Hong Kong has a very comprehensive public transport system ranging from tram which has been operating since 1904, subways, LRT, high-speed train linking Hong Kong Station (also known as the Central Station - 中環), Kowloon Station, Tsing Yi Station and the airport, public air-conditioned buses as well as public taxis. Of all these, the tram is the cheapest whilst taxi is the most expensive. You only have to pay HK$2 (RM0.79) per tram ride regardless of the distance traveled whilst the starting meter fare for the red taxis in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is HK$18 (RM7.07) and HK$1.50 (RM0.59) will be added to the base fare for every 200 meters traveled. Oh Mary !!!
Anyway, the subways (they call it MTR in Hong Kong) are cheap and very convenient. You can go to pretty much everywhere with their MTR and it is very punctual, just like Taipei and Singapore's. The train runs once every 3 minutes.
My collection of EPS Cards.
1. Octopus Card (Hong Kong)
2. EasyCard (Taipei)
3. Touch 'n Go (Kuala Lumpur)
4. ez-Link (Singapore)
Airport Express Train Ticket. I bought this ticket online for HKD171.00 (RM67.50) a week prior to my trip to Hong Kong. Did you know that credit cards issued in Malaysia have been flagged as high risk for fraud in Hong Kong ? Buying the ticket online was such a painful affair. My card kept being rejected for no apparent reason. After making 5 different calls to my card issuer, i was told that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my card and they couldn't see any attempted charges from Airport Express Hong Kong in my card's transaction history log. Disgruntled and frustrated, i lodged a complaint to Airport Express Hong Kong's credit card processing agent which is PayDollar. Their action was amazingly fast. I lodged the complaint through email and received a reply 20 minutes later. I was told that they will forward the case to Airport Express Hong Kong and someone will be in touch with me very soon.
Anyway, a lady from Airport Express Hong Kong called me a day later as promised. She kept apologizing and explained to me that they have blocked the use of Malaysia credit card to buy ticket online as Malaysia belongs to the "dangerous" region (her choice of word, by the way).
Anyway, a lady from Airport Express Hong Kong called me a day later as promised. She kept apologizing and explained to me that they have blocked the use of Malaysia credit card to buy ticket online as Malaysia belongs to the "dangerous" region (her choice of word, by the way).
The high-speed train ride from Hong Kong International Airport to Hong Kong Station (also known as Central) took only 24 minutes with a brief stop at Tsing Yi Station (青衣) and Kowloon Station (九龍). Upon arriving at Hong Kong Station, i took the complimentary shuttle bus to my hotel provided by Airport Express.
Harbour Grand Hong Kong. It's a 5-star hotel located in Hong Kong Island near Fortress Hill, which i paid just US$107.64/night (RM343.91/night).
The lobby
keycard
It's a bit small but very common in any hotels in Hong Kong.
The alternative bed
A see through tempered glass separating the bedroom and bathroom. If you're the shy type, you can always close it using the electric curtain.
Toiletries
A small TV inside the toilet
The view towards the Kowloon Peninsula from 36th Floor
More pictures of the room
My first dinner in Hong Kong. It's 京都排骨. There were many whites eating at this place (Temple Street - 廟街). This dinner cost me HKD63 (RM24.76). Mind you i did not order drinks or any other foods.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
2 comments:
I'm not surprised she labelled Malaysia as 'dangerous'. In fact DesignbyHumans (a T-shirt selling website) blocked Malaysia from their shipping list on the basis that they have received too many fraud transactions from Malaysia...
Complaints were that not enough was done in terms of local legislation.
I just realized that i did not mention how i still managed to buy the Hong Kong AEL train ticket online. Well, the lady from Hong Kong AEL that i spoke to made an exception for me. However, i must complete the purchase at the time we agreed over the phone (i only got 30 minutes to complete the purchase). After that, the purchase of HK AEL train ticket from Malaysian IP address and using Malaysian credit card will all be automatically declined again.
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