rkkwan

Since I have so much to report on this recent trip, I'm splitting things up into three thread. I have already started one about the flights on CO and CX in this thread in the "airlines" forum:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34549939

And I will start one up about dining in this forum later on.

In this thread, I'll divide stuff based on topics, instead of date/time. I'll concentrate mostly on stuff that's new or have been altered/improved since my last visit about 18 months ago.

I. Lodging

1. YWCA Anne Black Guesthouse - I have never stayed in a hotel in Hong Kong. But this is where I stayed this time, which is one of the cheapest "real" hotels you will find in all of Hong Kong. By "real", I mean it's not a youth hostel, and it's not a few rooms inside a large commercial/mixed-use building like those in Chungking Mansion. Even has a full-service restaurant that's open all-day. The rate I paid is HK$330 all in, w/breakfast, for a single room. You don't need to be a YWCA member, and you can be male or female. They do have a couple of floors exclusively for female guests.

Single room means one single bed ("Twin" in American size). No frills in the room - no carpet, no bathtub (only shower), no cable (only the 4 broadcast channel, and no remote), no shampoo/conditioner. On the other hand, it has very soft towels, little toothbrush/paste kit, plastic slippers (perfect on the plane), free use of safety box in lobby office. I believe double rooms have a fridge. My top-floor (20th) room has a pretty nice view of other Kowloon residental highrises.

Front desk staff is very friendly, and the breakfast is okay. There are 6 choices (all available every day), though couple of them require $2-$4 extra. My favorite is the Hong Kong-style French toast. All came with coffee/tea, and some also has orange juice.

Its location is a little tricky, however. Both the Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok MTR stations are about 15 minutes walk, so is the Mong Kok KCR station. But there are frequent buses that go along Waterloo Road to all of Hong Kong. The hotel is on a small hill, but one can use the escalators of the Kowloon Library next door, when it's open, to eliminate some climbing.

2. Other lodging choices that caught my attention one-way or another:

a. Four Seasons will be open soon. It's a handsome building in the ifc (International Finance Center) complex above the Airport Express/MTR Hong Kong station. No doubt it will be one of the top-rated hotels in the world after it opens.

b. Langham Place. I've heard a lot about this new true 5-star property in a 1-star neighborhood with a 3-star price. I think it is really worth considering all casual visitors who want to see the real Hong Kong society, and not just where the rich and expats hangout. Its building towers over everything in that area except the office building in the same complex, so the view should be excellent. Just keep in mind that you'll find sex-shops disguised as massage parlors and karaokes that offer young girls as singing mates, just next door. It's also attached to a nice upscale shopping mall, and the MTR is just steps away.

c. The Inter-Continental Grand Stanford in Tsimshatsui East was built as the Holiday Inn Harbourview in the 80's (same time as the Shangri-La, Regal, Royal Garden & Nikko); but has been upgraded first to a Crowne Plaza, and now an IC. The building's been totally refurbished, with new windows, new exterior walls, etc - it's really nice and classy. There's still some work being done on its entrance, and there's construction at the public plaza next door. The TST-East promenade has been reopened, but transportation in that area remains poor.

d. Harbour Plaza North Point. This hotels has been around for a while, and is part of tycoon Li Ka-shing's Harbour Plaza group. Many people ask about it as it comes out often with certain air/hotel packages with very good rate. So, what's the catch? Well, two main problems with its location. While its name says "North Point", it's actually closer to the Quarry Bay MTR, but still a pretty long walk - and it's very quiet there at night with nothing. Second is that it's physically attached to the very large Hong Kong Funeral Parlour. It's a big deal for many Chinese people, but if you don't mind...

e. Inter-Continental & New World Renaissance. Just want to mention that construction is still going on at the junction of Salisbury Road and Nathan Road; so one must use the tunnel to get to the Sheraton. The entrance of that tunnel is in a ridiculous downscale mall/arcade, and the walkway is ugly. Huge turn-off.

f. I've known about the Caritas Bianchi just off Nathan Road for years, but only recently (thanks to another thread here) about the Salvation Army Booth Lodge next door. All the major non-profits run hotels in Hong Kong, and are really worth a look for budget travellers. YMCA, YWCA, Caritas, the Catholic Diocese, Salvation Army, Scouts, etc all run hotels. [However, the BP International at the Scouts headquarters is now pretty expensive, probably due to its proximity to buses/ferries to mainland China.]

rkkwan

Oh, one more I forgot:

g. Majestic. I've seen this come up with some air/hotel package. It's a pretty new hotel two buildings down from the Eaton. Even close to the Jordan MTR, and could be a decent backup/alternative to the Eaton.

