Travel tips for Hong Kong

So I've been to Hong Kong a few times and wanted to pass on my tips for traveling to and in Hong Kong. I hope this helps you plan your trip. If it does or if you have any suggests, please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom for me.

Use the trolleys - It’s a fun, convenient and cheap way to travel around Hong Kong. Let it be part of how you travel around.

Stay anywhere (this is specifically for Hong Kong Island) - Don’t worry about the prime places downtown which can be WAY more expensive than comparable locations that are a little ways away from the downtown area. With all the conveniences of public transportation (taxis, buses, subways, and trolleys) it makes no sense to have to be downtown and spending tons of money for it. Save the money for doing some fun things or eating out and instead stay somewhere a little ways away from downtown.

Visit the sites I wrote about - You can view them here.

Fly to Shenzhen instead of Hong Kong (if coming from mainland China) - This is only advice for those coming from Mainland China. It saves you a lot of money to fly to Shenzhen (or Guangzhou) and then take a bus to Hong Kong (which from Shenzhen is only one hour and only costs about $15 a person). When flying directly into Hong Kong you can expect to spend a lot more.

Use a baby backpack - Not a stroller if you can avoid it, because there are so many stairs and getting in and out of taxis can be a little exhausting.

Grab a hotel business card - You might wonder why you would do this, so I will tell you, you do this so that each time you climb into a taxi you can show them where you’re staying and the taxi driver will know exactly where to take you.

Use my bartering tips when shopping - You can read them here.

Money exchange - Find a place with a good exchange rate, because they’re not all the same. You can try; the airport, your hotel, and street vendors. Again, they’re not all the same rate, but you can save yourself a little money by trying a couple locations to see what the best rate is.

Power and outlet converters - OK so as I’m writing this my computer is about to die, because I can’t charge it in the unique outlets found in Hong Kong. So next time I will make sure to bring an outlet converter.

Outlet converters at the hotel front desk - So in relation to the tip above this one I tracked down an outlet converter at my Hotel’s front desk, so if you forget your converter (like I did) ask the hotel front desk… maybe you’ll find one!

Baby crib to use - So traveling with a toddler isn’t ever easy, but something I found out recently (and far too late in life) is that many hotels have cribs that you can use. How nice is that!? So instead of lugging your own around, you can instead simply call ahead and have the front desk reserve one for you.

Explore! - Some of the best things we found on our trip came simply because we put the map down and just walked the streets looking for interesting things. So get out there and make your own adventure!

Enjoy this day,
Matt

For a list of restaurants in Hong Kong click here.

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Hotels Hong Kong - Hotel Jen

I wanted to write a hotel review of the hotel my family and I just stayed at in Hong Kong, the Hotel Jen. I’ve been too Hong Kong twice recently and both times the Hotel Jen came up as the cheapest hotel to stay at. The first time I didn’t stay at it because it seemed to be too far away from the central area of Hong Kong Island.

Well this past trip my family and I stayed at the Hotel Jen and I’m happy to say that we loved it! And I wanted to pass it on to all of you who are planning a trip to Hong Kong. I discovered that my original fears of the hotel being too far away from most things in Hong Kong, to not be true. With public transportation making traveling around Hong Kong incredible easy, it was no problem to be a little bit away from the Central area.

What’s nice is that you can save a TON of money by staying at the Hotel Jen and never even really notice the difference between staying directly downtown.

The room my family and I stayed in was the standard room they offer. It’s small, but if you’ve traveled big cities in China you will know that most rooms are small. The room however was very nice. Great TV with some channels (although not many) as well as clean and new. The non-harbor view was not great to be honest. You looked down mostly on rundown buildings with only a sliver of the mountain being visible.

The Hotel Jen also has a nice lobby area, restaurant, bar, pool and gym. Unfortunately for us it was slightly cooler when we last went so we didn’t get to enjoy the outdoor pool which is located on the roof of the Hotel. Also, the hotel staff did a great job, very friendly, and they spoke great English.

