Dim Sum Dialogues: Planes, Trams, & Automatic Doors

by Stephen Greenwood on

This is a continuation of yesterday’s column on the transportation of Hong Kong.

After seeing various Youtube videos of the infamous landing at Hong Kong’s now defunct Kai Tak Airport, I’m disappointed that I never had the chance to experience a 747 roaring over a narrow Kowloon street. But the beauty and convenience of Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok Airport make up for that disappointment, and have even earned it the first & second spots on international airport surveys for the past seven years.

For those of you that just can’t wait to throw your savings away at the Happy Valley Racecources, or blow it all in the numerous shopping malls of Hong Kong – the fastest and easiest way (but most costly – $13 USD) to get to the heart of the city is on the MTR’s Airport Express. Covering 35km in just 24 minutes, the trains depart every 12 minutes to the remote airport and convention center. If “investing” your money at the roulette tables of Macau is more to your liking, you don’t even have to officially enter the territory – a direct ferry terminal is situated before immigration in the airport for arriving passengers. The transit system was designed to be tourist-friendly, so there are plenty of accessible options.
Once you get settled inside the city, the MTR remains the most efficient way to get from end to end, or to cross under Victoria Harbor between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon side. But as any well-traveled soul will tell you, the scenic route is often the best – and the Star Ferry offers some of the most enjoyable views of the city at the right price. For roughly USD 25¢, you can ride between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui – a service that has been operating since the 1870’s. The Star Ferry has become a major icon in Hong Kong, so much so that people often rent out ferries for a day to host private events, weddings, and dances on. For USD $500 to $700 for the day, it might not be the most luxurious cruise that you can take on the harbor – so I’d recommend sticking to the regular fare.

However, if the idea of hosting a party on public transport still appeals to you, look no further than HK Tramways. The Hong Kong tram system has been serving the city for over 100 years, with narrow double-decker tramcars running on overhead electric cables through the busiest areas of Hong Kong Island. When the expansion of the MTR threatened to make the tramways redundant, the public concluded to keep the service active because of it’s low fares and frequent stops on popular routes in the city. In my opinion, it is by far the most fun way to travel in Hong Kong. I guarantee that the views from the upper deck combined with the smells and sounds of the markets of Central will keep you entertained for your entire journey. If it doesn’t, I’ll personally mail you the 25¢ you spent on the journey. After you’ve sampled it (and fallen in love with it), get 25 of your HK friends to rent out a tram for USD $150 an hour and party your way through the city. Don’t get too distracted when you pass by Wan Chai though, the private trams run in a full loop that last from 2 hours to 3.5 hours.

Finally, if you refuse to take public transport, or the rain threatens to ruin that new designer item from Lane Crawford, Hong Kong taxis are remarkably cheap and easy to come by. Now I haven’t traveled anywhere in Asia, so this might just be my naivité here – but the taxis in Hong Kong have an amazing feature that I can’t believe doesn’t exist anywhere else (I’m sure it does, so readers help me out) – the back doors open automatically. The driver pulls up to your spot on the sidewalk, pulls a lever and bam – the door is open and ready for you to get in. Genius. Don’t worry about closing it on your way out either, because the driver has that covered too. On average, USD $15 will easily get you from one end of the major urban area to the other – with average city center cab rides being $5. Another reason I don’t particularly miss Los Angeles.

There you have it – the major travel methods in Hong Kong. Now that you (roughly) know how to get around, I’ll be taking you deeper into the destinations and traditions of this eclectic city. If you have specific questions about how to get around, or want to know more about the methods covered here – feel free to leave comments below.

How to visit Los Angeles without a car

by Mike Barish on

Los Angeles is known for a lot of things: celebrities, beaches, smog and police chases, to name a few. But, when it comes to planning a trip to LA, perhaps the fact that will stick out the most is that LA is a car town (which explains the smog and police chases). Los Angeles is a sprawling city that is really several towns and neighborhoods that are connected by a series of highways that stretch for miles.

As such, when you’re planning a trip to LA, somewhere on your to-do list will be the task of renting a car. But what if you don’t want to spend that money? Or contribute to that smog? Or be chased by police? There has to be a better way! As I prepared to head to LA last week, I decided to skip renting a car. I asked my friends on Twitter and Facebook if I was crazy and received these responses:

“It can’t be done.”
“You’re insane, Barish.”
“People will stare at you if you walk more than two blocks.”

Not a lot of optimism there. Was I crazy? Can you visit LA without a car? Well, I endeavored to do just that. Join me, won’t you?
It’s worth noting that I was only in Los Angeles for two days. While not a lengthy stay, I did have a packed agenda. I needed to attend three meetings, a dinner and a charity event. My challenge: to make all those activities happen without having a car of my own. How did I do it? It was simple really.

Airport Shuttles – Before arriving in LA, I had made a reservation with SuperShuttle. A one-way trip to or from LAX costs $16, and they have discounts if you book round trip or use a discount code. Sure, we meandered to my hotel in West Hollywood while dropping off other passengers, but, 90 minutes after my Virgin America flight touched down, I was in my room. That’s not terrible and and it’s cheap. I took the SuperShuttle back to LAX two days later and arrived with time to spare.

