wow Ralph .. which hotel? so i know to call if i ever in the same situation .. lol i usually leave big tip at restaurants and all services .. i just don't shop .. not into it. i hate carrying stuffs back to the states .. except FOOOOOOOODDDDD .. lol ..
It was the Hotel Concourse, not the best but it was livable and clean. The "larger" room (even with the upgrade) was about average sized, so I would hate to have seen the regular room. However, it is right in the middle of Mong Kok, where there is just about everything you would need or want in HK. From there, you can MTR or cab it. http://www.travelpod.com/hotel/Concourse-Hong_Kong.html The following year though we didn't plan to stay with any relatives and instead pre-booked the entire month at the Royal Plaza. It was a lot more expensive, but was worth it as it had a great outdoor pool, a full sized mall, shopping center, theater, and a central bus, taxi terminal on the other side of the block; underground was a rail station. Shit, I didn't want to leave, LOL... http://www.royalplaza.com.hk/ Ralph Jr & Little Ralphie enjoying the pool View from the window, not much to look at as we faced the back of the building, but I think the room was slightly cheaper because of it. Pic is computer stitched panoramic. Seriously? You're suggesting that he spends what precious few hours he has in between flights to hike around 大嶼山? Er... No offense, but that would not be on my list of things to do, if I were in his shoes... -rolleyes Obviously, from the tone of his question, he's someone who doesn't know HK at all. He needs to be able to do something quick and easy, then back on the plane. The suggestions for little side trips to out of the way areas may sound good on paper but would probably not be so easy to execute and get minimal return for the amount of time spent. If I were him, I would probably go to East Tsim, Mong Kok, etc, do some light shopping for personal items and souvenirs, have a meal, take a few pics, then head back with an hour or two to spare. There really isn't much time to waste exploring all of HK. -detect Shame though, just talking about it is giving me the urge to go again, LOL... -^_^
hehe well we don't knowwhat he may like, some people might like to see 大嶼山 and have those vegetarian food up there lol thing is tho if he doesn't really know HK at all why send him so far like Mong Kwok and East Tsim? im not quite sure if they are on the same train/MTR line, it would have been safer and guaranteeing for him to places that is in the same train line. Maybe the OP should just spend most of his time going to Disneyland then hahaa, it's not far from the airport lol actually if he can't be bothered with HK he can try Macau xD
Macau? Even on the hydrofoil it would take approximately one hour each way, and that's not even counting terminal wait time, LOL... Disney? That's another spend the day type of place. Nah... I think his best options are to take the train to Central (since he'd asked about it) do what he needs to do there, then hop a cab to East Tsim, do a few things, hop another cab to Mong Kok, do a few things, etc, and then hop another cab back to the airport.
i like how u don't mention other means of public transport apart from cabs sometimes it is quicker to catch the train than a cab especially from places like Central and Mon Kok where there's A LOT of people and traffic i guess that's true but everyone is different i guess... but for me i would just pop down to Yuen Long and visit my family and go and get my Wife Biscuits and back to the airport
No offense, but I suspect that you're only suggesting taking HK's mass transit because you happen to be very familiar with it. Likewise, if that was I who was doing that, then I would take the MTR cross harbor without a doubt. But therein lies a problem, if you got off a plane right now, and was told to take the underground rail system of, say... Milwaukee, or Cleveland, or Seoul (or any city that you're not familiar with), because it's faster; what would you say? Like da-uh? What? Where's the station, what line do I take, how much is the fare, how do I pay, which escalator is the right one, etc. Then all of a sudden it's not so easy anymore, is it? versus... "Taxi...!!" So which one is really quicker and hassle free?
i know taxi is really hassle free but you can get mugged off even with those who knows Hong Kong themselves. i can't say i know Hong Kong with the back of my hands but having the basic knowledge on how to read a tourist attraction leaflet with directions via taking train/bus is not too hard isn't it? just presuming the OP is very smart and intelligent and knows how to read a map. let's be honest Hong Kong's rail map is a lot more simpler than UK's underground system.. (im not too sure about the US) but certainly a lot cleaner to read. referring back to the tourist attraction leaflet i just mentioned you can grab them on the hallway as you walk out of the plane and funnily enough there are english brouchures and the fact that HK has english road names and station names which makes life a bit more easier to those who can't read chinese -innocent2 maybe i should have put this idea forward instead and let him decide for himself lol if you want to preplan on what you wanna do you might as well go http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/ and see where you fancy on going then research on how to get there, i think that worked for my sister's friends, they knew what they wanted to do more than what i wanted to do when we went to HK together i have totally gone off the topic -noclue
Frankly, I find even $150 per night, per room to be fairly expensive. If you look around, a fair or average price of about $100 (or even lower) per night can be found. But again, it's subject to seasonal pressures with certain times of year being booked solid even if you're willing to pay an arm and a leg. :nuts: Additionally, there are some apartment complexes that are run hotel style, where you can rent a room or apartment for a minimum of a month. Generally, these are no frills, but clean and easy to get to, with a small front security desk. Usually there is daily room clean up but no other type of hotel service. If you don't know anyone in HK to check around for you, try asking a travel agent. See Below: LOL...
