JDPFu.com 2025

Let’s see. What did this N800 cost me?

So far:
table{border:1px solid black}.
| Desc | Cost |
| N800|>. $231.56|
| Blue tooth Keyboard|>. $34.99|
| 8GB MicroSD|>.$100.66|
| 2GB MicroSD|>.$58.29|
| Screen Protectors|>.$13.83|
| Portable WiFi Router|>.$52.13|
|Total |>.$491.46 |

Well, perhaps an Asus Eee would have been more cost effective at $299 for the 2GB model and $399 for the 4GB model? I’d have much less to carry around with me traveling, but for day trips, the N800 is clearly the better form factor for mapping and battery life.

Ok, I acquired an iGo Blue tooth keyboard today. Getting the keyboard and Nokia paired took more time than it should have. I found a number of instructions on the internet that didn’t work for first 5 times. Here are the steps that finally worked for me:

1. N800 Control Panel
   1. Bluetooth Keyboard
   2. Generic 105-key PC and English USA
   3. search for new devices
2. Keyboard
   1. Enter discoverable mode by pressing CTRL and BOTH Fn Keys simultaneously until the green LED flashes.
3. N800 discovers the keyboard
   1. Select it from the list
   2. Note the code provided – mine was 4 digits
   3. Select Pair
4. Quickly on the Keyboard,
   1. Enter the code (hold the blue Fn key to enter the numeric code #### and <enter> key. Keep the Fn key down for all. (If you aren’t quick enough entering the code plus <enter>, try again. You may need to re-enter discovery mode on the keyboard again too.

In theory, you’ll be paired now. If so, it will be fairly clear. If not, you’ll get an error. When entering the Try Again for pairing, I never got it to work – always had to start over from the beginning.

• There was no software to be loaded.
• There was no need for Windows at all.

Review of the Keyboard

Well, I’m pretty particular about my keyboards. I’ve been using IBM-101 keyboards for over 10 years now and no other keyboards have made me happy. For portable keyboards, I only have experience with a Palm-Pro keyboard which I traveled to Japan with many, many years ago. It was ok, but not a replacement for my IBMs.

Ok, this iGo is portable. It is mostly full sized when opened. The keys feel soft and the lack of a number row drives me crazy. Occasionally, keys get repeated on the N800 when only hit once. I’m guessing that is from the blue tooth connection. Some of the keys aren’t in the right places – at least not for my touch typing. In the end, there really wasn’t much choice for a keyboard for the N800. I guess this will have to do, since using the other input options are simply terrible for non-trivial typing.

Ok, so I’ve spent a little over a week in and around Hong Kong now. What have I learned?

1. Clean drinking water is wonderful
2. drink more water than you think
3. showering daily is nice, but not mandatory
4. Stay to the left doesn’t always work; sometimes you need to stay to the right in traffic
5. Bring 2 pair of jeans on every trip if the weather isn’t too hot
6. Bring 3 t-shirts
7. Sunscreen
8. You can get a few days of wear out of most clothes between washings
9. Engrish is confusing – still their English is better than my Cantonese
   • subway doesn’t mean there’s an underground train down there. It could just be a street crossing.
   • Toilet is a wonderful word, but still has many different meanings.
   • Final Sale means all sales final.
10. Escalators are good, especially in hilly cities
11. Give some money to the Buddhists
12. Macau isn’t just for gambling
13. Water Ferries are smoother than you think
14. Double decker buses are fun
15. If it is an animal and moves, chances are the Chinese probably eat it
16. Coke Lite, not Diet Coke.
17. Speaking German in a German restaurant in Hong Kong isn’t very useful
18. Many travelers are completely obnoxious, not just N. Americans
19. Not all brands of jeans can fit (rough rider?)
20. Recharge your Li Ion camera batteries overnight, every night.
21. Layering is key – t-shirt, heavy shirt, shell, light jacket cover most needs
22. Bring hiking boots if you’ll be walking a bunch
23. You can buy socks and underwear, but they fit differently.
24. You are better off ignoring the Indian Hawkers than noticing them. For the last time, no, I do not need a watch or custom tailored suit.
25. Chinese food can be challenging to eat. Good Indian, Italian, German, Japanese, etc. can be had in HK. Watch out for American at Ruby Tuesdays – hi cost and JH got sick from it.
26. Mass transit done well is fantastic
27. Be prepared to walk, climb, and for your feet and legs to hurt at the end of the day
28. Listen carefully to whatever the other person repeats back to you. Chances are, you or they didn’t really understand your intent.
29. Ear plugs are great if traveling with anyone else – for both of you
30. Internet in a room is a luxury; all sorts of protection schemes exist that only work with Windows/IE.
31. Keep receipts – conversion from HK$ into your native currency is interesting later, not in real-time, but you do get better at it
32. Ignore your diet when walking as much as we did
33. You don’t need a plan before you leave, but you do need to plan every day before heading out
34. Carry your passport with you – ALWAYS.
35. A HK$20 rolex can be had almost anywhere.
36. Phones, computers, etc. aren’t any cheaper in HK and usually don’t have a warranty
37. after a long day, a good shower can make everything ok.
38. Knowing 10-20 phrases gets you a long way with the locals – I knew zero.
39. 10,000 Buddha’s is a bunch.
40. When a line looks long at first, it probably is 2x whatever you think it is. There’s probably another line that you can’t see, but will need to get in too.
41. Take more pictures than you can stand while traveling, but don’t forget to enjoy the experience at the time too.
42. Almost anything you can buy in HK can be had cheaper or same price back home … if you can get it there. The value is in knowing it came from Hong Kong.
43. Brushing your teeth when you can’t drink any of the tap water only took me 4 days to figure out.

