Hong Kong for dummies (part three)

This is the third part in a series of beginner's guide to Hong Kong for tourists (especially from the Philippines, but not necessarily). As I have already covered my suggested itinerary and the who-what-where-when-hows in the previous parts, what I will be writing about in this post are the basic things that you should also know before traveling.

Electrical outlets
At this day and age, who can live without batteries? As charging your cellphone/laptop/tablet/etc is essential, it is advisable that you get a universal charger for your trip. An adaptor will also do, as long as you can plug your device into a 'Type G' electrical outlet, as seen on the right. That is the standard socket type here in Hong Kong. As such, if you plan to buy an appliance or a gadget here, expect the plug to be the same. Of course, some electronics come with an all-in-one adaptor and luckily, Hong Kong's standard electrical voltage is same as the Philippines', which is 220 volts.

Sim cards
Unless you are planning to be in town for more than five days, getting a local sim card may not really be necessary. But it's helpful, if you need to call your hotel or other places in your itinerary. And it's cheaper than roaming charges, especially if you need to call home.

Most convenience stores in Hong Kong, such as 7-Eleven and Circle K, sell pre-paid sim cards and pre-paid sim card loads. There are many providers available, such as PCCW, SmarTone, 3 and one2free. Many people say that one2free is good value for money if you'd like to connect to 3G. But for voice calls, I personally prefer the CSL Kumusta Ka Kabayan sim card.

CSL is actually the main provider for one2free, just as Globe is for Touch Mobile. The CSL Kumusta Ka Kabayan sim card actually partners with Globe, providing lower rates when making calls to the Philippines. You could get these sim cards at the World-Wide House in 19 Des Voeux Road, Central (Central MTR station, Exit B).

Currency exchange
As much as possible, before flying to Hong Kong, try to buy Hong Kong dollars (HKD) at the bank in your local country. In my case, I always buy HKD from HSBC in the Philippines. There is no special reason why I do; it's just that I'm more comfortable doing fx with a reputable institution. Lower rates? I don't know. But I do know very well that they're the expert in the Hong Kong financial market.

If you can't buy HKD before flying to Hong Kong, the next best thing to do is to bring your international ATM card and withdraw HKD from an ATM in Hong Kong upon your arrival. The rates would most likely be lower and the charge would most likely be fixed. So the larger the amount you withdraw, the better.

If you don't feel comfortable carrying a large amount of cash in your wallet, the good news is that Hong Kong is actually a cashless society. Almost everything can be purchased with an Octopus card (see part one of my 'Hong Kong for dummies' series) or a credit card. When you pay your credit card, you will normally be asked whether you'd like to be charged in HKD or your local currency. Unless you have a speculation of upcoming fx rates, I think it's a good idea to be charged in your local currency.

Last but not the least, you can exchange your currencies at the airport or at different money changers around the city. The rates may be a bit less favourable (especially at the airport) but it's the easiest thing to do among all the options I've mentioned. I personally exchange currencies at the airport all the time, but I only get the exact amount that I need. That also allows me to just carry enough pocket money. But for everything else, there's the credit card.

Kawali Filipino Kamayan Cuisine: a Filipino restaurant in Hong Kong

During my birthday a few weeks ago, my colleagues asked me where I wanted them to treat me for lunch. In Hong Kong, it is usually the birthday celebrant who gets the treat, not like in the Philippines where the birthday celebrant gives the treat. I couldn't think of a place so they asked me if there is such a restaurant in Hong Kong which serves Filipino food. I once ate in a hole-in-the-wall Filipino 'restaurant' but I wouldn't exactly call it a restaurant – in the Philippines, we call those places a karinderia. I wouldn't bring my colleagues to a karinderia so I just told them that there's none. I said that I'd like to eat Japanese food so we went to Monster Sushi instead. (I'd recommend that place but I wouldn't want to veer off-topic.)

Anyway, yesterday (Saturday), my husband and I were in Wan Chai and we found out through OpenRice that a new Filipino restaurant just opened there. The last Filipino 'restaurant'/karinderia we tried in Wan Chai was not really good but this new restaurant, Kawali Filipino Kamayan Cuisine, seems more proper. The location is quite obscure, though. If you aren't looking for the specific place, you might not even find it. The door was even closed when we arrived. But as soon as we came in, the staff greeted us warmly. It was around 2 pm and we were the only customers there.

