Really started to get burned out planning our trip to Hanoi and Hong Kong- but finally have plane tickets, hotel and tour package for Hanoi.

I've read so many web pages and purchased so many guide books my corneas are starting to dissolve.

Am now starting on our VERY short Hong Kong stay. We arrive 1P.M. on a Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday before we leave back home to Hawaii on Saturday.

First- where to stay that is most convenient to the ferry? As we plan on eating our way through the city, best base of operations suggested?

Suggestions of sights "not to be missed" other than the Peak?

Also, please be advised that my husband and I lack an important trait- we have zero sense of direction, so suggestions on city tours would also be great. (We're the only people I know who walked around the walls OUTSIDE of the Forbidden City because we couldn't find the entrance.)

If you can give me your exact dates in Hong Kong, there may be a festival or something going on that might change my reccos, or it may be a public holiday in which case I might reverse the order of things (i.e. you would probably avoid the Peak on a public holiday when tram lines are longer). Otherwise, please see my two threads “Cicerone’s Reccos for What the Locals Do for Fun in Hong Kong (Hint: We DON’T Go to those Awful Night Markets....)” and “Cicerone’s Favourite Hong Kong Walks II: Paradise Found! From Happy Valley to Stanley in High Heels! (Almost) The Tsz Lo Lan Shan Path”, both of which give some ideas for things to, including activities for the evenings other than the dreaded night markets, and other less traditional tourist activities, i.e. the horse races at Happy Valley (which are only in the cool season so again, helps to know your dates).

1. Where to stay. Really almost anyplace, and you don’t give a budget so its hard to advise. If you want to be very, very close to the Star Ferry piers and price is not an issue, then stay at the Mandarin Oriental hotel or the Peninsula Hotel (the latter has the better view, but the former is a great hotel as well and is on the Hong Kong side where you will spend most of your time anyway IMO). If price is an issue, consider the YMCA Salisbury Road next door to the Peninsula on the Kowloon side (assuming you can get a room). Otherwise, you can walk, tram, bus or taxi to the Star Ferry pretty easily from many places on either side of the harbour. The MTR stations on either side of the harbour are not really convenient for the ferry, esp on the Kowloon side, so being near an MTR stop is not a plus IMO in terms of the Star Ferry. If you plan to take more than 1 trip to an outlying island by ferry, then being on the Hong Kong Island side and near to the Outlying Ferry Pier would be a bit more convenient. The Four Seasons is great for this. Otherwise, hotels in Central or even Sheung Wan would work, or even Wan Chai Causeway Bay are OK. If you can give a budget range, it would be more helpful as otherwise people are kind of giving reccos blind. If you have Marriott or Starwood points, etc this is a good city to think about redeeming them in.

2. Food. Again, IMO you will want to be on the Hong Kong side if you really want to enjoy the good restaurants. IMO virtually all of them are on the Hong Kong side, other than a very few on the tip of the Kowloon side, which you can go out to for dinner (and the view). While the area of good restaurants is spreading on the Hong Kong side (a very good one is now in Deep Water Bay), in general you will find most of them in Central/Soho, with a good number in the western end of Wan Chai and a sprinkling in the Times Square Area and Victoria Park area of Causeway Bay. I posted a restaurant list as part of the first of my two threads mentioned above, it is still pretty accurate, I may update it in the next few days if a get a chance. Personally, for restaurants, if you really want to base a hotel choice based on access to the widest variety of good restaurants, I would pick a hotel in Central, as you can then get to Soho and Wan Chai on foot or by tram (or a very cheap and fast taxi, less than US$3-5). You can also take the Star Ferry over to the Kowloon restaurants at night (a fabulous trip anyway), and take the MTR or taxi or bus to restaurants in Causeway Bay if you wanted to go there.

3. Tours. I am not a big one for tours, and have not taken any here, other than some walking tours with the American Women’s Association done by Jason Wordie, who I would very highly recommend. Take a look at www.jasonswalks.com. He is not cheap, but is very good. I know that the Hong Kong Tourist Association offers a walking tour at least a few days a week which is supposed to be good and also has links to lots of other tours, take a look at their website at http://www.discoverhongkong.com. I would very much recommend that you NOT take any type of bus/van tour of Hong Kong, even with a bad sense of direction; Hong Kong is really all about walking around to sites, and many of the most interesting things to see, like the fruit and veg markets, and not going to be accessible to a bus tour. Also, the great great walks in the hills, around the Peak, etc are not going to be part of a bus tour. Get a street map from the Hong Kong Tourist Association and then just ask directions if you get lost. The main tourist sites/areas of Hong Kong are quite small and compact, and the level of English here is very high. You will not have any issue getting help on buses, etc. (I just helped out a bunch of French tourists tying to get to Aberdeen from Repulse Bay yesterday.)

