Hong Kong Revisited

I visited Hong Kong again.

Best time to visit:
It is good idea to visit Hong Kong during November and December, the weather is the best during these months. In the bitter months of summer Hong Kong can be unbelievably hot and humid. When September and December comes HK will be battered by its typhoons.

Strange work hours:
Shopping malls are everywhere in Hong Kong, there is almost always a large shopping mall connected to a train station. Hong Kong have such strange working hours. Besides restaurants, nothing seems to open until NOON, and they work until 9:00 or 10:00PM. Places like MongKok are always filled up with people. One has to have a good expectation that there are lots and lots of people in HongKong so you're not overwhelmed.

Shop, shops everywhere
So HK is known as a heaven for shoppers. One obvious reason is that there is no sales tax. No extra % calculation. Prices tend to be much lower than America. There are also so many shopping malls, and they vary. Some are small, small shops that only a handful of people can go in. Some are major high end shops with pricey products. In the small shops there are not even a cashier machine. They all have solar calculators, when they have trouble negotiate price to visitors who speak English, they punch in the numbers. Numbers is truly THE universal language.

Shopping Too specialized
If you visited the dried seafood street in Sai Wan, you will see maybe 2 miles of shops, each selling the absolutely same products. If you live in that area, there is absolutely nothing else in that long street. You may need to take the bus just to find a grocery store or a restaurant. If you visit the clothing wholesale street, you also get endless such (small) shops.

Octopus Card - Electronic Cash
Currency has a long history. In the beginning people exchange products, like fisherman would exchange fish for fruits. Then there is coin, then there is a paper money. Now there is Octopus Card. The Chicago Card is strictly used for public transportation. You can add value to the Octopus card in all the convenience stores and buy stuff using it. Great convenience but you may be spending more than you realize.

Where are the washrooms?
There are so MANY people in Hong Kong, when there are many people, washrooms (toilets) tend to become dirty. It seems like every restaurant owner and merchants are not willing to maintain them. They are hard if not impossible to find. If you find them they may be lowly ones that don't even have a seat. Even McDonalds don't maintain washroom. Toilet signs may lead you to an outside washroom which is crappy. HK government need to award money to those willing to provide good washrooms! You have to know where the toilet papers are. They may be OUTSIDE the stalls. You may need to grab them before going in. Now that's outrageous.