I can’t think of much more. Overall, we loved the hotel and would recommend anyone to stay there. Seriously, save yourself a ton of money by not staying directly downtown and spend it elsewhere. It’s easy enough to get around that location isn’t that important (in my opinion).

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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Hong Kong Attractions

So you're heading to Hong Kong and you want to know what to do? Here's a list of the things my family and I have done and what our experience were from the past couple times we were in Hong Kong. I hope this helps, if you have questions feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you.


Going up the tram to The Peak of Mount Victoria - To be honest this is my favorite thing to check out in all of Hong Kong. Getting to see the city from the peak of Mount Victoria is spectacular to say the least. It’s an incredible way to see Hong Kong in a different way and will leave you breathless. The only thing is this… once you get there maybe you take 15-30 minutes to snap some pics and take in the view and then you head back down, so it’s not an outing you need much time for. However there is shopping and restaurants at the top also.

Victoria park - My family and I had a really fun time walking through Victoria Park, exploring all it has to offer and stopping at many of the playgrounds and parks throughout it. If you’re traveling with kids this is a great place to spend time as a family. I would suggest it to my closet friend (and my farthest enemy???)

Ferry ride across harbor - My 4 year old daughter LOVES taking the ferry and when we’re in Hong Kong it’s a must do thing. I think that it’s fun because how often in our normal lives do we take a ferry? And along the same lines as the peak, the ferry ride presents a different way of seeing Hong Kong. If you’re not sold yet, it’s also super cheap.

View of the harbor - Along the peninsula (Kowloon) there are some areas setup to view and snap pictures of the famous Hong Kong skyline which is a fun place to stop and do such. It doesn’t take long to do this and you can do it as soon as you get off the Ferry making it super convenient. Then afterwards every time you see the Hong Kong skyline (which is the view of the harbor) you can turn to the person next to you and say “I’ve been there”, which is deeply satisfying.

Walk around the downtown area - My family and I seem to do this each time we’re in Hong Kong which is fun and helps us to get out and get some exercise. All you do is head to the Central area and just start walking and see where you end up. There are TONS of skyway ramps connecting a multitude of malls that are fun to walk through and explore as you shop for a souvenir to take home. There are also lots of coffee shops and restaurants to make this an even more enjoyable thing to do.

Eat good food - Weather eating new and unique ethnic food or just enjoying some good western food, Hong Kong offers it all. In addition to food from; Nepal, Thailand, China, Australia, Italy, India, Vietnam, Egypt, France, and many more places, you will also find; TGIF, Outback Steakhouse, Fat Angelo’s, Spaghetti House, Burger King, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Duke’s Deli and other western cafes and restaurants. Click here for my review of the restaurants of Hong Kong!

Day trip to Shenzhen - If Hong Kong doesn’t offer enough for you to do or you have some time to kill, take a day to head into mainland China by way of the city Shenzhen. Each time my wife and I go through Shenzhen we usually say something like “Why don’t we live here?” or some other variation. We say this because Shenzhen is; a really nice, beautiful, and unique city. I don’t know much about the city, but maybe you can go and find something you like as well as discover somewhere new. To get there by bus you will pay $15 or 100RMB.

Take one of the trolleys - Not only is this a cheap and convenient way to travel, it’s also a fun, nostalgic way to go around the city and see the different parts of Hong Kong. My family easily got on and off the trolley and it seemed like they came very often. It was nice also because they would take us directly downtown. It was especially fun to ride on the top level of the trolley to get an even better view of the passing buildings.

Visit Hong Kong Park (and Aviary) - Ummm, it’s safe to say that this park and how much we enjoyed it surprised me. First off, my family kinda stumbled into the park as we were looking for things to do, and I was so glad we did. It was actually an incredible contrast to be in a lush green park with streams of water (and even a waterfall) surrounded by tall trees, and to look just beyond the tree tops to see the modern sleek buildings of Hong Kong behind them. As we strolled through the park we also came to 5 or 6 levels of kids playground areas. It was a fun place for the kids to burn off energy. Lastly Hong Kong Park also has a Bird Aviary, which is a large enclosed bird area. We spent about half an hour going through the Aviary and loved looking at each of the birds. Our four year old loved it and it was FREE!

