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In 24 hours, I will be in the air and on a plane headed to Hong Kong. The local time here in California, USA is currently 3:53 AM PST. I'm not too sure whether or not I should sleep now or just wait to sleep in the plane. I figure if I sleep now I should wake up after about 5 hours or so, that way, I can sleep alot on the plane. I believe we are supposed to arrive at 8AM Hong Kong time.
As far as what we are doing in HK goes, I have been left in the dark and haven't bothered to turn on my flashlight. Some could say that I don't much care for this vacation. For the most part, they would be right. By all means I do appreciate a trip to a country that I haven't been to since I was little, and I'm sure that my parents will be ecstatic for much of the trip. Perhaps my stoic personality is just taking over- Perhaps I am going crazy- Perhaps I am merely being dragged along in the most pleasant of ways. All of those could be true to some extent; but I do not dread this trip, nor do I crave it as I do ginger ale(which goes quite well with a spicy sausage of some sort).
The entire trip was conceived, planned, and funded by my parents for me, my brother, my brother's girlfriend, and themselves. The objective was to have a family trip before me and my brother leave the house for good. My brother and I are both in college, so it is quite likely that once we graduate, we won't be home for a long time. Personally, I don't really like my parents that much. I think that mainly has to do with my personality and less with their compulsive atypical behavior. Also, I don't really understand why we're paying for my brother's girlfriend to go along on this trip. I assume it's because they really hope they marry, or perhaps they don't want her to cheat on him while we would be gone. Nonetheless, I don't know if it's really justifiable to really think that especially if our family is to trust her in any way or form.
I'm hoping I can get some free time while I'm in HK and just do whatever I want at somepoint. So here is the bulk of my blog, which was really just devised as a clever inquiry into the depths of knowledge that is Team Liquid.
edit: wow my writing is really strange at 5 AM :D
questions
-What is there fun to do in HK? I will be staying in a hotel on 7 Metropolis Drive, Hung Hom, Kowloon. So anything near or within an hour or two's travel distance by maybe public transit would be acceptable. (sorry I know it is a very broad question, but I simply don't have much of any preconceived notion as to what to expect)
-Also, how can I access the free wireless internet? Starbucks? the government program?
-Would it be more expensive to buy a normal mp3 player such as a Sandisk Sansa in the USA or over in HK? I am aware that apple products could potentially be more expensive in certain countries.
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Electronics are usually much cheaper in Hong Kong. That is the depth of my knowledge (unless you want history).
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go mass shopping/eat/sing Karoke, and if ur leg gets super sore from walking alot, thats normal, o and just a small tip, go get some cream/ointment for mosquito bites, they can smell new fresh blood
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Well, first off, I think a holiday is what you make of it. If you don't enjoy hanging out too much with your family, you can find things to do on your own, or persuade your family to go along to things which you like. Coming from HK, I really do adore the place, there's plenty of exciting things to do.
For your first question, from your hotel, you can get to the ends of HK by public transit in 1.5 hours whichever way you go. Seeing that you are staying in Hung Hom, I think the most central attractions will be about half-an-hour to an hour's public transit, depending on what you would like to do.
Then comes the question of what you yourself would like to do. There are plenty of tourist attractions, if you like cultural things, loads of shopping if you fancy that, nightlife and food is amazing, or you can go have a try at an Asian-style internet cafe if you miss Starcraft. So point out which ones interest you, and I'll give more recommendations on that.
For free wireless internet, you won't be able to get that in Starbucks, you have to buy a pre-pay card for the wireless at Starbucks. However, the government has free-wifi around the town in many public areas, you just need to connect and accept the terms and conditions and you'll be free to go. The hot-spots are usually located in public parks or public libraries, so probably Kowloon Park might be the closest location for you. But beware, the weather is pretty hot. Internet cafes are pretty cheap, they cost about $1-2 per hour. If you just fancy a quick check of your e-mail, Pacific Coffee (another chain apart from Starbucks) has PCs for you to surf the internet free.
Electronics should be very cheap in HK, as they don't have VAT or anything. Check out the large chains such as Broadway or Fortress and you'll probably get a pretty good deal.
Any other questions just fire away.
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Hey! If you are prepared to travel a little I can show you around Wetland Park tomorrow (today?), which is Sunday. Are you Chinese? Anyway, if you are interested, drop me a PM and ill send you my phone number  I can show you around
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Its Hong Kong, go ride a ferry, go to the beach, go to the night marts and get amazingly good food, go shopping, things are cheap, spend your money on stuff that you will never have the opportunity to get outside of HK.
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Re: Electronics
My guess is that you can probably find it cheaper on sale in the US than HK. Look it up before you leave, and buy it there if it's cheaper?
I went to HK about three years ago with my GF, this blog might be of help to you:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=75892
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hmmmm well as far as what I like to do... I'm into artsy/cultural things (none of the post modern art though) and food certainly tickles my fancy (especially street food). In general, cool things to sketch would be ideal, although I am a bit like Hitler in that I can’t draw people and can only draw landscapes and such :D
Food- Where are the good street food vendors at? If there were only one restaurant in existence in all HK, which should it be?
Shopping areas- Do they still allow the counterfeit markets? Just curious. Also, for common items like a toothbrush or razor (not the mouse brand)where would a good place to go be?
