Things to do in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a autonomous territory of China (as is Macau).
7.2 million people. 44th largest economy in the world.
Residents have one of longest life expectancies in the world.

Recent timeline:
Hong Kong became a British colony in 1830s and remained under British control for a century until Japanese occupation during the second world war, British control resumed after the war, in 1997 Hong Kong become a special administrative region of China with a high degree of autonomy.

Hong Kong location

Hong Kong administrative area

Where things are in Hong Kong

Here's a range of activities to fill a weeks visit.

Centrally

Waterfront walk: Walk along Kowloon waterfront from Victoria Harbour for skyline views of Hong Kong island. It's flat, away from traffic and nice.This walk encompasses Walkway of the Stars, similar to avenue of the stars in Hollywood.

Kowloon heritage buildings: Opposite Victoria Harbour/the Space Museum is The Peninsula
Hotel, a grand colonial building with hi teas in decadent surroundings and pretty arcades of expensive shops. Next door is 1881 Heritage building, think Raffles Hotel in Singapore, a collection of up market dining experiences and shops.

Star Ferry: This runs between Kowloon near the above buildings and Hong Kong island, it's popular with tourists because it's easy to get to and central.

Symphony of Lights: A free nightly light and sound show at 8pm of the skyline of the island best viewed from Victoria Harbour.

Mid level escalators: Escalators that go through the centre of Hong Kong islands business district up towards Victoria Peak.

Victoria Peak: You can either walk up to the Peak from the escalators and the zoological gardens or take the Gondola. Views.

Theme parks

Ocean Park on the other side of Hong Kong island, Pandas and rides. $385 adult/ $193 child.
Disneyland on Lantau island by train. $539 day ticket ages 12 64.

Walks

The islands: Take the ferry near Central Ferry Piers on Hong Kong island to one of the islands; there are no cars on some of the islands which makes for nice walking.
Cheung Chau island has a mini China wall which is nice to walk along and a fishing village.
Lantau island has some good walks along its Southern side, accessible by ferry to Discovery Bay, Mui Wo, Shap Long Chung Hau.

Lion Rock in Kowloon offers a decent walk and good views, take the MTR to Wong Tai Sin
on red line. Steep sections.

This is a good blog about hiking in Hong Kong with each walk described with maps and pictures.
http://hikehongkong.blogspot.co.uk/

Further afield:

Day trip to Macau, ferries depart from its own pier to the left of Central piers on Hong Kong island and from Kowloon. Trip takes about an hour, HKD$320 return approx. Take passport.
Macau is famed for casinos, but there is plenty of Portuguese heritage buildings.

Getting to and from Hong Kong airport:

Taxi about $250 to Kowloon, $300+ to Hong Kong island.
Airport Express train $90 to Kowloon, $100 to Hong Kong island.
Bus A21 goes to Mong Kong, Kowloon and Hum Hong $33,
Bus E21 is more convenient if returning from Prince Edward area of Mong Kong, $21 due to A21 having a slightly different return route. The buses have the stops listed and next stop highlighted so you don't have to guess to where you are.

Buy an Octopus card from airport on arrival, can be bought next to where train departs or once through immigration. Tip- if staying up to 3 days there is a Tourist Octopus card that gives unlimited travel for 3 days. If more than 3 days just get a regular adult Octopus $150 which you have to load with credit, the card comes with $100 credit within the price. It can also be used as an Eftpos card to pay for things, so you may want to load it with more for the convenience of this.
For exact stops and nearby hotels for bus routes this is a useful website:

http://www.hongkong.net/transportation/to-from-airport/bus/a21

 

23 March. Back in the UK

Last evening in Hong Kong and I'm pleased to report I did not waste it, in the event it was easiest logistically to get the 30x bus from Nathan road to Whampoa Garden where Tim works and meet him there, so that's what I did. From there we walked along the water front which is a lot nicer on the Kowloon side to Victoria Harbour in time to see the Symphony of Lights at 8pm. I think this is one of the best things about Hong Kong and it's very endearing and cute, the cities marketing department puts on this amusing light and sound show every night with a kaleidoscope of lights from the skyscrapers set in time to music. After the light show we had dinner at a nice place that was down some stairs just off Nathan Road in Kowloon which opened up into quiet a cavern. It was good food, the meals came with a soup, fruit, a small salad and the main dish, by 10pm I was back at the hotel, said goodbye to Tim, it was wonderful to hang out with him these past days and I certainly have missed his company since he left New Zealand.