---

Now, before I go on to the next section, transportation, maybe I should state where I didn't go and didn't do in Hong Kong first. During this trip, I try to do things that I haven't done or haven't been during my last 2 visits (2001 & 2003). I also ran out of time, as I spent too much time eating.

Still, these are things I'd planned to do, or thought I would do, but didn't:

- Didn't go the Peak or Island South (Stanley, Repulse Bay, Shek O).

- Didn't ride the Star Ferry or Peak Tram.

- Didn't go to the islands. No Lamma, Cheung Chau nor Lantau.

- Didn't locate the grave site of WONG Ka-Kui (band leader of "Beyond&quot.

- Didn't go to as many temples/monasteries/tao-koon as planned, but still manage to visit a few.

- Didn't ride the KCR-East Rail extension to the new East TST station or walk through to the MTR TST station

- Didn't visit the Avenue of the Stars, though I did walk along the Promenade futher to the north, across from the Shangri-La and IC Grand Standford.

- Didn't get the chance to drive.

- Didn't go to the new Maritime Defense Musuem at the Lei Yue Mun Fort.

- Didn't go to any of the night markets.

So, if you're looking for recent information about those, sorry...

rhkkmk

keep it coming

travelmug

Did you try the beef brisket? Is the place hard to find? A friend of mine also recommended it. I hope to go try it on my upcoming trip to HK in Feb.

rkkwan

travelmug - I will get to the food part later on in a different thread, but yes, I did go to "Gau Kee" in Central for beef brisket & curry beef tendon.

It's at the corner of Gough Street and Gau U Fong. If you walk west on Queen's Road Central, past the mid-levels elevators and Central Market, you'll soon come to Aberdeen St, which is actually a set of steps. Walk up (i.e. South) Aberdeen St, past Wellington St, past Gau U Fong, and the next street is Gough St. Turn right (i.e. West) and you'll see Gau Kee on your right a few stores down.

[Directly across from Gau Kee is a new cafe where people can lay down on large cusions/mattress to have tea. Didn't go in, but it's pretty interesting.]

rkkwan

Before talking about the airport, I'll say something about prepaid cellphone cards in Hong Kong. This is my first time using my own (not borrowed) cellphone in HK, so here's what I've found:

II. Prepaid Cellphone

I believe there are 6 cellular phone carriers in Hong Kong. Some have started 3G service, but I don't know much about them, so I'll only talk about prepaid 2G service. Each one has prepaid service, and they are extremely similar, using GSM 900/1800MHz frequencies. The one I used is <b>Sunday</b>. For those who want to use your own US-phone, make sure it's tri-band or quad-band, and is &quot;unlocked&quot;.

1. Cost. The initial charge is HK$88, which comes with about 300 minutes of local talk time. Since local rates are $0.3/minute, that means there's no startup cost. All those HK$88 goes towards airtime. [This is the same with all carriers, but some have slightly higher initial cost with more included minutes.]

2. Recharge method. Very simple - I've successfully recharged it online with a US-issued credit card from my US home. And I have bought recharge cards in Hong Kong from Sunday stores and in convenient stores. However, the HK$50 ones seem to be only available at Sunday stores. At other places, it's $100 or higher.

3. Roaming. I have successfully used the international roaming service from Macau, when my handset is choosing the carrier &quot;SmarTone&quot;. Didn't work when it's using &quot;CTMGSM&quot;, so make sure you know how to switch network when necessary. Here in Houston, Texas, my phone sees both T-Mobile and AT&amp;T Wireless' networks, but it cannot register with either, so cannot use the service. I'll investigate this further.

