frequentflyer304

I am going to HK and Singapore for 18 days first week of april-- can I get some packing help-is a holiday trip- no business apparel needed- i have the one black dress for couple of "nicer" dinners-
I am an experienced traveller and a terrible packer

Thanks in advance-- or I take too little (seldom) or I take all I own

braidsL

I am a frequent traveler and a great packer, I believe. I'll be going to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai in April. This would be generally what I take for a two week or so trip: Four pairs of pants: one khaki, one black, two pairs of jeans. Two or three skirts...I like kind of long, full ones. An assortment of little tshirs, tops, etc. I take a pair of sneakers and two pairs of comfortable shoes, one black and one khaki. The shoes should work with the pants or the skirs. That's about it except for underwear, sleepwear, etc. One tip I got from a fellow traveler once when I remarked how empty her suitcase seemed: Buy a package of 2 1/2 gallon zip lock bags. Put two pairs of pants, for example, in one and zip it. The upzip a a bit and squeenze out the air. You'll be shocked at how much room you save. Just my suggestions. Have fun.
Lorraine

kmkrnn

One key to packing light is to pick a "color" to travel in. Thst way you take a pair of pants that have 2-3 tops that match. Your second pair of pants should match at least 2 of those shirts. Add a skirt or 2 , that again match a few of the tops you have. Add a few more cordinating tops, and 1 sweater that can be dressy or for day use. For a short trip like you are taking 3 pr of pants,1 skirt and 6-8 tops should do it. By using 1 color as your guide you can have 1 pr of walking shoes and 1 pr of dress shoes. Shoes are bulky items. 5 pr of under wear and 3 bras. Laundry is cheap in asia, so send it out. Don't take more than you personally can carry. It takes a bit of planning and shopping to co-ordinate your wardrobe, but once you get a few things going I just leave them in the suitcase for the next trip. Have fun

Jaya

kmkrnn has an excellent point that I also travel by - pick your main travel color and pack clothing and shoes that are "mix-and-match" to maximize the combinations you can get out of what you do take.

rhkkmk

as mr kmkrnn, i will also tell you that she dresses well and does it all out of one small rolly for carry-on (personal stuff, jewelry, one set of undies, etc) and a 22" rolly for the clothes... and this for up to 2 months on the road---all same climate however--warm...

Cicerone

I live in Hong Kong and have lived in Singapore. April in Hong Kong will be humid, on the warmish to hot side, and with possible rain. Same with Singapore, only hotter. See weatherbase.com for ideas of temps and rainfall. So warm weather cloting is in order. You won’t need a raincoat (too hot), but will want a small folding umbrella to have for the odd shower. I find the air con on buses and often in restaurants and shops to be freezing, so I would pack a sweater for that (also good for planes which I also find freezing, although a good shawl, and I don’t mean a pashmina, works really well for that as it doubles as a blanket).

There are no dress codes for Buddhist temples in Singapore or Hong Kong, you can go with bare shoulders, short skirts etc. (You don’t even have to take shoes off to enter temples, unless you note that locals have done so, this is quite rare however.) Shorts are generally not really worn by local women, but you certainly can if you want to, you may feel funny walking around downtown Hong Kong in them and you may not want to go to some restaurants in them, but otherwise don’t worry, you will never see those people again. If you want to do walks and hikes in Hong Kong, you will want shorts and T shirts for that. Hong Kong is generally a bit dressier than Singapore, esp. in the evening, but only a very few restaurants are really what I would call dressy, so nice pants will do for women for most places (only Petrus I believe requires jackets for men, I can check my list). Otherwise during the day, casual clothes are the order; Hong Kong women wear a tremendous amount of black.

Flat and comfortable shoes which are well broken in would be important for both, as you will want to do a good bit of walking, and your feet will probably be sweating as well. Leave the high heels at home or bring one pair for evening. Hong Kong has a good bit of uphill walking as well in parts.

Sunscreen, a hat and a bag which can hold a bottle of water (and the umbrella) would be a good thing to have. Crime is virtually unknown in both places, so no money belt is needed, but take normal precautions like not walking around with your purse open or anything.

Ching Ming is April 4 and is a grave sweeping holiday, and if you can get to a local cemetery you will see families out visiting dead relatives and cleaning graves. It is quite big in Hong Kong and is a public holiday, not so big in Singapore but still observed. In Hong Kong, there is a large cemetery in Happy Valley and also a huge one in Chai Wan, the latter can be incorporated into the Dragon’s Back walk if you want to do a great walk while you are here. (Search this board for my post called “Cicerone's Favourite Hong Kong Walks III: The Dragon's Back” for directions and info on that walk.) The Happy Valley one could be done at the end of a tour of the Wan Chai markets. Good Friday is a public holiday in both S’pore and Hong Kong and Easter Monday is a holiday in Hong Kong, but you won’t notice much in terms of shop closures in either place, although banks, schools and government offices will be closed.

I have a list of restaurant recommendations for Hong Kong which is now 40-pages, which I am loathe to post here as I do not like the new format and the list is way too long anyway. I would be happy to e-mail it to you if you want to send me a message at [email protected]. It is broken down by view, no view, area, price and food type/region.

As for packing, check your airline, your allowance is probably one bag of 25 to 30 kg which is 55 pounds or more, a <i>heck</i> of a lot of luggage. If you pack too much, who cares?! It’s your vacation! Do what you want, enjoy, relax. IMO, packing light is a "skill" appreciated only by those who possess it, not by those who have to spend 2 weeks looking at someone rotating the same boring 3 shirts....My rule is that if I can't lift it off the baggage carousel myself I cannot bring it, but you would be amazed and how big a suitcase you can lift off a carousel by yourself…. As you are going to only 2 places, and are flying between them, you don’t need to really worry about having to lug bags around, and can use luggage carts and hotel porters to help. It is only the 5 minutes getting the bag to check in and off the baggage carousel that is really any sort of a hassle in any event. (And then you don’t have to drag a carry-on through security and onto the trains at the airports between terminals.) Luggage carts are of course free everywhere but the US, so airports are quite easy (<i>why</i> is that by the way?). In Hong Kong, you can roll the luggage carts onto the Airpor Express trains and dump and collect luggage, so really no hassle at all.

indianapearl

We (Mr. Pearl and I)spent a month in HK last spring. The temperature is comfortable, but the humidity is high, usually in the 80% or higher range. Take cotton garments where possible.

I spent a wonderful day at Martha Sherpa's Cooking School in Mong Kok (Kowloon side). I learned a great deal about cooking Cantonese food as well as culture.