Hong Kong?

JasonMa

Active member
Planning our first trip to Hong Kong in a couple of months. Anything particularly Indy-like I should plan on seeing while I'm there?
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Go to Quarry Bay and have Bird Nest Soup.

22478e91849d41fe9069a397d5d4f6ab.jpg
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
JasonMa said:
Planning our first trip to Hong Kong in a couple of months. Anything particularly Indy-like I should plan on seeing while I'm there?


Nobody here has been to Hong Kong.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
JasonMa said:
Well, if you don't want to admit to being a Hong Kong Rangers fan given their season, I can't blame you :whip:

Nobody should support the Rangers. Or do what Pale suggested unless you want to eat something with the consistency of glue.


The China Clipper lounge on the 30th Floor of The Peninsula. Book the Fly & Dine package, because it's otherwise off limits.
 

JasonMa

Active member
Le Saboteur said:
Nobody should support the Rangers. Or do what Pale suggested unless you want to eat something with the consistency of glue.


The China Clipper lounge on the 30th Floor of The Peninsula. Book the Fly & Dine package, because it's otherwise off limits.
Sadly that's a little outside my price range. Too bad, because I'd love to see that lounge.

Actually considering going to a Rangers-Dreams game while I'm there.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
JasonMa said:
Sadly that's a little outside my price range. Too bad, because I'd love to see that lounge.

Don't spend all your money on the Disneyland Hotel*. If you email them, they might have an option for a flight only.

JasonMa said:
Actually considering going to a Rangers-Dreams game while I'm there.

Don't forget to stand during the national anthem. It's going to be hotter than Angelina Jolie circa 2000 (or Shakira circa Hips Don't Lie), so be sure to allow yourself plenty of time in air conditioning. Bring Lamisil.

* - By staying out in Sunny Bay you're going to waste a lot of time commuting back and forth.

Get your truck back.

Pale House said:
You're no fun. LOL

There are plenty of other weird things to eat that don't taste like glue. Century eggs and turtle jelly for example. Sea slugs too.


I'll write something more involved a bit later.
 

JasonMa

Active member
Le Saboteur said:
Don't spend all your money on the Disneyland Hotel*.


* - By staying out in Sunny Bay you're going to waste a lot of time commuting back and forth.
We're spending the first half of the week at the Island Pacific on Hong Kong Island. We'll move out to Disney for the couple of days we're going to spend at the park and to do the Big Buddha before flying home.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
JasonMa said:
...to do the Big Buddha before flying home.

Don't do this. There's absolutely nothing interesting or historical about it. Seriously, don't. Go visit the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Lung Cheung. Don't forget the Yarrow sticks. The Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan Lian Gardens are worth a visit too.

Hell, Ching Chung Koon in Tuen Mun is a better use of your time. Part of Enter the Dragon was filmed there.

Don't take the Victoria Peak Tram either. Catch the #14 bus near the Central Ferry terminal. It'll cost you significantly less, and you'll see a fair amount of the city.

Tai O village is one of the few remaining fishing villages in Hong Kong, and is worth a visit for the traditional stilt housing. They offer a pink dolphin tour too.
 

JasonMa

Active member
Le Saboteur said:
Don't do this. There's absolutely nothing interesting or historical about it. Seriously, don't.
Well we were going to do it anyway, just for the gondola ride, but we just found out that the gondola will close for maintenance the day we arrive through the day we leave. So now we're considering other options (including your suggestions).

One question my wife had, if you have some advice, is where to get the best evening/nighttime views of the city. We're trying to decide if we want to go up Victoria Peak during the day or at dusk and/or if there's a better option for evening views.

Thanks for all the tips so far, they've been quite helpful in our planning!
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
JasonMa said:
Well we were going to do it anyway, just for the gondola ride, but we just found out that the gondola will close for maintenance the day we arrive through the day we leave.

What's that saying about a fool and his money? A quick trip out to Po Toi Island would be a better use of your time. There's even a nice hike around Plover Cove.

JasonMa said:
One question my wife had, if you have some advice, is where to get the best evening/nighttime views of the city. We're trying to decide if we want to go up Victoria Peak during the day or at dusk and/or if there's a better option for evening views.

Fun fact: A haze generally lingers over Hong Kong throughout the year thanks to the belching factory fumes in Guangzhou. All those really clear shots of the skyline in magazines and movies are typically shot around December when the winds change and blow it out over the South China Sea.

That said, a trip up Victoria Peak around dusk is probably the best bet for the full view of Hong Kong & the Kowloon Peninsula. There's a mall at the top (Quelle suprise!) where you can get a pretty decent meal if you're hungry. It's also the classic view so to speak.

From the Kowloon side, you can see the nightly light show* on Hong Kong Island from the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. It's free, but can get pretty crowded. There a lots of little diversions with buskers to be had as well. Cheap beer too. Have a stroll. Look at all the Hong Kong stars (think Hollywood Walk of Fame) you won't recognize!

