Hong Kong free and easy : Disneyland AND Tips to a better trip

 Tickets:

You can queue and get the tickets at Hongkong disneyland or buy the tickets there.
The advantages of getting tickets online is no long queue and cheaper rates are available at times.
The disadvantages is the security and you may change your itinerary due to the weather.

I have been to disneyland in other countries. HongKong disneyland is definitely smaller but is still a fun and magical place for both adults and kids to have fun.

To get cheap tickets, there are forums recommending hongkong tour agency. However, is not really worth it unless you getting tickets for more than 5 people as you have to make a trip down to the agency or incur credit card charges.
I got my tickets from klook. Tried it and it work.
Can use my recommendation code.
http://www.klook.com/invite/7I3H6

or disneyland site sometimes have its own offer
https://www.hongkongdisneyland.com/offers-discounts/

Tips for a more enjoyable trip.


1. Bring along plain water, sweets and small snacks. It is going to a long long day with lots of walking.Hongkong disneyland's food are not really that nice unless you are going to the expensive restaurant. And while you are queuing, Some snacks and water will make queuing less frustrating.  Disneyland do not allow food so either hide it well or bring small items.

2. Reach early. No queues for rides. Do your shopping later part of the day when it gets too hot. And photo taking while waiting for the fast pass timing

3. Sunscreen, hat and umbrella. Say no to sunburns.

4. Lots of ways you can get cheaper tickets. Read and research if you are going in a big group. Please only go to those with good reviews.

5. Disneyland is situated at not populated and near the sea. It's temperature will be slightly lower than Hongkong and maybe more windy. May not be true for summer but definitely true for winter. I went in December, it was much colder at disneyland. Especially at night.

6. Plan your rides. We went through our first few rides with minimal queuing. We did 7 rides by lunch. In around 3 hours. Start from the one that is furthest. Then get a fast pass for one of the rides and in between the waiting time, catch a show or queue for another ride. For more fast pass information, https://www.hongkongdisneyland.com/faq/fastpass/

7. Food at Hongkong disneyland are not really nice. Just a good place to rest and fill up your tummy. Maybe is because I go to the cheaper eateries. The only good thing is the Korean cuttlefish snack. The information and photo is right at the bottom of this post. For the money conscious,  don't snack. the snacks are priced quite high.

8. To get a good place to watch parade and fireworks, have to reach there around 20 minutes earlier.

9. Relax, have fun.

1.  We took a photo with Snow white near fantasyland as the queue was quite short. The fantasyland is not near the entrance. The waiting time was around 5 to 10 minutes

2. Cinderalla Carousel. Fear factor 0. Just sitting on a stationary houses and spinning at slow pace. They also have carriages. Suitable for very young and very old. Unless one gets dizzy very easily. The queue was quite fast, around 10 minutes as it was still early and fantasyland location.

 3. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Waiting time was also around 5- 10 minutes. This is slow moving ride where we just view the graphics and display, Suitable for the very young and very old.

4. Dumbo the flying elephant.
The waiting time for this is slightly longer. Around 20 minutes. It was a bit scary as the elephant will elevate from the ground. Dumbo's flying height can be adjusted with the joystick inside.
It is not really scary. Just not for anyone with a fear of height.

 5.   Toy soldier parachute drop. The name sound scary enough. The parachute will drop slowly from a few storey high. Not for someone with fear of height and falling. I skip this as I definitely will end up crying. My 7 year old niece enjoy the ride a lot. waiting time is slightly longer for this, around 20 minutes.

6. Slinky dog spin
It is a medium speed roller coaster with minor ups and downs. I can only say my niece had fun watching the timid me scream at every little thing. Waiting time was around 15 minutes.

 We skip this RC RAcer. Too scary for me.

7. Jungle River Cruise.
They have it in different languages to suit everyone. Just a very relaxing ride to see some man made animals. Quite a relaxing ride. Waiting time was around 10 minutes.

We had our lunch at TAhitian Terrace. We bought our tickets with meal coupons. It was slightly cheaper. Maybe around HK$20. The laksa was good. the rest was taste around the same. It was just average.

