Hong Kong Disneyland Closed Due To Novel Coronavirus

*Ocean Park Closed
*2020 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon cancelled

Hong Kong Disneyland a Disney theme park located in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island announced it was closing down on Sunday until further notice due to the deadly Novel Coronavirus outbreak affecting central China.

The theme park officials said it was taking the step to protect "the health and safety of our guests and cast members" and said refunds would be given.

Ocean Park, a rival amusement park on Hong Kong's main island, said it was also closing its doors.

The Hong Kong government has classified the outbreak as an "emergency" which is the highest level on Saturday.

Here's the Full text of their announcement:

"As a precautionary measure in line with prevention efforts taking place across Hong Kong, we are temporarily closing Hong Kong Disneyland Park starting from January 26, 2020 out of consideration for the health and safety of our Guests and Cast Members. The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort hotels will remain open. We are in close contact with health authorities and the government about the situation and will announce a reopening date once they determine it is advisable.

The Standard Park Ticket is valid for six months from the purchase date. If needed, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort will assist in the refund for Guests who have purchased tickets for admission to Hong Kong Disneyland park or have booked a resort hotel. For additional details, please click here or email to guest@hongkongdisneyland.com."


https://www.hongkongdisneyland.com/?located=true

Nobu Hotel Manila Stay

Before the Holy Week vacation we stayed at Nobu Hotel Manila in Pasay City for our staycation just chill out in the city to beat the summer heat. The hotel is inside the sprawling City of Dreams complex which also house two other hotels namely Nuwa and Hyatt Regency Hotel. It has a dome-like structure called Fortune Egg which houses two international nightclubs namely, Chaos and Pangaea. It also has a big shopping mall called The Shops at The Boulevard. The shops are very limited but there are a lot of expensive restaurants. A small indoor theme park is also located inside the property called DreamPlay built in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation. 

As for shopping, SM Mall of Asia is very near and you can just take the free shuttle ride every 30 mins to and from City of Dreams. Check-in was fast and easy because we were there early and the room was not yet available so we have to leave our baggage at the storage. Also you have to deposit P5,000 per night of your stay as a refundable security. We went to SM Mall of Asia to eat our early lunch, it was easy to go to the mall since they offer free shuttle service.



The room that was given to us is facing the swimming pool, which is great since we can easily see if there are few people in the pool so we can take a dip. The pool is not that big but it looks cool and there are lifeguards around and they offer life-vest.




Check-out was not as quick since there is a line and we have to wait in line for a while. The room was good size, very cozy and very clean. I like the painting and the design of the room. The bathrooms was also nice and clean.

I will definitely go back.

Bathroom has a weighing scale that you can use to monitor your weight or for your baggage.

Harbour Bay Hotel December 2018 Review

We decided to stay at Harbour Bay Hotel because of its location specially if you're going to rely on the MTR, it's a couple of walk away from East Tsim Sha Tsui station N5 and MTR exits of N1-N3. It's also very near Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hong Kong so if you use the Airport Express, you can ride the Complimentary Airport Express Shuttle Bus Service K3(To Tsim Sha Tsui Mody Road) and stop at Stop 1: Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hong Kong. Service hours 06:15 - 23:00 (every 15 minutes).

If you like shopping it's also a few steps from K11 art mall, it's not a crowded mall and it's a nice place to relax and unwind.

We checked in early and amenities includes FREE WIFI, FREE Handy Phone which you can use for local calls and internet, it's very useful for maps and you can take it anywhere you don't have to buy Prepaid SIM for HK.

The room is okay, the sink is outside, there's no bidet hose in the toilet so if you're not used to wiping with a tissue it's going to be a problem. There's only one sliding door for the shower and the toilet, so if you are using the shower the toilet is open and vice-versa. The big positive for this hotel is the location, the negative is there are a few spot that are not clean like the curtains which a bit dusty and some part of the wall but it's manageable.

The weather was so cold specially early in the morning that we have to use the hotel's small personal heater.

Hong Kong Disneyland 2018 Travel

HK Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle under renovation

We visited Hong Kong Disneyland this December and it was cold. Even though this Disney is small compared to other Disneyland around the world, the kids were very happy. The theme is very Christmasy, they even have snow in some parts of the park.

I use Klook for discounted tickets, it was very easy to use just show the QR Code no more lining up to pay for tickets. I also bought their Lunch Set + Dinner Set + Snack Meal Vouchers on Klook, and it was worth it. Here's what's included in the voucher:

1 Lunch Meal + soft drink worth HK$99-149 at any Signature or Deluxe Restaurant you need to redeem it before 4:00 PM.

1 Dinner Combo Meal + soft drink worth HK$99-149 at any Signature or Deluxe Restaurant you can redeem it after 4:30PM and until 30 minutes before the restaurant closes.

Snack choices are frozen lollipop or popcorn at outdoor vending carts throughout the Park.


Here are the restaurant that you can choose:

Signature Restaurants

- Starliner Diner (Tomorrowland)
- Comet Cafe (Tomorrowland)
- Clopin's Festival of Foods (Fantasyland)
- Tahitian Terrace (Adventureland)

Deluxe Restaurant

- Royal Banquet Hall (Fantasyland)
- Explorer's Club Restaurant (Mystic Point)

The ticket price on Klook was Php 3,613 per person for adult (12-64) Php 2,713 for children (3-11yo) and only Php 679 for senior (65+). The Lunch Set + Dinner Set + Snack voucher is Php 1,487 for adult and Child Meal Set Coupon is Php 604. I used a discount code for the total bill. You need to buy online since original price is very expensive HK$235 for the 3-in-1 Park Meal Voucher.

Our overall experience were great but there are also disappointments, like there's no Castle it's under construction, in fact if you're planning to visit now I would rather delay it because there are a lot of construction. There are also no fireworks. When we visited the Jungle River Cruise was also closed. The kids love the "It's a small world" ride, even though the dolls look a little creepy. The Mystic Manor is also an awesome ride, a little scary for small kids.

It's a small world

Mystic Manor

Manigong Bagong Taon! 2015

May the Lord bless you with success and prosperity
I wish this New Year is as special as it has always been.
Happy New Year

Maligayang Pasko! Merry Christmas!

 

The Lord Jesus is born to save us
Let us rejoice and enjoy the birth of our Savior
Merry Christmas to you

Google Street View is now in Manila, Other islands to follow

I'm really excited about his news, since Manila or other places in the Philippines don't have a Google streetview. Google’s Street View team is now in the Philippines for the first time they are capturing imagery from around the capital city of Manila. After Manila they will travel and capture other island across much of the archipelago.

On a blog post, Ryan Morales, Google Philippine marketing manager said that Street View in the Philippines is  “a logistical challenge” since the Philippines is composed of 7,107 islands.

He also said:

“As a preview of the Philippines’ take on Street View, we’re publishing today 360-degree photos from within Manila’s historic walled city of Intramuros.”

Landmarks: San Agustin Church (the country’s oldest stone church), Baluarte de San Diego (one of the oldest stone fortifications in Intramuros), Plaza San Luis Complex (comprising a number of buildings showing various examples of Filipino-Spanish architecture), and Fort Santiago which is built by the Spanish in the 16th century.

Google is expected to roll out more imagery from the Philippines in the coming months.

Other locations in Asia that have Street View imagery include Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.