Hey guys it's been awhile since you last see me!
I went to HongKong from 9th December 2015 - 14th December 2015 (6D5N)
We took United Air (Breakfast & Flight Entertainment Provided, along with 2 X 23kg Check-in baggage allowance) for only SGD$298 (quite a steal!)
The best part was we were given the opportunity to change airline when we head back to Singapore with Cathay Pacific and it was really a pleasant flight!
However our accommodation was indeed like shit!
Me and my friends didn't want to waste a lot of money on accommodation therefore we booked a hostel via Airbnb called ' Ho Mongkok Hostel '
Good thing about the location of the hostel is really very near the MTR, Mongkok Station (Train Station) probably just 1-2 mins walk down the apartment.
So here comes the part of the rant :
The room was relatively small. (You have to sit on the toilet bowl to shower because there's no space for you to stand and bath, their hair dryer only works for 30 seconds and it will automatically shut off afterwards) We didn't complain much about it as it was fairly cheap. For 5 nights it was only SGD$300 which means per night is SGD$60 divided by 3 (SGD$20/night/pax) sounds like heaven but it given the opportunity again I wouldn't want to stay there.
The annoying part was when the cleaner (aka the owner of the hostel) secretly comes into your room to clean your room during the day without your permission. I mean what if you lose something in your room are they going to be responsible? Not only that, as on our last night we decided to switch to a hotel as we wanted to make use of the hotel concierge for storage purposes, we had an argument with the owner.
Firstly the owner came into our room without our permission.
Secondly she saw all our baggage were not there anymore and went berserk.
Just in time me and my friends headed back to the hostel because we wanted to use the toilet we encountered the lady. She was furious and questioned about our belongings and asking whether we will be there for another night.
She then demanded us to give her HKD$100 (SGD$18.10) as deposit because she was afraid that we would walk away without returning her her room key.
I was very angry because we paid for our stay there even if we did not come back we are still entitled to the night why must we give her the deposit? If she wanted the deposit she should've done so on the very first day when we checked-in.
As we did not want to give her the deposit she demanded us to return her the key. - HELLO? I paid for the night already why should return you the key? So are you going to refund us our last night?
Although it was completely unreasonable for her to have such demands, we did not want to Pursue further because it was our last night and we already had a new accommodation.
Speaking of our new accommodation, we had a very pleasant stay at the Oriental Lander Hotel, just 5mins walk away from the nearest MTR, Prince Edward Station.
The hotel cost about SGD$88 (triple sharing room) (SGD$29.50/night/pax) on top of that they have baggage storage services and also offered to help us call cab to the airport the next day! Their service was excellent! Just SGD$9.50 compared to the stupid hostel.
On top of that their hotel room was really big!! It had a proper bathroom, were you can shit and bath separately, they have a living room connected to the bedroom! It's like the size of a studio apartment in Singapore! Really big!
Okay enough with the accommodation now let me further talk about our trip.
Our whole trip was all about shopping, shopping and shopping! Indeed I bought a lot of things but actually the things in Hongkong aren't as legendary cheap.
It's about the same price as Singapore, in fact sometimes it's more.
When I said sometimes it's more it means that the shop owners are literally blood suckers. They just want to cheat your money. For example the same dress can be HKD$160, HKD$120, HKD$100, HKD$80. (I believe it can be even lesser) the moment you ask the price and walk away they will
Immediately start shouting lower prices from the back. Just how much they have inflated their prices?
A normal night market can sell, for example a luggage tag for HKD$10, but if you walk a few more stalls up ahead you can find the same design at HKD$5.
But this whole shopping culture there really made me feel utmost disgusted. Most of the times when they do that, I already lost the feeling to buy the item, they can be so dishonest. Money not easy to earn but that's not the way to earn money.
After shopping there for 6 days, I would highly recommend youngsters to shop at Mongkok Central Mall, it is a 5 stores shopping mall that kinda resembles the old Far East plaza. All the things there are so cheap!
Do remember to double check the things they sell because almost all the shops sells the same things but at different prices. The usual price range there will be HKD$39-$49. If you're lucky or picky with prices you can shop like me! I only buy stuffs which are HKD$29-35, you just have to keep digging! Their special sales can be HKD$10-20. That's like SGD$2-3 for a nice top that probably sells at SGD$15 at Bugis Street!
The standard rate at a night market for apparels probably range from HKD$100-150 that's even more expensive than our dear Bugis street! So don't shop there! Shop at the central mall!
However the whole mall we only managed to find 1-2 shops that sells man items and the rest are just FEMALE ITEMS! That's why I bought many apparels for my friends!!
And of cause you're reading thekife.com so I'm going to teach you how to buy cheap MALE items la!!!
Firstly my fav store H&M! It's December SALES period! I bought a couple of clothing ranging from HKD$70-$100 please don't bother to buy anything more than $100!
Secondly their Esprit outlet! I'm not a big fan of Esprit but if you're going on a winter season Esprit outlet sells tshirts that are HKD$50-$69 (SGD$9-$12.50) and short sleeve shirts at HKD$99 (SGD$18) (only buy male items there, female not worth the price can get cheaper)
And of cos that's not all to buying male items there is a super secret which is to shop in SHENZHEN!!
