And so we’ve arrived! It took us a good 40 minutes from airport to the 13th stop which is Cameron Road. Our host’s - Eric and Ken, they’re gracious and oh, so kind. Gave us the dos, don’ts and hows and now finally we’re settled.

Our field trippers were now tired and ready to retire. Since we came in a little bit late, our room was already ready. The kids just brushed their teeth and viola; they’re all in dreamland in no time.

I asked my husband to survey the grounds, lol, and to look for food shops where we could eat in the morning. I didn’t notice him enter the room; I was also so exhausted I called it a day.

SEE YOU TOMORROW! We’re heading to Ocean Park on our first day in Hongkong. 

HONGKONG FAMILY TRIP DAY 2 – OCEAN PARK (Coming right up)

HONGKONG FAMILY TRIP DAY 3 – DISNEYLAND

HONGKONG FAMILY TRIP DAY 4 – MACAU

SUMMER IN BAGUIO: CASA VALLEJO REVIEW

SUMMER IN BAGUIO: THE ANIMITSU OF CHAYA

SUMMER IN BAGUIO: THE TREASURE THAT IS BEN CAB

SUMMER IN BAGUIO: AFTERNOON AT CAFE BY THE RUINS

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