I stayed in 3 different hotels over 2008 Chinese New Year week, 7 days at this hotel. The Metropark was the best overall value.

Location across the street from the Tin Hau MTR station on the HK Island line was fantastic. Combined with an MTR Octopus card and you have easy access to almost everything that HK/Kowloon has to offer.

Staff was always friendly and provided extra pillows and a USA power inverter when asked.
Harbor View room (not suite) was normal sized for Asia – about 25% smaller than USA hotel rooms.

Don’t expect much from the TV – mostly Chinese stations.

Our package included free internet, which helped us plan our day trips. However, it wasn’t the normal plug in get DHCP address and go. We couldn’t get it to work with a router and had to use IE to connect over their "hotel internet proxy" – which was more effort than normal. I doubt my Nokia Internet Tablet would have worked at all. I don’t travel with a laptop, but fortunately my travel partner did. Otherwise, I would be SOL.
The view from our 14th floor "Harbor View" room was unbelievable. I could stare out that room for hours just watching HK and harbor activities. We watched the Chinese New Year harbor fireworks from hotel the roof, I doubt we could have found a better viewing location.

The shower was similar to my home shower. Ok for a hotel.

We never drank the hotel water – a Wellcome and 7-Eleven were on the block for quick snacks and water. The MTR/Octopus card can be used for purchases at these shops.
As usual, food in the hotel was expensive. I ate 1 breakfast and 1 dinner here, good, but expensive. The dinner buffet was tasty, breakfast had enough English food to keep my stomach happy after almost a week of only exotic food.

If I return to Hong Kong or Kowloon, the Metropark will be on my short list of hotels to consider, but the internet connectivity will be a challenge.

After a long day of shopping, sight seeing, or even a trip to Macau, coming home to the Metropark was always good.

Didn’t wake up until 2:30p Thursday due to jet lag. That was 16+ hours of sleep after going hard for 12 straight days in Hong Kong/Macau.

Being home is surreal. I can’t believe the trip is over.

I plan to got thru all the trip pictures and movies to tag them with additional information. I’m looking for a way to link google map locations with each picture and comments. The ultimate goal is to provide a way for someone to follow the trip or plan their own trip better. Any ideas?

After I figure the total cost for HK, it is time to start planning the next trip. Costa Rica done; Western Europe? Australia? Brazil, Argentina done; Peru or someplace else?

It took until Saturday (3 days) to un-lag myself. The trip cost me about $3400, which was more than I’d planned, but we ate much richer food, stayed 4 days longer than planned and I included vaccinations and other expenses needed for other trips too. All the bills aren’t in yet, so some are just estimates.

2 weeks of life changing experiences for $3k – seems fair to me. I’d do it again.