4. It also has various voicemail and forwarding services, including international forwarding. Those functions work perfectly.

5. At the HK Airport, I found that the Nobletime bookstore in the arrivals hall carry prepaid cards for all carriers. So, you don't need to get into the city to start using your phone.

6. Expiration. The airtime and the number will expire 180 days after last recharge. But since you can recharge online, and the minimum is just HK$50 (US$7) , it's very inexpensive to hold a Hong Kong cellular number forever.

rkkwan

III. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) &amp; Transportation to/from

To be honest, I have only used the new HKG several times since it opened in 1998, so some of you may know it better than I do, but here are few things I found out during my recent trip:

A. Arrivals:

1. The airport building is as large as when it first opened. Gates are spaced very far out because each one can accomodate a 747 (and I believe the A380). So, use the moving sidewalks as much as you can. And trust me, Americans aren't used to walking like the locals are.

2. For people with the HK Permanent ID card (with the ***), use the specific line for that at the immigration counter. Even though the other line that says &quot;Hong Kong residents&quot; may be shorter, only use the ones specified for the &quot;Permanent&quot; ones, as those are much faster.

3. There are still free local public phones at the end of each baggage hall, though when I arrived on 12/25, one of the two at the South hall wasn't working.

4. Once you get out into the arrival greetings hall, you can buy a prepaid cellphone SIM card at the Nobletime bookstore. Maybe at the Watson's drugstore too, but I'm not sure about the latter. Nobletime has SIM cards for all major cellular carriers in HK.

5. There's a Standard Chartered Bank &amp; its ATMs near the middle of the arrival hall, and there's also a Hong Kong Bank ATM towards the Airport Express trains. However, if you want to bank somewhere else, or for whatever reason your ATM card isn't working with those, there are more banks and their ATMs - Bank of China, HK Bank, Hang Seng - upstairs in the departure hall.

[I've described plenty on this board about how and where to get the Octopus card, so I won't repeat it.]

6. Now, if you decide to take the Airport Express to town, keep in mind that there are many ongoing specials. [Ongoing because the AE ticket is overpriced, and the stations not convenient for most!] These includes:
- Free same day return. I believe you must buy those at the manned counter. You can't just buy a single ticket at a machine and try to use it for return too, even they are the same price.
- Group discount. Third &amp; fourth persons ride cheaper. Again, must buy ticket at manned booth.
- For return, you can get a discount if you show a same-day taxi receipt that's &gt;HK$70. [Taxis are taking lots of business from the city to airport with their unpublished/semi-illegal discounts.]
- If you flew in on Cathay Pacific, you can get half-price AE tickets. Details on CX's website.

7. An update on the hotel shuttle services. Still the same two companies that run them, but now each has 2 departures per hour, so you shouldn't have to wait more than 15 minutes for a hotel shuttle to the city. Each has two counters, right across from where you come out from customs.

Airport Hotelink: HK Island :00/:30, Kowloon :15/:45
Airport Shuttle: HK Island :15/:45, Kowloon :00/:30

Airport to HK/Kowloon: $140/120
HK/Kowloon to Airport: $100/90

8. For myself, I took the A22 Cityflyer bus (HK$39). It departs every 12-15 minutes, and takes just 30 minutes to get to the first stop in the city on Jordan Road (which is just east of the AE's Kowloon station). I got off the bus, and immediately got a taxi to come pick me up, without moving a step. No line, no wait. Easier than taking the Airport Express, and save myself about HK$50. Sure, it's not as fast nor &quot;sexy&quot;, but I got to cross the Tsing Ma Bridge &quot;on&quot; it instead of &quot;in&quot; it.

9. There are like 3-4 companies running coaches directly from HKG to Shenzhen and other parts of China, departing from 7am to 10am for most, and even 11pm for one company to Shenzhen. It is really convenient to transit Hong Kong to southern China these days without having to stay in Hong Kong.

B. Departure:

1. As I said before, the Airport Express has a special. If you connect to the AE station by taxi (with valid &gt;$70 receipt), you can get discount on the train to the airport.

