Europe pre-wedding trip Day 10 (Munich)

18/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Breakfast @Ristorante Cadoro
Football match @Allianz Area
West gate
City Hall
Hofgarten
Theatinerkirche
St Michael's Church
Hofbrauhaus

After a long day yesterday visiting Neuschwanstein, we slept in while my friends went our early hunting for Rimowa suitcase. She said it was like 40% cheaper than buying in Hong Kong. Here's our hostel in Munich Jaeger’s Hostel. For a 4-bed-ensuite, it cost us EUR26/ person/ night. That's was reasonable and we didn't need to share the bathroom with others, which was a credit for travelling in group. But the drawback was, we gotta take turn using the bathroom, which was quite time consuming. Overall, the service was good with excellent Wifi in our room. Location was more than great as train station was just at the corner. (within 5 minutes walk)

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 9 (Munich)

17/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Breakfast @on the train
Munich
Fussen
Schloss Hohenschwangau
Neuschwanstein
Dinner @ Ludwigs
Jaeger’s Hostel

We booked our train tickets on DB bahn directly (EUR35 /person). It took us around one and a half hour to get to Munich. We planned to arrive at 10:30am, dropping our baggage at the hostel and got back to the train station to catch the 11:52 train to Fussen. 

Top cities for International tourists are... (released in 2014)

The London-based marketing research firm, which released its 2012 report this week, spent more than a year analyzing data from official sources. 

Asia Pacific cities dominate the list with six of the top 10 and 32 of the top 100 spots. Twenty cities are from Western Europe. Hong Kong's popularity comes largely thanks to its northern neighbors. 

Euromonitor predicts that by 2017, China will be the leader in international departures followed by Germany and Russia. Currently, Germany, the United States, UK, China and Russia are the top five countries for international departures, according to Euromonitor.

Let's see how many cities you have been to!

Top city destinations by arrivals and growth
1. Hong Kong, China

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 8 (Salzburg)

16/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Breakfast @apartment
Untersberg
Hellbrunn Palace & Trick Fountains
Salzach Cruise
Dinner @Alter Fuchs

It came to our second day in Salzburg. Finished our breakfast at the apartment and went to the bus terminal right away. 

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 7 (Salzburg)

15/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Breakfast @Gasthof Bergfried Hotel
Beinhaus the bone house
Salzburg
Hohensalzburg Fortress 
Hohensalzburg Fortress cable Railway 
Fortress Museum 
Marionette Museum 
Getreidegasse
Mozart’s birthplace
Makartsteg
Mirabell Garden
Dinner @Corner am Bahnhof


Had a buffet breakfast at our hotel again early in the morning. Then we attempted to take a look at the famous Beinhaus the bone house (EUR1.5/ person) before we caught our boat. We were quite curious on how people there put all the skulls together in a chapel. That's kinda scary actually. Unfortunately, as it was too early to get into the chapel, so we just took a tour around the cemetery at the hillside. 

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 6 (Hallstatt)

14/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Breakfast @Gasthof Bergfried Hotel
Boat trip in the lake
MarkPlatz 
Dinner @Gasthof Bergfried Hotel

Had a breakfast buffet at our hotel early in the morning. It's very hearty that they assigned tables for those who stay in the hotel. 

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 5 (Hallstatt)

13/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Wombats City Hostel Vienna- The Base
Billa Supermarket
Hallstatt
Gasthof Bergfried Hotel
Salzwelten Salt Mines
MarkPlatz 
Dinner @Gasthof Zauner

Booked train tickets online via Oebb in advance from Vienna to Hallstatt. (EUR24/ person) We took the 9:56a.m. train and arrived at 13:24p.m. Train in Austria is quite on time. Left our hostel early in the morning again. Before we got on the train, we went to Billa Supermarket and bought some ham, cheese, bread, yogurt and drinks for breakfast. (around EUR10 for all) It was so lucky we could have our own cabin and so we spread our food all over the flipped tables and enjoyed our meal on the train. 

12 months, 12 trips, 12 different ways to expose yourself in different cities with the most suitable time

I am sure most tourist had the experience travelling to other countries in wrong time.  

I have been to Thailand in July and it rained all day long, Munich in early August with almost all shops closed (still have no idea for the reason), Macau in Chinese New Year with too people which made me hardly breath. 

But for each month there's a perfect city, and conversely each city can be best enjoyed in a specific month. Here’s a year-long guide to the when, where and why according to CNN in 2012. (I think it's still valid nowadays) 

January: Tromso or Kirkenes, Norway

Why: The chance to shorten your bucket list: specifically, to mark off the Northern Lights. 
Weather report: To quote Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.” 
Who should avoid: Anyone dead-set on maintaining a year-round suntan.

