If your going to Hong Kong

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:56:42 +1100, Alan S wrote:

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:48:31 +1100, wrote:

Just got back from a week in Hong Kong and wanted to mention a few
things if your thinking about visiting.

HK is all about shopping. I met several people that made it their
first stop on a long trip through Asia and planned to stay several
days. Since they were travelling light, shopping wasn't much of an
option.

The tourist sites are pretty mediocre as there is absolutely no
history at all. Pretty much anything more than 50 years old has been
torn down and replaced with a modern building. A couple of exceptions
are Victoria Peak and the giant Buddha (especially if the cable cars
are working).

Food is good but not much variety; its either Chinese or Western style
ethnic food. Prices aren't too bad but not great either. Alcohol is
very expensive during non-happy hour. Fortunately, happy hour tends to
be 9+ hours long (usually noon to 9pm) during which drinks are roughly
half price. Would be easier if they just had an 'un-happy' hour from
9pm to close.

The air pollution is very bad in HK. The sky is always yellow and
visibility isn't very good. Stay off the main streets since just about
everything runs on diesel. Stick to the MTR and visit the many small
parks to take a break from the terrible air.

Final point, DO NOT PLAN ON DOING ANY SIGHTSEEING OR SHOPPING ON THE
WEEKEND. Hordes of Chinese from the mainland come over and flood
everything. Try and arrive and leave on a weekend. If you are there on
a weekend, stay away from the tourist stuff and go out on your own.
Take a ferry to a small island or get off the train at a random stop
and walk around.

Thanks. I'm going for two days next March. I'm going as a
tourist, not a shopper, but I may be looking for a new
mobile phone while I'm there, or in Bangkok before it. Any
recommendations on localities to shop for that sort of
thing?

Where did you stay? Would you recommend it?

I didn't realise the weekend problem occurred; luckily I
arrive on a Wednesday and depart very late on a Friday.


Cheers, Alan, Australia

I was at the Marriott which was very nice but not for those on a
budget. A guy I talked to said the YMCA was nice, got his own room but
shared bathroom though I beleive.

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:10:16 GMT, (John Kulp)
wrote:

I should have elaborated a bit more. I meant to say that other than
chinese and seafood, the variety thats available isn't all that
different than what you would find elsewhere. The Indian, Korean,
Japanese food, etc is pretty much the same as what you would find in
Sydney, Seattle or any other large city.


That's because foreign cuisine in a given large city is a fairly standard
phenomenon worldwide. I can't imagine what you expected to be predominant in
a Chinese city other than Chinese food.

The variety of seafood is impressive by looking at the 'wet markets',
but after seeing people fishing in that nasty harbor, I wouldn't want
to try it.

Little seafood sold in Hong Kong comes from the harbour.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore

On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:06:14 +1100, wrote:

I was at the Marriott which was very nice but not for those on a
budget. A guy I talked to said the YMCA was nice, got his own room but
shared bathroom though I beleive.

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

I have no problem haggling; I'm just trying to envisage a
fake worth $300:-)


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/
latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest

"Alan S" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:06:14 +1100, wrote:

I was at the Marriott which was very nice but not for those on a
budget. A guy I talked to said the YMCA was nice, got his own room but
shared bathroom though I beleive.

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

I have no problem haggling; I'm just trying to envisage a
fake worth $300:-)



I can't envisage a watch worth $300 - even HK$300. I have a Swatch that cost
the equivalent of about HK$200 from a Swatch shop in Washington.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore

wrote in message
...

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

They must have seen you both coming.

Street price in India is about £35 for a good fake (decent Japanese or
Tiwanese made automatic movement, proper dust cap, proper markings,
decent quality stainless steel strap, model in current Rolex catalogue) and
about £20 for one of the rubbish ones.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

"William Black" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

They must have seen you both coming.

Street price in India is about £35 for a good fake (decent Japanese or
Tiwanese made automatic movement, proper dust cap, proper markings,
decent quality stainless steel strap, model in current Rolex catalogue)
and about £20 for one of the rubbish ones.


The vendors in India, Thailand and China are simply shocked that I don't
*want* a watch - real or fake - at any price. My mobile phone has been my
timekeeper for some years now, though I do have a wris****ch tucked away
somewhere. Likewise, the Vietnamese postcard sellers would be better off
flogging Internet cards. Street retail in Asia is not keeping up with the
times at all.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore

In article , grusl says...

It does, and I used to love Macau, but development has turned the place into
a nightmare. The islands are all joined together, the casinos are hideous
and even Fernando's has fallen into disrepute.

Then maybe ignore the Cotai strip between Taipa and Coloane, which at
the moment is a huge building site. But the historic centres of Taipa
and Coloane are very nice.
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:56:42 +1100, Alan S wrote:

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:48:31 +1100, wrote:

Just got back from a week in Hong Kong and wanted to mention a few
things if your thinking about visiting.