2. Taxis are still widely discounting for trips to airport. While its illegal for taxi drivers to actively give you a discount, I've heard of frequent occurences of these:
- Just plain negotiate with the driver before getting in.
- If you say you're going to the Airport Express station, the driver may offer to drive you to the airport for cheap. My cousin recently paid HK$220 net, from Marco Polo Hotel in TST. No tips/luggage surchage necessary.
- Most locals know about special phone numbers where you can call and pre-negotiate a price for a cab to pick you up for long trips or to the airport [Not the regular dispatch numbers.] The going rate seems to be 70% of the metered rate for non-airport rides, and some set rate to the airport (around $200-240 from Kowloon; more from HK Island). Your hotel concierge may know about such numbers to call.

3. After you check-in, don't forget to go down to the lower-level counter and get a refund of your Octopus. There are also more eateries including McD, and the local favorite Cafe de Coral on the arrival level. Prices seem to be the same as in the city, in contrast to the over-priced stuff you get after you pass through immigration.

4. Once inside the gate area, note that near gates 21/23 and also 32/34, there are some very comfortable recliners. Some face the window if you want to look at planes, some face the wall if you want to take a nap.

rkkwan

One more thing about the airport before I continue on to local transportation:

- There is checked luggage service at HKG on the arrivals level. The cost per piece is:

-- HK$35 for 0 to 3 hours
-- HK$50 for 3 to 24 hours
-- HK$120 for 24 to 48 hours
-- HK$80 for each 24 hour period thereafter

I'd say it's not cheap, but about the same as some European airports I've used.

IV. Local Transportation:

1. Octopus. No significant change. I still haven't seen taxis accepting it, at least not the three cabs I took. If one returns the card within 3 months, there's a HK$7 fee deducted from the deposit. And don't know how long this has been the case, but even transborder bus to Shenzhen now takes Octopus.

The amount of deals seem to have increased this time, with lots of small discount when transferring between modes of transportation - like between KCR and MTR, between MTR and New Lantao Bus, etc. Some companies are starting new or extending deals, like $2 MTR for seniors on Sundays, $1 bus rides on Citybus and now KMB for seniors on Sundays, ride-10-get-1-free on MTR for all, etc... For tourists, you don't need to worry about all these, just get a card and forgetaboutit.

The only ridiculous development with the Octopus and its discounts is for people between 60-65. Citybus' now letting people aged 60 to use the Senior Octopus on its local bus, but not the Airport Express. All other companies still require the age of 65. So, if you really want to save money, and is aged between 60-65, you need to get TWO Octopus, one regular, one senior; and use the senior card only when riding Citybus.

2. KCR. Three new lines in the last 1.5 years.

a. The West Rail is very comfortable, and quiet. Very quick to get to Yuen Long. But know that the stop closest to Yuen Long center is &quot;Long Ping&quot;. The &quot;Yuen Long&quot; station is actually east of the old town, and require a transfer to the Light Rail.

b. The East Rail has been extended to Tsim Sha Tsui. I didn't ride it, but there are several interesting things:
i. The new station is called &quot;East Tsimshatsui&quot;, not TST-E, as we usually call it. And the Chinese name is officially the abbreviated &quot;Tsim Dong&quot;.
ii. The new station is actually just off the New World Center, and is close to Tsim Sha Tsui proper. However, the newly opened KCR-MTR underground connecting walkway goes under Mody Road, and is a very long walk. Construction is ongoing to connect near the Sheraton/Peninsula hotels. Once that's open in 2007 I believe, the walk between the two stations will be much shorter.
iii. There is a discount for transferring between KCR and MTR at E-TST/TST when using the Octopus, but the fare of the KCR to the new station is also higher; so it's still better to transfer at Kowloon Tong.

c. The Ma On Shan Rail (Ma Rail) just opened, and I tried that too. Nothing too exciting, except I notice the trains go on the right and not the left like all the other rail system in HK; probably to make the connection at Tai Wai easier. On the day I rode it (12/31), load is very light, and currently, the trains are pretty short with just 4 cars.

2. Taxis. I usually don't take taxis in HK, but I took it three times during this trip. Taxi drivers are much more courteous these days as business is tough. No tip required. Prices to the airport is negotiable. As I mentioned above in the Airport section, locals now dial special numbers to pre-negotiate a discounted price for airport trips.

