Hong Kong

[Cheese]

OK CPers,
My wife and I are taking a quick last minute 4 day jaunt to HK starting tomorrow.
Staying at a nice hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Need some ideas on must do's and what the approx cost would be while there.
Also..if there are any foodies here my wife loves Dim Sum, so any ideas on a good place for this would be appreciated.

/go

[Dorkmaster]

The most memorable things from my last trip are The Peak and having a drink at a lounge overlooking Central. Beautiful beautiful sights. Took me about 2 hours to get up to the peak and 2 hours to get down. So many tourists.

[Calgary14]

If you have time you may want to check out the Buddha. And the peak is a must see, incredible views up there. Cabs are crazy cheap there so its a good way to get around (as well as their transit which is really efficient)

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by Cheese

OK CPers,
My wife and I are taking a quick last minute 4 day jaunt to HK starting tomorrow.
Staying at a nice hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Need some ideas on must do's and what the approx cost would be while there.
Also..if there are any foodies here my wife loves Dim Sum, so any ideas on a good place for this would be appreciated.

/go

Tim Ho Wan. Great dim sum for a very reasonable price. In fact, it's the cheapest restaurant in the world to have a Michelin star. The only downside is that the wait can be 1 hour +, but it's totally worth it.

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by Cheese

OK CPers,
My wife and I are taking a quick last minute 4 day jaunt to HK starting tomorrow.
Staying at a nice hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Need some ideas on must do's and what the approx cost would be while there.
Also..if there are any foodies here my wife loves Dim Sum, so any ideas on a good place for this would be appreciated.

/go

You're not going to need help finding good dim sum in Hong Kong.

If you want a place that's a little bit flashier (but not as tasty as some of the random holes in the wall), Maxim's Palace is nicer and tasty enough for Dim Sum. DinTaiFung isn't bad for chain dim sum - amazing xiaolongbao... but I've had better luck at their Taipei locations than in HK.

[Cheese]

I knew I could count on you guys!
My business partner also suggested Dragons Back as a nice hike...anyone here do that before? How long is the hike?

and Ahuch thanks...Ill be in Taipei soon..opening a branch in that city!!

[tete]

Originally Posted by gargamel

Tim Ho Wan. Great dim sum for a very reasonable price. In fact, it's the cheapest restaurant in the world to have a Michelin star. The only downside is that the wait can be 1 hour +, but it's totally worth it.

We went almost as soon as it opened and there was no wait (this was this past February). OMG, it was absolutely amazing. I still drool looking at the pictures from our trip there.

EDIT: Apparently I was on crack, we were at Din Tai Fung in Causeway Bay, not Tim ho Wan. We tried to go to Tim Ho Wan the first full day in HK, but they were closed for Chinese New Year. I totally mixed up the restaurants, sorry.

If you have time, take a trip out to Cheung Chau - it's a pedestrian only island about 40 minutes away from Hong Kong - take the train to Central, then walk over to the ferry terminals. The ferry runs about once an hour to Cheung Chau. it's a neat place and if you can, go early to avoid the crowds as it gets very busy mid-day.

We never did a trip to The Peak as it was cloudy/rainy almost every day we had a chance to go, but I hear it is quite nice. Go visit the botanical gardens on Hong Kong Island and the park there, it's quite nice. We had such a good time in Hong Kong, we stayed in an apartment in Yau Ma Tei, and were able to walk to TST or take the metro to other areas.

Have fun. It's a neat place - super busy and crowded, crazy amount of riches, but you can eat great for cheap if you want. (or you can spend a fortune!).

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Cheese

I knew I could count on you guys!
My business partner also suggested Dragons Back as a nice hike...anyone here do that before? How long is the hike?

and Ahuch thanks...Ill be in Taipei soon..opening a branch in that city!!

The dragon's back is indeed a beautiful hike, but I'm not sure it's the best use of your time in HK.

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...iking-tour.jsp

I've read stuff about the hike going for up to 6 hours. I don't recall it being that long. 2 hours at most, but i believe it's because I went up, saw the scenery and went back the way I came. When I was there in late July, it was scorching hot and there's no shade up top. You also have to consider the trip over there as well.

IMO, rather than using time like that to hike, consider doing it next time you visit HK and go to Macau instead for a day. Food, ruins, architecture etc.

In the TST area, there is a nice park on a hill there. I believe it's called Kowloon park. Should serve as a nice 30-40 minute jaunt.

Consider going to the Sham Shui Po (Red line MTR) golden computer centre. It's an interesting place to go for electronics. Probably a couple bucks on MTR, and cost? No idea, depends what you want to buy or if you just want to see the area. There are some street markets in the Sham Shui Po area which are reasonably priced IMO. Less mark up than the ones in Mong Kok area (Few stops earlier on MTR red line. Closer to TST). When in the station, travel time on the MTR can't be more than 10-15 minutes to Mong Kok or Sham Shui Po, but I don't know how fast you walk.

Mong Kok has some street markets during the day and an area specifically for shoes. Highly recommended. It's not far from Langham Place. But there should be street markers everywhere anyways. I often find great shoes at like half the price or less than I would pay here.

Hui Lau Shan isn't a bad place to stop for dessert. It's a chain. You'll randomly see them. Probably about $5-10 CAD a dessert average price? Haven't been there in a while.

