Check this site to see what's interesting to you:
http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/park-e...ttraction-show/

In addition, the CSO at the Low Land entracne offers good advice on how to go about touring the Park. The advice given is based on the age (with kids? with senior?) and how much time intended to stay at the Park.




This post has been edited by Ami Tsun: Jun 17 2009, 11:47 PM

I'm new to this forum, but would like to contribute some notes on HK. I stayed 9 nights in HK, end of Feb 2009. Will be glad to share my experience should anyone is interested.

These are the places that I've visited:
The Peak - Madame Tussaud's museum, walking trail @ Lugard Road
Stanley Market
Bank of China tower - observation deck on 43rd floor
Avenue of Stars, Symphony of Lights
Golden Bauhinia Square
Lantau Island - Big buddha, Tai O
Cheung Chau
Disneyland
Ocean Park
Man Fatt Tze (Ten thousand buddhas temple)
Wong Tai Sin Temple
Chi Lin Garden
Mongkok area - Ladies Street, Fa Yuen Street, Sai Yeung Choi Street.

I used all sorts of public transport-
Bus, Mini bus, MTR, Star Ferry, "ting ting" (tram)

IMO, taking MTR is easy, but not necessary be the most convenient.

For eg, to go to the AOS from Mongkok or Yau Ma Tei, just hop on to the buses along Nathan Road, that shows "Tsim Sha Tsui" on the signboard. Alight at the stop before the bus terminal at the HK Space Museum for AOS or alight at the bus terminal for the Clock Tower.

And here's another way of getting to the Golden Bauhinia Square:
Take the bus to TST terminal. Catch the Star Ferry to Wan Chai jetty. From Wan Chai jetty, it's just 7mins walk to the Golden Bauhinia Sq. It's a shorter walk from the jetty than from the Wan Chai MTR Station.

Stayed there for 9 nights in end of Feb this year. Triple room ensuite, with window.

Location is good. Ladies market just across the road. 3 mins walk to Mongkok MTR station. Plenty of eateries around the area. Walk towards Nathan Road and easy bus ride to TST terminal - better than taking MTR if going to Avenue of Star.

Be mentally prepared that the room is small then all should be fine. In fact, some budget hotel eg Bridal Tea house, for HKD550/room/night, their room are small too(my cousin described Bridal Tea house macam Tune hotel).

As for DH room, air-cond is cold enough and not noisy, water pressure in the shower room is good, the place is secured with CCTV. They even changed our bed sheets and blankets once during our stay. Toilet/bathroom comes with body wash and shampoo (in dispensers). Self collect bath towels at the office. Each "house" unit has a small pantry area, with hot water flask, drinking water and glasses- good for making a cup of 3-in-1 coffee...(",)

Free internet at the office proved to be useful for checking return flight status and last minute read up on places to visit the next day. Oh, btw, they sell discounted Disneyland and Ocean Park tickets.

Lastly, the manager/?owner - Stanley Fan and his colleagues are the friendly lot.

Overall, no complaint and would recommend staying there.

OMG, volodstov, have you gotten yourselves the super cheap Air Asia tickets, fly direct from Pen to HK at MYR 99 and Hk-Pen at MYR 108, total at $217?? Oh boy, I was so tempted to go again.

Just one more note here, some rooms in DH are without windows, appears very claustrophobic. If you prefer a window-ed room, make sure you indicate in your reservation.

Sorry, don't know about Macau coz I didn't go there. I went by PEN-KUL-HKG-KUL-PEN route. But I read about hostel/guesthouse in Macau, will pm you the blog.

Get one if you planned to get around HK by public transport, can use on MTR, buses (incl mini bus), tram, ferries. And can use as a cash card to buy things from participate outlets, eg 7-11. Keep the Octopus card for future visit or refund the balance, with HKD 7 admin fee.

@beauwest

What are the places included in the half day city tour?

As per your itinerary, on 2 Sept, The Peak, Golden Bauhinia Sq, Repulse Bay and Aberdeen are in Hong Kong Island but Tsing Ma Bridge is way out!

If you are flying into HK, from the airport to town, you'll cross the Lantau Link, part of Tsing Ma Bridge anyway. So, IMHO, best to combine your visit to Tsing Ma Bridge Visitor Centre, either on the day going to Lantau Island or Disneyland.

beauwest,

Now I see, just remembered that I saw similiar tour offered at the local hostel. Geez, half day see so many places? I actually spent 4 hours at the Peak (did the Lugard Circuit walk, had dinner there and visit the wax museum). And no wonder the jewelry shop, etc, - the tour sure bring you to buy things lah..

