Off to Hong Kong for two weeks tomorrow
- Thread starter Intellivision
- Start date
Nope. Just to relax. My bro and his fam are going too. They've been there before ages ago, but for me a first time. I have my list of touristy things to do checking out various travel sites. We're likely going to check out Macao for all the gambling too. lol
I'm not leaving until tomorrow late night.
I'm not leaving until tomorrow late night.
Ha Ha Ha! Maybe I should head over to TXB and dig up a thread with one of his silly pics of himself. Memorize the pic and if I ever see that guy walking around, I'll make sure to do the sharpest turn right into the nearest store and duck for cover.
If he ever approached me, I'm not even sure what to expect. Chinese, Engrish or good ol' American English from the US of A. The options are creepy.
It's a great city and I had a lot of fun. I was there a few months ago.
If you wanna be real gangsta you should try staying at the chungking mansions. It's full of shady looking people, but it's a very cool and unique place. You can buy all sorts of third party junk there too. Beware of hustlers. they will grab your bags and pull you into the gate and tell you can pay later. Don't do that. scammers. But chungkung has the cheapest prices. Just don't believe that any of the 30+ so hostels inside are actually "canadian friendly hostel". Most of them are owned by illegal immigrants from Somalia and Philippines.
There is a big amusement park called Ocean Park. It was fun. Maybe it wasn't the biggest by american standards but I liked the mixture of water attractions, nature park and amusement rides. The food inside is terrible though;D I didn't get to see the Pandas, but supposedly they are better to watch in Ocean Park than in Macau, but I can't confirm this.
There is a few amazing restaurants in Hong Kong. I went to an amazing Japanese Ramen shop in central that I can recommend. It's not far from the IFC mall, which is a really awesome mall. It has a good upper floor view from an open pavillion.
Speaking of central, rememeber to see the harbor with the oldest ferry (in the world i think). Starferry! It's really a sight to behold watching the bay at night.
The statue of Bruce Lee and the avenue of stars is fun if your a movie buff. Mostly asian actors but I recognized a few name plates - Donnie Yen, Bruce, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Chow-Yun-Fat and lots of others.
Supposedly Hong Kong is the nr. 1 shopping mekka in the world. Endless malls. They have a world trade center in honor of 9/11 though it doesn't look anything like it.
I thought the most interesting shopping was at mongkong. It a massive compilation of fake designer stuff. You're walking through the tents having to barter with everyone. It's hilarious that you barter the price down to 1/10 of what they wanted to charge for it, and then you open it when you get home and the item is broken. They are vicious at ripping you off.
Best view I saw from the entire city was taking the train to the peak. it overlooks the city. Again, watching this at night. it can't be beaten. Hong Kong is geographically not a big city but it's a very vertical city. you will see tall but very slim worn down skyscrapers. it looks like hundreds of third world dumpsters aligned on top of each other, towering right next to crazy Trony Legacy-like structures with LED lights enough to give you seizures.
If you decide to venture into Shenzhen (30 minutes train ride to mainland china) beware of the visa complications. you might not be allowed to get back into hong kong. Macau is safe though. you can freely go and leave as you will. If you decide to go to Macau I heard the famous Portuguese cathedral is amazing.
I really enjoyed Hong Kong. You get the Cantonese way of life, but a lot of people speak english. you can read the signs, order the meals and find your way decently enough. It's very expensive though. hotel rooms can flucturate between as much as 500-2000 dollars every day because of the rich China mainlanders coming in on vacation. It boosts the prices of everything in HK because the Chinese spend all their money there.
The science museum is supposed to be a blast there as well. I didn't try that though.
If you wanna be real gangsta you should try staying at the chungking mansions. It's full of shady looking people, but it's a very cool and unique place. You can buy all sorts of third party junk there too. Beware of hustlers. they will grab your bags and pull you into the gate and tell you can pay later. Don't do that. scammers. But chungkung has the cheapest prices. Just don't believe that any of the 30+ so hostels inside are actually "canadian friendly hostel". Most of them are owned by illegal immigrants from Somalia and Philippines.
There is a big amusement park called Ocean Park. It was fun. Maybe it wasn't the biggest by american standards but I liked the mixture of water attractions, nature park and amusement rides. The food inside is terrible though;D I didn't get to see the Pandas, but supposedly they are better to watch in Ocean Park than in Macau, but I can't confirm this.
There is a few amazing restaurants in Hong Kong. I went to an amazing Japanese Ramen shop in central that I can recommend. It's not far from the IFC mall, which is a really awesome mall. It has a good upper floor view from an open pavillion.
Speaking of central, rememeber to see the harbor with the oldest ferry (in the world i think). Starferry! It's really a sight to behold watching the bay at night.
The statue of Bruce Lee and the avenue of stars is fun if your a movie buff. Mostly asian actors but I recognized a few name plates - Donnie Yen, Bruce, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Chow-Yun-Fat and lots of others.
Supposedly Hong Kong is the nr. 1 shopping mekka in the world. Endless malls. They have a world trade center in honor of 9/11 though it doesn't look anything like it.
I thought the most interesting shopping was at mongkong. It a massive compilation of fake designer stuff. You're walking through the tents having to barter with everyone. It's hilarious that you barter the price down to 1/10 of what they wanted to charge for it, and then you open it when you get home and the item is broken. They are vicious at ripping you off.
Best view I saw from the entire city was taking the train to the peak. it overlooks the city. Again, watching this at night. it can't be beaten. Hong Kong is geographically not a big city but it's a very vertical city. you will see tall but very slim worn down skyscrapers. it looks like hundreds of third world dumpsters aligned on top of each other, towering right next to crazy Trony Legacy-like structures with LED lights enough to give you seizures.
If you decide to venture into Shenzhen (30 minutes train ride to mainland china) beware of the visa complications. you might not be allowed to get back into hong kong. Macau is safe though. you can freely go and leave as you will. If you decide to go to Macau I heard the famous Portuguese cathedral is amazing.
I really enjoyed Hong Kong. You get the Cantonese way of life, but a lot of people speak english. you can read the signs, order the meals and find your way decently enough. It's very expensive though. hotel rooms can flucturate between as much as 500-2000 dollars every day because of the rich China mainlanders coming in on vacation. It boosts the prices of everything in HK because the Chinese spend all their money there.
The science museum is supposed to be a blast there as well. I didn't try that though.
Thanks Fish food. On my list of stuff I found on the web, I have most of those things written down too! Can't wait to check out the crazy markets and peddler kiosks!