MTR, Bus and Tram at Hong Kong, Shen zhen, Macau

I need to make separate subject for the transportation method since it would be a long and interesting topic to describe... might be boring for you who used to travel using MTR (MRT) in Singapore.
But anyway... here it is....
As always... please feel free to add comments or writing to add or correct my writing...


Hong Kong and Shen zhen has similar public transportation method ie : Bus, MTR, Taxi, while Macau does not have MTR, Macau is the smallest among them.
Hong Kong has 'Octopus' card system that will make your trip faster and easier, it is basically a prepaid or stored value card that could be used just by taping on octopus card reader. The octopus card and card reader would looks like this :

To use it, you just need to tap the octopus card on the card reader logo where ever it is, Bus, MTR, 7 Eleven, Star Ferry, even Cafe de Coral, circle K, parking, Watson, KFC etc.

More about octopus card : click on octopus hong kong official website.
Basically there are two types of card either you 'buy' or 'loan'.
If you choose to buy (because the sold octopus card has thematic icon, such as year of the dragon, or Master Q character...) then you must pay the price of the card (ie : Year of the dragon will cost 288 HKD) you should then top up latter because they come with no deposit or stored value.

Unless you are a card collector I think you might be more interested with the 'loan' card, which (supposed you use the most popular card, the adult Octopus card) you can loan at 50HKD, then pay initial value of 100 HKD, so you pay 150 HKD then get a loan octopus card that has 100 HKD stored value.
The 50 HKD deposit is partly refundable, since Jan 2012, you must pay 9 HKD as administration fee, so from 50 HKD deposit, you could only get back 41 HKD.

I would suggest you 'loan' octopus card and use this card for travelling around Hong Kong.
I spent around 300 HKD for 5 days in HK, but I'm a speed shopper, means go to many destination in a day and hop in and out MTRs and buses quite a lot. I even use MTR to travel between Admiralty and Causeway Bay... I could have used the old tram system or just walked but thought MRT would be faster.

One trip from lets say Mei Foo to Central or Admiralty (that is crossing the Kowloon - HK strait) cost 12.5 HKD about 16 thousand rupiah (1 HKD = 1.300 Rp) one way. Quite expensive for 15minutes ride, but is cheap compared to taxi (off course) and if you see the distance you would probably choose MTR than bus.
If you familiar with the bus route than it would be the best value for money, but is slower, otherwise just use MTR for speed traveling.
All MTR stop around 11-12 pm, so make sure you came home before 11 just for be on the safe side, and then the last trip for all busses is also about 11-12, beyond that you can only rely on night bus.

Where to buy Octopus card ? you can buy and return Octopus card easily at any MTR station in HK.
Each person need to have his / her own octopus if you use MTR, but for bus, ferry, 7-eleven etc you could share Octopus card. This is make sense, in Bus, ferry you paid fix price no matter how long your trip is. But with MTR your fare will be determined at the exit gate means different distance could charge you differently.
As a rule of thumb, any transportation method that need to be tapped twice would need individual octopus card.

This is Hong Kong Subway (MTR) Map, right click to download it if you like... I got it free from the internet.

Besides the 'light rail' (around Tuen Muen, that I do not ride) there are 10 MTR lines in Hong Kong.
Link to official Hong Kong MTR : http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/getting_around/index.html

All Hong Kong MTR station would be marked with below sign, so it is quite convenient and easy to find MTR subway station. Whenever you see this sign you know you are close to an MTR subway station.

MTR station sign in Hong Kong

I assumed that you will not find it difficult to use MTR once you have your Octopus card with you.
Just tap at the entry gate (you'll hear a beep and there will be an arrow at the display) and tap again at the exit gate. The fare and the residual amount of your octopus card will be displayed at the exit gate.
There will be a distinguish beep sound each time you successfully taped your card (with sufficient amount of money).
So rather than explaining Hong Kong MTR system in detail, I'll just put some shots that I consider interesting during my MTR ride...

Disabled woman queuing MTR

MTR is everyday life for Hongkish...
shopping, delivering goods..