HK is all about shopping. I met several people that made it their
first stop on a long trip through Asia and planned to stay several
days. Since they were travelling light, shopping wasn't much of an
option.

The tourist sites are pretty mediocre as there is absolutely no
history at all. Pretty much anything more than 50 years old has been
torn down and replaced with a modern building. A couple of exceptions
are Victoria Peak and the giant Buddha (especially if the cable cars
are working).

Food is good but not much variety; its either Chinese or Western style
ethnic food. Prices aren't too bad but not great either. Alcohol is
very expensive during non-happy hour. Fortunately, happy hour tends to
be 9+ hours long (usually noon to 9pm) during which drinks are roughly
half price. Would be easier if they just had an 'un-happy' hour from
9pm to close.

The air pollution is very bad in HK. The sky is always yellow and
visibility isn't very good. Stay off the main streets since just about
everything runs on diesel. Stick to the MTR and visit the many small
parks to take a break from the terrible air.

Final point, DO NOT PLAN ON DOING ANY SIGHTSEEING OR SHOPPING ON THE
WEEKEND. Hordes of Chinese from the mainland come over and flood
everything. Try and arrive and leave on a weekend. If you are there on
a weekend, stay away from the tourist stuff and go out on your own.
Take a ferry to a small island or get off the train at a random stop
and walk around.
Thanks. I'm going for two days next March. I'm going as a
tourist, not a shopper, but I may be looking for a new
mobile phone while I'm there, or in Bangkok before it. Any
recommendations on localities to shop for that sort of
thing?

Where did you stay? Would you recommend it?

I didn't realise the weekend problem occurred; luckily I
arrive on a Wednesday and depart very late on a Friday.


Cheers, Alan, Australia

I was at the Marriott which was very nice but not for those on a
budget. A guy I talked to said the YMCA was nice, got his own room but
shared bathroom though I beleive.

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

Our recent experience was in HK and also mainland China and the guys in
our private group were there to get electronic things. Well, every
single piece of electronics (with the exception of a wonderful photo
frame) did not work. This included flash drives, i-pods, MP3 and Mp4
players...the list goes on. We were in Shanghai among other cities in
China. The worse for rip offs by far was Shenzen near HK. A disaster!
100% useless stuff since tossed out with the garbage.

Oh...we all bought a "Rolex" in Shanghai. They cost $4 (AUD)...and are
all still ticking away! [smile]

Food in HK ? We had a buffet meal at the Charterhouse Hotel on Hong Kong
Island and it was astonishing. The cost was (for seniors) $15 AUD and we
counted the dishes: 95 ! This did not include sauces and other additions.

But Hongkong is tame and orderly compared with Shanghai...

PT (Australia)

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:12:44 +0530, "grusl"
wrote:


"William Black" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

They must have seen you both coming.

Street price in India is about £35 for a good fake (decent Japanese or
Tiwanese made automatic movement, proper dust cap, proper markings,
decent quality stainless steel strap, model in current Rolex catalogue)
and about £20 for one of the rubbish ones.


The vendors in India, Thailand and China are simply shocked that I don't
*want* a watch - real or fake - at any price. My mobile phone has been my
timekeeper for some years now, though I do have a wris****ch tucked away
somewhere. Likewise, the Vietnamese postcard sellers would be better off
flogging Internet cards. Street retail in Asia is not keeping up with the
times at all.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore


I bought a non-fake Casio (who would bother faking it:-) in
Singapore for about SG$25 in 2003 and it has met my needs
ever since. Big font for my ageing eyes, I use the countdown
timer a lot for after-meal tests, it has a setting for local
time while I am travelling without changing my home time,
five alarms that are loud enough to wake me or to remind me
of boarding times and I've only changed the battery once.
What more could I need? Maybe I'll buy a back-up on the next
trip.

If I want to buy jewellery, which isn't really my thing, it
would not be a wris****ch.

Maybe I'm just too pragmatic.


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:06:10 +0530, the renowned "William Black"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .

As for buying electronics or anything there really, know what it costs
before you try and buy. Their first offer is always outrageous but
they will come down quick. I bought a fake Rolex for a friend and they
wanted $480 for it. I was talking to another guy earlier and he said
he got his for $300, which is what I insisted on. He didn't struggle
much so I may have been able to go lower but I hate haggling.

They must have seen you both coming.

HKD 480 is USD 61. 35 GBP is USD 73.

Street price in India is about £35 for a good fake (decent Japanese or
Tiwanese made automatic movement, proper dust cap, proper markings,
decent quality stainless steel strap, model in current Rolex catalogue) and
about £20 for one of the rubbish ones.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com