First time in HK... Advice?

[jubei]

Hey guys,

It's going to be my first time in HK this winter... you guys have any advice for a noob traveling there? I know a lot of people speak english there, but realistically, how hard is it to get by on only English? any safety concerns I should be aware of? Has anyone here been to Disneyland HK (the whole point of the trip is to bring my niece there )?And for those that have been there, how hard is it to find Take5 Jeans and the Yamane Jeans store?

[Aeros]

I have a question about HK as well. Is sneaker street legit? Because I was under the impression that everything on that street was fake.

[Ryan]

youre going at a good time...HK in the summer is pretty unbearably humid.

each time ive gone to HK ive gotten by with speaking only english. in my experience younger people are more willing to help you out. safety in general is ok. just use common sense, and dont try to hang out at chungking mansions just cuz you saw it in a WKW movie . but ive gone out late at night by myself and never felt worried.

i havent been to the disneyland there but if you take the same train all the way to the end of the line, itll take you to a bus route to this really really big buddha statue on the top of some random mountain. yeah i know thats a very generic response but i have to say it was worth the trip. actually the trip up the and down the mountain was worth it, two lanes of traffic trying to get by on one lane size paths, in the rain, on steep mountain roads..

but i digress..

sneaker street on the whole id say is legit, you do have to be careful of fakes though. there are also a bunch of chains around HK and on the kowloon side that have good deals on ap releases with their sales sometimes..

the names to these places escapes me right now sorry..

oh and get one of those octopus cards, helps alot when you have to deal with the crowds in the subways (which you will)

[chim]

Hey guys,

It's going to be my first time in HK this winter... you guys have any advice for a noob traveling there? I know a lot of people speak english there, but realistically, how hard is it to get by on only English? any safety concerns I should be aware of? Has anyone here been to Disneyland HK (the whole point of the trip is to bring my niece there )?And for those that have been there, how hard is it to find Take5 Jeans and the Yamane Jeans store?

take5 jeans is kind of hidden on granville, you have to look up at the neon signs. It will be a blue with yellow lettering Take 5 Jeans neon sign outside the entrance. The store is on the 2nd story, so you gotta walk into the building, run up the stairs and then past this one resale store that sells japanese fashion (number nine, stuff like that). Then after that you will come to the holy mecca, Take 5.

[simsays]

I don't think you should have too many problems w/ just English as my Cantonese is crap and I mostly got by on English. Even the greasiest of greasy spoons in Mongkok seemed to have English menus on request. A much more English friendly city than say, Tokyo.

I don't have any first hand experience with Disneyland although I have not heard the most glowing reviews.

Oh, and the Octopus Card is the greatest thing ever.

i havent been to the disneyland there but if you take the same train all the way to the end of the line, itll take you to a bus route to this really really big buddha statue on the top of some random mountain. yeah i know thats a very generic response but i have to say it was worth the trip. actually the trip up the and down the mountain was worth it, two lanes of traffic trying to get by on one lane size paths, in the rain, on steep mountain roads..

There's actually a gondola that goes up there now plus some fake touristy "village" as well. But the cable car ride and the big buddha are worth it. Just take the MTR to Tung Chung. You can also still take a bus from there. There's an outlet mall there as well (Nike, Adidas Originals, etc).

[Landy]

you have no problem if you don't speak chinese. i get around fine. everything is enlish friendly unlike tokyo.

about HK disneyland. i used to work there as a voice actor. its pretty small and you'll probably be disappointed comparing it to the american parks. its about the same size as disneyland in anaheim in the 1950s. there aren't any realy exciting rides but the shows are top notch. check out stitch encounter, lion king, and the golden mickeys. the weekend and monday are some of the busiest days so go somewhere not on those days. your niece should love it though, and that's what's the most important thing.

take 5 isnt' that hard as long as you can find granville road. just look out for a blue sign on the top floor or so. theres also a sign for a bape store called JR something that's in red and white that isn't hard to miss.

the yamane store is a bit of a pain in the ass. its pretty much in between causeway bay and wan chai so theres no real close MTR stop. i'd say just go behind sogo and walk down until you hit the freeway. then make a left and just keep walking 10-15 minutes or so. you'll get to the elizabeth house but you have to walk past that building. the yamane store is facing the freeway side. i plan to stop by there when i'm in HK and pick up some jeans. i think the chinese selvage denim is just as good as the japanese. if evisu founder started it, i'm sure the production is up to par.

[Landy]

I have a question about HK as well. Is sneaker street legit? Because I was under the impression that everything on that street was fake.

its all legit in mongkok. that street is famous for sneakers. no bootlegs. its not like mainland.

[xcoldricex]

i'd say mostly. i've heard of fakes being sold there in some shady stores...

hk disneyland > tokyo disneyland because you don't have to wait in any lines at all. sure its small but disneyland is much more enjoyable when you can do whatever whenever, and not have to stand in 3 hour lines.

hk is the most english friendly city in asia that i've been to. you'll be fine. and chungking mansions cleaned up a lot- you can go there for good, cheap indian food.

octopus card is a must if you're staying 3 days or longer- it's a good souvenier and it takes a lot of the hassle out of travelling by subway.

[jubei]

thanks for all the responses, guys... I really hope my niece enjoys herself, since she rarely gets to travel. This is gonna be a really big treat for her

keep the comments coming!

