Hong Kong - gift ideas for student
Dec 2nd, 2010, 07:13 PM
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Hong Kong - gift ideas for student
My son is heading to Hong Kong (5-month college study program) from Jan-May. Besides the usual things required (electrical adaptors, books), any suggestions for an interesting and useful gift before he leaves??
Dec 2nd, 2010, 07:39 PM
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Hey,
you can get him a A LA CARTE Maps for Hong Kong, they're maps with insider tips in them, like a city guide. My mum got me one of Shanghai when i moved there, and it was really useful. hope that helps!
you can get him a A LA CARTE Maps for Hong Kong, they're maps with insider tips in them, like a city guide. My mum got me one of Shanghai when i moved there, and it was really useful. hope that helps!
Dec 2nd, 2010, 09:28 PM
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There really isn’t anything you can’t get in Hong Kong, so whatever you get would be more for fun than necessity:
Guidebooks to Hong Kong, <i>Fodors, National Geographic, Lonely Planet</i> would all be good choices, IMO. The latter two have more non-touristy ideas. I agree a good city map would be helpful.
A book on living in a Chinese culture may be useful, something like <i>Culture Shock! Hong Kong</i>. This is from Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company and is usually available on Amazon.com. There are others as well.
Cantonese phrase book or Cantonese langage-instruction CDs.
A journal/notebook. I like Moleskins, but there are many others available.
Gift certificate to HMV, a local CD and DVD retailer, see http://www.hmv.com.hk/
Bruce Lee and/or Jackie Chan CDs.
Travel wallet and/or passport holder.
If he doesn’t already one on his PC, a small camera so you can do video calls via Skype.
An Octopus card pre-loaded with funds to use on public transport and at McDonalds. 7-11, grocery stores etc, see http://www.octopus.com.hk/home/en/index.html You don’t want the Tourist Card, you want the regular “on loan” standard Octopus. You can also get one tied to a Citibank visa card. It may not be possible to purchase this from outside Hong Kong.
Rather than books, which are heavy to put into a suitcase, a Kindle may be a better idea. He can download US newspapers as well onto it. (Books are quite expensive in Hong Kong, so if you don’t want to get him a Kindle, give him a gift certificate to Swindon Books, Dymocks or Bookazine which are local bookstore chains. http://www.swindonbooks.com/index.as...lyandwalsh.com http://www.dymocks.com.au/ http://www.bookazine.com/)
There is a good bit of decent fiction and non-fiction by Hong Kong authors. If you can’t find them on Amazon, the best place to find many of these may be a Hong Kong bookshop, so the gift certificate may be a good choice. I think that Dymocks may have the best local author selection. For recent fiction, Jess Ross, Liu Yichang and Stewart Sloan are suggestions for living authors. While I am not a huge fan of the genre, you might like the novels of Jin Yong (there are others writing in the martial arts genre). There is of course the <i>Piano Teacher</i> by Janice Lee, but I am guessing that a 20 year old or so male college student would find that too much of a chick fest. Jan Morris’ <i>Hong Kong</i> is an oldie but a goodie.
He will need adapators with three square pins in a triange configuration as in the UK. It may be easier, not to mention cheaper, for him to buy them here.
Guidebooks to Hong Kong, <i>Fodors, National Geographic, Lonely Planet</i> would all be good choices, IMO. The latter two have more non-touristy ideas. I agree a good city map would be helpful.
A book on living in a Chinese culture may be useful, something like <i>Culture Shock! Hong Kong</i>. This is from Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company and is usually available on Amazon.com. There are others as well.
Cantonese phrase book or Cantonese langage-instruction CDs.
A journal/notebook. I like Moleskins, but there are many others available.
Gift certificate to HMV, a local CD and DVD retailer, see http://www.hmv.com.hk/
Bruce Lee and/or Jackie Chan CDs.
Travel wallet and/or passport holder.
If he doesn’t already one on his PC, a small camera so you can do video calls via Skype.
An Octopus card pre-loaded with funds to use on public transport and at McDonalds. 7-11, grocery stores etc, see http://www.octopus.com.hk/home/en/index.html You don’t want the Tourist Card, you want the regular “on loan” standard Octopus. You can also get one tied to a Citibank visa card. It may not be possible to purchase this from outside Hong Kong.
Rather than books, which are heavy to put into a suitcase, a Kindle may be a better idea. He can download US newspapers as well onto it. (Books are quite expensive in Hong Kong, so if you don’t want to get him a Kindle, give him a gift certificate to Swindon Books, Dymocks or Bookazine which are local bookstore chains. http://www.swindonbooks.com/index.as...lyandwalsh.com http://www.dymocks.com.au/ http://www.bookazine.com/)
There is a good bit of decent fiction and non-fiction by Hong Kong authors. If you can’t find them on Amazon, the best place to find many of these may be a Hong Kong bookshop, so the gift certificate may be a good choice. I think that Dymocks may have the best local author selection. For recent fiction, Jess Ross, Liu Yichang and Stewart Sloan are suggestions for living authors. While I am not a huge fan of the genre, you might like the novels of Jin Yong (there are others writing in the martial arts genre). There is of course the <i>Piano Teacher</i> by Janice Lee, but I am guessing that a 20 year old or so male college student would find that too much of a chick fest. Jan Morris’ <i>Hong Kong</i> is an oldie but a goodie.
He will need adapators with three square pins in a triange configuration as in the UK. It may be easier, not to mention cheaper, for him to buy them here.
Dec 3rd, 2010, 05:06 AM
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I used to take multiple adapters for my trips to HK, but now with multiple camera chargers, laptops, etc, I switch to bringing just one adapter with a short extension cord with multiple outlet.
Think about the phone situation. If he already has an unlocked 4-band GSM phone here and is planning to use it, he'll want a good headset with built-in microphone that works with that phone. Or he can just buy whatever unlocked phone there.
An umbrella will be necessary. Of course he can get one in HK, but maybe he wants to bring one with his US college's mascot/logo.
Think about the phone situation. If he already has an unlocked 4-band GSM phone here and is planning to use it, he'll want a good headset with built-in microphone that works with that phone. Or he can just buy whatever unlocked phone there.
An umbrella will be necessary. Of course he can get one in HK, but maybe he wants to bring one with his US college's mascot/logo.
