Comparison

Comparison between Hawaii and Hong Kong

Since I’ve been here for more than two months, I have better ideas of differences between Hawaii and Hong Kong. Here goes!

Shopping

One word, amazing.

Shopping malls are plentiful here in Hong Kong. You cannot walk 5 minutes without encounter a shopping mall. Okay, well, it is an exaggeration but there are shopping malls everywhere. MTR stations, Office buildings, Museums, Airport and even school are either really close to a shopping mall or it is inside a shopping mall.

However, people do not come to shopping mall to just shop, there are movie theatres, food court, and supermarket or maybe you just want to cool down and find a place to sit in the shopping mall. Most brands that you would find in Hawaii, you can find it here and more. If you are going to City University of Hong Kong, an extra bonus is that the school is right next to a shopping mall!

Conclusion, if you like shopping , you like Hong Kong.

Food

Hong Kong is truly where the East meets the West, you can find virtually any kind of food here in Hong Kong! From McDonalds to fine dining Italian restaurant, Hong Kong has everything. But! I’m sure you don’t come to Hong Kong for western food, then you won’t be disappointed with the amount of local food and oriental food. Please watch yourself as you can’t stop yourself from eating all the food!

Compare the food of Hawaii and Hong Kong is difficult, Hawaii has a large population of Asian American thus the selection of food are quite similar to Hong Kong. However, there are more exotic and interesting food at places such as Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui. If you come to Hong Kong for the oriental and local Hong Kong food, you won’t be disappointed. If you come to Hong Kong for the European and American food, you may be going to the wrong place but you can still find good Western food here! If you come here for Spam Musubi and Loco Moco, then well… you better make it yourself!

Nightlife

Did I said Hong Kong is amazing? Well, the nightlife is Hong Kong is at the top. From the party capital of Hong Kong, Lan Kwai Fond to Wan Chai to the less touristy Tsim Sha Shui and Prince Edward. There is something for everyone. Do you want to do some bar and nightclub hopping and meet more international traveler? You will feel right at home at Lan Kwai Fond. Do you want to sit down and relax at an American and British style bar/pub but still want to meet more international people? Wan Chai will do it for you. Do you want somewhere with less people and socialize with your friends? Tsim Sha Tsui is the place to be. Or do you want to experience the cultures and meet up with more local Hong Konger? There are quite a few places but Prince Edward is a good place.

Transportation

If you are a regular commuter in Hawaii by the bus system then you will fall in love with Hong Kong Mass Transit Rail or in short, MTR. It is one of the more efficient rail system in the world, the train is rarely if ever be late and if you are on one of the main lines, the frequency is 1-2 minutes wait at most.

The price is cheap, and with student discount, it’s even cheaper with HK$5-10 everytime you do one jouney, that’s less than 1 US dollar!

You are to get an Octopus Card, it’s a card that you can use to purchase your train/bus/light rail transport in addition to 711, McDonalds, Super Market… and so on. One tip from me is that you should put 300-500 HKD at a time and use it for your daily purchases to eliminates the needs for coins!

University

Unlike Hawaii, Hong Kong education system is quite different. Instead of spreading out the hours of a class throughout a week, a class meets once a week for two to three hours. Therefore, it is possible to have most of your classes in 2-3 days a week.

In Hawaii, there are more homework compare to essays and group works. It is the exact opposite here in Hong Kong, there is rarely any homework with the exception of in class exercise that takes as little as 5 minutes to complete.

Group work is a primary element here in every class, 4 out of 5 of my classes consists some kind of group project in it. Group work requires you collaborate with others to work toward a common goal, it is especially hard as some local student do not have the sufficient English skill to communicate.

So be prepare to write a lot of essays and lots of group work, either with international students or local students.

Please do email me if you have any question on settling here in Hong Kong.

howiengn@gmail.com