 

 

I was in bed shortly after 10 with 2 alarms set which of course I won't need as I always wake up 5mins before the set time anyway but they an insurance policy.  It was good to have gone out in the evening as I would have only endlessly faffed with the packing boiling down to the placement of some tiny inconsequential thing, so I was saved from that, I'll try and do this in the future.
By 6am I was up and checkout out and waiting by the E21 bus stop for the bus to the airport, the A21 I got from the airport goes a different route back. I'll put a general Hong Kong visitors guide up about Kong Kong soon for anyone blundering about the internet whose looking for the same information I've already found out, I find peoples blogs are often the best source of information as its people who have tried and tested something so its generally quite reliable.

By 7am I was at the airport even though the bus driver stopped at every stop except the passenger terminal so myself and another couple had to alight at one of the airport car parks before the speeding bus driver took us somewhere else. They were a nice couple on their way to Melbourne, the lady assured me not all drivers were like that! At check in I was relieved I did indeed have an isle seat, near the back of the plane so near the toilets and the bit of space need the back which is useful for stretching. Nothing much to report about the flight except it was endless and uncomfortable, I never find airline seats comfortable, my back starts hurting within the first hour and I don't recline them as its increases the pressure on the bottom of my back, instead I watched movies and documentaries.

It didn't take long to go through at the other end and coming into arrivals there was my dear brother waiting, how wonderful to be met at the airport.

The challenge now it to not get overwhelmed with the enormity of what lies ahead, whatever that is, where will I live, what will I do and how do I get there?



England

22 March. Last day in Hong Kong

In the morning I packed and made everything neat and tidy, checked out where the bus stop options are for tomorrow and then took the MTR into the city and to the end of Hong Kong island to Kennedy Town and walked back to Central station, it was a dull and boring walk with nothing to see. I then took the MTR back to the hotel again and bought something that would pass for lunch and had a nap. This evening a friend of Tim's in the couch surfing network has invited us to some ex pat talk in the city about whether the UK should stay in the EU or not, only by the time Tim finishes work and gets there, it will have finished and I'll also miss the Symphony of Lights show. I thought the light show was a bit later but I don't think I can be bothered to dress smartly when all my clothes are now packed just to miss a talk on something and miss the light show as well. Hmm, it sounded like a good idea at the time but initially we thought it was a later event and after my long boring walk I'm sleepy and uninspired and not in the mood for more traipsing round before a long boring flight.

Here are some photos of the boring walk for your viewing pleasure.




Kennedy Town



Witness the dullness




Back in Mong Kok near hotel

The weather has got colder and duller progressively here and it's about as bland as weather can be. Bright days and being colourful is something Australia does very well, I certainly miss it now most things are tones of pastel and grey.

I may just go see the lights, or fall asleep, one of those. Back in Blighty soon.

The Burmuda Triangle of Hong Kong

You can't get in or out of the triangle, La Prabelle - my last abode is in the triangle. If you are approaching the triangle from a distance it makes more sense because you can see the fly overs and orientate yourself better, but inside the triangle there are several flyovers and roads that look the same in all directions and as there are tall buildings all around, there is nothing else to orientate to as you might using a waterway or a hill or a bridge and so forth. It's also foggy and raining and at this close up level GPS is useless and also gets lost in the triangle. The only way to find the Prince Edward MTR is to head in one direction, this will be the wrong direction even though it looks correct on the map but you have to start somewhere, then try the opposite direction, this is also incorrect and then try going in circles and by chance an MTR entrance may make itself available so you can escape into, it was by this method I transported myself to Kowloon. I wasn't going far afield today as I had spent the morning checking buses to the airport that are of course in the triangle and then sorting out some flight issues because the travel agent had made a number of errors which I had to sort out if I wanted to actually get on the flight and so passed the morning until around 1pm.

Once in Kowloon everything was normal again navigation wise, I had a look around the posh areas, first The Peninsula hotel with a queue of middle aged Westerners waiting to have their expensive hi tea in Colonial style surroundings. Then a look down the fancy arcades inside selling jewels and watches, I looked at the watches in the window, most had lots of stones surrounding the face in gold or silver with a leather strap, there were no price tags but I'm guessing thousands. I preferred my watch, its has lots of stones surrounding an oval gold face and a slim black leather strap, its small and elegant and I bought it at Heathrow airport for 20 quid. I had my Audrey Hepburn trench coat on and a scarf with black trousers so I could pretend to be a posh rich person.

