Passengers wait Four Hours for Free Ride on Lantau Cable Car in Hong Kong

Before the resume of the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car on 31Dec, the cable car company arranged their employees and relatives for a free trial.

On the fourth day (on Christmas day), more than 10,000 people took a ride on the Lantau cable car and the management would like to test the new system's ability to handle heavy crowds. During the day, people have to wait for over 4 hours to get on the cable car and lots of people complain on the arrangement. There are elderly people who cannot wait for such long period and have to return without taking part in the trial. There were also cases where the staff told passengers to return in the afternoon to avoid the long queue but only to know that the cable car company decided to stop the queue at 3:30pm. Those poor passengers have to return without taking this free ride.

Also, there are still stoppages (for a few minutes each time) during the operation. The cable car management advised that it is normal and have nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, I suggest to let the operation runs smooth first before taking part if you are interested.

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car to Resume on 31Dec in Hong Kong

Ngong Ping 360 cable car is planning to resume operation on 31Dec07. Since the fall of a cable car a few months agao (note that it is after operation and no person is in the cable car), the cable car management team has been replaced by the MTR management team.

Yesterday, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development was there for the pre-run and although there is some minor operation issue, everything seems to be smooth. So if you are planning to visit Hong Kong end this year or early next year, you can now plan to take the cable car to Ngong Ping.

http://www.np360.com.hk/html/eng/front/index.asp

Grand Cinema - Special Offer for Standard Chartered and Manhattan Card Customers

I just found out recently that The Grand Cinema at Elements is having a special offer for Standard Chartered Platinum card holder, you can enjoy a buy one get one free offer (same show) ticket offer at the Standard Chartered Starsuite on every Wednesday. The ticket is $125 which include a snack and a drink.

Also for Manhattan Cardholder, you can redeem a ticket at the MANHATTAN Galaxy at a special rate of $1 + 1000 Credit card points on every Thursday.

The offers last until 5Nov08, so enjoy the movies.

HSBC backed down to a minimum withdrawal restriction for ATM

If you have been in Hong Kong, you will know that the queue when visiting the branch or withdrawing month from ATM is extremely long. Recently, HSBC introduced the idea of having a HK$300 minimum withdrawal amount for each account and they have received a lot of complaints from the public.

HSBC has finally decided to cancel this limit after consideration but the negative publicity has already been done. In the public, this move is another measure to drive away the poor customers and to reduce the service provided to them. Furthermore, with classifying the customers (Primer, Powervantage, etc), it seems like they are only interested in wealthy customers.

Monster, Inc @ Maritime Square in Hong Kong

This year, the malls in Hong Kong are already full of Christmas decorations and getting ready for the spending season.

At Maritime Square in Tsing Yi (just outside Tsing Yi MTR Station), there is a joint promotion between the mall and Disney. The mall is decorated with characters from Monster, Inc.

To get into this Monster, Inc village, no entrance fees is required but you have to donate a small amount to a designated charity organisation. To me, this is a very good idea and gives us something to thing about during the holiday season.

A new generation in Hong Kong Railway - MTR

Today is the first day which sees the merger between the merger between the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL). The new company will use the MTRCL name and provide all train services to Hong Kong people.

I have attached the latest railway map for reference. After the merger, there will be fare discount on almost all trips. I have extracted some discount schemes below:

(a) The Second Boarding Charge will be abolished, resulting in fare reductions of HK$1 to HK$7 for passengers interchanging between the existing MTR and KCR networks

(b) All fares will be reduced by HK$0.2

(c) Long distance journeys with fares at or above HK$12 will be further reduced by HK$1

(d) For those long distance journeys with fares at or above HK$12 where (a), (b) and (c) do not add up to a 10% saving, a further reduction will be offered to achieve the 10% saving

(e) Medium distance journeys with fares from HK$8.5 to HK$11.9 will be reduced by a minimum of 5%. If (a) and (b) do not add up to a 5% saving, a further reduction will be offered to achieve the 5% reduction

For me personally, seems like I will be saving HK$0.4 per day. Better than nothing right...

The Grand Cinema @ The ELEMENTS

One of the newest Cinema "The Grand Cinema" is opened at "The ELEMENTS" at the Kowloon MTR Station in Hong Kong.