The waitress recommended that we try their chicken inasal, so that was what we ordered. We wanted to try out a second dish but it wasn't that easy to decide. They have quite a selection of native dishes so I told my husband that it should be something that we don't usually eat/cook in our home. Eventually, we chose to have the crispy pata.

The food took quite some time to arrive (or maybe we were just hungry) and while waiting, we just watched the Gary Valenciano concert being shown in the screen. The waiting time also gave me enough time to take note of the surroundings. The restaurant was a bit dark and the bulbs of the capiz lamps do not match ... but who cares about that anyway. Being situated in an old building, the restaurant had an 'old' smell ... but that is typical of most restaurants in Wan Chai. When the food finally arrived, I took notice of the presentation. It wasn't bad, in fact it was the nicest thing about the restaurant. The meals come with good choices of sauces and the food tasted home-cooked. They were fresh, unlike fast food meals, and the servings were generous. Rice is unlimited but I didn't have a second serving anymore – I was stuffed. I had no room for dessert, but it would be nice if they served native desserts as well.

I also wish that they served soup together with the set lunch. There are still some points that need improvement in the restaurant but at this point, I think that there's no harm to bring some of my less-picky non-Filipino friends who are curious about Filipino food to that restaurant. As for me, perhaps when I miss native Filipino food, I would come back to this place again.

From HKG to HKT

HKG is the airport code for Hong Kong International Airport.
HKT is the airport code for Phuket International Airport.

Hong Kong is where we are from, although we are originally from the Philippines.
Phuket, Thailand is where we went for our holidays because we wanted to go somewhere that is very similar to the Philippines ... and indeed it was!

Because my husband had to work that day, we took the 9.10 am flight from HKG to HKT. However, due to thunderstorms over HKG, our flight was delayed by about half an hour. Moreover, the thunderstorms made the first few minutes of the flight very turbulent. (I didn't sign up for theme park; I signed up for beach paradise!) I just wished that the weather was fine in Phuket. We arrived after midnight (Thailand time) and it was drizzling, albeit humid and hot ... (just like in the Philippines ... yay!)

Good thing we made the following preparations prior to the trip:

- Booked a hotel via groupon.hk (Baan Yuree Resort and Spa)
- Opted for round-trip transfer
- Opted for daily breakfast
- Exchanged our currency in Hong Kong

Otherwise, we'd be lost and probably scammed by those suspicious-looking guys preying on tourists at HKT. Also, it was after midnight and it was our first time in Thailand. Finally, we saw our driver, and without saying a word, he directed us to a white van (with writings in Thai script), drove 100 kph through the deserted streets to Patong Beach, and after an hour, we arrived safe and unharmed at our hotel, where a guy at the the reception was patiently waiting for us to check in.

The staff at Baan Yuree were all very friendly. The following day, after our buffet breakfast, we went to their spa (Pampers Spa) for our first experience of an authentic Thai massage. It was so good! It was a dry massage – with our clothes on – but it was better than any kind of massage I've experienced in Tagaytay or in those minor spas in Metro Manila. I had to go back for that!

After our massage, we took the hotel shuttle to Patong Beach. The beach had a long stretch of light-coloured sand but the weather was so hot. I wanted to go under the shade so we looked for a place to have lunch. We saw a seafood restaurant along the stretch of the beach and we tried their squid and prawns. The food was yummy.

After lunch, we rented two chairs with umbrellas (THB100 each) under some trees by the beach and just relaxed, had drinks and enjoyed the time doing nothing. When we had enough of the beach (for that day), we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the pool this time. No, we didn't go for the tours, but I enjoyed my holiday this way!

So that was how we spent our days in Phuket – eating yummy Thai food, getting awesome massages, lounging by the beach while watching people doing water sports and getting hit by the big waves that Phuket is known for. We didn't do much shopping although there is mall there called Jungceylon. There are actually a lot of (inexpensive) things to do at Phuket and you won't feel alienated because the people are very nice and are so like Filipinos.

But then, time came for us to go back to the real world. At HKT, I wished I didn't have to go back to HKG. But when the familiar city lights of Hong Kong came into view from the airplane window, I felt a rather unexpected sense of being home.