 8. Lion Dance show.

9. Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine cars
   Only 2 person in my family went. Rest of us are not really the brave ones. You will be able to see how the ride goes as it is outdoor, I heard it is fun. Waiting time is around 20-30 minutes. There are a lot of nice spots for photo takings so we don't mind waiting for them.


After this, the waiting time was around 30 minutes to an hour

10. Autopia
Driving a car. This is no height limit. Quite a relaxing ride. Except for my mum. She was too slow and cause a bit of the jam.

11. Space Mountain
I skip this. I heard is very very scary as it was not just ups and downs but very fast.
My 70 year old dad chose to be his first roller coaster ride of his life. A very bad life decision. It will be his last too.

12. Buzz lightyear Astro Blasters
A relaxing game where we take the blaster and shot. Quite fun as it was interactive and not scary.

13. Obrition
This is bit like Dumbo the flying elephant except it has the sci-fi and not the cute image.

14. Mickey's PhilharMagic.
A fun 3D show for all ages. My parents had fun and so did my niece.

15. Frozen Christmas

16. Disney in the stars firework

Star War 

 The unique snack available near the lion king Theatre. Freshly roasted Korean style Cuttlefish. The only food I enjoyed at disneyland. There was a long queue for it as there was a strong yummy aroma surrounding the place.

 Dinner at star liner diner.
Fast food. Fried chicken,fries and etc. The food was average. Just eat not to feel hungry.

Good bye!

Australia Perth free and easy: Our 1 day walking tour Swan's bell Tower + King's Park + WA day Perth cultural center + supermarket

We did a walking tour on our own on the first day as our car rental only starts on the second day.

Took some nice photos on the walk to Swan's bell Tower

Finally reach the Swan's bell Tower, took around 20 to 30 minutes from our apartment at Hay Street.

It was not opened so we take some photos with it, not from within. And also the ticket is quite expensive.

Can check the opening hours

http://www.thebelltower.com.au/

For couples

Behind the SWan's bell tower, there is this berth for you to relax and take some photos

King's park. We walked to King's park. Was a bit lost so we 40 minutes instead of the recommended 25 mins.

We tried to follow one of the tour on flora and fauna but it was bit boring to us. This is because we are not really into plants. The good thing is you can leave anytime you want. They will check with you before they proceed to any long walks. Can just try it out. It is conducted by volunteers

It has a nice view of Perth

You can bring your mat and food to have a nice little pinic.

There is maybe only one eatery around here so I will suggest that you bring your own snacks and drinks

Sounvenir shop

Stamps from the information service counter

Goodbye

Initially we wanted to take the bus to WA day at the Perth cultral center but the bus is not operating on weekends so we walked

Food trucks. There are quite a number of food trucks with wide selection of food. The queue was quite long and I was not in the mood to queue after walking for most part of my day. I did not try buying any food to eat here.

There are some activities going on at the cultural center, I will not say there is a lot but can take a look around.

Some nice photo spots along the way on our quest to search for a nice place for lunch

We found this nice place for lunch Northbridge Brewing company. The pizza was good  and the fried food was crispy and yummy. They specialise in beer, guess you know form the title

http://www.northbridgebrewingco.com.au/food/

We walked to the supermarket near our place, coles. We stock up on fresh food. We have a big kitchen and CBD is quite quiet in the evening. Bought some fresh fruits so we will stay health and pretty during the trip. Bought some snacks for our road trips. And bought some interesting to share with families and friends in Singapore

Rushed home to catch the sunset.

Cooked dinner. One to save cost, two as we are too tired to dine out and three to try out local produce and four to make use of our nice kitchen. After dinner, some healthy frozen yogurt from the supermarket.

Perth free and easy : 3g Sim data plan

 At the airport, there are optus and vodafone which you can get your sim card

You can get your sim at the airport or at any of the store in the city.

We bought the optus prepaid card, which cost aud $2 a day. Minimum topup of $10 each time. Which means, I am allowed to use in blocks of 5 days. As I will be staying for 6 days plus, and we reach Perth quite late in the evening, there is no reason to get a Sim on the first day. We bought our sim on the second day at hay street optus.

information on $2 sim
There is 500mb which is quite sufficient for us as we have wifi in the hotel. We used google map constantly for our road trip, the connection was great even when we travel to quite far from town.

information on $1 sim
This has only 40mb, too little unless you have not much intention of using the internet at all.