What can one buy with a HK$3,100?

[noneek]

Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone can help me figure this out.

So, my mom (who lives in Jakarta, Indonesia) will travel to Hong Kong in May 2009. I will give her a pocket money of $400 for her to spend during her travel. $400 is equal to HK$3,100 per online currency converter. She is going to spend 10 days in Hong Kong. All other travel arrangements has been paid by herself. My part is only to supply her with a pocket money so she can buy a purse for herself and/or other stuff if she wants.

My question is: Is HK$3,100 enough?

Also, this is her first trip to Hong Kong so I just want to make sure that she has enough money to enjoy herself.

Thanks!!!

 

[kama_s]

400$ would be so easy to spend in a relatively cheap country like India

 

[bagelboy]

Well, I would tell your Mom to pack light. As you know HK is the gateway to China and therefore a huge shopping meca.Personally, I would take more money. HK is very safe for the average tourist.Almost ALL name brands are fakes, verry good fakes however. My wife bought a few fake LV purses as gifts. Tell her to haggle on the price too, they always come down and both sides are happy.I think that she might go thru $400 pretty quickly. Buying a cheap suitcase to bring all her booty home is a good idea.I hope she enjoys her trip and snaps a few photos for keepsakes. Hope that this is helpful.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 4/27/2009 10:45:11 AM
Author: bagelboy
Well, I would tell your Mom to pack light. As you know HK is the gateway to China and therefore a huge shopping meca.Personally, I would take more money. HK is very safe for the average tourist.Almost ALL name brands are fakes, verry good fakes however. My wife bought a few fake LV purses as gifts. Tell her to haggle on the price too, they always come down and both sides are happy.I think that she might go thru $400 pretty quickly. Buying a cheap suitcase to bring all her booty home is a good idea.I hope she enjoys her trip and snaps a few photos for keepsakes. Hope that this is helpful.

Errhhh, sorry, wherre did you hear this from?!!

I'm afraid either I have to disagree with you or you'll have to be more specific and qualify your statement. I lived in HK for five and a half years, hubby lived there for eight years and I still go there to visit friends and to shop from time to time, at least once or twice a year, so trust me I know what I'm talking about. Lots of brand names in HK are fakes, BUT only if you insist on buying from street vendors. HK is one of the mega fashion hubs in the world, probably the second largest in Asia, after Tokyo. *EVERY* store in the main shopping malls, LV, Gucci, Chanel, Tiffany, Cartier, to name a few only carries the real McCoy's.

I do agree that HK$3,100 will not get the OP's Mom very far. Just to give you an example, the single fare for taking the express train from the airport to Central is HK$100 already. If yr Mom has to take taxi's for long distances, we can easily talk about HK$50-150 each time (though taxis in HK are amongst the cheapest in the world).

Eating out is not cheap. Noneek, you say she has "all other arrangements paid for", what does that mean? Does it include meals? If not, then I am sorry, HK$3,100 will not last her very long in HK, particularly if she's planning to spend 10 days there. HK is one of the most expensive cities in the world (despite the cheaper taxi fares). One can *easily* spend HK$2000-3000 per *day*, and am not even talking about anything extravagant, just enough for her to get by.

To further illustrate my point, an *average* meal out for two (with one or two drinks each) easily knocks you back HK$700-1000. Again, not talking about fancy restaurants or anything extravagant. If I were, then we'd be talking HK$2000-5000 each time easily!!

If you want yr Mom to be a bit more comfortable and not be stuck in some dire straits, I'd recommend at least HK$10,000 for a ten day stay, particularly if you want her to be able to buy a purse or two (BUT again, stay away from the real designer stuff!).

Sorry if this is a bit of a shocker. Just wanted you to have a more realistic understanding of how costly things are in HK.

 

[noneek]

Thank you so much for your responds.

All other arrangements meaning meal, lodging, and transportations has been paid upfront. She only needs extra to spend for shopping. She knows HK is the place for new design on purses and clothes so she just want to buy a couple of things to enjoy herself.

Wow!!!

You spend a lot in one day, my goodness!!! Even here in the US, I don''t spend $400 in one day, unless if I buy clothes, even that is rare. Then again I am single so its figures.

