Hong Kong and Macau in our Late Twenties

(Tue Oct 07 2025)

In 2018, I went to my first international trip (Hong Kong) where I was the adult. A few days ago, I went there again with the same bestie. Let’s call her Yey.

This blog post is going to be about the contrast between then and now. Something for me.

Purpose

Yey reminded me that I was the one who told her to process her passport in 2018, and once that was done, we planned our first international trip. I totally forgot about that. How adult was that?

Our main purpose then was obviously for the photos we can upload in IG 📸. In 2025, we didn't even have a day for it. The worst part? We didn't mind at all 👵🏼👵🏼

Because today in 2025, the reason our plans even got to see the light were concerts 🤘🏼😬. Yes, plural.

This is something I never expected because first of all, Yey and I are opposites in almost everything. That includes music. She's into KPOP while I was into rock bands and musical playlists.

It all tied together when I got into SB19 (P-pop) just a few months ago. Our worlds aligned a bit for the first time, and we took the chance.

Purchasing power

On our 2018 trip, we didn’t have credit cards yet. Our budget is very limited. One of the worst experience was the room we booked. The original one we booked cancelled days before our trip. It was my fault, something about a failed payment. So I then booked the cheapest I could find and that was a big mistake. The room barely fit both of us and our things. The location didn’t seem safe and we were 2 tourist girls. The elevator gets packed on peak hours. There was a smell everywhere 😬

And so we fast forward to today 🏎️.

On top of my indulgent shopping here, there was also a big change in how we spent our money. I was actually lowkey expecting Yey to reprimand me for spending too much but she didn't mind at all.

For hotels our priorities are whichever one had bidets. For transpo we did not hesitate to book a taxi or uber when we have baggage or when we get lost. For food we stopped anywhere without checking the price. We even ended up buying seats on our second trip because I hated being at the very back of the plane.

Theme park

I am currently trying and failing to boycott Disney so I am a hypocrite for this one 🙏🏼.

Knowing my boycott, Yey mentioned she didn’t know how to open up to me that she wants to go to Disneyland 🙈. She mainly wanted to experience World of Frozen. On our first trip (for SB19), it was closed for maintenance but when we suddenly planned a second trip (for Seventeen), we both agreed it was meant for us to see. And so we did.

Impressions: Are we just getting old or is there no hype? 👵🏼👵🏼 We didn’t have to buy those things where we can skip the line because there were little to no line anywhere. My biggest excitement was getting to buy the same Rex hat SB19 Ken wore a week ago.

It wasn’t the best idea as well to go to a theme park right after a concert. When I woke up, Yey told me she was checking if we can cancel our tickets (I was actually okay with that). We were both so tired the whole day.

Okay, to be honest, the fireworks were worth the wait 🎆. I've been to Disneyland 5 times now (3 in HK, 2 in Cali) but this was my first time to get to watch the fireworks. We happily sat in line for about an hour before they asked us to stand up for the last 30 minutes of wait (unnecessary in my opinion). I am not sure if this was just because of an anniversary or something but it had everything: fireworks, LEDs, drones, fire, water.

It was fun until it ended and we had to speed walk our way to the trains 🚉.

Commute

This is probably where we’re a bit different in terms of traveling. My husband will always default to the most convenient, no matter the price. Meanwhile Yey liked commuting whenever she’s out of the country. She said it reminds her of what we don’t have: an efficient transport system.

Personally I was fine with it except for when we get lost under the hot sun and the amount of walking it requires to get to the stations. I was even okay with standing on the train. I actually had a lot of fun listening to music while pretending my life is interesting 🥀.

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Late Twenties

We’re both so close to our thirties now (as in early next year) and I noticed I don’t feel any concern with growing old. Not if life’s like this ❣️