3. Buses. The Kowloon Motor Bus company KMB is still introducing new buses at incredible speed. Besides being air-conditioned, low-platformed (flat floor on lower level with no steps), and with display for next stop, the newest buses have attractive curved windshields on the upper level, and a straighter stairs - they are much easier to climb than the older buses. These new buses also use a pretty powerful 335-hp &quot;Enviro 500&quot; engine, that can climb the hills and Tuen Mun Highway in the NT much more easily.

One thing that's tourists staying in Tsimshatsui should know. Because of road construction at the Nathan Road/Salibury Road junction, the bus stop in front of Kowloon Hotel has been removed. Now, to ride buses up to Mong Kok, one has to take it from the Star Ferry, or walk up to Kowloon Park.

I know that many here have already experience the exciting bus ride to Stanley (6, 6A, 6X or 260) from Central, but if one has a lot of time to Hong Kong and really enjoy bus rides, here are a few others I can recommend, and which I have rode during my last two trips:
- New Lantao #23 from Tung Chung MTR to Po Lin Monastery. The other bus routes on Lantau are also super fun.
- KMB #53 from Tsuen Wan to Tuen Mun. This bus (single level) takes the old Castle Peak Road along the coast. It's the same route that my uncle and my cousin rode on a bicycle during WWII to bring live pigs from the New Territories to my grandfather's butchery in Hong Kong. It took them a whole day to ride it.
- KMB #51 from Tsuen Wan to Kam Tin. The route is called &quot;Route Twist&quot;, and that explains it. You can get off at the Tsuen Kam Au (Pass) to hike up Tai Mo Shan - highest point in HK, at 957m.
- New World First Bus #9 from Shau Kei Wan MTR to the pretty beach at Shek O.

4. Ferries to Macau. Turbojet is still running ferries to Macau from the terminal in Sheung Wan on HK Island every 15 minutes. I took that for my trip to Macau. Prices have gone up a little to ~HK$145 each way. They continue to use 3 main types of ferries - Tri-cat, Jetfoils and the Foilcat. Too bad one doesn't get to choose, as I took the older Jetfoils both times. These are made by Boeing in the 70's/80's, but are in excellent shape.

New World First Ferry has bought new catamarans and expanded their Kowloon-Macau service to every 30 minutes. Price is about the same, but I think their vessels are slightly slower. For those staying in Tsimshatsui, that may be more convenient as you don't have to go over to Hong Kong side.

5. Local Ferries. I didn't take any, but on my way to Macau (Sunday 1/2), I saw 5-6 New Ferry vessels near Peng Chau at the same time, going between Central and Peng Chau and/or Mui Wo. It appears that the New World First Ferry has really improved the service to the islands, compared to Yaumatei/HKFerry in the past.

6. Buses to China. I didn't take one either but It seems to get easier and easier by the day. There are departure points all over Hong Kong, and the road crossing is now open 24-hours. Some (if not all) coaches take the Octopus. With the opening of the West Rail, there are now new transborder service from the Kam Sheung Road KCR-West station.

rhkkmk

ttt

rkkwan

rhkkmk - Thanks for the bump. Now onto some new stuff:

V. New buildings &amp; shopping

1. The ifc (International Finance Center) complex above the Hong Kong MTR/Airport Express station is mostly completed. ifc2 is I believe the 5th tallest building in the world right now, at 415m, trailing only Taipei 101, Petronas (Kuala Lumpur), Sears Tower and Jin Mao (Shanghai). A super-luxury mall underneath just opened with a Lane Crawford, and the Four Seasons is going to open soon.

2. Langham Place occupies almost an entire city block in Mongkok, just steps from the MTR, and the Langham Place Hotel occupies an adjacent one, connected by a skybridge. There's a Seibu department store there, and other upscale shops. However, the area surrounding it is very downscale, and there were a few older buildings within those two cityblocks that wasn't taken down.