IMO it’s hard to give a list of “not to be missed” sights, because it is so subjective. I don’t have any interest in clothes shopping, and little interest in souvenir shopping (which to me is just so much junk really), so things like night markets just are a big yawn to me, but people who have never been to Asia sometimes enjoy having a chop made and think the night markets with the copy watches are just fantastic. But my own personal list of things I absolutely never get tired of doing in Hong Kong would be as follows:

1. A ride on the Star ferry during the day and at night. In addition to the traditional (short) ride from Hong Kong to Tsim Sha Tsui, you can take a longer ride from Hong Kong to Hung Hom, and get a longer time to view and photograph the harbour and city. You can take the ferry right back, or hop a bus or taxi over to Kowloon from there (will take about 5 minutes, taxi costs about HK$35 to someplace like the Peninsula hotel; take any bus which says “Star Ferry”).

2. The view from the Peak at dusk and as the lights come up over the city. I chose to live on the Peak because I love this view so much. Go up to the very top viewing platform of the Peak Tower building (the building in which the tram is located) for really great views. Have a coffee at the Pacific Coffee Company located hanging over the tram tracks and take in their billion-dollar view for the price of the coffee (and free internet access). Walk the Harlech-Lugard Road loop, about 1.5 miles around, getting a bit overgrown with trees unfortunately, but still affording some very good views. For some excellent views of the western harbour and the outlying islands like Lantau, walk out Harlech Road to High West (this is particularly good at sunset on a clear day or a day with high clouds).

3. A hike/walk almost anywhere either on Hong Kong Island or elsewhere. The Dragon’s Back, Ling Kok Shan on Lamma, from the Peak to Stanley, the Twins, Brides Pool in Sai Kung, the list is almost endless, from easy to challenging. I just yesterday spent about 2 hours walking from the Peak to Repulse Bay via Pokfulam Reservoir, with a brief bus trip to connect the two, but otherwise all along easy downhill or flat trails, past waterfalls, the reservoir and in the midst of birds and butterflies and magnificent sea views, and all in a city of 7 million. There is an excellent flat esplanade walk along the sea between Ocean Park in Deep Water Bay and Repulse Bay of about 1.5 miles that could be done with a stroller (other than one set of stairs) by people of any walking ability and in any weather, even the heat of summer.

4. A walk in any neighborhood market. Fruit, vegetables, flowers, dried spices, mushrooms, seafood, meat being butchered, fish jumping around in baskets, live chickens and ducks in cages (harder to find these days because of the bird flu). Everyone yelling, old Chinese women hobbling around. Everything from shoes to TVs, to paper money for the dead is on sale. Wan Chai has a very good one, as does the Peel Street area in Central. The "dried fish street" area, which is along Des Veoux Road West in Western/Sheung Wan, is very interesting. The end of the tram line in Chai Wan has a good one, virtually no tourists. There is a market on Reclamation Street next door to the dreaded night market in Kowloon which is pretty good (combine this with a trip to the Jade Market and to the excellent Tin Hau temple on Shanghai Street and that is a good few hours in Kowloon IMO. You can throw in the flower market, the bird market and a visit to the Wong Tai Sin temple too). These are only open during the day, the generally close around 7 pm, and are most active in the mornings and evenings, but places like Wan Chai can be busy all day.

5. A trip to an outlying island by ferry, preferably by the little open wooden double-decker kaido ferry boats rather than the big air-conditioned ferries. You can really see and appreciate the views from the open boats, IMO, plus I just find them incredibly beautiful and there is always at least one little old toothless lady in her pajamas and plastic carrier bag making a trip back from the market. Lamma, Lantau, Cheng Chau are favourites, but there are others even further a field if you want to devote an entire day to a trip. There are some great walks on Lamma and Lantau. Kaidos generally run from Aberdeen harbour (some are from Sai Wan Ho on the eastern end of Hong Kong Island, and some stop at Stanley Beach and go to outlying islands near Stanley like Po Toi so you could combine a trip to Stanley with a trip to Po Toi), so one thing you can do if you go to a place like Lamma is take a regular ferry out from Central, do a walk on Lamma, and then take a kaido back to Aberdeen and explore Aberdeen a bit and perhaps have a meal there. (I am not a fan of the seafood restaurants on Lamma for many reasons, primarily being they are too expensive for what they are and the seafood is all imported anyway, so you aren’t eating the local catch, so why stay for it and pay for it...)

