Going there for a couple of weeks, with the family, over Easter. Any tips from the OTF Crowdsource?

Why at Last! wrote:
Going there for a couple of weeks, with the family, over Easter. Any tips from the OTF Crowdsource?

One of the in laws is from there. So have been there 4 times. It depends what kind of tips you're after I guess? places to stay / eat / visit?

We're sorted for accommodation; staying with friends near Stanley. But stuff to do, places to eat: all information much appreciated.

Why at Last! wrote:
We're sorted for accommodation; staying with friends near Stanley. But stuff to do, places to eat: all information much appreciated.

Stanley's a nice place, a little bit Seaside-y.

One of the best things you can do in HK, and the cheapest is taking the old ferry across to the mainland. It costs about 50p as it's government subsidised. Similarly the trams are dirt cheap on HK Island and a good way to see the place and get around in.

Lantau Island is a good place to visit for a day. You can get there by normal speed ferry (not subsidised)(about almost two hours as I recall). Or one of the faster ferries, which take half an hour. Obviously that is more expensive. My advice would be to take the slow one there to see the view and the fast one back, as you'll be knackered.

The Island has a temple and a bog bronze Buddah which is over 100 foot high, and there are some hilly areas if you want to hike around there.
There are lots of small restaurants in the harbour too where you can eat really good freshly caught seafood at cheap prices.

Speaking of hiking, depending on the weather, make your way to the new territories area on the mainland, on the Chinese border where you can take long or short hikes. It's a very green area, not what you'd expect on HK. There are lots of baboons around there. At one point there were hoards of them following us though.

There's the Peak, which is on HK island, incredible views of the city below with some Coloniel buildings at the top. Good place for a few hours.

Food wise, aside from Cape Town I haven't been to a better place to eat. If you like Chinese food obviously you'll be loving it. Bit there is food from all over. Particularly good cheap Sushi places too. Can't specifically remember any names, except for the revolving restaurant which is near Central. It is on the 66th floor and has floor to ceiling windows. they have a great discount buffet on Sunday afternoon, all you can eat job. Including a carvery!

Check out the view

here

A lot of the restaurants are up in the sky rise buildings and shopping centres (of which there are many. Indeed most shops open until 10pm- 2am so god help you if your other half likes to shop)

There's obviously more to do than that but I'm done typing for the time being. But let me know if you have any other q's

Oh, if you like horse racing, Happy Valley is fun, there's also Shah Tin on mainland. Not quite as glamorous.

I have nothing, but here it is at night in hi def.

moolag wrote:
Oh, if you like horse racing, Happy Valley is fun, there's also Shah Tin on mainland. Not quite as glamorous.

If you're going to place any bets whilst in Hong Kong, you could do worse than follow the Argentine First Division expert on the Hong Kong Jockey Club's website. He's bloody brilliant.

Bruno wrote:
I have nothing, but here it is at night in hi def.

That's the view from The Peak. Awesome.

Thanks, moolag, this is all really good stuff. I'd already suggested a trip to Happy Valley; I'm doubly keen now.

(And nice correct use of "awesome". Such a rare thing now the world's gone to pot.)

It's 5 years since I went to HK, but some things probably haven't changed. Happy Valley was a great night out, the camera/electronic shops on Nathan Road in Kowloon were to be avoided like the plague, Disneyland Hong Kong is a little bit surreal, and you can get some top quality tailoring at decent prices if you wander a little way off the main streets.

Can't recall where we ate, but it was always good - however, I do remember one particular waiter calling all his mates over to watch me eat, no idea what I'd done to capture their amusement but it was something to do with the way I'd chosen to mix the rice, noodles and main dish on my plate.

Stock up on some suits.

Incandenza wrote:
Stock up on some suits.

Good tip. I bought a suit from a chain shop, G2000 I think it's called, for about £80. Then I had them take it in / up for me free of charge.. Fits like a glove. Great suit.

I was there about a decade ago for a couple of days. I really enjoyed taking the ferry and bus over to the Big Buddha on Lantau and hiking down to the train, which I took back to HK. Otherwise the food was very good (both on the street and in the restaurants), and the view from the peak is hard to beat.
In general it seemed a bit too shopping oriented for my tastes, though maybe I just wasn't very good at finding the other stuff. My impression is that if you're a shopper, at whatever budget level, you'll probably be in heaven.
Oh yes, one other thing. One of my work friends hooked me up with a couple of her friends as informal guides, so they took me out to eat a couple of times. What my work friend didn't tell me is that the Chinese like to fight over who gets to pay the bill, which left me in the sticky situation of not paying for the first couple of meals since I didn't want to impose by fighting over paying the bill. With the upshot that the Chinese friends decided I was terribly rude. Fortunately I was able to find this out before I left and buy them all an extravagant dim sum brunch, so hopefully I departed with some honour.

What my work friend didn't tell me is that the Chinese like to fight over who gets to pay the bill, which left me in the sticky situation of not paying for the first couple of meals since I didn't want to impose by fighting over paying the bill. With the upshot that the Chinese friends decided I was terribly rude.

That would be; Hong Kong people like to pretend they want to pay the bill whilst all the time waiting for someone else to do so. This includes your potential future mother in law, apparently.

A day trip to Macau might be worth it - the boat ride is quite long but fun in itself, if you like that sort of thing. If you do go, Fernando's Portuguese restaurant on Hac Sa beach is something of a local institution and worth a visit.

I still have a vivid memory of visiting the Science Museum in Kowloon, where it became apparent that someone had taken a massive dump in the toilet in the Eco home of the future exhibit, apparently unfazed by its position in a two sided fake room in the centre of the exhibition hall.

Used to go there for work a bit back in the early 2000s, so never had a lot of free time.

Enjoyed the Star Ferry (bit hairy at times) and The Peak, but especially just walking in the markets up the hill from Queens Road for ages - fascinating.