When people ask me what’s the best thing about being on a Resorts World One cruise, I always tell them that besides the destination we visit, it’s really the food. And with good reasons, it is culinary heaven. Food choices range from Western, Italian, South East Asian, Japanese, and of course, Chinese—since the ship is based in Hong Kong. It has three inclusive restaurants—which means eating there is free of charge—seven premium specialty restaurants, five food booths, two bars, and one exclusive restaurant reserved for Palace guests—the most expensive class on the ship.

Joining a cruise is never boring. It’s my fourth time to travel on a cruise ship and I still get excited every time. During our four-day cruise from Hong Kong to Taiwan aboard the Resorts World One cruise ship, I never ran out of things to do.

But if you’re still not convinced about joining a cruise, here’s an extensive list of things you can do while aboard Resorts World Cruises’ Resorts World One. This is particularly helpful while on high seas, en route to your destination, since there’s not much you can see but the endless blue sea.

BOOK RESORTS WORLD ONE CRUISE

Book a cruise through the official website or through Resorts World Cruises Philippines Senior Sales Manager, Andrea Manzano (andrea.manzano@rwcruises.com).

The sea glittered with artificial stars, reflecting the electric lights of the buildings surrounding Kaohsiung Harbor. It was our first and last day in the city, having docked at noon, and now departing mid-evening. A brief but fun tour of Kaohsiung—a cross section of what the city has to offer. I was at the top deck of Resorts World One, on a cruise visiting two southern Taiwan locales, musing over the day that was.

In addition, could I have a hotdog, please? We were seated at TurboJET’s Premier Grand Class cabin, comfortably reclining on our spacious seats as we sped through the Pearl River Delta. We just started our journey from Hong Kong to Macau when a lady approached asking what we would like to have for snacks. Before the waiter started back to the kitchen, I called to her again, Err, can you you make it two, please?

TURBOJET’S TICKETING AREA AT SHUN TAK CENTRE IN HONG KONG

SHUN TAK CENTRE’S AIRPORT-LIKE TERMINAL

It was going to be my first time in Macau and I have zero idea how to get there from Hong Kong. It was a good thing that two of my travel mates have been zinging back and forth across the two regions since birth. I was, indeed, with good company.

From Pentahotel Hong Kong, we rode a bus to Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan where the terminal for Macau-bound ferries dock. It was easy as one, two, and three from there.

► SEE: MACAU UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE TOUR

A billiard table stood in the middle of the floor, above it, a ceiling finished in dark wood planks. Black leather sofa surrounded an electronic fireplace and on one corner of the reception desk, two big-ass industrial metal drums loomed. We padded on soft gray rugs and was greeted by one of Pentahotel’s all-business staff dressed in Diesel shirts, how may we help you, he asked.

PARCELS AND WHAT-NOTS AT THE PENTALOUNGE

Hip was the word to describe our hotel for our last three days in Hong Kong. It’s not easily apparent from its simple façade, but once you enter its ground floor lobby cum pizza bar, you’d know this is no run-of-the-mill hotel.

► SEE: HONG KONG DIY WALKING TOUR

My eyelids were slowly drooping down. About fifteen feet from the ground, I was being lulled to sleep as we made our slow and clunky way across Hong Kong Island’s urban roads—passing its glittering modernity and sidewalks brimming with early evening pedestrians. We were aboard an iron tram, one of the oldest transportation systems in Hong Kong and the only one in the world with a full double-decker fleet at that. And as always, we didn’t have a destination in mind.

RIDE THE DING DING, SO EASY!

The trams in Hong Kong, charmingly dubbed as ding ding by the locals in reference to their bells, are more than a century old. The first carriages ran across the northern coastline of the island before it eventually went inland due to land reclamation in 1904. Those were single-deck cars back then, shipped all the way from the United Kingdom. The first double-decker trams were not to emerge until eight years later.

