Anyone Been To Hong Kong?

[Art2ro]

Our 3 nights/4 days Hong Kong turnaround trip!Since I’m still too lazy to apply for my dual citizenship, my visa extension was ready to expire and my British friend with his Filipina wife’s visas are also about to expire, we just decided to do a visa run to Hong Kong for 3 nights & 4 days and get our BB Stamp good for a 1 yr free stay upon our re-entry into the Philippines. My wife just tagged along to do some shopping at the Hong Kong Central Flea Market via ferry from where we were staying at. Temperature where we stayed was a comfortable chilly 55 to 60 deg F. weather, cloud over cast our last two days! It's the end of their winter season and hardly any tourist here! Their free Continental breakfast consisted of scramble egg with slices of ham, pan fried Chinese noodle, bird's nest soup, toast, coffee or tea, not a winner in my book! I was looking sausages or bacon, SOS and at least assortment of fruit, but nada! their dinner seafood buffet price was too much at HD338 per person! There are other restaurants outside of the hotel complex, but at U.S. prices somewhat, I had a half baby back ribs for HD148 with a free bottle of white wine (Weds only) with combined meals over HD200! Just the normal routine going to NAIA to our catch flight on Philippine Airline without any fanfare or hassles. Oh BTW, my wife and I got by without having to pay the Exit Tax (ECC)! I guess the immigration official didn’t catch it! The terminal fee was P550 per person and off we go to Hong Kong on a 2 hour flight on an Air Bus 320 aircraft with dinner before we land (don‘t order the orange chicken, it sucks)! Our landing was uneventful, but finding transportation to our hotel was a cluster f%&k, because these Chinese people can hardly speak English or we just couldn‘t understand or comprehend what they were saying! We thought we could just take a taxi sort of thinking the hotel wasn’t vary far from the airport, so wrong we were! Since we couldn’t explain to the taxi driver where we wanted to go and plus I think we took the wrong taxi to begin with, the taxi driver just took us to the nearest railway station and there we figured it out after some asking from a lot of passersby, especially from an American who worked in Hong Kong. Luckily we got on the right train and got off at the right station to catch the correct bus that dropped us off just few yards away from our hotel, called “Hoah’s Ark” on Park Island. Unusual looking hotel, it sure looked like Noah’s Ark, it was huge, but impressive! Our rooms each with twin beds with full bath came to U.S. $264 total per room for 2 adults, for 3 nights and 4 days including the service charges, nothing more to pay at check-out or 334 UK pounds total on his Barclay's credit card for 4 adults, 2 rooms!BTW, about transportation via bus and railway (don’t take taxis unless you have to, they‘re expensive). One can purchase debit cards HD150 per person good for 3 days, 72 hrs at the railway station customer service and the credits can be topped off at any convenience store like 7/11, they‘re everywhere. One just have to swipe their card on the machine scanners for passage to get on the bus or train! If paying by cash, make sure you have the correct change bills and or small coins! We also took the ferry 25 minutes to Hong Kong Central, HD24 per person (half price over 65, I'm not there yet, but my Brit friend was in his 70s). The ferry terminal is just at the end of those Residential Condos walking distance (nice wide walkway path) from our Noah"Ark Hotel. Our wives didn't do too much damage shopping at the flea market, just hand bags, HD120! The food was around USD prices! Our return flight too was uneventful, but we flew on a 747 and dinner was better this time, chicken, veggies and noodles with a custard desert that tasted like lychee fruit (weird taste)! The hard part was trying to find the Philippine Airline ticket check-in counter, but we found it after walking around in circles! The air port was huge! Oh BTW, we took the bus from our hotel directly to the air port for only HD24 person! And yes, the people at the check-in counter did ask for follow-on tickets, but come to find out, if one is a Filipino tourist Fil/Am Balikbayan such as myself, a follow ticket is no longer required! That’s new news to me coming from Asia and E.J. verified the same coming from California to Manila where a Balikbayan can fly on a one-way ticket with no follow-on tickets as long it's exclusively on Philippine Airlines, I don't know if that holds true for any other airlines! END OF STORY The URL won't post properly! Just do a Google Search "Pictures of Noah's Ark Hong Kong",These are my own 2 pictures I took from my iPhoneThere are also video clips on You Tube if you're interested!BTW, for our Hong Kong entry visas, our U.S. passports were stamped with a visa good up to 90 days, where as our British friend and his Filipina wife's British passports were stamped with a visa good up to 180 days! Go figure! http://www.gov.hk/en...equire/general/Visit Visa/Entry Permit Requirements and ApplicationsNationals of about 170 countries and territories may visit Hong Kong visa-free for a period ranging from 7 days to 180 days. Check this webpage to learn whether you need a visa or entry permit to enter Hong Kong for a visit or transit.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Art2ro

[i am bob]

I have heard of Noah's Ark hotel before - I think it was one of the travel shows on tv here... Suppose to be reasonably good place to stay if I remember correctly. Either way it sounds like you enjoyed yourself!