Interesting advertising in MTR wall.

MTR Advertising is not as advanced as Singapore where at some point the advertising is 'running' to catch up with the MTR window (so you can always see it during your ride.... :) how persistent... :D.

Advertising is very common and lustrous in Hong Kong MTR.

Teaching kids to play music instrument ?

Hong Kong Logo, funny Pig.

Need information ?
After entering the entry gate where you need to tap in your octopus card, there will be maps and information all over the wall to easily determine your destination station.
There will be free internet station (15minutes of usage) not in all but in many station to help you find address or just checking your facebook or email.

Free internet station at the MTR would looks like this.

Just read the sign and it shouldn't be to hard to tuned into Hong Kong MTR system...
One thing is you need to remember your 'end station' because all sign will be written with this end station.
Meaning if you would like to go from Central to Quarry Bay, you need to remember and look for direction of Chai Wan, the last station of MTR going from Sheung Wan - Central all the way to Quarry Bay and end at Chai Wan station.

At the MTR door, while queuing, check if your destination station is within the list.
The next station would only be the colored one, the grey station is behind already.

I count 8 wagons in each train, and each wagon has 5 doors. So every time a train stop, there will be 40 doors open at the same time. Passenger will rush out and in from and into those 40 doors.
You could sense the ground situation by the number passenger coming in and out from that station.
Transfer station (2 or 3 lines crosses at one station) would be more crowded than the other. Mongkok, Tsim Tsa Tsui, Central, basically business central would also be crowded.
Higher chance to get a seat is either you hop in from a less crowded station, not in a rush hour and also if you  queue at the end wagon, ie, the first (wagon number 1 or 2) or the last (wagon number 7 or 8).


Inside the MTR, you could easily locate your position by looking at the display above each door.
Look at the picture below, now you are between Tai Wo Hau and Kwai Hing station (yellow arrow). Tai Wo station is behind you, the next station is Kwai Hing and End station would be Central. There will be 13 stops before you reach Hong Kong - Central station.

Situation inside the MTR, this picture is taken NOT during rush hour....

Most Hongkish speaks English, especially the youngs.
If you are Indonesian, especially Javanese, don't worry you could almost always find Indonesian people (most likely House Maid btw) through out Hong Kong MTR station, especially on Sunday or Public holiday.
If you see 'familiar faces' most probably they are Indonesian... I did not have problem differentiating Indonesian with Pinoy (Phillipino), gesture, body languange, etc.... so you could ask from them. The house maid usually comes in group and they speak out loud, easier for you to identify their presence... :).

Indonesian House maids in MTR station
they dressed up and hair cut like Hongkish already

Interesting Fact : Could you guess the salary of a house maid in Hong Kong ?
The answer is : around 3.500-4.000 HKD more or less 4.5 to 5 mio rupiah !
They have 1 day off each week (that is Sunday) so no wonder they will be all over Hong Kong in Sunday, in the mall, MTR, buses, recreation and public area (Victoria park most likely).
They could and would dress up as they have higher salary even compared to common staff level in Indonesia (office, clerical works).
Nevertheless they generate a lot of dollar for Indonesia :), foreign exchange hero (pahlawan devisa).
Salute....
To be able to work in Hong Kong, house maid would need to have a working visa, match making and other paperwork usually would be handled by an agent. This agent charges the house maid 5-7 months of her salary, meaning for the first 5 - 7 month, the house maid would receive no payment at all !
again... salute !!





Shen Zhen MTR system

MTR in Shen Zhen is called 'Metro'. Same sign but different color, if HK MTR uses Red background then Metro MTR uses Green background.
While in Shen Zhen I did not manage to find or buy prepaid / stored value card similar to Octopus card in Hong Kong. So I always use 'coin' instead.
It is pretty much similar to one way ticket for MTR in Hong Kong.

To purchase a coin just go to any MTR station, there will be several coin machines (ticket vending machines). Now examine carefully, some machines will receive 20,10 and 5 RMB (Yuen), some machines only accept 10 and 5 RMB. They all could give you small change in return should your fare is less then your money.
All machine accept 1 and 0.5 RMB coin.