I was there to watch "The Heartbreak Kid" and the price is very reasonable for new cinema. Also, The Grand Cinema also features two new suites “Standard Chartered Starsuite” and "MANHATTAN Galaxy”. The “Standard Chartered Starsuite” is a VIP suite with a total of 23 seats and the "MANHATTAN Galaxy" has a total of 316 seats that features 3D and digital movies.

Furthermore, The Grand boasts the largest number of screens in Hong Kong (12 in total). Also they feature a ground breaking Infrasonic system that creates a complete new experience for movies with "vibrating" chairs.

Visit Grand Cinema using the following link: Grand Cinema

Goldfish Street in Hong Kong

In Mongkok, there is a Gold Fish Street where you can find a lot of shops that sells aquariums, gold fish, tropical fish and all kind of other fish. You see that most of the shops are selling fish using a plastic bag and hanging it outside the shop.

The Goldfish street is located between Tung Choi Street and Bute Street (Prince Edward MTR exit B2).

Hong Kong People and the Stock Market

This is a common scene in-front of Banks in recent months. There are tones of people looking at the screens to check on the stock market. You can see that no matter they are old or young people, they are all investing in stock market.

On this particular day, there is a big drop in the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index where there is a drop of over 5% or 1,526.02 points.

Monday's plunge came after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said over the weekend that four conditions need to be met before Chinese individuals will be allowed to invest directly in the Hong Kong market. The conditions include a law to regulate fund outflows to avoid a shock to the mainland market and studying the possible negative consequences for the Hong Kong stock market. His comments raised doubts about when the scheme to allow direct investment from the mainland, known locally as the 'through-train,' will be launched. Hong Kong shares had risen more than 30% since August.

Halloween Bash @ Ocean Park

In recent years, Hong Kong Ocean Park has been arranging a Halloween Bash to attract tourist. You can find more information from the Ocean Park website.

I have also extracted the highlights below:

Come to Ocean Park for an all-new mix of spooky fun and creepy thrills in one of the world's biggest Halloween Bash! There are 40 new Halloween attractions throughout every dark corner of the park.

Fulfill your frightful fantasies at the 7 never-seen-before haunted houses and 3 new scary zones - each set to different frightening themes and characters from all-around the Nether World. Assault your senses with the spellbinding and whacky SCAREmonies 07 and spectacular shows featuring the largest ever cast of 250 ghosts!

Be prepared for amazing night action that will leave you breathless!

You can purchase tickets online through the link I listed above.

Newest Shopping Mall - ELEMENTS

Elements is the newest shopping mall in Hong Kong. It is located above Kowloon Station in Tsim Sha Tsui. The mall is designed based on the 5 Chinese elements and they are: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth.

The mall is extremely big (as compare to other malls in HK) and there are a lots of famous brands. They include:

• A/X
• COACH
• DAKS
• DKNY
• Dunhill
• H&M
• PRADA
• Zara
• Armani
• Tiffany & Co
• and a lot more....

You can find there website for more information.

I have also included some photos I took today below.

National Day

1st Oct is the national day of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC was found in 1949 and this year we celebrate the 56th anniversary . In Hong Kong, we have a day of holiday and it is call a Golden Week since lots of Chinese from China will be visiting Hong Kong this week to shop or just to visit.

As usual, there is fireworks at night and this year's fireworks display is "Unity" and "Joyfulness", which carries a strong message to encourage local people to contribute to the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.

There are a total of 12 scenes and will last 23 minutes, including the 9th scene "One World One Dream", wishing the Beijing Olympic Games a great success and the last scene "Love our Motherland", wishing all the bests to the home country and Hong Kong.

Bird's Nest

Bird's nest is well accepted by Chinese to enhances the immune function and resistance to sickness and disease. If you visit Hong Kong, you can go to Eu Yan Sang and they have some instant Bird's Nest and they are easy to consume.

Bird's nest is extramely rich in proteins and minerals. Taken regularly, it helps to maintain a yourthful and glowing complexion, stimulates teh appetie, speeds recovery from illness, invigorates teh lungs, boots immunity and improves the body's overall metabolic functions.

It is also highly recommended for pregnant women, children and for whom it enhances the immune function and resistance to sickness and disease - the aged, and for anyone experiencing a general sense of weakness or lack of vigour.

Top 10 Information when Visiting Hong Kong

1. Service Charge
   Most restaurants will levy a 10 per cent service charge but waiters will expect to be given some loose change.
   
