On our final morning in Hong Kong (sad!), we asked our host Elaine of Hotel O where we could find good but affordable food for brunch. She asked us if we liked beef, and recommended Yu Mai, a noodle restaurant just a few steps away from where we were staying.
Since we came early, the lunch menu was not yet available. I chose based on what looked good on the photo and got this:
Special Luncheon Meat and Fried Egg with Doll Instant Noodles + Hot Milk Tea (HKD 29)
I got sad when I saw how my order was presented, but taste-wise, what you see is what you get. I just finished it and drooled at Cindy's order.😋 Hot drinks are included in their breakfast sets. I chose milk tea, and as usual, I needed some sugar to go with it.
Signature Macaroni Soup (Beef, Ham, Lunch Meat, Chicken Sausage and Egg) + Coffee (HKD 32)
Because of the language barrier, it was hard to order and contest if they serve you the wrong item. Panda ordered another item, but we didn't notice in the receipt they gave that they punched in the M1 meal. This was also a popular item though, as other tables ordered the same item.
Pork's Chops and Fried Dumpling in Broth, with Thick Toast w/ Butter (HKD 32)
We all should have ordered this instead! However, the meal would have been perfect if there was rice instead of thick toast. The pork chop was soft, and overall, the meal was tasty and filling. Good value for money!
We love this efficient table, which housed a drawer containing clean utensils, place mats, sugar packets, etc. Nice idea, right?
Look at the dish we weren't able to order. I think this one's part of their lunch menu, available after 11:30AM. We still had to check out from our Airbnb and head to Macau, so we couldn't wait for it, but it looks really good!
It was finally time to go.😢 Bye bye, Hotel O and Mongkok. You've been amazing. This is the exterior of the place we stayed in. It's an old building, but the Airbnb on a secret floor was renovated and it looks new and clean. I highly recommend you to stay here if you're planning to stay in Mongkok.😊
On our right is Bonjour and beside it is Langham Place. This is our favorite Bonjour store because it has a grocery upstairs! It's called More Mall, and it specializes in selling Taiwanese, Japanese, and Korean snacks. So many cute finds!
Directly in front of the building we stayed in is a Sasa store! YAY! It's located near Grand Palace, another shopping mall.
Directly on our left was the Mongkok MTR Station. But before leaving, we dragged our luggage to AEON first just along Nathan Road. On the third floor was a huge Daiso Japan store and we went crazy with all the things we didn't see in the Daiso stores back home in the Philippines. After our final shopping pitstop, we took the MTR to Sheung Wan (HKD 13.50) to get to Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal.
From there, we bought one-way tickets to Macau via Cotai Water Jet (HKD 165). The trip took 1 hour from Hong Kong to Macau's Cotai Terminal, close to the Cotai Strip where the casinos and hotels were. The boat was fairly new and clean, the seats were comfortable, but I had to take another medicine for motion sickness. Despite that, I still felt dizzy and not OK the entire ride, but at least I didn't throw up. (WHEW!)
When we got to the terminal, we looked for the hotel's shuttle bus that would take us straight to the 5-star hotel we'll be staying in. I'm actually okay with staying in another Airbnb, but our friend Tope wanted to splurge, so here we are.
Since he's our ever trusty one-man travel agency (#TopeTravelandTours), he booked and paid for our hotel rooms a few months back via booking.com using his credit card, and we just paid him afterwards. However, he suddenly wouldn't be able to join us, so he gave us necessary reminders such as to bring HKD 1,000/room as deposit and debit cards (because we didn't have credit cards), as he has already notified booking.com in advance of our situation and they approved. When we were about to check-in, drama happened. The front desk were looking for him, because it was his credit card that was used. Their "solution" was to refund the credit card payment back to Tope's credit card after 2 months, and for us to pay again IN CASH upfront, since they said they don't accept debit cards. I find the process very redundant. We definitely didn't want to pay again, since the room has already been paid for in the first place!😠 The staff were not impolite, but they were not helpful as well. They said if ever the authorization was sent via email, they will not be able to trace it. After waiting in the lobby, my sister told them to check their pile of fax sheets, and there was the authorization letter of Tope, well-received. So we checked-in late, and were given rooms in separate floors, in the far ends of Sky Tower. The hotel room we stayed in was indeed posh and high-end, but our check-in process was a big hassle and very stressful, so I have mixed reviews for this place. We definitely didn't feel like "Sheraton Preferred Guests", which is what they call their customers.😔 The emailed me a survey, and naturally I said everything I had to say, and they did apologize, but I'm still sharing it here.
Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, Cotai Central Deluxe Twin Room
This is a 42 m² room with air conditioning and private bathroom. The room has a view of the Cotai strip, and my favorite was of course these beds! These Sheraton Signature Beds were the comfiest I've ever laid on, and usually when I travel I miss my bed - but not tonight! 💛 There's also a TV with cable, satellite, and pay-per-view channels which we totally ignored.
For when you want to read beside the floor to ceiling window 📕
Work desk
This room had free WiFi but when you stroll around Sheraton grounds and the other malls/hotels, the WiFi is slow and unstable in general. There's also a telephone and Handy (a spare phone you can use during your entire stay).
Hair dryer inside the desk drawer
The entire room is carpeted. There's a full length mirror in front of the bathroom.
The closet lights up every time you open it. Inside, there are bathrobes, fluffy slippers, ironing facilities, and a laptop safe.
The bathroom was really nice and clean!
Shower and bathtub
Free toiletries
Toilet & tissue paper rolls
MY THRONE! LOL
After taking photos of the room, we decided to look for the food court below the hotel. We had dinner there, but I was not in the mood to take photos anymore. Cindy got a rice meal that had a big serving for HKD 66, so we shared.
After that, we strolled outside and marveled at the scenery. We didn't make it to The Parisian because it was too cold outside.😮 Inside the hotels and shops was cozy and warm. Yay! I loved that the hotels with shops (that seemed like a really upscale mall) are all interconnected. I was able to spot amazing deals here, because some store profess to be duty free. There was even a Zara dress priced at P600+! So mas makakashopping pa kami dito kesa sa Hong Kong!
The Venetian was so grandiose, but I didn't take lots of selfies, just the view. We went to the Shoppes and saw Lord Stow's. We each got an Egg Tart for MOP 10, and it's the best MOP 10 you will ever spend. SUPER SARAP! I posted this one on IG, and this one's really different from what we have locally (AKA leche flan). The pastry shell is light, crisp, and it cracks when you bite it. The filling is creamy and it jiggles. I wanted to savor it, but it was gone in a minute.
Day 5 will be our last day in Macau. We're going to the city! Stay tuned.😊
Read about my Hong Kong Travel Diary here:
Read ALL my travel-related posts HERE! 💜
Helen
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