BUYING
PLANE TICKETS
Once
I was up and had eaten breakfast, I spent the next few hours ringing
around all the travel agents in the telephone book, to see what would
be the best deal for flights to England via Thailand, as I had decided
that I would like to go their again. (My second time). All the local
telephone calls in Hong Kong are free! This was great as I could just
keep ringing and ringing as many travel agents without feeling guilty
about Ken & Freddie's phone bill. Actually the Hong Kong Chinese are
so liberal with their telephones, a good example is that no matter where
you are in a shop or an office, they will always allow you to make local
calls without question.
In
the end the cheapest flight I was able to book was a Qantas flight to
London via Thailand as I had hoped. The cost was $3,800 (?262) which
considering the distance was quite good. I had already preliminarily
booked a flight whilst I was in China so I had to ring and cancel that
one. I had booked that one just to make sure that I had a flight home
but now I had a confirmed flight on a first rate airline at flight times
that suited me. back
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THE
HONGKONG DOLLAR
Money The Hong Kong dollar is divided into 100 cents. The bank notes
that were available were HK$10 (green), HK$100 (red), HK$500 (brown),
HK$1000 (yellow). Coins are issued in denominations of HK$5, HK$2, HK$1,
50 cents 20 cents and 10 cents. back
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SHOPPING
Hong
Kong is the financial centre of Asia, therefore there was never a problem
when it came to cashing traveller cheques, or paying with a Visa card,
the only problem is agreeing a price! You have to bargain with them
over everything which really gets on ones nerves after a while. It is
impossible to try and match a price up between one store and another,
as the price is never displayed on the goods and so you have to ask
an assistant for the price I am convinced they say the first number
that comes into their head! Then comes the laborious task of trying
to ascertain a reasonable price for the goods so that you can find out
if you can afford it, let alone buy the damn thing! Needless to say
this can really start to wear one down, as once you have managed to
find out the true price and you then say you will think about it, they
throw their arms up with horror and try to make you feel guilty about
wasting their time. If they displayed the price in the first place it
would not happen would it ? Anyway, I was successful in knocking them
down to what I thought was a good price on a Sony Walkman tape/radio,
well I thought it was a good price, and the guy took my money, so I
don't suppose he lost anything on the deal. It cost me HK$950 (?65.00)
and when I returned to England and priced it up at a local shop, it
was ?150.00 so on that basis I think I obtained a bargain. It was a
pity that I did not have lots of spare money as there was just about
everything electrical that I had ever wanted to own all in one street! back
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HONGKONG
ISLAND
I
headed down to the harbour to get the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong
Island to see what is described as one of the most breathtaking views
in the world as the ferry crosses from Tsimshatsui to Central on Hong
Kong island. They weren't wrong! The ferry service runs 7 days a week
from 6.00am to 11.30pm and is continuous. You never have to wait more
than a few minutes to take the seven minute trip across the water and,
assuming the weather is good, it beats the Mass Transit Railway hands
down. There are two prices for the journey, lower deck was HK$1.00 and
upper deck is HK$1.20 per trip. All the ferries have names like:- Morning
Star, Evening Star, Celestial Star, Shining Star etc. back
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THE
POST OFFICE
The
post office was very efficient as was everything in Hong Kong. There
was boxes on sale for me to select the size required and then fill it
with my belongings, there was a supply of sticky tape to seal the boxes
and sticky labels to write on. Why can't the U.K. post offices be as
helpful and efficient as the ones that we have developed in Hong Kong??
The cost of posting the things home was HK$243 (?16.80p), a cheap price
for a bit of comfort. Once I had unloaded my clothes and books.back
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THE
PEAK
Victoria
Peak, or just, "The Peak" as it is known, has been the place to live
ever since the British moved in, and today the price of real estate
is astronomical. There is a tram to transport the visitors to the top
where they will find the Peak Tower which is a type of scenic shopping
mall. There were high powered binoculars on the balcony which, for HK$1.00
for a few minutes, were worth every cent. By around 6.30pm it started
to get dark and slowly the whole city started to illuminate against
the crisp clear skies making the visibility excellent. I have to say
that Hong Kong by night is staggering! It was the only way to see the
country properly, first the view by sunlight and then shortly after
by moonlight. The entire skyline was alight with neon lights allowing
me to see for miles and miles.back
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CHEAP
PLACE TO STAY?
I
was very grateful to Ken and Freddie for putting me up at their apartment
as there was very little cheap accommodation available in Hong Kong,
probably due to the very high price for land. One of the places that
I had read about where there was cheap accommodation was Chungking Mansions.
I thought that I would go and check it out for future reference as if
I came here again I probably would not be able to stay with Ken & Freddie
again. The Lonely Planet describes this place as:- "There is no other
place on earth quite like Chungking Mansions" So I had to go and see
it for myself, after all if I had not met Ken & Freddie, then I would
have probably been staying there. The best way that I can describe it
is a huge high-rise dump! The entrance to Chungking Mansion was in a
shopping arcade in Nathan Road, which is in the heart of Tsimshatsui,
so the place is certainly central for shopping and all the sights in
Kowloon. There are five lifts labelled A to E and they were easy to
find because of the queues for them! There are two overworked lifts
for each seventeen storey block. I was told that it is often quicker
to walk up the stairs rather than wait for the lifts, if one can walk
up seventeen storeys that is! Chungking Mansions is a place that is
full of cheap dormitories, some of which are really filthy and others
not too bad at all. Altogether there are more than one hundred guesthouses
with bedrooms the size of broom cupboards. I have to say that I would
not have felt safe there at all. What if there was a fire? People could
not get out down the staircases which were full of rubbish and there
were loads of cockroaches as well!!! Also on the stairwells were a number
of stray cats which, I am led to believe, do a great job of keeping
the rats at bay!back
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