you don't necessarily need a lot of money because: 1.if you have family over there as you can always stay at their place which saves you a lot on accommodation 2.find very cheap tickets now for like £300 which isn't too bad you know, i remembered it used to be like £700 minimum 3.if you have already saved up like £1000 should last you as you don't always go out and buy things, just enough money to buy food, top up the oyster card for travel, visiting some places and buying some soveneirs (my sister somehow done it this year) 4.also if you have cousins or relatives there, they sometimes pay for some of your food when they take you out for lunch or dinner hahaa 5. cna always take out a loan xD
1. I don't have any families over there. They all in the UK. 2. Thats true they are pretty cheap 3. But I heard the exchange rates is pretty poor compared to years ago 4. again, all cousins in the UK 5. I already have a student loan from going uni. (Its at £16k) I do not wish to incur any more loans I have thought about working there as I have the ROA, but I don't know what the job prospect is like over there. Plus I heard you need to know Chinese Read and writing
sucks man, not even any of your family have a holiday home in HK? very true about the exchange, the highest i remembered reached to 1 - 16, and now its like 12.2, only lost 4 dollars if you think about it but then if you exchange it in large amounts i guess it is bigger loss lol gov. loan can be paid at smaller amounts per month whereas bank loans are a loit more for job prospects over there? depends what job you are going to? if you are going for a very high paid jobs then it shouldn't be too bad but getting a place to live out there is like 10x more than over here in england. chinese. tbh language can be learnt easily once you are being put in front of the writings you can gradually be able to read it im jsut lucky that my dad forced me to go to chinese community centers every saturday to learn chinese so i can think about going to HK if i want to
@ ralph ... when's the best time to hit hk w/ family?? i don't care about amenities at hotel since i don't use them anyway but cleanliness and safety are absolute. i thought hotel has hotel apartment within for longer stay customer, isn't it? @ gwain .. what's roa??
My family did have holidays there before, but it was a ages ago. I have thought about what type of job, but I just don't know what I can do over there. High paid jobs will be very hard to come by. I am sure there are cheap motels over there. Last time I looked there are some places only HKD 2,500 to 3,500 per month. Your so lucky to know Chinese reading + writing, Mine is just sucky.... I find it so difficult to understand. Right of Abode, which is basically residency status
i remember chinese writings as pictures and if you remember what the pictures look like you will be fine it is cheap fore the rent but it depends who and where your cheap motel is tho if you are to look for a high paid job in HK is like managerial positions, not necessarily directors and executives i mean like a small firm's department manager or something like
But theres just toooooo many of them and plus some of them are ugly , so even adding more to the difficulty.... Those job positions are out of my skill level. I doubt I can do those... But I do believe they are high earning
The best time? That depends; I know that's a lousy non answer but a lot rides on who you are, your situation relative to HK, and what you're looking for. That said, the worst time to go to HK is Chinese New Years, and I'll qualify that; unless you have relatives living in HK to spend time with, there is a lot less to do there. This is because many small stores, mini-mall outlets, street vendors, et cetera, have closed and gone home (to whatever village in China they came from) to celebrate New Years with their family back in their ancestral home. Some places (except for the large stores) may close for a week or sometimes even more. So the street ambiance is skewed, there's lots of "celebration" going on, but unless you're Chinese and have relatives there, it would seem like you're standing outside a party watching everyone else have fun, but didn't get invited. Further, as a lot of overseas Chinese also go home to HK for the New Years, flights are usually booked solid and it will be hard to get a seat unless you do so ahead of time. Another funny time is Christmas. HK retailers have long learned to incorporate this western religious holiday as a commercial imperative, so you'll see all the trappings of Christmas around that time of year. A secondary issue is the heat. The summer, especially late July through August is notoriously hot, hot, hot... with generally > 80% humidity all the time. To complicate matters, summers is also the rainy (aka typhoon) season. I've seen it go from sunny bright hot and humid to dark as midnight deluge in a sudden matter of two minutes. I mean if I had a bar of soap, I could have literally stood out there and taken myself a shower, LOL... As for hotels offering apartments; most hotels offer standard rooms, and the multi-room (separate bedroom, living room, kitchen, etc) type quarters are usually referred to as suites. A lot of the hotels there will also have long term rates, a small drop from their regular per diem rates. The savings is there, but is still not anywhere close to being as cheap as the no frills hotel style monthly rental apartments. In essence, if safety and cleanliness are an absolute and only concern, then the usual four or five star hotel is by far your best choice, as they have personnel manning the desk and doors at all hours, security patrols, camera systems, with maintenance personnel etc. And, they're generally located on a good street with easy well lit access for both pedestrians and vehicles, and have access to a hotel doctor if you need emergency medical assistance. Some of the long term hotel style buildings may be located in industrial areas (that is, some were probably old factories that were bought out and then converted into apartments). At night, these places may seem out of the way, hard to get to via public transport (requiring a taxi if you return or go out late) and may not be as pedestrian safe for strolling, or to run out for a late night snack. Another issue is that some of these areas may have little in the way of commercial enterprise (ie no shops, food outlets, etc) or may shutter up after the factory workers (their main clientele) goes home. However, not all of them are as bad as that; I'm just illustrating some extreme examples so that you're aware of potential pitfalls, and not be rudely surprised and be unhappy with what you got. It's best to find out these things before you get there.
