5 Things You Should Know About Hong Kong

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Things I learned whilst staying in Hong Kong that I think will be really helpful to any other visiting foreigners not in the know about Hong Kong :

1. Pork, Pork, and Pork

This may either be a nuisance or delight to you based on your religion or preference in meat. The chinese are known for their love of pork but I didn't think it would be THAT much love. Seriously, everywhere they sold or served any meat it was 99,9 % likely to be pork than any other type of meat. The Hong Kong people adore their pork so much that on the cityline cruise in the buffet where they had spaghetti bolognaise I couldn't eat it because the bolognaise was made out of pork instead of beef, unlike the way it normally is made in every other part of the world. But no need to fret : beef, chicken, and duck do still exist there. Just make sure you ask first before you choose any meat food if you're trying to stay away from piggies.


2. No english, no!

As modern and structured as Hong Kong is, that does not make their people fluent in the language of the west a.k.a english. The majority of people who speak english there are people who work in the tourism industry, but even they have a limited kind of english which is also blemished with their thick Cantonese accent so it'll be very hard for you to understand what they say at first. Regardless, your ear adjusts on its own after a day or two. Also, about the attitude. Just because they are Easterners does not mean they hold a high standard in manners like the stereotypical Easterner is suppose to. They're very abrupt, sometimes even rude. Not very friendly, although there are a few exceptions to this. The upside to this is that you don't need to be afraid to be thought of as rude because people here don't really care about that.


3. A+ MTR

The subway system is probably already very common around the world in big countries so the fact that Hong Kong has one of the best MTR systems on this side of the planet maybe isn't a big deal. But to a girl who lives in a country where the best public transportation can leave you waiting for more than an hour, it's a true miracle. It's without a doubt the best way to travel in Hong Kong, and that's including the buses which are also very convenient as well. There are two options in ticketing : 1) buy a 1 time issue for about 10 HKD, that means you can only use it for 1 MTR ride to a certain destination, OR 2) buy a multipurpose Octopus Card. I recommend the Octopus Card definitely. Besides being cheaper, all you need to do is fill it with any amount you want and you can use it whenever to wherever you desire. You can even use it on the buses, as so I've heard. I am just so jealous of Hong Kong people and their MTR system I can't even tell you. It's the #1 thing I love about Hong Kong.


4. Power

I'm not talking about power as in "strength" but power as in "energy". Don't forget that the power plugs here are DIFFERENT. They use those straight plug heads with 3 holes instead of the round ended ones with 2 holes. This might not sound like an important piece of info, but it will when it's already midnight at your hotel and you want to plug your camera/phone and just realize the plugs are different and you call the front desk for a special plug head so you can charge your electronic but due to the oddly incapability of Hong Kong people to communicate normally with foreigners they say to you that they can't help and you should go buy it at the nearest 7-11 when clearly 7-11 doesn't sell that kind of stuff.....

Yeah, that happened to me.

Just bring your own plug head adapter to save you the trouble and temper.


5. Nice Shoes, Girl

This isn't really vital information unless you're a female who loves nice boots and pretty bright sneakers. If you pay attention, you'll notice that a lot of the young ladies in Hong Kong have REALLY nice shoes. Be it fashion forward boots or edgy cool high-top sneakers, they really do. I was on a limited time so I was unsuccessful in trying to find where the right place to get these babies for yourself was, but you should definitely try to find that out if you can. The prices here are cheaper in general for clothes and accessories so don't miss the opportunity for shopping when you're in Hong Kong and try to find out where the jackpot deals are!

Have fun in Hong Kong!

xoxo

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