I will try to describe it in detail here...
First of all, SZ has 5 lines, differentiated by color.

1. Luobao Line      
2. Shekou Line
3. Longgang Line
4. Longhua Line
5. Huanzhong Line

Here you can explore the Shen Zhen MTR system and map. 
Just use google to search and download Shen Zhen MTR Map, here I gave you one example.

Shen Zhen MTR Station just right click to download the map.
I got it from the internet...

So before buying an MTR coin you need to know your station destination.
Use maps that is all around at the MTR station before you go to the coin machine otherwise you might need longer time and upset people that queue behind you.

An example of Shen Zhen Metro map and fares.
I was at the WOW (Window Of The World Station),
I seems not all metro station has this complete map include the fare. 

You could prepare your money based on the metro fare list such as above picture or just prepare some 10's and 5's and go to the ticket vending machine.
Choose the vending machine carefully, remember that each machine accept certain amount of money.
Looks like 'red display' on top of the coin machines means it only accept 5 and 10 RMB whilst the 'yellow display' accept 20, 10 and 5 RMB.

Coin machine that accept only 10 and 5 RMB

At the coin machine (Ticket Vending Machine), if you could not read Chinese character press 'English' at the bottom right of the screen.

1. Press 'English' at the bottom righ of the screen

2. Press your station destination or choose line
then your destination.

3. Select the number of coin you would like to buy. If you would like to buy 2
then just press 2 (person). The screen will display the fare for single ride
then number of ticket (coins) you would like to buy
then total amount that you have to pay (Amount Due).
4. Put in your money (either banknote or coin) now at the flickered slot on your right.
The amount of money you slot in would be displayed (Amount Paid).
If your money is sufficient, the machine will automatically give you the coin plus
return if any.

This is the coin that you could use to enter and exit MTR gate,
At the entry gate just tap or slap on to the reader, you need to bring the coin along with you and then give it back at the destination exit gate.
There will be a small hole at the exit gate that you could slot in the coin.








I think the sign and information at the Metro station is quite convenient and clear. Just find the correct line and train.
You need to memorize the color (or name) of the line and the 'end station' where you are headed to.

This is the sign at the MTR door means that you will be taking
MTR Luobao Line and the  'end station ' is Luohu.

You can also check whether your destination station is within the list of
station you are heading to. It is written in Chinese and alphabet character.
Your current station would be marked with 'you are here' sign.

Queue and always stand behind the yellow line,
there will be police at the Shen Zhen Metro.
As far as I recall this police is not exist
in Hong Kong MTR.

While in train, you could always find Metro Map easily.
Or you could watch the display on top of the door that shows the next 2 stations.

Metro map inside the train is easily  found.

This display means you are at Tongxinling station now
and the next station is Hongling

While at Tongxinling, exit point and road destination is
also showed in the display... how convenient.

The list of the station is written in Chinese character,
just use the wall map instead.

At the destination station, beyond the exit gate you could stop by to find your preferred exit corridor.

Exit corridor and ground map at the destination station.

List of nearby road and exit corridor.

I did not have chance to travel with bus so I could not comment on the bus system in Shen Zhen.
But I believe if you could not speak or read chinese character it is advisable only to use metro or walk.
Not many people could speak English especially good English.
If you would like to use taxi, ask the hotel staff to write down the destination in Chinese character, the driver MIGHT NOT READ alphabet.

If you use Shen Zhen Map, I would advise to always equip yourself with a compass.
I think these are standard equipment for traveling in Shen Zhen.

Yes it is a dive compass and a watch, Suunto SK9 if I'm not mistaken.
I always use compass when traveling in HK, SZ and Macau.
A Map would also very convenient.