Shenzhen is a place in China, much like Singapore to Malaysia, just need to take the train via the East Rail Line (Kowloon or East Mongkok Starion) to Luowu (or Luohu/ China and Hongkong have different spelling) and transit to the Luobao line (green line) two stops to Laojie Station (aka the famous night market called Dongmen Street) and there you have it! All the male apparels there are so cheap!!
Shenzhen is a nice place to shop for a lot of things! But the people there are generally rude and again, wanting to cheat your money you must be-careful when you shop there!
There are a lot of things in Shenzhen that are cheap but do take note about the price range.
A particular Denim Jacket is about RMB$100. I think can be even cheaper but if you convert to SGD it's only like SGD$22. To me it's cheap already la! Guy apparels are more expensive!
Shoes can vary from RMB$99 - $130. This is the acceptable price for shoes there anything more than that is a no go!
A normal long sleeve sleeve should cost RMB$45 (SGD$10) and nothing more than this amount!
Another tip is only buy from shops which have price tags on! If you buy from night market and they don't have price tags chances are they will inflat the price like crazy!
One particular incident we had was with this dishonest lady trying to sell me a Hello Kitty Luggage, she raised the price to RMB$200 (SGD$44.4)! I didn't want to buy and walked away she tried to stop me and pulled down the price to $150 then to $100. At RMB$100 its considered very cheap because I know at the mall in Singapore it sells the exact same one at SGD$60. So I purchased it.
Little did I know when we came across another shop the luggage was only selling at RMB$70!!! And the bigger one was only RMB$80. See! Although it's just SGD$6 difference to me it's nothing much but from this you can tell how they inflat the rate! From $70 become $200. That's how many percent you go and count!!
Famous shops that you should shop in ShenZhen, this particular shop called KM, KiloMeter sell things like Uniqlo! It's a little bit more pricy but their items are really good in quality. I bought an umbrella there for RMB$25 (SGD$5.55).
Another shop to take note is Minoso, it's like everywhere in Shenzhen and their things are so cheap! One bag with studs is RMB$29 (SGD$6.40) and pouches are like RMB$20 (SGD$4.40) I bought many things there too!
iPhone cases are a must to buy there! The same iPhone case that you buy in Hongkong can be 1-2 times the price of that in Shenzhen! We saw it all the designs are the same but the prices vary by so much!
A typical iPhone case there should be RMB$15-20 (SGD$3.33-4.44) (depending on the design) whereas the same design in hongkong can cost you HKD$50-70 (SGD$9-$12.70).
Selfie sticks are also recommended to buy there one cute selfie stick is RMB$15-20 which is really cheap too! DON'T BUY IN HONGKONG!! Inflation!!
Of cos, I have a sister therefore I shopped female apparels there too! Believe me after you shop there you will think Hongkong stuffs are so expensive! I bought coats, jackets and tops for my sister from RMB$29-49. (SGD$6.40-$10.80) those that if you want to buy at Bugis street with a much lower quality that would cost you easily at SGD$20. Just lookout for shops with clappers! This means they have sales!!
I would recommend shopping at Shenzhen on the second or third day of your trip to Hongkong because things there are much cheaper and you can find almost everything you see in Hongkong there in Shenzhen but at a much cheaper rate. (In other words just go Shenzhen la)
I bought a lot of things in Shenzhen with SGD$200 to spend in a day! You will feel like a king there because things are so cheap!
So far I've covered clothes and accommodation time to talk about food.
Hongkong is really well known for their food. Although I don't particularly have a very good impression of their food (I've been to Japan, what food can be better than Japan's HA HA) but I still have a piece to say about the food in Hongkong.
They are famous for their roasted ducks, pork, chicken...
On average each meal range from HKD$50 all the way to HKD$120(that's the highest I've paid there and is a restaurant) I would recommend you to eat at 3 shops.
Firstly the one at Mongkok Central Mall Basement, look for this place called ' Cafe de Coral ' it's filled with people but the food there trust me! It's delicious! Especially the pork filter rice with curry! Major Yuma! I ate twice there man and it's cheap! Only HKD$56(SGD$10.10) with a set that includes a drink.
Secondly the long queue at the Australia Dairy Company their lunch set cost only HKD$32 (SGD$5.80) which consist of a coffee milk tea, sandwich with scramble egg and ham and pasta with Cha Siew!
Lastly Crystal Jade! I know you can eat crystal jade in Singapore too! But their Xiao longbao is a must eat!
The rest of the food I don't even want to bother mentioning so you can just drool over the photos although they just taste very normal to me.
Overall my trip in Hongkong is very fruitful! I bought so many things let me show you :
A total of 26 clothing, 1 earring, 1 pair of shoes, 3 pair of socks, 1 Luggage, 1 selfie Stick, 3 boxes of facial masks, 6 boxes of souvenir biscuits, 2 iPhone cases, 4 pouches , 1 bag, 18 luggage tags, 10 eyeliner pencils and many many more !!
I spent about SGD$540 in Hongkong and SGD$200 in Shenzhen all which includes food and transportation.
CHEAP HOR!!!
Anyway I would like to use this time to thank my beloved Anton and Ahwei for this amazing trip! Although I have many many complains during our trips, like being tired, leg pain back pain everywhere also pain, but you know I love you guys right!
However take note that I will never want to step foot in China and Hongkong ever again! I was culture shocked by everything HAHA!
Okay hope you enjoyed reading my post! See you!!
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