Singapore Getaways

Useful Resource: Mobile-Friendly MTR Journey Planner

MTR is by far the fastest way to get around in Hong Kong because of how shit the traffic situation is. Not only is it the fastest, but it is pretty cheap as well. Unless you are going to be making a lot of trips or very long train rides into the wilderness, don’t bother with the Tourist Cards.

Just get the regular Octopus card. It will cost you 150 HKD inclusive of the 50 HKD deposit. This pretty much gives you 100 HKD in your value. That should be more than enough for a short trip. For example, a 7 minute journey from Causeway Bay to Central will only cost you 4.50 HKD. If you decide to head from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui, it will only cost you 7.90 HKD. You have to make 7 of these trips in a day to exceed the tourist card (55 HKD, 1-day unlimited trips).

If you’re still not sure which one to get, have a look at MTR’s Journey Planner get a rough idea of how much you will be spending. Or glance at the MTR map and as a rule of thumb just estimate 1 to 2 HKD per station.

PRO TIP: In addition to getting back your 50 HKD deposit, you can get a refund of any remaining value in your Octopus card. This costs an administrative fee of 7 HKD. If you were traveling back to the airport by the Airport Express like you should be doing, get your refund at the service counter at the Airport. Perfect timing for your duty free shopping.

The Hong Kong Airport Express claims that it takes 24 minutes to reach the city. I timed it and found that it was closer to 26 minutes from doors closing to doors opening. Out of all the cities I’ve been to, Hong Kong has the quickest time to get between the airport and city central.

It really is an amazing service. When I took the Airport Express, not only did I find it a painless way to reach the city, but an enjoyable ride. You can check it out on the Airport Express official site. The cost was about 180 HKD for a round trip (about $30 SGD) and pretty much beats Singapore’s MRT hands down. It’s far more comfortable than taking a taxi with it’s spacious seats and carpeted floor. Carpet on an MRT! You should take this train just for that.

When you drop off at Hong Kong Station, you can walk to Central Station via underground pass and take a train from there, or take a cab from Hong Kong Station itself. Don’t be a nub like me and go looking for the taxi stand on other levels. The taxi stand will be facing you directly once you exit the gantries (how to save money on the MTR).

More importantly, the Airport Express is amazing because of its city check-in. On your departure date, you can drop your bags off at the city check-in at Hong Kong Station or Kowloon Station, leave the station & spend your day unencumbered until you get back to the station to board the Airport Express. BTW – when you beep your card to get in to the Airport Express city check-in, it will say 0 trips left or something scary like that. Don’t panic! Your card is valid for the entire day. If you’re at Hong Kong Station, it’s only a 15 minute walk away from your delicious last bowl of porridge at Wai Kee Congee Shop. Do it, it’s worth the walk.

PRO TIP: If there are 2 of you, instead of getting two Return Tickets at 180 HKD each, you will actually save 20 HKD buying the Single Ticket package at 160 HKD for 2. So basically buy one package going into the city (80 HKD each), then on your departure day buy one heading out (another 80 HKD each for total of 160 HKD each). Savings increase if your group size is larger up to 4 people (read more about group packages). If it is “only 20 HKD” to you and not worth the effort, do it anyway and donate the 20 HKD to the charity box at the airport.

This post is about prepaid data SIM only, perfect for anyone intending to bring an iPad to Hong Kong or perhaps a MiFi device like I did. The prepaid SIM card here is not microSIM and you will need to cut to the correct size. A quick check at the airport showed there were no prepaid microSIMs at this time (Dec 2010). If you are using an iPhone 4, you can use the same number for both voice and data if you top up enough.

Prepaid card to get: CSL Power Prepaid Sim Card

Buy From: CSL has a shop at the airport on Level 7 in the departure hall, behind check-in G. It’s called the 1010 shop. Alternatively you can buy it from any 7-11.

Cost: One-day pass (50HKD),Five-day pass (178HKD),Thirty-day pass (788HKD)

APN Settings: If you have to select a connection profile, put “CSL Data-Prepaid” and input “CSLP2” as the APN if required. Username/Password is blank.

NOTE:
Get the counter staff to use their shop’s phone and activate it for you and help you purchase your data plan. One of my friends who is an iPhone user got sent an SMS from Apple once he activated his card. This SMS deducted 3 HKD from his 180 HKD pre-paid SIM, which screwed him out of getting 178 HKD five-day pass! He had to top-up his card.
Topping up your SIM can be done various ways, including online via credit card.

Service is valid till 24:00 of the subscription day for the 1-day pass. For 5-day/30-day pass, service is valid till 24:00 of the 5th/30th day starting from the 1st subscription day.

Bangkok is an excellent getaway destination for a long weekend, being only is a short hop away. During promotions, tickets can be purchased from budget airlines for less than the price of a good dinner.

If you want to avoid the exorbitant hundreds of dollars of data roaming charges (SingTel charges SGD $22 per MB), you will need to pick up a data plan. I went with the carrier DTAC after getting positive feedback from friends on the coverage and price (Disclosure: I was not paid by DTAC nor did I receive anything from anyone for this post or any other post on this site).

Prepaid data plans are their Happy card, which cost THB 69 for 300 minutes of surfing time. There are 2 options for your 3G iPad, either pick up a regular prepaid data SIM and cut it, or get a prepaid data microSIM.

IMPORTANT: Switch your 3G off when not in use. Leaving your 3G on while connected to the internet in the background will consume your credits.

Option A – Cut a prepaid data SIM (regular SIM):
1. At the airport, go to the DTAC booth after you pick up your luggage & clear customs.
2. Get the regular Happy SIM card with data plan (THB 69). English speaking staff.
2. Cut it to microSIM size
3. Insert into iPad, done!

Option B – Get a prepaid microSIM with data plan:
1. Go to the DTAC store in Siam Paragon, 3rd floor
2. Purchase a prepaid regular SIM data card (Happy Card) from the counter on your right
3. At the counter on the left, request for a swap for your regular data SIM to a microSIM, and ask them to activate it. This is because activation requires dialling a number that you cannot do from your iPad.
3. Insert into iPad, done!

Service at both the airport and Siam Paragon was efficient and excellent, with several staff able to speak English.

Some further observations: You will not need any APN settings under your Carrier tab. Just leave everything blank. Also, there is apparently little to no 3G coverage in Bangkok. Connection is EDGE with download speeds around 100-120 kbps according to the test I ran on SpeedTestX. If you require more minutes, you can ask them to top up on the spot. However, if you buy e.g. 500 additional minutes, you will only be able to use your initial 300 minutes after you finish using the 500.

As a traveller, there are two main differences between the biometric passport and the old one.
1. You cannot renew your Singapore passport validity with the biometric passport. It is only valid for 5 years, then you have to pay another SGD $80 to get a new one after those 5 years are up.
2. Your Passport Number is now different from your NRIC number. Keep in mind when filling out travelling forms you will no longer be able to use your IC number.

If you remember when it was issued, all passports issued past 15 August 2006 are biometric. So if you got it in 2009 it is definitely a biometric one.

If your passport is the Singapore biometric one, your passport cover should look like this (from Wiki):

Pay attention to the international symbol for biometric passports below the words “PASSPORT” that looks like:

On a related note, find out what to do in case you lose your Singapore passport overseas.