Since I have a visa for China that is good for 2 entries and the next 6 months, I should try to get to Shanghai, Beijing and walk a few days on The Great Wall.

This was a travel day.
HKG -> Chicago -> Atlanta
11:40am -> 4:45pm All times local.

Leaving the Eaton hotel, we planned to take the Airport Express bus and train, but a taxi offered a direct trip for HK$250 – since Jim had lost his Octopus card days ago, he needed to pay HK$100 for the trip anyway. I still had the return trip covered on my card, but quick math had Jim agreeing to the taxi ride as a bargain.

Along the way, we tried to take photos of huge apartments and shipping/container industrial complexes. The photos don’t show how many miles of container complexes there were. I’d guess 15 miles worth. Hong Kong is definitely an import/export hub.

Breakfast is in the airport. I have an omelet and Jim has ramen noodles and some kind of breaded meat.
We each had some HK$ to spend before leaving, so we browse 20+ shops looking for airport junk. Nothing really jumps out, so we dump the remaining local currency on some tissues, cough drops, candy and t-shirts.

The scale of this airport is impressive. Long walk ways with wide spaces.

Since airplane food is always a concern, we grab a quick lunch near our gate. Jim has a wrap and I have a tuna sandwich with just a few minutes before boarding da plane. Since we already went through security, I decide to take my just purchased water bottle with me. As we board the plane, everyone is searched again by Chinese customs – there goes my water. A few minutes later on the plane, the couple next to me pulls out 2 complete Popeye’s Fried Chicken Meals – including bottled water – that they’d purchased in the terminal. I’m less than happy.

Airplane rides, but only 17 hours worth this time. In Chicago, we go through customs – boring. They don’t even look in my stuff. Then we change terminals and get to go through security again. All this with under 45 minutes between landing and take off. Both flights were completely full, but I had an aisle seat for both, so it wasn’t too bad for my leg room. Jim was on the aisle on the long flight, but in the center on the CH->ATL flight. Arg. I can smell myself and I’m certain the people next to me can as well. For the short flight, I’m sitting next to an Army survival school teacher. We discuss a few TV shows and he makes fun of Les the Survivorman guy. He likes Bear – the former SAS guy though.

Anyway, we touch down at 4:45pm but I didn’t get home until after 6pm ET thanks to MARTA and baggage claim. ‘’Showered!’‘, caught up on bills that needed payment, started entering all the trip costs into Quicken, watched a little tube, ate a Schlotzsky’s sandwich and went to bed by 10pm.

[[HK-Post-Trip]]

Today was a slow day because we didn’t go to Shenzhen – the company wasn’t able to accept our visit due to the New Years Holiday.

After a 100% Chinese breakfast in a local busy restaurant full of Chinese that I’m still not certain what the meat actually was, we did a little shopping for a friend – sorry Al, the price of the "item" became significantly more when packaging, shipping, insurance were added in. It became US$250-ish. That was much different from the original cost of US$175 (I’m doing the conversions they don’t take US$ here)

After walking out on the ladies trying to rip us off, yet another Indian tried to get me to buy a new custom suit. I’d had enough, so I tried to sell him my US$20 casio watch for US$40. He said, "sure", but couldn’t produce the money. By talking to him, he followed me more than the normal 10 feet. Best just to completely ignore them.

Lunch was 1oo% Chinese again. Jim and I were the only Occidentals in the place, just like breakfast. The soup and duck weren’t to my liking, but the shrimp and dumplings were good. The restaurant was in a mall, that seems to be one of the best places to find good food in HK.

Then we were finally able to visit the HK Museum of Art – I feel cultured now. I tried to capture the artist information after each picture. We weren’t allowed to photograph many of the rooms and even where we were allowed, only 10% of the art is captured. There’s just so much that I don’t find interesting. My feet hurt and Jim started feeling sick so it was straight home in the mid-afternoon.

I put my feet up, ate the remaining sugar candy since it can’t be brought into the USA and had a short siesta. (added later – now that I’ve traveled more, I know that candy CAN be brought back. That candy was tasty and I’ve found it available on-line, but haven’t ordered any.)

Dinner was Chinese again. Hot and Sour soup with Sea Cucumber was FANTASTIC! :TODO: Jim’s photos needed

Basically, we’ve done everything on each of our lists to accomplish while in Hong Kong. Jim packs up and I read some Vinge. A wake up call for 7am is requested.

