We go all around Hong Kong doing fun things! One of the places we enjoyed a great deal was Ocean Park.  Our local buddies recommended we go there instead of Hong Kong Disney, so we went with our buddy Natalie and another international student called Anouk.  There were so many fun rides and cool animals to see at Ocean Park, so we recommend making that a day trip while you are here.

 

Another stop that you should be sure to hit is the Victoria Harbor area.  It is really nice for food, little shops and a pretty view.  We are planning on heading back over there soon when the weather is nicer!

When you want to get some shopping done, especially finding cheap designer bags, you need to go to the Ladies market.  When you go there be ready to bargain because everyone is willing to go down on price.  I ended up getting three designer bags and a tea set for under $100 USD.  It is a lot of fun being in that crazy environment with so many people!

One last place to mention that is near and dear to us is the Tai Po area in general.  This is the location that is closest to us at the University and where we go when we need to take the metro to anywhere else.  Here you can shop, go to the supermarket, grab some cheap food, and see a whole lot of friendly local people.  We go here a lot when we want to grab dinner or need to pick up any essentials because it is so close and so uniquely local.

 

Things We Wish We Knew:

• To get places from the university you have four options: The 74K bus, the 26 minibus, the University bus, and a green taxi.  They all go to different spots and have their benefits for different reasons.  Make sure you know where each one goes.
• Learn your basic words in Cantonese like please and good morning.  Using a little local language goes a long way.
• Tai Po Bus Terminal is in Tai Po Central and that is a different location from Tai Po Market Station where the MTR is.
• Always have a good amount of money on your octopus card because if you want to, you can use it to pay at certain locations including the canteen dining hall on campus.
• Go places when the weather is nice! It is not always clear and sunny, so when it is take advantage.
• Turn your AC unit off at night if you do not want to wake up with a stuffy nose.
• Leave a fan on or the AC on in your room if you go on a long trip.

We had just over a week and a half off for Easter break.  We took that free time to do some traveling.  We went to Singapore; Phuket, Thailand; and Ho Chi Min, Vietnam. We highly recommend future students use their time to travel as well; it’s been a whirlwind but an awesome experience!

Singapore

I think Singapore may have been my favorite stop on this trip (but also the most expensive). We did Gardens by the Bay, Sentosa (beach area), the Night Safari, and ate in the Arab District and Little India. Most people spoke English and I was blown away with the variety of culture there.  It is the most international place I’ve ever been. Singapore’s culture isn’t truly it’s own yet, the culture is about all the different cultures within it.

Gardens by the Bay

Night Safari

Thailand

We went to Phuket, Thailand.  We serendipitously went during Thai New Year, Songkran. Everyone gathers in the street and will soak you with water — careful with your electronics (they don’t care about getting them wet!). It was so much fun!  They will also put this white paste on your face, it’s part of the celebration too.

On another day we went to Tiger Kingdom to pet tigers and did elephant tours.  It’s amazing to see their wildlife.

And lastly, we did a James Bond Island tour.  I highly suggest doing a tour of the islands.  That’s when you’ll see Thailand’s true beauty!

Thailand seemed safe enough (the area that we were in) however every Singapore taxi driver we spoke to told us to be careful in Thailand and Vietnam.  They told us not to go out at night alone (we were three girls). We took their advice and are, obviously, fine! 🙂

Tiger Kingdom

Island Tour Views (via boat)

James Bond Island

Vietnam

We went to Ho Chi Min for the food!  So goooodddd!

We saw the War Museum. Although we felt awkward at times due to the anti-US propaganda, we never felt unwelcome.  It was only about $1 USD to get in, and even though there was not much to see, it was still worth the trip.

There are a bunch of beautiful 3D cards that you can buy on the street for $1-$3 USD. There are also a bunch of cheap, nice-looking fake bags if that’s you kind of thing! (There are fake bags everywhere in Asia, but Vietnam was the cheapest we’ve seen.)

The best thing we did was go to the AO Show at the Opera House.  It was about $30 USD but it was amazing.  The show was full of perfectly timed stunts and the acrobatics were incredible.

Just a word of warning, Vietnam was the most unsafe place we went.  Although we felt fine during the day, we didn’t venture out at night — at all.  A Vietnamese taxi driver did rip us off. He used his meter (but punched in a bunch of stuff before we started), and we paid almost $20 USD rather than the typical $5 USD. I’d just say be cautious and don’t go out alone and you’ll be ok.

The whole reason we went to Vietnam was to do a cooking class.  However, two of us got really sick and we weren’t able to make it.  (Well actually, in the chaos of being sick we just forgot about it.) If we go back, we’d definitely do one!

War Museum poster

AO Show at the Opera House

Helpful things to know:

• Most budget airlines will charge you for bags over 7kg.  (Only one carry on… no personal items…) So leave room for souvenirs!
• Bring a small luggage scale with you from the US.  It will save you a lot of headaches and $15-$100 in baggage fees each flight.
• The airlines here take FOREVER to check you in (not so much Hong Kong). Make sure you arrive to the airport 3 hours early for international flights.
• We did an online visa application form for Vietnam.  It’s not worth it, we still had to wait in line with everyone else and fill out the same forms.  Save the $20 and just complete the forms when you arrive (since you have to anyway).
• In Thailand and Vietnam you can bargain for everything — taxi ride prices, prices of items in stores etc.
• If you get a package sent to school and aren’t at the apartment at the time of drop off, they will hold it at the Tai Po post office (and not on campus).
• When you pay for housing, keep your receipt from the bank!  You need to bring it to the JCPS hall management office.  (Once you give the the receipt to them, I’d still ask them to make a copy for you to keep — just in case!)  We weren’t told to bring our receipt anywhere and had to scramble to find 5 weeks later, it to prove our payment.