Hello Steemitverse!
I'm so excited to share to all of you my first out of the country experience. Our travel date was July 10-16, 2019, and our destination was Macau and Hongkong.
I have always dreamed to travel outside the Philippines, and see what its really like to be out there, to be somewhere unfamiliar and different from what I've been used to. I started travelling in 2016, but I've only been to some local destination here in the Philippines.
I took me too long to get my passport because my birth certificate has a typo error and I needed to have it corrected first. I think, it was a blessing in disguise because when finally I applied for my passport last year, the 10 years validity is already in effect.
Since, I already have the necessary documents for me to travel outside the Philippines, the next step would be to wait for seat sales.
Luckily, on January 16, 2019, Cebu Pacific had a seat sale and we were able to book 5 rountrip tickets for ₱4,429.60 each. It might not be a super low fare, but its a good deal already so we grabbed it.
Originally, we were only planning to visit Macau, but upon research, Hongkong can be travelled by bus or ferry, and fare won't cost that much. So, its hitting 2 birds with one stone.
Just a tip guys, if you plan to visit Macau and Hongkong, you might as well book a ticket to Macau, and then exit would be Hongkong. We got excited with the seat sale, so we just booked our tickets without really researching first. LOL.
We probably drafted our itinerary a week before our travel date. We were so busy with work and all, so we only discuss important things about our trip in the group chat. That's one of the downside of a D.I.Y. travel because you really need to do a lot research, and you need to personally make all the arrangements and bookings. But it wasn't that hard at all because we were 5 adults, we've been travelling together many times already, so planning stage doesn't really involve a lot of arguements and opposing ideas. So another tip, travel with the people you're most comfortable with.
We didn't book any attractions first, because we still don't know if we would pass the immigration. I've been watching a lot of videos on Youtube on how to not get offloaded. Its my first time, so I gotta prepare. Its really scary, because despite that my purpose is to go on a tour only and not to find jobs abroad (which is the top reason for offloading passengers) still I kept my hopes very low so as not to feel really disappointed in case the IO won't let me go on that trip.
Few days before our travel, it was the most excruciating of all. We felt like we we're having diarrhea every now and then. I swear, first time experiences are like the scariest.
The moment of truth came. Our flight to Macau was at 7:00PM but I arrived at Cebu International Airport at around 11:00AM. I think I waited 2 hours for my friends, and those 2 hours felt like forever. Haha. By the way, they have a nice airport, the best design among all the airports I've seen so far here in the Philippines.
Also, their 500mL bottled water cost ₱70.00 (so expensive). I think, I was already dehydrated from whatever uneasiness I was feeling that moment and I badly needed to drink water so I was forced to by one. Another tip, make sure to hydrate yourself before going to the airport. Every budget traveller wouldn't want to get thirsty when you're in there. LOL.
As soon as my friends arrived, we just freshen up a bit, went straight to the check-in counter, paid the travel tax (₱1,620.00 / $33), terminal fee (₱850.00 / $17) then immigration.
I was already anticipating that I will be sent to the office because I was a first time traveller. I was asked a few questions, and gave some documents to the IO, like my certificate of employment, leave form, employee ID, GSIS ID and authority to travel (which I don't have). I swear, I didn't know I was suppose to prepare an authority to travel because I already have a CoE and approved leave. The IO told me to prepare an authority to travel next time. There are just lucky days, and I guess, July 10, 2019 was one of them. All of us passed immigration, so Macau here we come! =)
While we were waiting for our flight, I booked my disneyland ticket through Traveloka and I paid ₱3,199.95 / $64 via Coins.ph. After completing all the necessary things I need to do with my phone, I removed the simcard, because I'm a postpaid subscriber and I don't want to get international charges in my bill. Haha
Macau is about 2-3 hours flight from the Philippines. As soon as the plane took off, I immediately fell asleep. Its the first time I felt at peace that day. Immigration experience is no joke. LOL. When I woke up, we were already in Macau.
Our accommodation is about 20-30 minutes away from the airport, we took a bus going there. We were greeted by the stunning lights of the different casino-resorts of Las Vegas of Asia. It was so beautiful.
We met our host at Senado Square then we walked to our accommodation which is just 3 minutes away. By the way, we couldn't find cheap deals in the internet, good thing one of my friend's workmate has just recently travelled to Macau so she referred the host to us.
Sorry I don't remember how much the room costs, because we just contributed a total of 900HKD, that's about ₱6,000 ($120), and that would cover all our accommodation expenses for the entire trip. Reg collects our contribution in all of our trips. One of us should act as a treasurer, and I'm pretty sure that should not be me. Haha.
We went outside to buy food for the next day. Also to grab something to eat because it was already midnight and we haven't had our dinner yet. The prices of goods in Macau is about twice or thrice from what we have in the Philippines. We had a bowl of beef offel noodle soup, its a sort of street food in Macau, and it costs 35HKD (₱230/$4.6) per serving. Its too pricey for a street food. I was preparing myself to be on a diet for the next few days. Hahaha.
I think its too long already, will talk to you more about some specific details of our travel on my next post. For now let me share the breakdown of our budget for this trip:
₱4,429.60 - Cebu-Macau RT Ticket
₱1,620.00 - Travel Tax
₱850.00 - Terminal Fee
₱6,000.00 - Accommodation
₱900.00 - Macau-Hongkong (Bus) RT
₱1,300.00 - Octopus Card
₱3,199.95 - Disneyland Ticket
₱1,549.00 - Ngong Ping 360
₱5,000.00 - Allowance
₱24,848.55 ($497) TOTAL
All of the places that we explored in Macau are for free, plus we only walk most of the time so it saves us some money. I had around 22,000 steps during our first day. Haha.
It wasn't hard to explore Macau. There are English translations almost everywhere. Spending some bucks on simcard and wifi I think, won't be necessary. You just have to familiarize yourself with the map and the bus routes. We enjoyed the free tastes. There were a lot of them on the street going to Ruins of St. Paul.
We also enjoyed casino hopping. Macau is truly even more alive at night. You shouldn't really miss going to these massive structures. The lights, the design, the glitz and glamour are very visible when it gets dark.
We went to 3 casinos before we called it day. We were so exhausted we couldn't explore all of them. But it was really a different experience. Those beautiful structures makes you question why some people are just so filthy rich, and others barely eat in a day. How those billion dollars can send millions of kids to school, and a lot of homeless could benefit if that would be allocated to housing projects. Life is truly unfair.
Then again, its their money. They probably worked smart just to to acquire those properties and to get where they are now. Its just feels so overwhelming. It was my first time seeing them and its totally different to see those luxurious buildings and expensive stuff up close. It was unbelievable.
I definitely had a great time and I still have a lot of things to share. Let me end this post for now because I'm already too sleepy. Its 12:42AM here in the Philippines. Goodnight everyone, or good day if you're from the opposite side. Thanks for dropping by. Stay happy and healthy. Be nice, spread kindness and keep steeming. Cheers to more travels! 🥂