The Hong Kong Tourism Board and Animax Asia played host to nine exceptional cosplayers and bloggers selected to take part in the Hong Kong Halloween Treats Weekend. The special three-day, two-night event happened last 29th October to 31st October 2010, with the Hong Kong Halloween Treats Party taking place on 30th October at the Harbor City Activity Center in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui district.

The international delegation that participated in the event was composed of two cosplayers each from Singapore (Hiyuki and Jason) and Thailand (Jiaki and Yuki), one cosplayer each from Malaysia (Jamie) and the Philippines (Jerry), plus one blogger each from Singapore (Kaika), Malaysia (Jian), and the Philippines. I was fortunate enough to be picked as the winning blogger for the Philippines, and I feel so honored and humbled that I was once again chosen to represent the country in a prestigious international event.

      

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As delegates flew into the territory for the first day of the weekend, we were immediately treated to some of Hong Kong’s biggest and brightest tourist attractions. HKTB and Animax made arrangements to send the Singaporean and Thai teams to Ocean Park, and the Malaysian and Philippine teams to Hong Kong Disneyland. Tickets were provided but not transport, however that proved to be no problem as Hong Kong’s organized network of public transport systems was convenient and easy to navigate.

This was my third time to visit Hong Kong Disneyland, but it was every bit as fun as it was the first time. Upon reaching the park, we tried to get on as many rides as we could before the park closed for the night (note: HK Disneyland changes its closing times depending on the season; please confirm with the monthly park calendar for details).

      

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We managed to get on the Astro Blasters, the Mad Hatter Tea Cups, It’s a Small World, Mickey’s PhilharMagic and the Fantasyland Railroad. We just missed the last show at Festival of the Lion King since we didn’t realized that the feature closed its doors at around five in the afternoon (again, check with the official website for show schedules).

We did however have a go at the park’s special Halloween attraction, Main Street Haunted Hotel. A walk-through adventure in the haunted remains of a ghostly hotel, it features dark hallways, trap doors, creaking furniture, and costumed actors chasing after you — it was personally more hilarious than scary for me, and I had a great time inside.

      

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What would Disneyland be without its night-time parade, light show, and fireworks?! For Halloween, Snow White’s Castle was bathed in a eerie purple glow as ghouls and goblins frolicked along Main Street. Jack Skellington descended on park guests aloft a giant Jack O’ Lantern, while Maleficent held court over other infamous Disney villains from her dark tower. Mickey and friends rounded out the parade riding a three-masted ship and dressed to the nines in Pirates of the Caribbean style.

Halloween is a particularly fantastic time to visit the park for several reasons: 1) the cool autumn weather is so much nicer than the blazing heat of the summer sun; 2) I just love their Halloween attractions — like last year’s Jack Skellington feature and this year’s Maleficent special; 3) the park allows guests to come in costume only during the Halloween season — which is great if you plan to come as characters from a particular Disney-Square Enix game (restrictions apply on handheld props like keyblades, however).

Continued in Day 2.

Thank you very much to Animax and the Hong Kong Tourism Board for asking magnetic-rose.net to participate in the Hong Kong Halloween Treats Weekend.