Hong Kong advice thread

skr80ab

any thoughts as to 'dress code' please - will wandering about in shorts be acceptable attire?

lswwong

"Dress code" - shorts are fine. Anything goes. HK is not an overly conservative place, unlike some SE Asian countries.

Re mobiles, if you are going to need to make calls from HK either to a local HK number or back to the UK, consider getting a temporary SIM card. I was there last November and bought one for HKD 100 (About £7.14) from a branch of SmarTone, a local network operator. Basically, the SIM card you can pop into your unlocked mobi and it comes with HKD 100 worth of call credit. With the SIM card, you also get your own local HK mobile number so local friends can call you cheaply, as well as that you can call them at local rates i.e. not have to pay exorbitant roaming prices to your UK operator. It is also much cheaper to call home to the UK using one of these. Try this webpage: http://www.smartone.com.hk/10/10_8/10_8.html. The temporary HK mobile number that you get with the SIM card remains working for about 6 months and then it is cancelled - not that that many travellers need to keep such a number for long. If you do run out of call credits, then you can go back to a SmarTone shop and buy additional calling cards to top up - these are not SIM cards but are just like UK top up cards. All SIM cards and calling/top up cards come with full English instructions. Calling card with a face value of HKD 200 or more give you an extra 10% or so of call credits i.e. pay HKD 200, the card has HKD 220 worth of call credits on it.

lswwong

Oh, sorry, this is the correct page about the calling cards I was talking about:

http://www.smartone.com.hk/jsp/1/1_7/1_7_7/1_7_7.jsp

meinnit

Pegleg2001 wrote:

2. Specs - Bought a pair of Gucci designer on spec (excuse pun) from a shop in Causeway Bay. They are about half UK price. Shop was full of BA staff buying too.

3. Watches - Luxury brands are about 30-40% cheaper than UK high street prices.

We are in Hong Kong right now.. went to Causeway Bay today. Most of the stuff was pretty expensive! Have you got names of any cheap stores that you can recommened? We are off to Kowloon tomorrow.

Also looking for a cheap PSP!

Pukeko

Re dress - in HK/ Kowloon I noticed that a lot of women wore three-quarter length trousers. I don't remember noticing men in shorts. We (1 female & 1 male) wore trousers and were way too hot, but my son wore long shorts and was much more comfortable! I'm sure long shorts would be ok for blokes.

lswwong

Causeway Bay shop rents are pretty steep, which might explain something.

Have a look at Kowloon Bay MTR mall - attached to the MTR station. I bought specs from Optical 88 there and the service was first class. This is a chain but is fairly inexpensive. Local clothes chains like Bossini, Giordano and Baleno are quite cheap. Personally, I like Bossini. Shatin KCR (railway, not MTR) station has a big mall too and very popular with locals.

blindman

Found a couple of good web-sites for info

Yellow pages Map

A little slow but you can drill down to street level. You can also add places of interest such as transport, hotels etc.

Island Pacific is 152 Connaught Rd.West.

Nearset tram stop is at Kan Kwam Building 173 Des Voeux Rd WEST

Web-site full of good links
Good links

Another map site

pickle

If you're staying in the Excelsior you should go to the ****tail bar there (best view) and the Sunday(?) brunch there (if you're there on that day) - champagne is included from memory. Stanley is great for the markets.

albalad

pickle wrote:

If you're staying in the Excelsior you should go to the ****tail bar there (best view) and the Sunday(?) brunch there (if you're there on that day) - champagne is included from memory. Stanley is great for the markets.

We arrive in hong Kong at 4.10 pm on sunday (march), by the time we get to hotel ....probably too late for brunch ! but just in time for the ****tail bar - Thanks

skr80ab

under 2 weeks to go now - really looking forward to this trip!