6. A visit to a temple. Preferably if a festival is going on so you can see Chinese opera or lion dancers, but otherwise just pop in. The Man Mo temple on Hollywood Road is quite atmospheric, and surprisingly not full of tourists although they seem to be all over the antique shops on Hollywood Road. The Tin Hau Temple on Shanghai Street in Kowloon is really good, there are several side temples to other gods, and this seems to be quite an active temple. There is a temple in Western dedicated to god of carpenters, I have been a few times (I like the neighborhood) and have always disturbed the caretaker from his nap when I walk in (not many visitors). There are two temples in Stanley and one in Repulse Bay. On most any walk you take which includes a village by the sea, there will be a temple to Tin Hau which you should visit; the one in Sok Ku Wan on Lamma has been recently restored and is quite nice; there is a tiny one in Tung O on the other side of Mt Stenhouse which is so picturesque. The Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon is famous for its fortune telling “mall” and is worth a visit (when people who don’t live here say Hong Kong is not Chinese or is westernized, I just laugh and laugh....).

7. A visit a museum or to a concert, Chinese Opera or other cultural offering. While Hong Kong is not New York or London, it is not the cultural desert that people seem to think it is. There are several good museums, a very good local symphony and an active arts life. There is lots to do at night here beyond shopping for fake Prada bags and copy DVDs.

8. Eating. From Swatow to Scandinavian, you can literally get any kind of cuisine here, most of it very good, most of it not too expensive. Most of it on Hong Kong Island, most if it within about a 5-mile radius or less of the Star Ferry Pier. Food is a pretty big topic of conversation here and asking for restaurant reccos is a good conversation starter (almost like Singapore, where they don’t actually bother to talk about the weather because it is the same all the time, they talk about food instead; Hong Kong has weather so we do talk about that. It’s bloody hot now.).

Things I do only when pressed to do so by visiting friends or relatives: go to the Big Buddha on Lantau (sorry it’s just not really that interesting, IMO. If you want to see beautiful countryside with sea views there are lots of better places to go than Lantau which are easier to get to IMO, try the Dragon’s Back on Hong Kong Island or Ling Kok Shan on Lamma or even the family walk on Lamma); go to the night market in Kowloon (just go to Stanley, see the same stuff and have a good meal and that great bus ride); go to Ocean Park (fine if you have kids that need amusement, otherwise Hong Kong is a long way to travel to see trained dolphins do tricks or swim in a wave pool).

Things I don’t spend any appreciable time doing here: clothes shopping (that’s what catalogs are for), shoe shopping (I have them made, but with 2.5 days I don’t know that this is worth your time). Some things I have not done and don’t expect I will ever do: go to Disneyland, go to the Madame Tussaud’s wax museum on the Peak.

Two and half days is not really that short a stay for Hong Kong (unless you're planning to spend two of those days shopping. )

Listen to Cicerone. Personally, I like Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha. Now that the NP360 Skyrail is not operating, you can't take that fascinating ride; but the upside is that the area is much less crowded. I won't say it's a must do, but you can still do a 2/3-day trip to Lantau using the ferry and MTR, visiting the fishing village or Tai O and Po Lin Monastery.

Or just spend one day mostly on HK Island, the other mostly on the Kowloon side. I second Cicerone's recommendation of visiting the Wong Tai Sin Temple. If you do go, also visit the Chi Nin Nunnery (Diamond Hill MTR, one stop from Wong Tai Sin); it's a buddhist nunnery not for worshipping. You the Tang Dynasty-style architecture is absolutely amazing.

I am so grateful to you both for the wonderful information. We plan on being in HK third week in September, so I will definitely search out any special festivals.

I too, am not a fan of shopping, and agree that my souvenirs of places we've been are more "memory photos" that I can call to mind in quiet times.

Our most luxurious stay was at the Pen in Beijing, but I think HK Pen may be out of our budget this trip, but I will look into it as well as the IC.

Just one small question- we are an older Chinese-Caucasian couple, a sight not un-common here in Hawaii. In mainland China, however, although everyone was very polite, we did garner lots of stares, particularly among those of our generation particularly on a trip to the summer palace where the oldsters seem to congregate to spend the day. The young people didn't seem to give a nod one way or the other. We didn't feel uncomfortable, but we knew they found us a novelty. I am assuming inter-marriage is more common in HK.

I will try and find the previous threads noted.

Mahalo nui loa.

Lots of interracial couples in Hong Kong. No one will even notice you in Central, Tsimshatsui, Causeway Bay or Mongkok. But of course, if you go to areas with fewer tourists/visitors, then locals may give you a glance. But definitely no staring.

I used to live in Discovery Bay on Lantau. Over there, it seems like every other family is a mixed racial one.