In this case, I will give her more money. US$1,000 = HK$7,750. This should be enough right? Please also consider that everything else is paid for already, I am only supplying the spending-for-fun money. Any thoughts?

 

[bagelboy]

I believe I was in Mong Kok with hundreds of vendors selling replicas or copies of genuine name brand products. As a tourist, I was surprised to see so many different items that are copied. I should not have used the word fake as that is really incorrect term. I did not mean to imply that the high end designer shops are selling anything but genuine products. Yes, HK is home to many people who are very wealthy. A great place to shop rich and poor alike.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 4/27/2009 5:28:03 PM
Author: noneek

Thank you so much for your responds.

All other arrangements meaning meal, lodging, and transportations has been paid upfront. She only needs extra to spend for shopping. She knows HK is the place for new design on purses and clothes so she just want to buy a couple of things to enjoy herself.

Wow!!!

You spend a lot in one day, my goodness!!! Even here in the US, I don't spend $400 in one day, unless if I buy clothes, even that is rare. Then again I am single so its figures.

In this case, I will give her more money. US$1,000 = HK$7,750. This should be enough right? Please also consider that everything else is paid for already, I am only supplying the spending-for-fun money. Any thoughts?

No worries.

If meals are included, then HK$7-8k should be enough, provided yr Mom doesn't go crazy on those designer labels!

I hope she has a fantastic holiday. HK is a really fun place, lots of things to do and see. Is she going on a tour/ with other people? It's always nice to go with a group of people, esp. if you're not familiar with a place or has not been there before.

Oh, one other thing, does she speak Cantonese or will she be with a tour guide? You don't really need to be able to speak Cantonese to get around HK, but it's always fun if you can speak some, esp if she intends to go to more "remote" (relatively speaking) parts of HK. I don't really speak Cantonese (well, just some when I was there but not initially), but I tended to hang out more in Central and Lan Kwai Fong esp. I suspect yr Mom would not like Lan Kwai Fong (more for the younger and then not so youg LOL clubbing and drinking crowd

). I'd suggest she go to Kow Loon and/ or the New Territory. Even in HK island, Stanley and Repulse Bay are nice. The Peak is great too. Some of the outlying islands are a lot of fun, as is Macau.

 

[noneek]

Date: 4/28/2009 1:04:21 PM
Author: Phoenix

Date: 4/27/2009 5:28:03 PM
Author: noneek

Thank you so much for your responds.

All other arrangements meaning meal, lodging, and transportations has been paid upfront. She only needs extra to spend for shopping. She knows HK is the place for new design on purses and clothes so she just want to buy a couple of things to enjoy herself.

Wow!!!

You spend a lot in one day, my goodness!!! Even here in the US, I don''t spend $400 in one day, unless if I buy clothes, even that is rare. Then again I am single so its figures.

In this case, I will give her more money. US$1,000 = HK$7,750. This should be enough right? Please also consider that everything else is paid for already, I am only supplying the spending-for-fun money. Any thoughts?

No worries.

If meals are included, then HK$7-8k should be enough, provided yr Mom doesn''t go crazy on those designer labels!

I hope she has a fantastic holiday. HK is a really fun place, lots of things to do and see. Is she going on a tour/ with other people? It''s always nice to go with a group of people, esp. if you''re not familiar with a place or has not been there before.

Oh, one other thing, does she speak Cantonese or will she be with a tour guide? You don''t really need to be able to speak Cantonese to get around HK, but it''s always fun if you can speak some, esp if she intends to go to more ''remote'' (relatively speaking) parts of HK. I don''t really speak Cantonese (well, just some when I was there but not initially), but I tended to hang out more in Central and Lan Kwai Fong esp. I suspect yr Mom would not like Lan Kwai Fong (more for the younger and then not so youg LOL clubbing and drinking crowd

). I''d suggest she go to Kow Loon and/ or the New Territory. Even in HK island, Stanley and Repulse Bay are nice. The Peak is great too. Some of the outlying islands are a lot of fun, as is Macau.

Hi Phoenix, Thank you for your reply. Yes, she will go with a bunch of people and they will have a tour guide. I don''t know if she is going to go crazy on those designer labels but she does like her brand name purses. She hasn''t got a brand new one in years.
Macau will be one of the place that she will go to. I don''t know what other place she will go.
Thank you much for helping me. This helps a lot.