The Internet – First, the bad news: Google Maps and HopStop don’t include Los Angeles in their transit directions. Now, the good news: The Los Angeles MTA website provides detailed transit directions with astonishingly accurate time estimates. It fast became my best friend when I needed to take…

Buses – Yes, people take buses in LA. Despite what my friends and native Angelinos told me, I found the bus routes to be quite convenient. I caught a bus right outside my hotel and, three miles and 30 minutes later, I arrived a half-block away from Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles for my first meal in LA. I transferred between two buses while traveling the 13 miles from my hotel to the Skirball Cultural Center in the Santa Monica Mountains. Sure, it took me an hour, but the buses delivered me practically door-to-door.

Selfishness – My first night in LA, I was staying at the Mondrian. It’s home to SkyBar, which is a bit of a hip scene. So, when I offered to schedule one of my meetings at the other person’s office, she quickly suggested that we instead meet over drinks at my hotel. I quickly agreed and avoided having to commute anywhere. Is this cheating? I had my meeting, avoided all transportation and had some delicious mojitos. Seems fair to me.

Rely on Friends – I had dinner plans with a friend while I was in town and we decided to eat in Venice. In order to get us eating sooner rather than later, she offered to pick me up from my hotel and give me a ride to the restaurant. We used the time in the car to catch up and she was happy to do me the favor. And, at the end of that charity event that I attended, a very nice business contact of mine offered to drive me back to my hotel. It may have been out of pity (or maybe it was because I’m charming), but it got me to where I needed to be and only cost me a profuse series of thank yous (thanks again, Sarah).

Walk – Shockingly, you can walk places in LA. So long as Point A and Point B are in the same neighborhood. I walked the mile or so back from my lunch meeting in Hollywood to my hotel and enjoyed working off the meal. And no one stared at me!

Taxis – I actually wanted to avoid taxis. I had been told that they were expensive and they’re not much better for the environment than just having my own car. But, I had left my sunglasses at the Mondrian (after checking out) and had to be at a meeting in 30. The only way I could manage to be on time was to take a cab back to the hotel and then to my meeting. The four mile, 30 minute errand cost me $27 (including tip) and proved my friends right about one thing: cabs in LA are beyond pricey.

Trains – The LA Metro was great for…oh, who am I kidding? Everyone I spoke to said that the Metro was useless and, as far as I can tell, they’re right.

I spent roughly $33 dollars on SuperShuttle trips, $5 on buses and $27 on a taxi. That’s $65. Or, less than the cost of a rental car for one day (and that taxi fare was only necessary because of my carelessness). I used the time on buses to check email and I didn’t contribute to the smog or get chased by the LAPD.

I will concede that I managed without a car for two key reasons: I was able to isolate much of what I was doing to one neighborhood (Hollywood) and it was a short visit. But I hope my point was made. LA can be done without a car if you plan in advance, impose on some friends and don’t mind getting asked by at least three people if “you lost your license because of a DUI.”

Photos by flickr users biofriendly (top) and stevelyon (bottom).

Photo of the Day (5.30.09)

by Brenda Yun on


Add one more thing to my growing list of things to do before I die: be a contestant on the Cash Cab. What could be more quintessentially New York than an endless row of New York taxi cabs? This photo, brought to us by ultraclay, not only captures the perfectly organized chaos that is New York City street life, but he brings these yellow cabs lined up in a row into vibrant life.

Those of you like myself who are dying to get on the Cash Cab might utilize these strategies when hailing a taxi in the hopes of finding the show’s host, Ben Bailey, sitting behind the wheel:

  • Stick to midtown — more specifically, Columbus Circle: Only rarely does the Cash Cab pick up passengers in uptown or downtown.
  • Look like a tourist: Most Cash Cab contestants are out of towners.
  • Flag a van: 90% of New York cabs are sedans, and the Cash Cab is a van.
  • Rub your rabbit’s foot: Really, flagging the Cash Cab just takes a lot of luck.

If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

Oktoberfest can be expensive… especially if you take a £2,000 cab to get there

by Anna Brones on

Have you ever missed a flight? It’s a stressful and frustrating situation, especially if you have a carefully planned out itinerary that requires your presence in certain places at certain times. When a man named Dave missed his flight from Portsmouth to Munich — where he was to celebrate his friend’s bachelor party by drinking beer at Oktoberfest — he decided to forgo the airlines. Instead he hailed a cab.

“I thought he was having a laugh to start off with or it was one of my cabbie mates doing a wind-up on me but he was deadly serious,” says Mick Hogan, the cab driver who was hailed down by Dave. Hogan explained that the cab ride would cost £1,950 plus £250 for the English Channel tunnel and a hotel for the night, but the high price didn’t stop the passenger; it was Munich or bust.

The drive from Portsmouth to Munich certainly isn’t a short one, but Hogan didn’t find the task so boring after all, “It’s not something I’d want to do every day but it beats taking a few pensioners out to the shops.”

To summarize getting to and from London…

by Iva Skoch on

…I would default to the much overused Mastercard lingo:

Airticket from London to Prague: $100

Taxi to the airport: $250

Leaving for the airport early enough to take the train next time: priceless. (Well, not completely priceless, but about $230 cheaper than taking a cab.)

The good part is that I actually made the flight with two minutes to spare. The bad part is that it would have been cheaper to just miss the flight and buy an new air ticket.

Can you believe it actually costs twice as much to fly internationally as it does to take a cab from the center of London to Stansted airport?