We're also a mixed couple. Nobody in HK gave us, or our hapa daughters, a second glance. (Well, the boys may have given our daughters second glances, but not because of their race... )

There are no official public holidays the third week in September in Hong Kong, although the mid-Autumn festival is September 26, so you may encounter events leading up to that (including the sale of mooncakes, both traditional and all kinds of weird concoctions like ice cream moon cakes). You can ask your hotel about any local temple celebrations which may be going on.

I agree that the interracial thing would not be an issue in Hong Kong.
Some tried and true suggestions for hotels in various price ranges:

1. For luxury hotels, in addition to what has been mentioned so far, also try the Mandarin Landmark, which is their new hotel a block or two inland behind the Mandarin Oriental in Central on Hong Kong Island. Rooms are very nice, no views to speak of, but these may be cheaper than the Oriental, and IMO the location is excellent. Take a look at mandarin-oriental.com. (They also operate the Excelsior which is significantly cheaper, it’s their 3-4 star, however the location is in Causeway Bay, I am not a huge fan of staying there, see below. But take a look.) The Ritz-Carlton also has a good location, that is worth a try. The complex of the JW Marriott, Island Shangri-La and Conrad at Pacific Place a few blocks east of Central is also worth looking at, a quick walk to the Peak Tram, on an MTR line, tram line and major bus line, walkable to some great restaurants in Wan Chai. I don’t like the location of the Grand Hyatt and would not recco it, too isolated. There are several Marco Polo hotels near the Star Ferry pier on the Kowloon side, in a shopping mall called Ocean Terminal/Harbour City, I think they vary in quality and price, but take a look at http://www.marcopolohotels.com/index.html. All are OK in terms of walking to the Star Ferry etc. Views I think would be a bit obscured, may be more of the container port area and any docked cruise ships, I am not sure it is worth paying for a view from the Marco Polo hotels. Other than hotels on the tip of Kowloon like the Penn, the Salisbury YMCA, the Intercontinental, the Marco Polos and the Sheraton on Nathan Road (starwood.com), I really am not a fan of staying on the Kowloon side.

2. Website for YMCA hotels in Asia is /www.ymca-hotels.com/. The most popular and probably the nicest is the Salisbury, which I mentioned above. It’s not really a Y, it’s like a good 3 star or possibly 4 star hotel. Can’t beat the location really, even if it is in Kowloon, it’s practically at the Star Ferry pier.

3. Next door to the Intercontinental Hotel in TST on Kowloon is the Renaissance New World hotel. This is an older hotel and I don’t know that any of the rooms have harbour views, but would be cheaper than the IC for the same location (albeit no views). May be worth a look at marriott.com

4. Hotel LKF on Hong Kong Island. It has a great location in the heart of the bar/restaurant district and Hollywood Road area, and is about 5 minute walk from the main area of Central, about 10 minutes to the Star Ferry. It is quite funky and modern. Views are good, not great, but interesting city and some harbour because it is such a tall tower. It is next door a funky restaurant and dim sum place called Dragon-I and several of my other favorite Hong Kong restaurants are with yards or close walking distance. Rooms are a god size generally, the smallest are 500 square feet. For your dates, they are showing a Deluxe King (600 square feet which is a very large room) with breakfast at HK$2925 (about US$375). Take a look at http://www.hotel-lkf.com.hk/

5. Bishop Lei International House. This hotel is in mid-levels which makes it very convenient for things like dinner, exploring Soho and Hollywood Road, etc. Their room rates are very good. They have standard rooms from US$73 and suites from $96. The rooms tend to be small, so I would go for a suite if you can which will give you two rooms and you won't feel so cramped. The rooms are small but very nice, and the location is good, in a residential neighborhood near the top of the escalator and on a bus route. It is just above the zoo in the botanical gardens and you can hear the orang utans in the morning, quite unusual in the middle of the city. . . Many of the rooms have great views over the city and the harbor. They have a pool and restaurant, and there are other restaurants in the neighborhood. http://www.bishopleihtl.com.hk

6. A budget hotel which I don’t know inside but which I pass virtually every day and I think has an excellent location in Wan Chai is The Wesley. (It’s run by the Methodist church, like the Bishop Lei above is run by the Catholic Church.) This hotel is about 300 yards from the Pacific Place complex of the JW Marriott/Conrad and Shangri-La which of course charge hundreds more for their rooms. This is in a great neighborhood of excellent restaurants, both cheap and dear, and near some of my favorite (and fast disappearing) market areas for strolling and people-watching. The Admiralty metro would be very close, and the hotel fronts the tram line and several major bus lines. It’s quite moderately price, but make sure you get as large a room as you can. For two adults, you really want at least 28 square meters about 300 square feet. Take a look at http://www.hanglung.com/contents.asp?articleid=853

