After a week in HK ,and getting ready to leave today , i thought i would give my experience from this trip. Last time i was here was almost 30 years ago. This was before the internet and cell phones being common .
Last time i arrived at the old Kai Tak airport . This time at the new one . This one is so much bigger and organized with everything you need from food to sim cards . Also has many ways to get into HK island or Kowloon . I took the bus as i wanted to see the place and it was the least expensive. train or taxi is available at more cost . the new airport is way further than the old one .
I decided to stay on HK Island , Wan Chai to be specific . in the past I would stay in Kowloon side , but its more hectic over there . it really does not matter as the mass transit is some of the best in the world. You can get basically anywhere these days and its full of holes for the trains . Most everything govt is in English so its not hard to navigate around . One thing i found is google and apple maps don't work well at all here . Must be all the tall building and the signal bouncing off of them .
Hong Kong is well known as a food heaven . I went to many places that were shown on you tube channels and many local ones . I was expecting a life altering experience , but alas i would be disappointed . The food was nothing i could not get in my area or anything large city with a good sized Chinese community. I went to a place name oi man sung which was supposed to be the best Dai PaI Dong and featured many times on youtube. Was mediocre at best . Even the roast goose was only so so and was not worth the cost over duck to me . it may be my standards for Chinese food is a lot higher than the average tourist .
People , OMG the amount of people . people and lines almost everywhere . i was here over the Easter holiday, and supposedly half of the HK folks went to China or somewhere else for the holiday . Still was a lot of folks . Can't imagine a regular weekend . HK has always been an international city ,and i saw my share of foreigner's and was listening to the languages spoken . Lots of Mandarin as HK is still a big tourist destination for mainland Chinese these days . Lots of french also . i have read that there is a huge french expat community here now . I heard some American English , but it seemed to be spoken by young persons of Chinese decent . smattering of aussie , brit Portuguese .
Most folks , especially the younger ones and tourist areas speak english . The big chains usually have an English menu , but the mom and pops it 50/50 on if they speak english or have an english menu. You should though be prepared for the curtness and no nonsense way they act and speak . to HK folks efficiency is number one and not much small talk . Eat and get out .
Almost all the tourist places like temple street and ladies street were a rip off IMHO. i could get most of the stuff cheaper off of amazon or at home . the food stall prices were crazy. I guess its why its called a tourist trap.
Cost . i paid $1450 for a week in HK which included the hotel rated 8.8 on Expedia from SEA It was close to the MTR and in a tourist area. Close is only relative though. Still had to was 2 blocks to get the subway . I found over all the cost of HK to be quite expensive . food etc at restaurants was close to what i pay in the states . Even the local joints were not cheap .
my friends tell me that HK folks head up to SZ across the border these days to eat and shop as its half price there . they also say the service there is a lot better and less rude then HK. Next time i come to asia i will go there for sure .
So was HK fun and worth it? it was ok as i got to see a lot of stuff i had not seen in along time . Things like the peak and stanley and central . be prepared to walk a lot and the humidity was oppressive to me , even at this time of the year . Can't imagine summer . Be prepared to spend a bit more compared to other places in Asia.
i am ready to head home as i am running out of things to do. LOL
Last time i arrived at the old Kai Tak airport . This time at the new one . This one is so much bigger and organized with everything you need from food to sim cards . Also has many ways to get into HK island or Kowloon . I took the bus as i wanted to see the place and it was the least expensive. train or taxi is available at more cost . the new airport is way further than the old one .
I decided to stay on HK Island , Wan Chai to be specific . in the past I would stay in Kowloon side , but its more hectic over there . it really does not matter as the mass transit is some of the best in the world. You can get basically anywhere these days and its full of holes for the trains . Most everything govt is in English so its not hard to navigate around . One thing i found is google and apple maps don't work well at all here . Must be all the tall building and the signal bouncing off of them .
Hong Kong is well known as a food heaven . I went to many places that were shown on you tube channels and many local ones . I was expecting a life altering experience , but alas i would be disappointed . The food was nothing i could not get in my area or anything large city with a good sized Chinese community. I went to a place name oi man sung which was supposed to be the best Dai PaI Dong and featured many times on youtube. Was mediocre at best . Even the roast goose was only so so and was not worth the cost over duck to me . it may be my standards for Chinese food is a lot higher than the average tourist .
People , OMG the amount of people . people and lines almost everywhere . i was here over the Easter holiday, and supposedly half of the HK folks went to China or somewhere else for the holiday . Still was a lot of folks . Can't imagine a regular weekend . HK has always been an international city ,and i saw my share of foreigner's and was listening to the languages spoken . Lots of Mandarin as HK is still a big tourist destination for mainland Chinese these days . Lots of french also . i have read that there is a huge french expat community here now . I heard some American English , but it seemed to be spoken by young persons of Chinese decent . smattering of aussie , brit Portuguese .
Most folks , especially the younger ones and tourist areas speak english . The big chains usually have an English menu , but the mom and pops it 50/50 on if they speak english or have an english menu. You should though be prepared for the curtness and no nonsense way they act and speak . to HK folks efficiency is number one and not much small talk . Eat and get out .
Almost all the tourist places like temple street and ladies street were a rip off IMHO. i could get most of the stuff cheaper off of amazon or at home . the food stall prices were crazy. I guess its why its called a tourist trap.
Cost . i paid $1450 for a week in HK which included the hotel rated 8.8 on Expedia from SEA It was close to the MTR and in a tourist area. Close is only relative though. Still had to was 2 blocks to get the subway . I found over all the cost of HK to be quite expensive . food etc at restaurants was close to what i pay in the states . Even the local joints were not cheap .
my friends tell me that HK folks head up to SZ across the border these days to eat and shop as its half price there . they also say the service there is a lot better and less rude then HK. Next time i come to asia i will go there for sure .
So was HK fun and worth it? it was ok as i got to see a lot of stuff i had not seen in along time . Things like the peak and stanley and central . be prepared to walk a lot and the humidity was oppressive to me , even at this time of the year . Can't imagine summer . Be prepared to spend a bit more compared to other places in Asia.
i am ready to head home as i am running out of things to do. LOL