BUS

finding bus station is very easy, and they come every 15-20 minutes but you need to study and familiarized yourself with the route. You can check and plan your journey on spot if you had internet connection with tablet computer or smart phone.
There are three major (only the first 2 companies are the big two) bus provider in Hongkong :
1. The Kowloon Motor Bus Co. (KMB) : link to KMB Bus route search : http://www.kmb.hk/en/services/search.html
Included here is Long Win bus, apparently segmented for airport bus and tourist (special route) buses. Link to their routes : http://www.kmb.hk/tc/about/organisation/longwin.html
2. City Bus and New World First Bus (NWFB) : link to NWFB Bus route search : http://www.nwstbus.com.hk/routesearch.aspx?t=1346047065694&intLangID=1
Point to point Bus Guide : http://www.nwstbus.com.hk/routesearch.aspx?t=1346047109867&intLangID=1
3. New Lantao Bus : mostly operated in Lantau island, Tung Chung, Airport etc. Link : http://www.newlantaobus.com/nlb.html

Link of all bus routes in Hong Kong from Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bus_routes_in_Hong_Kong
Just play with the route search a bit and you'll get familiar with it in no time.

I heard that bus driver and policemen paid well in Hong Kong, perhaps this is one of the secret of  well regulated and organized bus and traffic in Hong Kong :).


Anyway... you could use octopus card to pay fixed price fare for bus or pay directly with coins or HKD but no change or return would be given by the driver.
You will need to queue at the bus stop, the only place the bus will stop and allow passenger to hop in and out. Every bus stop has the name of bus and its route, so you can check whether you are queuing the correct bus.

Nice motto printed on the bus....

Everybody queuing with respect to other...
Even senior citizen will queue.

Bus Stop and queuing would looks like this...

Before hop in you could check the bus route to make sure you are queuing for the right bus.

Bus stop and route at the airport

Bus route....

After you hop in (entry from the front door and exit from the middle door). Pay directly with Octopus or cash. The card reader and money pot will be beside the driver.

Octopus card reader and money pot
(red box with grey opening) near the entry door
just beside the bus driver.

Bus route inside the bus

The problem is you could not talk with the driver, and not too many people speak English... so you can not easily rely on asking to other passenger.
You could use the bus route that is available inside the bus, but unless you are familiar with the area where the bus stop is, I suggest it is better to really plan ahead or just take other method of transportation.
The problem is you need to push the bell before the bus stop if you want the bus to stop at the designated bus stop.
If no passenger hop in or out, the driver will continue to drive and will not stop at the bus stop, except at the terminal. Off course if you do not mind to walk a little, generally it would not be a disaster to miss one bus stop, you could just walk all the way back.

So while in the bus, frequently check the bus route and usually there will be announcement in Chinese and English, displaying the next bus stop and sounding it in 3 languages (hard to hear because of the noise).
Just hope that the display is in good condition.

Bell button, push if you want to stop at the next bus stop
this button is available everywhere inside the bus. 

The light near the door and in front of the driver would turned on
indicating that somebody has pushed the bell button.
No need to push the bell button if you see the light is on,
driver will stop at the next bus stop.

Exit door with bell button near it.

Entry would be from front and exit from the middle of the bus.

Prohibition to speak with the driver...
It is AN OFFENCE !! :D.

Yes, all HK bus (minibus is not included) is double deck.
If your destination is far and you would like to side seeing a bit, just go
to the upper deck. Yes... DO NOT find the driver there ok ? there will be no
driver on the upper deck !! :)).

And yes, announcement of the next bus stop is displayed and sounded also in the upper deck.
No smoking (5.000 HKD fine) and theoretically no eating nor drinking inside the bus.

Almost forgot...
If you are in Hong Kong island, along the famous Hennessy road, where all the MTR stops are... instead of MTR or bus, you could also use Tram.
Old transportation model that is electricity powered, no Air Con. So rather than walking if you do not mind sweating a little, and want to travel from east to west or vise versa, just try to use the Tram. Its quite cheap but moves very slow (faster than walking though).

To hop in, look for a tram stop, (similar to bus stop) read and choose the tram route and number, and hop into the correct tram.
This time you hop in from the back and pay latter at the front (the octopus card reader is beside the driber) when you are about to alight.

