finally tasted HK lifestyle!!! it was great! weather was perfect when we were there. sunny but very cold. its march so expect to carry a few sweaters and thick clothes.
as for the ladies, i suggest you buy boots there!. boots with the fur as they say and my wife says its actually comfortable to wear them especially the place is cold. we bought a pair for a descent price of HK$ 80 at Argyle Center. other branded ones could fetch from HK$200 to HK$500 so just do the math.
i would like to share our experience so that those who will be going there for the first time will have enough knowledge for the do's and dont's. marked in red are important notes.
our budget for this trip was 50k pesos. we exchanged our money at
ALCO in raintree mall. first, i got hold of HK$ 1500 for our hostel payment and for the octopus cards. the rest of the money we converted it to USD.
dont convert your USD in the airport. we converted our USD in Mongkok and exchange rate was around 7.65 to 7.70. we booked our flight last october thru cebupac and the promo price for our flight days was 999. all in all we payed almost 7k plus tax and other charges for the fare to and fro. be prepared to pay travel tax in mactan. i think it was 1620 pesos per person plus another terminal fee of 550 pesos per person!!! i just dont know where all this money will go to as i see no improvement in MCIA the past years. HKs airport which is quadrauple or even more than the size of MCIA and with all its facilities, didnt even charge us any terminal fees when we took our flight back home! GRABE SA PILIPINAS!! kada lihok kwarta pirmi!!
i scouted for a good hostel for us to stay in.
i was able to get a hostel thru hostelbookers.com and its within Mongkok. the hostel name was Dragon Hostel. if you want shopping to be a priority, i suggest you stay in Mongkok and get this hostel. its in Argyle Road and its also right infront of the fa yuen (sneakers street), tung choi (ladies street), and sai yeung choi (electronics) streets!! the caretaker, Ate Yoly (pinay) was very helpful also with our stay answering our queries about HK.. our flight to hongkong was scheduled at 2235 (1035 PM) in the evening and ETA was 0015 (1215 AM) when we arrived, we headed straight to the immigration officer and got those maps for HK and MTR (subway). we tried to look for the MTR customer service for us to purchase the octopus cards but we were told it will open 530 AM!!
so for those arriving in dawn, be ready with some coins and HK$ bills so you can pay the bus fare in going to Mongkok or Tsim Sha Tsui. bus fare was at HK$23 each. since it was past midnight, we took the N21 bus (A21 if you arrive 6AM to !!PM) going to Mongkok and we stopped at the intersection of Nathan Road and Argyle Street. our hostel was just in walking distance and they (hostel) also provided us with some information on how to get to them thru email. we checked in, unpacked our bags and rested for a couple of hours since it was still early in the morning. we purchased our Ocean Park and Disneyland tickets at the hostel for HK$230 and HK$330 respectively. it was already discounted so we saved a few bucks.
we purchased our Octopus Cards at the Mongkok MTR station and we got them for HK$150 each for me and my wife. (the HK$150 octopus card has a HK$50 deposit so basically only HK$100 is the amount inside. but if you consume the HK$100, you can still use the card up to HK$35 so thats already minus the HK50 of your deposit. but take note you will only be able to use until HK$35 and beyond that you have to reload again. swipe that card once when getting on a bus. swipe the card upon entering a train station and swipe again upon exiting the station you disembarked. the card we had was enough for our 4 day stay in HK. places we went were ocean park, disneyland, tsim sha tsui area and going back to the airport on the last day.
in going to ocean park, we took the MTR bound for Central station but we disembarked at Admiralty station and then took the 629 bus that took us directly to the ocean park. going back is vice versa. you should not worry on getting lost. HK has a very efficient mode of transportation. as long as you have a map and knows how to read them then you will be fine. when seated in a train, offer your seat to the elderly or disabled. you wont stumble during the ride as their are handles to hold on to. dont push people in front of you when getting inside trains as the HK people dont push anyone when getting in. they are very well mannered people..