[Landy]

you might as well take her to ocean park while you're at it. they have pandas, aquariams, and coasters. but its a pretty lousy park. more variety than disney, but lesser quality.

she should also enjoy the laser light show they have every night on the promenade at 8pm..

[bapelolol]

yo whatsup with honger brands like laosmiddle and whatever

[xcoldricex]

the laser light show is fucking ridiculous hahaha.

i think you can ride on an old junk boat around that time too? i never figured out how to do that though.

[tm]

octoPUSssssssssSSSSSY !!! a must in hk.

between when are you going?

im leaving next sunday.

chunghing is fine.

and there are fakes around sneaker street but the majority of the stuff there are legit, therye basically retail store wiht nike/adidas/puma/etc account.

fakes exist everywhere so just becareful with the smaller shops more hard to find stuff. but yeah nothing is hard to find in hk in terms of shoes, you got the money, you get the shoe.

all the main spots in MK are mostly around sneaker street if you use that as point of reference so you're good there. might want to hit up LangHam Place thats a bit on the other side. but yeah just ask them the english place and people usually will acknowlege you and show you the way.

Tsim Sha Tsuie (granville, cameroon, where take 5 is) is a bit more confusing then MK, lots of small shops and "upstairs" stores. so LOOK up when you are there.

[jubei]

I'm heading there sometime between the 18th and the 25th, looks like... haven't booked yet, I'm leaving from the Philippines, so I'm hoping that it won't be too hard to book

[todesengel]

Most of it has already been said, but...

-A lot of the touristy stuff is pretty fun (Victoria peak, Ave. of the stars with the laser show, etc)

-Get an octopus card first thing when you get there

-I've heard that staying in Kowloon can get really noisy at night, so you might want to say on HK island.

-HK is pretty damn safe

[Kasper]

If you have ever been to any other Disneyland, you will be really disappointed with the HK one. i went there last May with my gf who is this irrational Disney fan and have visited all of them except the florida one and it can't compare to any of them. we got there by around noon and did every thing the park had to offer and some twice and we were done by 5. the shows are really good though. it true that it's not too crowded, downside is 99% of the visitors are commies and they have seriously absolutely no manners in public so you have to spend the day with people contently pushing around, cutting in lines (when they bother to get in line at all), throwing thrash everywhere, spitting everywhere, smoking where it's not permitted, throwing fits when the caracters leaves before their kids could take pictures everywhere, etc. no offense to the mainlanders on this board, but i found the lack of manners much more hard to deal with than the crowd you'll have to put up with at other disneyland.

and yeah, the laser show is crazy and it's possible to see on on a cruise ship or a junk (the junk thing is so overpriced though). you just have to go to the tourist office next to the star ferry in TST and you can book a cruise there (i would really recommend this as it's not very expensive, open bar and the view of hong kong from the water is completely crazy at night and it's the only way you'll be able to see the whole laser show.

as far as shopping go, i would advice to buy a good map and to write down in advance the store you want to visit. most of the stores are in malls, but those who are not are almost never at street level so it can be hard to find them, especially that they often don't have outside sign (and there's always a millions neon sign everywhere anyway). also, address are often given with the building name (that's usually how i got around) so it's real easy to map you day with a good map and you will save tons of time IMO.

[PAND]

Where abouts is Silly Thing?

I cant read cantonese, and cannot work out where it is from think-silly.com

Cheers

[dismalfuture]

Kind of a no-brainer, but go at about 4pm to ride the tram up to Victoria Peak, hang out up there and enjoy the view, watch the sunset if it happens while you're up there, then come back down around 6'ish. The Peak Tram lets you off, you'll walk out, then you can catch a double decker bus that is a short ride back to the Star Ferry Pier. You'll pass that I.M. Pei building, Statue Square (I think), some nice places.

Get out at the Star Ferry pier, go get yourself on the Star Ferry that does the tour trip around the harbor for like an hour, not the regular commuter ferry. It'll last about an hour, you'll get a cup of tea and a cake, and you can see everything from the boat, it's a pleasant experience. If you board the tour ferry sometime after 7:15-7:30, you'll get to see the light show at 360 from the boat', which is nice. If you were on the Promenade you'd only get to see half of it.

Like someone said, you can ride the subway on the Octopus (sold at 7-11, places like that), and also the buses. I always find the buses in HK to be really convenient andfairly easy to figure out. The signs will be in English I think and of all the cities I've been to, they're among the easiest to ride. You can ride from the top of Kowloon all the way down to Ap Lei Chau on buses, pretty neat.

I've never had a single problem with speaking only English in Hong Kong. Obviously people will sometimes get irked, but like someone said, hit up younger people first. Shop staff, etc.

Last and most important thing, is to EAT UP! I don't know where you're coming from, but for me, eating in Hong Kong is 1000X times cheaper and better than where I live.

If your little niece gets bored of stuff, there's that museum in TST that's supposedly good as well....

[Ryan]

Last and most important thing, is to EAT UP! I don't know where you're coming from, but for me, eating in Hong Kong is 1000X times cheaper and better than where I live.

YES EAT! man i miss the food..

[PAND]

Great to see that ppl know more about mickey fucking mouse than where to shop. awesom-0

[Landy]

just to post an update. they just opened another yamane store and its right next to take 5 on granville road. you can get selvage denim for about $680-$880 HKD.

[test]

i'm looking for shoes similar to those of swear, pointed toe and slim. Where's my best bet to look at? and slim fitting polo tees similar to those of fred perry ones.. help needed! thanks