As silly as this sounds, keep a light sweater or jacket in a backpack. The AC is strong and with crazy variations of hot/cold, you can get sick quickly.


Another weird thing that you might already know, it's not customary to tip there. I believe it's because it's viewed in the same lens as corruption. Purely a guess on my part.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Cheese

OK CPers,
My wife and I are taking a quick last minute 4 day jaunt to HK starting tomorrow.
Staying at a nice hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Need some ideas on must do's and what the approx cost would be while there.
Also..if there are any foodies here my wife loves Dim Sum, so any ideas on a good place for this would be appreciated.

/go

This made me do a double take untill I saw your location in your avatar.

[savemedrzaius]

If you have time and want a break from the mass of people, take the Ferry over to Macau for the day. Don't bother going to Taipa it's just huge hotels/casinos, but walk around Old Macau. And go to Senado Square, it will be busy, but worth seeing. Make sure to eat egg tarts (nothing better than an egg tart and a coffee) and pork chop sanwiches.

[secol]

Originally Posted by gargamel

Tim Ho Wan. Great dim sum for a very reasonable price. In fact, it's the cheapest restaurant in the world to have a Michelin star. The only downside is that the wait can be 1 hour +, but it's totally worth it.

tacking on to this. make sure you get at least two orders of the pineapple topped, bbq baked buns. you can get a box for them if you don't finish it, but they are absolutely amazing

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by savemedrzaius

If you have time and want a break from the mass of people, take the Ferry over to Macau for the day. Don't bother going to Taipa it's just huge hotels/casinos, but walk around Old Macau. And go to Senado Square, it will be busy, but worth seeing. Make sure to eat egg tarts (nothing better than an egg tart and a coffee) and pork chop sanwiches.

You're forgetting the almond cookies and 18351 different types of jerkey. Senado is a nice area. Old buildings and shopping. Just cab over it from the terminal and cab back.

Macau accepts HKD at par. No need to convert it to their currency. It's sorta like how we would accept USD at par, except the exchange rate is only ever a few percent off, not 20 percent as it is now.

[terminator]

Tsui Wah (SP) eat there, try their Malaysian curry. The dimsum place in TST that has 4 michelan stars.

Enjoy the fireworks.

[savemedrzaius]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

You're forgetting the almond cookies and 18351 different types of jerkey. Senado is a nice area. Old buildings and shopping. Just cab over it from the terminal and cab back.

Macau accepts HKD at par. No need to convert it to their currency. It's sorta like how we would accept USD at par, except the exchange rate is only ever a few percent off, not 20 percent as it is now.

That jerky with a cold beer

I was going to say go to the Grand Lisboa Buffet, but I think it might have been shut down, and that makes me sad.

Anyways, hit up Macau if your wife is into food! It's a cool mix of Chinese and Portuguese.

[Hack&Lube]

There is a nice tourist bus tour that drives you around HK. It's a great way to see every part of it because the place is so incredibly dense.

[sketchyt]

Although you can pretty much say this in any city you go to, a must-do in Hong Kong is sit/stand and watch. I lived there for a bit and it's a crazy city filled with crazy people. Not in a good or bad way... it's just nuts and difficult to describe.

I was there last year with my then 1-year-old. We spent a lot of time just standing to the side of a busy sidewalk with food on a stick just watching. On one occasion, here's what we saw in 10 minutes:

• Garbage handlers taking out the trash with no gloves or shirts. Gross, yet impressive
• A group of old ladies under a bridge selling "curses" for people to buy. This was explained to me later... I probably spent 8 of the 10 minutes trying to figure out WTF was going on.
• An old, old, old man walking by giving my kid a fistbump while he was in my baby bjorn carrier. Didn't break his gait
• An endless stream of people buying takeout breakfast where we just finished eating. An interesting mixture of delicious pastry and sewage smell wafting on the street. Those who are familiar with HK know what smell I'm talking about.
• A group of HK'ers accosting some mainlander for cutting in line getting on a bus because mainlanders. The situation escalated from 0 to a lot of swearing very quickly. Was hilarious. 10/10, would bang again.
• Crazy drivers who I swear go out of their way to mow down equally crazy pedestrians/cyclists but no one gets hurt and no one freaks out... somehow.

Anyways, yes there are many spots in Hong Kong to go to. Literally something to do for everyone but just take a few minutes to sit and watch. I do it everywhere I go but Hong Kong takes the cake for that sort of thing.

[lazypucker]

I am not going to give any food recommendations here, but 2 must-see tourist spots: The Peak (take the tram up from Central - it has the steepest gradient in the world I believe) and Star Ferry (across the harbor between TST and Central), and definitely walk along the harbor at night.

[lazypucker]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

There is a nice tourist bus tour that drives you around HK. It's a great way to see every part of it because the place is so incredibly dense.

Take the tram, it's better and more "traditional"

[jtfrogger]

The Din Tai Fung in Causeway Bay also has a Michelin Star. Amazing Dim Sum. If you get there when it opens, you can easily get a table. By the time you are done, there is a very long line.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by sketchyt

A group of HK'ers accosting some mainlander for cutting in line getting on a bus because mainlanders. The situation escalated from 0 to a lot of swearing very quickly. Was hilarious. 10/10, would bang again

Yeah, Hong Kong has gone downhill a bit with the locust horde of mainlanders these days. Still worth visiting for sure if you have never been but it's a little sad to see.