Today we were up early to get our emergency VISAs for mainland China.
Next, off to Repulse Bay to see Jim’s old home and school.

• CTS – China VISA HK$1600 each
• No breakfast
• Repulse Bay (260 bus)
  • Walk on the beach, touch the South China Sea
  • Hike up the hill side to Jim’s old international primary school
  • Visit with the current Pastor
  • Catch the 26 bus back to Central HK
• Lunch at Fat Angelo’s (heck, the bus stopped there)
  • Salad, huge rolls, broccoli and cheese, and Pizza
• Watch (Jim found a watch a few days ago and has been shopping for the best deal on it all over Kowloon and HK. Today was the day to purchase it. The shop in Times Square couldn’t find the manual, then a few of the watches didn’t work with every function. 2 year international warranty included.)
• The Peak – you have to go there if you’re visiting HK.
• Back to Kowloon to CTS – VISAs approved!
• Search for Tea Cups on Nathan St – there is an large assortment of options. Some junk, some too expensive.
• Gunga din’s Indian Dinner – This is a basement in a building in Soho that we stumbled onto. We were the first diners, so it was scary. The place filled up as we were eating. My mixed Tandoori was FANTASTIC food with the King Prawn. Highly recommended.
• Jazz club – after diner, strolling just a few steps from Gunga din’s in soho was a jazz club. If you know Jim, you understand. We spent the next 2+ hours listening to improv jams and getting to know the club, management, and musicians. Good folks struggling with a club that has been opened 8 months or so.

Today we traveled between Kowloon, HK, Repulse Bay, HK, Peak, Kowloon, HK, Kowloon – we’re getting good at the MTR and buses. We could have been more efficient by using the CTS in HK, I guess.

Today we had a leisurely morning.

Items:

• Breakfast at Maxine Express
• Train to the New Territories, Sha Tin.
• Visit the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple
• Lunch in the local mall
• Visit the HK Heritage Center
• Train back to the nice hotel, crazy taxi to the newer "eh" hotel, The Eaton
• The room is tiny compared to any other hotel room that I’ve been in anywhere. The room wasn’t ready by 5pm, free drinks given. When we were told to come back, the room still wasn’t ready – no comp.
• Put feet up for 30 minutes
• Dinner was at a German Bier Garten – Zer Gute!

The Maxine Express breakfast in the train station was a half English, half Chinese breakfast. The pork/pasta/soup was fantastic. The egg, good. The bun and tiny hot dog – should have been given to the local dogs. Soup for breakfast? Yep. Huge, tasty, and filling. Just what I needed for a long day of walking up and down steps.

We left the Hung Hom MTR station on the Lok Ma Chau train for Sha Tin – we decided to see if 1st Class was worth the extra cost on a short CKR trip before the Shenzhen trip on Tues. It is. A few picts of outside the station and we’re on the right track to our first stop of the day.

Getting off the train, it takes a little bit to figure out where we were and where to head. A compass would have been handy – I have one now.

10,000 Buddha temple – Unbelievable. You have to see the picts. They begin with the first golden Buddha’s, each numbered up the steps to the monastery. Each Buddha is unique – none are the same. Climbing the steps was real work, but the sense of accomplishment and view over Sha Tin make it worth the effort. There appears to be a back road to the top so you don’t have to walk it, if you know that road exists.

The Chinese use different brooms than we do, but they work wonderfully, somehow. The broom I saw appeared to be improperly made to a westerner, but seemed to work perfectly.

As I look back over these pictures, I smell the incense, hear the sounds of people talking in a multitude of languages (Indonesian, Mandarin, Cantonese, English, German, Spanish, Japanese, etc…) The temple is very busy due to the Chinese New Years holiday. There are a number of family crypts here where loved ones can be visited and remembered. Entering the temple and seeing all the Buddha figures all around is impressive. Imagine having to dust them all. We head even higher to additional buildings that contain more family remembrances. Heading back to the main temple area, we’re called by the beating drums and a dragon dance team. At one point, the dragon is extended 2 full humans in height.

I have to nurse my camera battery so it doesn’t run out here.