From there I walked down to the waterfront and along to where the Star Ferry goes and somehow I was consumed into a massive mall from which I couldn't escape as the options were up or down and not out, eventually I found an exit and crossed the road into a place called 1881 Heritage, a Raffles style splendid colonial building. Probably the prettiest building in Hong Kong, at least it has some real style, something which Hong Kong has precious little of.

 
 
 

Todays walk in Kowloon. It wasn't quite that bad in the mall it just felt like that because I was hungry and needed to get out away from all the silly pointless shops selling sparkly things and shiny bits and eat lunch somewhere reasonably priced.

The ground floor of 1881 Heritage had more expensive shops and Rolex watches, the upper bit in the building itself housed an expensive restaurant, where an appetiser cost $250HKD which is $50NZD or 22 pounds, of course if you actually want to feel like you've eaten something to dine there would probably cost $1000HKD which is stupid unless you have a silly amount of money and then its still stupid. I was hungry so I went to one of the cheap local eateries and got lunch for $40HKD about 3 pound 60/ $7NZD, that's better and I was actually full afterwards. I was still looking for a flipping adapter plug and found one just opposite the eatery.

I had a walk through Kowloon Park and then back on the MTR to Prince Edward MTR where once again I exited to the wrong exit and got lost in the triangle, it was pouring with rain, after eventually finding La Prabelle and after studying the map hard I decided to go find the nearest Starbucks in a mall nearby for a takeaway coffee, again I got lost and much circling around there and back I managed to acquire the coffee, whilst in the mall I saw every shop of which there were hundreds sold adapters and electronic bits and bobs. Come on now!

This is the most confusing area, I think even Bear Grylls and Ray Mears may struggle with navigation here, they would probably have to team up, they can't exactly use the stars as its fog all the time. I would advise anyone staying here to buy lots of buckets of paint and carry around one for each journey, and spill the paint on the ground like bread crumbs to mark your way back, although this will just end up as paint everywhere and will just add to the confusion. There is a market for a local guide for short walks, who will show you the way and then you can give them a few dollars and then they could wait for you and show you the way back, that would be excellent.



Trying to get back from MTR B2 exit, the GPS not accurate at this level and shows in various places so as represented by the yellow dots here. In this instance I thought I was at exit C2 and went left but I was one left to early which caused the confusion and trying to work out ones direction is very hard in the Triangle.

The Triangle. Here is a journey to Starbucks in a mall.

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Captains Log. Supplemental

After Tim finished work we met up for dinner and walked to a local eatery, there were no napkins and some of the dishes were hard to eat with just chop sticks, when we asked for a napkin they said they were $2 each. Wow. Another Gordon Ramsey moment, I could do a whole post on Gordon Ramsey moments which may be post trip digest blogs, it was so absurd we laughed but for goodness sake.
After dinner we went to a local supermarket of which everything is borderline actual food, most of it dried, coloured, in packets, the healthiest thing in a packet was probably the chocolate digestives I bought and there were at least some bananas so I got those for breakfast as the one biscuit and sugary drink 'grab and go' breakfast offered by the hotel isn't really a sustaining way to start the day. Most of the bars will be full of people smoking we took some Guinness to enjoy back at the hotel room and savour the view from the 24th floor. There was a lightning storm, we caught up on anything else we hadn't covered during the week covering the last 2 years since we saw each other. You can't beat a good long chat with an old friend, so glad I made this stopover.

I think I can say given the option I would prefer not to eat Chinese food, I used to love it as a kid as a treat but that was probably more out of novelty value. There are precious few vegetables involved, and if you do order something green which will be a Bok Choy sort of leafy green, it will be covered in a rich soy sauce anyway with some dubious sprinkled meat detracting any freshness you were hoping to gain from the greens. Everything is highly processed, in packets, dried, made on street corners next to fuming vehicles and spitting locals, a long way from the fresh produce of Australia. It's a high meat and carb diet, a popular cheap fast food place offers a long menu of mostly the same thing which is either pork and/or chicken on rice or noodles. I wonder how this limited diet affects the population long term, perhaps they get scurvy.