Tram in Hong Kong, they run on two parallel rails.
The Tram is also decorated, I saw San Rio and Do Ra e Mon thematic Tram.

Inside the Tram, quite narrow space,
do not use tram if you bring a long a lot of stuff

Stairs to upper deck.

Octopus card reader and Tram control panel :). Small, minimal, old stylist, efficient, easy to operate :).

My Tram driver...

Monitoring panel, I am not sure if it is pressure, should it be
voltage because Tram  is powered with electricity ?

Bus in Macau

Bus route at bus stop at Macau

If you are ok with Bus system in Hong Kong then bus system in Macau would be no different unless that you have to familiarized yourself with the area and street names.

Most of the street is in Portuguese language.
I found it interesting though... the mix of European and Chinese culture.


If you wish to read the whole macau bus route then consider visiting these links :
i-busnet.com (Macau)
Macau bus route, popular destination.


















To be continued.....

Diving Shop in Hong Kong (Toko Alat Diving di Hong Kong)

This article would be written in English since I think it would be beneficial for all reader should they would like to read review of where to buy diving equipment and accessories in HongKong...

Ok first off All the list of Diving Shop in HongKong, these information is gathered from internet (website, discussion forum, etc) and by asking from lokal divers in HongKong.


1. Diving Adventure.
Address : 2/F Island Building, 439 - 445 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay (Beside Fire Station)
MTR Station : Causeway Bay (Exit B) then go west (towards Wanchai MTR, along Hennessy road. Just before Fire Station look to your right for diving sign.
Website : http://www.divinghk.com/index_en.php
Tel : +852 2572 2138


2. Pro Dive.
Address : 127-131 Lockhart Road, 2/fl Wanchai, Hong Kong
MTR Station : Wanchai, look for exit on Lockhart Road (I believe it is C exit), then just cross the road you'll see the dive shop.
Website : http://www.prodive.com.hk/en/index.asp
Tel : +852-2890 4889


3. Diving Express.

Address : Room D, 1st Floor, Hanyee Building, 19-21 Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon,
MTR Station : Tsim Sha Tsue Exit A1 (beside the big mosque) then go west along Haipong road, first intersection is Lock Road then 2nd intersection would be Hankow Road. Just go to Lock Road to the South (you will see Ocean Sky Diver dive shop on your right, but keep going...) when you see Ichang Street on your right then go there, Diving Express should be just there on Ichang Street even though the address said Hankow Road.
Website : http://shop.divingexpress.com/catalog/index.php?language=en
Tel : +852-2890 4889

These three shops are, should I say the "biggest" dive shops in Hong Kong...

If you look for dive essentials, perhaps promotional or sale item that are not listed or promoted in the internet then these shops would be your best bet. You have to come there and dig in to find the items with 'sale' tag :).

They have tons of fins, boots, mask, wet suit, rash guard, and other essentials.

Then some other dive shop that might be worth visiting if you had time :

4.  LS Pro Limited 

Address : G / F, 17 Chi Wo Street, Jordan Kowloon 
MTR Station : Jordan, Exit B2, then go east along Jordan road until you find Chi Wo Street on your left, go there, after the first intersection you'll see LS Pro on your left.
Website : -
Tel : +852-2770 556

This shop is run by a female instructor who really knows what she sell. She spokes technical and also give a good discount, especially if you come often.

Just north to this shop you'll find Pacific Ocean Sports Center, G / F, 13 Chi Wo Street Jordan, +(852) 27719195/6, I would not recommend this shop since this is more a sport shop (hence the name is) rather than a dive shop. It would be ok for swimmer, snorkeler or beginner diving if you look for essentials should I say... (http://www.posc.com.hk/).



5. Ocean Sky Diver

Address : 1/F 19 Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong 
MTR Station : Tsim Sha Tsui Exit A1 Go West, cross the street and go left (south) on the 1st intersection that is Lock Road. Go south and look on your right for Ocean Sky Diver.
Go up stairs, they open at 12 (not 11 am !! :)), once you at the end of the stairs, on the 1st floor to your left is a sport shop, to your right is Ocean Sky Diver that you looking for.
Website : http://www.oceanskydiving.com/index.php/en/
Tel : +852 23663738

Convenient, well organized dive shop, but offer no discount, even after I tell them I had instructor license.
The price are not cheap too, standard should I say (if you think they had given all discount in their price list).