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 4 (Vienna)

12/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Pension Merlin
Vienna
Wombats City Hostel Vienna- The Base
Lunch @Kebap Pizza Palace
Hundertwasserhaus House
Stephansplatz
Demel 
Hofburg Palace 
Dinner @Weinerwald Restaurant

Booked CK Shuttle (800kc/ person) and it picked us up right at our hostel. Could spend more time sleeping. Still got some kc and gotta spend all of them. Bought 2 cakes (30kc each) for breakfast. (Too early and there was only one shop near our hostel opened) The van was very clean and cozy. We were able to take a nap on the way.

Hong Kong 1 day trip - Kai Tak Cruise Terminal

23/11/2013

Went for a picnic at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Park. It was located on the roof at the site of the former Kai Tak Airport, which is now a cruise ship terminal. 

Just opened last month, the Park is equipped with various amenities including a central lawn, a viewing platform, water garden and fountain plaza and more. It can said to be an oasis in the city as there are rarely park like this around this area. 

We prepared some sandwiches, mashed potatoes and cold macaroni salad at home. Then we headed to Kowloon Bay MTR Station to shop for more food and drinks. From there, we took minibus 86 to the park directly. 

We had a great time under such good weather.

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 3 (Cesky Krumlov)

11/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Breakfast @Pension Merlin
Lunch @Restaurant Krumlovska Fontana
Church of St Vitus
Nam Svornosti Square
The State Castle

Dinner @Jidelni a napojovy listek

Woke up early in the morning and that was the amazing sunrise I saw from the window of my room.

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 2 (Cesky Krumlov)

10/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
David's Apartment
Cesky Krumlov
Pension Merlin
lunch @KRCMA
Church of St Vitus
Nam Svornosti Square
The State Castle
Castle Garden
Dinner @apartment 

Woke up really early in the morning at around 6a.m. and all of us started to do our wash up pack our baggage and have our simple breakfast.

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 1 (Prague)

9/8/2013

Itinerary of today:
Prague airport
David's Apartment
Prague Castle
Dinner @Kolkovna Palac Savarin

Arrived at Prague at around 1:30p.m. Immediately we looked for the counter selling bus + train tickets to the city. (32 kc) As the exchange rate in the airport was extremely unreasonable, we decided to pay via credit card and exchange money in the city. And we found our decision very right!

Europe pre-wedding trip Day 0 (Prague)

8/8/2013

Winning a competition from a photography vendor is definitely a good chance for my boyfriend and I to explore Europe, in which we longed for a lifetime.We had a really great time even we made it budget.Really wanna record where we visited, what we did, what we ate and who we met in our trip. It must be fun if I read my blogs again with our children some years later.

Flight details (HKD8548/ person)

0035 EK381 Hong Kong to Dubai
0905 EK139 Dubai to Prague

Our pre-wedding photo shoot would be done on the last day of the trip. It would be a nightmare if I didn't take care of my skin well. Brought heaps of facial masks to keep my skin in  good condition.

Winning a pre-wedding photo shoot to PARIS - preparation

Joined a competition by Joseph Photo for a free pre-wedding photo shoot package in February. With the help with our friends and family, we finally won the prize!

CNY with my family @ Macau day 2

12/2/2013

Had good sleep and went for breakfast. Chose a Chinese restaurant just right next to the casino as there was discount if you are a member of the Sands Club. Actually it's just MOP38 for a set including 1 hot dish and 1 dim sum for 1 membership card and gotta show your card before you order. So all of us just walked into the casino and joined the membership right away to enjoy this great deal.

CNY with my family @ Macau day 1

11/2/2013

Price of travel went up enormously during CNY. My family and I didn't want to spend too much money and therefore, decided to go to Macau for 2 days.

This time, we spent a very great time in Venetian Hotel, though it cost us around HKD4200/ room. Price of ferry tickets went up a bit as well (HKD340 for return ticket) coz there was no credit card promotion.

We first took the free coach to MGM to book dinner buffet for tonight. MGM is still very grand with beautiful decorations.

Birthday trip to Macau - Day 2

22/1/2013

Started our day with great breakfast! Loads and loads of things to eat.

Birthday trip to Macau - Day 1

21/1/2013

Went on a Macau Trip cuz it was my boyfriend's birthday + I bought a coupon on travelzoo website. The coupon is in such a good price (HKD1988 including tax) with afternoon tea, evening cocktail, dinner and breakfast included. The most important thing is, we lived in Okura Hotel! Not standard room but a big suite!!!!

Bought tickets from Cotai Jet first. (HKD238/ person for birthday promotion) Then, we had breakfast at China Hong Kong City.