Hong Kong Island Hopping

Lots to get through today and I have to conserve laptop power until I can find a plug adapter. Today was Tim's day off and we had planned to go to Cheung Chau island. We took the MTR to central station and then walked on the overpasses to the main ferry piers to pier 5 to catch the ferry to Cheung Chau, the ferry took about an hour. We arrived and walked around the southern part of the island, crossing over the small isthmus to the beach on the other side of the harbour and then continuing along Mini China Wall with various rock formations along the way, it was also peaceful and quiet and away from people, it didn't take long to get around most of the island and get back to the main town bit where we had lunch. With still much day in front of us we decided to take the ferry across to Lantau island as there was a walk connecting 2 ferry terminals, so we arrived at one in Mui Wo and walked to the other one past a headland to catch the ferry again which goes back to Mui Wo and then onto Peng Chau island, so we thought why not as its on the way back to Hong Kong island. So after a pleasant costal walk and a few more ferry hops we arrived at Peng Chau which we noticed had another little island called Tai Lei connected by a causeway, so we walked to it, this counted as another island on what had become an island bagging tour and then back to the pier in time for the next departing ferry back to Hong Kong island, another island so it counts bringing the total to 5 islands visited and walked about in a day, not bad. It was then a MTR journey back to Mong Kok and to my new and last dwelling on this trip where I had moved my bags to this morning and not far from Tim's abode. After a refreshing shower and cup of tea I found a function on my camera I hadn't used before the results of which you can see at the end of this post.



Cheung Chau beach



Dog Latrine



Cheung Chau harbour



Cheung Chau

Lantau island. Walk between ferrys

 

Look I exist, not just some phantom blogger



Baby Roo at ferry pier



Tim consulting map at Peng Chau island



View towards Discovery Bay and Disney land, little island we visited in foreground



Peng Chau



Hong Kong island



La Prabelle hotel, Mong Kok



On the MTR back to Mong Kok

And this is the view:

5 islands in one day, good night folks!

Ferry's in black with number order, walks in red, MTR in blue.

A dinner party and a hike!

These HK entries are a bit different as I post what I do in the day after I've done it and then I meet up with Tim in the evening and post that bit the next day. And so yesterday evening after Tim had finished work there was an organised meal event for the couch surfing community, for both those hosting and those staying, Tim's been involved with couch surfing hosting for years and has continued his involvement in HK. It was held outside Mr Wong's restaurant under a pedestrian overpass loop next, put simply the food was excellent and plentiful, the people were good company and the atmosphere was great, I doubt I'll be able to top that dining experience while I'm here. Some of the attendees were travellers and some were ex pats like Tim working there, I learnt a lot about the employment laws or lack of in Hong Kong - in summary if you are employed by a local company; pay, holiday and other contractual agreements will be all in favour of the employer and therefore a bit rubbish as an employee, if you're employed by a multinational or foreign company you will get a far better deal, much better pay and conditions and this is probably what most people think of when regarding the idea of working in HK and if you're Pilipino you are essentially a slave with no rights at all.

The next day I woke up early and went to the nearby store to get some bananas and hiking supplies, then after breakfast took the MTR to Wong Tai Sin station to begin the hike to Lion Rock. It's an uphill slog on Shatin road to get the start of the track, it's about another half hour uphill and then it plateaus a bit and then a mega steep step section to the summit. At the summit there was no view, there won't be a view all week because forecast is fog, continuing along the ridge for a bit is actual Lion Rock, I scrambled up it and enjoyed no view at all. After this point it's downhill, the last bit being a rock path which is really hard to walk on, I've walked on a path like this is Switzerland last year, they look pretty but that's about it. Back into town I passed what used to be a park but is about to become another tower block, then it was back to Mong Kok in a packed train and a nap.

After the massive step climb

Up Lion Rock itself



That space used to be a park :(



These next images are what the view would have been. (Wikicommon images)

 
 

My plan was to find the nearest Starbucks and get a take away coffee but I got tired again suddenly and had a nap, a long nap, after a few hours I forced myself to get up otherwise I'll wake up at 2am and then nothing will make sense. So I got up and found there was a washing machine in the flat so I did some washing, made some supper and did general things so I was awake enough to met Tim later after he finishes work.