6. International (Elite) Diving Training Centre

Address : G/F, Fulland Court, 256 Fa Yuen Street, Kowloon.
MTR Station : Prince Edwards Exit A.
If you use MTR, I suggest not to go there at noon, it would be no shade after you exit the MTR station :).
After you exit MTR, go right along Playing Fields Road (East), count 3 intersection, 1st one Sai Yeung Choi street, 2nd one Tung Choi Street and then you'll find Fa Yuen Street, go left (North) you should see a lot of automobile shops a long the way, to your right you'll find International (Elite) Diving Training Centre.
Website : http://www.idtc.com.hk/gear.asp
Tel : +852 23812789

They sell basically USA made brand, Zeagle, Oceanic, Aeris, you might wonder where is the Hollis brand ?Yes, they separate their market segment to the Mandarin Divers (no 7 below) and let them distribute Hollis.


7. Mandarin Divers
Address : 3/F, Unit 305, Technology Plaza, 651 King's Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
MTR Station : Quarry Bay, exit C, I did not have a chance to go there (the eastern most dive shop in Hong Kong island :)) so I could not really tell you the way... just use google map if you like to go there. But this is one of the recommended dive shop for Tech Gears.
Tel :  +852 2554 7110



8. Bunn's Diver
Address : M/F 188 Johnston Rd, Chuen Fung Hse, Wanchai
MTR Station : Wanchai, Exit A3, you should cross the Johnston road to find this shop on the 1st floor.
Tel :  +852 3422 3322




There are some other dive shops that are not there (you'll find the address if you search on internet but the shops are not exist or they are not selling dive equipment anymore).
* Ming's Sport on Hankow Road Tsim Sha Tsui, they are located near Diving Express and Ocean Sky Diver. They quit selling dive gears, now they only sell sport equipment, golf mostly.
* French Divers, On Asia house building, 1 Hennessy road in the middle between Wanchai and Admiralty MTR. Closed, replaced by other business.
* Xpro Asia Ltd, On Harvard Commercial Building, Thomson Road, Wanchai, the building is under renovation and no sign of new address for this shop.


There are other shops that are on my list but I did not have chance to visit :
* Froggy Dive Co, on 2/F 63 Granville Road , Tsimshatsui, Kowloon (opposite of Ramada Hotel, near Chatham Road) TST MTR Station exit B1. They are close on Sunday... alas :). +852 3173 2665
* Paradive, Flat G, 1/F, Cheong Ming Bldg, 86 Argyle St, Mongkok Kowloon, I was too interested with the street market rather than finding this shop quite frankly :)).


If I could advise your schedule, you could go to all of the dive shops listed above. Off course this is possible if you are quite a speed shopper, willing to walk fast and spend extra money for MTR and other transport method, also to buy drink a long your way :)...

I would suggest this order :
1st Day : Cause Way Bay, Go to Dive Adventure (1), then MTR or walk to Wanchai along Hennessy road then turn to Lockhart road for Pro Dive (2) then if you still have time go to Bunn's Diver (8) on Johnston road.
Btw, Lockhart Road is an interesting road especially after 3 pm, this is a bar and night entertainment road. So expect to see girls wearing sexy clothes and make ups a long the way ;).
Still have time ? go to Mandarin Divers (7) at Quarry Bay MTR.

2nd Day : Tsim Tsa Tsui, Go to Diving Express (3) on Hankow / Ichang road, then Ocean Sky Diver (5) (for Photography enthusiast), then go to Jordan MTR for LS Pro ltd (4), then hop on again on MTR to Prince Edwards for Elite Diving Training Centre (6) on Fa Yuen Street.