We head back to the train station – that has a huge mall attached. Either a big sandwich or pizza -- Oliver’s Super Sandwich house wins. I had the seafood linguine, Jim had a sandwich. Tasty.

Next we head off to find the HK Heritage Museum. After a few wrong turns (walking about a mile extra so it is painful) where we can see the destination, but there isn’t any way to get there due to construction, we find the museum and get personalized guidance from a concierge. Not enough heritage, too much pop and current "art" for our tastes. Each exhibit room has different rules for pictures. The signs outside – are too many and after seeing 10 signs saying what you can’t do, you forget whether non-flash photographs are ok or not. Jim gets hassled for taking picts in a non-photograph exhibit, so no more occur. My battery is dead, so I don’t have any of this museum.

We take the train back to Kowloon – first class (standing room only) and transfer from exceptional hotel to "eh" hotel, the Eaton, via taxi. The room isn’t ready, so they give us a few free drinks. I have my standard free drink, a Long Island Iced Tea. Jim has a Duvel. The room isn’t ready again and again. Pooh.

Dinner is at the Beir Garten. Der Schnitzel ist Zer Gute! Grosse weise beir ist gute, alzo.
Jim has the wurst – expected from the Sausage King_.!>http://www.jdpfu.com/photodata/2008/Hong_Kong/Day9-Sun-10000Buddhas/thumbnails/P1020566.jpg! Political discussions occur, then home.

Saturday was a beautiful day four our trip to Lantau Island. We did the following things:

• Packed and moved out of the Metropark Causeway Bay Hotel
• Took the train out passed Disneyland HK to the island of Lantau (largest of the outer islands near Hong Kong).
• Ate KFC for breakfast
• Waited in line, then bought tickets for a cable car to the Big Buddha
• Waited in line to get on the cable car
• Learned that cutting in line is an art form from some of the locals
• Ate a little sorbet
• Walked up the 268 steps to the Big Buddha
• Walked down the 268 steps from the Big Buddha
• Visited the Po Lin Monastery (no alcohol and they are vegetarians)
• Saw the line for the cable car back down to the town …
• So took a bus back instead – an event in itself
• Train back into HK, back to Causeway Bay to the old hotel
• Crazy Taxi to the Harbour Plaza Metropolis – new VERY NICE hotel (we were upgraded to a suite)
• Fantastic Chinese Dinner in the connected mall
  • Hot and Sour Soup with Sea Cucumber
  • Grilled and BBQ’d Pork
  • steamed rice
  • Mixed vegetables (bok choy, broccoli, leeks) and mixed sea food (scallops, scrimp, squid)
  • Whole Crab on a bed of gelatinous rice
  • Tea and beer
• After dinner walk around Kowloon on raised walkways – seems there was a Chinese pop concert tonight
• To bed

There was much more walking/standing in line today than I’ve described. I’m sunburned on my neck and face with a rash on my neck. The rash didn’t show up until after the fireworks on Chinese New Years Day. I believe the rash is due the water here. No more shaving for me this trip.

The Big Buddha is, well, big. It is also known as the Sakyamuni Buddha and is the largest bronzed seated Buddha in the world at 24 meters high. There are 268 stairs to the Buddha. It is located on Muyu Mountain. Pictures cover this fairly well.

After visiting the Buddha, we headed to the Po Lin Monastery near the base of the Buddha mountain. It was packed when we were there due to the New Years Holiday, which is the most important Chinese holiday. It is also known as The -Buddhist Kingdom of the South_ and is the most popular monastery in Hong Kong. Pictures cover this fairly well.

The cable car ride up and bus ride down are just as much a part of the trip as the Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. The cable car ride was the worlds largest when built, I don’t know if this is still true. The cable car initially heads towards the man-made island with the new international airport, then turns 90 deg to head up towards the Big Buddha.

Sunday morning as I write this, having just enjoyed the highest volume of water shower that I’ve ever had, looking out over HK bay, I’m starting to miss Atlanta. My feet have hurt for days. I may or may not have stayed on my weight loss (was down 30+ lbs on 2/1/2008). Jim and I are still getting along – beds in different rooms last night didn’t hurt. This hotel, Harbour Plaza Metropolis, is fantastic, too bad it is so expensive.

Sunday, we are off to the New Territories.