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few months agao (note that it is after operation and no person is in the cable car), the cable car management team has been replaced by the MTR management team.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