   
2. Drinking Water
   Don't drink the tap water and buy bottled water instead.
   
   
3. Electrial Voltage
   The standard electrical voltage in HK is 220 volts AC, 50HZ, so you will need an adaptor for your 100-volt appliances and electrical equipment.The majority of electrical outlets in Hong Kong take a three-pronged plug.
   
   
4. Map
   Buy a map, the street and signs in Hong Kong are not easy to find.
   
   
5. Octopus Card
   Get an Octopus card for your transportaion need (from MTR stations or in the Airport).
   
   
6. Shopping Centre Opening Hours
   Most shopping centres open every day throughout the year and they generally opens from 10am - 9:30pm.
   
   
7. Convenience Stores
   There are many 7-Eleven and OK convenience stores around the city. As in US and Canada, 7-Eleven is open 24 hours a day and you can buy food, beer and drinks on your way back to the hotel. For supermarket, there are ParknShop and Wellcome.
   
   
8. Spoken Language
   English is widely spoken and there is no problem in communicating iwth people in most hotels, restaurants and even some taxis.
   
   
9. Traffic
   Traffics drives on the left side of the road. So if you are coming from US or Canada, make sure you look both ways.
   
   
10. Emergency Service
    The emergency service telephone number (Police, Fire, Ambulance) is 999.

Hong Kong Shopping - Sport Shoes Street

When you visit Hong Kong, you may want to visit Mongkok and one of the place you must go is Fa Yuen Street (which is also known as Sport Shoes Street).

In this street (a long street I would add), there are close to 50 stores that sells sports shoes and sports accessories.

You will find brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Converse and even Crocs.

There are many shoes models and some are even rare or special editions from different places are available here.

Some snapshots of the shops are below:

Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month and this year, it falls on 25Sep.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a historical festival rather than a religious one. In the 14th century, during the Yuan dynasty, the Mongolians ruled the Chinese. Rebel Chinese used mooncakes to coordinate a rebellion without being discovered. Hidden inside each mooncake were special messages containing information which was distributed widely. Lanterns were also used at night as signals from higher grounds as warning. The foreign government was successfully driven out and the Ming Dynasty was established. The mooncake festival also commemorates this proud moment in Chinese history. Hence, to commemorate and this proud moment of Chinese History, people started to make and eat the sweet cakes or mooncakes on that night every year.

In Hong Kong, there are a lot of celebrations and you can obtain more information from DiscoverHongKong.

At the same time, you can also purchase mooncake online through Kee Wah (which I have written earlier).

Chinese Cake as Souvenir

When you come to Hong Kong, other than visiting Disneyland, Ocean Park, the Peak, etc, you may want to buy some souvenirs back to your friends.

You may want to consider to buy some Chinese assorted cakes.

One of the famous shop in Hong Kong is the Kee Wah Bakery and you can find their website as here.

Kee Wah Bakery was established in 1938, it is a prestige bakery that plays a significant role in food culture of Hong Kong. Now, Kee Wah introduces the "Hong Kong Kee Gift" series. The series include a variety of traditional Hong Kong pastries and snacks, Chinese bridal pastries and mookcakes. The set looks as follow:

Web Surfing Everywhere???

Hong Kong people like to surf the web anytime. There are a number of service available to allow people to connect to the web through 3G, WiFi or broadband.

However, recently there are new signs around Hong Kong that allow people to connect through PCCW WiFi. You can see that the many telephone booth have this new signage that said Wi-Fi Available Here.

Furthermore, PCCW has a new plan that allow you can buy and this new device allows the connection to Wi-Fi, 3G and HSDPA. So, basically, you are covered everywhere and you can surf anywhere.

Hong Kong Shopping - Kwai Chung Plaza

When you come to Hong Kong, one of the most important thing to do is shopping. You may go to Causeway Bay or Tsim Sha Tsui to shop at those expensive shops. You may also go to Temple Street or MongKok to shop for cheaper goods. However, I suggest to go to Kwai Chung Plaza in Kwai Fong (next to the MTR station in Tsuen Wan line).


You will see alot of interesting and cheap goods in this plaza (the style is very close to MBK in Bangkok). You will see fashion, shoes, computer, phone, books, etc in this plaza. There are also a few restaurant too.


Most shops will only open in the afternoon and there are lots of people during the weekend. If possible, do visit during weekdays in the afternoon.





Fashion shops



Asscessories


Computer products



Phone


Video games


Food