Walking Ixus

WAR walking to find open Wi-Fi in Hong Kong can be an exercise in futility. There just aren’t as many networks out there (open or otherwise).
begin social commentary
Maybe it’s because there’s lots of things to eat and things to do. And since it’s easy to get around, it encourages people to go out (unlike San Francisco).
end social commentary
If you go to Pacific Coffee, Starchucks (yes, they’re out here too o_o) or try to log on at HKG Airport, you will get the login page for a pay service similar to T-Mobile Hot Spot.
Except it asks for HK specific information to register for airtime. Like your HK Residence Card number. If you’re a tourist, chances are you won’t have one of these.
I have found one place that offers free Wi-Fi with a purchase. Come in, plunk down HK$34 for a yummy white chocolate mocha and log in.
Here’s how to get to Zambra Coffee in Wan Chai:
Take the MTR Island Line to Wan Chai
Exit A1 and turn right. Go down two stoplights.
Second stoplight should be Stewart Road. Cross Stewart Road (the Novotel is on your left before you cross).
Make a left and walk about 50 meters.
Corner of Jaffe Road and Stewart Road, across the street from the HK Jockey Club is Zambra Coffee.
Wah, useful!

I took the roller-coaster doubledecker bus ride to Stanley. Ride on top and try to get the front seats for best effect.
In Central, go to Exchange Square and head down to ground level. The bus terminal is there. Get on a 6X (there are other buses that go to Stanley, but that’s the fastest one, I think) and make sure your Octopus Card has funds on it.
Otherwise you have to cough up exact change in odd amounts like HK$5.95 or something like that.
After shooting through the tunnel, around down the hills, through low hanging trees, past questionable architecture in Deep Water Bay, you finally land at the terminus in Stanley.
It really feels like a small seaside town here. The big draw is the Stanley Market choked full of tourists hunting for bargains. Being the sucker I am, I picked up two rugby shirts for HK$150. Not bad, I guess. He wouldn’t go down on the price, even with the “I’m outta here” trick.
There’s also a block full of restaurants and a couple of bars. Good looking food and the brunch deals weren’t bad. There was even an impromptu concert by a local HK band that has a following of sorts.
This is how I could tell: Band sets up. Big big crowd forms around band. Cameras get whipped out. And not wanting to stick out, I did the same.
Click click.
The HK Government pitches the Murray Building as the big draw to come here. It’s an old restored building with restaurants inside.
The fact that Stanley is quiet with a shoreline and is walkable should be enough of a draw. It was a good break from the urban chaos.

When you cross back into HKG from SZ, you walk over a river that is the official border. That’s Shenzhen in the distance with the tall buildings and the like.
It’s a tepid stinky icky river that if you were to try to swim it, you would lose body parts on the way.
Really gross. Makes Victoria Harbour seem like a clean swimming pool by comparision.
But with everything out here, this too reeks (bad pun!) of politics. When you cross over to SZ, you don’t see the river because the hallway that leads over is covered up.
Coming back, it’s an open bridge so you get the full smell and sights of that icky river.
Phew!

There used to be a plaza that connected the LWCC with the Shangri-La hotel. Now there’s a big hole in the ground that looks like the beginnings of another high rise.
To get to the Shangri-La after an exhausting afternoon trolling the warrens of LWCC, you now need to walk up and down a lot of stairs and you need to go around what was once the plaza.
However, once you get to the Shangri-La, it’s all gravy. Clean bathrooms. Afternoon Tea. Habanos. It’s a welcome break.
And to continue my still life series started in Paris, here’s my afternoon break. A Partagas (Habano) and some ginseng tea.

While preparing for this trip, I picked up a multiple entry visa from the PRC consulate.
The single entry visa is $60 and the multiple is $75, if I remember correctly. SZ is sooo close that it’s almost a foregone conclusion that it may be part of a HK visit. It’s about 40 minutes on the KCR, but it’s a fast trip.
However, under the fiction of “one country 2 systems”, it still requires a visa to visit. And getting an on-the-spot visa issued at the border or at the consulate in HKG is an exercise in patience.
Best to cough up the extra $15 when you’re getting your visa in advance. Saves time and headaches.
Anyhoo, since SZ was there, I went. Solo. Alone. Tis a bit of an adventure, yah?
Most people who go to SZ head directly to the LoWu Commercial Center. It’s a big mall rignt next to the border crossing that has tailors, artisans, the usual bootleg DVD hawkers, bootleg golf shops, bootleg leather goods and ready to wear clothing.
In short, it’s a place where HKG people go to shop for stuff now (cuz it’s way cheeper).
If you’ve been there before (hey Ana, are you reading this?), you’ll notice that there’s a big hole in the ground where there once was a plaza. I think maybe there’s a skyscraper going up. It would explain the escalators coming up from the ground.
I got fitted for a tailor made suit jacket. Fitting took about 1/2 hour with the assistance of an HKG gent who was picking up his shirts.
Travel tip: Bring someone who is fluent in Putonghua. If the HKG gent wasn’t there, I would have gotten a slim-fit euro tailoring that doesn’t work with my body type (yet).
Now here’s the deal about tailor made clothes over there. Normally the turnaround time is 3 days. But you need to have a visa to get back into China. Normally a multiple entry visa would be fine, but if you’re going to pick one up just to go to SZ, you’ve tacked on an extra US$75 to your purchases over there. That’s not a great deal. But…
Since I’m going to Beijing later this month, I’m going to use the second entry for that and then I’m flying to SZ after I leave BJ. It’s 1/3 the price of flying into HKG AND I can pick up my jacket on the way back.
See? Genius!

Saw this looming through the window of the gate next door to us as we were boarding.
A message, perhaps? Not likely, since I can’t make it over there on this trip! No roti prata and chili crab for me this time. =\