7. Another thought are the serviced apartments at Two MacDonnell Road in mid-levels. These are available for short-term rentals of one night, and the smallest units are in the US$170 range. All units have small kitchens, which is a nice feature for breakfast (there is a grocery store across the street). I like the location on MacDonnell Road, as it is close to the great walking path on Bowen Road , you can walk down to the Peak Tram station or Hong Kong Park in about 5 minutes or to Central in a bit more. It’s across (a very busy) street from the small zoo and park by the old Governor’s mansion. This is a quiet residential neighborhood,. The hotel has a free shuttle bus to Central as well, and a small gym a restaurant. ok at http://www.twomr.com.hk.

8. There are several hotels in Causeway Bay, which is an area of Hong Kong Island a few miles to the east of Central. This is a primary shopping area, there are a number of good restaurants, a significant Tin Hau temple, a very large public park, and a typhoon shelter/harbour, but not really much for sightseeing. It’s a very bustling area of shoppers. In previous years, this was an area full of little discount outlet shops, however that has really changed and those are fast disappearing (rents are too high) and so the main reason to perhaps stay here is gone. I am not really a fan of recommending a stay there, esp for such a short stay and for a first time visitor, I think you will spend a lot of time of the subway or in taxi going into Central and other places. The subway is really jammed at rush hours, otherwise it is fine, but who wants to spend all that time underground when all the great views are above. In any event, hotels to consider would be the Excelsior (see the Mandarin website), the Park Lane (http://www.parklane.com.hk), the Jia (http://www.jiahongkong.com ), the Central Hotel (www.centralparkhotel.com.hk), the Metropark (http://www.metroparkhotel.com/) and the Rosedale (http://www.rosedale.com.hk ). At these latter hotels, ask about room size, as rooms tend to be very small (like 220 square feet) and get the largest you can.

By the way, I am going to Hawaii in October for the Iron Man (volunteering, not participating). Do you have restaurant reccos for the Big Island and for Maui?

I feel that the OP wants something at least 4*, probably better if they were considering the Peninsula or the IC.

I'd look into a harborview rooms at the following:

- Marco Polo Hong Kong
- "Tower" room at the Sheraton
- Kowloon Shangri-La
- IC Grand Stanford

All will be a little bit cheaper than the Pen or IC, but still nice. The Shang and Grand Stanford are far from the Star Ferry, but there's a different fast ferry from Tsimshatsui East to Central.

On Hong Kong Island, the JWMarriott should be a little cheaper than the Conrad and the Island Shangri-La in the same complex.

Wow! I just read this...great info!

Dear Cicerone-

With all the assistance you've given me, I'm embarassed that I can't help you with restaurants on the Big Island as we live on the north shore of Oahu.

Are you going to Hilo or Kona side? Is this your first time to the islands?

Yes, it's my first time to Hawaii. I am staying on the Kona side. No worries about Maui restaurants, maybe next time I will get to Oahu...

We've been having a bit of a drought so unfortunately things will not be as lush particularly in Maui which has been fighting several brush fires for the last several weeks.

I'm sure you have made plans to see Kilauea- lots of excitement with recent active eruptions.

What airline are you coming on?

Oh, after reading all the threads, we booked a harborview suite at the YMCA which was available and was about half the price than at the Pen. My husband still can't believe we're going to stay at a YMCA!

Glad you got booked into the Y. It's not really a Y, it's a hotel run by the Y, just keep telling yourself that. The harbour view will make up for it all.

I am flying to Hawaii on UA via Narita, which is not bad overall in terms of flight time. It’s a 4 hour layover in Narita, which is dull. I would have preferred the CO flight with the 60 minute layover in Guam, but my company is paying for the flight (it’s part of a business trip) and they have a deal with UA which is about US$2,000 cheaper for the business class seat, so as it is their dime, I am not too sussed about a bit longer journey time. As you “gain” a day going east it is OK also as I won’t lose a vacation day. I am going on to the mainland US so don’t have to deal with the frankly awful return flights between Hawaii and Hong Kong; it is amazing to me that there are no non-stop flights. You would think Hawaii would be a popular destination for Hong Kongers or others from SE Asia, e.g. Beijing or Shanghai. Maybe in the future.

If you come up with any restaurant reccos between now and mid-October, let me know. The US board is just too dense on the Hawaii subject, it’s hard to get through it all....most of the posters don’t seem to be locals, and I always like the local people’s reccos anyway.

i like seaview restaurant on alii drive, just past the old king kamehameha hotel, and the manago restaurant in the manago hotel in captain cook, both real local places with good food.