► SEE: HONG KONG DIY WALKING TOUR

The wind blew hard across Victoria Harbour and we felt it right to the bone. It was an early November evening when we strolled through the other side of the famous waterway. While everyone was at Hong Kong’s Kowloon side, we were at its Hong Kong counterpart. We wanted to see Hong Kong’s Ferris wheel up close, something we usually see from Tsim Sha Tsui area. And yes, we were also here for a fancy dinner—our venue, the nearby Mandarin Hotel.

CAFE CAUSETTE’S WARM LOBBY

Having had our fill of the Ferris wheel, we took refuge from the gust and cold at Cafe Causette. Located on the second floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Central, we knew we’d be in for a classy treat.

► SEE: HONG KONG DIY WALKING TOUR

Wan Chai District’s skyscrapers rose into view as I parted the drapes inside our room. We quickly prepared coffee and tea, then sat at the bay window for a few minutes—taking in the view, looking forward to our first full day in Hong Kong. It was a marvelous sight. I quickly whipped out my phone after finishing my coffee, snapped a photo, and connected to the hotel’s complimentary Wi-Fi Internet. Instagram time.

WALKING TO COSMO HOTEL AT WAN CHAI AREA. A TIP, BRING A BACKPACK INSTEAD.

From the relative quiet of Hum Hong area in Kowloon, we transferred to Wan Chai to switch hotels. Though we were very much satisfied with our stay at Hotel Sav Hong Kong, We wanted a much more happening place. And Wan Chai area, part of the larger Wan Chai District, fits the bill perfectly.

► CHECK OUT: HONG KONG TRAM TOUR

We were almost lost. There were signs all around, lighted and glittering against the cold Hong Kong evening, but they were in a language foreign to us. They were all in Chinese, but we weren’t all that worried, we chose this path—we wanted to get lost. We chose to forget about Disneyland and Ocean Park, this is indeed what we wanted, to be greeted by the raw Hong Kong streets, congested, crazy, incomprehensible.

QUICK WALK ALONG HUM HONG’S RESIDENTIAL AREA

Our day started off by getting on a bus from Hotel Sav in Hum Hong, an area on the Kowloon District. We crossed Victoria Harbour below ground, alighted at the chaos that is Wan Chai and dropped our bags at Cosmo Hotel. From there, free of our luggage, we walked with no particular destination in mind.

A friend said that beer is expensive in Hong Kong. But there we were, past midnight, at Hum Hong's wide sidewalks, outside Hotel SAV'S posh lobby—where I was amazed to find iMacs for guests sitting on a table with no security manning it and no door lock, I mean, you just cannot do that in the Philippines—chugging out one can of beer after another. We found a 7-Eleven right beside the hotel selling Tsingtao at buy-one-take-one prices.

HONG KONG FROM THE PLANE WINDOW

It was our first night in the country. Yes, I still consider Hong Kong a country separate from mainland China. I guess, its people too, judging from the recent Umbrella Revolution sit-in uprising. But I digress. I was just in town exactly a week ago for Star Cruises Guangzhou – Hong Kong cruise, this time though, I would be staying for more than four hours in Hong Kong.

► SEE: HONG KONG DIY WALKING TOUR

Even though I wasn’t too keen on visiting Hong Kong, you can’t put it on me for not trying. I’ve already booked two tickets to this world city northwest of the Philippines twice before in previous years but was thwarted by circumstances each time. I gave up afterwards, thinking it really wasn’t worth it. But somehow, this year, my feet, or more precisely, the cruise ship I was on—Star Cruises’ SuperStar Virgo, docked right in the middle on two of its main islands—right in the center of where it’s all happening.

Lights blazed from the horizon. Pulsating. Alive. Vibrant. It washed the waters of the channel below in neon and pierced the low soft clouds hovering just above the tallest skyscrapers. I was standing on the top deck of a cruise ship as it slowly pushed its massive hull across the waters of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor. I took a sip of a Blue Girl beer straight from its bottle and stared at the shimmering skyline.

I was totally mesmerized.