*- The light show starts at 8pm.

Also from the Kowloon side, the Ozone Bar. It's, like, on the 118th floor of the Ritz-Carlton. The view comes with a price tag -- drinks aren't cheap -- but it has a great view.

One of my favorites is from the summit of Lion Rock, but that's only if you're feeling adventurous.

The IFC Mall on Hong Kong Island has a rooftop garden with decent views, as does the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the 55th floor.

JasonMa said:
Thanks for all the tips so far, they've been quite helpful in our planning!

:hat:

Get up stupid early and get over to Aberdeen. It's better with a local, but have a stroll through the Aberdeen Fish Market. You're not likely to have a similar experience in the States.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Le Saboteur said:
Don't take the Victoria Peak Tram either. Catch the #14 bus near the Central Ferry terminal. It'll cost you significantly less, and you'll see a fair amount of the city.

Dummy. The #14 bus goes to Stanley. The market is worth it for a first time visitor. You can try your haggling skills. The #15 bus is the one you want to take up The Peak*.

* - Find a copy of Jackie Chan's Crime Story for the best way to get down the Peak. It's his only really serious movie and his only rated-R picture.
 

JasonMa

Active member
Le Saboteur, I wanted to say thanks for all your suggestions. We got back from our trip yesterday and had a great time.

We spent the first day (Thursday the 10th) in Central doing some shopping, the escalators, the Man Mo Temple and Hollywood Road Park, Cat street, etc. and some shopping in Causeway Bay. We also hit up both of Hong Kong's tiki bars, Honi Honi and Wahtiki.

The next day we started by travelling out your way, to Sham Shui Po to visit some markets, Then we jumped over to the Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan Lian Gardens. Those were awesome, maybe the highlight of the trip, and not something we would have done had you not mentioned them. After that it was into Mong Kok for some shopping and then we saw the less-than-impressive light show on the waterfront before taking the ferry back across.

Saturday as the first nice day so we took the bus (not the tram) up Victoria Peak and back. That's a fun ride and worth the extra time. We took the bus all the way back to the docks and took the Star Ferry over for some sightseeing and shopping in TST. We also went back to Mong Kok to toy shop in In's Point, which was an experience. We kind of ran out of energy after 3 days and ended up calling it an early night.

Sunday was our transfer day out to Sunny Bay and we spent Monday and Tuesday doing Hong Kong Disneyland. Wednesday, when we originally scheduled to do the Big Buddha, we decided to go back into town instead and do more sightseeing on Hong Kong Island. We rode the ding ding, hit up a LEGO shop where I found the 4 limited edition Hong Kong sets, and did a bit of final shopping before heading back and packing.

Thanks again for the tips. Without them we probably would have done the Buddha instead of the nunnery and gardens and would have ridden the tram instead of the bus up the peak.
 

JasonMa

Active member
Postscript, had Tomb Raider Cradle of Life on TV this morning while I was messing around downstairs. I had forgotten a good chunk of the movie takes place in Hong Kong (to be fair, I had forgotten most of the movie in general, its not good). When I looked at it I thought "hey, isn't that Times Square?". Yep, it was filmed on location in Hong Kong, largely around Times Square which we visited last week. :whip:
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
JasonMa said:
Postscript, had Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life on TV this morning while I was messing around downstairs. I had forgotten a good chunk of the movie takes place in Hong Kong (to be fair, I had forgotten most of the movie in general, its not good)

You embarrass yourself and lose all credibility when you say things like that.

JasonMa said:
Le Saboteur, I wanted to say thanks for all your suggestions. We got back from our trip yesterday and had a great time.

:hat:

Glad to offer assistance. Hopefully you took pictures and want to share.

We'd also like to hear your thoughts on Hong Kong Disneyland. Specifically, what you thought of Mystic Manor and the Explorer's Club.
 

JasonMa

Active member
Le Saboteur said:
You embarrass yourself and lose all credibility when you say things like that.
You're right, I should have said it was awful. ;)



Le Saboteur said:
:hat:

Glad to offer assistance. Hopefully you took pictures and want to share.

We'd also like to hear your thoughts on Hong Kong Disneyland. Specifically, what you thought of Mystic Manor and the Explorer's Club.
A bunch of pics but I'm not sure how many of them Raven posters would find interesting. :D

We really liked Mystic Manor. It took me a second ride to really feel it though as I hadn't done any research so I wasn't sure what to expect the first time. Its not Pirates of the Caribbean or Haunted Mansion but its probably better than Disney's other dark rides.

Explorer's Club was great. After eating lunch we took time to walk through all the rooms, find the little write-ups about different things on the walls, and took lots of pictures. Plus it was good to see the masks in their new home after having seen them in the Adventurer's Club in Florida originally.

While out there we stayed at the Explorer's Lodge which was also well themed. The various wings are themed to Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America with the appropriate characters (Rafiki, Junior, Squirt, and Kevin) from movies set in those regions. Had a great view of Discovery Bay from our room.
 
Top