When a taxi drive gives you a waze-like gesture is asking if you are going to cross the harbour eg: from Kowloon to HK or vice versa Aside from the above info, there are designated places here for what we call cross-harbour taxis, meaning that these cabs are used to cross-harbour tunnel trips for which they dont charge for the tunnel return fee ,+10HKD instead of the +20HKD tunnel fee. Note also that this applies to the cross-harbour tunnel only, using the Western tunnel would cost you even more. when riding uber, the cross harbour tunnel fee is always 20HKD since its a standard for private vehicles.
as for the octopus card, it can be used in any store as long as you can see the octopus logo, much like the the VISA/MasterCard/etc signs. for me i use the octopus prepaid sim card on my S7 edge, makes the NFC feature much more useful and 1 less card to bring as well. I use the octopus app to monitor the value and as well the transactions not only my octopus sim card but as well to act as any octopus card reader for other cards.
Headed to HK in a few days. I read that Avenue of Stars is closed for renovation until 2018 but the Symphony of Lights along Victoria Harbor is still ongoing every 8PM. So where is the best next place to watch the Symphony of Lights if Avenue is still closed?
Mm..anywhere along promenade offers good view. Near Pier 1 Kowloon side just in front of HK Cultural Centre.
Whoa! Didn't know that it is closed. The last time I put Symphony of lights to our itinerary was 2014 I think. But I once saw it when we were at the end(exit) of harbour city(ocean terminal) - where they put the disneyland 10th year anniversary exhibit, back of marco polo hotel close to star ferry terminal I think. Of course, not that great compare to the view from the Avenue.
Where to go for a 5 hour layover at HK? Will we have enough time to go to Citygate at Tung Chung and back to the airport for a flight to the US?
Yes I think it's possible. It will give you at least 2 hours to shop at citygate. 5 hours including the time you clear the customs and pick up your luggage going to citygate either via bus or taxi.
Out of curiosity, I did a search regarding Avenue of Stars renovation and I've read that It's also a nice place to watch the Symphony of Lights show from the roof top carpark at Ocean Terminal. I don't have any idea if this is just a regular parking area were anyone can just go or restricted to those who don't have a parking card/ticket. Someone also suggested from the TST promenade.
If you got 5 hours to kill, you have lots of time to shop at Citygate Outlets which is just a few mins away from the airport by bus. Ngong Ping Village is out of the question tho because the cable car going up is under renovation, it'll take too long if you take the bus going up to the village
I don't know the exact viewpoint of that Ocean Terminal carpark, but a few years ago, I booked a restaurant inside Ocean Terminal that I knew had a nice view of the harbour so that we can watch the Symphony of Lights while dining. Lo and behold, by the time we got seated, a huge Cruise ship docked at the pier to block the whole view. Haha
same here, last visit to citygate was in October last year, not much there na. Better pa outlet stores in the City,
