Discover Hong Kong: Getting Around

Getting Around

We arrived at Lantau Airport a few minutes before 10 in the morning. Getting through Immigration and collecting our luggage took us more than half an hour. You need to keep up with other passengers or you’ll be left behind. Blithe wanted to take the MTR to Kowloon but I hesitated as we might get lost and just waste time. Not to mention I was already tired and all I cared was getting some sleep.

We took the red cab from the airport going to Kowloon and unfortunately, we had the worst, if not the most rude cab driver in Hong Kong.  When I knew he couldn’t understand a word I was saying, I showed him a map to the hotel and I was surprised when he snatched the paper  and studied it with gloom in his eyes. Suddenly, he kept mumbling to his self as if complaining. He dragged our luggage and slammed each in the compartment even though my luggage has a “fragile” sticker on it. He was so loud, he kept talking on his phone while driving and he kept coughing in between. The moment his cab stopped in front of the hotel he yelled “250! 250!” (Php 1,575 )and he pushed the reset button before I could have a chance to look at the taxi meter. He popped the hood of his car from the inside and never even bothered to help us unload the luggage. I had to close the compartment myself and he just went off belching dirty smoke. Later on, I knew from my sister that the meter only registered HK$195.  All the while she thought I paid such amount. What a rip off! So watch out how much these taxi drivers charge you.

On the positive side, there are drivers too who can’t speak English but patiently tries to understand my hand signals . And there are friendly drivers too like Jacky Chuen, not Jackie Chan :p who can actually speak good English and sounded like a tour guide every time he spots a landmark. He was such a nice guy that we totally forgot about the rude driver.

Helpful tips!

• Exercise 2 weeks before your trip to relieve yourself from muscle pain from too much walking. Seriously, we did A LOT of non-stop walking.
• On the way to Immigration there will be free leaflets, brochures and guides that you will find useful. Grab some of those.
• Ask your hotel’s front desk for a map. They usually give it for free.
• Avoid taking the taxi.
• Learn to take the MTR. Buy an Octopus Card which you can use during your stay. You can use this card in the MTR, trams and buses, stores, bakeries, convenience stores, vending machines and fast food chains. Each of us bought a HK$220 (Php1,300) Octopus Card with 3 days unlimited travel on the MTR.
• Print out an MTR Map and you’ll find it really useful.

*Prices were posted to give you some ideas on how much to budget for an HK trip

Read more:

Part 2: Discover Hong Kong: Street-side Shopping and Dining

Part 3: Discover Hong Kong: Spectacular Attractions