Edited February 10, 2012 by i am bob

[JJReyes]

BTW, for our Hong Kong entry visas, our U.S. passports were stamped with a visa good up to 90 days, where as our British friend and his Filipina wife's British passports were stamped with a visa good up to 180 days! Go figure!

Under the terms of the 50 years Special Administrative Region status for Hong Kong, British and other Commonwealth nations continue to receive 180 days visa waiver. Until 1997, Hong Kong was under British rule. United States citizens have 90 days visa waiver privileges with 34 countries. It's reciprocal. Citizens of the 34 countries can also visit the USA for pleasure or business for 90 days without a visa. I am not sure the reason why it's 90 days in Hong Kong because the agreement does not include China and Hong Kong SAR. Maybe it has to do with being a previous British colony. The UK is part of the 90 days program.

[Dave Hounddriver]

British and other Commonwealth nations continue to receive 180 days visa waiver.

Its just a small thing but Canada, part of the Commonwealth, still only gets 90 days just like the US

[Art2ro]

If they had vacancies at affordable rent in those residential condos, we wouldn't mind living there, but I doubt if they would have any vacancies there at an affordable rent! The weather there suited my wife and she told me that she wouldn't mind living there! Everything was so accessible by foot, ferry, bus, taxis and their train railway system and everywhere we went it was clean and not so much smog or exhaust fumes! We just may go back there on a regular vacation and check it out some more and figure out the possibilities in staying there longer like every 90 days and then return to the Philippines, but we will need to learn a little bit more about the Chinese language! The language barrier is most troublesome!

[i am bob]

British and other Commonwealth nations continue to receive 180 days visa waiver.

Its just a small thing but Canada, part of the Commonwealth, still only gets 90 days just like the US

Maybe that's because they think we all look alike? :mocking:

[Art2ro]

Hi Art2ro,Quick question about Balikbayan privileges.The BB stamp permits a stay of up to one year. If you make a visa run to Hong Kong or Bangkok, do they automatically give you another year?I was concerned about a BB stamp, followed by a request for extension while remaining in the Philippines.

Yes you get the BB stamp upon entry or re-entry into the Philippines regardless on the frequency in and out of the Philippines, but make sure you look Filipino (not a kano) or just tell the immigration official and it's in your passport, place of birth or just ask for the BB stamp and make sure that is what is stamped in your passport! Some times these immigration officials don't pay attention to details, because they probably got up on the wrong of their bed and or didn't have their morning coffee or Filipino breakfast of "topsilog" or whatever version that's their normal breakfast in the morning!

[Art2ro]

Speaking of Hong Kong again, but slightly off topic, I want to bring up the subject of wall electrical outlets. We forgot to pack our international wall socket adapters and we brought our 110/220v hair dryer and our room only had 2 wall outlets, none in the bathroom with 3 pronged outlets where as our hair dryer had the standard 2 straight pronged plug! So, we did without a hair dryer and luckily our cellphone batteries lasted until we got home! I could have bought a new one, but I didn't unless we needed it that bad, which we didn't! Standard 2 prong outlet at home Hong Kong wall 3 pronged outlet

[Jollygoodfellow]

Speaking of Hong Kong again, but slightly off topic, I want to bring up the subject of wall electrical outlets. We forgot to pack our international wall socket adapters and we brought our 110/220v hair dryer and our room only had 2 wall outlets, none in the bathroom with 3 pronged outlets where as our hair dryer had the standard 2 straight pronged plug! So, we did without a hair dryer and luckily our cellphone batteries lasted until we got home! I could have bought a new one, but I didn't unless we needed it that bad, which we didn't!

A lot of the large hotels will lend an adapter if you ask,too late now :hystery:

[Dave Hounddriver]

If they had vacancies at affordable rent in those residential condos,

I looked into that once and found the condo rents to be the same price as staying by the month in a 4 or 5 star hotel.