Cicerone: This last Christmas on Maui, we had dinner at a Japanese sushi restaurant called Sansei. It was fabulous.

They have two locations, one at Kapaloa and one at Kehei.

There's an early bird special between 5:30pm and 6:00pm. The line was pretty long for the early bird special.

Also if you have a friend with a Hawaiian driver's license, they give locals a special rate.

Unless you're fabulously wealthy (which you probably are! ), you will want some of the discounted prices. The sushi is so delicious that you will want to order more and more. We had quite a huge bill even with the early bird special.

The best sushi I've ever had.

BTW, there's more than sushi being served at Sansei.

We also stopped by a small grocery, had them cut up some fresh pineapples for us, and enjoyed that on the beach.

Cicerone,

The restaurant scene in downtown Kona is pretty sad. The area is saturated with chain restaurants and 3 star value places as all the budget accommodations are in this area. Most of the restaurants here cater to the family tourist.

The best of the lot imho are:

Jameson's by the Sea
77-6452 Alii Dr, Kailua Kona, HI 96740 · 808-329-3195
has good seafood and the views are fantastic. Can be a very romantic dinner here if the family from Boston at the other table is quiet

Kona Beach Restaurant
75-5660 Palani Road. (808) 329-2911. www.konabeachhotel .com.

quiet place along the beach

the two restaurants that kuranosuke recommended are old time local favorites that are very simple but will transport you back in old time Hawaii(almost 100 years in the case of Manago Cafe).

The better restaurants for dining on the Kona side are along the Kohala and Waikoloa coast which are located about 15 to 25 miles north of downtown Kona as that's where all the nicer resorts are and where I presume you will be.

There are restaurants at The Four Seasons which I haven't tried so can't comment.

Donatoni's in The Hilton Wailaloa is excellent Northern Italian

There is also a Roy's in Waikoloa which is very good. They specialize in Pacific fusion cuisine.....very nice

http://www.kamuelapride.com/roy's_waikoloa.htm

Don't miss a sunset and the accompanying green flash on the Kona coast.....the best you may ever see.

Also if you get a chance go and see the volcano. If you've never seen one up close before it's a must.

If you are ever standing over the Halemaumau firepit staring into the firepit you'll know what I mean when I say not to be missed. I equate that view to be almost as good as my first view of the Grand Canyon.

http://www.nps.gov/havo

And if you have some time at night go stargazing at the clearest, cleanest simply the best place on the planet to stargaze at:

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/

The stars are so bright up there you really feel you can jump up and touch one!

Anyway I've rambled enough....holler if you need more info!

Aloha!
ps
If you get to the Hilo side of the island my favorite restaurant there is listed below:

http://www.restaurantkaikodo.com/

Thank you all, that is SO helpful. Our family has been going to Captiva for many years, and LOVE looking for the green flash, so will enjoy doing so in Hawaii!!

Cicerone:
I have been going to Maui at least once a year to visit in-laws for 12 years now so here's my take on good food in Maui:
1) You do not want to miss Mama's Fish House which is located near Paia. It is expensive but walking from the parking lot to the restaurant you pass the most beautiful beach/bay that you can walk down to before entering the restaurant. Ask for a view table for the same reason as they light up the beach area at night. The food is wonderful too.

2)I think both restaurants recommended by MSheinberg are good but they are in Lahaina which is a bit honky tonk. Some find the Hawaiian honky tonk charming, others expect something different.

3) Spagos in the Four Seasons restaurant in Wailea is fantastic. Great food and service. Ask for a table on the lanai or at least on the edge by the lanai for a pleasant view.

4) Roys is always good. I prefer the one up by Kahana. It has charming atmosphere. The one in Kihei is a very simple almost diner atmosphere.

5) The best restaurants are in Wailea generally where there are tons of nice hotels. You can skip most of the restaurants in Kaanapali for great dining. They are all fine but not exceptional...
6) Also worth trying but a drive is the HaliiMaile General Store. It's above Paia towards Makawao. Neat place. Tasty food.

7) Don't know where you are staying but there are several little Vietnamese restaurants in Wailuku. Very simple local restaurants but yummy. Not worth driving too but if you are near... Very inexpensive.

8)Sansei is good imo for sushi but not amazing. It's a very simple atmosphere - diner style. Hawaiians don't really eat much sushi actually.
9) For some reason, at the Outback in Kiheii, everything tastes better than at any other Outback I have ever been too. Maybe just a Maui thing as not even as good in Oahu.