DONT TAKE YOUR FILIPINO MENTALITY OF "UNA-UNA SA LINYA", or running around the coach to take a seat.. we saw a Filipino couple (tourists as they had cameras with them) racing towards the vacant seat and laughing as if they won the race! MY GOD! Pinoy kaayo ug batasan! when taking escalators,
TAKE THE RIGHT SIDE if you are not in a hurry. people in a hurry take the left side and would just zoom by right beside you. folow traffic rules and regulations. if you feel you are really lost, then by no means ask anyone around. just dont ask from old people since they dont know much about english.
in going to Disneyland, we took the MTR going to Tsuen Wan and stopped at Lai King station. we transferred next to the Tung Chung line and disembarked at Sunny bay station. we transferred again to another line called Disneyland Resort and that train took us all the way to Disneyland. going back is vice versa also. its really easy! just have some common sense. we skipped the other attractions around HK because of time constraints. the available time we had was spent for shopping buying souvenirs and others. as for food, there are a lot of mcdonalds and KFCs around. for me, i cant suggest you eat their street food. they look ok but they dont smell good. we had breakfast at mcdonalds for HK$19 and that consists of coffee and their version of a breakfast cheeseburger. take note also that there are no rice meals in mcdo. we were also able to take lunch at mcdo with a bigmac meal (with fries and coke) for a promo price of HK$20 only. my wife ordered a 9 pcs chicken nuggets meal with fries and coke for HK$23. the price may be high compared here in cebu but keep in mind that their serving is also big. their fries and coke are in medium sizes already. and expect food in HK to be a little expensive than ours. we werent able to try KFC then. we bought bottled water at any 7/11 store. there are HK$7 or 8 or 10 hk dollar bottles and depends on the brands. evian is pretty expensive as we know. when it was time to get to the airport for our flight home, we took the A21 bus in going to the airport for a fare of HK$16. the bus stop is also a walking distance from our hostel. at the airport, we took the refund of 1 octopus card we had. we got only HK$25 out of the HK$50 since we were able to use part of the HK$35 supposed allowable excess for our bus trip plus a deduction of HK$7 since all cards used under 3 months will be deducted with this price after surrendering it. we kept the other for souvenir.
so basically thats it. when in HK, plan everything ahead.
if you want a budget shopping then Mongkok is your place. i got to buy a pair of rare shoes in sneakers street for $389. i had to buy it since i was looking for this pair for ages. my wife was able to buy some nice and decent clothes and bags in ladies street. i also scoured for some airsoft stuff in dundas street and its actually right over fa yuen (sneaker street) so everything is walking distance with all the shopping stores. for tech gadgets, then sai yeung choi street (parallel to ladies street) is the place. everything from cellphones to ipods and ipads are there.
for branded items, Tsim Sha Tsui is your place. everything from ferragamo, chanel, dior and to tiffanys, its there.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: most shops and other stores open at 1200 PM or 1230 PM and close till midnight so expect to waste half of your day in HK. just make the morning time to get some rest and plan your shopping before or after lunch. ocean park and disneyland opens at 10AM though.
ANOTHER NOTE WHEN HAGGLING PRICE: ask price first and dont touch the items or else they will force you to buy it. if they grab the item and give it to you,
DONT ACCEPT IT. my wife was a victim of this. she inquired about a bag and was priced at HK$450. it was indeed a good bag and more quality than the class A imitations we have here in cebu. the seller took the bag and when she received it, the seller forces her to buy the bag. even if she placed it back, the seller takes it away and places it inside a plastic bag for ours to purchase. we kept on insisting not to buy it but the more we insist, the seller somehow lowers the price from 350 to 300 and until it reaches to HK$150. well we thought the price was ok after that so we got the bag. but that was charged to our experience. most sellers here jack up their prices at first inquiry. after asking for a price from a stall and you find it expensive, slowly walk away from the stall BUT keep in mind they will call you back and give you a lesser price. always listen to what price they give you while walking away coz youll find it interesting as to how low the seller lowered his price from the first inquiry of price. go back and haggle more for a last of last prices. hehehe
i will answer your queries or other questions about hongkong but only up to the places and experiences we had. so for those going to HK, enjoy your trip.
different items at ladies street
football jerseys with shorts all you want (i find sellers here in cebu selling them at 1k each when in fact i was able to buy them in HK for only 300 pesos. hehe)
shirts and other souvenir items
motosports jackets
boots for the ladies
more bags and wallets
shops still closed and its already 11AM!
airsoft store in dundas street (this is the classic army store)
Re: Merged: Hong Kong
Originally Posted by gatecrasher
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