If I were you, I'll try to leave the tour at some point, talk to the tour guide, say got something on etc. Hopefully, Tsing Ma Bridge Visitor Centre is your first stop. Seems like that's the only place worth going with the tour. Then, follows by the rest which I mentioned before are on HK Island. Personally, I won't bother about Aberdeen (hopefully, that's the last stop). And so, I'd leave the tour after the stop before Aberdeen. The rest of the day, may explore the HK Island side - Causeway Bay, Central etc.

If Tsing Ma Bridge is the last stop, since it's at the Lantau side, you can leave from there and go to Lantau Island, ie Giant Buddha etc (ask to be dropped off at nearby MTR station, eg Tsing Yi Station). Then you'll save one day to visit other places on 4th Sept.

If you are not allowed to leave the tour, ie die die must sent you back to the hotel, then I'll suggest visiting places like Wong Dai Shin, Chi Lin Garden (@ Diamond Hill station, one stop aft Wong Dai Shin). Or one place that definately not tourist place but worth going is the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple (Man Fatt Tze) at Sha Tin.

As for Citygate mall to DS, if by MTR, Tung Chung Station to Yau Ma Tei Station, about 35 mins.

---

Added on August 16, 2009, 4:08 pmYou can get info on MTR route map, journey time and fare, and about Octopus card from their website:
www.mtr.com.hk

You do get discount when using Octopus Card on MTR, for eg, from Mongkok station to Disneyland Station, with OC, the fare is HKD16.20, else the single fare is HKD 18.0.

No discount when use for bus, but save you the trouble from preparing the exact change, ie coins for bus fare.

This post has been edited by Ami Tsun: Aug 16 2009, 04:08 PM

Not at all! I did 9D/8N in Feb, minus the arrival and departure day, there's only 7D left! Easily filled up the 7 days all in HK only and there's still places that not been to. (I didn't go to Macau)

Only thing is accomodation is costly, so go for guesthouse/hostel..

Paris Guesthouse is in Chung King Mansion, TST. Although TST is a convenient location too, I would avoild staying in any guesthouses in Chung King Mansion and the nearby Mirador Mansion. However, if your friend has stayed there before and can recommend to you, then it's up to you lor.

I stayed at Dragon Hostel, in Mongkok. Someone asked for feedback re the place a few pages up, and here's my reply (I copy and paste, save you some trouble "flipping" back):

"Stayed there for 9 nights in end of Feb this year. Triple room ensuite, with window.

Location is good. Ladies market just across the road. 3 mins walk to Mongkok MTR station. Plenty of eateries around the area. Walk towards Nathan Road and easy bus ride to TST terminal - better than taking MTR if going to Avenue of Star.

Be mentally prepared that the room is small then all should be fine. In fact, some budget hotel eg Bridal Tea house, for HKD550/room/night, their room are small too(my cousin described Bridal Tea house macam Tune hotel).

As for DH room, air-cond is cold enough and not noisy, water pressure in the shower room is good, the place is secured with CCTV. They even changed our bed sheets and blankets once during our stay. Toilet/bathroom comes with body wash and shampoo (in dispensers). Self collect bath towels at the office. Each "house" unit has a small pantry area, with hot water flask, drinking water and glasses- good for making a cup of 3-in-1 coffee...(",)

Free internet at the office proved to be useful for checking return flight status and last minute read up on places to visit the next day. Oh, btw, they sell discounted Disneyland and Ocean Park tickets.

Lastly, the manager/?owner - Stanley Fan and his colleagues are the friendly lot.

Overall, no complaint and would recommend staying there. "

@beauwest

Should worry how's H1N1 in Malaysia la!

I bet HK people can handle H1N1 better than Malaysians.. Without H1N1, they also practice wearing masks if themselves feel sick or having flu. Moreover, they got experience fighting SARS before.

Maybe at this point of time, people sked of us Malaysian going to their country ah...

@Blue_Diamond

Not that I don't prefer TST, but best to avoid Chung King Mansion and Mirador Mansion. I've read that these two places not so secure, fire safety questioable, need to walk pass shops to get to the lift, then long queue/wait for the lift etc. The locals (HK friend and relative) also advised me not to stay there - messy and complicated place. During my trip, I walked pass there one night, seems like a lot of Indian/Benggali people there.