Now, I am starting to wonder do we really need that many upscale shopping malls, especially in Kowloon? There's already the mega-sized Festival Walk at Kowloon Tong MTR/KCR, the Grand Century Place at Mong Kok KCR, as well as TWO shopping malls adjacent to the Olympic MTR, the Hollywood Plaza at the Diamond Hill MTR. The oldest of all shopping malls - the Harbour City-Ocean Terminal complex has also been refurbished recently.

And there are lots of new stores in Central too. Hong Kong Land has upgraded its interconnected malls at the Landmark/Alexandra House/Prince's Building/Charter House to house several flagship stores for luxury goods. All selling stuff that most of the local population cannot afford.

But anyways, I am not saying the megamalls are a bad thing, especially when you're visiting HK in the summer. I definitely have no interest in sweating it out in the outdoors Ladies' Market in Mong Kok in July/August. I'm simply surprised that while the overall economy has been down or stagnant since late 1997, they have seen a huge increase in luxury goods. If you're into these items, Hong Kong is quite a heaven for you.

rkkwan

VI. Museums &amp; Historical Sites/Walks

One of the things I'm most impressed during my visit is the preservation, organization and presentation of Hong Kong's history and culture. For the longest time, HK has been selling itself mostly as a shopping/dining paradise, and mostly ignores its past. There are no significant museums really worth visiting, historical buildings are not presented uniformly, etc. But I guess they have finally realized that they need to offer more for tourists to stay longer (and spend more money). I was reading that the average stay of foreign visitors have been getting shorter and shorter over the years.

1. Museums - I went to two relatively new ones, the HK Museum of History &amp; the HK Heritage Museum. Admissions is only HK$10 per museum, and there's a even better deal in the Museum Weekly Pass. For HK$30, you can also visit the new Museum of Coastal Defense (I had planned to go, but ran out of time), HK Museum of Art, HK Science Museum and the Space Musuem.

a. The Museum of History is in TST-East, next to the Science Museum (which I've been there years ago, and houses the DC-3 Betsy, Cathay Pacific's first plane). Exhibits are arranged in a chronological way, from prehistoric geological stuff to early Chinese settlements, to being a British colony, to the Japanese occupation, and towards modernity. The best parts are the middle sections - about the 4 different groups of Chinese who settle here, the colonial society, and WWII. One of the pieces came from my extended family. It's a 10-feet tall wooden plaque for the Japanese HQ during the occupation, hanged in front of the old HSBC Building in Central. The father of one of my aunts was hired by HSBC to renovate the building after WWII, took it home, and the family kept in for over 50 years.

b. The Heritage Museum is in Sha Tin (Che Kung Temple KCR or Tai Wai KCR), and has both permanent and temporary exhibits. Of the permanent stuff, I find the New Territories History exhibit somewhat overlapping with the Museum of History, but also presented well. The Cantonese Opera room is more interesting that I thought it would be, as I really hated Cantonese Opera. Three temporary exhibits were on when I was there. A printing exhibit lacks the depth and worthy historical prints. Another room dedicated to a particular Cantonese Opera singer is pretty well done, including movie clips and album recordings. A modern arts exhibit is really funny, titled &quot;building hong kong redwhiteblue&quot;, with photos, sculptures, large-scale stuff in the courtyard, etc... all about the striped three-color nylon bags you see all over Hong Kong, southern China and Chinatowns around the world.

There's a Chinese tea house in the ground floor the museum, serving tea costing HK$20 to $100+. There's also a very good HK$45 set lunch menu, which includes standard Po Lei tea. For the tea alone, the server brought out <b>SIX</b> items onto my table. I'll talk about this more in my dining thread coming later on.

c. I have heard that the Museum of Coastal Defense is pretty interesting. Will have to wait until next time. It's built in the Lei Yue Mun Fort in Eastern HK Island.

2. &quot;Hong Kong Walks&quot; - 9 routes have been set up around HK to guide you around some interesting districts. I didn't try to do one deliberately, as I've been to most of these places, but turned out I was doing part of the Sha Tin walk during my visit to the Heritage Museum, with stops at the Che Kung Temple (a very popular temple that's been recently expanded) and the Tsang Tai Uk (one of the better preserved walled villages). Signs were pretty clear along the way.

