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| Grahf 414th Post
 
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|  "Re(1):Vacation in Hong Kong & Beijing (OT)" , posted Wed 21 Sep 11:24
From what I can tell there isn't much of an arcade "scene" here in Hong Kong (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), but if you want some cheap anime merchandise be sure to stop by the night market in Mong Kok. There's the also the occasional KOF wallscroll and some other gaming related stuff as well. Mong Kok is also the place to go if you want a really cheap cell phone. Hopefully your friend here can speak Cantonese because that makes bargaining a lot easier.
For bars you can't go wrong with Lan Kwai Fong in Central, which is what everyone will tell you, but if I were you I wouldn't miss out on Tsim Sha Tsui as well. In Tsim Sha Tsui you can get some really nice views of the harbor, especially at night. There's a place called Aqua on the 30th floor of the One Peking building there that overlooks the harbor. It's not cheap, though. If you just go to the bar (and not the restaurants) there's a $120HK (about $15.60US) minimum per person for drinking, but I'd say it's worth going at least once for the experience and the atmosphere. Also, while you're there, if you can find a bar called Chasers you can hear some really good live music and get some nice calamari.
For standard tourist fare you should definitely take a trip to Victoria Peak, ride at least one ferry through the harbor at night, and go see the Po Lin monastery on Lantau. If you have a choice, try to go to the Peak after it rains so the air will be clearer and you'll be able to see the city better. For Po Lin, you'll need almost a whole day to make the trip and see everything, so you may want to skip it if you're short on time. The giant Buddah statue looks really cool at night, but be sure you get there before 5:30 when the monastery closes.
Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know about Hong Kong, and let us know what you do when you're in Beijing because I want to go sometime soon while I'm still living here.
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| Grahf 415th Post
Gold Customer
| "Re(3):Vacation in Hong Kong & Beijing (OT)" , posted Thu 22 Sep 09:29
quote:
Thanks for all the excellent advice Grahf! I can't really thing of anything else to ask. What made you decide to live in HK? That's really cool. My friend in HK is local, lives in Kowloon, and speaks Cantonese. I'm staying at a hotel in Causeway Bay though. I'll be sure to let you know all about Beijing when I get back. A full day tour of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Great Wall is included in the Beijing package. I was unaware that you could bargain in HK. I thought that was just a mainland China thing. I did a pretty good job bargaining in Mexico when I was there years ago. It will be interesting to try it again in another country.
I'm studying abroad, so I'm only going to be living here a few more months. You need to be sure to bargain with the cab drivers here too. I find that it's never a good idea to let them charge you based on the meter -- always set a price before they start driving. They'll get you there quicker, and they won't get stuck in traffic to drive up the price. The drivers usually don't speak much English, so it's a good idea to have your hotel's name and address written out in Cantonese. I'm sure they'll understand numbers in English, though. Also, if you can, try to find out if they're going to charge you for tolls or for luggage. You should only have to pay tolls if you're crossing the harbor or going to the airport. (Hint: if they charge you for luggage and you don't have any, you're being screwed).
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