As for my itinerary, I was flexible and made changes as I go. Basically, these are the places that I covered and this was how I grouped the places:

1) Stanley Market
Bank of China tower - observation deck on 43rd floor
The Peak - Madame Tussaud's museum, walking trail @ Lugard Road

2) Avenue of Stars
Golden Bauhinia Square
Cheung Chau

3) Lantau Island - Big buddha, Wisdom Path, Tai O Fishing Village, Citygate Mall

4) Disneyland

5) Ocean Park (free tickets, otherwise would have preferred to visit Causeway Bay and Sau Kei Wan)

6) Man Fatt Tze (Ten thousand buddhas temple)/Sha Tin
Wong Tai Sin Temple
Chi Lin Garden

7) Misc
Mongkok area - Ladies Street, Fa Yuen Street, Sai Yeung Choi Street.
Symphony of Lights (one evening was back at hostel early, then suddenly decided to go, caught the bus along
Nathan Road)

By the way, though I didn't go to Macau, there's one day I went to Dongguan, China - er, sort of "balik kampung", meeting those never seen before (now have met once) relatives. Very easy travelled by rail, via Shenzhen. Visa pre-applied in M'sia.

This post has been edited by Ami Tsun: Aug 21 2009, 12:57 AM

NP village is just a walk-thru for me. Main attraction is the Big Buddha. You may still "bus" your way up to NP if you want to see the Big Buddha. I took one-way NP360 up, after the Big Buddha/Wisdom Path, bus to Tai O Fishing Village and bus back to Tung Chung.

Here's the list of outlet and factory shops:
http://www.hongkongextras.com/_outlet_shops.html

When you are in HK, grab the free newspaper, available in the morning at many MTR station exits. Check for adverstisement on warehouse sale. I bought my Raebok from the warehouse sale at New World Centre, near Avenue of Star, TST.

Yup, a few differecnt free newspapers in circulation every morning Chinese and English. Best to grab a copy in the morning and go "yum cha" for breakfast, then can browse thru while waiting for the "dim sum" ordered.

---

Added on August 25, 2009, 12:56 amGuesthouse does provide the Visa application service. But it's cheaper to get the Visa here before you go.

DH - triple, ensuite, room with window, HKD 360/room/night.

I suggest you check Hong Kong Tourism Board (discoverhongkong.com) for events on New Year's Eve celebration. Current event calender is only up till end of Oct. If there's a firework, I'd say best to watch from Kowloon side(eg TST promenade) looking over HK Island, coz HK Island got all the nice buidings. Victoria Peak is nice place to see night scenery on clear sky day, too far to even see the Symphony of Lights.

Tips on planning your itinerary:
- on weekends, NP360/bus fares on Lantau Island/ferries' fares to outlying island(eg Cheung Chau Island) are more expensive than weekdays.
- there are a few museums with free admission, and some offer free admission on one day per week(usually free on Wednesday).

This post has been edited by Ami Tsun: Aug 25 2009, 12:56 AM

@fraulein

You'r welcome.

There's an observatory deck @ 43rd floor, Bank of China Building. It's free, you may consider a quick stop there when you walk towards Garden Road.

By the way, I didn't go to the Sky Terrace, IMO, not worth to pay HKD20 just to get on top of the roof to see the view. I did the circuit walk @ Lugard Road and get to see the HK view, as far as Tsing Ma Bridge and the outlying islands.

Yup, price is steep. You'll find a lot of good reviews and recommendations from the web. But the manager - Charlie Chan is very rude and arrogant!

During my planning phase, I e-mailed and asked for the rate. Was quoted HKD550 for a triple room. When I asked if there's cheaper rate for non-peak season. He replied rudely, said "you want to tell me how to run my business?"

So, that's it. I stayed away from there. Got my room in DH for HKD370 nia, saved HKD1440(180 x 8nights)!

Btw, Lee Garden and Star Guesthouse, both same management. I've read comment that when you booked Lee Garden and there's no room, they'll send you to Star and vice versa.

That's the place I stayed.

The area is ok. I don't feel threatened. I'd say it's safer than Petaling Street. We didn't hear much "streets' noise" from our room even.

The building ie Sincere House has two entrances to the accommodation units. One is 24hours and the other one closed at late night(forgot what time). Both lift lobbies have security guards and the lifts fitted with CCTV cameras. The monitors are fitted on the wall in the lobbies, everyone - the guards and people waiting for the lifts can actually see the people in the lifts.

Also, each "house" unit under DH has CCTV camera at the entrance. The staffs at the office actually watch who's going back to the unit, from the monitors in the office.

You can find more hostel from this site: www.179.hk Just remember to stay away from Chungking Mansion and Mirador Mansion(beware of USA hostel, despite the nice video they put up at Youtube, they are known to give you diffrent from what you booked, or claimed that you need to top up coz you've booked the wrong one)

@fraulein

Sounds like you had a great time shopping.. Holiday so fast over liao huh?

Ya, lots of joggers at Lugard, and some of them do a few rounds there. Did you manage to see nice scenery from there?

Watch out! Not 2.4k for 3 people la! Price quoted is for ONE pax, that's why you need to BUY TWO then free ONE.

It's at least 2.44k per person(depends on choice of hotel)!! 3 pax pay 4.88k(for 2). And that's excluding airport tax etc.