Day trip to Macao - Truth be told I didn’t actually do this while in Hong Kong, but did see Ferries offering to make the trip. If I had the time and it was only my wife and I, I would have loved to make the trip out and back. Again, this is just another thing on a long list of things to do in Hong Kong.

Disneyland - OK so my family and I didn’t go to Disneyland, but it seems like a cool thing to do. Of course you need ridiculous amounts of money to do this though.

Giant Buddha - We also didn’t get to visit the world’s largest sitting Buddha, but if you had enough time to do it, it would be cool to see.

Well I hope that helps you as you plan for your trip. If this was helpful, let me know by leaving a comment.

(Sorry to end this list with a few things that we didn’t do, but I thought that if you were going to Hong Kong you might want to visit some of these sites.)

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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Restaurants in Hong Kong

So in my traveling to Hong Kong I’ve decided to post about the restaurants I’ve eaten at. Granted the ones I’ve eaten at are all Western (mostly) chain restaurants, but I thought I would write about them anyways. If you’re wondering why I haven’t ventured out much while visiting Hong Kong it’s because my wife and I live in China and eating at these restaurants is a real treat. So hope this helps you plan your trip.

Here’s a list of some ethnic food you can find in Hong Kong; Nepali, Thai, Chinese, Australian, Italian, Indian, Vietnamese, Egyptian, French, and I’m sure many more.

But you will also find; TGIF (Fridays), Outback Steakhouse, Fat Angelo’s, Spaghetti House, Burger King, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Duke’s Deli, Subway and other western cafes and restaurants.

In addition to writing what places we know about here I also wanted to add my two cents about the locations we’ve eaten at. So here it goes:

Outback - My family and I loved eating at Outback Steakhouse. It was great food with all the favorites you can get in the States as well as a great location. The service was awesome and the prices were very good. Also, you get the free bread just as you would in the States.

Duke’s Deli - This was a fun little place for us to stumble upon. My wife had been craving a simple sandwich and she found it here. I got a piece of pizza and really enjoyed it also. It’s a deli and it’s in Hong Kong so it’s a little expensive but not too bad.

Fat Angelo’s - My wife and I would have to say that this is our favorite restaurant in all of Hong Kong. Great food, great service and they hook you up with a bunch of free bread that is pretty tasty. Its prices are typical for Hong Kong. If you’re craving some Italian food while here, this is the place for you.

TGIF - Ummm, this is the real reason I decided to write this article, because TGIF’s is not that great of a place to go… which is really disappointing. In Beijing my family and I love going to TGIF’s, but here it just doesn’t cut it. And it’s not like we just had one bad experience (that could be excused) it seems like the past couple times we went we were left spending A LOT of money and finding the food just average. Pass on TGIF’s and hit up Outback, you’ll be glad you did.

Pizza Hut - I know it may seem stupid to have a “review” of Pizza Hut on here, but the truth is that when you’re eating American fast food overseas you never know what you’re gonna get. Sometimes the restaurant is exactly like it would be in the States and other times it’s REALLY NOT. Well Pizza Hut I’m glad to report is the same good ole Pizza Hut you would eat in the States. If you don’t like to venture much, then Pizza Hut is a good place to eat.

KFC - This is an example of a restaurant in the States NOT being the same overseas. KFC is really not good at all. I haven’t eaten at one in Hong Kong so maybe it’s slightly different (I’ve eaten at KFC in China… unfortunately). I wouldn’t eat here if someone was paying me too.

McDonalds - MCD is the same as it is in the States with some added Asian dishes. One bonus here is that you can order breakfast food all day… Am I in Heaven? Iowa? Oh, it’s still Hong Kong.

Burger King - I love BK and will till the day I die. Hong Kong’s Burger King was no different than the States and was great to eat at.

Subway - Truth be told, I didn’t eat at Subway while in Hong Kong, but when I’ve eaten at them in China I’ve found them to be the same and good.

Well this may be short, but I hope it helps you to have a better experience to know what there is in Hong Kong as well as what to expect.

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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