Hong Kong/Macau Sightseeing Tips

These are some (hopefully useful) tips for those who visit HK on your own.

Transportation
Before leaving the airport, buy the Octopus card (八达通卡), that includes a return trip of the Airport Express (AEL), and 3 days unlimited ride of the MTR. It costs HKD300 per person, but is very useful and can save a lot of money, especially if you schedule all the trips to farther areas in the first 3 days.

In Macau, after leaving the port, go straight to the card counter to apply for a Macau Pass. I can't remember how much it costed, but with the deposits and all that, I paid HK$80 for a card. It can be used for multiple passengers, and upon leaving, you can return the card and get the deposit refunded plus the remaining credit. Very convenient and easy payment.


Going to Macau
If you are a Malaysian, don't have to get entry visa. However, if you needed an entry visa to Hong Kong, then perhaps you'll need a Macau visa. And returning from Macau to HK, you'll need another HK entry visa. If you plan to go to Macau from HK, then make sure you have double entry visas for HK, otherwise you'll have trouble.

The most common way to Macau is to take the ferry. Because we stayed at Kowloon, we took the ferry from 香港中国客运码头, which is just next to the biggest shopping mall Harbout city (海港城-港威商场), walkable from where we lodged.

Language
Most commonly used are Cantonese and English. If you speak Mandarin (like me), I'd advise you not to. Try to communicate among yourselves in English (if you can't speak HK-like Cantonese). I had bad experience in this. As I was talking to my sister in Mandarin, I was mistaken as Mainland Chinese, and I got very bad treatment. I didn't feel good for that kind of sub-standard treatment, but somehow understand why they treated the Chinese this way... that is another story...

Octopus Card
Octopus card purchased from the airport can also be used to buy things from retail outlets such as 7-Eleven. You may top up the value in any of those outlets. It can be used for buses, on top of the MTR. After the 3 days unlimited ride, you'll need to top up before you can continue to use the card, eventhough you have HKD50 as deposit initially.

Others
Electric: The voltage is 220V/50Hz, same as Malaysia.
Get a book like this one. We relied a lot on the information in this book, but it proved that a lot of info outdated, due to the rapid changing market in HK. But nevertheless, the book provided a foundation for planing - at least on the route and what to do/eat.