Now this is the information that you will love to read,
my comments on those dive shop, what they sell, pricing, discount, service, etc.

first off all, if you do not have time, do not know what you are looking for and only have little or rough information about price, just go to Dive Adventure on Causeway Bay.
They have a lot of sale items, the shopkeeper speaks English very well, and the price discount is GOOOODDD.... 15-20% is normal and they did not 'cheat' on original price. Price are printed on every item or just ask the shopkeeper if you could not find the price tag.


I personally prefer shop that is run by a 'technical minded' instructor or owner, not a 'merchant' type if you know what I mean...
It is always good to have people answering your technical question and proposing stuff at your need rather than accepting explanation of what the merchant wants you to buy for their own interest (ie : profit, bonuses, old stock etc).

Dive Adventure has a lot of sale items, and is one of the shop that is "technical" in my opinion but... you need to find the correct person to ask.
Try to fin a middle age woman, short hair, looks veteran in diving, her name is... uuhhh... Ivone or Eve, sorry could not remember exactly, she is the owner wife.
She really knows what she sell, decisive (off course) in giving discount and other facilities, on top of that Dive Adventure has a clear pricing policy and system, so they are in modern shop category... not the ask and bargain type shop...



Pro Dive is 2nd ant Diving Express is 3rd in my opinion, but they all have different sale items so they all worth a visit...

In Pro Dive, try to find (again) middle age woman, cheerful and speaks English well. She is patient, fast and good in explaining.
The 'big guy' and other girl at the counter is to my experience not quite friendly they are not easy to talk and seems to be bothered by a lot of customer. Only pays attention to the 'westerner' customer or who's paying at the counter :).

Diving Express is more and close to a merchant type seller, if you are good at bargaining and know pricing very well, then go here. Otherwise some items I think is overpriced before they give 20% disc.


For technical, go to Mandarin Divers at Quarry Bay, for photo specialist perhaps you can go to Ocean Sky Divers, but most of the dive shops would be able to sell you UW photo equipment, they might not have stock on hand but if they can give you good price, why not make appointment and come again to pick up your order.

At Bunn's Diverspoke to the technician guy, the manager is merchant type seller, the technician (he is an instructor) is friendly to ask and speak with.

At International (Elite) Dive Training Centre, speak to Mo Mey Ling, the Instructor lady, she might not looks like an instructor :), but she is friendly and very helpful.


that is all... please feel free to add your comment and also make note to my writing should I did not describe it correctly and help everybody to find good diving shop in Hong Kong.

cheers matey !!

Applying Chinese Visa in Surabaya

If you would like to go to Shenzhen or any Chinese destination and do not want to rely on Visa on Arrival (supposed you choose to go to Hong Kong and then Shenzhen by MTR or Train).
If you go with tour agent then probably you do not need to worry about all of these afterall, or if you want to go your own and your main destination is China, then to be sure you will need to apply visa from Indonesia.

Yes you could apply Visa in Surabaya. It would be much more expensive compared to VOA, Consider this : the cheapest option (apply visa in Indonesia) would be 540.000 rupiah while if you apply VOA it would be around 130.000 rupiah or so... so it is 4-5 time more expensive but off course if you book all your hotel already it is better to be sure by applying visa here in Indonesia.

The immigration officer said there is no communication between VOA office and Visa office in Indonesia. VOA office could just close, or do what ever they wanted and you would not be able to apply VOA.
Again if you just want to visit Shenzhen via HongKong for fun this could be worth trying but if not then I think it is better to apply Visa here in Indonesia (either Jakarta, Surabaya or Bali).

The website for address and map for Chinese Visa in Surabaya is here :  http://surabaya.china-consulate.org/indo/zlgjj/dzjbgsj/t363161.htm

It is written that office hour to apply visa is from 9 to 11:30 but practically you could go there at 15:00 and apply 'normal' visa (4 days waiting).


If you come just for fun or visiting family then you should apply for Visa L : http://surabaya.china-consulate.org/indo/lszj/fhqz/t368057.htm

While it is said you should only pay 300.000 rupiah for single entry, normal application but in fact there will be additional 240.000 VAT charges applied to you. This is also official since you could read it in the wall at visa office.


