Best Activities for Day Off in Hong Kong

After long months, weeks or even days of working hard to be the best housekeeper and nanny your employer needs you to be, you finally get a day off and you’re so excited, but you have no idea what to do with that day. As required by law, you are entitled 1 rest day in every period of 7 days and at least 7 days of annual leave per year. Here’s a few tips on how you can go out there and enjoy a day off in the city where you live and work.

TEN OF THE BEST ACTIVITIES TO ENGAGE IN DURING BREAK PERIOD

Everybody looks forward to a day off from work. Regardless of how you much you love your job, you still need some time to rest or enjoy yourself without thinking of chores.

1. Get enough rest during your day off

The great statesman, Benjamin Franklin, wrote, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." What is "early"? going to bed the night before at an hour that is appropriate for you is necessary. What hour would that be? That will be different for everyone. Some need 8 hours of sleep, whereas, others need only 6. It is also relative depending on the time we need to get up each morning. If we awake earlier than most than we should go to bed earlier than most. Regardless of the time, when we get sufficient rest we wake refreshed and clear headed. Sufficient rest is conducive to a positive attitude which, in turn, helps start our day off great.

2. Time with Family and Friends

The Hong Kong’s statue square or Victoria Park are a famous venue where thousands of Indonesian and Philippine domestic workers assemble to relate with one another. The venue is just the perfect place to go with the family to have a nice picnic, eat some snacks, meet new friends to play cards with and some groups just have fun styling one another’s hair.

Having people to laugh and share work experiences with is a fruitful and refreshing way to spend a day-off from being a domestic helper. You get the chance to also catch up with family members you haven’t been in touch with for ages and know how your family and friends are doing. Everybody requires these things to ease the stress brought about from work, but and domestic helpers even need this more. Biologically, even a short conversation is all you need to release those hormones you need to relax the spirit and mind.

3. Eating with family and friends

The typical Filipino encourages reciprocated dependence which is why most Filipino clans have strong family relationships, valued friendships, and spending valuable time with loved ones. On your day-off from work gathering together with fellow colleagues, friends and family to eat out is always a joyful option. Having various home cooked meals to share with loved ones is an excellent activity to include in your day out plans. If you like BBQ, a lot of places (Shek O Beach, Deep Water bay...) are available to share a good moment with your friends. Here are some of the best places for BBQ in Hong Kong.

4. Capture the moments

Photography is how humans capture amazing moments in life. Previously, when we see amazing moments we just savor them and let them go, but not these days. With the camera technology available even on phones, there would be no better time to put it to work than on your day-off from domestic helping. Spending time with your family will present you with loads of moments you might want to capture. Sometimes the food might look too good, or the laughter in the faces of everyone might be too beautiful to let go, just capture anything that counts on your day off. Instagram is probably the best application to share your best photos! If you have few minutes, visit our our Instagram.

5. Collecting and Read Books

Reading is always an enriching chore and would be one productive way for a domestic helper to spend a day off. Of course, it will be boring if you had to go back to read old books. Within gatherings, you’ll find colleagues, friends and family members with books and are willing to lend them in or even do an exchange. On your day off, you can go ahead and read all the books you have collected overtime. Pick an interesting read though, maybe romance or crime, you don’t want to bore yourself on a rare day off.

6. Singing and dancing

We all love music and dancing, even though we can’t all dance and sing equally. On a rare day off, you can drag your family and friends along to parks, maybe Victoria Park and have some karaoke on the menu. Come along with the pianos and guitars and enjoy a live band session while busting moves to the tunes.

 

7. Meditate

Who says you must spend all day-offs bubbling and fun seeking? Seeking the quiet is also a very admirable way of spending your one-day holiday. The Hong Kong Filipino Baptist Church just in Central Hong Kong is one place you could go to meditate and pray. The Union Church along Kennedy road and the Causeway Bay Baptist Filipino International Fellowship along Electric road are great churches where you can meet and meditate with many Filipinos, friends, colleagues and you know the rest.

8. Cooking

Doing large scale cooking for family and friends is an enjoyable way to get friends and family around to have fun together on your day off. Here’s a few recipes you might want to consider if you need help: Lechon Kawali Recipe (Pan-Roasted Pork), Tinolang Manok or Nilagang Manok, Filipino Chicken Curry Recipe, Nilagang Baboy (Boiled Pork with Vegetables), Pinakbet or Pakbet (Meat Vegetable Stew with Shrimp Paste), Embutido Recipe (Filipino Style Meatloaf), Humba Recipe (Braised Pork Belly with Sugar) and Lumpia Recipe (Lumpia Shanghai).

9. A Cheerful Walk

After long hours working hard, a cheerful walk around Hong Kong Park, Central Park or Victoria Park might be what you need to recharge your moral before work returns. It’s okay to walk and read a book at the park, or maybe walk for a bit then read for a bit. Hong Kong also offers a lot of possibilities for hikers. If you want to know all the Hong Kong trails, you can visit Trail Information Website.

10. Best Filipino and Indonesian Restaurants

If you are feeling a little like spending some money here’s a list of the best Filipino restaurant you can visit: Dabarkadz Filipino Restaurant, Foodtrip Bedana’s Filipino Restaurant, Cinta-J Restaurant & Lounge and Lab Eat Restaurant & Bar. For Indonesian restaurants, let's to go to Warung Malang, Potato Head or Cinta-J restaurant & lounge. There you go, you are all set now for a quality day off from work.