Simon is off to HK!

simonpettersson
September 17, 2010, 01:42 AM posted in General Discussion

October first to tenth I'll be in HK, both for visa purposes and to visit a good friend of mine. What are some good places to visit?

Also, any HK poddies feel like having a beer? Or tea? Or, uhm, ice cream (HKboy, how old are you, anyway?)?

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jen_not_jenny
September 17, 2010, 02:22 AM

I would recommend going for dim sum at Serenade, a restaurant in the Hong Kong Cultural Center in Tsim Sha Tsui for its tasty treats but especially for the spectacular view across the harbor to Hong Kong Island. The a ride on the Star Ferry over to the island is a great, cheap thrill.

A visit to Victoria Peak is a must...suuuuper touristy and you have to wait in line for a good bit if you want to take the tram just before sunset, then go up a seemingly never-ending series of escalators passing by Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and a million overpriced souvenir shops, but the view from the top is unparalleled, especially at night.

I love love love HK's outlying islands. Lamma Island is probably my favorite. There are almost no motorized vehicles on the entire island, it's reachable only by ferry (of course) and there are plenty of great little cafes and pretty impressive shops with wine and cheese if you want to put together a little picnic, then hike across the island to the lovely, quiet beach on its south (I believe?) side.

Lantau Island is also a good bet...you can catch a ferry to Mui Wo, a sleeeepy little fishing village with some amazing dirt-cheap seafood restaurants clustered together along the boardwalk, bustling with boisterous elderly Cantonese people.

On the other end of the spectrum, an evening stroll along Nathan Road from TST to Mong Kok through the fascinating, pluricultural hodgepodge is also good fun. 

Have an amazing time!! You might consider a ferry ride over to Macau, too, if you don't exit the mainland much...there's much more to the peninsula than casinos!

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simonpettersson

Awesome tips! Thanks a lot, Jen, super useful! You wouldn't happen to have the Chinese names (that is, the characters) for any of those places? I plan to get around using Cantonese, and asking for "Mui Wo" (with unknown tones) in the middle of a Cantonese sentence might be confusing.

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jen_not_jenny

Serenade Restaurant: 映月樓

Hong Kong Cultural Centre: 香港文化中心

TST/Tsim Sha Tsui: 尖沙咀

Victoria Peak: 太平山, aka 扯旗山

Lamma Island: 南丫島

Lantau Island: 大屿山

Mui Wo: 梅窩

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company: you're totally on your own, there, man.

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hkboy

Jen. Did you ever go to Bubba Gump?

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go_manly

There is actually a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company ?

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jen_not_jenny

Sure is! http://www.bubbagump.com/locations/hong-kong/

HKboy, I've certainly never been to the one on the Peak, but I have been to the San Francisco branch. I hasten to add that this was in, like, 1996, when the concept was still relevant. It may very well have been during that meal, with all its Forrest Gump-inspired conversation, when I determined to become Jen, NOT Jenny....;)

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bodawei
September 17, 2010, 02:51 AM

Hope your good friend has a bed, HK accommodation is expensive. :)I have stayed a number of times at the kinda remote YHA hostel on HK island - basic but cheap and great views over the harbour (there is a bus up and down the mountain about every hour). The other YHA hostels are even more remote and basic - like Ireland/ Scotland hostels in the 1950s.

Agree with Jen's tips on the outlying islands and the ferries, but there are also similar experiences on HK island itself - try 'Dragon Back' walk for example. You feel like you are in one of those old Jackie Chan movies, quaint villages, colourfully painted houses, quiet beaches.

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hkboy
September 17, 2010, 03:43 AM

Hi Simon,

Glad to hear you are coming to HK.  All I can add is Sai Kung.  I live near there.

Are you going to stock up on Cantonese materials?  Search over at the Canto. forum for a list of good books.

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simonpettersson

I bought some learning materials last time was in HK (I had just half a day in the city, though). I haven't found them very useful. Basically, Cantonese is so similar to Mandarin that a Cantonese dictionary and a friend willing to practice with me (via text messaging) is pretty much all the materials I need. That said, I'll buy boatloads of movies and comic books, since it's impossible to find media in Cantonese in the Cantonese-speaking parts of mainland China. I've got a list of movies that come with Cantonese subtitles (as opposed to Mandarin ones) and I'll hunt for them. Any tips on a good place to look?

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hkboy

I don't think you will have any trouble finding that. You are going to have a great time.

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jen_not_jenny

I'm sure hkboy is absolutely correct that there are tons of places to buy DVDs, but just in case you need to narrow your search to a more specific area, I've gone into huge DVD shops off Nathan Rd near Soy Street 豉油街. These shops sell DVDs at different quality "levels," so sometimes it's better to pay a few HKD more for a better copy of a movie.

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hkboy
September 17, 2010, 12:36 PM

oh Simon, I just saw you asked about my age. Well, I'm young at heart.  Actually that is me in my avatar with my cat Mandy.

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hkboy
December 11, 2010, 03:16 PM

Simon??  Are you still there?  How was the trip to HK?