For the Big Island:
The best restaurant is probably the Four Season's restaurant. Stunning views from dinner as it it semi-outdoors by the beach and they light up the beach. food is great too.
Then there's Merriman's which is way up in the hills in paniolo country but a great restaurant and experience. Roy's is also good on the Big Island.
Another neat choice especially for lunch is a very local place, Bamboo, in a very local town, Hawi town, at the north tip above Kohala coast on rte 270 - 808-889-5555. This place is a great place for lunch. The food is yummy, sort of a hawaian-thai flair, and the owner and her children (all waiters here) still do a hula and sing every day during lunch. Sounds corny but it actually isn't. True Aloha spirit. Love it.

I will have to ask you questions about HK as we are going 12-21-30 this year. How would you spend those 8 days? I shop a bit but not a real shopper. Love to soak up foreign cultures though.

Thanks for the Hawaii restaurant advice here and on the other post. For some starting suggestions for your Hong Kong visit, take at look at two threads I have written called “Cicerone’s Reccos for What the Locals Do for Fun in Hong Kong (Hint: We DON’T Go to those Awful Night Markets....)” and “Cicerone’s Favourite Hong Kong Walks II: Paradise Found! From Happy Valley to Stanley in High Heels! (Almost) The Tsz Lo Lan Shan Path”, these should give you some ideas for what to do, including a list of walks and some sources for more walks, and restaurant suggestions.

The air pollution is pretty bad in the winter; however at night you really don’t notice it at all interfering with views, and during the day it may just appear to you to be a heavy haze (we know better). As you have not been here when it is clear (like for the last 2-3 months when it is has been stunningly clear when it is not pouring with rain), you don’t really know what you are missing. Just know it is not like that all the time...it will depend on some factors like wind, etc. You can see across the harbour, but views further than a few mils are quite obscured. I don’t find the air here to be gritty, and don’t have any respiratory issues, although I understand this does affect children here. I do have this problem in other cities like Bejing and Shangahi and Delhi after a few days, esp in Delhi before they switched to LPG for buses which has helped tremendously with the grit there.

The good news is that you are here for some really lovely weather. Temps generally do not get very cold in December, just very pleasant. Dry and sunny, very low humidity. Take a look at weatherbase.com. The colder temps don’t generally arrive until late Jan or Feb. December is great shawl weather in the evening; a leather coat is fine too. During the day, long pants, long or short sleeves and maybe a light sweater is fine; although you often see tourists wearing shorts and T shirts too. Air conditioning will be on in shops, restaurants. hotels and public transport (as there is no central heating, so it is to keep the air circulating), so I find these places freezing and the light sweater is helpful for that reason too.

Christmas is a great time to be here, the skyscrapers are all decorated and Christmas Eve is like a big party, esp along the esplanade on Salisbury Road, right where the Intercontinental Hotel is located (assuming you stay there, it also fronts the Penn and the YMCA and the Sheraton; you can also just ferry over or take the MTR to join the party). Definitely walk around in the crowd that night, it’s a fun atmosphere. It’s not a religious holiday for most people here, but the 25th and 26th are public holidays, so everyone as off and is out having fun. Some shops will be closed on the 25th, but you will still find some open, and many restaurants will be open too. By the 26th most restaurants and shops will be open too. On the 24th and 25th you may have to buy into somewhat pricey set meals at restaurants, check out some of the restaurants on my list and see what is on offer. I know hotels generally run quite pricey set meals, but restaurants may be on more of a normal menu.

After the main tourist sights, as you have a nice bit of time I would say to concentrate on getting away from the main part of Hong Kong and taking advantage of all the time you have to get to outlying islands and areas in the New Territories for walking and finding little villages. That to me is so interesting. That is where you find the temple festivals going on and the little old ladies sitting by the sidewalk in their pajamas playing Mahjongg (they do it in the high rises too, you just don’t get to see it.) There is a lot of excellent walking and much of it will take you through older, smaller villages. You can take long or short ferry rides which are also part of the fun, especially if you can get the great little open double-decker wooden kaido ferry boats rather than the large enclosed air-conditioned high-speed ferries. There are at least two walled village museums in these areas as well, I think I mention both on my thread, if not, I can post them. Places like Grass Island (Tap Mun) are a long, lovely ferry ride to a island with a tiny village where you will certainly be one of very few tourists, and on a weekday, possibly the only tourists. But there are close-in places too, like Tung O on Lamma where the actor Chow Young Fat grew up.

