Hello all,

I know for a fact that we have a TON of HK heads in the house, so please help a total newbie out.

This trip may transpire in the next month and a half if we decided to go with a certain company for a work related business contract... I get to spend 2 days to myself, a Friday and Saturday where I can go and do anywhere my rental will take me... We might just do cabs, we're not sure yet. Quite a few of the guys I'm good friends with here are originally from HK but haven't been back in so long that they dont remember what is good or not in terms of visiting/tourism.

Can you guys recommend some sites to maybe see? Cool places to eat (I didn't say crazy!!!)? We're flying into the main airport and staying at a hotel about 5 miles outside the airport and will be traveling into the city during the day.

 

I'm not holding my breath for this one, but there's a chance that we're going to take a trip to Tokyo in February!!! I'm trying not to get my hopes up because this is something that might happen if something else happens (if we get a deal there, it will give us a chance to possibly go there). Hong Kong sounds cool and I've always wanted to go there (Out of all China, Hong Kong was on the top of my list), but Japan has always been a dream for me! Japan rocks and I've always had an admiration to the Japanese people/culture.

This is really exciting since I don't normally go over the Pacific when I travel, I go over the Atlantic, it's like going to two different worlds (Comparing Europe to Asia), well, from what I've seen at least it looks like two different worlds. I'm used to traveling in Europe but this is going to be totally different from what my Chinese friends tell me. I'm always up for a culture shock and new experience.

Hateroo, you near Tokyo? In Feb?

 

1stly, downtown is a 40min+ train ride away from the airport, there's nothing around the airport. Once you're in downtown, everything is close. Hopefully your hotel is 5 miles in between the airport and downtown, maybe in Kowloon. If it's in the opposite direction, you'll be hella far. Try to get something closer to/in downtown.

2nd, buy an "Octopus Card". It's a card that has an RFID in it that's accepted on all the public transportation, as well as alot of small shops like 7-11. Super convenient, public transportation is great. Getting around is easy, almost all the signs have english on them in case you can't read chinese characters.

Sham Shui Po (Golden Computer Arcade)- For kool cheap electronics (cheaper than japan), camera gear, etc. Could pick up some modded xbox/ps3/wii/DS stuff there too.



Tsim Sha Tsui- High end clothes shopping area, like NYC 5th Ave of HK.


Take the gondola up lan tao mountain to see the sights

Check out the beaches, they're nice- I went wake boarding for $100/person for 2 hours.

For nightlife, check out Lan Guay Feng. Lots of expats hang out there, so a lot of different nationalities go out drinking there. Better chance of meeting someone new that speaks english there.

If you want to gamble, Macau is the vegas of Asia, and is a 1hr ferry ride away. More sights to see during the day, at night the place is mostly just for gambling. 95% of the gambling areas are Baccarat tables, not too many slots/black jack/craps tables. Close to none of the fancy vegas games like let it ride.

 

Go up to Victoria Peak and check out the panoramic views of HK.

Go shopping at Times Square in Causeway Bay.

If you're gutsy, go to Mong Kok and check out where all the locals go.

If you're in Tsim Sha Tsui ("TST"), after shopping around the streets, you can do more shopping at Harbour City then take the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island.

Visit the outer islands like Lantau, Cheung Chau, etc.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head.

 

what's that one bar area? lots of foreigners and locals alike go drinking there. you should hit that up. lan kwai fong or something. it's PACKED on the weekends. it's a street on a hill with bars and clubs all along it.

there's also a kind of hollywood walk of stars or whatever with this cool statue of bruce lee.

as far as food, no idea. i just go where family goes. but it's all been excellent.
if you know someone there who has access to the country club, then their food is SUPER good.

 

Hahahahahaha.... ahem.

 

Lan Kwai Fong =)

Dan, there's a thread I made in the Asia section. I was looking for auto parts, you might want to check that out. This was like two months ago? I went to the Subaru Dealership there and picked up a Subaru Bear and some lanyards and a SWRT cap.

 

Some place to go would be Big Buddah on Lantau Island, HK History Museum, Jumbo Floating Resturant (It's a 4 floors resturant on a boat...I'M ON A BOAT!), Victoria Peak @ night (AWESOME!)

Oh and another thing, if you have the chance and room on your passport, take the ferry to Macau. There are casinos and historic Portuguese landmarks. If you're interested, go to the basement of the Grand Lisbon casino.

 

w00t! You guys rock!

 

I've been reading this amazing book called "lost on planet china". This guy who has a great writing style travels and lives in places then writes about them. So he doesn't really have any agenda ahead of time. In this book he wants to move his family to china so his wife tells him to go live there first. It talks about the horrors of china, but also about a few amazing places there. He said Hong Kong was really great, people were super nice and there wasn't as much of the busy bee can't look out for anyone else syndrom. It's a great read, and would probably give you some ideas of things to do there.


let me also say I lhad no desire to read this book what so ever. Nor would I ever pick a travel book without intent on traveling soon. But within a few pages I was hooked.

 

On another note, a few more places you might wanna check out:
- Stanley District
- Aberdeen Harbour
- Repulse Bay and Repulse Beach
- Lamma Island
- Central District (it's where Lan Kwai Fong is)
- Pacific Place, Admiralty
- Festival Walk

As for eating, if you want to err on the side of caution, the following chains are tasty Chinese food with a Western twist (or vice versa), and all are chains: Maxim's, Cafe de Coral, Fairwood Cafe, and Tai Ping Koon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim%27s_Catering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_de_Coral
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairwood_(restaurant)
http://www.taipingkoon.com/ehistory.html

Also, Yung Kee's roast goose is a must!
http://www.yungkee.com.hk/whatsnew/whatsnew-e.html

More to come if I boil anything else up

 

Owww, that looks perfect!


Although I do strongly disagree with some of the things the Chinese gov't has done in the past, that doesn't change my opinion of the people and their amazing culture. When I was around 9 years old I got really heavily into Bruce Lee, and I still admire him to this day for his work in bringing the Eastern and Western worlds together. A lot or people know Bruce Lee as a fighter, but he was much more then that and will forever be a positive icon in my life. I love the fact that China is so ancient, the amount of history and tradition dwarf our young country's past (USA). Through even the harshest times, the Chinese have always been resourceful and resilient, enough to overcome everything that was ever thrown their way.

I look forward to seeing China for the first time, and I can't believe I might actually get to finally see Hong Kong!

 

Note: things operate pretty differently in Hong Kong versus Mainland China, even in day-to-day life, due to HK's long history as a British colony and also due to their Special Administrative Region status. Be prepared for that.

 

Yeah, I am def expecting it.

 

better read that for real. from your paragraph above its perfect for you. He also of course points of a few other spots that are not just nice spots for china but some of the most majestic places in the world he claims, and it'd seem the guy would know given his travels. It also while not political speaks the guys mind about how the government has really ****ed the people over.