The great HK adventure part 3: Highlights

The entire trip was a blast, but these were the stars of the show:

1. The Octopus Card

I love, love, love this card - it's like a magic wand, haha! Load it with credit and it virtually replaces your wallet. It can be used on almost all forms of public transport (you can't use it on taxis, though, or on the Ngong Ping cable car either, I think), fast food stores (I bought breakfast at McDonald's with it!), convenience stores, telephone kiosks, vending machines... the list goes on. It can even be used in some stores in Macau and Shenzhen! Just hold it in front of the terminal - you don't even need to take it out of your bag or wallet if it's thin enough.

And this little wonder is smart, too. Because it works through a sensor, it automatically disables (for about 10 minutes, i think) after each transaction to protect against duplication of charging, in case it gets too near the terminal again. And, senior citizen cards automatically implement all applicable senior citizen discounts! The owner's age is programmed in the card and emits a different sound when it's used, so you can verify if the user is really a senior citizen. Awesome, isn't it?

Best of all, the cards are returnable, and the unused credits are refundable. They deduct 7 HK dollars from the refund if you return the card within 3 months of purchase, but since MTR fares are discounted anyway when you use the Octopus Card, it's really not such a big deal. I'd happily fork it over for all this convenience.

2. The public transport system

Amazingly reliable and efficient. You could set your watches on their schedule! If first-time visitors like me can find their way around enough to get to all the places I was able to go to entirely on public transport (and we only took a cab once, just because it was late and we were trying to make it to the cable cars), then I really don't know why anyone would bother to drive at all, hahaha!!!

3. Hong Kong milk tea

The first drink I ever bought upon arriving was a Black Tea Latte (I love Starbucks HK for still serving this!) and had milk tea every single time I could. I'm really gonna miss this...

4. Disneyland's AutoMagic entrance ticket dispenser

A wonder of convenience. Just insert the credit card you used to pay for the tickets you purchased online in the machine, and out come your tickets, just like an ATM! No lines, no stern-looking park officer asking for all sorts of verification documents -- just you, your credit card and the machine. I wanna go back to Disneyland just so I could do this again, hahaha!!!

5. Delifrance's Iced Apple Citron Tea

I first had citron tea in Korea while working on a project, where a client from Hong Kong introduced it to me. I immediately fell in love with it and brought two jars back home -- that was 2 years ago. I was planning on getting some while in HK but I just haven't had the chance to go hunting for it. Good thing Delifrance came up with this cocktail - at least I was able to have a taste of it before I went home. It was just heaven after all that walking and haggling at the Ladies' Market.

There you have it: the top 5 things I love about HK. Of course, not all of my experiences were as rosy, but that's for another blog. :)