Macau is also good for an overnight, I see you have gotten some reccos on that already. I would NOT stay in one of the new hotels on the “Cotai strip”. If you are going to stay in a casino hotel, then stay at the Wynn or the Mandarin, neither of which is on the Cotai strip. (The Cotai Strip is a strip of land outside the old city and between it and the lovely old villages on Coloane and Taipa that is strictly for casinos and casino hotels, it is what I imagine Vegas is like: a long highway lined by high-rise casino hotels. These are mega-hotels, like 1,000 rooms each. Most of this is still under construction. You will see what I mean when you drive by it.) I don’t think the Lisboa is particularly nice inside, perhaps the rooms are redone, but it always seems a little seedy (Joel Rubichon restaurant notwithstanding...) Personally, I think I would stay either at the Westin down on Coloane or at the Posada de Sao Tiago just outside the historic core. The Westin is right on the beach, has a nice outdoor pool and a golf course too. (I have not stayed there in many years so have not seen the rooms, get some tripadvisor.com advice if you can.) You can take a bus or taxi up to the old town in Macau in about 20 minutes. You would also be away from the noise and craziness of Macau city proper which, with all the construction going on is a big plus, IMO. Take a look at http://www.westin-macau.com/. I just love the Coloane end of Macau, it is so sleepy and peaceful. That area IMO is where you can only now see the Portuguese Chinese culture. You can get up to the historic core for the day quite easily by taxi or bus, but then you can get away when you want. The core is quite tightly packed and can be noisy and very hectic (and there is a ton of construction going on around it). The Posada de Sao Tiago is quite atmospheric being built into an old fortress. It just reopened after a redo, I have not seen it, but before the redo it had a great restaurant and a good bit of charm, so if the redo is finished and was done well, I think it would be a good choice, take a look at http://www.saotiago.com.mo/main_e.html. While not in the historic core proper, it is in an interesting area and has some nice sea views.

Some further thoughts. I would NOT go to Macau on the 25th or 26th of December, as those are public holidays in Hong Kong, and Macau is likely to be really jammed with Hong Kong day trippers. I also would avoid Sundays generally as those are a very popular day for day trips to Macau. Try for a weekday which is not a public holiday. In any case try to buy your ferry tickets ahead of time. While it is sometimes hard to know exactly when you may want to return, having a ticket purchased ahead of time for the return will save you queuing and waiting time on the return, as boats can fill up and if you don’t have a confirmed ticket you would then have to wait for the next boat or perhaps the one after that. For schedules for New World First Ferry, the one that departs from the Kowloon side of the harbour, go to http://www.nwff.com.hk/. The ferry takes about an hour. Turbo Jet goes to the other side (Hong Kong side) of the harbour, their website is at http://www.turbojet.com.hk

December 21 is the winter solstice, which is a family/religious festival here in Hong Kong. (It is not generally a public holiday, but many offices will close early that day to let employees get together for a family dinner.) It’s a time to eat special dumplings of glutinous rice, so you may want look out for them. I am not sure you will find temple celebrations going on, but this day and evening would be a good time to hunt around for them.

Another option for a trip you might want to really immerse yourself in the Chinese culture is take is to take an overnight trip and go up the Pearl River Delta to the area around Kaipíng which is about 85 miles southwest of Guangzhou, to see the diaolóu (often called somewhat erroneously “watch towers”) there. These were built by returning overseas Chinese in the early part of the last century and are quite something. I have been trying to get there myself for a trip, as I have only seen pictures at an Asia Society dinner a few months ago, and they look fascinating. You can bike around the area and look at them, you can apparently only go in one or two if any, but they seem very interesting indeed. From Hong Kong it is an overnight trip, and I can’t seem to convince anyone to go, I am trying to get the Asia Society to run a trip (which they did a few years ago before I moved back here). You can take a ferry to this area from Hong Kong in about 4 hours, but because of the return ferry schedule, a trip there requires an overnight stay.(See www.cksp.com.hk for schedules). I think you would find this area quite rural and traditional and you would get to see the diaolóu, which not a lot of people have seen. Some articles can be found at the Frommers.com website and at http://www.kaiping.gov.cn/test/diaolou/eng/index.htm; http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_cu...ent_79330.htm; and http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1688 . If you do this, please post a trip report!!! You would need a PRC visa for this trip. You can obtain one here in 2-3 days usually, but as the PRC consulate may be closed for the Christmas holidays while you are here, it may be easier to get one before you go.

I have not looked into going to Kaiping from Macau, this may be possible and/or easier than from Hong Kong. According to an NY Times article I just saw, you can take a bus from Macau in 2.5 hours to Kaiping (the bus goes from Zhuhai Gong Bei which is at the Macau/PRC border). The article is at http://travel.nytimes.com/frommers/t...390010011.html, and appears to be an excerpt from the Frommers.com guide.