And if there were just one thing for me to observe or do, what would that be?
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There's a huge electronics place at Sham Shui Po that sells all kinds of electronics. Forget the exact name but it's like Golden something I think. It's right outside the mtr station so it's not hard to find. Public transport is extremely convenient through the MTR and bus system. All the bars and clubs are at Lam Kwai Fong on HK Island so go check that out cause it's legit. If you don't wanna go clubbing then there's only really eating, shopping and macau at HK (not to say that's it's a bad thing). Good food is everywhere, try holes in the wall along with the street food cause it's delish (don't miss out on yu dan ho or curry fish balls). Shopping is everywhere but the big shopping malls is prolly ocean harbor at tst, new town plaza at sha tin or festival walk at kowloon tong. they're mainly rather higher class stuff so you'll have to go elsewhere for cheaper stuff. Plenty of good cheap stuff at like Mong Kok or just not in huge nice mall places. and make sure u go to macau just to check out the casinos and stuff cause it's pretty awesome
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Update: We have arrived safely, though everyone but me is jet lagged, this is because my individual TV didn't work on the 14 hour plane ride. As compensation, I was given a $50 voucher for Cathy Pacific... don't think it'll ever get used :\
Turns out I'm getting alot of free time. This afternoon I walked randomly in the general direction of the harbor. It was extremely foggy and was difficult to see across it to Hong Kong Island. Luckily, the fog has since dissipated and from our hotel we have a wonderful now. I'm excited to aimlessly walk around the shoreline. Maybe tomorrow night I will cross the harbor. I also saw a man holding a woman's bag, I mention this merely because I can relate in the way that he is being used by a woman :\ (tried uploading pictures, they were too big) Unfortunately, I've been walking for about 3-5 hours today and my legs feel like they are going to fall off.
Think I'll take a look at Sham Shui Po at somepoint sounds like a cool area.
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All I know is that in the UK electronics are considered much cheaper in the US than here, even when factoring in the conversion rate,
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Canada2433 Posts
Hey! I just came back from 2.5 weeks in Hong Kong.
First of all, the MTR is so damn convienient, and really easy to understand. Get an octopus card, it makes your life a hell of a lot easier. Octopus cards are pretty much cards(duh) that you put money on. You can use these to get onto the MTR, public busses, buy food MCdonalds, 7-11, and some other places. I think they cost like 50 HKD or something, I don't remember, but you can get one from the information desk at an MTR station.
Like others have said, you can get from one side of HK to another within an hour ( either by bus or MTR). But here are some things I recommend/enjoyed:
1) Cheap ass food. My god. You can get a full Mcdonald's meal for like ~4$ CAD/USD (33 HKD) or something. Try the GCB, or Spicy Mcchicken burger, they will blow your mind. ( They don't have that here in Canada). There are good fast food chinese places like Yoshinoya, or "MX". A meal there will probably cost around 40 HKD. ( ~5$ CAD/USD). Of course, there are other restaurants that are quite good, you just gotta test it for yourself. ( can't really make a recommendation since I just ate at random places and my chinese is terribad). As far as vendor food, It should be relatively safe, but I wouldn't try it right away cause it's super greasy and sometimes questionable. Try it after a few days of adjusting to HK food. The egg waffles and curry fish balls are my favorite. What else. hmm.. well cheap bubble tea and mango deserts are all worth a try.
2) CHEAP ARCADES. I spent 90 HKD at an arcade and got me 8 hours of play. lol. Good if you just wanna relax or waste some time. A good one is called "Virtual Zone" located in Telford Plaza 2, connected to the MTR station. Just MTR to Kowloon Bay and follow the signs. It's on the 6th floor. There's also Namco one in Causway bay. It's in the WTC, 5th or 6th floor.
3) Go to the Avenue of Stars at night (it's at Tsim Tsa Tsui) , pretty incredible view. There's a light show at 8 pm every night, but it kinda sucks lol. Around there are some museums I guess you could take a look, admission is free on tuesdays (or wednesday, i forgot).
4) Stanley/ Repulse Bay is pretty good too. You can take a bus straight there from the bus terminal in Central.
5) The cable car is worth checking out too. There's also an outlet mall nearby. The MTR station is Tung Chung.
6) Causeway Bay is like the shopping area of HK, so check that out too.
7) Mong Kok, there are streets of street vendors that sell you fake stuff and random stuff. You can bargain with them too cause they ask for some ridiculous prices for their stuff, especially if you're white.
8) Lan Kwai Fong is in central, and is pretty much an area full of bars and clubs. It's pretty sick. ( lots of white people, ballers with lambos etc etc)
9) Ocean Park is also worth checking out.
I was lucky that the weather was pretty good, but I hear it's starting to get super hot. Oh, and bring an umbrella with you too. It likes to rain randomly. If you have any questions, let me know, and i'll try to answer them. Hope you have fun!
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Computer City in WanChai is a HUGE building that is filled with electronics at a good price...I would totally recommend, especially since it is right outside the wanchai mtr exit
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The Peak at night is pretty awesome, the view is amazing when it isnt rainy or cloudy...
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Guys, the thread is over one year old, I don't think OP needs any more recommendation 
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EPT