3. Heritage Trails - The Government has also set up 3 different heritage walks, and we visited the Ping Shan Heritage Trails near Yeun Long in the New Territories. Ping Shan has been settled by the Tang family for over 500 years, and there are ancestral halls, temples, study halls, etc, and are pretty well preserved. Also visited another ancestral hall in northern New Territories near the Chinese border.

What's especially great is that there are nicely printed Visitor's Guide, Hong Kong Walks, and other brochures at the HK Tourism Board office at 4 locations - airport, Lo Wu border, Central and most conveniently the Star Ferry in Tsimshatsui. Further, the discoverhongkong.com website has all those information is pretty well organized. And finally, there are now signposts (with a purple &quot;i&quot at major tourist location or thoroughfare intersection to direct you how to get to the sites. They were only set up in mid-2003.

Even though I grew up in Hong Kong and visited often, this is the first time I feel like the government and the Tourism Board is really selling the heritage of the city. I'm giving the effort a big thumbs up.

rkkwan

I will wrap up this thread with a report of my trip to Macau. Unlike Hong Kong, which has been stuck in an economic doldrum since 1997, Macau is more properous than any time in recent history, as it's becoming a gambling mecca for Chinese nationals. Its airport is also a major transiting point for Taiwanese going to the mainland, though that could change if direct flights across the Taiwan straits are to start this year. Many new casinos and hotels since I was there 20 months ago.

1. HK&lt;-&gt;Macau. Turbojet from Central is still running at every 15 minutes, but New World First Ferry has launched new services and now departs from Kowloon every 30 minutes. It's now a good alternative to the Turbojet for those staying in Kowloon. Fares for both is about HK$140-150 one-way. Turbojet uses jetfoils, catamarans and foilcats; while First Ferry uses catamarans.

2. Local transportation. Taxis are everywhere and meter starts at 10 patacas (MOP). [1 pataca is just slighty less than 1HK$, or 1USD=8.03MOP; HK$ can be used interchangeably with MOP, though if you pay by HK$, you cannot demand change in HK$. Merchants/cabbies will give you change in MOP if they don't have enough HK$.] There is a ridicuosly large number of bus routes for such a small place, and each ride is 2.5MOP within the Macau Peninsula, 3.3MOP for rides to Taipa or Coloane. And almost all major hotels and casinos have frequent free shuttle to/from the ferry pier and the Chinese border (Portas do Cerco). Macau's two bus companies also use a card-based system like HK's &quot;Octopus&quot;, but for short trips, one really don't need to get one.

A third bridge between Macau and Taipa is almost completed, to the west of the original Macau-Taipa bridge.

3. Hotels. I stayed at the New Century on Taipa, just like last time. It is rated by the tourism board as 5*, but it's more like a 3.5* property, and is priced accordingly. Since it's on Taipa, it's also cheaper than comparable hotels in Macau. They just finished a remodelling of the lobby and the casino, with a &quot;Greek Mythology&quot; theme. A sound &amp; light show every 2 hours in the evening at the fountain in front of the main entrance.

There are also many more new hotels in the area between the ferry and the Hotel Lisboa. Most are 3* to 4* property, but there's also a real 5* one, The Landmark, which opened just a year ago.

4. Casinos. Everybody's talking about the new Sands, which in Macau-standard is huge. It's also the first casino with siginificant number of slot machines. Most of them are video slots similar to the ones here in the US. Lowest denomination is 10 HK cents per bet, which is slightly more expensive than the penny slots here. But of course, the main attraction is the table games.

Now, for a non-gambler who just wants to walk around and watch people play, the Sands and most other casinos in Macau are extremely boring, as 95% of the tables are baccarat. Very few other games available. Bets are also pretty high - I didn't look too closely, but I've seen tables with HK$200, 300 or 1,000 minimum bets in the main hall. I think for a casual tourist, Hotel Lisboa's casino should be more interesting with a lot of Cantonese games like Sic Bo, etc...

Another caution is that the whole Sands building is off-limits to children. So, unlike in the US, you can't even bring kids to the buffet or restaurants. That's also true with the main buffet restaurant at the New Century Hotel where I was staying.