Prepare this before apply :
1. Passport (not copy) which is still valid for 6 months
2. Passport foto 4x6 cm, 1 pcs with white background.
3. Filling in application form, bring your ID (KTP) and other information seemingly not important (such us your sponsor whom invited you to China, where you will be staying in China etc). You could just go there and fill the form in the office, should only take 20minutes.

Wait for 4 days (normal visa), means if you apply on Monday, you could get your visa on Thursday (not Friday). I think it is convenience enough and no need to apply for 'fast' (2 days) or 'super fast' (same day) visa.

Hope this information is helpfull...

Trip Report : Pasir Putih, 4 Agustus 2012

Back to PP again, after all Pasir Putih and its tourism environment has been improving over time...
The weather is fine, super fine for PP standard should I say... 2nd or 3rd time in a row during 2 months span.. looks like its a good time for diving @ PP this time around...

My partner is a proud Estonian, Silver that what he wanted to be called... :).
we arrived @ PP around 7:15 am, the traffic is quite heavy, I guess all trucking company is trying to finish their job before Idul Fitri. I was predicting we could arrived around 6:30, so it was 45minutes delay because of the traffic.

1st dive around 8am, we dove at Karang Mayit.
The visibility is 10-15m, no current, everything is great.
found a lot of Nudi branches, but since I did not bring my camera for the first dive, I could only only give report on writings :).
Tiger puffer fish, lion fishes also could be found here.

The site is decorated with fish nets, rods etc... apparent fishing activities has been occurred over the years...



2nd dive we goes back to the "ProDive" spot that I also dove 2 weeks a go.
Again the schooling yellow fin is there, big tiger puffer fish, another small yellow box puffer fish at the end of the dive, some nudi branches are present during our dive.

Here are the photos :

Big Nudi Branch (Phyllidia elegans), about 15cm lay still @ 20m

Silver with soft coral...

The schooling yellow fin fish...

Nice and dense isn't ?

Sunken anchor... this is one of the reason why a lot of
coral is destroyed around Pasir Putih.

Beautiful lion fish, expanding its wings

Small scorpion fish, about 7-10cm, hiding in the crevasse.

We have the opportunity to buy fish from the local fisherman that just arrived from the sea. I think this would be the best way to make the local aware for divers present... They were happy because their fish could be sold a little bit higher and they do not have to go to the market or sell them to any middle man which would definitely lower the price. And we are happy because we got a good and fresh product compared if we bought it in the market....
Really a good win win relationship...
We just need to have some ice (ask from the local warong / restaurant) to bring the fresh fish back home. If we use box for our dive gear it is also convenient to put the fish after wrap it with plastic bag inside the box.


We eat fresh kerapu (grouper) fish at local warong.
Silver is having a bottle of beer to highlight his beautifull day, it would be perfect if he could have a cold one he said... :).
I guess we could make exemption for the usual rule for not having alcohol during or before dive hahaha... he is an Estonian, (close to Finland and German, what should we say ? Beer is like water for them...).
And I specially ask if that one bottle of 'Bintang' Beer affected the dive after all, apparently not at all :).




3rd Dive, Pyramid point... the best place to expect for surprise in Pasir Putih :).

And yess, we found some nice surprises :).
just check out the photos....

Razor fish, old inhabitants of Pyramid point...

The couple which always highlight Pyramid point.

Silver exploring the Pyramid...

Flew over the pyramid....

Sunken TPS buoy... :).... this was happened during the storm around May - June 2012

Good news for divers, we would found some Barracuda in a month time, these are the young's...
I could spot at least 10 of them wandering around the pyramid.

Small but beautiful black lion fish...  pity she kinds of hiding and not fully exposing her self.

And the big surprise is this jelly fish, small one, perhaps just 30cm in diameter, carrying quite a number of small fishes
just flew around and give us the opportunity to capture its beauty... :).

See the small fishes ?

In colour...

Silver and his cristal ball...

That's is all... hope to see you all again in the next trip !
till then... take care and dive safely...