5. Sightseeing. I covered quite a few places during my previous trip, so I didn't go to too many places this time. Major points I went to:

a. Kun Iam Temple, aka Po Chai Monastery. (Kun Iam = Kuan Yin or Guanyin). This is one of the bigger and older buddhist monastery in Southern China. Current buildings date to the 17th C. One of the more famous features there is the coiled incenses that hang from the ceiling, which droops like a pagoda. There's also a nice garden in the back where past high monks were buried. In there was a table where the first US-China treaty was signed in 1844 when China was under siege by 8 countries. There were also a famous &quot;Lover's tree&quot;, which was a set of intertwined banyan. However, they died along with most banyans in Macau during an outbreak in the 80's. New banyans have been planted, and artifically twined together at the original spot.

b. Portas de Cerco. That's the gate where people used to enter Macau from China. Right now, a huge modern border-control building sits North of it, and in front, a nice plaza with the bus terminal underground. From there you can see a lot of highrises on the Chinese side. On the Sunday evening when I went, there was a continuous stream of people hurrying back into China. Quite a sight.

c. Colina da Ghia. Ghia is the hill behind the ferry terminal. It's the highest point of Macau, and on top of it the first lighthouse in Southern China, first lit 1865. The fort and the chapel dates from the 1600's. I've been there several times, but there's something new this time inside the chapel. During a renovation in around 1997, they discovered that there are frescos covering all the walls, long covered by white paint. Now, the frescos have been mostly restored. Definitely worth a visit.

BTW, don't let people tell you there's nothing to see in Macau. Yes, parts of the city is pretty ugly with overbuilt highrises, but there are also plenty of Chinese and Portugese architectures and gardens hiding behind. Other sites worth seeing include:
- St. Paul Ruins
- Monte Fortress &amp; the Museu de Macau
- many churches
- Maritime Museum &amp; the A-Ma Temple
- Lou Lim Ieoc Chinese Garden
- Portugese residences on Taipa
- the new Macau Tower (if the air is good)
- and if you're a motorsports fan, have a taxi drive around the Ghia Grandprix street course

Along with gaming and good food (my dining report coming up in another thread), there are really a lot to see for a two-day trip. Don't ever tell me there's nothing to see in Macau, as that's so false.

6. Under construction. Between the ferry pier and the Sands, a theme park is being built called &quot;Macau Fisherman's Wharf&quot;. It is not very big, but the buildings, still under construction, looks kind of interesting. Kids will have somewhere to go while the parents are betting away at the baccarat tables.

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Anyways, I think this will conclude my HK/Macau travel report. I'll move over to the dining report here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34551643

IsisMnroe

Thank you for the very helpful report.
We want to go to China next year or sometime in the future.

JohnWM

thank you so much, rkkwan! your report is very helpful, and very educational too. i plan to visit hkg shortly, and am finding your posts to be useful (and entertaining). they are helping me plan out my visit in advance. once again, thanks for sharing.

rkkwan

Glad that some of you are finding this useful or interesting.

Just want to say again that I didn't take the Star Ferry during my whole stay, which was very uncharacteristic of me. And I didn't even look at the harbor much. But last night, I was reading some posts and seeing some photos on fansites about Hong Kong transportation, and was pretty horrified at what they're doing to the Victoria Harbour. It was such a tragedy and disgrace.

I also read that fewer and fewer people are taking the ferries. With the Star Ferry pier moving further away from the center of Central, it'll just get worse. For the first time in my life, I realize that the Star Ferry operation may not be as permanent as it seems. Pretty sad.

Smalley

Thanks rkkwan, one of the better trip reports on HK, covering plenty of unusual but usefull stuff.

Peteralan

Thanks rkkwan for another great report. Yes I heard a rumour that there are moves to discontinuiong the Star Ferry ! A horrifying thought!

111op

Hi, I'm taking a look at this informative report. You said that you've written about the Octopus card before. I'm too lazy to search and I don't know what it is. Could you top a thread where this is discussed?

Thanks.

JohnH

copying and printing this out right now - excellent report!

rkkwan

Darn. I still haven't finished my dining report. I still have the notes, so I'll try to get it finished this week.